The Angellyh Yambo Foundation & RomoGIS Build Community Power
Using GIS for Good
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a powerful tool for community change. At RomoGIS , we focus on developing geospatial and technical tools that can empower local leaders and create long-term change in the communities we serve. Using our expertise in technology and our commitment to community organizing, we work with local leaders to address critical issues and build community power. It is our mission to work closely with community leaders to develop strategies and products that help advance solutions for community identified priorities.
Our most recent work in The Bronx began with a shared goal to reduce gun violence and strengthen collaborative community engagement efforts with innovative technologies. Thanks to a connection from the Latinx Department at Everytown for Gun Safety, RomoGIS and the Angellyh Yambo Foundation connected to embark on this powerful journey to empower youth and support community development in The Bronx. It was through this vested interest that Frank Romo and the RomoGIS team joined forces with Alexandra Maruri and the leadership from the Angellyh Yambo Foundation to create a series of educational and community-based programs to support violence reduction and educational efforts in The Bronx.
Through this partnership, RomoGIS and the Angellyh Yambo Foundation have supported building a stronger Bronx by providing educational programming, community events and technical resources to community leaders, schools and organizations. With strong local leadership from the Angellyh Yambo Foundation, we have managed to develop and implement comprehensive community action plans that foster meaningful engagement with youth in The Bronx. This partnership in The Bronx has been built over many months of working together and has proven to provide meaningful opportunities for collaborations with various stakeholders in The Bronx community.
This series of collaborations between RomoGIS and the Angellyh Yambo Foundation are prime examples of our collective, impact-driven approach that we are seeking to build upon in 2025 to support community health, safety and well-being. What began as a search for data and insights has now transformed into a shared commitment to community empowerment and long-term solutions that foster youth development, strengthen community ties, and build greater leadership in The Bronx.
Setting the Foundation for Collaboration
RomoGIS' first introduction to The Bronx community was through the Youth Gun Violence Prevention Summit. The Summit, organized and sponsored by the Angellyh Yambo Foundation is a community wide event aimed at supporting greater community awareness and safety around the issues of gun violence. This summit brought together a wide range of stakeholders, including youth advocates, law enforcement, educators, and community leaders. The conversations and stories told at the Summit left a lasting impact on all those who attended. Witnessing the leadership, organization and execution by the Angellyh Yambo Foundation was inspiring because it demonstrated the collective power of bringing together various community leaders to address a singular concern that impacted everyone's lives. The energy at the summit reflected the community's shared commitment to tackling the complex issue of gun violence in The Bronx.
Solutions for Good
At the heart of all our work in The Bronx is the belief that GIS for Good can help transform communities from the ground up. This was RomoGIS’ first major milestone working in the community because we were able to connect with a room full of youth advocates, educators, survivors, law enforcement officials, doctors, and local leaders who came together, united by a shared goal—to address the growing issue of gun violence impacting young people. RomoGIS was invited to the Summit to share our work mapping gun violence in California and bring those same methods to The Bronx. By combining our expertise in data and mapping technology with the lived experiences of local residents, we’ve been able to uncover patterns that might otherwise go unnoticed. But more importantly, we’ve empowered communities to take control of that data, turning insights and knowledge into action. While at the Summit we not only spoke about the power of GIS as a tool for social impact, but also showcased our preliminary interactive ArcGIS Dashboard highlighting the past 10 years of gun violence in The Bronx.
During our presentation we demonstrated how GIS technology can be used by community members to visualize patterns of violence, reveal hidden trends and help identify optimal resource allocation for community needs. Although it is difficult data to visualize and sift through, the community response was overwhelmingly positive. Community leaders had questions about the data, discussed key hotspots in the neighborhood and gained a better understanding of how we can use GIS to visualize and strategize for local change. Our GIS demonstration sparked many conversations about how we could use this data-driven approach to advocate for resources and target interventions where they are needed most. The positive response from the community left our teams at RomoGIS and the Angellyh Yambo Foundation eager to provide more resources to the wider Bronx community. This event set the foundation for our ongoing collaboration, proving that when we merge community voices with cutting-edge technology, we can create a powerful pathway to safer neighborhoods.
Community Engagement
Supporting Families and Strengthening Bonds
The Angellyh Yambo Foundation demonstrated its strong community leadership once again by organizing The Back to School Event with the La Central YMCA. This event supported hundreds of families with community resources and school supplies. We were grateful to be back in The Bronx to attend this important event and engage with the community on a more personal level. The event was about more than just providing school supplies—it was a chance to connect with families and listen to understand their day-to-day challenges, and share in the excitement and encouragement for the students going back to school.
At the event, we discussed how GIS technology could help map shared community challenges, such as unsafe routes to school or lack of resources in certain neighborhoods. This was the moment when we truly began to build trust within the community. Listening to parents and students express their concerns, we realized that our work wasn’t just about data; it’s about using that data to amplify the stories and experiences of those most affected.
GIS Education
Community Mapping at FLACS 2 Charter School
The Angellyh Yambo Foundation also helped RomoGIS build further community relationships by working closely with local Family Life Academy Charter Schools (FLACS) to develop educational programs for youth. Bringing together Alexandra Maruri's local expertise and RomoGIS' technical support, we were able to engage multiple schools in The Bronx in our Community Mapping Workshop. One of the most rewarding aspects of our collaboration has been working with students through the Community Mapping Program at FLACS 2 Charter School. During this program, we saw firsthand how youth, when given the right tools, can articulate the strengths and challenges they see in their neighborhoods, as well as opportunities for solutions with incredible clarity.
During the community mapping sessions, we taught two groups of students how to use GIS technology to map critical local issues like transportation safety, green spaces, and community landmarks. As we worked through the maps with them, it became evident that transportation was a top concern—especially around schools and bus stops. Students used their maps to tell their stories including their perspectives of how dangerous intersections and poorly lit areas affected their sense of safety, while also highlighting places in need of community investment. These student insights were invaluable, as they revealed areas that hadn’t previously been considered and further refined our understanding of the neighborhood’s needs. This program was a pivotal moment for us at RomoGIS because it solidified our belief that youth engagement is critical to our GIS for Good initiative.
Online Mapping at FLACS 3 Charter School
These students aren’t just learning—they’re actively contributing to solutions and providing insights that help guide our strategies moving forward. Administrator at FLACS 3
Continuing the momentum of the partnerships with RomoGIS, the Angellyh Yambo Foundation, and Family Life Academy Charter Schools, we expanded our Community Mapping workshops to 4th and 5th grade students at FLACS 3. During the workshop, students learned about the power of mapping using hand drawn maps and digital maps to build geospatial knowledge about their communities and neighborhoods. By encouraging students to share their community expertise with maps, students had important conversations about their experiences of their routes to school including navigating through their community and the usefulness of landmarks. This event was powerful to see students' perspectives through their community maps. Thanks to our community partners we have worked with over 200 students in The Bronx to build their digital mapping skills using Google My Maps. We are so thankful to all of our partners and the teachers at Family Life Academy Charter Schools for allowing us to train their students in the use of GIS for Good.
Community Mapping
Community Safety Mapping Project
The next step in our collaboration with the Angellyh Yambo Foundation was the Community Safety Mapping Project, where we deepened our engagement with local high school students from UPrep Academy and La Central YMCA. As part of a series of educational initiatives, we are developing a comprehensive plan to revitalize The Hub, making it safer and more accessible for our community and visitors. The program focused on students developing maps for community safety where students made hand-drawn maps and participated in a walking tour around The Hub Third Avenue Business District and local neighborhood to gather additional details of students' community expertise and identify community safety issues. During the walking tour, students identified areas in the community that should be prioritized for community clean up efforts due to the excessive garbage and used needles that threaten community safety.
It was during these sessions that the power of data truly came alive. By mapping areas affected by violence and layering that data with their personal experiences, students were able to visualize how issues like inadequate lighting or poor infrastructure contributed to unsafe environments. Students also improved their spatial awareness and practiced their presentation skills to amplify their voices and prepared to share their insights regarding these topics with community stakeholders and decision makers. One of the most impactful moments for RomoGIS was watching the students during the walking tour and seeing their faces light up as they connected the mapping technology with a potential solution to real-life challenges in their neighborhoods. It was incredibly rewarding to witness the growth of students' skills and confidence of using mapping tools. The students walked away from the project with new knowledge and tools, as well as a sense of ownership over their neighborhoods and confidence to advocate for change.
The Community Safety Mapping Project was more than just a workshop—it was an invitation for students to lead the change in their communities using GIS technology. The collaborative series of mapping sessions helped students identify and analyze violence hotspots across The Bronx. We do this collaborative community work not only to create safer communities, but also to provide opportunities for youth to see themselves as leaders in their community. These educational initiatives are part of a larger prevention strategy that aims to reach the root cause of gun violence. This prevention work of collaborating with the community to leverage community mapping is what is needed not only to identify solutions for gun violence but also for making positive change in The Bronx.
Ongoing Collaboration
Expanding Our Work Together
The Bronx represents a model for what can be achieved when technology and community come together. From the summit to the school programs, every step has been about building trust, amplifying voices, and providing innovative tools for advocacy. Together with the Angellyh Yambo Foundation, students, families, and organizations of The Bronx, we’ve built a foundation of collaboration that will continue to drive community-led, data-driven solutions for years to come.
The success of these projects has only strengthened our commitment to The Bronx. Our partnership with the Angellyh Yambo Foundation continues to evolve, and we are actively working to expand these programs to more schools and organizations. By continuing to collaborate with students, educators, and community leaders, we’re not just creating maps—we’re fostering advocates who can use these maps to drive real change.
We are currently in discussions with additional schools to replicate the Community Mapping Program, ensuring more students have the chance to learn how GIS can reveal solutions to the everyday challenges they face. We’re also working closely with local organizations to extend the use of GIS for Good beyond gun violence, addressing broader issues like housing conditions, infrastructure, environmental health, and access to services. The insights from these projects will be critical in guiding The Bronx’s future development and helping communities advocate for the resources they need.
A Collective Path to Safer Communities
Our work in The Bronx is more than just a series of programs—it’s a journey of growth, collaboration, and shared purpose. Together with the Angellyh Yambo Foundation, RomoGIS has not only introduced new tools to combat gun violence, but has also strengthened the community's capacity to advocate for their own safety and well-being. The future of The Bronx, and communities like it, depends on these collective efforts, and we are proud to continue walking this path alongside the incredible residents, students, and organizations we serve.
We want to acknowledge and thank the students for their participation, leadership, honesty, and optimism throughout these impactful events. It has been incredible to see the growth in confidence and bold actions of using GIS for Good. We are excited for you to continue to lead the change with all of our community partners, including the Angellyh Yambo Foundation, La Central YMCA, FLACS 2 and FLACS 3 Charter School.
RomoGIS is very thankful for the opportunity to work with these community leaders and for their willingness to welcome us into their community.
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