Humanitarian and nonprofit organizations face unique challenges due to their nontraditional objectives (e.g., the goal to maintain equity and maximize reach), their limited resources, and the uncertainties that they face in their environments (i.e., unpredictable working conditions and high dependency on volunteers and donations). In this environment, using analytics methods to develop policies, solve problems and provide recommendations that consider the underlying uncertainties becomes critical.

The UPWARD Initiative, within the Institute of Data and Analytics and under the direction of Dr. Irem Sengul Orgut, aims to use analytics methods and technologies to address problems faced by humanitarian operations and nonprofits. Specifically, our goal is to develop new methods, tools, and collaborations to utilize analytics approaches to improve the well-being of underserved populations and the people in need.