Pro Data Professionals
Adrian, Brooklyn Data Company
Background
Adrian is a Chicago-based data analyst with four years of experience in the field. Adrian joined Prometheus with expertise in a number of data tools and languages, including Python, SQL, Looker, and FiveTrann, among others, but was looking for ways to apply his skills to make a difference. Adrian hoped to dedicate up to eight hours per week to support organizations working to drive education and community development.
"As a data professional, my experience collaborating with Prometheus has been exceptional. Their supportive and forward-thinking approach to empowering nonprofits with data-driven solutions is truly important work. I highly recommend any data professional to work with Prometheus and be a part of their mission to make a positive impact in the nonprofit sector." - Adrian (Data Analyst, Brooklyn Data Company)
Process
Selecting a Project
Adrian applied to a Data & Analytics project for an international nonprofit partner that provides leadership and entrepreneurship programs to promote youth empowerment.
The organization, the International Transformation Foundation (ITF), supports some programs through a robust network of member volunteers and was looking to build out a web-based membership database to allow for live read- and write-access and answer key reporting metrics like how membership numbers have changed over time.
As part of our tech talent network, Adrian was able to view the Project Specs and confirm the project requirements matched his interest areas and skill level.
Project development & delivery
Adrian met with Prometheus to ensure he had the necessary skills and time required to take on this ITF project. Once matched, a Prometheus Project Manager handled all of the operational hurdles, including scheduling the kick-off meeting, design sign offs and delivery calls with our nonprofit partner.
ITF tracked membership data in Excel, which limited their ability to scale and keep information up to date with their remote team. Adrian worked with ITF to first refine the project requirements before development. He specifically designed and set up an Airtable database to consolidate and centralize all member information in one place. Existing application forms were transferred into web-based forms so that the information would flow directly into their database and they could facilitate their application review process and manage their members all in one place. During the delivery call, Adrian provided the nonprofit with a demo and detailed documentation so that ITF could maintain this database over time.
Impact & Learning
Learnings
While this project drew on skills Adrian already had in his arsenal, to make ongoing maintenance as easy as possible for ITF, Adrian incorporated Airtable, a low-code database tool, into his solution and gained mastery of the tool in the process. As he shared with the Prometheus team: “I had never used Airtable and found that it can be a very powerful tool for the right application.” Additionally, Adrian reported that working directly with the client helped grow leadership skills such as time management and effective communication.
Impact
Adrian’s favorite part of this engagement was knowing that the tool he set up would make things easier for ITF, and it certainly has. As the organization’s leadership noted: the membership database helped them tackle the problem of having to update their membership database offline and also improved their membership recruiting process, which was not even an original project goal. Overall, the tool that Adrian built, which took less than 50 hours to develop, saved ITF significant staff time and resources.