Blue Ridge Labs Moves to Robin Hood

NEW YORK, March 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Ridge Labs, a division of the Blue Ridge Foundation New York, has become part of Robin Hood, New York City's largest poverty-fighting organization.  Over the past 15 years, the Blue Ridge Foundation has funded and incubated technology-based ventures that advance opportunity and upward mobility in America.  Blue Ridge Labs @ Robin Hood will continue this mission, with a special focus on developing programs to help New Yorkers gain the digital tools they need to build better lives for themselves and their families, and break the cycle of poverty.  

Launched by John Griffin -- Robin Hood board member and founder and president of Blue Ridge Capital – the Blue Ridge Foundation has a long history of fostering groundbreaking ideas for social change.  In 2014, Blue Ridge created the Significance Labs Fellowship program, a 12-week boot camp which offers tech talent the opportunity to create products for communities that are traditionally overlooked by technology.        

"We originally started the Labs to see how technology could improve the lives of people living on the margins of society," said Mr. Griffin.  "I'm incredibly proud of all they have accomplished and believe by becoming part of Robin Hood, Blue Ridge Labs will be able to help even more New Yorkers currently living in poverty."

"Since 1988, Robin Hood has championed innovative ways to fight poverty in NYC," said David Saltzman, executive director of Robin Hood.  "Blue Ridge Labs @ Robin Hood will allow us to amplify the talent and passion of Blue Ridge Labs and their Fellows to develop effective and practical tools to alleviate poverty."

In addition, the 2015 Blue Ridge Labs @ Robin Hood Fellowship application process is now open, with 15 spots available for individuals with backgrounds in product, design or engineering.

In 2014, the Fellowship received more than 350 applications for 18 positions. The selected Fellows included individuals with previous experience in cutting-edge companies and leading brands such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Adobe and Fast Company. Others were serial entrepreneurs who had previously built and sold companies in the traditional for-profit space.  The class built products designed for low-income Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants, individuals who eschew traditional banks, domestic cleaners, the elderly, and community college students. 

A core component of the Fellowship model is the opportunity for teams to directly develop and test their products in collaboration with under-served New Yorkers.  "We believe that this user-centric approach leads not only to products that are more likely to be adopted by their target audience, but also more likely to be effective in addressing the challenges these communities face," said Hannah Calhoon, director of Blue Ridge Labs.

The early results have been promising:  two of the 2014 Fellowship teams participated in accelerator programs this fall, one had their product acquired by a national coalition and another is in discussions to raise seed funding from a venture capital firm.  

Fellows in the 2015 class will have the option to choose between two challenge areas – the informal economy and childhood learning outside the classroom – or propose a topic based on their own prior experience. The 12-week program will be accepting applications through April 3, 2015 and the program will begin on June 1, 2015.

To apply, visit:  http://labs.robinhood.org   

About Robin Hood
Robin Hood is New York's largest poverty-fighting organization, and since 1988 has focused on finding, funding, and creating programs and schools that generate meaningful and measurable results for families in New York's poorest neighborhoods. Since its founding, Robin Hood has raised more than $2 billion in dollars, goods and services to provide hundreds of the most effective soup kitchens, homeless shelters, schools, job-training programs and other vital services that give New York's neediest citizens the tools they need to build better lives.  Robin Hood's board of directors pays all administrative, fundraising and evaluation costs, so 100% of your donation goes directly to organizations helping New Yorkers in need.

Media Contact
Patty Smith
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About Blue Ridge Labs @ Robin Hood
Blue Ridge Labs is a program of the Robin Hood Foundation - New York's largest poverty-fighting organization. We offer fellowships, grants, and workshops that help social innovators build technology-based products and services aimed at the challenges faced by low-income individuals.  The Labs program was launched from inside the Blue Ridge Foundation New York to build upon Blue Ridge's 15-year legacy of transforming ideas into successful organizations. 

Media Contact
[email protected]

SOURCE Robin Hood