PLACE is a non-profit data trust that creates high-resolution aerial and street view imagery and mapping data for a membership community that is open to all and serves the public interest. PLACE is our answer to today’s inequality of mapping data. Mapping data is abundant, growing exponentially and is used to fuel today’s fintech, e-commerce, city planning, digital health, government services, climate research, environmental resilience and nearly all the digital products and services that fuel the data economy. Yet high quality mapping data is not present in many parts of the world, and where it is, unequal access means it doesn’t benefit people or societies fairly or equally. Similar to wealth inequality worldwide, the power and benefits of mapping data are held in the hands of too few. We created PLACE recognizing the need for a more inclusive, sustainable and shared model to provide the primary mapping data that is fundamental for inclusion in the digital world – a model that is not beholden to shareholder interest, but the public interest.