- Client:
- Island Innovators
- Location:
- Grenada
- Industry:
- Community And Innovation
- Service:
- Build
- Deliverables:
- Product strategy, product design, full-stack engineering, member platform, and admin dashboard and CMS
A member platform for the people building the Caribbean, and the tools to run it
- Platform
- Community
- Systems
Overview
Island Innovators brings together the founders, technologists and creatives building the Caribbean, through a series of in-person gatherings that started in Grenada. As the community grew, the connections made in the room needed somewhere to continue between events, run by a small team without a developer on call.
We built the first version of the member platform in 60 days, with profiles, a filtered member directory and connection requests, alongside an admin panel that runs the whole application end to end.
The platform now has 54 members. What began as a fixed-price build has become an ongoing Build partnership, with Ghost Savvy as the community’s product and engineering team.
Platform
Profiles and a directory that turn introductions into a network
Members come to Island Innovators to find people they can build with. Each profile shows what someone is working on and what they’re looking for, so others can find them by island, sector or skill.
What We Did
- Designed profiles covering work, skills, island and what each member is looking for
- Built a member directory filterable by island, sector and skill
- Built Calibre Connection requests, so members can reach out and keep track of the people they meet
- Set up secure accounts with two-step sign-in
Admin
An admin panel that runs the whole application
The Island Innovators team decides who joins, what members see and what the community is talking about, all from its own panel.
What We Did
- Built member review, account management and permissions
- Added publishing for announcements, opportunities and pages
- Added moderation tools to keep the directory accurate and the community safe
Engineering
One API between the members and their data
Island Innovators keeps its member records in Odoo Online. We built the platform so members never touch Odoo directly, and the API decides what each person can see.
What We Did
- Built the front end in Next.js from Island Innovators’ own designer’s files
- Built a NestJS API with Supabase for data and file storage, connected to Odoo Online as the system of record for members
- Made the API the security boundary, with directory cards built so private contact details cannot leak into them
- Set role-based access for members, partners and admins
- Documented the system with a backend specification, an OpenAPI contract and an implementation plan
Outcome
A community that keeps going between events
Members can now be found, and find each other, between gatherings, and the Island Innovators team runs the platform day to day. It is ready to grow with the series beyond Grenada.
Results
- Version one live in 60 days
- 54 members on the platform
Client feedback
In their words.
“We relied on the product strategy expertise of Kareem & Ghost Saavy to bring our idea to life. With a rapid deployment - in two months he brought us from 0 to 1 and now we trust him to continuing our long-term growth.”
Brendion Heyck,Chief Executive Officer – Island InnovatorsMore from GhostSavvy