BIPOC Voices

Voices of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color

Shubham Issar of SoaPen

Grants, Challenges, and Incubators (Oh My!) with Shubham Issar of SoaPen

March 11, 2022 BIPOC Voices, Podcast, SDG06 - Clean Water and Sanitation, Women

Shubham Issar of SoaPen Shubham Issar and Amanat Anand go from the UNICEF Wearables for Good Challenge to Shark Tank and beyond. Shubham Issar and Amanat Anand grew up in New Delhi but met at Parsons School of Design in New York. They loved working together on hands-on design projects that made a difference. In 2015, they entered the UNICEF Wearables for Good Challenge. While investigating the challenge, they ran into a statistic that shocked them. Hundreds of thousands of children under the age of five die annually from infectious diseases that handwashing can prevent. Shubham and Amanat were determined to do something about that. They returned to India to…

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Katherine Venturo-Conerly and Tom Osborn, Shamiri Institute

Katherine Venturo-Conerly and Tom Osborn, Shamiri Institute

June 30, 2021 BIPOC Voices, SDG03 - Good Health and Well-Being, Women

Katherine Venturo-Conerly and Tom Osborn, Shamiri Institute Half of the young people in Kenya have elevated depression and anxiety. 45% of the disease burden comes from anxiety and depression. The Shamiri Institute has an answer. Kenya has been described as a young hustle culture. But that hustle takes a toll. According to Tom Osborn of the Shamiri Institute, “Mental health and wellbeing are really important. This is especially true in low income settings like Kenya where I was born and raised. In Kenya, the median age is about 19. There’s evidence that shows this young population is stressed because they have to succeed so early in life.” In Kenya, there…

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Aziz Abu Sarah, MEJDI Tours

A Traveler’s Guide To World Peace, with Aziz Abu Sarah, MEJDI Tours

March 1, 2021 BIPOC Voices, Podcast, SDG16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Aziz Abu Sarah, MEJDI Tours MEJDI Tours sees tourism as an opportunity to transform lives through dual narratives and by strengthening local communities. Aziz Abu Sarah is a peace-builder, social entrepreneur, cultural educator, and author of Crossing Boundaries: A Traveler’s Guide To World Peace. But Aziz wasn’t always a peacemaker. “Growing up in Jerusalem as a Palestinian, I was no stranger to injustice,” Aziz explains. “The event that shaped me the most, however, happened when I was nine. Just after dawn, Israeli soldiers stormed into our home. I remember the shouts, the terror, the interrogations. And then they took my 18-year-old brother, Tayseer, away. He was arrested for allegedly throwing…

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Isabella He, SN Inclusion and AUesome

Tap into the Strengths of Neurodiversity, with Isabella He

February 28, 2021 BIPOC Voices, Podcast, SDG10 - Reduced Inequalities, Women

Isabella He, SN Inclusion and AUesome High school students work on behalf of those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In the United States, 1 in 54 children has autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Unemployment rates for individuals with ASD are approximately 85%. More than half a million individuals with ASD will enter the workforce in the next decade. The need for specialized vocational training is growing by the minute. A CDC study found that 50 percent of children with severe ASD only have access to school-based treatment services. And 17 percent of children with ASD do not have access to occupational, speech, or language therapy whatsoever. At-home therapy is difficult for…

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Judith Martinez, InHerShoes

A Sense of Justice for Women and Girls, with Judith Martinez, InHerShoes

February 27, 2021 BIPOC Voices, Podcast, SDG05 - Gender Equality, Women

What would you do if you were 1% more courageous? Judith Martinez is a leader at the intersection of social justice and the future of human capital. She is the CEO of InHerShoes, the modern woman’s community for courage. When Judith was in the fifth grade, she witnessed a scene that changed her life direction. “I’m a first-generation Filipino-American,” Judith explains. “I grew up with Filipino as my first language. My grandparents raised me. “I remember we were at the LAX airport. My grandmother was trying to explain in her broken English to a man that she needed help. And he just cast her aside. It was like she was…

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Kathy Ku, Juni Essentials

Eliminate Plastic from Your Oral Care, with Kathy Ku, Juni Essentials

February 25, 2021 BIPOC Voices, Podcast, SDG09 - Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, Women

Helping bamboo farmers and women in impoverished regions become self-reliant while eliminating plastic waste. If Kathy Ku’s name is familiar to you, you might have heard about her previous social venture in Uganda, Spouts of Water. I interviewed Kathy in December 2016. Kathy and her co-founder John Kye left Spouts of Water, but it continues to thrive. Around the same time that Kathy and John were in Uganda working on clean water, Dr. Noah Park was volunteering in low-income countries. “One of our Korean co-founders visited our production site in Uganda seven years ago or so, but we had never met each other,” Kathy explains. “He traveled to the less…

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Karen Lee, Pioneer Human Services

Changing Lives through a Second Chance, with Karen Lee, Pioneer Human Services

February 23, 2021 BIPOC Voices, Podcast, SDG10 - Reduced Inequalities, Women

Karen Lee, Pioneer Human Services People who were involved in the criminal justice system are more than their labels. Karen Lee is the Chief Executive Officer of Pioneer Human Services. She was born during the 1960s civil rights era. “During my lifetime, I’ve seen quite a bit of discrimination. I’ve always wanted to do something about that in a way that was true to me.” Karen graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point. She served our country until the 1990s. After her military service ended, she attended the University of Washington School of Law, where she received her JD degree. “I wanted to be a civil rights…

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Ruth Biza, #ThisIsMyEra

Set Goals Aligned with Your Values, with Ruth Biza, #ThisIsMyEra

February 7, 2021 BIPOC Voices, Podcast, SDG04 - Quality Education, Women

Ruth Biza, #ThisIsMyEra For every planner and course sold, #ThisIsMyEra helps a child with an education. #ThisIsMyEra produces a 90-day planner that helps you set goals that align with your values. They also provide online courses to help you get clear on your life’s purpose. For every planner that is purchased, #ThisIsMyEra donates school supplies to kids in need in Africa. So far, they’ve provided more than 10,000 school supplies. And for every course that is purchased, they provide a school scholarship. Why Education? “In Ghana and most African countries, public education is not free,” Ruth Biza explains. “So if your family cannot afford to pay for your tuition, you…

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Zoë Levin, Bim Bam Boo

The Urgency To Go Tree Free, with Zoë Levin, Bim Bam Boo

January 17, 2021 BIPOC Voices, Minnesota, Podcast, SDG12 - Responsible Consumption and Production, Women

Zoë Levin, Bim Bam Boo Trees Should Capture Carbon, Not Crap We know the problems with carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions: Climate change, rising sea levels, flooding, droughts, wildfires, ocean acidification, climate refugees, political instability, and a lot more. We know that it’s important to reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere and the oceans. We can do that by reducing the production of CO2. We can also do that by capturing CO2 in carbon sinks. In the US, forests store 14% of our annual CO2 emissions. Trees are a valuable, and powerful carbon sink. And yet, in the United States, 27,000 trees are flushed down the toilet every day…

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Karima Ladhani, Giving Cradle and Barakat Bundle

Using Human-Centered Design to Prevent Maternal and Infant Deaths, with Karima Ladhani, Giving Cradle and Barakat Bundle

December 20, 2020 BIPOC Voices, Podcast, SDG03 - Good Health and Well-Being, Women

Karima Ladhani, Giving Cradle and Barakat Bundle 80% of maternal and infant deaths are preventable. Dr. Karima Ladhani is the daughter of immigrants. Her parents moved from India to Uganda. In 1972, Ugandan president Idi Amin expelled Asian minorities. He gave 90 days to leave the country. Karima’s mother made her way to Canada. Her father was in a refugee camp in Malta before immigrating to Canada. “We can’t take for granted the luxuries and privileges that we have,” she says. “There are people going through things. We have an opportunity and responsibility to help them. Others have helped us. We never know when we could be in that position…

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