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PHOTO COURTESY OF MOTHERCODERS
In 1987, journalist Daniel Ben-Horin came
up with the idea to create a technology mentoring
system to help nonprofits and schools in the
Bay Area. Now known as TechSoup, Ben-Horin’s
idea was born from his experience witnessing two
simultaneous challenges: Social activists were desperately
lacking access to new technologies and
the skill sets needed to apply them to their work,
while the area’s techies desired to contribute to
social change, but didn’t know where to start. So
Ben-Horin set out to make connections between
these groups of people. That connection is still part
of TechSoup’s mission today.
“TechSoup is a network of international
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) all working
on a common mission. We use technology to help
communities connect and develop innovative
solutions, so we have a more equitable planet,”
says Rebecca Masisak, CEO of TechSoup.
The nonprofit organization collaborates with 61
of the world’s leading civil society organizations
to improve lives with technology. These partners
serve communities in nearly every region of the
world. There are 12 million nonprofit organizations
globally today, and TechSoup’s Global Network has
reached 1.2 million of them—delivering greater