The Great Challenge of Our Generation
February 1, 2009 · Print This Article
I write as my roommates watch the sci-fi movie Anti-Body through the amazing new Xbox/Netflix partnership in a cold and icy Chapel Hill…
This weekend I had the opportunity to speak at StartingBloc’s Greater New York Institute for Social Innovation at Yale University in New Haven. I had the chance to speak after Tom Szaky, the 27 year old CEO of TerraCycle, who is good work on upcycling waste into usable products.
In attendance were 150 of the smartest, most ambitious, and most caring individuals I’ve met, all from age 19 to 30. 25% were undergrads, 25% were grad students, and 50% were young professionals from firms like Goldman, JP Morgan, Acumen, Ashoka, McKinsey. They were all social entrepreneurs or future social entrepreneurs. If you’re under 30 and interested in social responsibility you should apply for their future Institutes in New York, Boston, or London.
StartingBloc has now reached 1000 fellows who have gone through their program. I first met their founder, the 27 year-old ebullient Kenyan Jo Opot last May in New York. She and their Director of Programs Taryn Miller-Stevens are examples of committed, driven, caring world changers.
I challenged the group to over the next 50 years, work together to create a world in which…
- There is no killing of humans on a mass scale (genocide or warfare);
- All humans have access to the basic human needs of clean water, nutritious food, shelter, and primary education;
- We end preventable diseases like malaria, TB, and measles; and
- We are environmentally sustainable
This challenge was based on the key simple principle from the Gates Foundation that all lives have equal value. I first shared the great challenges we face in the world including the most difficult economic news we’ve seen in our lifetimes, then the great opportunities (subsequent post on these coming soon) to frame the debate.
So, can we actually end genocide, warfare, starvation, and preventable disease in our lifetimes?
And can we actually provide accessible clean water, food, shelter, and primary education to every human in our lifetimes?
Your thoughts?
Ryan, I was delving into the iContact website to find out who Lee is from Customer Service – because he did a great job of helping me today. Now I see that he’s one of a hundred and eighty people who work for your company.
When I started to read your bio and looked at your blog, I was compelled to contact you. I’m a tad older than you, turning 67 in a couple of weeks, but still an entrepreneur.
After being a professional photographer for the past 20 years, I’ve changed my focus (no pun intended) to something that is right in line with your dream of getting everyone healthy water.
Since purchasing my first Kangen ionizer about two years ago, I’ve turned hundreds of people on to this alternative to tap water and commercially bottled water – all of which have multiple problems associated with them.
My question is this – do you know about Kangen water? If not, I would like to share WHY and HOW Kangen water CAN be the answer to our overbearing medical crisis – as well as the associated financial crisis we are all facing. I look forward to talking with you about it.
Thanks for all your efforts to make the world a better place.