BronxConnect is Better Equipped to Drive Change

Learn how BronxConnect is driving change in its community with the help of Microsoft’s Nonprofit Tech Acceleration for Black and African American Communities Program

Alternatives to detention, incarceration, and violence

With the climate in our culture today, any organization that contributes to social justice and the effort to reduce violence is badly needed. BronxConnect is one of those organizations. A community and faith-based program, BronxConnect offers alternatives to detention, incarceration, and violence prevention work. The founders of this organization took on the challenge of finding within their community the solution to this epidemic.

By utilizing asset-based mentoring to connect court-involved and high-risk youth and young adults with positive local community resources, BronxConnect helps prevent recidivism and addresses youth-initiated goals in education and employment.

So, when it came time for this organization to take on internal challenges around technology, HSO is honored to have the opportunity to help.

We were introduced to BronxConnect through another HSO client who had been using the same legacy case management system. After working together and getting to know this amazing organization, we nominated BronxConnect for Microsoft’s Nonprofit Tech Acceleration (NTA) for Black and African American Communities program, one avenue through which Microsoft utilizes their technology and partnerships to provide minority-focused nonprofits with critical services and support at a local level. The NTA program, which increases technology support for nonprofits that serve people of color, offers a range of services, depending on need.

The challenge

The overall challenge was with in-house participant and program tracking. Issues were impacting the organization’s ability to fulfill their mission and goals. They needed:

  • A single, unified view of participants and interactions/engagements across different programs
  • System adoption by all programs so the entire organization has a holistic view of beneficiaries
  • Mobile access capabilities and mobility to improve accessibility
  • Eliminate as much manual data processing as possible to improve processes around reporting, contract management, and program execution while proactively managing programs and participants
  • Processes that would avoid duplication of effort with data entry to reduce issues with data quality
  • Easier access to data required for funding and contract obligations reporting to avoid loss or delays on access to funds

The solution: The Microsoft Nonprofit Accelerator

HSO recommended implementing the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Nonprofit Accelerator, which helps eliminate data silos, enabling powerful insights into data. It provides a uniform platform that lets organizations connect, embed, or extend Microsoft Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform to support core processes.

Everything within this accelerator is built on the Microsoft Dataverse for Nonprofits, an open-source data schema built for non-profits—enabling interoperability for greater insight and efficacy while providing data transparency. The goal is to reduce the cost of development, freeing funds for building more solutions and supporting other efforts.

A solution that enables improved operations and visibility

With the Nonprofit Accelerator in place, BronxConnect will see big improvement in the management of activity, participant, donor, vendor, and funding organization. Access to critical data will be much easier with views, dashboards, and reports to ensure goals and milestone tracking, for unified view across all programs​.

​Mobile capabilities will also be enhanced—with data accessibility and reporting, process guides to increase productivity​, business intelligence, and enhanced mobile capabilities with mobile apps for more specific functionality​.

Interview with Felicia Lemons, Director of Strategic Initiatives at Urban Youth Alliance (BronxConnect)

Felicia is an experienced Special Project Lead with a history of working in the NGO industry. As the Director of Strategic Initiatives, Felicia provides leadership for building youth program infrastructures and the activities that support the strengthening of Urban Youth Alliance BronxConnect’s work in the community based on the Executive Director’s vision to expand the organization.

Watch the interview with Felicia to learn more about how BronxConnect is improving outcomes with Microsoft technology.

Learn More About the Microsoft’s Nonprofit Tech Acceleration for Black and African American Communities Program

Do you think Microsoft’s Nonprofit Tech Acceleration for Black and African American Communities Program would be a good fit for your nonprofit, or do you know of an organization that would benefit? Sign up for Microsoft’s Onboarding Concierge to learn more.

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