…is no small hosting effort, but leave it to the good folks at social accelerator COMMON to make it fun to find innovative solutions to global problems. After a stop in NYC the large-scale pitch party for entrepreneurs will head to Cape Town to work with Design Indaba and renowned designer judges in awarding $25K+ (200K Rand) to people creating positive social change in Africa. I’m eagerly awaiting the applicant videos and, even more, seeing the local ideas in action.
At the Designer Fund’s well-attended Women in Design forum recently, I was glad to get to hear stories from teen girls who participated in Iridescent Learning’s mobile app creation program. I had previously written about the group’s hands on development work (the program also gets young gals to pitch their ideas and prototypes to investors), but hearing from the high schoolers themselves about their gains was nothing if not inspiring. In advance of the upcoming class this winter and spring, Iridescent is taking applications for mentors, teaching assistants and speakers–people passionate about technology who want to work with schools, companies, and smart kids. Consider it, won’t you?
It’s ironic to consider inefficiency in healthcare at UCSF, but less so when the focus is how data-tracking might improve our experiences–and wellbeing–as people and patients. Today GigaOm’s Roadmap conference featured analyst Jody Ranck describing the need for more connectedness in the sector. The web-based “socialization of disease” (that is, the idea that lots of people want to share their experiences and literal pain points) isn’t the only evidence I need to agree.
And it’s encouraging to see SF-based companies that are running with this concept. At Rock Health’s demo day this afternoon, incubator company Genomera described the large-scale transition from “n=they” (when people waited for others to be studied for treatment) to “n=we” and “n=me” (when there’s a bias towards participation to improve outcomes). It’s being realized with platforms like SuperBetter from Social Chocolate and Eatery from Massive Health, both of which I’ve just starting trying. What other related services have you excited? Looking forward to hearing.
Culture of Future founder Jody Turner asked me to guest post for Fast Company recently. With pleasure!
At the recent NewSchools Venture Fund Summit in the northern part of Silicon Valley, innovators and educators met to re-imagine what future learning technologies might be capable of. The gathering of 600 policy makers, instructors, entrepreneurs, and creators included now-notable philanthropist and Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg, who recently donated $100 million to Newark schools. (When asked why Zuckerberg did so, he said he’s thankful for the education he received and wants to help others have quality school experiences.) … more
Educational tech startups, take note: while your accomplishments in both social benefits and development breakthroughs may be massive, you have quite a few calls to make about financial and employee reward models on your way there. Such was the takeaway at “Inside the Entrepreneur’s Studio,” a breakout at the New School Venture Fund Summit this week. Words to the wise included:
Decide whether to operate for profit or not-for-profit (do note that these are different structures and don’t just refer to your first year performance). Greg Gunn, co-founder of education software company Wireless Generation, asked entrepreneurs to consider whether private or foundation capital will be more attainable based on their missions. more
Over the past two weeks I’ve enjoyed working with education expert Tina Barseghian to consider the question of whether parents would pay for mobile data plans their kids use for classroom purposes. This was in response to a Speak Up report released earlier this month that suggests 67 percent of families would pay so that their children could use phones as learning tools. You can read the full story Parents Weigh In On Paying for Mobile Access in Schools, and thanks to Baat Enosh (National Center for Women & IT), Rashmi Sinha (SlideShare), Stacey Foreman (FM), and Jean Hagen (Institute for the Future) for sharing their thoughts on the topic.
I knew local developer Saroj Yadav would create great things following the startup Supercool School. Welcome Kreeya, a commerce site featuring the wares of independent creators. Fourteen designers are currently selling their clothing and accessories on the site, whose members celebrate the term “I choose to wear local” in addition to lines from Nooworks and SAAKO. It’s one of those properties I’d selfishly prefer to keep to myself but can’t resist sharing with y’all.
I’m hoping to zip (as in shared car rental) to Palo Alto today for a screening of and discussion about “The Entrepreneurs,” a new documentary that chronicles Zambia’s first large scale women’s leadership program. The film, which was created by Helen Cotton and Academy Award-winner Ross Kaufmann, is being presented by the San Francisco-based non-profit Camfed (which is no stranger to film now that it’s projects have been screened in 81 countries and more than 1,000 homes). Stanford’s Michelle R. Clayman Institute for Gender Research will host “The Entrepreneurs” and dialogue about young women who–despite coming from extreme rural poverty and sometimes being orphaned–launch furniture stores, preschools and other business through the 10,000 Women Program.
The Great Ones from Camfed on Vimeo.
Thanks to Crystal Light for sponsoring this post. To learn more about how Crystal Light can flavor your day with 30 refreshing flavors, visit them on Facebook.
A great dinner with friends (you know, one of those I’ve had to go to the bathroom for the past half hour but don’t want to miss something meals) this week has me feeling grateful about being in SF and in the vicinity of smart folks. So that it didn’t just remain in scribbled ink on my hand, I’ve pulled together–wait for it–Em’s Current Inspiration Roundup.
Organizations that I’m thinking about at the moment for their forward-thinking work include:
In a city of coworking spaces, The Hub is special to me. And not just because their sister organization in Berkeley helped bring the first Ignite Bay Area event to life, but because it’s partnering with the Mission Street social innovation space to offer more entrepreneurial resources. A new 12-week evening program, Hub Ventures, is intended to provide “funding and resources to a community of 16 entrepreneurs building for-profit solutions for a better world.”
Applications are open to those looking to participate in weekly peer review sessions, mentor office hours, speaker events, and the like. The curriculum (including courses in Design for Impact, Fundraising Methods, Customer Development, and Market Validation) will culminate in a peer selection process to give three ventures $75K in seed funding in the form of convertible debt. Get yourself involved, good doers.
