An astronaut, a basketball player, and a Fortune 500 CEO walk out on stage– that’s the setup and the punchline of The Social Innovation Summit (SIS). Now in its fifth year, the bi-coastal, twice-annual event draws a contrasting mix of speakers and attendees, from professional athletes to veteran social innovators. On June 7 and 8, SIS took over the lower level of the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., to inspire commitments to social impact, to share solutions to global challenges, and to spark new partnerships. Motivated innovators came eager to engage with one another from all sectors and all focus areas.
Over the course of two days, a dynamic line-up of speakers and breakouts addressed six primary themes. Seeking to engage attendees, encourage innovation, discuss ecosystems, embrace ideas, empower individuals, and explore solutions, SIS amplified stories of impact and innovation that really hit home.
Free WIFI is the Key to the Universe
“Don’t be bashful. Walk up to someone and get engaged.”
Skip Kotkins, Senior Search Consultant at Carney, Sandoe & Associates, opened the Summit with a call to engage. Not even ten minutes into the Summit and the audience was already being encouraged to engage with one another. Of course, networking and engagement were a big reason nearly 300 social innovators joined the 2016 Social Innovation Summit–to share the stories, insights, and approaches for social impact with one another.
But what if we could engage with people all over the world—literally everyone—all at once? What if the entire planet had WIFI? Suddenly the barriers that prevent reliable communication might be broken down, solutions would be shared, and people would be more connected than ever before. According to Marcus Shingles, the Chief Executive Officer of the XPRIZE Foundation, technology is advancing at an exponential rate and a WIFI-enabled globe might become a reality in the next decade. What previously took 30 years to develop, now takes only two to four years. This exponential technology advancement, combined with the ability to connect and engage the seven billion people on the planet, will lead to a world full of problem solvers, he says.
Emphasis on Origin Encourages Innovation
A string of speakers emphasized one of the Summit’s vital themes: inclusive encouragement through the stories we tell and the language we use. Speakers like Michael Boulware Moore, President and CEO of the International African American Museum, and Michael Smith, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director of Cabinet Affairs for My Brother’s Keeper at the White House, discussed the importance of telling the whole American story with Rachel Hutchisson, Vice President of Corporate Citizenship and Philanthropy at Blackbaud. Mr. Moore emphasized the importance of telling a complete story—especially the African American story, which for so long has been left out of American history. One special feature of the International African American Museum will be the opportunity to trace African ancestry back generations in order to help people discover their origins. Mr. Moore spoke about how incredible that experience could be to many African Americans who can currently only trace family roots back three or four generations. Encouraging people to know where they came from can help them figure out where to go next.
Embrace the Power of Good and Evil to Incite Innovation
In order to create a social impact, speakers shared stories of embracing the good, the bad, and the ugly to enable positive change. Lisa Hammitt Vice President, Cloud Marketplace and SaaS, at IBM shared a heart-breaking story of a suicide that stemmed from online bullying, which serves as her motivation to prevent online bullying. IBM has developed technology that can track online conversations in digital communities and will alert a community manager when online bullying or harassment takes place. By analyzing the language used, the relation of the individuals or groups communicating, and the rate of communication, IBM has harnessed the power of technology to save lives and protect community members from potentially destructive behavior.
Empower Individual Action
The power of individuals to incite and effect change emerged as an enduring summit theme, but one woman’s story took the power of technology to empower lives to the next level. The Wireless and Mobile Innovation for Global Impact Award Winner, announced at SIS, is Sona Shah. Ms. Shah aspires to combine experience in engineering, global health, and the healthcare industry to develop innovative medical technologies that serve low-resource communities. The Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Neopenda, she is working to save the lives of the nearly three million babies who die in their first month of life every year. Ninety-eight percent of these deaths occur in the developing world, so Ms. Shah created a simple, low cost, low-power, wearable sensor that continuously monitors newborns’ key vital signs. The information is displayed on a wireless tablet and helps nurses in under-served communities in Africa, Asia, and elsewhere to easily monitor the heartrate, respiratory rate, blood oxygen saturation, and temperature of newborns in critical condition.
At the end of two days, three hundred people left inspired by the myriad solutions to the world’s problems featured on-stage at the Summit and hopeful for the breakthrough innovations yet to come. SIS brought together excited and enthusiastic individuals striving to make a positive social impact. Amidst the numerous speakers and themes, one final lesson was clear. By effectively engaging with one another, and encouraging ideas and partnerships that can lead to solutions, together we can power—and empower—the next generation of social impact.
The post The 2016 Spring Social Innovation Summit Features Inspiration and Impact appeared first on New Global Citizen.