HandsNet
Type of site | Virtual community |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Owner | HandsNet, Inc. |
| Website | handsnet |
| Launched | February 1987[1] |
Founded in 1987, HandsNet was a virtual community. HandsNet was meant to link advocates, service providers, researchers, policymakers and others working on issues of social and economic justice in the USA. Network members included national clearinghouses and research centers, community-based service providers, foundations, government agencies, public policy advocates, legal services programs and grassroots coalitions.[1] HandsNet also offered Action Alerts: public policy alerts and analyses from experts in the field, notices of legal and administrative actions, abstracts of key studies and reports, descriptions of program innovations, Federal Register notices, funding information, daily summaries of human services news from major daily papers and wire services, and much more. It was dissolved as a nonprofit in early 2005.
History
HandsNet was created in 1987 as a project of Hands Across America. The idea for HandsNet was proposed to Apple Computer by the California Organizing Committee, whose charter was to distribute $1.2 million in Hands Across America funds and coordinate the programs and resources of service providers within the state in order to improve their effectiveness and efficiency. HandsNet was a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization headquartered in Cupertino, California. HandsNet's stated mission as of February 1996 was "to provide leadership and support to the human service and public interest communities by enhancing their communication, information sharing and collaboration capabilities. In doing so, we seek to strengthen the capacity of these organizations to improve policies and programs for the people they serve." Part of the launch included granting the Eureka Food Bank "a Macintosh SE with an internal hard drive, a modem and Microsoft Works." Additional donations were made by Microsoft, Layered, Inc.; Interactive Network Technologies; Solana Electronics; Sand Hill Engineering; Quasitronics, Inc.; and Barnett Associates. A multi-year, $675,000 grant from the Ford Foundation in 1992 provided a big funding boost. With others such as the Annie E. Casey, Robert Wood Johnson and Charles Stewart Mott foundations following, HandsNet grew fast. By 1997 its annual budget was $1.8 million, with a staff of around 17. HandsNet was formally affiliated with the Institute for Global Communications.[1][2][3]
At one time, HandsNet was staffed by eighteen full-time employees and was financed by member fees and development contracts and grants from a variety of national foundations and corporate sponsors. HandsNet's Washington, D.C. Training and Resource Center offered a hands-on learning environment, with 10 multimedia workstations, high-speed Internet access, and a conference-style break-out room.[4] As of 2000, HandsNet funders also included Quantum Corporation, Bell Atlantic, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft and Adobe.[5]
But also as of 2000, HandsNet was struggling with its direction and relevance. As the World Wide Web grew, many users wondered why they should bother with HandsNet.[3] In summer 2001, HandsNet reduced its staff to seven people and closed its training center in Washington, D.C.[6] By 2005, the nonprofit was no more, and the last executive director of HandsNet, Michael Saunders, had taken over the site as the nonprofit dissolved. He continues to maintain the site at handsnet.org as a site of curated resources for nonprofits.[citation needed]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "About HandsNet on the web". HandsNet. 1998. Archived from the original on 1998-06-29. Retrieved 2021-01-24.CS1 maint: Unfit url (link)
- ↑ "CompuMentor and HandsNet Offer Help to Those Helping Others". The Washington Post. 1991. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "At 12, HandsNet Makes a Cyber-Leap To Avoid Rolling Over the Hill". Youth Today. 2000. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
- ↑ "Classes and Workshops". 1998. Archived from the original on 1999-01-17. Retrieved 2021-01-24.CS1 maint: Unfit url (link)
- ↑ "Sponsors". 2001. Archived from the original on 2001-04-20. Retrieved 2021-01-24.CS1 maint: Unfit url (link)
- ↑ "Technology Evolves..." 2001. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
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