Today we’d like to introduce you to Nile Fossett and Leah Barnes
Hi Nile and Leah, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Nile: Both of us value the importance of community engagement and volunteering. Last summer, while we were both catching up over the phone, Leah had asked about what volunteer opportunities existed for senior communities. I mentioned the Foster Grandparents program and that sometimes schools seek volunteers to support classrooms, but I also thought: “Hmm, wouldn’t it be great if all of these community resources could be aggregated in one place?” – that’s when we came up with the idea of Needs Notebook. We didn’t have a name for it at first, but we knew we wanted to make a repository of community resources that is easily accessible and relevant for the communities we chose to target. We decided on Baltimore, the D.C. area and Philadelphia because each city holds personal importance to us. I am from Anne Arundel County, Maryland, but I have spent a lot of time volunteering with my family in communities in Baltimore. Both of us attended the University of Maryland, College Park, which is in the D.C. metro area, so we thought that would be another great area to compile resources for. Lastly, Leah is from Philadelphia and has a great understanding of the community service landscape there. We started with interviewing people who could be potential users or stakeholders of Needs Notebook: social workers, community org leaders, education professionals and other community members. Also, my family hosts a weekly food giveaway in Baltimore on Friday mornings, and last summer, I would interview people who came for the food giveaway to learn how they learned about the giveaway, if they used digital means to find out, and how comfortable they are with technology. While doing this, we built out the design for the site and started to draft the content for the site and Instagram page. Additionally, we researched organizations in each city that offered food, clothing, hygiene items, baby items, senior activities and other needs. We reached out to each organization to learn more and to build relationships. It took about a year to fully launch.
Leah: I second what Nile said. In the last job that I held, I was responsible for finding local community events to attend to promote our services, usually at a grassroots level. I found that many of the events I would attend, whether it be community food drives, clothes giveaways or even community baby showers were all promoted via word of mouth. For organizations that have been around longer, it worked out because they already had a built in audience to serve, however for organizations who may be newer or unknown, often times you would see donations and other items go unused.
On the other hand, organizations who have funding or volunteer manpower sometimes have difficulty finding grassroots organizations who may align with their goals and mission to donate funding and time to.
Once Nile and I discussed this in more detail, we realized there was a gap between grass root organizations and those who receive from or donate to these organizations. Having this understanding made it easier to delve back into our own communities and see how we could better connect community members to create an ecosystem with community resource promotion in mind.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Nile: Because we are both passionate about community service, our passion has driven us this far; however, building something new is not easy. I wouldn’t necessarily call it a struggle, but it took time to define exactly what we wanted Needs Notebook to be. We realized there is a dual need: people looking for resources to meet their needs, but also organizations looking to connect with each other to meet their needs. We are learning to accept that Needs Notebook serves a greater purpose than we originally thought, so we have to expand and pivot.
Leah: There are definitely challenges, but I think the biggest lesson has been to believe in the outcome even if the road doesn’t seem too clear. As a startup, you often times need others to invest at minimum interest in what you are creating. We are grateful that the organizations that we reached out to who also decided to work with us, saw the importance in what we are trying to build. The vision and goal of this project is bigger than promoting events. It’s about connecting people to necessary tools to improve their daily lives. If we look at it from that point of impact, metrics that we count from day to day seem small in comparison.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Nile: Throughout my career so far, I have sat somewhere between tech, data and communication. I majored in Communication and minored in Technology Entrepreneurship and Chinese at the University of Maryland, College Park. I always had a passion for the social sciences and research, but tech also really intrigued me. I also did my Master of Public Administration at Columbia, where I focused in ICT and Data. In a world where technology is advancing faster than we realize, I pride myself on having a social sciences and humanities background, where I can build cool things with human needs at the forefront. Additionally, my family has exposed me to community service and philanthropy since a very young age, so I am really proud of my ability to build community digitally and in-person.
Leah: Career wise, I have worked in various fields from health communications, sales and marketing, and currently outreach and clinical research for aging populations. I studied Community Health at the University of Maryland, College Park, which is now recognized as Public Health Practice, and minored in Technology Entrepreneurship. I am currently completing my Masters in Public Administration at the University of Pennsylvania. My interest lie in public health policy/administration, and disease outcomes in relation to access to quality care. My parents who work in healthcare and social services, instilled in my sister and I the importance of recognizing that everyone deserves the right to be cared for and that if you can give back, do. I have always prided myself on being able to connect people to resources, whether that be information, tangible resources, or people.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
Nile: We are always looking for organizations that would like to be featured on Needs Notebook. Not only are we seeking resources or events that orgs are hosting, we would also love to know if you’re seeking volunteers or item donations for your org! Additionally, we would like individuals/groups who are seeking volunteer opportunities to connect with us so that we can connect you to orgs who could use your help. Currently, our focus is on Baltimore, D.C. and Philadelphia, but we are looking to expand soon – reach out anyways! Thank you to everyone who has reached out and worked with us so far.
Leah: We would like to thank the organizations who have partnered with us on our journey of creating Needs Notebook and the growing relationships we have with our partners, and we look forward to the partnerships we will develop in the future.
Please share Needs Notebook platform with your networks, organizations, friends and family. We are also always seeking feedback to see how we can better meet the needs of the community. <3
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.needsnotebook.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/needsnotebook/
