The EASE Collective - Cooperative Data Sovereignty

Despite being at the forefront of grassroots innovation and community support, grassroots organizations nationwide often remain systematically underfunded, overlooked, and excluded from real-time data-sharing ecosystems that drive funding and policy decisions. This disconnect perpetuates a narrative of under-resourced, “struggling” grassroots groups, rather than recognizing them as key drivers of community regeneration and systems change.

In our home base of Baltimore, for example, we have seen this firsthand in working with over 70 Black-led organizations—collectively serving tens of thousands of residents—yet lacking the equitable visibility, data, and resources needed to sustain and scale their high-impact programs. National research confirms these patterns, with the majority of Black-led nonprofits operating below $500,000 annual budgets.

The ramifications of this misalignment are far-reaching: (1) Funders and policymakers lack up-to-date, community-verified insights to inform equitable resource allocation; (2) Grassroots organizations expend disproportionate effort piecing together fragmented data and ad-hoc funding; and (3) Underrepresented communities remain locked out of systemic policy shifts that could address longstanding racial, socioeconomic, and health inequities. By establishing a cooperatively owned, civic-tech platform, EASE directly tackles these challenges—making critical, real-time community data visible and actionable for both local stakeholders and larger institutions.

Solution

EASE (Ecosystem Awareness Solutions for Equity) is a first-of-its-kind cooperatively owned civic-tech platform developed to empower Black-led grassroots organizations through data sovereignty and real-time, community-sourced insights. Rather than funneling data and decision-making power solely to outside entities, EASE positions grassroots communities as both the owners and primary beneficiaries of the platform. In doing so, it addresses the longstanding visibility, funding, and narrative gaps that keep these organizations and their critical work on the periphery.

Approach

1. Community Co-Design: EASE emerged from two years of listening sessions, community-based business-model sprints, and user-focused showcases. Grassroots leaders, philanthropic funders, policymakers, and other stakeholders shaped every major design feature, ensuring the platform meets real, on-the-ground needs.

2. Cooperative Governance: By employing a cooperative membership model, EASE ensures decision-making authority remains with the organizations and individuals who produce, manage, and steward community data—shifting power dynamics and building long-term sustainability.

3. Real-Time Data & Insights: The platform supplies up-to-date, verified data on community conditions, nonprofit effectiveness, and critical resource gaps. This empowers funders and policymakers to align investments with community-voiced priorities.

Methodology

1. User-Centered Design: Through iterative prototyping and feedback loops, we continually refine the platform’s interface and features, ensuring accessibility and ease-of-use for grassroots organizations with varying levels of tech capacity.

2. Agile Development: We utilize an agile development approach, releasing features in sprints, gathering user feedback, and making rapid improvements to reflect evolving community needs.

3. Data Ethics & Sovereignty: Rigorous data governance protocols—coupled with cooperative principles—ensure confidentiality, consent, and revenue-generating data-sharing frameworks for the communities involved.

4. Systems Integration: EASE is built to interface with existing nonprofit tools and public data sources, reducing siloed efforts and offering a comprehensive picture of the ecosystem’s challenges and opportunities.

By uniting community-driven insights with cooperative ownership, EASE provides a transformative, scalable methodology for flipping power dynamics, aligning investments with genuine community priorities, and driving lasting, equitable change at the grassroots and grass-tops levels.

Note: Currently EASE operates under the auspices of BCIITY (Baltimore City Intergenerational Initiatives for Thriving Youth) from which the EASE idea was born. BCIITY is a 501(c)3 organization in the state of Maryland.

Below is a list of pre-launch outcomes that EASE has achieved to date, each with a short explanation:

1. Secured Pilot Funding (75% Raised):
   Demonstrates strong backing from philanthropic and community stakeholders, enabling the platform’s development and pilot rollout.

2. Extensive Community Co-Design & Engagement:
   Gathered input from 85+ individuals representing grassroots organizations, philanthropic organizations, and residents through listening sessions, stakeholder interviews and user design sprints, ensuring the platform directly addresses community needs.

3. Onboarded a Co-founding Team:

   We have a team of 7 co-founders each with specific roles like: product & business development, project manager, community engagement, cooperative infrastructure development, fundraising, branding/marketing, and partnership development.

4. Cooperative Governance Framework Established:
   The co-founding team has laid the groundwork for shared ownership, stakeholder vs shareholder distinctions, by-laws development, cultural practices, team charter and governance by sociocracy.

5. Scalable Onboarding Pipeline for 50 Organizations:
   Developed a clear path to bring 50 groups onto EASE during the pilot phase for 2025, positioning them to benefit from impact management & measurement support, real-time data insights and collaborative resource allocation.

6. Validated Platform Features & User Flow:
   Through iterative mock-ups and feedback cycles, confirmed that EASE’s core functionalities align with the day-to-day data and funding challenges faced by grassroots organizations.