The first stage of the “Act to Drive Change” competition is now complete. East Europe Foundation team held an Ideathon for 40 civil society organisation teams. During the first training day, participants deepened their knowledge on topics such as design thinking for the civic sector, the architecture and typology of civic tech solutions, AI for civic initiatives, and effective project presentation. Afterward, teams improved their project proposals and pitched them to the jury.

Following the pitching session, the jury selected 18 teams that will take part in the Acceleration Program. Meet them:

• Charitable Foundation “Balbek Bureau” – project RE:Ukraine Shelters
• Charitable Foundation “Mission Kharkiv” – project MK-Health Navigator
• Charitable Foundation “Prykhysty Svoikh” – project Prykhystok. Robota
• Charitable Foundation “Save Ukraine” – project RescueCom: a digital platform for safe communication, monitoring, and support for families and children in temporarily occupied territories
• Vinnytsia Regional Association of Local Self-Government Bodies – project Vinnytsia Community Budget Map 2.0
• All-Ukrainian Association for the Development of Blood Donation “Donor.UA” – project DonorUA: Communities
• NGO “Hovory!” – project I Say – a speech recovery program for veterans after injuries, and for adults with disabilities or affected by the war
• Institute for Sustainable Regional Development – project Investment Recovery Ecosystem of Ternopil Region: digital tools and expert support for communities
• Cultural and Educational Platform “Code of the Nation” – project Civic Linker – a digital platform for civic engagement in European integration
• NGO “Office for Effective Regulation” – project Map of Fixed Internet Coverage in Ukraine
• Search and Rescue Volunteer Organization – project SARVA CONNECT
• NGO “Free Choice” Psychological Support and Rehabilitation – project BAZA: Expanding Support. An inclusive space for veterans and their families
• Civil Society Development Forum – project CivicAssessment: monitoring and assessing public needs for strategic community recovery and development planning
• Kharkiv Rehabilitation Center for Young People with Disabilities and Their Families “Right to Choose” – project Ukrainian RHVoice for iOS and macOS – a technology of dignity and digital accessibility
• Center for Fiscal Policy Studies – project DATA4Transparency: Local Budget Openness Index
• NGO “Ukraine Support Team” – project Monitoring energy consumption and community expenditures on energy resources for municipal infrastructure in Kyiv region
• Veterans Association “TYTANY.UA” – project TYTANY: Digital Reintegration into the Community
• International Charitable Foundation “Ukrainian Public Health Foundation” – project SafeWomenHUB

The next stage of the competition is the Acceleration Program. Its goal is to strengthen participants’ knowledge for effective planning, testing, launching, and scaling their civic-tech solutions, with a focus on sustainability, technological capacity, and social impact.

Together with experts, teams will conduct initial validation of their products and hypotheses; develop clear plans for designing and implementing their solutions; test MVP models using low-code/no-code tools; create financial models and PR strategies; and prepare to present their projects to partners and donors.

The final stage of “Act to Drive Change” will be Demo Day, where participating teams will compete for project funding of up to EUR 35,000 from the “Phoenix: The Power of Communities” Project, implemented by East Europe Foundation with financial support from the European Union.