BlockPower

Team Leader

Karthik Balasubramanian

Solution Overview

Solution Name:

BlockPower

One-line solution summary:

BlockPower is a network-building platform focused on health, wealth, and power in the Black community.

Pitch your solution.

BlockPower is a technology platform supports community ambassadors as they empower their networks to build health, wealth, and power in marginalized communities. As elections approach, BlockPower activate those ambassador networks to expand voter outreach and increase civic engagement. After elections are over, Community Ambassadors continue spreading knowledge of small but concrete actions their own networks can take twice a month to build health, wealth, and power.

Film your elevator pitch.

What specific problem are you solving?

There are massive disparities in health, wealth, and power between the Black community and the general population in the United States. Among so many health disparities, according to the American Cancer Society, Black people have the highest death rate and shortest survival of any racial/ethnic group for most cancers. Among wealth disparities, according to the Brookings Institution, the net worth of a typical white family is nearly ten times greater than that of a Black family ($17,150) in 2016. Also in 2016, nearly 4 in 10 Black voters didn't vote in the Presidential election. These disparities are a direct result of centuries of systematic and systemic racism.

What is your solution?

BlockPower is a platform that facilitates the creation of a network that is focused on building health, wealth, and power in Black communities. This platform contains a weekly 5 minute video module + quiz on a topic that can create personal and network value. The platform also makes it easy to refer others, and provides a small stipend to Community Ambassadors who complete the modules and make referrals. We use a Postgres database with Python Flask interstitial code connecting Twilio, TypeForm, Stripe (debit card issuing), and HubSpot.

Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?

We are co-developing the Community Ambassador Program with the New North Carolina Project, led by Aimy Steele. Aimy leads a team focused on building power among Black people in North Carolina. We are building a technology platform and model that is tailored to their requests and hopes for the development of the program.

Which dimension of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?

Catalyze civic engagement and enable communities to plan and control their own housing and industrial land development and ownership patterns.

Explain how the problem you are addressing, the solution you have designed, and the population you are serving align with the Challenge.

Building health, wealth, and power through tech-enabled grassroots community-building among Black people in North Carolina is completely focused on equipping people along the long journey of dismantling systemic racism and its harmful effects over centuries of oppression.

In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?

Charlotte, NC, USA

What is your solution’s stage of development?

Prototype: A venture or organization building and testing its product, service, or business model.

Explain why you selected this stage of development for your solution.

We have developed a product that is currently in a prototype phase. We hope to move to the pilot phase with the New North Carolina Project in the coming weeks, starting in Charlotte, NC

Who is the Team Lead for your solution?

Karthik Balasubramanian