Rockefeller Foundation, Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth to Invest $50 Million on Social Impact Data
The Rockefeller Foundation and the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth will invest $50 million over five years to build the field of data science for social impact, starting with a $20-million investment in DataKind.
“Like the introduction of science to medicine 100 years ago transformed the delivery of health worldwide, we are poised to take the next big leap bringing data science to social impact,” Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, president of The Rockefeller Foundation, said in a blog post announcing the award. “The Data Science for Social Impact collaborative will help us inspire a new generation of social sector leaders using data for good,” he added. The will focus on three areas: capacity and leadership, tools and data, and policy and governance.
DataKind will identify key priorities and investment opportunities to accelerate data for good, including research, skills or new technology platforms. The investment will enable the nonprofit to move from a project- to a platform-based model, in which it will support more organizations on a set of common issues, including community health and inclusive growth.
Founded in 2011, DataKind specializes in matching volunteer data scientists to individual social organizations. It has chapters in New York, Singapore, Bangalore, London, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. The organization has deployed expert volunteer data scientists and engineers from their network of more than 30,000 to work on more than 250 projects around the world.
The Brookyln, N.Y.-based charity reported total revenue of $2.6 million on its Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 990 for the Fiscal Year Ending 2017, with net assets of $1.27 million.