The Beez Kneez is a Minneapolis-based honey production, education and advocacy organization. When Kristy Lynn Allen was in high school, her family moved to a new school district during the school year. As a result, her grades suffered. She needed a boost to be ready for college. So, she enrolled in a college connection program….
134, Verengai Mabika, Development Reality Institute (DRI) | The Climate Change Challenge and Opportunity
Verengai Mabika sees the opportunities created by climate change. Eighty percent of Zimbabwe’s businesses depend on Agriculture. Most agriculture in Zimbabwe is rain-fed. Climate change brings record high temperatures and frequent droughts. When crops fail, so does Zimbabwe’s economy. The droughts, combined with land reform, changed Zimbabwe from a net exporter of agricultural products to…
130, Kathleen Colson, The BOMA Project | Poverty Graduation through For-Profit Entrepreneurship
Kathleen Colson is using a poverty graduation process to end extreme poverty in the face of climate change. Over 40% of the African continent is arid land. The people who live in these regions are particularly susceptible to changes in the climate. They depend solely on livestock for their nutrition and livelihood. With climate change,…
128, Steph Speirs and Steve Moilanen, Solstice | Solar for All
Solstice provides access to clean, affordable solar energy for those who have been locked out of the solar market. Today’s conversation with Steph Speirs and Steve Moilanen of Solstice is the fifth in a series on clean energy around the world. We spoke with Sam Goldman of d.light, a pioneer in solar energy for the…
127, Clementine Chambon, Amit Saraogi, Oorja | Rural Electrification of India Using Waste
Oorja’s biomass and solar-powered micro-grids provide affordable and reliable electricity to off-grid communities in rural India. In India, 450 million people lack access to reliable energy. This has several repercussions including a lack of economic development, poor health outcomes, gender inequity, poor education and more. Without reliable electricity, villagers rely on fossil-fuels such as kerosene…
126, Harrison Leaf, Steama.co | Connect Mini-Grids to the Cloud
Mini-Grids are a way to connect more than a billion people to electricity. We’ve grown used to the idea of “the internet of things,” big data, and wireless connectivity. But can these technological breakthroughs be used to improve the lives of some of the poorest people in the world? And, will that technology work in…
097, Nakul Saran, Rare | Near-Shore Fishers, Fish Forever
Near-shore fishers are the smallholder farmers of the sea. Nakul Saran fell in love with the ocean when he was 10 years-old. After graduating from university with a degree in Ocean Engineering, he joined McKinsey & Company. At the time, McKinsey was establishing a climate change special initiative. Nakul spent more than seven years at McKinsey, splitting…
001, Yoav Lurie, Simple Energy | An Urgency for Impact
For Yoav Lurie, an early experience with life and death created a sense of urgency to make an impact. Today, Yoav is the founder and CEO of Simple Energy. Simple Energy is a software as a service that is taking on climate change by changing how millions of people save energy. Their customers save enough…