Equal Innovation

We spent last week in NYC for the UN General Assembly / NYC Climate Week. I attended the closing bell of the NYSE New York Stock Exchange with XPRIZE and President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa - a once in a lifetime experience. Also saw old friends and attended great events hosted by Dasra and Indiaspora. But overall, I came away disappointed. A friend summed it up when he said, "I see a lot more activity than a decade ago, but nothing has really changed." Those with innovations and new approaches to address the challenges of global poverty, conflict, health or climate struggled for airtime, while corporate and government leaders regurgitating old promises were feted for marginal progress. Instead of scaling the number of events, let's focus on scaling solutions. #unga #nycclimateweek #innovation #climatetech #entrepreneurs #cop29

I just returned from a tremendous week of G20 meetings in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The G20 Startup20 task force brought together delegations from around the world to build on last year's efforts to build common frameworks to support innovation and entrepreneurs across borders. Brazil's startup ecosystem is full of innovative technologies for its huge, diverse cities and the all-important Amazon region. This week is the annual SME Finance Forum, Managed by the IFC (International Finance Corporation). Glad to see South America prominently featured in these global conversations. hashtag #innovation #entrepreneurship #G20 #Brazil #startup20

Many thanks to Nishith (Nish) Acharya, former Director of Innovation & Entrepreneurship for the Obama Administration, Sujata Subramanian and the team at Equal Innovation for including Polymath University in the Impact Chicago 24X event for entrepreneurship and social impact. The event included Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi and local entrepreneurship leaders Caroline Ross Grossman of the The Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation, Hayes Ferguson of the Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Lotika Pai of the City of Chicago and other local leaders and entrepreneurs. It's clear to me that there is solid footing here in Chicago for a new vision for higher education. We're looking forward to welcoming our first cohort of Polymath Fellows to Chicago next year. Learn more about our mini-master's certification program, or nominate a fellow, at https://lnkd.in/gDsu44Gf.

Spotted: Gary Ong repping Celadyne Technologies at Impact Chicago24x! This year, Equal Innovation, Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Northwestern University, Polsky Center at the University of Chicago, and University of Illinois Chicago brought Impact Chicago 24x straight to the policymakers themselves, right outside of the Democratic National Convention.

Last week, policy makers from across America saw what an amazing ecosystem the Chicago area has. Equal Innovation hosted about 20 startups in partnership with Polsky Center at the University of Chicago, The Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation at the University of Chicago, Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Northwestern University and the University of Illinois Chicago. Really amazing entrepreneurs working on sustainable advanced manufacturing, climate tech, supply chain, access to health care and pandemic preparedness. Insightful remarks about the role of government and startups by Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi and Chicago Chief Small Business Officer Lotika Pai. See you soon at the G20 in Brazil!

While Babak Kateb? has been orchestrating Neuroscience20(BRAIN, SPINE and MENTAL Health) initiative initiative for ten years, The The G20 & G7 Health and Development Partnership just launched in 2021 & entrepreneurial subunit G20X was put together by Equal Innovation for the first time last year as a crisis response by Nishith (Nish) Acharya. These three entities only just found out about one another last year because I linked them together when I was in India. The most prominent political conference in the world is opening up to the business realm for the first time in history, and there’s a clear need for better organization and infrastructure. The more attention we draw towards it with a healthy sense of time sensitivity, the more likely we are to be able to focus on deploying solutions that help support global democracy. For example, I just connected these working groups with Tristan Thoma, a technologist who created the first and only national blockchain currency, which was recently deployed in El Salvador and doubled financial inclusion within less than six months. He was headed to meet with The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund before we spoke, and had no connection nor idea that G20 had viable deployment opportunities. The Brazilian real can easily vacillate over 10% in value monthly, which means key decision-makers often keep much of their wealth outside of the domestic currency, which we hope to help mitigate through technology. I'm extremely grateful for Seth Cohen at Forbes showing up as a media partner, and Danielle Azoulay as our ESG partner. I'm inviting in my LinkedIn community for ideas and inspiration in the coming months before we convene in Brazil in November. We're looking forward to seeing Ricardo Politi who will be there supporting Amazon Investor Coalition More about N20: https://lnkd.in/gf7_XebW

Last week, policy makers from across America saw what an amazing ecosystem the Chicago area has. Equal Innovation hosted about 20 startups in partnership with Polsky Center at the University of Chicago, The Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation at the University of Chicago, Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Northwestern University and the University of Illinois Chicago. Really amazing entrepreneurs working on sustainable advanced manufacturing, climate tech, supply chain, access to health care and pandemic preparedness. Insightful remarks about the role of government and startups by Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi and Chicago Chief Small Business Officer Lotika Pai. See you soon at the G20 in Brazil!

Tuesday, August 20th in Chicago - US Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, Chicago Chief Small Business Officer Lotika Pai for Impact-Chicago24x, along with some amazing startups. In climate and manufacturing - Celadyne Technologies, Blip Energy, Azul 3D, Inc and nutrād. In health innovation - Complete Wellness Solutions, Viroscope, The University of Illinois Chicago Diabetes Empowerment Education Program and Yobee . An additional 10 startups will showcase their innovations for impact. Register at: https://lnkd.in/ebrF3NZP

Will you be in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention on August 20? Please join Equal Innovation, the Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Northwestern University; the Polsky Center at the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois Chicago for Impact-Chicago24x on August 20th from 10am-1pm CDT at Discovery Partners Institute. Here from elected leaders and nearly 20 startups addressing economic inclusion, climate resilience, and infrastructure - the issues highlighted by policy makers attending the Convention. Register at: https://lnkd.in/eQDG2yFP

It was great to reconnect with Wan Dazriq, founder and CEO of Purpose Malaysia, recently during Equal Innovation’s education and sustainability summit with National Geographic Learning.?Purpose Malaysia is a lead organization in building the social enterprise ecosystem in Malaysia, where the major challenges include climate change, biodiversity, and the cultural diversity of the population.?Purpose Malaysia works with social entrepreneurs, government and the corporate sector to promote impact entrepreneurship across the country's diverse cultures and geographies. The organization has been operating for about five years and has recently shifted its focus to ecosystem building due to a slowdown in investment opportunities. They are seeing the rise of a new generation of impact entrepreneurs, particularly Gen Y, Gen Z, and Alpha, who are leveraging digital technology to drive social impact.?This generation is shifting from traditional cottage industries to a focus on impact storytelling, education, and green technology and supply chain improvements in agriculture, fishing and manufacturing. Dazriq discussed the unique position of Malaysia's economy, suggesting it presents an interesting landscape for entrepreneurs and impact entrepreneurs. He noted that while Malaysia's infrastructure is decent and there are ample economic opportunities, the country's rural and urban divide presents a challenge. Dazriq also highlighted that entrepreneurship in Malaysia has been heavily influenced by the government, with most entrepreneurs starting with public sector support, such as grants and incubators. The private sector typically comes into play later in the entrepreneurial lifecycle, for scaling and sustaining. The Malaysian government has become more open to foreign direct investments and has launched initiatives to attract not only foreign entrepreneurs but also foreign capital. The government's KL20 manifesto aims to establish Kuala Lumpur as a top 20 city for entrepreneurs, and Dazriq mentioned that Malaysia is also looking at attracting digital nomads to the country. I’ve had the privilege of working on the Malaysian entrepreneurship ecosystem for a few years now, and the growth of organizations like Purpose Malaysia are a good sign that things are moving beyond government as catalyst to private-sector led opportunities.