Electronic Thesis/Dissertation
 

YouthMappers after USAID Funding Cuts

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Analyzing Changes in OpenStreetMap Activity and Understanding Students’ Experiences

she used open-source Python GIS tools to analyze YouthMappers’ OSM contributions prior to and following the end of USAID funding support for the network, and she facilitated interviews and focus groups with YouthMappers students and alumni in Latin America.

For ten years, the YouthMappers network has united thousands of university students worldwide in contributing crowdsourced geospatial data to open platforms such as OpenStreetMap (OSM). The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was YouthMappers’ primary funder. In February 2025, USAID was dismantled, and its support for YouthMappers was withdrawn. YouthMappers chapters, located primarily in low- and middle-income countries, have consequently lost access to the majority of the funded opportunities that were available through the network prior to USAID’s termination. This thesis explores the impacts of USAID funding cuts on YouthMappers chapters around the world. The author leveraged a mixed methods approach

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