Amplio's mission is to empower the world's most vulnerable communities through knowledge sharing. Over 1 billion people lack access to information because of poverty, illiteracy, and where they live. Women and girls face greater barriers. Amplio creates innovative technology to bridge that gap. The Amplio Talking Book audio device is designed for low-literate users. The Talking Book delivers hours of content in any language. Users can play messages on demand and record their feedback. A built-in speaker allows families and groups to listen and learn together. A single device can serve 100 listeners or more! Because Talking Books collect usage data and user feedback, development organizations can monitor program engagement, identify issues and trends, and update their content for greater impact. Since 2007, Talking Books have reached over a million listeners, providing access to knowledge people can use to improve their lives.

A world where everyone has access to the knowledge they need to address their most pressing needs.

Source: Nonprofit submitted responses

Goal One: By 2024, two million people challenged by poverty, remoteness, or low literacy will have acquired knowledge to address their greatest needs.

Goal Type: New program(s) based on observed changes in needs among our constituencies/communities served.

Goal Two: By 2025, gross profit will exceed marketing and business development costs.

Goal Type: Invest in the capacity of our organization (financial, management, technical, etc.).

Goal Three: By 2023, a new fund is established to award Talking Book devices and services directly to locally-led NGOs and IGOs.

Goal Type: This goal reflects our commitment to further our advocacy work for our organization and or cause area.

Describe an investment in leadership

All Amplio staff members have a dedicated allowance for leadership and skills development and can attend courses or workshops. For example, our executive assistant is working on her master's in nonprofit management. Our executive director works with a mentor and participates in the Miller Center's Global Social Business Impact Accelerator program. In Ghana, our colleagues have taken certificate courses. For example, our senior content manager recently completed and received accolades for a Farm Radio International broadcaster course. (He plans and produces local language audio content for Talking Books.) We use quarterly OKRs and meetings with our managers to discuss opportunities for professional development. Equally important, this past year we've really focused on engaging and developing our board of directors, which is quite exciting.

This organization mobilizes for mission in the following ways:

• Strategic Partnerships

• Networks of Collective Impact Efforts

• Thought Leadership

• Raising Awareness

• Community Building

What are this organization’s external mobilizaton efforts?

Amplio works in the international development space. We participate in local membership organizations like Global Washington and Washington Global Health Alliance. We partner internationally with local NGOs, government agencies, and international organizations such as UNICEF, World Bank, UNESCO, etc. This past year, we established a high-level partnership with CARE International to make it easier for country offices to integrate Talking Books into their programs. (We now have projects with CARE Ethiopia, CARE Bangladesh, and CARE Haiti.) Our team regularly participates and presents at international conferences. Not least, our technology is designed with and for low-literate people living in remote areas of the world's least developed countries. Users can play messages on demand and record their feedback — which allows our partners to hear directly from those they serve. This feedback loop supports participatory monitoring and evaluation and strengthens program impact.

Like everyone else, Amplio had to quickly adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our organization is small and nimble. We work in the international development space, so our US staff closed the office and everyone worked remotely. We moved to Zoom and Skype for meetings, training, and partner webinars. Our Ghana team continued to implement programs in the field. We worked with UNICEF Ghana and Ghana Health Service to conduct a COVID-19 public health campaign in 8 vulnerable districts in the Upper West Region and disbursed PPEs. We launched a suite of self-service products to help our partners more efficiently and effectively launch and run their Talking Book programs. We also created a community of practice to support learning and capacity building for our team and partners. Not least, we have worked with our board to build engagement and create a new funding model for Talking Book programs. Many smaller, locally-led NGOs and IGOs that work directly with last-mile communities (our focus area) don't have the capicity to secure government aid, foundation grants, and major donor funds. So, we're launching a campaign to build a fund that will award Talking Book program grants directly to local organizations that met a set of criteria. For each grant, Amplio will award 250 Talking Book devices, technology set up, training and support, program design consulting, monitoring and evaluation support, and capacity-building training and skills development for one year. Each program will reach about 25,000 people, providing access to knowledge to transform lives — across many sectors (agriculture and food security, global health, education, gender equality, nutrition, WASH, and more). If we meet our fundraising goal(s), we plan to award three grants in 2022 and thereafter 6 grants a year.