seems eminently worthwhile (in contrast, say, to the way Nintendo’s Pokémon Go is sucking $1 million a day from our digital wallets), and really does point the way toward a brighter future.
Here are 10 inspiring examples you might not have heard of:
Tumml—An incubator in San Francisco that provides funding and mentorship for companies tackling urban problems such as clean energy production.
Code 2040—A San Francisco-based non-profit that arranges internships and residences for African Americans, Latinos/as, and members of other underrepresented groups at technology companies like Google.
The Last Mile—A program led by San Francisco investors Chris Redlitz and Beverly Parenti that provides inmates at San Quentin and other prisons with technology and business training as well as job placement after their release.
Flatiron School—A coding academy in New York City that runs a fellowship program for low-income immigrants.
Hearken—A startup in Chicago building online tools that help newspapers gather suggestions from readers about the social and government issues in their cities that deserve more coverage.
Grameen America—A non-profit in New York City that provides microloans financial education, and entrepreneurship support to women in poverty.
Minecraft Education Edition—A free (for now) version of the world-building game released by Microsoft this summer to to help teachers instruct students about design and collaboration.
Memphis Meats—A San Francisco company developing cultured meat as an alternative to eating farm-raised animals. (Also see Modern Meadow, which is doing the same thing for leather.)
Kinvolved—This B Corporation in New York City makes software and mobile apps that help schools track student attendance and share the data with families.
Village Capital—A non-profit (and separate investment fund) in Washington, DC, that supports social entrepreneurship in areas such as education, energy, finance, and health.
It would be wonderful to see more entrepreneurs taking on challenges like these. And for every Lyft that loses $50 million a month (think about that), it would be great to see an organization investing the same kind of money in social causes. Sometimes, of course, there is private funding available for ideas in the social entrepreneurship or non-profit sectors. The famous Silicon Valley “startup school” Y Combinator, for example, has been including non-profits in every batch of newly admitted startups since late 2013.
Alas, something even greater will be needed to dispel the current polarization in our politics. I worry about the paralysis in Washington and other capitals mainly because we’re wasting time. We need to clear the decks so that we can tackle the truly existential problems like ensuring food and water security, fighting epidemics, and—especially—slowing and adapting to climate change. Those are all areas where science and technology can really help. In fact, in the long run, they’re the only things that will save us.
The longer we wait to start fixing the big problems that could stress our civilization to the breaking point, the higher the costs that future generations will pay. We’ve got to learn how to work together now, so that we don’t perish together later.
