{"id":368372,"date":"2021-06-30T17:59:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-30T17:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uat.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/?post_type=blog&p=368372"},"modified":"2025-04-07T22:19:35","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T22:19:35","slug":"maps-are-a-change-agents-best-friend","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/maps-are-a-change-agents-best-friend","title":{"rendered":"Maps Are a Change Agent’s Best Friend"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nonprofits use maps to create positive change and
advance their mission.<\/h2>\n\n

What is the issue a community is facing, where is it happening, who are the people involved, and what do on-the-ground conditions look like? These are the questions that nonprofits and mission-driven organizations working to create positive change need to understand. These are also the questions these organizations need to be able to show others to inspire them and get them onboard with their cause – whether it\u2019s raising awareness and educating the public, inspiring citizens to take action, seeking support from donors, or  advocating for change with policymakers and elected officials.<\/p>\n\n

Maps provide an effective and compelling vehicle for change agents to further their mission. Maps make complex data understandable and inspire others to take action. And they are personal – communities can use maps to see where they live, work, and play, and better understand how economic, social, and environmental concerns intersect and what issues need to be addressed.<\/p>\n\n

Democracy Labs<\/a>, a not-for-profit organization founded in 2017, supports citizens and other nonprofits in democracy, activism, and community organizing. Co-founded by Deepak Puri and his wife, Shareen Punian, Democracy Labs applies innovative technology to social justice, voting rights, and environmental causes.<\/p>\n\n

For example, Democracy Labs created the following map<\/a> with the nonprofit Fatal Encounters<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

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Fatal encounters with police are documented across the U.S. Pop-up information per case reveals additional detail about the person, information released by the police, and other pertinent content. A tabular interface at the bottom of the map provides additional ways of exploring the data. <\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

The objectives of the map are to make it easier for people to get the facts on where encounters with the police in the United States have ended in fatalities and demand their elected officials support reform. It shows incidents of fatal encounters over time. Details about each encounter are overlaid with political districts, including who the congressional representatives and senators are for a given location. The map makes the information easily understandable and digestible, as well as searchable based on selected criteria.<\/p>\n\n

“Maps are like sandwiches,” says Deepak Puri. “You can see all the layers together in a single entity that is greater than the sum of its parts and provides an integrated view of the context surrounding an incident.”<\/p><\/blockquote><\/section>\n\n

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Multimedia Stories That Inform and Inspire<\/h3>\n\n

Nonprofits can also share maps in the form of StoryMaps: \u201cStoryMaps are a wonderful way for nonprofits to create compelling stories to share their work and attract more support,\u201d says Puri. StoryMaps tell a rich, multimedia story that combines maps, text, images and video. For example, in the StoryMap Cable hates Biden’s internet plan<\/a><\/em>, interactive maps show the lack of internet access by county across the United States, as well as household income levels. A \u201cswipe\u201d map allows a side-by-side comparison that reveals a correlation between relatively higher and lower levels of internet access and income. With internet access tightly connected to access to jobs, resources, and critical information such as public health data, lower areas of access are disadvantaged and on the wrong side of the \u201cdigital divide.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

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The map on the left shows lack of internet access. Pop-ups provide additional detail on the numbers of households and the overall percentage of the population by county without internet access (28.8% of the population in San Juan County, New Mexico, do not have internet). The map on the right shows income level. The “swipe” feature allows for quick side-by-side comparisons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Multimedia content \u2013 such as news articles, videos, and White House fact sheets \u2013 further draws out these connections and also tracks how major internet providers are resisting government efforts to provide greater internet access to these communities.<\/p>\n\n

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