Hi, I’m Joe.
For the last 13 years I’ve been using words to help small and medium size charities and social enterprises win grants and contracts. I wrote my first bid in 2004 (it succeeded) and I haven’t looked back since.
And for the last 7 years I’ve also been blending words with tech to create more scalable social impact. I’m ex-founder of the multi-award winning Mind Of My Own app for children in care, author of 73 Tech for Good articles at Innovation Labs and 35 at the Tech for Good Hub. So I know what it takes to make tech for good projects successful and sustainable.
That track record is rooted in my ability to tell engaging stories and craft winning proposals. To make words work.
And its nourished by my ability to identify and create user, social and economic value. In tech projects that’s the tech for good triple helix.
I’m always looking for new ways to help others be just as successful. Sometimes I charge, sometimes I do this pro-bono. Either way, I promise to make a difference to your project.
What you get Working with Joe
I’m known for having a direct and up-front approach. If you work with me, you can expect that I’ll be open and direct with you; from the first moment we speak to the final day we work together.
You can also expect that I’ll bring a flair and passion for user-centred solutions, combined with a steady, critical focus on achieving the outcomes you want.
Credentials
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- Raised £7,347,000 in grant funding from charitable trusts for local and national projects, and millions more in local government contracts.
- Worked with grant-making teams at Comic Relief, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and the Nominet Trust
- Delivered projects funded by the Big Lottery, Tudor Trust and other major funders
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- Founded Mind Of My Own (MOMO), a serial award winning app for young people in care. Grew it into one of the UK’s most successful tech for good startups.
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- MOMO selected as a Nesta New Radical 2016.
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- Sold £510,000 of MOMO subscriptions to local authorities.
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- Authored the E book ‘Learning from the Labs: how to fund and deliver social tech for charities and social enterprises‘. This was after tracking 7 tech for good products for Innovation Labs.
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- Wrote 73 articles on how to build and sustain tech for good projects and products.
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- Used a broad range of mentors and consultants at different points to develop products and grow businesses. So I know what it’s like to bring an external consultant into a new project and how to utilise them effectively.
- 8 years experience of working with software development agencies – I know their needs and language when working with charities and startups.
- 12 years experience as a mental health advocate, participation worker and service manager where I led sector change with the Headspace Self-Advocacy Toolkit (2005) and the Through the Maze advocacy guide (2008).
What I’m not so good at
Cooking (fortunately I love eating sausages and steam veg often).
DIY (though I’m making progress).
Social media (I’d rather listen than talk).
And, of course, there’s always aspects of my services that I think I could improve on. At the time of writing this update (Jan 2018) here’s whats in my improvement plan:
- Smarter use of semi-colons, because they’re one of the most challenging, but useful punctuation tools
- Reduce use of glue words in every first draft, to reduce editing time
- Identify new ways of using empathy maps to test a business model canvas
And I’m dead set on becoming a Copyblogger certified content marketer and getting better at explaining why content matters to tech for good projects (and non-tech projects too, for that matter).
What’s your biggest challenge right now?
Tell me your funding or tech for good related situation and I’ll give you 30 minutes advice that moves you forward – for free.