Our Fellows and Alumni have been busy this past month. Our social entrepreneurs continue to find ways to impact more people, create new innovations, and change the status quo. Read the most recent highlights of our Fellows and Alumni below.
Rebecca Hui
Roots Studio
2020 Alum
This past May, Rebecca Hui was highlighted in The Cut as one of 8 Women “Making Waves.” Rebecca’s enterprise, Roots Studio, digitizes thousands of endangered art from tribal communities into an online library for royalty licensing. This month, Cultured interviewed Rebecca about Roots Studio and how it combats cultural appropriation and exploitation.
Sara Potler LaHayne
Move This World
2014 Alum
Sara has big news this month as her company Move This World is partnering with Sparkler Learning to launch their “Big Heart World” initiative. This BusinessWire article explains how the partnership and Big Heart World will promote free emotional development resources to young students. In addition, this May, Move This World participated at the Future of Behavioral and Mental Health startup showcase along with six other impactful startups. The article and video recording of that event is here.
Syed Abrar Ahmed
Liber Health Inc.
2021 Fellow
Syed Abrar Ahmed was recently awarded the Smart Economy Labs Grant from Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) KSA and another 1st Prize Grant from Disruptors’ Labs Egypt. This LinkedIn post captures it all. Syed is a current 2021 Fellow, and the Founder and CEO of Liber Health which solves the problem of patient misidentifications and lack of health data in-operability among health systems.
Reese Fernandez Ruiz
Rags2Riches
2013 Alum
Reese Fernandez Ruiz was highlighted in this Phil Star Global article that discussed ways to be more sustainable in your fashion choices. Reese co-founded Rags2Riches which provides fair pay to Filipino women who recycle waste textiles collected from garbage dumps into high-end handbags. Read the article to learn how Reese is helping the world become more sustainable, and learn some new tips for yourself as well!
Daniela Grigioni
After School All Stars
2018 Alum
Washington City Paper released an article, “DC Public Schools Begins Drug Testing Contractors and Volunteers For Marijuana” this month. Daniela Grigioni, Executive Director of After School All Stars DC, comments on the new policy. Grigioni “worries that drug testing will be inefficient.” After School All Stars offers programs on topics such as robotics and cooking, but also on career mentoring. This new policy is discriminatory and will make hiring more difficult as testing can be unreliable and take a long time.
Piyush Jain
ImpactGuru
2020 Alum
Piyush Jain is the the CEO & Co-Founder of ImpactGuru, a crowdfunding platform in India with a major focus on healthcare. ImpactGuru.com is India’s equivalent of GoFundMe. Piyush commented in this ANI article how he has seen an increase in COVID related fundraisers on his platform and how it has helped IHW Council’s “Our Positive Fight” COVID project. Additionally, this month, ImpactGuru helped a three year old boy get a life saving drug for his Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Read more about it here.
Zhinan Lee
BagoSphere
2016 Alum
This Daily Star article announced BagoSphere’s partnership with Ateneo de Manila to train disadvantaged youth in the Philippines for employment. Zhihan is the co-founder and group CEO of BagoSphere, an education company helping growing companies in developing markets bridge the skill-gap and develop purpose-driven employees.
Steph Speirs
Solstice
2016 Alum
Steph Speirs is a 2016 Alum as well as Co-Founder and CEO of Solstice, a first-of-its-kind company that deploys community solar power to underserved Americans. She spoke out in this Inc article on how she used to ignore racist and sexist comments, but why she doesn’t tolerate it now. Steph commented “if we stay in silence, we stay in our silos. If we voice our experience and look for commonalities between other marginalized, under-resourced communities, then that is the pathway out of this.”
Danny Weissberg
Voiceitt
2018 Alum
2018 Alum Danny Weissberg’s Voiceitt announced its launch this month. It can now be downloaded for free by individuals or entire institutions and organizations. Voiceitt is a digital health startup employing AI to develop speech recognition algorithms that recognize and translate impaired speech patterns. This Newz Hook article highlights how the app is significantly improving people’s quality of life.
Abe Kamarck
True Made Foods
2019 Alum
Abe Kamarck’s True Made Foods made Fast Company’s top 10 list of most innovative food companies of 2021. True Made Foods brings real flavor to every meal by naturally sweetening America’s favorite condiments, turning these once empty calorie staples into nutrient dense, plant-based superfoods. They are now the Boston Red Sox’s official condiment provider, and their grocery sales have been growing by 500%!
Noah Wilson-Rich
The Best Bees Company
2018 Alum
The Best Bees Company was founded by Noah Wilson-Rich, and installs and manages beehives for home gardens and city rooftops nationwide. Noah highlights the importance of bees and the threats they are encountering in this BBC News article. The Best Bees Company is now using remote monitoring to help the bees.
Autumn Adeigbo
Adeigbo Inc
2013 Alum
Autumn founded Adeigbo Inc and is devoted to positively impacting the lives of women across cultures by focusing on “culture, color and conscience.” She is driven by a desire to bring bright color, global consciousness, and sustainability to the apparel market. Autumn launched her Spring/Summer collection and hosted a Virtual Trunk show with GGF this month. This Instyle article highlights Autumn’s “hard to get” hair accessories.
Nidhi Pant
Science For Society
2020 Alum
Nidhi Pant, 2020 Alum and Co-Founder of Science For Society was a panelist for the The Circulars Accelerator – Innovation Showcase 2021 on June 24th. The event showcased all the panelists and all they have accomplished throughout their journey. Science For Society is a food preservation company that converts farm losses into value-added products by intervention of sustainable solar technology.