Coordinating Aid and Information for Displaced Populations

In Nigeria, a convergence of conflict, environmental disasters, and climate change has led to widespread internal displacement, affecting millions. Recent statistics indicate that Nigeria is home to over 8,500,000 IDPs, individuals who have been forcibly displaced, and is host to about 100,000 refugees. These populations are often scattered across diverse and challenging terrains, from urban centers to remote areas, many of which suffer from poor or destroyed infrastructures, notably in terms of connectivity .

The specific problems we are addressing include the significant challenge of accessing reliable and timely information and essential services due organizational silos; poor situational awareness about population concentrations, flood risk and major natural and anthropogenic features; inconsistent internet connectivity and the geographical spread of displaced populations. These issues are critical as they hamper the ability of government and NGO service providers to respond to crises and displaced individuals, particularly vulnerable groups such as women and girls, to access vital services including healthcare, legal aid, and educational opportunities. Furthermore, the lack of reliable information exacerbates the risks women and girls face, including exposure to human traffickers and difficulty in receiving timely aid during natural disasters like floods.  A total of 148 local government areas in Lagos, Kano, Delta, and 28 other states had been categorised as high flood-risk areas according to the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, an agency of the Federal Government.

This connectivity gap severely impacts the safety, wellbeing, and economic stability of displaced communities in Nigeria. It also makes it difficult for the entities charged with anticipating and responding to crises to have a holistic view of the problems and resources available. By identifying and addressing this gap, the foundation for developing effective interventions can be laid, ensuring that all members of displaced communities, regardless of their location or the state of local infrastructure, can access the critical resources needed to improve their conditions.

Our solution, the trellyz platform, offers both a web-based portal and a mobile app designed to support both service providers and the affected populations in Nigeria, particularly addressing challenges intensified by displacement, conflict, and the added strain of natural and climate impacts. The platform leverages advanced interactive mapping layers and geospatial tools to ensure resilience and effective response in these compounded crisis situations, facilitating critical aid and information flow even under the most challenging conditions. The trellyz software is the first ever designed designed for multi-entity coordination and collaboration, allowing networks of organizations to work together to respond to crises.

1. Web-Based Portal for Stakeholders: a dynamic coordination and data integration hub. that provides:

• Advanced Geospatial Mapping: Utilizing interactive map layers, the platform allows stakeholders to map and view resources and affected populations, to identify gaps in service provision and optimize the allocation of resources.

• Integrated Disaster Response Coordination: Streamlining communication and operational planning among various stakeholders through a many-to-many network coordination approach, improving impact.

• Resource Mapping in Crisis: Situational awareness and decision-making in disaster scenarios where time is of the essence.

• Collaborative Capacity Enhancement: The platform breaks down operational silos by providing shared visibility across different organizations and stakeholders, enabling collective problem-solving and capacity building.

Mobile App for the Affected Population: Designed for individuals in displacement and conflict zones, this app empowers users by providing continuous access to life-saving information and services, even in challenging circumstances like disasters. The app is tailored to enhance resilience by fostering personal agency, enabling users to proactively locate resources and assistance:

•  Empowerment through Information: Users can independently access a database of services, organizations, and resources that are nearest to them, using GPS and geolocation technologies. This self-directed access to information enhances their safety and wellbeing by empowering them to make informed decisions about their immediate needs.

• Real-Time Updates and Safety Alerts: The app delivers crucial updates during disasters, including safe evacuation routes and the locations of nearest aid stations. It also provides emergency contact numbers, all of which are accessible offline, ensuring that users can receive vital information whenever they need it, regardless of connectivity status.

• Support for Low-Connectivity Users: Populations, especially, who often have lower access to connectivity, can receive information from “digital envoys,” community members with some level of connectivity who disseminate information to others from the app. Additionally, local community leaders and places of worship act as ambassadors, spreading critical information and ensuring it reaches those who are most in need.

By enabling both individual action and community support, the app not only addresses the immediate needs arising from conflict and displacement but also builds long-term resilience by equipping users with the tools and information necessary to navigate their challenging environments effectively.

Our solution targets displaced populations in Nigeria, with a specific emphasis on enhancing the resilience and safety of women and girls, who are often the most vulnerable during disasters. By empowering women, we inherently strengthen the entire community, creating a multiplier effect that enhances societal well-being.

Target Population: While our platform serves all displaced persons, it places a special emphasis on women and girls due to their pivotal role in community stability and development. In disaster-prone areas, these individuals are particularly susceptible due to their roles in agriculture and their limited access to timely information and resources. By addressing their needs, our solution not only supports them directly but also benefits broader communities through improved resilience and preparedness.

Impact of the Solution:

1. Advanced Mapping for Disaster Preparedness and Response: Utilizing the advanced mapping capabilities of our web-based platform, we can pinpoint flood-prone areas, enabling better planning and resource allocation. This information is critical for preparing communities before disasters strike and for coordinating effective responses when they do, ensuring that aid reaches where it is most needed, quickly and efficiently.

2. Accessible Information and Resource Mapping: Our platform provides detailed maps and resource locations that are vital for women and girls, helping them access water points, healthcare, and safe shelters. This targeted information is crucial, especially in rural areas where traditional gender roles may restrict women’s mobility and access to information.

3. Community Engagement and Empowerment: By incorporating feedback mechanisms and local knowledge, our app ensures that solutions are culturally appropriate and effectively meet the specific needs of women, enhancing their participation in decision-making processes and community leadership.

4. Educational Content and Climate Resilience: The platform delivers content on climate-resilient practices and sustainable resource management, empowering women to adapt their agricultural activities to changing environmental conditions, thereby securing their livelihoods and contributing to economic stability.

5. Enhancing Safety and Preparedness: Tailored alerts and safety information provide women with actionable guidance during emergencies, such as floods, ensuring they can make informed decisions about their safety and the safety of their dependents.

6. Strengthening Local Networks: By improving coordination among NGOs, government bodies, and local groups, including women’s organizations, our solution facilitates a unified approach to tackling gender-specific challenges and enhancing overall community resilience.

Our comprehensive approach not only addresses the immediate and specific needs of women and girls but also leverages their pivotal role to foster broader societal resilience. By equipping them with the tools and information needed to face the challenges of displacement and climate change, we enhance the stability and well-being of entire communities.

Our team is uniquely positioned to deliver this solution due to our extensive engagement and established relationships within the communities we aim to serve, particularly in Nigeria. Our approach is deeply rooted in collaboration with local stakeholders, including direct input and guidance from the communities affected by the issues our solution addresses.

Community Engagement and Local Partnerships: We have demonstrated our commitment to Nigeria through the Climate Resilience Salon we sponsored and organized in Nigeria to catalyze and amplify technology enable solutions of women with lived experience of climate impacts. This event was not only a platform for understanding specific local challenges but also served as a catalyst for ongoing relationships with female Delegates, many from rural and disaster prone areas, who are developing their own solutions to climate impacts.

Government and Institutional Relationships: Through our Climate Salon our team has built strong, collaborative relationships with key governmental and institutional stakeholders at both state and national levels. This includes direct ties with the Director of the Nigeria Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Federal Ministry of Environment, other relevant departments focused on environment, climate, women, and girls, large NGOs and community organizations. These relationships enhance our ability to navigate the complexities of implementing tech-based solutions in varied and challenging settings, ensuring that our initiatives are aligned with national strategies and local needs.

Integration of Community Feedback: The design and implementation of our solutions are heavily guided by the input, ideas, and agendas of the communities we serve. This is evidenced by our ongoing interactions with local leaders, community organizations, and the direct feedback mechanisms embedded within our platforms, such as the RefAid app. These tools not only gather insights from users but also allow us to continually adapt our services to meet evolving needs and conditions on the ground.

Proven Track Record and Technical Expertise: Our 8 years of experience with the RefAid app, which serves displaced populations across 50 countries and is utilized by over 10,000 organizations, provides a solid foundation for the scalability and effectiveness of our proposed solution. This experience is complemented by our team’s ability to deliver robust, resilient technology solutions that are tailored to the specific challenges faced by displaced communities, especially in regions prone to climate-related disasters.

By leveraging our deep-rooted local connections, comprehensive understanding of the landscape, and proven technological expertise, our team is not only well-equipped but also deeply committed to making a significant impact on the lives of those affected by displacement and climate challenges in Nigeria.

Our platform was originally created to be able to build and launch mobile apps within hours, but the problem we were initially trying to solve (to give people with large audiences the ability to own their own channels and data) was not yet perceived as critical. When the Syrian war started and we saw the huge number of people coming to Europe with little more than their mobile phones, we created an app in 2016, RefAid. Over a weekend and began onboarding organizations such as the British Red Cross, Caritas and dozens of others initially in the UK, Greece and Italy. The ability to self-service publish their services onto a single mobile app that shows users the aid and resources closest to them, combined with the first ever mult-entity platform where service providers could see their own and other organization resources on a map and list view, created viral growth. The current platform is the natural progression from humanitarian use cases to disaster response and other capabilities critical to coordinating humanitarian and public sector responses across networks of organizations.

Although we have a large international footprint and are looking to continue scaling our solution, we  have achieved tremendous growth without external capital. We have supported the RefAid app for free in 49 of the 50 countries where it is being used, with services from around 10,000 organizations. Our platform’s multi-entity mapping, data visualization and situational awareness came to the attention of a network of transportation agencies and 9 San Francisco Bay Area counties, led by the Metropolitan Transportation Agency, who needed a single platform where more than 50 organizations (with hundreds of organization users) could see interactive layers of fire and flood (and other disasters), transit routes and real-time schedules and hundreds of other types of data, in one place. This was our first commercial customer and allowed us to continue building out our disaster management and other capabilities for government and humanitarian use cases. We generate enough revenue to cover our costs, our small team, and to support the RefAid app in the US, Europe, and Turkey. We have had a consortium of NGOs, initially supported by EU funding, that has been a paying customer in Morocco for 4 years, serving more than 50 refugee focused organizations and migrants who transit through Morocco into Spain and Europe.

Our software is enterprise grade, has redundancy (servers and data centers in many countries, is infinitely scalable and adheres to the highest level of data protection. It can be configured with various feature sets and launched into new countries within hours. The biggest test of its scalability is the fact that there are so many organizations using it, and tens of thousands of end-users (displaced, migrant, refugee) use the mobile app on any given day.

Our RefAid app was the first ever social impact app to be featured in an App Store Feature article, Meet the Developer. It was awarded the Padre Arrupe Human Rights prize in 2021. And it has been part of the "Designing Peace Exhbit in Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum and the San Francisco Design Museum. The trellyz platform was awarded the TechConnect Defense Innovation Award in 2022.

We are applying to Solve because we recognize the transformative potential of the Solve network to catalyze our efforts in scaling solutions across Africa and subsequently to other continents within the global south. Despite our success in bootstrapping and achieving substantial growth with minimal external funding, we have identified key areas where Solve's ecosystem could dramatically enhance our impact.

Networking and Partnerships: Our journey so far has been marked by significant organic growth through partnerships and direct engagements with service providers and stakeholders. By joining the Solve community, we anticipate connecting with a broader network of organizations that can help us expand our reach and deepen our impact, particularly in regions that are critical to our mission but where our presence is still growing.

Overcoming Barriers: We face several challenges that Solve's resources are uniquely positioned to help us overcome:

• Market: Entering new markets often involves navigating complex legal and cultural landscapes. Solve’s expertise and network can provide crucial guidance and insights, helping us tailor our solutions to meet local needs while complying with regional regulations.

• Cultural: Our focus on empowering vulnerable populations, particularly women and girls, necessitates a deep understanding of the local cultural context. Solve's network of local experts and community leaders can provide the on-the-ground insights needed to ensure our solutions are not only accepted but embraced.

Capacity Building and Visibility: The leadership coaching, workshops, and media exposure offered by Solve’s support program would be invaluable in enhancing our team’s capabilities and elevating our visibility on a global stage. This aligns perfectly with our goals of scaling our impact and enhancing our operational effectiveness.

Sustainable Growth: Although we have managed to sustain our operations and even provide our services for free in numerous countries, the support from Solve in finding potential funders, advisors, and partners could help us transition to a more sustainable model without sacrificing our commitment to accessibility and impact.

In summary, our application to Solve is driven by the desire to leverage Solve's network and resources to expand our reach, enhance our platform’s capabilities, and deepen our impact on the lives of displaced and vulnerable populations around the world. We believe that Solve’s ecosystem, combined with our proven solutions, will enable us to address the urgent needs of these communities more effectively and sustainably.

Our solution stands out in the landscape of humanitarian, nonprofit, government and disaster response technologies due to its unique many-to-many design and architecture. Unlike typical platforms that offer single-point solutions, our integrated platform facilitates a networked approach, enabling multiple organizations to collaborate, share data, and coordinate actions effectively. This design not only enhances the ability of various entities—ranging from government bodies to nonprofits—to work together seamlessly but also reduces duplication and waste and dramatically increases the efficiency and impact of their efforts through shared visibility of critical information.

Key Innovations:

1. Networked Multi-entity Coordination: Our platform's architecture is fundamentally designed to support complex networks of users and organizations. It allows groups of stakeholders to create and operate within shared networks, where visibility and access to data are controlled yet collaborative. This is a significant improvement over existing systems, which often operate in silos, hindering the timely exchange of information and coordinated response efforts.

2. Configurable Feature Sets: As a SaaS, cloud-based platform, we offer a highly configurable platform that can be tailored to include any combination of features needed by our clients—ranging from humanitarian service mapping and mobile accessibility to logistics and supply chain management, as well as incident and disaster management. This flexibility allows for rapid deployment tailored to the specific needs of a crisis or operational environment, without the lengthy delays typically associated with custom software development, and avoids the costs associated with customization.

3. Integrated Approach: By integrating various critical functions typically needed in the sector into a single platform, we provide a more holistic approach to the provision of services and responses to crises. This integration ensures that data relevant to one function (like supply chain and logistics) can enhance other areas (such as incident response) seamlessly, leading to more informed decision-making and efficient resource allocation.

Catalyzing Broader Positive Impacts: Our platform's innovative approach encourages a more collaborative and transparent ecosystem in humanitarian aid and disaster response, improving governance. By enabling multiple entities to work together effectively, it reduces redundancy and ensures that resources are deployed where they are most needed, ultimately increasing the overall impact of aid efforts. Additionally, the ease of configuration and deployment encourages adoption even in resource-constrained settings, potentially setting a new standard for how technology is used in complex humanitarian scenarios.

Changing the Market/Landscape: The flexibility and comprehensive nature of our solution could redefine the market for humanitarian and disaster response technologies. By demonstrating that integrated, multi-functional platforms are not only feasible but also highly effective, we can inspire a shift away from single-purpose tools towards more versatile, adaptable solutions. This could lead to broader industry changes, where interoperability and multi-entity collaboration become the norm, thereby enhancing the global capacity to manage disasters and humanitarian crises more effectively.

Theory of Change for the trellyz Platform

Activities:

• Deployment of an Integrated Platform: We implement a multi-functional, configurable platform across networks of governmental and non-governmental organizations involved in humanitarian aid and disaster response.

• Customized Onboarding Process: Using our Playbook, we engage with key stakeholders to tailor the platform and mobile app deployment to local needs and conditions.

• Training and Capacity Building: We provide training sessions on the platform’s features like data sharing, resource mapping, and incident management.

• Community Engagement and Feedback Loops: We regularly engage with users to gather feedback and refine functionalities, ensuring the platform evolves with stakeholder needs.

Immediate Outputs:

• Increased Collaboration Among Stakeholders: Use of our platform leads to enhanced data access and coordinated efforts.

• Enhanced Access to Information: Vulnerable groups, particularly displaced women and children, gain access to real-time information on aid, resources, and safety protocols.

• Improved Response Times: Enhanced coordination and information sharing reduce response times to incidents and disasters.

Long-Term Outcomes:

• Reduced Redundancy in Aid Delivery: Coordinated efforts ensure more efficient resource use.

• Increased Resilience of Vulnerable Populations: Continuous access to information helps populations become more resilient to socio-economic and environmental challenges.

• Sustainable Community Development: Enhanced local capabilities foster long-term development and self-reliance.

Evidence to Support the Theory of Change:

• Potential of Big Data in Emergency Management: Research from "A Big Data Reference Architecture for Emergency Management, Information 2020" shows significant benefits of digital humanitarianism, suggesting room for pioneering advancements with our platform.

• Integration and Efficiency in ICT Deployment: The "Nepal Earthquake 2015 Post Disaster Needs Assessment" by the Government of Nepal illustrates how ICT can transform government efficiency and enhance disaster recovery.

• Systematic Review of Humanitarian Innovation: Bruder and Baar (2024) advocate for a systems perspective on innovation, highlighting the need for scalable practices, which our platform supports.

• Research on Refugees’ Digital Access: UNHCR's study on "Space and Imagination" reveals how offline mobile apps are essential for refugees' access to services, emphasizing the need for digital tools that accommodate connectivity limitations.

This condensed theory of change illustrates how our activities directly lead to tangible, positive changes for our target populations, grounded in empirical evidence and aligned with global research trends. We continue to refine our approach based on feedback and new partnerships to further strengthen these links.

Impact Goals for the trellyz Platform in Nigeria

Goal 1: Enhance Disaster Response Efficiency in Nigeria

• Objective: Reduce response times to natural disasters and emergencies in Nigeria by 30% within the next three years.

• Indicators:

  • Average time from disaster onset to initial response within Nigeria.

  • Number of Nigerian stakeholders using the platform for coordinated response efforts.

Goal 2: Improve Access to Critical Services for Displaced Populations in Nigeria

• Objective: Increase access to essential services like healthcare, shelter, and food for at least 500,000 displaced individuals in Nigeria by 2025 through collaboration with 500 local organizations.

• Indicators:

  • Number of displaced individuals in Nigeria accessing services through the platform.

  • Frequency of service access improvements reported by users in Nigeria.

Goal 3: Establish and Rapidly Expand Mobile App Usage in Nigeria

• Objective: Launch the mobile app in Nigeria and facilitate its adoption to reach over 500,000 individuals (with 50,000 users downloading the app and having the digital envoy multiplier affect, where the typical user shares with 10 other people) in the first year by partnering with 500 organizations, each extending the app to their networks and beneficiaries.

• Indicators:

  • Number of app downloads and active users in Nigeria within the first year.

  • User demographics data to ensure targeted outreach, especially to women and children.

  • Initial user feedback on app functionality and content relevance, collected through in-app surveys and focus groups.

Goal 4: Foster Sustainable Community Development in Nigeria

• Objective: Support 500 local organizations and communities in Nigeria to use the platform for development initiatives by 2026, driving broader socio-economic growth.

• Indicators:

  • Number of organizations and community projects actively using the platform in Nigeria.

  • Specific examples of community-driven projects facilitated by the platform.

Measuring Progress and Preparing for Expansion: We will employ robust quantitative and qualitative methods to monitor progress, including analytics for app usage, surveys for user satisfaction, and continuous feedback from partner organizations. This data-driven approach will not only help us adjust and improve our platform in real time but also provide a solid foundation of evidence to support scaling our solution.

Scaling Beyond Nigeria: Nigeria serves as a critical pilot for this expansive network approach. Success here will lay the groundwork for scaling our platform across Africa, adapting lessons learned and strategies that have proven effective in Nigeria to other contexts within the continent. This model of scalable impact through networked organizational collaboration offers a replicable blueprint for transformative change in similar environments globally.

Core Technology Powering the trellyz Platform

Our platform is powered by an enterprise level, cloud-based technology stack designed to streamline data integration, enhance communication, and improve service delivery in humanitarian and disaster response scenarios.

Network-Driven Architectural Design: Built on a unique network architecture, our platform supports many-to-many collaboration among diverse organizations like government agencies and nonprofits. This setup enhances communication and coordination across stakeholders, streamlines service and data integration, and ensures rapid, effective resource mobilization.

Geospatial Mapping and GPS Technology: We utilize advanced geospatial mapping and GPS technologies for real-time, accurate mapping of resources, services, and incidents, crucial for effective situational awareness and resource allocation – enabling groups of organizational users to view data in interactive layers.

Mobile and Web-Based Applications: Our web application for stakeholders enables the publishing of information to a single mobile apps designed to operate offline to ensure accessibility in low-connectivity areas, making vital information and services available at all times.

Big Data Analytics and AI: By leveraging big data and AI, our platform analyzes large datasets to enhance decision-making and anticipate needs, optimizing resource distribution. AI algorithms improve pattern recognition and predictive analytics, allowing for preemptive actions based on user feedback and interaction patterns.

Digital Envoys and Communal Knowledge Sharing: Inspired by traditional communal sharing, our "Digital Envoys" feature enables individuals with intermittent internet access to distribute updates and critical information offline. This method enhances community resilience and ensures inclusivity in information dissemination.

Integrating Ancestral Knowledge with Modern Technology: Our platform innovatively blends cutting-edge technology with traditional community structures and knowledge systems, mirroring the communal, network-based organization of societies. This integration respects and utilizes the natural organization of communities—such as leaders, ministers, tribes, and other social structures—to facilitate information dissemination and resource sharing. By leveraging the concept of a communal plate of food, our digital envoy feature enables individuals with intermittent internet access to share critical updates with others who may lack digital connectivity, akin to sharing resources in a communal setting. This approach not only ensures technological solutions are culturally sensitive and community-focused but also strengthens the social fabric and promotes sustainable practices within communities. The use of modern tools like geospatial mapping and big data, combined with this communal approach, enhances our platform’s effectiveness and acceptance, fostering a holistic and inclusive disaster response and community resilience strategy.

Conclusion: The trellyz platform is a fusion of cutting-edge technology and traditional principles, designed to address the unique challenges of conflict zones, disaster-impacted and low-connectivity communities. By integrating these elements, we aim to build a more inclusive, efficient, and sustainable system that not only addresses immediate challenges but also fosters long-term resilience.

Evidence of Technology Effectiveness for the trellyz Platform

Our confidence in the trellyz platform's effectiveness is supported by concrete outcomes from its deployment, positive user feedback, and the continuous enhancement of its features:

1. Proven Success in Diverse Applications:

• Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC): Our platform has been successfully deployed by the MTC, where it facilitated the coordination of over 50 organizations across nine San Francisco Bay Area counties. This deployment showcased our platform’s capacity to manage complex data layers and support real-time decision-making, significantly enhancing regional transportation and emergency response strategies.
• Humanitarian Assistance in Morocco: In Morocco, the platform has been used by a consortium of NGOs to improve services for migrants and refugees. Testimonials from these deployments highlight the platform’s impact on improving service delivery and resource allocation, demonstrating its adaptability to different cultural and operational contexts.

2. User Feedback and Engagement Metrics:

• User feedback, particularly from entities like the MTC and NGOs in Morocco, underscores significant improvements in communication efficiency and operational coordination. Engagement metrics from these users indicate high satisfaction and utility, validating the platform’s effectiveness.

3. Innovative Community Engagement:

• Our use of digital envoys, drawing on traditional communal sharing practices, has enabled vital information dissemination in regions with limited connectivity, proving critical during emergencies and in everyday community coordination.

4. Continuous Improvement Based on Feedback:

• The platform evolves through ongoing user input, enhancing its functionality and user interface to meet specific needs identified by our global user base. This adaptive approach ensures the technology remains at the forefront of disaster management and humanitarian aid.

Conclusion: The effectiveness of the trellyz platform is clearly demonstrated through its broad adoption, the significant positive feedback from diverse users, and specific successful deployments in challenging environments like the San Francisco Bay Area and Morocco. For more detailed insights, viewers are encouraged to view testimonial videos linked [insert link here], which further illustrate the real-world impact and benefits of our technology.

Our solution team:

3 full time staff

3 part time staff

3 contractors

8 years

At trellyz, we are committed to fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment that mirrors the communities we serve and enriches our mission. This commitment starts at the top—our founder, a Black American woman, embodies the values that drive our organizational culture and policies.

Diversity in Leadership and Team Composition:

• Our leadership reflects diverse backgrounds in terms of ethnicity, gender, and cultural experiences, ensuring a breadth of perspectives in decision-making. Our founder's vision and leadership inspire our strategic direction and daily operations, promoting a culture that values diverse voices.

• We actively recruit talent from diverse populations, focusing on inclusivity and representation, especially from historically marginalized groups. This includes strategic partnerships with educational institutions and non-profits dedicated to elevating underrepresented demographics.

Minimizing Barriers to Opportunity:

• We employ transparent hiring practices, including structured interviews and skill assessments, to minimize unconscious bias, ensuring equal opportunity based on merit and potential.

• Flexible working arrangements accommodate team members' varying needs, supporting those with different personal circumstances and responsibilities.

Inclusive Environment:

• Regular training on cultural competency, bias awareness, and inclusive practices is mandatory for all employees, including management, to ensure everyone feels welcomed, respected, and valued.

• Our internal policies strictly prohibit discrimination and harassment, with robust procedures for reporting and addressing concerns safely and confidentially.

Actions and Future Goals:

• We support women through our global initiative, such as the Climate Resilience Salons, where we bring together, mentor and support women from rural and underrepresented populations to take a more active role in designing solutions for climate impacts.

• In the future we intend to create a Diversity and Inclusion Committee, representing all organizational levels, annually reviews and recommends improvements to our DEI practices.

• Initiatives like mentorship programs support professional development for underrepresented groups within our team, promoting equal access to advancement opportunities.

Conclusion: Our dedication to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace is critical to our success and the impact we seek to create worldwide. By ensuring our team reflects a wide range of human experiences and perspectives, led by a founder who is a Black American woman, we enhance our capacity to innovate and effectively address the challenges our mission aims to tackle.

trellyz Business Model Description:

Core Offering: trellyz provides a SaaS platform designed for scalability and flexibility, supporting multi-organization collaboration in humanitarian aid, public health, disaster response, and supply chain logistics. It features advanced communication tools, data visualization, and real-time information sharing capabilities.

Target Markets: Our primary customers are government agencies, nonprofits, and international organizations engaged in humanitarian and public service projects, especially those requiring coordination across multiple sectors and regions, such as USAID, the EU, national and state governments, and international development initiatives.

Pricing Structure: trellyz employs a tiered pricing model tailored to the scale of impact:

• Tier 1: For small-scale local projects.

• Tier 2: Suitable for larger projects within countries or regional efforts.

• Tier 3: Intended for national-level or extensive regional programs.

• Flat Annual Fee: Offered to networks of organizations, this fee structure incentivizes mass adoption and ensures comprehensive access without the need for individual subscriptions. This approach discourages inefficient practices like password sharing among users, common in the sector due to per-user fees, and promotes legitimate, secure usage of our platform across all relevant stakeholders.

Unique Value Proposition:

• Granular Permissions and Customization: Our platform allows for detailed role assignments and data access controls, ensuring security and privacy while promoting transparency.

• Mobile App Integration: Enhances accessibility and engagement for beneficiaries, especially in remote or underserved areas.

• Comprehensive Support: Includes hosting, training, project management, and customer support to facilitate implementation and operation.

Revenue and Sustainability: Revenue generated from our tiered subscriptions and flat fees funds continuous platform development, customer support services, and expansion into new markets. This model not only sustains our operational capabilities but also supports ongoing enhancements to meet emerging needs and challenges in the sectors we serve.

Impact Goals:

• Enhancing Operational Efficiency: Our tools help organizations streamline communication and manage data more effectively, improving overall operational efficiency.

• Driving Impactful Outcomes: Data visualization and real-time analytics empower organizations to make informed, data-driven decisions, thereby increasing the effectiveness and reach of their interventions.

• Expanding Global Reach: We aim to extend our services globally, prioritizing regions where technology can significantly improve public and humanitarian services.

Conclusion: The Trellyz business model is designed to support large-scale and impactful projects with a flexible, feature-rich platform. By aligning our pricing and service offerings with the strategic goals of global agencies and nonprofits, we ensure that our technology delivers significant value, addressing both immediate operational needs and long-term developmental objectives. This strategic alignment underscores our commitment to enhancing the effectiveness of humanitarian and public service projects worldwide.

Plan for Financial Sustainability

At trellyz, our financial sustainability is underpinned by a diversified revenue model that strategically leverages tiered subscription fees, flat annual fees for networked organizations, and customized contracts. This approach not only broadens our market reach but also maximizes revenue potential through direct and network-induced sales channels.

Revenue Streams:

1. Subscription Fees: Our flexible, tiered pricing model caters to a wide range of project scales, attracting a diverse customer base and ensuring a stable revenue flow.

2. Flat Annual Fees for Networks: We capitalize on network effects by contracting with central organizations that represent multiple network nodes. This setup allows us to expand our reach within each network through direct upsells for different use cases, significantly enhancing user base growth and revenue.

3. Custom Contracts: Tailored solutions for government agencies and large NGOs are developed through service contracts, providing substantial revenue and tailored engagements to meet large-scale needs.

Evidence of Success:

• Network Expansion and Contract Acquisition: Our contracts with entities like the Metropolitan Transportation Commission exemplify our ability to engage at a network level, leading to extended contracts and deeper penetration into associated organizations. This approach not only solidifies our financial base but also fosters ongoing engagement and upselling opportunities within each network.

• Break Even with No Outside Capital: With our small team we have covered our costs while scaling into 50 countries. This is a testament to our effective market strategies and the inherent demand for our scalable solutions.

• Funding and Investment: We have relied on bootstrapping and customers to support our growth.

Long-Term Financial Strategy: To ensure long-term sustainability, we are focused on enhancing our global presence, continually upgrading our platform to maintain technological leadership, and reinvesting in market expansion. Our strategy includes:

• Market Expansion: Entering new geographic and sectoral markets to diversify our client base.

• R&D Investment: Continual investment in research and development to keep our offerings competitive and adaptable to emerging needs.

• Strengthening Network Relationships: Deepening ties with key stakeholders to ensure recurring contracts and explore new application areas for our platform.

Conclusion: The network effects intrinsic to our business model are a potent tool for financial sustainability, amplifying our reach and revenue through each organizational network we engage with. By strategically upselling within these networks and adapting to various use cases, trellyz not only meets the immediate needs of our clients but also secures a foundational role in their ongoing digital transformation efforts. This strategy ensures robust growth and a sustainable financial future for our enterprise.