By Mélodie Kinet, Impact Director
I have worked with refugees and torture survivors for most of my career.
And I am continually astounded at how little we as wealthy nations do to provide services for these populations, often due to the political and economic climate that first-world countries have created.
I have worked in Haitian and Kenyan refugee camps, with survivors of torture and internally displaced people in Bolivia, and volunteered to interpret for Physicians for Human Rights doing medical affidavits for survivors of torture applying for asylum in the United States. I also ran a technical assistance program for refugee resettlement organizations building mental health services throughout the United States.
I studied medical anthropology in college, did my graduate degree in public health, and after work in management consulting and with a tech startup in India, eventually found my way to the Bay area, working for a social enterprise focused on impact sourcing. The social enterprise was a ‘tech for good’ company to help bring people out of poverty. The model struck my interest in leveraging technology for nonprofits, and I came across Salesforce.org and their work supporting nonprofits. It was while I was living in the Bay Area and doing contract work with Salesforce that I met Bart Skorupa and learned about Mobile Pathways (MP).
I was drawn to MP’s mission, the technology it provides, and its efficient solutions to intractable problems in the U.S. immigration system.
Mobile Pathways' innovative tools helps immigration advocates see and understand their data.
Shown Above: Our interactive map of CIRF 2021 data captures millions of data points about immigrant families in California.
I first came on board as a contract worker and my first project was to create an impact management pilot program.
I launched and published MP’s first impact survey two years ago. It was based on MP’s updated theory of impact and their desire to get to the core of why they were doing the work they were doing. Mobile Pathways worked alongside its partners (nonprofits who leverage technology as part of their solutions) and sent the survey via phone to all the clients that MP was working with at the time. The focus of the survey was to help immigrants feel safe and receive better information.
Mobile Pathways is now working on its second survey, which will go out to its partners. The survey will focus on how well MP is helping its partners in their work and specifically in working more efficiently, and also how MP is meeting (or not meeting) its partners’ needs. A third survey will be created in the future that will be directed toward immigration attorneys.
Mobile Pathways is a nonprofit made up of dedicated and reliable people with the right ethics and innovative spirit.
My future goals with MP are to optimize our data collection system to collect continuous real-time impact data, and to continue using evidence for strategic decision-making.
I believe there will only be more immigration fluxes as time goes on, and that providing services and advocating for better policies is critical to peaceful and dignified transitions. Mobile Pathways intends to be a leader on this front, furthering its mission and its partners' work at scale.
