Yale Code4Good is Yale's first undergraduate organizaton that harnesses students' technical skills to create positive social impact. We work with nonprofits and public agencies to pinpoint their most pressing technical needs and scope viable, sustainable student projects that address them.
In addition to these projects, we also want to change the way student techies think of the public sphere. We are working with other organizations that share our mission, both locally and across the country, to coordinate events, hackathons, and fellowships that introduce students to the extent of what is possible when you code for good.
Code4Good seeks to develop technical solutions faced by the service and nonprofit communities, as well as foster enthusiasm in students to use their talents and abilities for the public good.
- Learn about problems faced by the nonprofit and government communities, and devise with them innovative solutions using technology.
- Establish working relationships with nonprofits and public agencies.
- Determine projects of reasonable scale and support student developers in their work on each project.
- Actively involve community groups and those with subject matter expertise in the technical development process.
- Promote passion for innovation and service in the Yale community and beyond.
- Value the lasting impact of involvement on each member of Code4Good.
- Partner with Yale academic departments and student groups when possible, to integrate service into the growing coding culture on campus.
- Maintain dialogue and mutual support with similar groups at other campuses.
The Yale Code4Good community expects that:
- All Code4Good events will be safe and respectful environments for all participants and will not tolerate harassment or discrimination of any kind.
- All Code4Good events will be spaces where people are free to fully express their identities.
- All Code4Good members will value the contributions, ideas, and skils of others and will not assume that everyone has the same context.
- Code4Good members will strive to build tools that are open source as often as possible so that others can use freely to improve their own communities.
- Code4Good will prioritize access for and input from those who are traditionally excluded from the civic process.
- Code4Good will include community groups and those with subject matter expertise in the development process as often as possible.
- Code4Good will ensure that the relationships and conversations between community members, local government staff, and community partners remain respectful, participatory, and productive.
- Code4Good is nonpartisan and non-secular. The organization does not endorse candidates for elected office or religious leaders.
The board, consisting of the president and a number of officers, oversees the general operation of the organization. This includes reaching out to and coordinating with nonprofit partners, establishing projects based on their needs, and recruiting/matching a team of student developers to work on each project. Specific positions and corresponding roles are listed:
Co-Presidents (2) — Presiding board member
- Runs Board Meetings, All Member Meetings, Board Elections, and Recruitment
- Assign weekly tasks to board members
Chief Technology Officer - Oversees technical work, in charge of large-scale technological considerations for projects
- Discusses goals with partner organizations (via the Director of Partnerships) and evaluates the feasibility of possible technical solutions to their challenges
- Coordinates with project heads and the Director of projecrs to facilitate progress on technical work
- Manages C4G's code repositories
- Organizes technical bootcamps for C4G members
Chief Financial Officer - Oversees all aspects of club operations involving funding and money
- Manages all of C4G's financial assets
- Coordinates with other directors to fund C4G events
- Serves as a liasion for possible fellowships/sponsorships with corporations
- Must approve of all expenses and reimbursements
Co-Directors of Projects (2) - The point person for all issues related to project managementand teams
- Presides over the allocation of students to projects with input from the CTO
- Includes determining a leader for each project
- Manages a timeline for each project Maintains accountability among each team
Director of Events - Organizae internal and external community building events
- Direct recruitment efforts, delegating responsibilities as needed
- Organize speaker/workshop events
- Organizes events that partner with other organizations (hackathons, joint club events, etc.)
Director of Partnershops - Manager of correspondence between C4G and all possible partners for goals central to the mission
- Works with nonprofits/public institutions that may/do serve as sources of projects
- Works with members of the Yale institution and faculty in any possible advising role
- E.g. adjustments to curriculum, faculty mentorships for projects
Director of Communications & Outreach - Work to build interest and awareness of C4G's activities and mission, maintain C4G's public presence. Conducts correspondence, both internally and externally, with the underlying goals of knowledge persistence and maintenance of C4G's mission
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Publicize events, recruitment, etc.
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Social Media & Email Management
- Keep website up to date (content, not design unless interested)
- Manage Facebook page
- Manage emails (can delegate responding responsibilities to other board members)
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Maintains documentation that is passed on to future iterations of the group, including:
- Meeting Notes
- Help set up technical/general blog
- Minutes and summaries from meetings
- All non-technical project documentation (both complete and incomplete), such that any uninvolved person would be able to have a good understanding of how such a project commenced and developed.
- Overview of each year, including goals that were set, challenges that arose
Hackathon Specialist - n- Organize hackathon events and partnerships
- Work with YHack on Social Good/Civic Hacking Track
- Organize travel and team formation to other hackathons
- Potentially organize own hackathon
Board Terms will last from the spring through fall semesters, including the summer break. In the event that a board member steps down during the spring or fall semester, the Board may hold a Special Election (see below) to fill the board vacancy. In the event that a board member steps down during the summer break, the Board may directly select an interim appointee to fill the vacancy, who will serve until the end of the fall ternm.
Tech Team terms may vary depending on project scope and will be approved by the Co-Presidents and Director(s) of Projects.
Board Members shall be elected by any and all members in good standing. Members in good standing include current members of Board, Tech Teams, and who have attended a majority of the monthly All-Member Meetings (see below).
The current Board shall announce a call for candidates no later than two weeks prior to a Board election. Board elections must be held no later than two weeks following the Thanksgiving Break.
In order to be eligible for elections, candidates must submit a candidate statement to the Board no later than ten days prior to the Board election. The Board must publish
Board elections must be conducted in person. Board Members must be elected by a majority of voting members in good standing. In the event that a candidate does not win a majority upon initial ballot, the two candidates with highest number of votes shall enter a runoff second ballot. The current Board may decide the order of elections in any manner they see best fits the situation.
Special Elections In the event that a Board Member leaves during the fall or spring semester (not including the summer), the Board may hold an election to fill the vacancy. A Board member selected through a special election must receive a plurality vote from members in good standing. The current Board may decide the additional terms and timeline of a special election in any manner they see best fits the situation.
Recruitment for Technical Team members and Team Leads will be conducted every semester, unless the current Board decides it would be in the best interest of the group not to hold recruitment. Recruitment must be held at least one semester per academic year. Technical Team members and Team Leads will be selected by the Board by simple majority.
This serves as a guideline for the regular operation of the group, and establishes a benchmark for expectations on the part of each officer. Norms should be reiterated on a regular basis, and made clear to all new members.
Board Meetings shall be held weekly, and are led by the sitting presidents.
Each officer must:
- Let others know if you can't make the weekly meeting at least 48 hours in advance
- Schedule a meeting with other officers to discuss your work upon missing 3+ meetings
Officers should schedule time after weekly meetings to work on tasks together when relevant. When new tasks are established, certain tasks should be due earlier in the week (as opposed to the next meeting, and especially in regards to contacting people) so we can have timely responses and dialogue to discuss in the next meeting.
All Hands Meetings will be held monthly and may be attend by any member of Code4Good or greater Yale and New Haven communities.
Technical Teams must arrange to present on the status of their projects each All Hands Meeting, unless decided otherwise by the Co-Presidents and Director(s) of Projects.
A portion of the meeting must be dedicated to allow any member or member of the greater Yale and New Haven communities to pitch suggestions or ideas for projects for Yale Code4Good to be involved in. The Co-Presidents may decide the additional terms and timeline of this discussion in any manner they see best fits the situation.
Code4Good, especially as a student organization involved with work in the public sphere, values openness. This should be reflected in its group structure, dialogue among members, and communications with those outside the organization or Yale itself. In this manner, leadership should always be candid about the reasons behind their decisions. Furthermore, all projects created by Code4Good teams should be kept as open source, unless this conflicts with the best interest of Yale Code4Good or a partner organization as decided by the Co-Presidents.
It is equally as important for Code4Good to facilitate strong connections between its members. There should be regular social events to build lasting friendships within the organization as well as good working relationships. The most important resource in any group is its people, and the culture of Code4Good should encourage members to invest time in learning more about each other.