Brandon Anderson | |
---|---|
Born | |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Georgetown University |
Known for | Entrepreneurship |
Brandon D. Anderson is an American sociologist and entrepreneur. He is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Raheem.ai, a chatbot which helps the public monitor police interactions. He was the 2018 Echoing Green Black Male Achievement Fellow and is a 2019 TED fellow.
Anderson was born in Oklahoma. [1] His mother is a rental car clerk and his father a forklift truck driver. [2] [3] He has described his childhood as being "characterised by violence". [4] He was kicked out of his grandparents house as a teenager and made homeless. [5] Anderson ran away with his best friend, with whom he later fell in love. [5] Anderson enlisted in the Army in 2003, where he worked as a satellite engineer. [1] [6] In 2007, while Anderson was serving as an engineer in the army overseas, his partner was shot and killed by a police officer during a routine traffic stop. [5] [7] Anderson was discharged from the Army once he disclosed his sexuality. [8]
Anderson became a community activist and organiser, earning a degree at Georgetown University in 2015. [5] At Georgetown he studied sociology and philosophy. [6] He served as a Racial Equity Fellow at the Washington, D.C. Center for the Study of Social Policy. [4] Anderson learned that the majority of people don't report negative interactions with police officers because they "do not trust the system". [9]
In 2014 Anderson was awarded money from Fast ForWord and the My Brother's Keeper Challenge to build Raheem.ai, a Facebook messenger chatbot that eliminates barriers to reporting police misconduct. [1] [10] [11] The chatbot allows the public to evaluate police interactions and offers follow-on support for users. [12] [13] Raheem.ai was inspired by Waze, who, alongside offering navigation information, use user-generated information to inform local government about fill potholes. [11] The chatbot asks questions about recent interactions with the police, anonymises the data that is collected and shares them in real-time to a public dashboard on police performance. [14] [15] [16] Raheem.ai publishes reports about where police are working well and where they are failing communities. [1] [17] It aims to reach all fifty states by 2020. [18] With Raheem.ai Anderson looks to build the first crowdsourced database of police interactions. [19] [20] [21]
In 2016 Anderson delivered a TED talk at Georgetown, where he discussed what it means to be vulnerable. [22] He was named as one of the National Black Justice Coalition 100 Black LGBTQ/SGL Emerging Leaders. [23] Anderson was made an Echoing Green Fellow in 2018. [24] [25]
{{
cite web}}
: |last=
has generic name (
help)
Brandon Anderson | |
---|---|
Born | |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Georgetown University |
Known for | Entrepreneurship |
Brandon D. Anderson is an American sociologist and entrepreneur. He is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Raheem.ai, a chatbot which helps the public monitor police interactions. He was the 2018 Echoing Green Black Male Achievement Fellow and is a 2019 TED fellow.
Anderson was born in Oklahoma. [1] His mother is a rental car clerk and his father a forklift truck driver. [2] [3] He has described his childhood as being "characterised by violence". [4] He was kicked out of his grandparents house as a teenager and made homeless. [5] Anderson ran away with his best friend, with whom he later fell in love. [5] Anderson enlisted in the Army in 2003, where he worked as a satellite engineer. [1] [6] In 2007, while Anderson was serving as an engineer in the army overseas, his partner was shot and killed by a police officer during a routine traffic stop. [5] [7] Anderson was discharged from the Army once he disclosed his sexuality. [8]
Anderson became a community activist and organiser, earning a degree at Georgetown University in 2015. [5] At Georgetown he studied sociology and philosophy. [6] He served as a Racial Equity Fellow at the Washington, D.C. Center for the Study of Social Policy. [4] Anderson learned that the majority of people don't report negative interactions with police officers because they "do not trust the system". [9]
In 2014 Anderson was awarded money from Fast ForWord and the My Brother's Keeper Challenge to build Raheem.ai, a Facebook messenger chatbot that eliminates barriers to reporting police misconduct. [1] [10] [11] The chatbot allows the public to evaluate police interactions and offers follow-on support for users. [12] [13] Raheem.ai was inspired by Waze, who, alongside offering navigation information, use user-generated information to inform local government about fill potholes. [11] The chatbot asks questions about recent interactions with the police, anonymises the data that is collected and shares them in real-time to a public dashboard on police performance. [14] [15] [16] Raheem.ai publishes reports about where police are working well and where they are failing communities. [1] [17] It aims to reach all fifty states by 2020. [18] With Raheem.ai Anderson looks to build the first crowdsourced database of police interactions. [19] [20] [21]
In 2016 Anderson delivered a TED talk at Georgetown, where he discussed what it means to be vulnerable. [22] He was named as one of the National Black Justice Coalition 100 Black LGBTQ/SGL Emerging Leaders. [23] Anderson was made an Echoing Green Fellow in 2018. [24] [25]
{{
cite web}}
: |last=
has generic name (
help)