Our Mission, Story, and Team
The MovingWorlds matching site and support team connects professionals to social impact organizations for Experteering engagements around the world.
Mission
MovingWorlds is a social impact organization addressing the global talent gap. Our online platform and community connects people who want to travel and volunteer their expertise directly with social impact organizations around the world. We maintain quality by selectively sourcing professionals and organizations who then interact through our website to find each other for "Experteering” engagements.
Both "Experteers" and "Hosts" also have access to our MovingWorlds exclusive training, resources, and planning guide to help ensure safe, high-impact engagements. In addition, forward thinking corporations can leverage the same platform to create and manage worldwide skills-based volunteering programs for employees.
MovingWorlds is a Social Purpose Corporation (AKA B Corp).
According to the World Economic Forum,
"Access to talent" is the leading barrier to progress.
The MovingWorlds Story
Mark and Derk met in Buenos Aires at a social impact networking event. Previous to that, Derk co-founded the BiD Network Foundation in The Netherlands before moving to Latin America to expand its footprint there.
On the other side of the world in Seattle, Washington, Mark had led a marketing agency before quitting everything to travel and volunteer his professional skills around the world for a year.
During their meeting in Buenos Aires, the two connected over their passion to support global development by addressing the “talent gap” facing social impact organizations. A year of market research and partnership building laid the foundation for MovingWorlds.
MovingWorlds has offices in
Seattle, USA; Washington D.C., USA; and Medellin, Colombia
Our Global Team is Committed to Building a Better World
Core team
JOIN OUR TEAM
Interested in supporting MovingWorlds? We'll gladly discuss ways to collaborate.
Our advisory team was designed to keep us focused on our social mission
Inspiring, amazing, and awesome Experteers who have helped launch MovingWorlds
Alessandra Roup
Kristen helped explore new partnerships and social change.
Kristen Olson
Kristen helped explore new UX perspectives.
Bosky Atlani
Bosky assisted in the area of mobile first development.
Gilad Gray
Gilad was one of the early developers on MovingWorlds.
Brian Carlsen
Brian helped lead marketing and social media efforts.
Calvin Shabb
Calvin is a fellow at Village Capital who spent months helping us find inspiring organizations.
Jonah Werre
Jonah helped design and concept the original MovingWorlds website.
Clemens Piffl
Clemens is helping us find strategic partners abroad.
Jamie Van Horne
Jamie is is helping us find amazing social impact organizations around the world.
Matt Hallett
Matt is a product, technology, and database mastermind helping us scale.
Derek Slager
Derek is a software engineering genius who help guide us.
Mary Miller
Mary continues to help MovingWorlds develop its corporate strategy.
Steve Atamian
Steve helped advise MovingWorlds with formation and early partnerships.
Ammen Jordan
Ammen continues to provide business strategy advice and support.
Justin Wilcox
Justin is a Lean Startup master providing us startup advice.
Pallav Vora
Pallav has helped MovingWorlds navigate the legal issues of being an international connector.
Michael Phan Ba
Michael helped develop core functionality of the MovingWorlds platform.
David Wu
David has helped MovingWorlds with connections and funding advice.
JOIN OUR TEAM
Interested in supporting MovingWorlds? We'll gladly discuss ways to collaborate.
Partnerships to be Proud of
We'd be nothing without our partners. These organizations help us recruit amazing professionals, discover inspiring social impact organizations, and provide benefits to all of our community members. They include impact investment institutions, global development organizations, professional networks, nonprofit-crowdfunding organizations, corporations, universities, and more.
Pangea Giving
Pangea informs and engages members in supporting the efforts of grassroots organizations in the developing world to address social, economic, and environmental issues through financial assistance, ongoing partnerships and site visits.
WEConnect
WEConnect International is a global non-profit that facilitates sustainable economic growth by increasing opportunities for women-owned businesses to succeed in global value chains. WEConnect International identifies, educates, registers, and certifies women's business enterprises that are at least 51% owned, managed, and controlled by one or more women, and is the only non-profit connecting women-owned businesses with multi-national corporate purchasing organizations outside of the U.S.
Ashoka Changemakers
Ashoka Changemakers provides the tools and resources to empower everyone to contribute to a better world. Our community's mission is to grow new ideas through transparency and collaboration, a process of Open Growth. No matter where you are starting, or where you are going, Changemakers makes it easier to share an idea, track progress, communicate with supporters, and invest in global change.
New Ventures Mexico
NVM is an organization that develops the social and environmental impact sector in Mexico and Latin America through a sustainable platform that launches and operates programs that support impact entrepreneurs providing strategic assistance, funding, networking & showcasing, and strengthening the ecosystem.
Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life.
Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps saves and improves lives in the world's toughest places. Since 1979, we have been helping people in the world’s toughest places survive the crises they confront and turn them into opportunities to thrive.
Our staff — 95 percent of whom are local — work in failing states like Somalia and Zimbabwe. Conflict zones like Afghanistan, Congo and Iraq. And countries that have endured natural disasters like Indonesia, Pakistan and Haiti.
ImpactHub
ImpactHUB is a unique blend between innovation lab, business Incubator and social enterprise community center. A growing global network of over 60 physical Hubs worldwide, ImpactHUB offers a unique ecosystem of resources, inspiration, and collaboration opportunities to grow the positive impact of your work. Joining our diverse community of members and collaborators will inspire, connect, and enable you to develop your best work every step of the way.
BENISI SOCIAL
BENISI is a trans-European consortium that is proactively identifying 300 social innovations with a high potential for scaling successfully. BENISI has established a wide network of competent partners, in order to provide the tools and create the conditions for the social innovations to be transferred and adopted in other European localities.
Village Capital
Village Capital sources, trains, and invests in seed-stage social entrepreneurs around the world. Village Capital develops entrepreneurs solving specific problems in agriculture, energy, education, financial inclusion, and health, and then puts the power of investment in the hands of those entrepreneurs, who award investment capital to the two ventures ranked highest by their peers at the end of every program.
Unreasonable Mexico
Unreasonable Mexico supports entrepreneurs who are solving the most pressing problems of our country - from access to clean drinking water to traffic to poverty. These entrepreneurs are "unreasonable" because they are redefining the course of history using social business as a tool. Unreasonable Mexico is affiliated with the Unreasonable Institute.
ThinkImpact
At ThinkImpact we are committed to creating experiences that educate. Working with ThinkImpact is different. ThinkImpact nurtures investment, research and monitoring and evaluation of businesses that are launched through our faculty-led and group Institutes - a critical component to our social impact theory of change. Below you can explore the businesses that students and community members have created together, and learn more about where they are today
Socialab
Socialab is a network of individuals and organizations that seek to generate positive social impact at a global level through the support of innovative and sustainable social enterprises in their early stages. We intend to promote a new model of socio-economic development, focused on solving the main problems of humanity through these initiatives.
Yunus Social Business
Yunus Social Business creates impact by applying business approaches to the world of social development, bridging the gap between social businesses and philantropic lenders and donors.
Yunus Social Business has an on-the-ground presence in 7 countries, where our local country teams run our two main initiatives: Entrepreneur Services and Financing.
AtlasCorps
Atlas Corps is an international network of nonprofit leaders and organizations that promotes innovation, cooperation, and solutions to address the world's 21st century challenges. Their mission is to address critical social issues by developing leaders, strengthening organizations, and promoting innovation through an overseas fellowship of skilled nonprofit professionals.
Promotora Social
Promotora Social supports local impact organizations working on innovative solutions to improve their livelihoods through triple bottom line (people, planet, profit). They support these Mexican organizations through capital and access to networks, coaching, and better access to information.
iHub Nairobi
iHub Nairobi is a technology and innovation Hub for entrepreneurs, investors, hackers and others. iHub catalyses the growth of the Kenyan tech community by connecting people, supporting startups, and surfacing information. iHub believes that African innovation plays a critical role in shaping future technology globally. The iHub was the first such space in Kenya and has spurred a revolution in the tech ecosystem across the African continent over the last five years, constantly challenging and influencing technology development.
Nairobi Garage
The Nairobi Garage is one of 3 co-working tech hub "garages" in Africa – joined by Cape Town & Lagos – that are the go-to places for tech entrepreneurship and investment in Africa. It aims to be a power-house of tech, innovation and entrepreneurship. By providing affordable, flexible office space, the Garages allow companies to focus on what is important – growing their business. These Garages create the environment for young businesses to build networks, share ideas and collaborate on new projects.
Fledge
Fledge helps impactful entrepreneurs take their ideas and prototype-stage companies into reality, via an intense, 10-week program of guidance, education, and mentorship, plus a large and growing network of support from past fledglings and hundreds of mentors.
Fledge's goal is to help foster a wave of companies that make not just a measurable impact in the world, but a noticeable improvement in the lives of everyone on the planet.
Agora Partnerships
Agora Partnerships’ purpose is to accelerate the shift to a sustainable economy by unleashing entrepreneurs who are building purpose-driven companies that create social and environmental impact throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Agora accomplishes this through the Agora Accelerator, a 4-month program designed to provide entrepreneurs with access to the knowledge, networks, and capital they need to grow their businesses and their impact. Since 2011, the Agora Accelerator has served 125 companies working in 18 countries across Latin America and catalyzed US$46.1 million in investment into these companies.
Vox Capital
Vox Capital is a venture capital company investing on innovative businesses delivering positive social impact to the Brazilian low-income population through solutions that help to improve their lives. Vox Capital offers financial and managerial support to startup companies with high potential to scale up and seeking to deliver value for society through both attractive financial return and positive social impact.
Spring Accelerator
The goal of SPRING is to enable early-stage ventures to reach more than 200,000 adolescent girls with innovative products and services that will improve and change the way they live. The ambition: to reach 50 million girls by 2030.
"We believe the impact of successful entrepreneurs and the investment they stimulate will lead to a broader shift in markets and enable girls and their communities to end the cycle of poverty."
CUSO
Cuso International is a development organization that works to reduce poverty and inequality through the efforts of highly skilled volunteers, collaborative partnerships and donors, promoting better access to basic necessities and improved livelihoods.
Enviu
Enviu builds impact-driven companies. Companies aimed at creating environmental and social impact. The products and services of our start-ups aim to improve the quality of life of as many people as possible in a sustainable way.
Sistema B
B entrepreneurs seek to create viable companies that offer solutions to social and/or environmental problems. They are aware that profits are needed to maintain and grow a business, but they are not willing to generate these profits at any cost. B Corps seek the inclusion of excluded groups, create more equitable, horizontal companies, prioritize the restoration of degraded ecosystems, the decrease, reuse, and recycling of waste, promote healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle, or add value to local cultures and products.
Enable Impact
Deals for Impact Investors. Funding for Social Ventures
A social-impact network where entrepreneurs, investors and support programs can connect and support one another – using business and technology to solve the most challenging problems of our day.
Echoing Green
Our mission: Unleash next generation talent to solve the world’s biggest problems.
Whether it’s social entrepreneurs, university faculty, impact investors, or business leaders, we work to catalyze the ability of emerging leaders with purpose to impact the world and drive social progress further, faster. For nearly 30 years, we have worked to find rare and exceptional emerging leaders, forge a community of global pioneers, and accelerate these leaders to impact the world.
Endeavor
Endeavor began with a goal of supporting high-impact entrepreneurs in emerging economies to achieve their dreams, by scaling up their businesses to create jobs.
Through a series of programs and services designed to increase access to talent, capital and markets, Endeavor equips entrepreneurs with the resources needed to succeed.
Universal Giving
UniversalGiving™ is an award-winning website that helps people give and volunteer with the top-performing projects all over the world. All projects are vetted through UniversalGiving's trademarked, proprietary Quality Model.™ 100% of each donation goes directly to the cause.
Jolkona
Jolkona is a nonprofit that brings high potential social entrepreneurs from emerging countries to Seattle for an intensive 3-week mentor-driven accelerator. These entrepreneurs are solving some of the most challenging societal issues in their communities. Our mentors include some of Seattle’s best startup talent who prepare these founders to scale and engage with investors at home & abroad.
UnLtd Tamil Nadu
UnLtd Tamil Nadu is a social startup incubator focusing on early-stage changemakers based in Auroville, Tamil Nadu. We SEARCH, SELECT and SUPPORT exceptional individuals who are committed to solve some of India’s biggest challenges using their passion and entrepreneurial skills.
empowering people. Network
With the "empowering people. Network – Technologies for Basic Needs", Siemens Stiftung aims to make promising solutions accessible and further their successful implementation on the basis of sustainable entrepreneurship models. Its empowering people. Expert program, managed by MovingWorlds, connects highly skilled professionals to its partner organizations in the field that need specific expertise (typically in the field of engineering).
BiD Network
BiD Network aims to increase economic development in emerging markets through the mobilization of capital and knowledge to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). By offering customized matchmaking and support services to both financiers and entrepreneurs we aim to grow the number of businesses that can start, grow and expand.
This means that we identify and select entrepreneurs in emerging markets and we help them to prepare them for investment providing financial and non-financial services.
Kiva Fellows
Kiva has a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty, and Kiva fellows live and breathe that purpose every day. Since 2007, fellows have been Kiva’s eyes and ears in the field, creating a crucial link between borrowers and lenders and working hands-on to grow Kiva’s impact.
A Kiva fellowship allows you to immerse yourself in the culture and language of your host country or region for 6 months, while applying your skills in new ways with one or more of our 300 Field Partners. You’ll gain a behind-the-scenes understanding of microfinance and social enterprise, while meeting inspiring people working to improve financial access around the world. Learn more about the Kiva Fellows Program and apply to become a Kiva Fellow by visiting www.kiva.org/work-with-us/fellows.
Open Hearts Big Dreams
Open Hearts Big Dreams Fund (OHBD) believes the chance to dream big dreams should not depend on where in the world you are born.
We work to inspire and enable youth, their communities and organizations who serve them by providing literacy, education, commercial and leadership opportunities
TERN: The Entrepreneurial Refugee Network
TERN (The Entrepreneurial Refugee Network) assists refugee entrepreneurs in becoming self-reliant through developing their own small and medium-sized businesses. By helping refugees in reaching this goal, TERN hopes to transform the public perception of refugees’ capacities and ability to contribute to host country economies and communities; as well as transform decision making by governments and investors to create a more favorable climate for refugee integration, entrepreneurship and innovation.
Thomson Reuters Foundation
The main goal of the Thomson Reuters Foundation is to drive socio-economic change and the rule of law to create lasting impact worldwide. The Foundation embodies the spirit of shared value: we do not give grants, instead we reinvest every penny of what we are given to run free services to inform, connect and empower people around the world
PARTNER WITH MOVINGWORLDS
Our free service for global development organizations can help your field organizations access talent.
Our Experteering Professionals have contributed more than 15,000 hours of service between 150 organizations in more than 50 countries.
Want to Learn More About MovingWorlds and Experteering?
Read our guide on how to volunteer abroad, the difference between Experteering and Voluntourism, learn how to find free volunteering projects overseas, and see how we're different from Volutourism groups like Cross Cultural Solutions.
