Nearly 25% of the world’s population still burns the midnight oil after sunset. Another 20% gets fortunate only for a few hours a day or several times a week when the grid to their houses finally carries power. The lack of electricity is not only a strong impeding force against development that prevents people from getting access to modern communication and other resources, it deprives them of very basic amenities like education, lighting and healthcare. This project will work towards creating ultra affordable electricity access for the 2.6 billion underserved people in the world by implementing a novel technology combined with innovative distribution channels and financial schemes.
Track: Global Poverty Alleviation
Mobileworks
MobileWorks provides a platform that gives underemployed and impoverished individuals in the developing world the ability to earn supplemental income by doing work through their mobile phones. The organization accepts data entry and transcription contracts from a variety of sources–government programs in India, Western crowdsourcing companies, and traditional outsourcing companies–and sends this work to workers’ phones over a locally-accessible interface, handling payment to workers and guaranteeing quality to companies. Over time, MobileWorks users have the opportunity to earn data entry certifications and lift themselves out of poverty.
Migrants for Millennium Development Fund
Every year, groups of Mexican migrants in the US pool their resources to sponsor thousands of development projects in their Mexican hometowns. Unfortunately, the positive impact that these projects have on towns in Mexico has been limited. Due to the complexities involved in designing, fundraising and overseeing implementation, many locally based projects often fail. This Fund will help to change that by empowering migrants in multiple ways. By allowing migrants to leverage their collective remittances, they will be able to transform their migrant expelling communities in Mexico into ones that offer their citizens access to education, health, economic opportunities, gender equality and a sustainable environment.
Teach for Health
Teach for Health is a non-profit organization founded in 2009 by UCSF students of medicine, nursing, and pharmacy, and a Berkeley MPH graduate. Teach for Health’s (TFH) mission is to train communities in program planning and leadership to improve health and well-being. Currently, Teach for Health in Nicaragua has 43 health promoters in 18 communities educating residents about health-related issues and working to expand healthcare in these communities. Funding will allow Teach for Health to evaluate, improve and expand on the work it has been doing in Nicaragua. Teach for Health will develop measures to evaluate the impact that it has had on the communities in which the program is active. This will allow Teach for Health to improve its services and its approach as it continues to expand its program. Teach for Health also plans to expand on its current offerings by partnering with several local institutions to develop a disaster response plan for participating communities.
Building Three Sustainable Hogans in the Former Bennett Freeze Region of the Navajo Reservation
Project Pueblo is seeking to build a sustainable cordwood office Hogans and a 20’x40’ multipurpose warehouse in the former Bennett Freeze region of the Navajo reservation for Forgotten People, a grassroots nonprofit organization formed and based in the region. With only 24% of homes in the region habitable, these funds will provide a base that will enhance organizational capacity to house work crews, host meetings, and conduct distribution and storage of safe drinking water, produce, and other forms of aid. This project will also enable UC Berkeley students from various disciplines to engage in a unique and sustainable construction project while simultaneously learning and experiencing the Navajo culture. (Note: This project originally won in the Big Ideas “Social Justice & Community Engagement” category.)