Data Society launches Kickstarter campaign, with a twist

Data Society, the interactive online teaching platform that seeks to make data science accessible and understandable, launched a Kickstarter campaign last week looking to raise money to create more courses.
The WeWork Chinatown-based company launched its first course, an intro to data science, in January 2015. Since then the company has also created “Interactive Visualizations” and “Clustering and Finding Patterns” courses. Now, the founders are looking to expand their offerings.
With the help of a $25,000 goal on Kickstarter, Data Society wants to roll out no fewer than seven new courses. But there’s also another goal for the campaign, one that goes beyond company development.

Data Society, which believes strongly in making data science accessible to all, has included a mission to give back in its crowdfunding. “We’re also doing a one-for-one campaign, where, for every membership bought [through Kickstarter], we give access to our platform to a person who is looking to get back into the workplace,” cofounder Merav Yuravlivker told Technical.ly in an email. “We’re partnering with nonprofits in the area to help everyone learn practical data analysis skills,” she added.
One such nonprofit, Data Society announced on Wednesday, is Byte Back — an organization that helps underserved adult students gain the skills necessary for a job in (or utilizing) technology. The current Kickstarter campaign will provide scholarships for Data Society courses to Byte Back students.
“Our partnership with Data Society means Byte Back students will gain yet another valuable tool — the ability to analyze data,” Byte Back executive director Elizabeth Lindsey said in a statement about the partnership.  “We’re grateful to Data Society and its backers for supporting digital inclusion in Washington, D.C. by making sure this training is available and accessible to underserved residents,” she added.
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