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Interviews
Andrew Means ... TALKS IMPACT
Only two of these things are true …
‘I’ve never been on an upside down rollercoaster. I’ve traveled to over 70 countries. I’ve dived with great white sharks in South Africa.’
Andrew Means is a serial social entrepreneur leading organisations that use data and technology to create impact. He currently works with foundations and nonprofits on the use of emerging technology to drive impact. He co-founded emerging tech consultancy Lighthouse Innovation Advisors, data governance firm BrightHive, and is founder and host of Good Tech Fest. He has previously held leadership positions at Salesforce.org, Uptake.org, The University of Chicago’s Center for Data Science & Public Policy, and the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago. He holds a Master in Public Policy from the Harris School at the University of Chicago and is currently at UC Berkeley for his Executive MBA. Andrew is a member of the Board of Directors at VolunteerMatch and Everfree.
We sat down with Andrew to ask a few questions about social impact –
What is your personal motivation for creating social impact?
I think it’s the intersection of a number of motivations. The first thing that comes to mind is that these are really challenging and interesting problems to work on. I’d much rather be spending my days helping address poverty and climate change and homelessness with my skills than work in finance or consumer tech. But I also know the feeling of helping someone have a different life. I’ve been able to sit with children who have lost parents and ensure that they are cared for and have an education. I’ve seen them go on to do amazing things. I’ve worked with individuals coming out of trafficking and exploitative situations and seen the joy they get from a job that pays them well and treats with respect. That feeling is quite addictive.
What’s been the best impact you’ve seen in your career?
I do think the work I’ve done with Good Tech Fest and Do Good Data before that has created some cool ripples of impact. It’s been a place that has helped push the sector forward around data and technology centred on the impact it could create. I’m quite proud of what we’ve done with that community.
Without naming names, what has been the worst?
I think the worst impact, the place where I think I’ve actually done more harm than good, was some service trips I did as a high school student. There were such good intentions, and I can honestly say I might not be doing this work without those experiences, but my opinions on those kinds of service trips have radically changed over the last 2 decades.
What frustrates you most about people/ businesses/ organisations trying to achieve impact?
When it’s more about a press release than impact.
If you could change anything about how people talk about and report impact, what would it be?
I would love to see all organisations use data from their own organisations when talking about impact. Basically measuring the impact of every program every time in an automated and transparent way.
What is your biggest wish with regards to the future of impact?
I hope to see better tools to help organisations do real-time impact measurement.