Synchronize

The Problem

By 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish unless we cut production and consumption of single-use and non-recoverable plastic by 2021.This poses the largest environmental issue of our time, second to climate change. Not only does this threaten human health and marine life, but plastic packaging generates negative externalities valued at $40 billion annually (UNEP). Even though there are thousands of people working toward reducing plastic waste, we will fail because most people lack awareness of the best practices and access to opportunities and resources that could actualize their potential. Therefore, our maximum collective impact is not being realized. The reason is because we are outside of each others' networks. This lack of meaningful connections prevents partnerships; lack of universal targets stifles strategic efforts; and isolation of groups limits their capacity. This poses a fundamental barrier to success because only they can transform the global momentum brought on by the United Nations Clean Seas campaign into tangible and sustainable change.

Our Proposal

Last year, the United Nations Clean Seas campaign set off unprecedented momentum by launching their Clean Seas campaign. Local activists can actualize this vision only if they are equipped with the expertise and resources to bring tangible results. Synchronize aims to integrate these local activists into the global movement against plastic pollution via a network building web-platform that connects all activists with the best practices, resources, and opportunities to maximize their impact. Thereby, accelerating the movement to a winning pace. Our platform is accessible to everyone no matter their location, language, or background and is explicitly for supporting one another. If a single conversation with a student-activist from Thailand made me realize the mistakes I made in my campaign in Abu Dhabi, then a collective conversation among a 1,000 people can overcome our common obstacles. Only as a coordinated movement can we maximize our collective impact and have a chance at beating plastic pollution.

We Assume that...

All activists have access to a computer with wifi

Our website will not be blocked in any country

Our users will be able to translate when they speak with another member if they do not have a language in common.

We conducted customer discovery with our vast network of local activists in the Middle East and South East Asia to confirm that most activists feel isolated from the major coalitions.

Break Free From Plastic and other coalitions will collaborate with us and invite their members to use our platform. (Plastic Pollution Coalition has already agreed to, so this is a likelihood).

Constraints to Overcome

Eliminating plastic pollution and its toxic impacts requires a transformation in habits, practices, standards and policies. The UNEP call to action set a global precedent that can only turn into change if locals carry it out in their communities. Local activists are the most valuable agents of change because they are witness to the impacts of plastic pollution, have organizing power and political power. Local activists need to be equipped with policy expertise and organizing resources so they can identify the most pressing impacts, advocate for appropriate policies, hold corporations & politicians accountable and convince neighbors to change behavior. However, access to resources is not enough, they need a person with experience to explain it, and provide support along the way. Our search engine makes it easy and user friendly to find who has the experience they need by filtering through people based on their skills, background, achievements and current network.

Current Work

Our financial model is a fee-for-service. Our customers will be Offices of Sustainability or Public Service at universities who purchase an annual license to provide all their students and employees access and organizations with a budget larger than 10,000 will purchase an annual license as well. However, we will conduct two beta tests before our official launch in February 2019. Beta testing will occur with 50 users in August (25 students 25 professionals), in October 2018 with 2x the users. To complement our launch we will host a regional networking conference inviting students from 100 universities and professionals from 30 organizations to The George Washington University. Workshops will lead to the first working groups on Synchronize and everyone will leave the conference with at least 3 people to follow up with. In February 2020 we aim to expand to all of the US. By 2021 we will expand overseas. Our goal is to absorb 2,000 students and 5,000 professionals by 2021.

Current Needs

We seek to actively recruit and on-board other young people to fill in director positions for Business Development to focus on budgeting, fundraising, and incorporation; Director of Technology/Engineering to optimize the site based on user feedback and develop our new features; and Director of Outreach to assist in sales pitches. That way Pear and I can focus on high level organizational tasks.