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

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.
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.
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

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.
Agile Development: We utilize an agile development approach, releasing features in sprints, gathering user feedback, and making rapid improvements to reflect evolving community needs.
Data Ethics & Sovereignty: Rigorous data governance protocols—coupled with cooperative principles—ensure confidentiality, consent, and revenue-generating data-sharing frameworks for the communities involved.
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.

The EASE Collective - Cooperative Data Sovereignty

The EASE Collective - Cooperative Data Sovereignty