Stanford Center for Social Innovation correspondant Sheela Sethuraman interviews the winners of The Tech Awards: outstanding individuals recognized for their commitment to developing technology that benefits humanity and initiates global change.
The Tech Awards presented by Applied Materials is a signature program of The Tech Museum in association with the Center for Science, Technology, and Society at Santa Clara University. Every year individuals are selected out of over 1,000 nominations sent from all over the world. Laureates are divided into six categories: Environment, Education, Young Innovator, Health, Economic Development, and Sustainable Energy. There are 2 Laureates selected for each category. At the annual gala, all 12 Laureates are honored and in each category one will be awarded an unrestricted cash prize of $75,000 and one awarded an unrestricted cash prize of $25,000
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In parts of Nicaragua, nearly 80 percent of the population goes without electricity, leaving them cut off from critical opportunities for betterment and development. In this audio interview, Kriss Deiglmeier, the Center for Social Innovation executive director, converses with Mathias Craig who created blueEnergy to bring electricity to marginalized communities in this region of the world.
In remote rural areas in India, 18 million people suffer isolation and poverty due to their inability to work. In this audio interview, Jennifer Roberts, associate editor of the Stanford Social Innovation Review, converses with D.R. Mehta, whose NGO gives mobility to 20,000 people a year through the fitting of a high-tech prosthetic limb known as the Jaipur Foot. Mehta discusses the genesis of his organization, which makes the prosthesis freely available to the poor.
In Chile, the farming of salmon seemed the ideal solution to the depletion of world fish populations—until it became clear that acquiculture causes its own environmental problems. In an audio interview by Eric Nee, managing editor of the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Rodrigo Pizarro explores the challenges of acquiculture and the foundation's project to reduce the impact of salmon farming through a sustainable system of seaweed cultivation.
TakingITGlobal is an online social network that enables socially conscious youth worldwide to learn about and take action on global issues. Kriss Deiglmeier, the Center for Social Innovation Center executive director, conducts an audio interview with Nick Yeo about how the endeavor leverages its online platform to partner with other organizations and inspire youth to make a difference.
Rajesh Shah, a 2010 Tech Award winner, shares his social entrepreneurship model that leverages technology, new media, and peer interaction to solve the water crisis.
Sara Chamberlain, the recipient of the 2010 Microsoft Tech Award, discusses BBC Janala, the project harnessing the power of mobile phones in Bangladesh to spread affordable language learning.
Malnutrition is a prime target for social enterprise efforts. In this audio interview with Stanford Center for Social Innovation correspondent Sheela Sethuraman, Dipika Matthias talks about Ultra Rice, a technology developed by PATH in Seattle, which is being introduced to millions of families around the world with great health and productivity benefits. The project director talks about the genesis of the project, its progress so far, and where it is headed.
Audrey Seagraves has a passion for international development and social enterprise. In this audio interview with Stanford Center for Social Innovation correspondent Sheela Sethuraman, the director of programs at World of Good talks about the creation of Fair Wage Guide software, a free tool that tells the viewer how wages being paid to any artisan worldwide compare to international wage standards.
Akshaya Patra USA is an innovative social enterprise, a food program that is changing the face of education in India. In this audio interview with Stanford Center for Social Innovation correspondent Sheela Sethuraman, President and CEO Madhu Sridhar talks about how the enterprise grew from a small organization to a massive, well-run entity. She discusses its noble goals and its strategically oriented approaches to meeting high-volume demand at low cost.
