There’s something special about a person who has earned degrees in Pure Mathematics and Philosophy. It’s even more special when that person uses her skills to create and expand a social enterprise. Helping people — at scale.

Meet Tess Guthrie, Founder & Director of WhyHive, and co-winner of Hacker Exchange’s inaugural Virtual Innovation Program pitch competition.  

WhyHive is a data analytics company focused on social impact. Tess and her talented team of data scientists, developers and researchers have been consulting with for-purpose organisations and innovative corporates since 2018.

But nearly 25,000 Australian for-purpose organisations are entirely volunteer run, and lack the resources for professional data evaluation, even though they know it’s critical to their mission. WhyHive’s mission is to even the odds — by scaling access to their expertise.

WhyHive is LEVELLING UP

DATA SCIENCE FOR GOOD

WhyHive’s new product is a platform that simplifies collecting, analysing and using data, for any for-purpose organisation, big or small.

Using a range of data-evaluating tools including Machine Learning, it will help for-purpose organisations figure out what data to collect, how to collect it, what the data means, and gain access to quick reports, helping them measure outcomes, make better decisions and create effective change.

WhyHive’s high-level consulting services remain available for organisations and innovative corporates that need a deep data dive.

Hive-Minded Leadership

A multi-faceted talent, Tess is clever and hard working, passionately team focused, and driven by strong personal ethics — particularly intersectional feminism and social justice. She’s also a talented singer/songwriter; her folk/alt-rock band has toured the East Coast and played sold-out venues in Melbourne, Australia. Listen to ”Fairy Lights” and ”WUTO” on Spotify.

Tess was sponsored by the City of Melbourne to be part of HEX’s Virtual Innovation Program, driven by the urgent need to increase the number of organisations WhyHive could help.

“During 2020, and in particular [as a result of] COVID-19, it’s become more important than ever to be able to support social impact organisations digitally and at scale.”

— Tess Guthrie, Founder & Director of WhyHive

Interestingly, her favourite lesson from the program — conveyed by several international founders — was to trust your gut instinct. Data-gathering missions are invaluable to help organisations stay in tune with community needs and make big decisions. “So most of the time I have my head in that space,” Tess reflects.

“It was nice to realise there’s a lot of information that can’t be measured easily that, nonetheless, can still help guide strategy. Things like all the conversations we have about a product, or the bits of  advice we pick up along the way. And last, but certainly not least, the way a certain direction makes us feel (which can be an indication of whether it aligns with our values).”

Connect with the Hive

The WhyHive team would love to connect with:

• Not-for-profits, social enterprises and philanthropic organisations who would like to be involved in user testing;
• Social impact investors and funders;
• Passionate software developers and data scientists who care about social impact.

Get in touch at info@whyhive.com.

Suffice to say, we think Tess and the whole team at WhyHive are phenomenal. We’re rapt to have both her and her co-winner, Mateo Palacio Gómez, in the HEX family.  Read about Mateo and his startup here.

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