I was happy to get to take part in the Stanford d.school’s first hackathon this weekend, and not just because of the high energy of the 150 designers, developers, and other creators who participated. Their ideas are great. And that’s no easy feat when the challenge brief calls for creating large-scale ways to bring design thinking to the world. Take a peak at the Lean Design Experience, d.radio and other well-considered solutions that were created in 48 fast hours.
…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.
Bay Area-ites have the chance tonight to engage in a fun project to protect international development, the Cycle for Security Cross-Country Bike Tour. Laguitas will be providing free brews at Rally Pad starting at 6:30 as friend Janessa Goldbeck (@jgoldbeck, formerly with the Genocide Intervention Network) prepares to take off on a 4,200 mile cross-country bike trip. It’s not just for the exercise but to talk with Americans about the importance of foreign aid programs that provide millions of people around the world with nutrition, education, and health care.
Given that funding for these programs is in jeopardy in Congress, the effort is important for raising awareness about how vital they are to saving lives abroad and keeping Americans safe. Go learn about it.
This week was a big one for TeachAIDS, the Palo Alto-based non-profit that creates HIV prevention software that’s being used in more than 50 countries. On World AIDS Day it launched educational animations with characters and content specific to Botswana as founder Piya Sorcar (pictured left, with Lisa Ling) talked at TEDxWomen about the differences between awareness (knowing that the disease exists and kills) and knowledge (understanding ways to keep yourself from becoming infected). The organization has succeeded–and been culturally sensitive while doing so–where many large-scale campaigns haven’t: helping people get smart about their own health. Sorcar’s recent talk is well worth a look, and you’ll see why the work has received San Francisco AIDS Foundation kudos.
“When City of Joy officially opened Friday, hundreds of women, most of them rape victims, thumped on drums and sang at the top of their lungs…Some even danced with the shovels and cement-encrusted trowels that they used to build the City of Joy. It was an upbeat moment in a country that has had few.” - Jeffrey Gettleman in The New York Times in February
V-Day, the international non-profit that works to end violence against women and girls, released its annual interactive program update today, and the news is nothing if not inspiring. Between projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, and work with community activists ranging from teen girls to adult men, you can’t leave the experience and not feel activated about the contributions (and your own).
“Mindfulness in education.” Say it three times (slow).
This weekend The Association for Mindfulness in Education will host a workshop about mindfulness, teaching and education that sounds contemplative and fantastic. Starting with Mirabai Bush, co-creator of Google’s Search Inside Yourself course, and continuing onto the topics of classroom confidence, music, and the practice of being present, it would be a shame to miss. “A Guide for Anyone Who Teaches Anything” author Deborah Schoeberlein will start the Saturday session, which continues with a discussion of working with at-risk teen girls led by the Art of Yoga Project (an organization I work with and couldn’t be a bigger fan of).
Think the topics are of interest? You might also consider the Calming Technology Design Symposium that Stanford will host in early December (details to come and pre-registration here).
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
Women 2.0 recently talked with Halle Tecco, founder of health startup seed accelerator Rock Health, about picking partners and the post-business school task of selecting participating startups. The non-profit program selected from 350 applicant ideas for its first class and gives startups $20K grants, mentorship, curriculum, and operational support.
W2: You’ve just set up shop in San Francisco with 11 very active in-house startups. Why health?
HT: Working at Apple’s App Store and covering health and medical apps confirmed for me that the medical space could use some of the creativity found in other technology segments. I sat next to the woman covering games and realized how motivated the developers were by the chance to build products they love. I wanted to see those same talented developers working on ideas to improve health. more
I’m happy that independent film showcase Cinema Speakeasy is bringing rock ‘n dialysis story D Tour to the Gray Area Foundation for the Arts screen on Thursday. The film follows musician Pat Spurgeon as he tours with Rogue Wave and awaits a second kidney transplant, and both filmmaker and subject will be on hand at the evening event. Healthcare issues and hard rock to be discussed.
Part motivator and part story showcase, the new ILearnedToProgram project has earned nearly 500,000 pageviews from developers, students and general Internet users in its first weeks of existence. By inviting people to share their experiences and finish the sentence “I learned to program…”, it’s capturing and sharing the work of featured programmers, a third of whom are women.
The decision to overrepresent females (who are still the vast minority of computer science students and professionals) was a deliberate one, says creator Benjamin Chun, a CS teacher in San Francisco. He wanted girls to feel that they have a place—and adult role models—in the field. The project ultimately highlights the diversity of the industry by providing a shareable space for people to reflect on their own introductions to coding.
Visitors see one-sentence tales about the initial allure of programming, which range from empowerment to self-education and escape. Chun’s response? “I learned to program by reading comments in an HTML file.”
First featured on Women2.org.
