As 2009 draws to a close, we wanted to update you on our progress, thank
you for your support, and encourage you to get involved with
MoveSmart.org.
When this year started, MoveSmart.org was just a simple blog about
a website we hoped to build. In the spring we partnered with the Chicago Technology Cooperative
to offer a fellowship to Rebecca White to start work in earnest on the
site. The first iteration of the current site launched in May. At the
time, it was just the blog and a tiny Guides section - although by August of this year the Guides would expand to include nearly 80 articles on a wide array of topics.
The summer brought great news - we received a $10,000 outright grant and $10,000 challenge grant from the Field Foundation. This funding enabled us to bring Rebecca on half time in August and get the Neighborhood Finder
system up-and-running in early November. Since then, our progress has
continued to accelerate; we have been launching new features and data
sets on an almost weekly basis while at the same time raising funds for
the challenge grant (check out our Twitter stream for the play-by-play).
