Complex Coordination and Succeeding as a Tech NonProfit

Building something of value to others is a constant game of test and correct. If we then want to be of service to others, the process of building that value is all the more difficult as one engages with the regulatory landscapes necessary to affect a positive impact. This challenge was something that Upsolve’s cofounder Rohan Pavuluri tackled first hand as he set out to build tools for low income Americans to reclaim their financial agency through easier access to bankruptcy filings.

UpSolve is a software layer over top of more traditional legal aid clinics, aimed at supporting low income Americans facing crippling levels of debt. The American legal system has a support structure in the form of chapter 7 (or chapter 13) bankruptcy, which can erase most debts and in many cases gives the filer a fresh start. This is often the only option for lower income Americans facing crippling medical bills, civil rulings, or out-of-control credit card debt. Of course, it comes with many disadvantage, and navigating those downsides is part of the support that UpSolve provides.

Today, the primary way one engages with bankruptcy filings is through a legal clinic: either through a public interest lawyer or (if you’re on the wealthier side) a personal attorney. This process can be lengthy, time consuming for both the applicant and the lawyer, and ironically, quite expensive. It also involves representation by a legal professionals, which both aids and complicates the process as people try to navigate the system.

UpSolve takes an approach championed by organizations like the US Digital Service (of which the author is a former member) and Code for America. Dig deep into the experience of user as they navigate this space, and look for those places where design and technology might be able to streamline the saving process. Often, that streamlining looks like a digitization and templating of certain steps in the process. Better digital forms, shared identity management, and streamlined and review are all ways that engagement with a bureaucratic information system can be made easier for the user.

Digitizing and improving the user experience of a bureaucratic process is often just the first step in this broader process. Ultimately, this first act of creating value for citizens serves as not just as an act of improvement, but also an act of discovery for the public interest entrepreneurs. Through applying the grease and polish of an industry best practice, we also surface the things that traditional design and engineering skill sets have a harder time impacting. Things like regulation, policy, and the black matter of unfamiliar industries (like the law). What Rohan and his collaborators discovered was that building software to help change the status quo involves a lot more than they had expected.

Read the rest at former PIT Fellow Andrew Lovett-Barron’s site.