Between 2016 and 2021, I was the lead volunteer organizer of Nonprofit Tech Club Austin, now called TechSoup Connect. While I was guiding it, the club partnered with NTEN: Nonprofit Technology Network, TechSoup, and locally in Austin, startup incubator Capital Factory.

One benefit of the partnership with TechSoup specifically was learning about inspiring ideas from other tech club chapters across the United States and globally, as well as from TechSoup and its divisions like Caravan Studios and the Public Good App House.

This post shares information presented during that program as well as additional discussions and resources I have since discovered. This post has become one of my most-read. I continue to update it as more information becomes available.

One discovery is the Dangerous Speech Project. They sum the problem up well:

“People don’t commit violence against other groups – or even condone it – spontaneously. First they must be taught to see other people as pests, vermin, aliens, or threats. Malicious leaders often use the same types of rhetoric to do this, in myriad cultures, languages, countries, and historical periods. We call this Dangerous Speech. Violence might be prevented by making it less abundant or less convincing.

Only a few years ago, I believed the United States was more egalitarian and tolerant than ever. I did not see racism as being an issue in Texas, for example, and mostly witnessed an ever-growing appreciation for differences in terms of culture and ethnicity. In fact, since returning to live and work in Austin in 2013, I was impressed by the new monuments on the Texas State Capitol grounds, including the stately Tejano and African American Emancipation installations. They are well worth a visit!

In 2013, I had also recently finished serving two consecutive four-year terms on a State of Texas commission (appointed by the Governor of Texas), the Texas Environmental Partnership Fund Board. The appointees of the commission and those serving on other commissions were very diverse.

But in 2016, an eruption of hateful speech at the national level occurred from which I am still reeling. It was like a long dormant volcano had erupted, causing an international avalanche of angry, hateful speech and behavior. This led me to seek solutions about how to combat hate in the context of the nonprofit sector.

2025 Update: While hateful speech continues (especially evident last fall going into the U.S. Presidential election), strides have been made by the State of Texas in the realm of equality. WalletHub produced a report, “States That Have Made the Most Racial Progress,” and author Adam McCann notes, “The state that has made the most racial progress over the past few decades is Texas, in large part because it has done a lot to close the gap in health outcomes between white and Black residents.” Follow the link to read more, and kudos to those states who have made positive steps – and leaps – forward. My thanks go to CultureMap for referencing the report. I receive their emails daily.

The following organizations were included in the TechSoup webinar I referenced earlier in this post. They were working to identify, monitor and to develop ways to combat dangerous rhetoric and actions around the world. It is so inspiring to see the social good sector fighting for a more just and peaceful world.

• PeaceTech Lab: PeaceTech Lab has moved to Drexel University College of Engineering. “PeaceTech Lab works for individuals and communities affected by conflict, using technology, media, and data to accelerate local peacebuilding efforts. An independent non-profit organization, the Lab’s mission is to save lives through earlier warnings and smarter responses to violence.”
• Hatebase: Hatebase is a collaborative, regionalized repository of multilingual hate speech, developed in partnership between the Dark Data Project and The Sentinel Project. [Hatebase is retiring and sharing its database with other groups – they have tracked 176 countries, 98 languages, and 1,214,010 sightings]
• Metamorphosis Foundation: The Metamorphosis Foundation envisions a society where engaged and aware citizens actively use innovative tools to exercise their civic rights and responsibilities, where they are vigilant in influencing and holding their government to account, and thus ensure democratic, accountable, and responsive governance.

More Information

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

Isaiah 5:20

Read more on OpenBible

• American Bar Association, “Ground Rules for Ensuring a Civil Conversation” (n.d.).

• ALA: American Library Association has a helpful page on its website, “Hate Speech and Hate Crime.” It outlines important definitions and discusses legal issues.

• Asian Americans have seen a rise in hate crimes the past few years. Check out AAPI and report hateful behavior online. This was created by the Asian Pacific Planning and Policy Council (A3PCON), Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA), and the Asian American Studies Department of San Francisco State University.

• Black Enterprise, “Meet the Founder Whose App Helps Track Racial Incidents and Find Missing Black People” (October 19, 2021).

• Council on Foreign Relations, “Antisemitism and Anti-Muslim Hate are Surging. Here’s How to Curb the Worst American Tradition” (November 16, 2023).

• Council on Foundations via Independent Sector, “Values-Aligned Philanthropy for Community Foundations” (2022). “Through our Values-Aligned Philanthropy project, the Council on Foundations is encouraging foundations to take steps to ensure that they are not funding hate. Our white paper created a landscape scan of the issue and the work being done in the philanthropic sector to combat hate funding. We also maintain an online hub with updated links to resources and sample policies.”

• Everyday Health, “All About Hate: Definition, Health Effects, and How to Cope With It” (February 5, 2024).

• Hive Mind, “Against hate speech with AI.” “Get to know an exciting joint European project that uses technology and research against online hate. From online toxicity monitoring updates to DSA act, and Russian propaganda on the war in Ukraine, this website content is worth taking a look at.”

• Muslim Advocates. “Hate crimes against American Muslims are at an all-time high and Muslim Advocates is on the front lines of tracking and monitoring incidents, studying trends, seeking justice for victims, and shifting the political environment that gives license to commit violence against people and attacks on mosques.”

• Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council: “Hate against religious minorities is increased in America and it can make communities feel alone and afraid. The Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council is a civil society coalition bringing communities together to stand in solidarity against hate and advocate to protect people of all backgrounds. The United States was founded on freedom of religion and we are working together to protect that freedom and all.”

• Samsung, “Samsung and Internet Matters launch a new module of The Online Together Project to tackle online hate” (2023).

• @StatistaCharts on Voronoi App, “FBI Sees Upward Trend in Reported Hate Crimes” (posted 2024, covering 1991 to 2023).

• United Against Hate provides several helpful resources including a speakers bureau and school kits.

• United Nations, “Hate Speech” (2025) provides extensive resources for addressing and combatting hate speech. They comment, “Because fighting hatred, discrimination, racism and inequality are among its core principles, the United Nations is working to confront hate speech at every turn. This mission is enshrined in the UN Charter, in international human rights frameworks and in global efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.” #NoToHate | The website has been updated to include information regarding communication technologies including AI.

• The United Sates Department of Justice has a webpage focused on hate crimes. Visit the website for updates and actions you can take as needed. In addition, you might enjoy, “how to deal with ‘haters’” on stopbullying.gov.

• U.S. News & World Report, “Experts Say Attacks on Free Speech Are Rising Across the US” (2023).

• wikiHow, “How to Stop Hating (with Pictures)” (June 2022).