“Technology is a game-changer,” says  Humanistic Technologies founder and CEO Ruby Guillen.

And she’s continuing to prove that, by innovating the social work field–digitally.

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Ruby, whose professional honors include “Outstanding Social Worker”, has been working in Child Welfare in Los Angeles since 1996.  But over time, she became frustrated with the ways she saw the system failing to meet clients’ needs.

So she drew on an interest that had awakened during her time in the Air Force: her computer expertise.

Attending her first “hackathon” in Los Angeles in 2015, Ruby and her team created an app to combat human trafficking.  She would go on to attend dozens more hackathons–coming up with apps for combating bullying, coordinating emergency services and providing homeless assistance.

Today, Humanistic Technologies offers products designed to improve the efficiency of social workers and others in the helping fields.  Products listed on their website include a child-abuse reporting app for hospital first responders.  Future projects include a public-adoption search engine and a social service resource ability search engine.

In her work for ICAN Associates (Los Angeles Inter-Agency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect), with a job title of “Fatal and Severe Child Abuse/Family Violence Technologist, Researcher and Data Analyst”, Ruby, a former foster child, has implemented multiple technology projects aimed at protecting and serving foster children.

And as a “hacktivist”, she continues to combine caring with computer savvy.

Ruby talked about the creation of Humanistic Technologies, her implementation of digital technology in the social-work field, and her experience at the first-ever White House hackathon in 2016.

On this edition of Over Coffee®, you’ll hear:

• The experience that first led to Ruby’s interest in technology;

• How her Air Force experience resulted in her becoming a computer expert;

• Why she began combining technology with advocacy in her career as a social worker;

• How technology can be a “game-changer”, when dealing with social problems;

• How her experiences as a foster child ultimately empowered her to do the work she does today;

• Her response to hearing the word “impossible” in the course of her workday;

• How she and her first “hackathon” crew came up with a solution to an ongoing challenge in twenty-four hours;

• An additional computer-based project that helped to empower local workers;

• How to get more information about Ruby’s current apps and hackathon events;

• Ruby’s advice on getting involved, if you have a great idea to support a cause but don’t do code;

• What Humanistic Technologies is currently creating, to empower social workers and others in the helping professions

• And, what Ruby remembers best from being invited to the first-ever hackathon at the White House!