Aselo®

A Platform for Crisis Intervention Helplines

Helplines and hotlines around the world choose Aselo as their reliable and easy-to-use contact center platform to reach more people in crisis, ease daily counsellor tasks, and provide meaningful data insights.

The Challenge

Helpline counsellors around the world receive tens of millions of calls each year, providing accessible critical support across a wide range of issues. Yet, often helplines are stuck with clunky, disparate systems that aren’t built for their needs and are unable to adapt to their evolving programs. Failing technology leads to missed or dropped calls, frustrated counsellors, cybersecurity risks, and lost data.

three people standing in a group and sending messages on their smartphones
Aselo hotline software visible on computer screen

Our Solution

Aselo is a modern, cloud-based, purpose-built platform that combines phone, text and chat channels with a purpose-built CRM into one easy-to-use interface. Operated by a nonprofit technology team, Aselo brings best-in-class software development practices to co-develop a platform for helplines, with helplines. We believe in building technology that strengthens the capacity of human counsellors so they can reach more helpseekers effectively.

From Our Partners

Aselo’s Hope: Empowering Children Against Online Threats
(Safe Online | Aselo, Zambia)

Youthline
"Our texting service is much more natural and fluid, it's become a lot more conversational and supportive."
Youthline Helpline Manager
"Our texting service is much more natural and fluid, it's become a lot more conversational and supportive."
Youthline
Youthline Helpline Manager
Línea Libre
"We feel that the platform is constantly improving. We know that there is a team on the other side that is actively working on Aselo. We have a counterpart from the Aselo team that is responsive and that we can report any issues to."
Línea Libre Helpline Director
"We feel that the platform is constantly improving. We know that there is a team on the other side that is actively working on Aselo. We have a counterpart from the Aselo team that is responsive and that we can report any issues to."
Línea Libre
Línea Libre Helpline Director
Lifeline Childline Zambia
"Aselo has created a centralized data source which we can access across the department … there’s a realization among partners that our data can be used for a lot of change that they want to implement in the country."
Lifeline Childline Zambia Helpline Manager
"Aselo has created a centralized data source which we can access across the department… there’s a realization among partners that our data can be used for a lot of change that they want to implement in the country."
Lifeline Childline Zambia
Lifeline Childline Zambia Helpline Manager
SafeSpot
"Because we were able to access other channels, we’re able to increase our volume … it helps the counsellors because they don’t have to keep shifting screens … we’ve been able to help more people ."
SafeSpot Helpline Manager
"Because we were able to access other channels, we’re able to increase our volume… it helps the counsellors because they don’t have to keep shifting screens… we’ve been able to help more people."
SafeSpot
SafeSpot Helpline Manager
Sinekhaya Nongabe

Sinekhaya Nongabe

Solutions Engineer
Sinekhaya is a Solutions Engineer on the Aselo project having joined the team in Feb 2023. With an appreciation for the transformative power of technology, he is passionate about optimising business processes and operations to deliver exceptional user experiences. His professional journey encompasses diverse roles in financial technology, banking, and higher education, leveraging his expertise gained since graduating with a B. Com in Information Systems from the University of Cape Town. Currently based in Cape Town, South Africa, Sinekhaya finds joy in the simple pleasures of life, often enjoying leisurely walks on the beach and indulging in African Fiction books.
Alejandro Rivera

Alejandro Rivera

Solutions Engineer
Alejandro is a software engineer with 7+ years of experience working in different positions related to software development. It wasn’t until he lived in rural Kenya that he realized the positive impact that technology can have on society. Alejandro has spent more than four years working for an NGO whose mission was to eradicate the hunger season across East Africa. He joined Tech Matters as a Solutions Engineer on the Aselo project to prove to himself once more that technology matters. In his spare time, he spends hours playing with his daughter, taking walks with his family, and growing a food forest.
Mythily Mudunuru

Mythily Mudunuru

Software Engineer
Mythily is a software engineer based in Toronto, Canada, who brings a unique blend of understanding user experience and technology expertise to her work. After earning her degree in Behavioral Science and Psychology from the University of Toronto, she spent nearly a decade as a therapist and consultant, working directly with clients to drive meaningful change. Her transition to software development was inspired by witnessing firsthand how technological solutions could scale impact. She joined Tech Matters to work on the Aselo project in Jan 2022. When she's not crafting code, you'll find her exploring Ontario's trails with her four-legged hiking companion, Ruby, discovering new destinations, or diving into whatever hobby has recently caught her curiosity.
Katy McKinney-Bock

Katy McKinney-Bock

Senior Data Scientist

Katy is a data scientist, linguist, and researcher with over a decade of experience in research development, data analysis, and machine learning / natural language processing. She is passionate about empowering people with data, and values knowledge creation via a multitude of methods, from recording narrative stories, to small team interviews, to mapping systems from administrative datasets, and in models trained over corpora of natural language or quantified via survey questions and in health assessments. She has worked with a range of collaborators, from non-profits providing human services, to a data incubator focused on ethics and societal impact, within an interdisciplinary research center at a medical university, and in higher education teaching and research, and takes a systems approach to engaging in research and technology development.
Humairaa Mohamed

Humairaa Mohamed

Partnerships Manager
Humairaa is a proud Africanist, intrapreneur, critical thinker, and problem solver with a high aptitude for logical reasoning, strategic thinking, and mathematical analysis. Fueled by a strong passion for humanity, nature, technology, and learning, she continuously seeks multidimensional challenge, growth, and improvement opportunities. Humairaa is inspired by the possibility of a world that delights in diversity and embraces complexity, and has chosen to dedicate her life and skills to committed teams and progressive technologies to deliver intelligent and sustainable impact.
Dee Luo

Dee Luo

Director of Product and Business Operations
Dee is a Product Manager interested in leveraging innovative technology to build empathy-driven solutions that empower individuals and their communities. She has experience building SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) business software after working at Yext, a New York-based technology company, and has worked on pro bono projects for international social enterprises as a past fellow of the MovingWorlds Institute. She joined Tech Matters in December 2020 to lead the product management for Aselo and is based in New York City.
Jana Kleitsch

Jana Kleitsch

User Experience Designer
Jana is a seasoned user experience designer and an occasional serial entrepreneur. After co-founding the first online wedding planning site, Wedding Channel, Jana spent almost a decade working on Amazon’s Recommendations and Bestsellers teams. Jana joined the Tech Matters team in March of 2020 as the UX Designer for the Aselo helpline platform. Jana also serves as a Startup Advisor at the University of Washington mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs.
Annalise Irby

Annalise Irby

Product Manager

Annalise is a Product Manager interested in co-creating mission-driven technology alongside communities and governments. Previously at Schmidt Futures, a tech philanthropy, she rotated as a product manager between tech nonprofits and startups including Recidiviz, a criminal justice reform nonprofit, and JustFix, a housing justice nonprofit. Before this, Annalise worked in software engineering at Lyft and Uber, and in conversational UX (user experience) design at IBM Research. She graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology with a B.S. in Computer Science, and is currently based in Brooklyn, NY. In her free time, you can find her making pottery, adventuring outdoors, or learning something new.
Steve Hand

Steve Hand

Software Engineer
Steve is a Software Engineer with 20-years’ experience leading projects in industries including e-commerce, healthcare, video games, road haulage, finance, and consumer electronics, in organizations ranging from a three-person start-up to large multinationals and the Welsh National Health Service. He came to software the long way around, after studying History & Economics at Manchester University. He joined Tech Matters to work on the Aselo project in December 2021 and is based in Galway, Ireland. In his free time, he helps out at local Autism charities but also consumes large amounts of bad TV.
Michele Gomich

Michele Gomich

Telecom Program Manager
Michele is a leading Senior Project Manager in Telecommunications, with over two decades of experience. Over the course of her career, Michele has managed a variety of Telecom Projects, specializing in implementing systems for Public Safety Entities, Large-Scale Municipalities, School Districts, National Accounts and Private Sector Corporations. Contact Centers, PBX Integrations, Cloud Base Telephony and Carrier Solutions are just a few of the platforms Michele has experience with. Michele has always prided herself on solving problems, and having the trust and respect of her peers and clients. With years of dedication in providing clients with cutting-edge Telecom Solutions, Michele is thrilled to put forth her efforts with Aselo and the Child Help Lines. It’s such an amazing and important cause. In her spare time, Michele can be found spending quality time with her husband and two children. Both her daughter and son keep the family super busy with their competitive gymnastics and musical talents. Michele was born and raised in New Jersey, and is now raising her family in the Upstate of South Carolina.
Nick Hurlburt

Nick Hurlburt

Executive Director

Nick has 17 years of experience joining two parallel paths: software engineering and international development. Nick began his career developing early, large-scale artificial intelligence software at Amazon.com. He later managed software teams at Sift, a Silicon Valley machine learning company that protects companies like Airbnb and Twitter from online fraud. Nick spent six years in conflict relief in Burma and South Sudan, capturing human rights, migration, and multi-sector program data using methods from hand-delivered paper to smartphones to satellite modems. He leads the technology development for the Aselo helpline project, joining Tech Matters in mid-2019.

Pin It on Pinterest