Geeks Without Bounds

Who We Are
Geeks Without Bounds is an international coalition of passionate problem solvers working together to assist people whose survival is threatened due to violence, neglect, or catastrophe through the use of technology.

Geeks Without Bounds is the connective tissue between hacker communities and humanitarian organizations. We bring people with awesome skills together with the people who need those skills the most. We make tools, we help people use tools, and we network groups who already have tools.

Where We Came From
GWOB was born out of the brain of Johnny Diggz and kicked into high gear by Willow Brugh. After presenting at Gnomedex 2010 (video), Diggz and Willow developed ways to facilitate geeks to use their powers for good to assist national and worldwide humanitarian efforts. Our 10.10.10 tour travelled to 16 states to visit 14 spaces and bond them together. As a result, applications like loqi.me were developed.

Since then, with the participation of Random Hacks of Kindness, Crisis Commons, Inveneo, and others, innovative philanthropic projects were envisioned and implemented (like MADpub). In 2011, GWOB became a program of the School Factory, granting it 501c3 fiscal sponsorship and access to an even larger network of hacker and maker communities.

We continue to seek out hacker/maker communities and ways to involve them with humanitarian efforts. If you’re on either side of this equation and are unsure of how to move forward after looking at our Get Involved page, please send an e-mail to coreteam@gwob.org

Why We’re Needed
We connect hacker communities to first responders so they can solve the problems that arise in disaster areas. We work with both those in need of aid and those who can give help. We specialize in R&D, communication, networking, and non-traditional solutions for specialized problems. We put bleeding edge technology to work right where it’s most important.

We are a unique, existing network which listens to those who know what they need most, and delivers such solutions in a respectful and accessible form.

Our Goals and Objectives
A plethora of benevolent organizations exist, but currently have no way of networking and sharing resources efficiently. Our goal is to bring these groups together and simplify their problems, handling communication roadblocks swiftly and easily. We intend to bridge and advance, motivate and educate.