Happy Friday readers! 

Please join me in a collective gasp of astonishment by the fact it is already August! 

The weather here in the UK has been less sunny this summer and more Katy Perry’s Hot N’Cold. Notwithstanding that, we are taking a short break from the newsletter, and we’ll be back in your inboxes on 27th August with a guest edit!

One thing that definitely puts me in the summer mood is watching and talking about the Olympics. Finding yourself shouting at the TV over badminton doubles (just me?) or scrolling through Tom Daley’s sewing instagram on the daily, is some welcome escapism. 

Yet, we can’t gloss over the controversy surrounding this year’s event, including coronavirus, trans rights and the decision to ban swimming caps for natural black hair. 

With this in mind, for today’s highlights, I’m not only taking inspiration from the Olympics to explore how tech is impacting the event, and sport in general. But I’m also looking to those using tech for good to support those affected by the issues mentioned above and more. 

Hope you enjoy and have a restful few weeks ☀️🌦

Liv

#Olympics, tech and more 🤸‍♀️

🤸‍♀️ Simone Biles withdrew from the individual all-around gymnastics competition to focus on her mental health, setting a powerful precedent and inspiring millions. Here are a few tech for good products working to support people with their mental health: Betwixt, Mind Moose, Talk Life, Spill and Kalda.  

🏊‍♀️ The decision to ban swimming caps for natural black hair is discriminatory and backwards. Thankfully, the decision is under review. In the meantime, I’ve been looking for companies prioritising care for natural hair. Such as: Afrocenchix, who recently secured $1.2m in seed funding from Google. You can also listen to this FemTech Focus episode on Black Hair Management.

🏋️‍♀️ This week, we saw Laurel Hubbard become the first openly transgender athlete to compete at the Olympics. She is one of three transgender and/or non-binary athletes competing at the games this year. TransTech Social Enterprises, founded by Angelica Ross, is an incubator for LGBTQ talent, with a focus on TransTech and the community. 

✨ And read this thoughtful piece from founder Hana Mohan on being trans in tech. 

📱 Behind the scenes: #OlympicTok is helping us get to know some of the athlete’s personalities, away from their sporting achievements. As well as exciting footage around the Olympic village! 

🏃‍♀️ Being physically active has a significant positive impact on our mental health. When the Olympics are on, many of us feel inspired to try a new sport or increase our fitness levels. If this is you, you may enjoy Run an Empire - a free location-based strategy game for runners and walkers. And Breathe Happy, a live meditation platform on a mission to make yoga more accessible and effective for everyone. 

⌚︎ This is an interesting piece from WIRED on the future of time and tracking updates in the Olympics, and how AI and volleyball fit into this.

News in tech for good:

🥑 Too Good to Go released its first ever impact report last month. This piece provides a useful summary of their highlights and ambitions.

💨 Supercritical has raised £2m pre-seed funding for its platform. In this piece, Sifted explores whether they actually can make a difference.

👩‍🎤 "Solarpunk is really the only solution to the existential corner of climate disaster we have backed ourselves into as a species." Find out what solarpunk is and how it relates to tech for good here.

🌱 The Elevate Future Fund from Energy Impact Partners aims to expand access and opportunities for underrepresented entrepreneurs and communities working in climate tech. Find out more here. 

🌷 Bumble is partnering with Bloom to offer trauma support services on the app, helping CHAYN with its mission to provide resources and support for survivors of gender-based violence. 

🏠 Social impact business Beam, which supports homeless people to find new jobs through crowdfunding, has been named as one of WIRED’s Top 10 startups in London! Check out the full list here.

🤳 Danielle Cole speaks to Moya Bailey about their vision for a social media platform build on Black feminist principles. Read the excerpt here.

🍪 Cookies, sweet as they may be, should be enjoyed in moderation - even online. This is an informative piece about what cookies do, the problems associated with them and how the web is moving away from them. 

🔐 This is a really interesting long-read from the MIT Technology Review about the privacy protections being implemented in China, which in many ways resemble those in America and Europe. 

The Tech for Good Newsboard 📍

• Building a community around your company is important but can be hard to define. This Twitter thread from Forward Partners provides resources on how you can get started.

• Mentors are a valuable resource to us as individuals and to our teams. This is an interesting Q&A sharing insights on finding the right mentors for your team. 

• Check out this report from the Data Collective. It provides useful information on how data from the charity sector can be used.

• If you are looking to learn about tech for good, sustainability or purpose-driven businesses, this curated list from BGV lays out their favourite newsletters to get you started.

• Rolling invitation for anyone interested in joining our Slack community. Connect with more than 300+ peers passionate about tech for good. 

#Opportunities and Funding

If you have a funding challenge, grant opening, speaking gig or another opportunity that you want to share - let us know!

• Do you have an idea for a tech for good podcast? The BBC is looking to commision six new podcasts, including factual/documentaries. Apply by 29th August.

• SAP Global, one of the world's biggest software companies, has launched SAP Pro Bono for Equity. They are looking to support 10 UK black owned businesses with a team of consultants this autumn. Apply by August 6th. 

• The UK Government has launched the first round of bids for its £150m Community Ownership Fund. The budding round ends on 13th August. Find out more here.

• The eAwards are an initiative from the everis Foundation. They are looking for tech projects based on high impact, innovative, scalable, and sustainable technologies that help improve the quality of life or/and help solve environmental issues. The best project in the UK will receive a £10,000 prize and the winner of the international final will win an additional €60,000 prize for their project. Apply by 5th September.

What’s going on? 📅

<Catch up>

• Mozilla facilitated a conversation between data rights experts and researchers to unpack the harms of digital censorship and the lack of algorithmic transparency. Catch up here.

• We love a birthday party! The Startup Summit is celebrating 10 years of ecosystem development by hosting a free launch event on 11th August.

• Join Sifted/Talks on 26th August to explore whether we are ready for mass electric energy adoption and whether it is a truly green solution. 

• As many companies are thinking about transitioning back to the office, the impact on employees' mental health should be a top priority. On 17th August, Escape the City and Spill will explore how to manage the return, and how to support yourself and teams during the process. 

Working in tech for good 💼

We’ve trimmed the job section to new arrivals and featured ads only. For the full list head to our website.

• Bethnal Green Ventures is looking to hire an Investment Director as they scale up their investment capacity. Apply by 9th August.

• XeroE is looking for a senior developer to join their emission free delivery platform to build and manage the tech team and progress to the CTO. Apply here.

• CHAYN is looking for a Remote Tech Lead and Full Stack Developer to help them build impactful tech. Apply by 30th August. 

• Simprints Technology is looking for a Head of Monitoring, Evaluation and Impact to lead a cross-disciplinary unit within their delivery team. Apply by 1st September. 

• Telescope Film is looking for a Web Developer to manage, maintain, troubleshoot and develop their website. Apply by 30th September.

• Alluma (One Degree Program) is looking for a Member Support Coordinator, a Software Quality Engineer, a Manager for their Community Navigator Program (CNP), and a Software Developer.  See the individual links for application deadlines. 

• Platformable is looking for a part-time Technology Policy Analyst/Writer to assist with research projects. Apply by 20th August.

• New_ Public is looking for a Partnerships and Operations Lead to join their team. Apply here. 

• The Young Foundation has a number of job opportunities. Check out the full list of vacancies here.

• Savvy is looking for a Qualitative and UX Researcher to join their team. Apply here.

• The Wellcome Trust are looking to recruit a Senior Manager for Digital Equity. Apply by 15th August.

If you have an opening or know of a job opportunity to do with tech for good, please head to our website and we can look into adding it to the jobs board.

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