Workerbird graduated from Cambridge Social Ventures in September 2020.
Idea
Workerbird is a tech for good startup that supports all workers. Workerbird uses reflective tracking and human-centred data insights to provide a space for people to understand their working patterns and relationship to work. The platform empowers workers with their own data to support them in making impactful change to their working environment and conditions, either individually or as a group.
Over the last year, Workerbird has been designing, testing and building an app, which workers use to track what is important over the whole of their day. Through targeted, short-term, personal tracking, workers can start to reflect on their experience of work. Daily and weekly insights help users to understand where they can make meaningful changes. The app allows them to provide data to other people enabling them to work collectively to improve working conditions. Workerbird also helps users check they are being paid fairly and reflect on their experience of work.
Workerbird is currently part of the Nesta CareerTech Challenge, which supports them to design and test features to provide information, support and guidance that is localised and relevant concerning labour market information, training and upskilling.
People
Johanna Herman is the founder of Workerbird and before career-changing into tech she was Deputy Director and Senior Research Fellow at the Centre on Human Rights in Conflict at the University of East London. She has a masters in international affairs from Columbia University and a BA(Hons) in social and political sciences from the University of Cambridge.
Shannon Jensen Wedgwood is the tech lead and a full stack Javascript developer well-versed in the React and React Native ecosystem. She has worked throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East as an award winning photojournalist for publications such as The New York Times, Newsweek and GEO. She has a bachelors in economics UPenn’s Wharton School.
Elias Gunin is a full-stack developer with a focus on JavaScript. He is experienced with React and is currently doing research around design systems. He also works with Java, PostgreSQL, MySQL and Redis. Katharine Horsman is the business development lead. She has strategic and operational experience in business development, within both SME and startup environments. Katharine also has extensive marketing experience.
Johanna, Shannon and Elias are all graduates of Founders & Coders, a four-month selective full-stack JavaScript bootcamp that follows a unique peer-led education model.
Impact
Workerbird wants everyone to take a fresh look at work.
Beyond helping workers to understand patterns that they are not aware of, Workerbird provides a space for reflection around work. This can help all workers manage their wellbeing at work and help them protect their time and work-life balance.
In a time when surveillance of workers is increasing and many workers are managed by algorithms – Workerbird helps workers to track their day easily and privately on their own terms and only for their own benefit.
Workerbird.
Lead entrepreneur
Johanna Herman