Kona Connect is a NGO that was founded during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Connecting human rights & artificial intelligence (AI), Kona’s mission is to empower individuals in vulnerable situations through practical tools. 

Kona’s first project arose during the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. Lockdowns around the world led to a drastic rise in domestic violence (DV), thereby trapping victims at home with their abusers. Kona thus created “ Sophia ”, the world’s first automated chatbot programmed to assist survivors of domestic violence to seek assistance and gather potential evidence. All without leaving a digital trace and available 24/7. Kona prepared the backend and initial text of Sophia and the prototype, now ready to be tested. Sophia can be adapted to various national contexts and thus holds the potential to impact the lives of millions of DV survivors and the organisations that aid them around the globe.

Realising this potential impact via our volunteers and strategic partnerships is key to our mission. Instead of getting tangled up in bureaucratic mazes, Kona partners with volunteers, universities, and companies to offer resources to provide practical services to our projects. 

Kona is thus poised to provide groundbreaking services to individuals facing vulnerable situations and needs the financial support to realise Sophia’s global launch. Having already procured funding for server space and software, Kona seeks the type of operational funding that will allow the expansion of Sophia to multiple global locations and multiply the range of Kona services offered, as explained below.