ChatGPT launched in November 2022. Since then, AI adoption has exploded. This, along with fears about AI replacing some or all of the American workforce, has dominated public discourse. Many have called it the most important threat of our time.

I call it a distraction.

AI, as a developing technology, is producing and will produce a noticeable effect on the job market, both positively and negatively. But its perceived and theoretical disruption is not aligned with reality or precedent. Countless examples of revolutionary technologies have already proven, without fail, that jobs will shift and change. Some sectors will shrink while others grow. Rarely do they completely disappear.

But the pain of American workers and their families will not disappear.

Nor will the mismatch between employer needs and candidate skills, leaving far too many positions unfilled and far too many people ready to work but struggling to find it.

While it makes sense to plan for several contingencies with AI, our focus must pull back to the primary threat under which this pain is worsening. Because this is the heart of the matter: America currently has no unified strategy for good jobs, and it is in desperate need of one.

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The Good Jobs Crisis

Since 2021, CDX Data (formerly known as Community Dynamix) has engaged with technology leaders, nonprofit organizations, and philanthropic intermediaries, among others, to drive and leverage accurate data-driven strategy related to economic and workforce development. Recently, for example, we launched Matchpoint to optimize the contract-bidding process for Southern California’s clean energy workforce and industry leaders.

What we have found is that in order to develop the right kind of good jobs strategy, one that creates desired change, we first need to agree on a universally accepted definition of the term “good job.” This is the one we find works best, built from jointly developed Good Jobs Principles by the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Labor:

A good job offers fair, livable, and transparent pay with family-sustaining benefits, a safe and respectful workplace free from discrimination, job security with predictable schedules, a voice in workplace decisions (including the right to organize), and real opportunities to build skills and advance, all starting from equitable, skills-based hiring.

The second is that we have to admit many currently available jobs are not good jobs. For instance, a two-bedroom apartment remains unaffordable for many Americans, even for those with a job due to pay not meeting cost-of-living requirements. Because of this and other deficiencies with jobs, we should not expect a person to take a job simply because it is available. Nor should we expect that person to remain in a job simply because they have it.

Transforming currently available jobs and creating future jobs into good jobs helps solve these problems, but the challenges created by a lack of good jobs don’t just affect the American workforce. They also affect American employers.

For example, while AI has remained at the forefront of public discourse for years and policy-makers weigh how to best plan for its perceived fallout, other sectors have emerged or are emerging that deserve just as much top-of-mind discussion. Quantum computing, biotech, and advanced energy are just a few. Each needs or will need a trained, experienced workforce to build and maintain their infrastructure, develop policies and guidelines surrounding their use, and research and monitor their respective impacts for further improvement. These advancements are not the endpoint, either. Every year, more technologies arrive that require the same levels of expertise and labor. This is in addition to in-need industries already facing shortages, such as housing construction and nursing.

We are not talking about this enough. We have no unifying strategy in place to predict demand and fill it. The pieces are all there for it to develop, for all stakeholders to come together, but the wheels that should be driving this change remain too still.

This is one area where AI created a positive change, though. Because with its creation and adoption, we started seeing an increased urgency and larger focus on jobs growth and protection.

AI Generated the Right Momentum, but It’s Already Diminishing

In June, California became the first state to launch a tool actively monitoring job displacement caused by AI, called the California AI-Unemployment Tracker. As of this writing, no other state has confirmed a similar initiative, but it is probable they will follow suit. Some, like Pennsylvania, have already created protections for state employees, as outlined in an order in 2025 and a collective bargaining agreement with SEIU Local 668. Nationally, both the Biden Administration and the Trump Administration have also released guidance on AI usage and development.

These programs, orders, trackers, and tools foster deeper data collection, more nuanced decision-making, deeper rigor, and a reduced timeline to developing progressive, all-inclusive solutions for a changing world. Although disagreements about the best direction forward abound, all stakeholders are in agreement that the AI problem is one worth solving.

At least, they were. Already those winds are shifting.

California’s tracker, although new, has shown no significant impact on jobs from AI. AI company leaders have changed their narratives to say AI won’t replace jobs. Enterprise-level buyers are reining in and softening their spending, reducing fears around employee replacement. The federal government has other competing priorities on its mind.

This is my primary concern. As the AI boom shrinks, so too will our focus on a strategy around jobs. American workers will suffer more than they already are, graduates will face an uncertain future, and necessary industries will struggle to move forward.

This is the juice, though: reunifying all stakeholders doesn’t require another theoretical threat to our way of life—all it requires is a replacement for the lost motivation, and it is not new.

The Keys to a Good Jobs Strategy

In September of last year, Governor Newsom signed a legislation package to reduce prohibitive energy costs for ratepayers. This set of initiatives accelerates the state’s transition to clean, efficient energy and has done the same for the industry’s growth. Realizing that vision requires skilled workers to fulfill the increased demand. Built into the policies were incentives and mandates governing these buildouts and offering benefits to all necessary parties for the vision to work. Ultimately, everyone benefits because good jobs are created, workers can feed their families, companies turn profits, and politicians score points with the public, who enjoy reduced energy bills.

This is the first key: a reason to take on the work. The second is research and guidance.

As you can see, this type of forward progress requires numerous parties, groups, and individuals all working together for the vision to move from an idea to a plan.

When the Biden Administration passed the Inflation Reduction Act, billions of dollars were added for EV manufacturing, supercharging the Battery Belt. Because the Battery Belt lies primarily in the South, where jobs have traditionally lower wages, fewer benefits, and less support for worker safety, incentive to take on the jobs for the proposed production was low. So, demand existed but supply did not.

We were contracted to determine a path forward. This meant engaging with worker centers, unions, community-based organizations, philanthropic foundations, and local governments, understanding their needs and motivations, and building a plan that honored the research as well as their inputs and visions. Relevant incentives were built into packages, and the supply met the demand created by the legislation.

The AI Bubble Will Probably Burst, the Jobs Bubble Won’t

AI is a bubble. As Ed Zitron predicted, it is moving toward bursting.

Jobs, while affected by bubbles, will never burst. They have survived, and even thrived, with the creation of the factory, television, and internet. Their titles and responsibilities may have shifted, but they didn’t disappear. Neither did the people who want to fill them.

Americans want to work, and they are looking to their elected officials for reasons to do that work. The funding, infrastructure, policies, and benefits all need to align. The AI boom might be dwindling, but it was never the main problem, just a motivating factor to face it. We’ve already failed to act in a unified manner before, but we don’t have to continue down that path. We’ve seen what can happen when everyone comes to the table and hashes out a solution.

Let’s start small, build the models that determine the future, then scale. That was the American Dream in the past, and it can be that dream again now. But only if we let it.

- Austin Thompson, CEO & Founder of CDX Data

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The setting was the SoCalREN Regional Workforce Alliance quarterly meeting. I presented alongside Audrey from the Emerald Cities Collaborative and Lujuana from LA County’s Internal Services Department. The subject was MatchPoint — a platform my company, Community Dynamix (CDX), built under an LA County engagement to do something deceptively simple that, as far as I can tell, no one in the public procurement space has done before: match small and diverse contractors to the opportunities they can actually win.

You can watch a 12-minute window of the presentation here:

Watch the RWA presentation on YouTube

What I want to do in this piece is explain the problem MatchPoint was built to solve, why it’s been so persistent, and what we’re learning now that the platform is live.

The problem: lists instead of matches

Every local hire program, every diversity procurement initiative, every community benefits agreement in the country runs into the same structural failure. A small contractor gets a notification that a new bid is open. She sees the project title, the deadline, maybe a dollar amount. What she doesn’t see is whether her certifications align, whether her bonding capacity is sufficient, whether her firm size meets the set-aside requirements, or whether her project history is competitive against the likely bidder pool.

She has no way to assess fit without reading the full solicitation and doing her own analysis. And she has forty other bids in her inbox this month.

So she doesn’t bid. Not because she can’t win. Because the system gave her a list when she needed a match.

This happens at scale. Workforce intermediaries send blast emails. Procurement portals publish open listings. Program managers check the compliance box — outreach conducted — and move on. Everyone did their job. And the contractor still didn’t bid, still didn’t win, still didn’t grow.

I call this the demand-sensing gap. The workforce development field has invested decades in understanding labor supply — credential databases, training pipelines, labor market information systems. The supply side of the market is instrumented. The demand side is a collection of PDFs, portal listings, and institutional knowledge that lives in people’s heads. There is no infrastructure that makes demand legible at the level of specificity required to connect a contractor to an opportunity she can competitively pursue.

Why this gap has persisted

The field’s existing data tools — Lightcast, BLS data, O*NET, employer surveys — are very good at answering questions in what complexity theorists call the Clear and Complicated domains. How many jobs were posted in a given occupation last quarter? What credentials does an employer require for a given role? These are knowable, analyzable, and the tools for answering them are mature.

But contractor-to-opportunity matching in public procurement operates in the Complex domain. The relevant variables aren’t just numerous — they interact in ways that aren’t predictable from any single dimension. A contractor who looks competitive on trade alignment might be gate-blocked by bonding capacity. A firm with strong financial health might lack the specific set-aside certifications a given opportunity requires. Matching isn’t filtering. It’s a multidimensional assessment that the field doesn’t currently have infrastructure to perform.

What we built

MatchPoint assesses contractor-opportunity fit across six dimensions simultaneously:

Trade and industry alignment. Does the contractor’s specialization and service scope match what the opportunity requires?

Organizational capacity. Does the firm have the staffing depth, equipment access, and operational infrastructure to perform at the scale the project demands?

Set-aside eligibility. Does the contractor hold the certifications — SBE, DBE, MBE, WBE, DVBE, Section 3 — that the opportunity requires or preferences?

Relevant experience. Has the firm completed projects of comparable scope, complexity, and sector?

Financial capacity. Can the contractor carry the cash flow burden of public contracting, including delayed reimbursement cycles, mobilization costs, and project-specific insurance requirements?

Bonding capability. Does the firm have access to bid, performance, and payment bonds at the levels the opportunity requires?

None of these dimensions alone is sufficient. A contractor who scores well on five but is gate-blocked on one — bonding, typically — can’t bid regardless. This is why list-based outreach fails. Lists don’t assess multidimensional fit. They just tell you something exists.

MatchPoint takes these six dimensions and operationalizes them into a matching engine that surfaces ranked, actionable recommendations rather than unfiltered lists. The platform also connects contractors to technical assistance — not generic business coaching, but targeted support tied to the specific dimensions where a contractor falls short on a specific opportunity.

We built it in partnership with the Emerald Cities Collaborative under an LA County engagement, and it’s now live across SoCalREN’s 13-county clean energy workforce network, serving small and diverse contractors pursuing public procurement opportunities in the clean energy sector.

What we’re learning

We’re early. The platform is live, contractors are onboarding, and we’re learning in real time what works and what needs refinement. A few things are becoming clear.

First, the demand-sensing gap is not a technology problem. It’s a design problem. The workforce field designed infrastructure to measure supply and assumed demand would be legible on its own. It isn’t. Building the matching engine was the easier part. The harder part is structuring demand-side data — buried in bid documents, scattered across portals, held in institutional memory — into something a system can assess against a contractor’s profile.

Second, technical assistance changes when it’s tied to match data. Instead of offering a contractor a generic “business development workshop,” you can say: your trade alignment and experience are strong for this opportunity, but your bonding capacity is the gap. That’s a different conversation — and a more actionable one.

Third, this framework is portable. The six dimensions aren’t specific to clean energy or to LA County. Any jurisdiction running local hire programs, community benefits agreements, or diversity procurement targets faces the same structural gap between their goals and their information architecture. The methodology transfers. We built it here. It applies everywhere this problem exists.

Why I’m writing this

I’m sharing the framework because I think the field needs the concept. Every procurement target that underperforms, every local hire ordinance that generates compliance activity without contractor growth, every community benefits agreement that checks the outreach box without producing matches — these aren’t failures of intention. They’re failures of infrastructure.

The demand-sensing gap is real, it’s structural, and it’s solvable. We’re proving that in LA County right now.

If this resonates with work you’re doing — whether in public procurement, workforce development, clean energy deployment, or community economic development — I’d welcome the conversation. I’m trying to understand how this gap shows up in different jurisdictions and what it would take to close it.

You can reach me at Community Dynamix or visit MatchPoint to see the platform. Or just reply to this post.

Austin Thompson is the Founder and CEO of Community Dynamix (CDX) and CDX Data, a workforce and economic development technology firm. He writes on topics at the intersection of power, institutional design, and systemic analysis.

While this badge sits proudly on our site, it represents far more than a partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS). It is a signal of our evolution into a Data & AI-first company and a reinforcement of our commitment to the public sector and the communities we serve.

Innovation with a Public Sector Purpose

For our public sector partners, the mission always comes first. Whether it’s streamlining veteran benefits, improving urban infrastructure, or modernizing healthcare delivery, the challenges are massive. We believe the solution lies in the intelligent use of data.

By achieving this AWS milestone, we’ve validated our ability to build high-stakes AI and data solutions that:

• Modernize Workflows: Removing the “administrative tax” so public servants can focus on people, not paperwork.

• Optimize Costs: Ensuring taxpayer dollars are stretched further through lean, cloud-native architecture.

• Drive Predictive Impact: Moving from reactive services to proactive support using advanced machine learning.

AI as a Tool for Equity

As a minority-owned small business, our perspective is shaped by the structural barriers we’ve navigated to get here. We know that technology isn’t neutral—it’s a reflection of the people who build it.

We aren’t just “using AI”; we are advocating for it. We believe the power of Artificial Intelligence must be leveraged to benefit all communities, particularly those traditionally left behind. For CDX, “Mission Impact” means fighting for a level playing field and ensuring that the data models of tomorrow don’t automate the biases of yesterday.

The Road Ahead

This recognition from AWS gives CDX deeper access to the tools and resources needed to accelerate digital transformation. But our focus remains the same: delivering software and technical services that don’t just “work,” but actually move the needle for your organization and your constituents.

We’re doubling down on a future where Data and AI drive progress, efficiency, and equity. We’re glad to have you with us.

Ready to see what Data & AI can do for your mission?
Contact the CDX team today to discuss how we can optimize your workflows and drive community impact together.

You can read the full piece here:
👉 HBCUs fuel economic mobility, and regional partnerships are key to unlocking their full potential
https://technical.ly/entrepreneurship/hbcu-economic-mobility-guest-post/

I wanted to use this space to share a bit more context on why I wrote it and what I think is at stake.

For years, historically Black colleges and universities have done far more than educate students. In many regions, they serve as backbone institutions, convening employers, managing public investment, training talent, and anchoring place-based partnerships that connect people to opportunity. North Carolina A&T State University is one powerful example of what this looks like in practice.

And yet, despite the talent, commitment, and proven models already in place, too many of these institutions are being constrained by systems that were never designed for the scale or complexity of the work they are now being asked to do.

The problem is not ambition.
It’s not leadership.
And it’s certainly not a lack of capable faculty or motivated students.

The limiting factor is institutional capacity, particularly around the operational systems that support federal funding, compliance, and partnership management. When those systems break down or rely on overly manual processes, the costs are real. Faculty time is diverted. Institutional risk increases. And promising regional collaborations become harder to sustain or scale.

That matters because we are at a moment of real economic transition.

Advanced energy, manufacturing, automation, and other emerging industries are reshaping the economy across the United States. The opportunity is not just national competitiveness, but whether young people in places like Greensboro and so many other regions can access clear, structured pathways into good-paying, family-sustaining jobs.

On MLK Day, this question feels especially urgent. Toward the end of his life, Dr. King focused increasingly on poverty as the defining challenge cutting across race and geography. He understood that dignity requires institutions capable of delivering opportunity in practice, not just ideals in theory.

In the essay, I argue that HBCUs have long served as bridge builders in this work, and that investing in their institutional capacity is not symbolic. It is pragmatic, bipartisan, and essential to ensuring opportunity compounds rather than stalls.

If you care about higher education, regional economic development, workforce pathways, or how systems actually function on the ground, I hope you’ll take a few minutes to read the piece.

I’d also genuinely welcome your perspective. What are you seeing in your region? Where do institutional systems help unlock opportunity, and where do they quietly hold it back?

Thanks for reading.

We’ve built enormous datasets about students, schools, and outcomes, but somewhere between collection and connection, visibility breaks down. The very data that should help us understand long-term mobility has become fragmented, delayed, and, in some cases, contested.

That’s the challenge facing data leaders in 2025:

How do we rebuild trust and transparency in public data systems — and make them actually useful to the people doing the work on the ground?

The Challenge

Most data practitioners in philanthropy, nonprofits, or education partnerships didn’t sign up to manage a bureaucracy of dashboards. They’re problem-solvers — people who believe that when data is shared responsibly, it can drive smarter investments and better outcomes.

But today they face three headwinds:

1. Fragmented Systems – State, local, and institutional data rarely align.

2. Shrinking Trust – Privacy and political pressures make even routine data-sharing risky.

3. Unclear Ownership – It’s not always clear who holds responsibility for maintaining or modernizing public data infrastructure.

That leaves the field with a choice.

The Choice

We can keep building one-off reporting systems that answer funders’ questions but rarely inform policy — or we can invest in modern, interoperable data ecosystems that serve communities, not compliance.

Modern systems should help educators, policymakers, and residents see the same picture — of where people are thriving, where they’re stuck, and what interventions actually change the curve.

That’s the direction we’re exploring at CDX Data.

Why We’re Hosting This Conversation

On December 8, we’re bringing together education and data leaders who are at the frontlines of this shift.
Amal Karim (ECMC Foundation) and Philip Ferari (Learn to Earn Dayton) will join me to unpack:

• What state economic mobility trends mean for measuring long-term student success.

• How philanthropy and community partnerships can use modern data systems to close the visibility gap.

• How to balance innovation with privacy, stewardship, and public trust.

It’s a conversation for data practitioners and decision-makers shaping the next generation of public systems — whether inside a foundation, a nonprofit intermediary, or a state initiative.

The Outcome We’re Working Toward

When we rebuild visibility into our public data systems, we make it possible to answer bigger questions:
Are our investments leading to mobility? Are our students truly better off five years later?

That’s not just a technical challenge — it’s a civic one.

Join us as we dig into how to meet it.

👉 Register for the December 8 virtual conversation here

Austin Thompson is CEO of CDX Data, a company helping mission-driven organizations modernize data systems to improve public outcomes and strengthen visibility across education, workforce, and economic mobility systems.

When people are afraid to act, it’s usually because leadership prioritizes safety over results.

I saw that dynamic play out perfectly last night, not in a staff meeting, but on a baseball field.

Last night’s Game 7 moment in the World Series said everything about leadership, teamwork, and decision-making under pressure.

Two Dodgers outfielders sprinted toward the same fly ball.
Andy Pages (#44) and Teoscar Hernández (#8).
The game was tied. The season was on the line.

Either player could’ve slowed down, worried about colliding, or assumed it was the other’s play.

But they didn’t. Pages went all in — full speed, full commitment — and made the catch that sent the game to extra innings and, ultimately, saved the season.

That’s extreme ownership. And it’s exactly what I see missing in so many organizations we work with.

⚾ From Baseball Fields to Boardrooms

At CDX Data, we work with nonprofits, educational institutions, and mission-driven organizations.

Many of them are passionate about impact but paralyzed by uncertainty.
Everyone’s waiting on perfect data, perfect alignment, or perfect timing before acting.

The result?
1. Missed opportunities.
2. Slow decision cycles.
3. Silos between departments (even in smaller organizations) that keep them from seeing the bigger picture.

Just like those two outfielders, everyone’s looking at the ball but no one’s calling it.

📊 Why Data-Driven Decision-Making Is the Play That Wins

In the private sector, agility and speed are survival tools.
In the public and nonprofit sectors, they’re superpowers because the stakes are measured in lives, communities, and futures.

That’s why at CDX Data, we help organizations build the confidence and clarity to make decisions faster and wiser, powered by the right data.

We don’t just design dashboards.
We help teams turn fragmented information into actionable intelligence.
We bridge silos so funders, leaders, and staff all see the same story in real time.

When everyone’s reading from the same data playbook, ownership becomes natural, not forced.

💡 The CDX Approach

Our approach is grounded in three principles:

1. Extreme Ownership of Outcomes — We empower organizations to take full responsibility for their data and the decisions it enables.

2. Integration Over Isolation — We unify systems, data sources, and teams to create shared visibility.

3. Clarity That Drives Confidence — We translate complex data into insights people can act on.

Because data isn’t the goal. Impact is.

🔁 The Lesson

The Andy Pages catch was more than a sports highlight it was a masterclass in how clarity, courage, and commitment change outcomes.

The same is true for organizations.

When teams are aligned, when roles are clear, and when leaders have access to the right data, they move decisively. They stop hesitating. They make the play.

✳️ About CDX Data

CDX Data helps nonprofits, governments, and education institutions make smarter, faster, and fairer decisions with data.

We integrate technology, analytics, and strategy to turn data into action and action into measurable impact.

Whether your organization is scaling a program, managing complex grants, or modernizing your data infrastructure, our mission is the same:

Help you make the play that changes the game.

If your organization is stuck waiting on the perfect plan instead of executing the right one maybe it’s time to stop calling for the ball and start making the catch.

What if we helped mission-driven organizations navigate the complexity of federal funding, data, and implementation with clarity and confidence?

Four years later, CDX has partnered with nonprofits, higher ed institutions, and public sector teams across the country — building strategies, supporting funding applications, and helping turn opportunities into outcomes.

We’ve seen the good, the hard, and the urgent:

• Incredible teams overwhelmed by compliance and reporting

• Promising programs undercut by underinvestment in infrastructure

• Visionary leaders struggling to keep up with shifting funding environments

We’ve also seen what’s possible when people get the right support at the right time.

📅 You’re Invited: Our 4-Year Anniversary Event

But this isn’t just a milestone.

It’s a moment to look around the corner.

On August 26th, 2025, I’m hosting a virtual gathering — not to celebrate CDX, but to talk about the massive changes we’re seeing in the funding and policy landscape, and what they mean for mission-driven organizations in the months and years ahead.

🧭 I’ll share four strategic imperatives I believe leaders need to focus on right now — based on what we’ve learned in the field
🎤 And I’ll be joined by guest speakers from local government, philanthropy, and community-based organizations to explore what’s changing, what’s working, and what comes next

If you’ve been feeling the pressure and complexity of this moment — I hope this session offers some clarity, some direction, and a sense of shared purpose.

🎟️ Reserve Your Spot

🗓️ August 26th
🕐 1:00pm ET / 10:00am PST
🔗 Register Here on Zoom

Whether you’ve worked with CDX before, or are just learning about us — I’d love to have you join this conversation.

But early in the call, they said something that stopped me:

“Pay-as-you-go pricing is stressing me out.”

That hit. Because it’s something I hear more often than people might think, especially from mission-driven teams where every dollar has a job. When your team is scaling and your data stack is evolving fast, unpredictable cloud costs can start to feel like a liability.

And I get it. It’s not just a finance concern — it’s a strategy concern.

It’s Not About Usage. It’s About Control.

I told them what I say to every organization we work with at CDX Data:
Cloud economics isn’t really about usage. It’s about design.

Pay-as-you-go is just one pricing model. Flexibility is great, but when that flexibility starts producing surprise bills or budget spikes, it’s time to zoom out.

There are proven ways to build in cost control before you’re in triage mode:

• 🔐 Reservation pricing for predictable workloads

• 📉 Usage-based autoscaling so you only pay for what you need

• ⏱ Automated shutoffs for dev or idle environments

• 📊 Budget alerts before you hit redline

These aren’t just nice-to-haves. For nonprofits juggling compliance, reporting, and growing infrastructure, they’re non-negotiable.

Start with Design. Not Discounts.

This is where the real work begins. At CDX, we don’t just help folks clean up costs after the fact — we come in early. Because staying ahead of surprises takes upfront planning:

• Designing cloud environments that reflect how your team works

• Building workflows that align with funder compliance requirements

• Forecasting spend before usage gets unpredictable

• Embedding cost governance into the system itself

By the end of the conversation, the CIO said something that summed it up better than I could:

“So the goal isn’t to just spend less — it’s to know what you’re spending and why.”

Exactly. That’s the mindset shift we help our partners make.

A Resource Worth Sharing

If you’re in the middle of a data modernization journey — or even thinking about one — I recommend checking out this resource:

📘 The Cloud Economics Playbook – Thoughtworks

It’s sharp, vendor-neutral, and aligned with our approach to this work, focusing on outcomes and control, not just usage.

If this resonates, reach out.
We’re helping nonprofit teams design for control — not chaos — so they can modernize with confidence and stay focused on what matters.

As one nonprofit leader from New Hampshire put it:

“Many of the food insecurity resources are being cut. There will be more demand put on organizations like ours to help make up the difference. This is not sustainable for the long term without additional funding sources.”

At CDX, we hear these same concerns every week in our discovery calls. The fear is real, but paralysis is not an option. Too much is at stake—especially for the communities that rely most on the nonprofit sector’s work.

The Moment for Financial Imagination

What the NFF report makes clear is that nonprofits are at a crossroads. Traditional funding cycles—grants, contracts, seasonal donations—are no longer enough to provide stability or sustain innovation. A new question is emerging across the sector: What does financial sustainability really look like in this new era?

More to the point:
What would it take to unlock new revenue models while staying true to mission?

We’re already seeing leading-edge organizations exploring models like:

• Subscription-based services for peer nonprofits and partners.

• Earned revenue from training, certifications, or open data APIs.

• Shared infrastructure fees for consortia of aligned CBOs.

• Licensing innovations developed through grant-funded pilots.

These shifts don’t happen by accident—they require better data, better systems, and a commitment to becoming revenue ready.

Where CDX Fits In: From Data Fragmentation to Financial Readiness

At CDX, our work centers on helping mission-driven organizations modernize their data infrastructure—not just to survive, but to attract new types of capital, partnerships, and earned income opportunities.

We call this approach data for sustainability.

Here’s how we’re supporting nonprofits to become financially resilient:

1. Data Modernization for Strategic Decisions

We help organizations clean up, integrate, and activate their data—from Salesforce CRMs to spreadsheets, surveys, and grantee reports. When data is buried in silos or misaligned with funding outcomes, it’s impossible to make the case for innovation. We fix that.

2. Revenue-Ready Reporting and Dashboards

We build lightweight, cloud-native dashboards that make it easy to tell your story to funders, partners, and potential customers. Whether it’s tracking program impact or surfacing financial ROI, the key is getting insight into the hands of decision-makers—fast.

3. Building the Infrastructure for Earned Revenue

From API-first data products to LMS-integrated training programs, we support clients in packaging their unique value into scalable digital offerings. We don’t believe in “tech for tech’s sake”—we believe in aligning digital infrastructure to what unlocks revenue and deepens impact.

What’s Next

It’s clear that a new era of nonprofit finance is coming—one in which resilience comes from adaptation, not austerity.

You're not alone if you’re a nonprofit leader wrestling with these questions. We’re hosting plan and design workshops with clients this summer to help organizations assess where they are today, what tools they already have, and what it would take to attract new forms of funding. And for those ready to go deeper, we offer custom modernization engagements tailored to your revenue goals.

Because in the end, our missions are too important—and our communities too vulnerable—for us to cling to outdated models that no longer serve us.

Let’s build what comes next. Together.

Sophistication is not the goal. Functionality, simplicity, and alignment are.

The Real Disconnect

Nonprofits today are navigating a convergence of high expectations and limited internal capacity. Funders demand detailed reporting and outcome tracking. Communities expect responsive, effective services. Staff are often stretched thin, wearing multiple hats with limited technical training.

Meanwhile, many data solutions on the market are designed for institutions with robust IT departments, deep pockets, and bandwidth to absorb complex systems.

That’s not the reality for most nonprofits.

This mismatch between what’s offered and what’s needed is at the heart of why data modernization efforts so often stall—or never begin.

What Nonprofits Actually Need

Most nonprofits don’t need a full-scale digital transformation. They need:

• Automated reporting that removes the burden of manual entry and creates compliance-ready outputs

• System integration that bridges their CRMs, case management tools, spreadsheets, and learning systems

• Simplicity that enables staff to focus on mission—not managing technology

• Quick wins that build confidence and show value from day one

At CDX Data, we’ve seen firsthand that when systems are designed around how people actually work, adoption goes up, burnout goes down, and mission-aligned outcomes accelerate.

The Shift: Useful Over Powerful

There’s a massive opportunity to reshape the nonprofit tech stack—not by offering “more powerful” solutions, but by offering more useful ones.

That means:

• Prioritizing automation over shiny dashboards

• Delivering templates instead of endless toolkits

• Focusing on output, not just input

And always asking: Does this make the nonprofit’s life easier right now?

Because in a sector where every hour and dollar count, data systems shouldn’t just look good—they should serve.

If your organization is looking for a low-cost, low-lift way to modernize, reach out to our team to learn more. Let’s make your data work for you—not the other way around.

I’m here at the AWS Public Sector Summit in DC, and one thing is clear: nonprofits are still spending too much on tools that don’t deliver real value. That’s why I keep coming back to Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)—a simple but powerful way to look at what your tech is really costing you over time. It’s not just the price tag. It’s the hidden costs: staff time, maintenance, disjointed systems, and tools no one uses.

Too often, organizations don’t have a clear baseline of what they’re spending on tech. And without that, it’s hard to make good decisions. The real question we should be asking is: Are we getting value from the tools we already have? Are they giving us peace of mind—or just more stress?

If you’re unsure how much your tech stack is costing—or whether it’s actually supporting your mission—let’s figure it out together. Email scheduling@cdxdata.com to set up a quick assessment. I’ll help you find clarity, identify savings, and make sure your technology is working for your mission—not against it.

In the video above, I explain why.

At CDX Data, we’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to do data work in this moment. Not just technically, but relationally. What does it mean to build data systems that respond to real people, real decisions, real urgency, when everything around us is shifting?

I just wrote something for funders and nonprofit execs about what we’re seeing in the field. It’s organized around upward and downward trends. Signals, not certainties. Patterns that seem to be pointing somewhere, even if the path isn’t fully clear yet.

But here, I want to say something more personal. More to my peers. Other folks who are holding questions about infrastructure, capacity, responsible AI, fragmented systems, messy spreadsheets, broken feedback loops. All of it.

Because honestly, I don’t think any of us knows the full shape of what’s coming. And I don’t think we need to.

What I do believe, deeply, is that none of us knows more than all of us. That collective wisdom is real. That there are insights already out there, in the way people are responding to what’s right in front of them. We just have to slow down long enough to pay attention.

We’re in listening mode right now. Not just with clients, but across the board. We want to be in conversation with other builders, other thinkers, other people who care about where this is all headed.

If that’s you, I’d love to hear what you’re seeing. What feels real right now? What’s rising? What’s falling away? What’s still foggy?

Leave a comment or reply directly. Let’s think together.

Join our Chief Solutions Architect, James Thompson, and Chief Executive Officer, Austin Thompson, as they discuss the latest trends and implications for innovations that can deliver better outcomes for social service beneficiaries.

Date: Friday, May 30th

Time: 10amPST / 1pm EST

Location: Zoom

Register here:

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_1yMQ3iQNSxyGEDnWFGbZHA

CDX is thinking more proactively about fund development strategies to grow the pie of available funding for data modernization and tech adoption.

This is important because a whole range of use cases for AI in the social sector could save lives and help bend the curve on some of the biggest community challenges.

That's why we are talking to investors about innovative financing solutions to grow the available funding for innovation of, by, and for mission-driven organizations.

We don't think this is a ‘nice have’. It's a ‘must-have’.

Austin

🎥 Watch the clip to hear James explain the real bottleneck holding nonprofits back — and what to do about it.

➡️ Catch the full webinar here:

If you care about strategy, evaluation, or innovation in mission-driven work, this one's for you.

#GenAI #NonprofitTech #AIForImpact #DataStrategy #CDXData #DigitalTransformation #WebinarReplay

We’ve all seen the headlines: AI transforming healthcare, finance, and logistics. But what about social impact? What about the nonprofits, intermediaries, and public-sector leaders tackling our most urgent challenges from workforce development to homelessness to climate resilience?

Here’s the hard truth: AI can’t deliver meaningful impact on bad data.

And this isn’t just a technical problem, it’s a systems problem.

At CDX Data, we’ve been working with mission-driven organizations wrestling with the hidden bottlenecks in their data ecosystems. Again and again, one theme emerges:

👉 AI and analytics are only as powerful as the underlying data's quality, cleanliness, and readiness.

This challenge isn’t theoretical. For finance leaders, funders, and nonprofits who want to advance outcomes-based financing and evidence-based grantmaking, data readiness is no longer optional; it’s mission-critical.

That’s why we’re hosting a free webinar:

AI, Impact, and the Hidden Data Bottleneck: A Playbook for Nonprofit Leaders

📅 May 13, 2025 | ⏰ 10:00 AM PT
🎙 Speakers:

• James, Chief Solution Architect, CDX Data

• Austin, Chief Executive Officer, CDX Data

What you’ll get:
✅ A no-nonsense look at why cleaning and transforming data is the #1 hurdle to scaling AI in the social sector
✅ Concrete examples from nonprofit and public-sector use cases
✅ A playbook you can use to shape your organization’s data readiness strategy

This isn’t another abstract AI conversation. We’ll focus on the real-world implications for social sector organizations — including funders, intermediaries, and implementation partners — who are eager to harness data for better outcomes and stronger systems.

If you care about:
💥 Scaling evidence-based interventions
💥 Building trust and accountability with funders
💥 Unlocking the next generation of data-driven impact

→ You don’t want to miss this conversation.

👉 Register now to reserve your spot

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_gfXH1j4YQRWFrhL1BtKIJw

Let’s shape the future of data-driven social impact — together.

#Nonprofit #ImpactMeasurement #DataQuality #AIforGood #DigitalTransformation

The Reality: Jessica’s Uphill Battle

Jessica is the data analyst at a homelessness services nonprofit.

Her organization provides emergency shelter, transitional housing, outreach, workforce services, and mental health referrals.

But every month, when it’s time to report on outcomes, how many people were served, how many moved into permanent housing, how long services took, the same headache begins:

• Digging into HMIS reports

• Tracking down paper intake forms from shelter staff

• Collecting Excel files from the outreach team

• Piecing together referral data from mental health partners

• Scrambling to meet city and county contract reporting deadlines

Jessica spends weeks manually reconciling data, sending emails back and forth, fixing errors, and struggling to deliver a report that’s late, incomplete, and frustrating for everyone involved.

Why This Is More Than Just a Tech Problem

At first glance, this may seem like a technology challenge — “We just need a better system.”

But the real challenge is systems thinking:

• How do we design workflows across people, data, and tools?

• How do we connect systems so data flows cleanly and reliably?

• How do we build capacity to analyze and use the data we collect?

Without this mindset, even the best tools won’t solve the problem.

A Better Way: Outsourcing Smart, Focused Support

Here’s what many leaders don’t realize:
Trying to hire an in-house data engineer or analyst to “fix” this is often more expensive and slower than partnering with a trusted data services provider.

Why?

• Nonprofits often can’t recruit or retain technical talent at competitive salaries.

• The problem is rarely just one system; it’s about integration, governance, and reporting across systems.

• A well-chosen partner can help design and operationalize a data strategy, train staff, and establish lasting solutions without the long-term payroll burden.

Making the Case to Funders

Many leaders also don’t realize they can make a compelling case to funders for investments in data systems:

• Better data means clearer impact stories and stronger accountability.

• Integrated systems mean faster responses to client needs.

• Improved reporting reduces staff burnout and frees up time for direct service.

Some funders now expect grantees to have robust data systems, and many are open to funding the upgrades needed to get there.

Where to Start

If you’re a leader feeling stuck in Jessica’s world, here are some steps you can take:

1. Map your current pain points. Where is your data stuck, duplicated, or unreliable?

2. Start small. Focus on one or two critical reporting pipelines to improve.

3. Look beyond technology. Consider people, processes, and training needs.

4. Ask funders for help. Frame system upgrades as mission-critical capacity building.

5. Seek advice. Sometimes a free consultation with a data partner can help clarify what’s realistic.

Final Thought

Getting your data house in order isn’t just about compliance but improving lives. When your team can spend less time chasing spreadsheets and more time focusing on clients, the entire system works better.

If you want a conversation, no pitch, just listening and offering feedback’re always happy to help.

We need to listen — and we need to listen in a different way.

At CDX, we work with organizations that are relentlessly focused on outcomes for their beneficiaries. They are innovating, adapting, and pushing through uncertainty. But here’s the raw truth I keep hearing in our one-to-one conversations:

People in the social sector are feeling overwhelmed, confused, afraid, and sad. Teams are stretched thin, and the moment is testing the emotional intelligence and strategic agility of many organizations that are forced to adapt to a rapidly changing federal funding landscape.

And it’s not just organizational leaders and their teams. It’s the people they serve, people facing job loss, economic insecurity, and deep inequality.

Today in the United States, nearly 40% of adults report difficulty covering their basic expenses. The digital divide remains sharp: 1 in 4 rural Americans lacks access to high-speed internet. And for those in low-wage work, economic mobility is largely stagnant, with less than 5% moving from the bottom to the top income quintile over their lifetime.

These are the complex realities our clients are fighting to change.

That’s why we’re not just delivering tech. We’re asking: How do we help you deliver tangible, measurable outcomes for your beneficiaries?

We’re proud to have reached AWS Select Tier Partner status last month, but we know that milestone only matters if it fuels the right kind of work. We’ll be at the AWS Public Sector event in D.C., engaging with leaders on how GenAI and data can help not by replacing human connection, but by deepening it.

We are applying zero-based thinking at CDX. We are challenging assumptions. We're going into communities this spring and summer, not just to talk, but to listen in person.

Because at the end of the day, this work is still about changing the economic trajectory of communities left behind by past waves of growth.

At CDX, we know that delivering real impact requires more than just new technology; it requires co-creating solutions alongside the people who live the challenges every day. That’s why we’ve been leading design workshops with our clients, bringing together program leaders, data teams, and frontline staff to map out the biggest opportunities for using data and AI to reduce costs, grow revenue, and reimagine their business models.

These workshops are not about theory or hype. They are about working backwards from our clients’ most pressing problems and identifying where data can unlock new value, whether by improving operational efficiency, personalizing services for beneficiaries, or uncovering new revenue streams to strengthen sustainability.

For us, this is a natural extension of our north star commitments: closing rural-urban divides, expanding pathways into economic opportunity, and ensuring that the social sector is equipped to thrive in a future shaped by GenAI. By designing these data products in partnership with our clients, we’re not just offering a service we’re building capabilities and innovations that stay with them long after the workshop ends.

In these workshops, we start with the lived experience of our clients and their beneficiaries, then bring in new information and insights we’ve gathered from working with organizations facing similar challenges across the country. Together, we co-design AI-enabled data products that are tailored to their needs, and we don’t stop there — we work with them to test and refine these solutions in the real world. We’re seeing this in action right now in the education and workforce space, where we’re supporting clients as they develop innovative solutions and applications for the AWS Imagine Grant, helping them build the data and AI capacity they need to deliver breakthrough outcomes.

If you're innovating to find breakthroughs for underserved communities and considering leveraging data and AI in that work to grow your impact, I’d love to learn alongside you.

Austin