We are very excited to launch our Events Product Video! In this video, learn more about we leverage our all-in-one virtual events platform to help our partners tackle the world’s toughest problems. Powered by mission-driven humans, our integrated approach quickly maps onto partner needs to successfully deliver results on any topic, to any device, in any language, to anyone.
Take a look:
Katie is a Senior Program Manager at TechChange where she helps bring virtual conferences to life for partners and attendees around the world. Before TechChange, Katie worked on in-person and virtual events of varying sizes. She is originally from the Richmond, Virginia area and holds a B.A. in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia.
Q: So, tell us more about yourself. How did you end up working in events?
For as l0ng as I can remember, I’ve been involved in the performing arts in some capacity. This allowed me to consistently be around a group of people working toward a common goal to be shared with the public on a certain date (or series of dates) – essentially, events! As I thought through what I wanted to do in a professional capacity, I knew that I wanted to continue working with lots of people and bringing together groups to present and discuss new ideas. Right out of college I worked on large corporate conferences, but I knew I wanted to do much more mission-driven work. When I saw the posting for TechChange events, it looked like the perfect opportunity to do just that.
Q: How did you first hear about TechChange?
I found TechChange via LinkedIn mid-summer 2020! I was immediately interested in the work the events team was doing because of its mission-driven nature, and was even more excited to learn that we support a myriad of missions depending on the partner for a given project.
Q: What are some of your favorite parts of working at TechChange so far?
Overall, the people of TechChange make it a great place to work. Everyone is smart, passionate, kind, and fun to work with on a daily basis. Specifically in my role, I love when I can sit in on conference sessions. It’s always a great opportunity to hear fascinating conversations and take reflections back into my own life.
Q: What excites you about this role?
This role is so dynamic! Because we work with multiple partners to plan and execute conferences, we get to have multiple partner relationships and learn about the content and communities partners serve. It’s a great way to always learn something new, meet someone new, and gain a new perspective.
Q: Anything you look forward to working on or learning at TechChange in the next year?
I’m very much looking forward to watching the events team continue to grow in the next year and working with the team to evolve our processes as we enter a phase in which folks might start in-person gatherings again.
Q: Lastly, what’s something that not a lot of people know about you?
I really enjoy running half marathons, and have run 4 so far. With races canceled and gyms closed during covid lockdown in DC, I didn’t do much running. However races are starting to pop up again and I am happy to be training for a run in late fall 2021.
Marion joined the TechChange team as a Program Coordinator, where she helps the Events team to create meaningful and engaging virtual conferences for a worldwide audience. Before joining the Events team, Marion explored her own research on the importance and impact of virtual communication as a Psychology major and Communications minor at Davidson College and served as a TechChange Fellow.
Q: So, tell us more about yourself. How did you end up working in events?
I’ve always been interested in how we communicate in a virtual world. I explored this question at Davidson College through my research in Communication Studies — from gendered toy marketing to social justice advertising and movie consumption trends. However, it wasn’t until the COVID-19 pandemic that I was exposed to virtual events as a tool for communication. As a college student studying remotely, I quickly became familiar with the insights (and oversights) of a virtual classroom. I saw an opportunity for higher education and many other fields to utilize the advantages of a virtual world that companies like TechChange had refined (and wrote about it in the TechChange blog here). I wanted to play a part in TechChange’s goal to build innovative and engaging virtual events with a mission.
Q: How did you first hear about TechChange?
Davidson College offers an amazing opportunity called Gig-hub consultancy, where a group of students are offered access to several remote, short-term job offerings in fields of their interest. I first heard about TechChange through the Gig-hub program, and once I started working there, just absolutely fell in love with the company and its mission. Every time my short-term contract would come to a close, we kept on renewing it! Now, as a full-time member of the Events team, I couldn’t be more grateful to the Gig-hub program for first introducing me to my career.
Q: What are some of your favorite parts of working at TechChange so far?
The people! While I really do love the work at TechChange, it’s the people on my team that inspire me to work harder and to produce a product that I am proud of. We collaborate to produce and facilitate the most amazing conferences, and TechChange wouldn’t be the same without them.
Q: What excites you about this role?
It’s a great feeling to be able to support so many different projects at once – there’s always something new to try or work on! One day I’ll be building out the DRG platform for a conference in democracy assistance and the next I’ll be stepping in to moderate a SID-W meeting about writing your own memoir. The day after could be spent brainstorming with a new partner organization, editing conference recordings, or networking with experts in a vast array of fields. I think it’s amazing to meet so many different people working towards a similar mission – and to act as a real contributor towards making that goal come to life!
Q: Anything you look forward to working on or learning at TechChange in the next year?
The TechChange Events team is always looking for ways to improve its process to become more efficient and invaluable to its partners. I’m incredibly excited to be a part of the team’s efforts to innovate and streamline the way we build out, facilitate, and review our events. Not only am I working to produce the amazing and vital global conferences happening now, I’m also helping to establish the systems that will improve conferences like these in the future (and building up the creative thinking skills to do this)!
Q: Lastly, what’s something that not a lot of people know about you?
I’m a pretty good beatboxer! It surprises a lot of people when I tell them, but I was the beatboxer for my a cappella group in high school and for a couple groups in college. Really, anything in the performing arts is a passion of mine, from beatboxing to ballet. I believe that the arts provide a space to connect and communicate on a deeper level, and that the stage is a catalyst to broadcast that message.
Kayla recently joined the TechChange team as a Program Coordinator, where she supports the online events team in creating fascinating virtual conferences. Kayla holds a B.A. in English Language and Literature from the University of Maryland, where she also minored in Technology Entrepreneurship. So excited to have you on the events team, Kayla!
Q: So, tell us more about yourself. How did you end up working in events?
For most of my life, I’ve always loved events. I really enjoy seeing groups of people come together and bond over something they have in common, no matter how different they all may be from one another. During my adolescence, I was obsessed with baby showers, birthday parties, barbecues, and other social events of that nature. It wasn’t until late high school and early college that I was introduced to new possibilities of events like conferences, conventions, weddings, and other formal, planned events. After changing my major twice, I decided to pursue a career in events, because I wanted to do something that I was truly passionate about. I knew that I did not want to spend 40+ hours of my life every week doing something that I didn’t care about, because life is way too short to be unhappy.
Q: How did you first hear about TechChange?
I actually had never heard of TechChange until I applied for this job! I had been scrolling up and down LinkedIn for almost two months, filling out countless applications, when I stumbled upon this job [Program Coordinator]. As I began to look around the website, I really liked what I saw. The events team seemed new and exciting, and I really appreciated the company’s determination toward social change. Everything seemed so innovative, and the small size of the company was a major draw factor. After working here for a few months, I can attest that everything is still very new, innovative, and quite exciting.
Q: What are some of your favorite parts of working at TechChange so far?
One of my favorite parts about working at TechChange is seeing how passionate my colleagues are about their jobs. Every person I’ve worked with goes above and beyond for our partners [clients], and it’s important for me to work with others who have the same passion for their careers as I do. Another one of my favorite parts about working here is seeing how much the staff care about one another. Even while working remotely, people send one another virtual birthday cards, send packages to each other’s homes, and participate in virtual game nights. It’s a really nice feeling, a sense of comradery, even though I’ve never met most of the people I work with in-person.
Q: What excites you about this role?
What excites me most about this role is that every day is drastically different. I could have a slow day doing desk work, or I could have to wake up at 3am to support a live virtual conference.
Q: Anything you look forward to working on or learning at TechChange in the next year?
An inside joke that we have on the events team is that one day I’m going to transfer over to the tech team, though I actually have extremely limited knowledge of anything remotely useful needed to perform that job. I never expected myself to work for a technology company, but I’m really enjoying all there is to learn about building our platform, tracking data, and I’ve even dipped my toes into editing CSS and reading HTML a few times. Though I’m much more of an artistic person rather than a technical person, the tech we use has fascinated me more than anything.
Q: Lastly, what’s something that not a lot of people know about you?
Something that not a lot of people know about me is how big of a heart I have. I care deeply about underserved people, specifically homeless people. One day, I would love to own a homeless shelter in the DMV area to aid and assist the overwhelming homeless population. It breaks my heart every day living in Baltimore to see at least one homeless person on every street, and I would love to be a part of the solution to help them.
Q: So, tell us more about yourself. How did you first hear about TechChange?
I recently graduated from Swarthmore College, where I studied Educational Studies and Linguistics. During my time there, I was conducting research on minoritized college students’ experiences navigating academic spaces within higher education. I became really interested in learning about and designing educational experiences that best fit the needs of the students. Someone mentioned TechChange as a place that does exactly that — and as a company started by a Swarthmore alum! It seemed like a great opportunity at the intersection of my interests in education, research, and design that I knew I wanted to be a part of.
Q: How has your past experience prepared you for this fellowship position?
During undergrad, I interned at a bilingual school in Monteverde, Costa Rica, where I developed the curriculum for and taught math and English to elementary schoolers. Working in the classroom gave me the opportunity to observe what students actually need in order to thrive in a learning environment. I was able to apply this knowledge through my curriculum and lesson plans in Costa Rica, and this experience will certainly continue to inform my pedagogical decision-making here at TechChange as well.
Q: What is your research topic and what are you most looking forward to when conducting this research?
My research question is, “What is a TechChange blended course?” This means that I get to explore the best of what TechChange has to offer in both the synchronous and asynchronous aspects of their courses. I’m looking forward to being able to learn more about the best practices of instructional design through my research!
Q: What excites you about this fellowship and research opportunity?
I’m really excited about the educational philosophy that TechChange carries into every course that they build. Throughout my time as an educator, I have prioritized philosophies such as constructivist educational theory and human-centered design. I see these as crucial for engaging students and adapting to their needs in order to best set them up for success in learning. It is amazing not only to be researching projects that reflect these values, but also to be working with an organization that will continue to center these philosophies in the long-term.
Q: What is something you look forward to while a fellow at TechChange?
I’m looking forward to working with lots of different members of the TechChange team to learn all about what TechChange has to offer — not just about instructional design, but other aspects such as visual design as well. I am eager to learn and absorb as much as I can!
Q: Lastly, what’s something that not a lot of people know about you?
I lived in Sri Lanka for a year!
Emma Demers joined the TechChange team as a Summer Education Fellow! Emma graduated from Brown University and recently completed a service year with AmeriCorps. We sat down virtually with Emma to learn more about her background and experience. So excited to have you on the team, Emma!
Q: So, tell us more about yourself. How did you first hear about TechChange?
I’m originally from Boston and recently graduated from college with a degree in English and Creative Nonfiction. In my spare time, I volunteer at the Red Cross, meet with local writer’s groups and read a lot. I also enjoy dairy-free baking and weight lifting.
I heard about TechChange when I was looking for jobs in the education/nonprofit sector. I’ve been living in DC for the last year (first Hill East and now Dupont) and really wanted to stay in the area because I have found such a wonderful community here.
Q: How has your past experience prepared you for this fellowship position?
I just finished up an awesome year of teaching as an AmeriCorps volunteer with the local organization Literacy Lab. My year of teaching and learning about educational equity has primed me to get even more involved in questions about how we as educators and designers can create meaningful learning experiences for people everywhere.
In addition to teaching, I’ve also previously worked for a higher education nonprofit in DC and I’ve worked as a UX/UI designer for the last 5 years. Human-centered design and design thinking are at the heart of productive learning experiences and I’m excited to apply that knowledge to my fellowship!
Q: What is your research topic and what are you most looking forward to when conducting this research?
I am taking a look at three different synchronous courses at TechChange, each surrounding public health education. I’m super excited to 1) learn more about public health and international development on an instructional design level and 2) learn more about how to extract important insights from the data I’m reviewing — it’s a part of the UX research process that’s the most unfamiliar to me, so I’m excited to get to dig into that area more this summer.
Q: What excites you about this fellowship and research opportunity?
I’m excited to have the opportunity to conduct in-depth research on topics I care about. This fellowship also gives me the flexibility to explore so much of TechChange’s philosophy regarding human-centered research and design. I’m also excited to receive guidance and mentorship from the insightful, caring people on the Education team — already they’ve been very supportive of my fellowship goals and I feel very welcomed!
Q: What is something you look forward to while a fellow at TechChange?
I look forward to getting to know the other team members at TechChange and gaining more insight from them in regards to career paths in education and international development. And making connections with others in and out of the office is something I miss from pre-Covid working conditions. I’m already impressed and excited by TechChange’s commitment to remote collaboration and I’m looking forward to producing high-quality research with the virtual and in-person support of my coworkers and mentors.
Q: Lastly, what’s something that not a lot of people know about you?
I am an avid Minecraft player! The game allows users to stretch our design-thinking imagination and provides a delightful user experience. I love the emphasis on user creation and world-building.
Fifteen months into the COVID-19 pandemic, Zoom fatigue had many of us practically catatonic in front of our screens. So how was the Society for International Development – Washington Chapter (SID-W) able to reverse this trend and put on a virtual conference that actually proved to be more engaging, more interactive, and more inclusive than any prior SID-W event?
SID-W joined forces with our team at TechChange to co-design their annual event on the TechChange platform. We leveraged a new community-led model that transformed the conference experience into one that no longer relies exclusively on organizer-led sessions or speakers.
Compared to a traditional DC-based event, the online nature of the SID-W Virtual Annual Conference resulted in 1300+ participants from over 60 countries drawing from development practitioners, implementing partners, local staff, NGO partners, and more, with over 50% being first-time attendees.
Leveraging over a decade of experience facilitating courses, workshops, and events, the TechChange team utilized strategies from our educator toolkit to deliver a memorable virtual experience for – and with – the participants.
Innovation Showcase 3D World
Showcasing innovation was critical to the SID-W team – both in terms of the way the conference took place but also in the content to be shared. So to display the Innovation Award finalists’ pitches in a way that was true to form, SID-W asked TechChange’s 3D artist and developer team to build an Innovation Showcase 3D World using Mozilla Hubs. The virtual space hosted pitches from the four finalists on large virtual television screens inside a 3D recreation of the magnificent National Portrait Gallery Atrium. In addition, using 3D avatars, innovation finalists conversed with conference attendees and potential investors inside the unique space. Participants then voted for the “Best of Show,” which was announced at the closing ceremony.
Not your average exhibition hall
The Exhibition Hall interface was significantly enhanced compared to last October’s debut SID-W virtual conference, generating leads for both sponsors in business development and recruitment and job-seeking participants. In addition to the platform-embedded Exhibition Hall resource library, SID-W wanted to liven things up by enabling real-time video networking between sponsors and participants.
Through an integration with Social hour, TechChange created over 40 virtual tables across four virtual rooms. Instead of leaving the rooms indefinitely open and hoping participants would find their way there, SID-W intentionally designed the agenda such that it would funnel participants into the interactive space for one hour each day. This dedicated space, designed to spark lively conversations and targeted outreach, attracted over 200 participants online simultaneously. Sponsor Tetra Tech commented that “[i]t was the closest ‘in-person’ experience we’ve had at an event yet!”
Crowd-sourced roundtable discussions
A few months before the conference, SID-W sent out a call for community members to submit topics for the Roundtable Discussions. After receiving over 70 topics, SID-W members, staff, and the Annual Conference Committee selected the top 20, including: “Decolonizing Aid: Gender Equality & Social Inclusion,” “Dignity in Development,” and “Using Blended Finance at Scale to Achieve the SDGs.” During Day 2 of the conference, over 260 participants joined their peers at virtual tables on Social hour for intimate, facilitated discussions. Multiple participants noted the Roundtable Discussions session as the highlight of their SID-W virtual conference experience.
“I got the most out of the roundtable I attended.”
SID-W Conference Attendee
Organic networking sessions
The Open Networking sessions, also leveraging TechChange’s Social hour integration, provided a medium for lively conversations that were less structured than the scheduled events. This free-form format led to the organic formation of the “Amis Francophones” Table, sparked by one of the attendees who hoped to connect with other Francophiles. French speaking SID-W members from around the globe were able to meet and exchange – a feat that could not have been accomplished had the conference been held in person.
“The best online networking platform I’ve seen to date – really felt like wandering around a room and chatting with people.”
SID-W Conference Attendee
Ideas Library & Open Discussion Forums
The Ideas Library provided an opportunity for conference participants to interact with the hosts of Lightning Talks. Open Discussion & Networking forums allowed speakers and participants alike to spark new conversations on timely topics. For example, conference speaker Wayan Vota started a thread asking “[w]hat is the largest COVID-19 change in your work?” which garnered over 30 responses. Others exchanged knowledge on topics like data management and DEI. SID-W Program Associates also utilized the Ideas Library to share summaries of plenaries, panels, and Learning Labs in real time, creating a forum for attendees to continue the critical conversations.
Gamification: SID-W Points
Knowing attendees would likely be motivated to engage more by gamifying the conference experience, SID-W opted to turn on the points feature on the TechChange platform. To receive “SID-W Points,” attendees used different features throughout the platform, such as creating a profile for networking purposes, attending sessions, engaging in session chats to introduce themselves to fellow participants, and commenting on each other’s work. The winner earned an impressive 475 points!
The SID-W annual conference was second to none in engaging its membership to create a two-day community-led conference experience – one that enlivened even its most embattled Zoom-fatigued members.
This blog is written by Thomas Liu
Following last month’s World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum 2021 panel on ‘Digital Skills for E-Health: Post COVID-19’ participated by Ariel Frankel, our very own Director of Public Health, TechChange was quoted by the official news publication of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), MyITU.
The MyITU article on ‘Boosting digital skills in healthcare‘ focuses on the WHO and ITU’s joint efforts in strengthening Digital Health Leadership training. TechChange partners with the WHO and ITU on the Digital Health: Planning National Systems course, which features critical technical concepts, existing best practices, and pragmatic methods, all framed according to the national planning cycle that Ministry of Health officials manage.
When it comes to online education in digital health, learning styles can differ from person to person, with varying levels of connectivity, skill sets and cultural contexts to consider.
Ariel Frankel, Director of Public Health, TechChange
[TechChange] takes a human-centred approach to virtual learning, co-creating content with client communities and iterating constantly based on participant feedback.
MyITU
The course was initially designed to be delivered entirely in-person, but due to COVID-19, is now being piloted and refined via virtual training. The course guides participants through a series of nine modules for developing a national approach to using digital tools for better health outcomes. Each module includes a mix of lectures and interactive activities encouraging participants to immediately apply technical concepts and planning methods.
The course is designed to provide a comprehensive overview of key concepts and skills preparing participants for further, in-depth study on specific topics introduced in the course as well as utilize existing WHO and ITU planning toolkits.
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum 2021 represents the world’s largest annual gathering of the ‘ICT for development’ community.
TechChange was invited to participate in the ‘Digital Skills for E-Health: Post COVID-19‘ panel organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The panel’s goal was to discuss the role of digital skills in health with a special focus on the impact of COVID-19 on digital skills and explore the challenges and opportunities for policymakers, citizens, and medical personnel to acquire these skills.
Ariel Frankel, TechChange’s Director of Public Health, participated on the panel along with Kyle McGregor (Thomas Jefferson University), Susan Teltscher (ITU), Bernardo Mariano Junior (WHO), Derrick Muneene (WHO), Hani Eskandar (ITU), Ana Carolina del Pozo (Humanitas University) & Zohar Lederman (Hebrew University/Ben Gurion University) and shared her experiences leading the Digital Health: Planning National Systems training which is designed to empower ministry leadership with the technical concepts and planning tools necessary to steer and orient national digital health stakeholders.
During the panel, Ariel shared the five key steps on how TechChange tailors online learning for impact.
Missed the session? Click here to watch the full session recording.
Nick join Impact Boom‘s Thomas Long to discuss the importance of effectively marketing your impact as a social enterprise as well as the positive and negative implementations of technology progressing rapidly. Read the blog and listen in on the conversation.
“We’ve had many twists and turns in a 10-year journey, but my core team on the leadership side were patient, and it wasn’t easy. Waiting for that product-market fit was certainly worth it.”
Nick Martin – Founder & CEO, TechChange
