Terravoz | Empowering Communities

Empowering communities

through voice, text, and web solutions

About us

Terravoz is a global, non-partisan strategy, research and software development company that creates locally based technology solutions to promote open governance, social inclusion and community empowerment.

With over 20 years of innovation in education and international development through partnerships with organizations such as the MIT Center for Civic Media, The World Bank, the City of Cambridge (Massachusetts), Our São Paulo Network, the Government of Brazil, Avina Americas, and Code for America, we can help you harness the power of mobile and web technologies to connect with hard-to-reach segments of the population and improve communication between local residents, governments and community organizations.

Leveraging a range of tools, such as text messaging campaigns; phone call surveys; postcard announcements and low-cost digital signs, we develop effective strategies for reaching people wherever they are, in their own terms, and using whatever communication channels are available to them.

Our team believes that the right combination of technology and social outreach can lead to communities that are healthier, better educated, more sustainable and more democratic. We look forward to collaborating with governments, businesses and non-profit organizations that share that vision. Contact us now!

In spite of recent developments in mobile technology, more than 4 billion people still do not have regular access to computers, smartphones or the internet. Terravoz addresses this issue by building solutions that bring information where people are, through the devices and mechanisms they already have, and in their own voices, literally.

See our Work

Technology

VoIP Drupal

Terravoz helps governments, businesses and non-profit organizations design and implement technical solutions that facilitate local communication, raise awareness to pre-existing resources, and foster accountability, social inclusion and participation.

Our systems are built on VoIP Drupal, a versatile open source communication toolkit that adds the power of voice and Internet-telephony to Drupal web sites.

Developed by Terravoz in collaboration with the MIT Center for Civic Media, VoIP Drupal facilitates the creation of hybrid applications that combine regular touchtone phones, the Web, SMS, and other channels in a variety of ways, facilitating community outreach and providing an online presence even to those who are technically challenged or who do not have regular access to computers.

VoIP Drupal is actively being used in a wide range of projects including participatory budgeting programs in Mozambique, city-wide notification initiatives in Wisconsin, personal story-recording systems in Brazil, audio-neighborhood tours in Boston, phone-based radio shows empowering domestic workers in New York, and more.

Additional Information

Applications of VoIP Drupal

City and neighborhood-wide information systems

Phone-, web- and SMS-based surveys

Interactive community radio programs

Group communication

Story recording / playback

Get Out to Vote campaigns

2-1-1 and 3-1-1 community hotlines

Audio neighborhood tours

Learn More

Project Portfolio

Our clients include government, non-profit, and grassroots organizations, such as The World Bank, MIT’s Center for Civic Media, Studio REV-, and The National Domestic Workers Alliance.Our products have been showcased at The White House, on BBC, GOOD magazine, New York Times, conferences and universities worldwide.

Stay tuned

Terravoz will redefine the way you interact with your phone, the web, and the people around you!

Team Members

Leo Burd

Founder and CEO

Dr. Leo Burd is a technology strategist and innovator with a strong background in the research and development of new tools and approaches for education, social inclusion and civic empowerment.

Over the past 20 years, Dr. Burd worked for groups such as the World Bank, Microsoft, the Brazilian government and the MIT Media Lab, directed a non-profit organization that built "computer and citizenship" schools in Sao Paulo slums, and was a key contributor to several initiatives that use digital tools to improve quality of life in different parts of the world.

Born and raised in Brazil, Dr. Burd has a BSc in Computer Science from the Technological Institute of Aeronautics (ITA), a MSc from the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) on the design of software for education, and a PhD from the MIT Media Lab on the development of technological initiatives for social empowerment. His thesis from MIT inspired the creation of VoIP Drupal and set the technology and the framework used by Terravoz in its projects.

Tamer Zoubi

Technical Lead

Tamer Zoubi is a Drupal architect with experience in Drupal, PHP, JS, Ruby and other web technologies. His skills include building web applications from the scratch, writing custom Drupal modules, theming websites, site maintenance and migration, building browser extensions (FF, Chrome) and writing scripts in Ruby.

Graduated from the Applied Science University in Jordan and then from the DePaul University in the USA, Tamer holds a Bachelor degree in Computer Networks and a Master degree in Computer Networks Security. He also holds many international certificates from Cisco and other organizations.

Emilie Reiser

Program Manager

Emilie Reiser is a full-stack developer and technology strategist, dedicated to exploring innovative uses of technology to promote learning, civic engagement and more resilient communities.

Passionate about bridging the gap between technologists, governments, non-profit organizations and local communities, Emilie has designed and managed programs domestically and internationally with the MIT Media Lab's Center for Civic Media, the United Nations Refugee Agency, Humanitarian Openstreetmap Team, and Digital Democracy.

As Haiti Program Director for Digital Democracy, she spent 3 years working with women’s groups in Port-au-Prince to develop technology solutions to address gender-based violence, including the launch of the first rape response hotline in the country. Prior to working in Haiti, Emilie served as Director of Programs for Vision Education & Media, leading the development and implementation of curriculum to support the integration of creative technologies into New York City public school classrooms.

Emilie speaks Spanish, Portuguese and Haitian Creole and has collaborated on tech and media programs in the US, Haiti, Sierra Leone and Brazil.

Clients and Partners

Terravoz is proud to work with a highly inspiring group of people-centric governments, businesses, non-profit agencies and grassroots organizations from all corners of the world.