Django MeropeSoftware for social change
Belcoda started with a simple idea: Everyone working to make the world a better place should have the software they need to succeed.
But far too often, people working to create change are being held back by software that doesn't meet their needs.
Most software for social change organizing is designed for a specific type of digital campaigning that emerged in the United States and Western Europe in the 2000s.
So we started building organizing tools for the rest of the world. Tools that were centered on mobile and messaging, and worked on any device with any internet connection — anywhere in the world.
Over time, this vision has coalesced into Belcoda: a fully-featured toolset for digital advocacy and organizing, with a deep and powerful intergation with WhatsApp at its core.
Our unique history is also reflected in the Belcoda Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides software grants and support to locally-led community initiatives and grassroots organizing in the Global South.
Our values
These aren't just words. They’re baked into every decision we make, and every line of code we write.
- Be a pleasure to use
- Using Belcoda should be delightful. We aim to keep the interface fast, streamlined, intuitive and beautiful. And we're always looking for little improvements and shortcuts to make your life easier.
- Make our users better
- Belcoda is carefully engineered to nudge you into organizing best practices, so that the default way of doing things is to be the best version of your organizing self.
- Never forget the free tier
- Belcoda was built to serve locally-led community initatives in low- and middle-income countries (ie: people who don't have budgets for paid software). That's still our north star.
- Solve big problems
- We're at our best when we're trying to solve big problems, chasing crazy goals, or facing down impossible deadlines. We won't always succeed, but we're not afraid to take on the hard stuff.
- Learn from our users
- Belcoda's users are world experts in organizing. They're the best product managers we could possibly hope for. So we're not building a product for them, we're building a product with them.
- Don’t cut corners. Especially on security.
- In general, try not to cut corners. But especially don’t cut corners on security or privacy. Honor our users' trust by maintaining the highest standards of security and privacy.
Our team
Belcoda is built by a small remote team. If you’re interested in joining us, check out our careers page.
Django Merope
Founder & project lead
Japan
Django has been a campaigner, communications consultant, organizer, and software engineer. He’s worked at the intersection of technology and social change for more than 15 years.
Kenneth Lebu
Software engineer
Kenya
Kenneth is a software engineer with a background working in non-profits and public health organizations.
