Some of the world's most difficult problems – like poor reproductive health and violence against women – are now being addressed through the medium of prime-time serialized dramas also known as soap operas or Telenovelas.
Population Media Center (PMC) uses a special type of serialized melodrama for changing behavior on such issues as family planning, elevation of women's status, girls' education, stopping child marriage, protection of children, and protection of the environment.
Characters in locally written and produced programs on radio, television, and social media evolve into positive role models for the audience and, in the process, lead to population-wide changes in behavior.
Bill Ryerson is founder and president of Population Media Center (PMC). He has a 52-year history of working in the field of reproductive health, including four decades of experience adapting the Sabido methodology of entertainment-education for behavior change communications to various cultural settings worldwide. PMC has broadcast its programs in 57 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the U.S. Bill will speak about the importance and effectiveness of PMC's work, including that of the shows.
Bill is Founder and President of Population Media Center (PMC) (www.populationmedia.org), an organization that strives to improve the health and wellbeing of people around the world through the use of entertainment-education strategies. He also serves as Chair of The Population Institute in Washington, DC (www.populationinstitute.org), which works in partnership with Population Media Center. PMC creates long-running serialized dramas on radio and television, in which characters evolve into role models for the audience resulting in positive behavior change. The emphasis of the organization's work is to educate people about the benefits of small families, encourage the use of effective family planning methods, elevate women's status, prevent exploitation of children, promote avoidance of HIV infection, and promote environmentally sustainable behaviors.
He received a B.A. in Biology (Magna Cum Laude) from Amherst College and an M.Phil. in Biology from Yale University (with specialization in Ecology and Evolution). He served as Director of the Population Institute's Youth and Student Division, Development Director of Planned Parenthood Southeastern Pennsylvania, Associate Director of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England and Executive Vice President of Population Communications International before founding Population Media Center in 1998.
To learn more, go to:
Vahid Motazedian, serves as the executive director for Olinga Learning and the Foundation for the Application of Science (FAS), two California nonprofits dedicated to empowering youth to contribute to the social and economic development of their small, rural communities.
Vahid grew up in Iran, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Oregon. His father studied agriculture and dedicated his life to helping small farmers in rural communities.
Vahid got his BS in electrical engineering from Oregon State University and worked in Silicon Valley for companies including Advanced Micro Devices, Synopsys, Oracle, and Salesforce.
He left high tech in 2015 and moved to Salinas to devote himself to nonprofit work. He dedicates his time and energy to advancing educational programs that equip youth with moral and scientific capabilities and to developing technology solutions that help farmers.
The Wings of Knowledge Initiative, which we'll learn about in his presentation, aims to empower youth to improve their rural communities through participatory action research projects.
It began with simple projects designed to improve some aspect of community life, such as painting murals, planting flowers, teaching children, and trash cleanups.
Over time it grew in scope and complexity to include engineering projects designed to help local farmers.
This presentation shares the story of how small teams of youth in California's forgotten towns are working together to advance processes of science research and technology development within a wider context of improving their communities and the lives of their families.
Video: https://youtu.be/EwuB3pr4FQ4
To learn more, go to:
More about the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley
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Podcast and Zoom Host, Rushton Hurley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rushtonhurley/
Podcast Producer, Elton Sherwin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eltonsherwin/
Audio edited and enhanced with Descript Studio Sound
#PositiveChange #Inspiration #Rotary
This episode refers to a number of visuals that are in the video version which can be seen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4IDQhRnwnT1iqINDJo6rXc or on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Fyc7fM4ThnU
We believe the message is an important one, even if you do not watch the video, and hope that you will enjoy this and every episode of our series.
The Memory Project is a unique initiative in which US high school students create handmade portraits as special gifts for children facing challenges around the world.
The portraits serve as beautiful and meaningful memories for the children, though the deepest purpose of the project is to connect youth around the world in a supportive and positive way. By carefully capturing the soft expression of each child's eyes and the playfulness in their smiles, and then sending the finished artwork to them as a gift, participating high school students promote feelings of friendship between countries and cultures.
Today Ben Schumaker will tell us how the Memory Project began in 2004 and also share stories of his efforts in Afghanistan, where he aimed to help youth feel interconnected despite religious and cultural differences.
Ben started the Memory Project (memoryproject.org) as a graduate student at UW-Madison in 2004. Ben's aim is to help build understanding and kindness between youth from disparate cultures, and to date the program has involved 300,000 youth from 56 different countries.
To learn more, check out the Memory Project website:
You can also see the video of our last delivery of art to Afghanistan:
Medical debt is the number one cause of bankruptcy in the United States. Over 40% of Americans are currently dealing with the challenges of medical debt. RIP Medical Debt was founded in 2014 by two former debt collections executives who realized they were uniquely qualified to help those in need.
Our one-of-a-kind model turns $1 dollar into, on average, $100 of medical debt relief. Since RIP Medical Debt's inception, we have abolished over $7 billion in medical debt for over 4 million people. In this presentation, you will learn more about RIP Medical Debt's innovative approach and the impact it's having on this intractable problem.
Our speaker, Allison Sesso, became the President/CEO of RIP Medical Debt in January of 2020.
RIP Medical Debt was established for the sole purpose of reducing the medical debt burdens of low-income individuals with limited capacity to pay their medical bills by leveraging donations from people across the country.
They have abolished $7,387,275,754 to date for over 4,255,986 people.
Prior to joining RIP Medical Debt, Allison served as the Executive Director of the Human Services Council of New York (HSC), an association of 170 nonprofits delivering 90% of human services in New York City.
Allison's work on behalf of the human services sector led both the city and state of New York to recognize her as a top nonprofit leader in 2018 and 2019, one of the 25 most influential leaders in Manhattan in 2017, and one of New York City's 100 "Most Responsible" in 2016.
To learn more, go to:
Testimonies from beneficiaries: https://youtu.be/_7Hijtpag8o
Mount Tamalpais College is an independent liberal arts college located in San Quentin State Prison.
Corey McNeil has been a student since 2011 and joined the staff of Mount Tamalpais College as a program clerk in 2017. After being released in 2021, he became the college's Alumni Affairs Associate.
Jody Lewen is President of Mount Tamalpais College at San Quentin State Prison in Marin County, California.
Mount Tamalpais College (MTC) provides a general education associate of arts degree and intensive college preparatory courses to over 300 people incarcerated at San Quentin. It also provides training and support to other higher education in prison programs across the country, advocating for the values of high academic quality and inclusivity, while serving as a resource to policymakers, practitioners, and academic and correctional administrators.
Dr. Lewen received her bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University in modern European history; her master's degree from the Freie Universität, Berlin in comparative literature and philosophy; and her PhD in rhetoric from the University of California, Berkeley.
She was the recipient in 2006 of the Peter E. Haas Public Service Award from the University of California, Berkeley, which recognizes alumni of UC Berkeley who have made significant voluntary contributions to the betterment of society. In 2016, MTC (then the Prison University Project) received the National Humanities Medal from President Barack Obama. In 2018, Jody was named a Frederick Douglass 200 awardee, which honored those whose modern-day work best embodies Douglass' legacy of social change.
To learn more, go to:
https://www.mttamcollege.org
https://prisonjournalismproject.org/2022/08/08/nations-first-standalone-prison-campus-celebrates-graduation/
To view the video and visuals in this podcast, see: https://youtu.be/OlJkOXbR4Ew
This presentation examines the unseen micro-enterprises of the South African township economy through a socio-spatial lens.
Through case studies, Andrew Charman will illustrate the surprising diversity of these small businesses, provide insights into the spatial patterns in which these micro-enterprises are organised, and highlight some of the barriers that hinder the growth and formalisation of businesses in this largely under-reported segment of the South African economy.
Andrew Charman is a Co-Director of the Sustainable Livelihoods Foundation, a specialist research, advisory and policy engagement organization. He trained as a sociologist and development economist, studying at the University of Cape Town and Cambridge University.
Andrew has worked across the Southern African region on addressing socio-economic development challenges in a broad range of contexts, both rural and urban. His current work focuses on: i) influencing public policy towards the township economy in support of informal micro-enterprises, ii) implementing development projects to foster economic growth and strengthen social cohesion, and iii) designing and implementing area-based projects to support the development of micro-enterprises and build social cohesion.
With co-authors Petersen and Govender, Andrew has recently published Township Economy: People, Spaces and Practices (HSRC, 2020). The book brings together a decade of research on micro-enterprises conducted in 10 townships in South Africa and Namibia.
Andrew's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-charman-21ab7315/
Betsy Fisher is the US Director of the NGO Talent Beyond Boundaries and a lecturer in international refugee law at the University of Michigan Law School.
She is an immigration lawyer and advocates for government policy and technology-based platforms that help refugees and stateless people access lasting safety. She also enjoys watching sports and attempting to garden vegetables.
The number of displaced people, more than 110 million people currently, has rapidly expanded. Meanwhile, avenues have narrowed for people to safely return to their homes or gain long-term status and rights where they live now. In addition to asylum and resettlement, many seek to connect refugees with other avenues to safety through employment or family ties.
As an immigration lawyer and refugee advocate, Betsy has worked to advance these immigration pathways. As the US Director at Talent Beyond Boundaries, Betsy connects refugees with durable status and living wages in the United States, and previously developed a platform screening refugees for eligibility for dozens of immigration programs. Join us for a discussion of how we can leverage immigration policy and tech solutions to connect displaced people with lasting refuge.
To learn more, go to:
https://talentbeyondboundaries.org
To read a blog that Betsy co-wrote about avenues to connect refugees with third country solutions:
https://rli.blogs.sas.ac.uk/2023/11/21/modest-proposals-for-actors-supporting-third-country-solutions-for-refugees/
Betsy's LinkedIn account:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/betsy-fisher-78051a14/
Betsy's Twitter/X profile:
https://twitter.com/betsylfisher"
Students play an important role in the management of the school which empowers them to bring social and economic development to their communities, as well as learn leadership, empathy and compassion.
In 1974, our speaker, Mechai Viravaidya, launched the Population and Community Development Association (PDA) to combat Thailand's soaring population growth rate. Using unconventional methods and humor, he made contraceptives widely accessible, leading to a significant reduction in the growth rate to 0.5% by 2003.
The Bamboo School, founded in 2008, stands as a beacon of lifelong learning and socioeconomic advancement.
Mechai’s remarkable achievements have earned him numerous accolades, including the United Nations Population Award and the Bill and Melinda Gates Award for Global Health.
To learn more, go to:
http://www.mechaifoundation.org/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnmLeWYj6J0
https://youtu.be/iphYDcCNoR4?si=dTHqZa93EZHHs-G-
https://www.ted.com/talks/mechai_viravaidya_how_mr_condom_made_thailand_a_better_place_for_life_and_love?subtitle=en
https://tinyurl.com/MVFdocuments (a folder with articles and more)
For $2.50 a woman can be protected against cervical cancer.
A quantum leap in technology and affordable vaccines now make it possible to eliminate the often fatal disease of cervical cancer.
This episode was originally recorded in November of 2022.
The WHO has placed this effort high on their agenda, and Rotary International is taking a lead in the process. Focusing on lower- and middle-income countries is key to preventing the greatest preponderance of a cancer that globally kills upward of 350,000 thousand women each year. In this talk, we will learn about the new techniques, technology, and experience with this fight.
Our speaker, Rich Godfrey, is a semi-retired surgical oncologist active with Rotary International in the effort to eliminate cervical cancer. He works in Kenya, Guatemala, Belize, and Bolivia, and practices with Rotacare in San Jose.
Rich has three published books, edits an environmental newsletter, and is an active beekeeper.
He also serves as the current chair of the Environmental Sustainability Commission for the City of Fremont.
To learn more, see:
https://www.who.int/health-topics/cervical-cancer
Imagine walking into a classroom and…you are under a tree. Branches, leaves and the sun bursting through, the feeling of being outside.
Forty plus years of empirical science developed at the University of Michigan teaches us, viewing trees or images of trees calms us and helps us focus.
Nature In The Classroom is a nonprofit bringing this science to life by installing ceiling murals of trees in classrooms. Tree ceilings are installed in fourteen school districts in California, Colorado, Utah, and Pennsylvania, serving 8,000 students.
The feedback from teachers and students is consistent with the scientific findings. Teachers express that students are more focused, happier and the trees create a greater sense of community in the classroom.
Students are saying the trees are calming, make them feel creative and want to help the environment.
Our speaker this week is Rotarian Ernesto Rodriguez. Ernesto provided psychological services for US State Department Schools in Colombia and Saudi Arabia. He founded ER Photo in 1988, commercial and fine art photography, and his work is in the Curator’s Collection at MoMA NY and on exhibit in the Smithsonian.
In 2002 Ernesto founded Sereneview®, to bring the science of viewing calming nature landscapes to the hospital patient bedside.
Sereneview curtains are installed in over 3,500 hospitals in the US, Europe and Australia. He is the Founder and Executive Director of Nature In The Classroom®, a 501(c)(3) to bring the science and benefits of nature views to education settings.
The link offer articles, podcasts and media:
https://www.natureintheclassroom.org/media--articles.html
YouTube video: https://youtu.be/zAnmvwQwNOs
$4 glasses are one of the most affordable healthcare interventions.
In this episode, we describe how a breakthrough in adaptive optics makes this possible by providing accurate and inexpensive eye exams.
The Quicksee is an accurate handheld auto refractometer bringing eye prescriptions (the bottleneck to refraction corrections) to remote, underserved areas. The SimVis is a head-mounted binocular visual simulator of presbyopic corrections bringing patients the experience of vision prior to surgery.
Diagnostic devices in ophthalmology inspired by adaptive optics technologies in astronomy have made their way to the clinic in the form of affordable portable or wearable instruments.
Dr. Susana Marcos is currently the David R Williams Director of the Center for Visual Science, Nicholas George Professor of Optics at the Institute of Optics and Professor of Ophthalmology at the Flaum Eye Institute, at the University of Rochester, New York.
Dr. Marcos is the former Director of the Institute of Optics at the National Research Council in Spain. Dr. Marcos obtained her PhD in Physics at the University of Salamanca, Spain, and was a Fulbright and Human Frontier Postdoctoral Fellow at the Schepens Eye Research Institute of Harvard University. She is a leading researcher in visual optics, having pioneered multiple technologies of eye optical imaging diagnostics and treatments, including novel IOL designs.
She has published more than 200 highly cited publications, is a co-inventor of 26 patents and participated in two spin-out companies (Plenoptika and 2EyesVision). She is a Fellow of Optica, European Optical Society and the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.
Dr. Marcos' work has been recognized with numerous awards including the Adolph Lomb Medal and the Edwin Land Medal of Optica (formerly Optical Society of America), the ICO Prize by the International Commission for Optics, the Ramon y Cajal Medal by the Royal Academy of Sciences, the Alcon Award, the Physics, Innovation and Technology Award by the Royal Society of Physics, or the National Research Award in Engineering by the Spanish Government, the Jaime I Award (the last two presented by the King of Spain).
https://youtu.be/ohtiLFIrk54
To learn more, go to:
Marcos Lab: https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/people/112362803-susana-marcos
Plenoptika: https://plenoptika.com
2EyesVision: https://www.2eyesvision.com
More about the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley
More about Rotary International:
Podcast and Zoom Host: Rushton Hurley
Podcast Producer: Elton Sherwin
Audio edited and enhanced with: Descript Studio Sound
#PositiveChange #Inspiration #Rotary
Starring on the hit YouTube channel, Grandpa Bobby and Grandpa Scott tell the stories of their travels.
Travel as Service: Traveling is more than an opportunity to visit important cultural and historic sites, or a chance to sink your toes in the sands of a tropical resort.
Travel is an opportunity to create bridges to alternate cultures and traditions. It is an opportunity to learn and to grow from that awareness. To walk in someone else’s footsteps.
Travel puts us in touch with people from all walks of life and experience. Through these interactions we can learn how people from different places encounter situations similar to our own in their own unique way – where they live, how they live, what they eat, what they value. Learning about different cultures provides a greater understanding and empathy for people around the world, which in turn can lead to greater tolerance and acceptance. These are the bridges that travel can serve to help unite our diverse planet, celebrate our common goals, and minimize misunderstandings – all with a hopeful eye towards peace.
Bobby Puleo (aka Grandpa Bobby) was born and raised in a small town in Upstate New York where he dreamed of being an architect and traveling the world. After receiving his degree in Architecture from the University of Arizona, Bobbly moved to San Francisco where he met Scott Rhinehart, and formed a relationship that has lasted nearly 46 years.
Together with Scott’s former wife, Grandpa Bobby helped raise two daughters and six grandchildren.
The travel bug never left, and over the years Grandpa Bobby has visited more than twenty countries throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, as well as most of the United States.
Scott Rhinehart (aka Grandpa Scott) was born and raised in a small mining town in Eastern Utah to a large family of nine, and as a young boy, dreamed of the adventures that lay beyond.
After moving to Southern California as a teenager, Scott received his degree in sociology, married and had two children. While the marriage may not have lasted a long time, the friendship with his former wife Laura was a constant. Together with Bobby, the three coparented their daughters and grandchildren as a close family unit.
Two years ago, Scott created the YouTube channel Two Gay Grandpas Travel to document their travel adventures for their grandchildren and to inspire them to seek out new adventures.
The internet soon came to embrace these videos as well, and to date, over 97,000 subscribers follow their adventures.
Members and guests, please welcome Grandpa Bobby and Grandpa Scott!
To learn more about their travels, watch their videos at:
https://www.youtube.com/@twogaygrandpastravel/videos
To listen to the Travel Your Heart podcast, you can go to:
https://open.spotify.com/show/29TnR3cpXCGRlif38XYy6P
Diane Shader Smith, has had a vibrant career as a writer, speaker, publicist, and fundraiser with an extensive roster of clients during her multi-decade career.
When Diane’s daughter Mallory died at the age of 25, she brought Mallory’s memoir to publication as Salt in My Soul (Random House 2019), which led to the documentary of the same name (3Arts Entertainment).
Using Mallory’s words, Diane has given 250+ talks worldwide about patient insights, the global health crisis called AMR, and phage therapy - everything Mallory wrote about and stood for.
In May of 2024, Random House published an adaptation of Mallory’s first memoir under the title, Diary of a Dying Girl, that shifts the lens towards the emotional hurdles and mental health challenges of living with resistant bacteria.
Two months before publication, Diane, a recent graduate of the Narrative Medicine CPA Program at Columbia University, conceived of the idea to create The Global AMR Diary: Collective Storytelling to Shift Perspectives and Shape Policy.
The World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and many other public health organizations agreed to be part of this important global initiative. Diane has been interviewed by many major media outlets and written an Op-ed for USA Today and for the CDC.
In her talk, Diane Shader Smith will delve into the global crisis of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), illuminated through the powerful narrative of her daughter Mallory’s experience as captured in "Diary of a Dying Girl." Diane will explore how storytelling can be a transformative force in shifting perspectives and shaping health policies. She will showcase compelling slides that bring to life the urgent need for action, emphasizing the critical role of narrative medicine in public health advocacy.
Drawing on her extensive experience and the impactful work of The Global AMR Diary, Diane’s presentation will not only highlight the personal stakes of AMR but also mobilize stakeholders to commit to meaningful change.
This talk promises to leave audiences armed with knowledge and a renewed drive to tackle this pressing health challenge.
YouTube of this presentation: https://youtu.be/XReY3B161Qw
To learn more, go to:
https://diaryofadyinggirl.com/
https://www.globalamrdiary.org/
https://www.calfund.org/mallorys-legacy-fund/
Dateability is the only dating app designed for the disabled and chronically ill communities.
People with disabilities and chronic illness often encounter ableism on other dating apps. We understand the unique circumstances that present when dating with a disability, which is why we created a safe and accepting space to create meaningful connections for people with physical, intellectual, and psychiatric disabilities.
Our speakers are Alexa and Jacqueline Child. Alexa graduated from College of the Holy Cross in 2012 and Georgetown University Law Center in 2015. After law school, she began her career in public service and is currently a public interest attorney. Alexa and her sister collaborated on Dateability after Jacqueline’s negative experiences dating with chronic illness. She enjoys all the typical Colorado things—hiking and skiing—but also loves to cook and binge watch TV.
After becoming disabled due to chronic illnesses as a teenager, Jacqueline’s life was forever changed. She was quickly exposed to the ableist behaviors and expectations perpetuated by society. She found dating challenging and would always fear disclosing her disability. She constantly wished she could meet someone else who understood life with chronic illness and disabilities. Since there wasn’t an app to do that, Jacqueline and Alexa decided they would make one.
Jacqueline Child graduated from Colorado College in 2016 with a degree in Psychology and received her master’s degree in Family and Human Development in 2017. She spends her free time playing music, volunteering at the local animal shelter, and hanging with family and her dog, Luna.
For the full interview, with all 18 minutes of Q&A, see:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/06BRcAII9MxL32XupZv7UJ?si=c71dc7318ae34a34
or https://youtu.be/hDgujMoalf0
To learn more, go to: https://info.dateabilityapp.com/
Download Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dateability/id6443474660
Download Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dateabilityapp&hl=en&gl=US
https://youtu.be/hDgujMoalf0
Alex Soojung-Kim Pang is director of research and programs at 4 Day Week Global, a nonprofit promoting the 4-day workweek.
Alex will present an overview of the global 4-day week movement, which aims to shorten working hours without cutting salaries or productivity.
He will conclude by talking about strategies for making the case for a 4-day week in your own workplace.
His books (Work Less, Do More: Designing the Four Day Week (Penguin, 2023); Shorter: Work Better, Smarter and Less - Here’s How (Public Affairs, 2020); Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less (Basic Books, 2016); and The Distraction Addiction (Little Brown , 2013)) show how companies and individuals can build digital-age lives and workplaces that integrate focus, creativity, and rest.
Alex has worked at the Institute for the Future and Strategic Business Insights, and during his academic career was affiliated with Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Microsoft Research Cambridge, and Oxford University. Alex received a Ph.D. in history and sociology of science from the University of Pennsylvania.
To learn more, go to:
4 Day Week Global's website: http://www.4dayweek.com
Alex' website: https://www.strategy.rest
Alex' book, SHORTER: WORK BETTER, SMARTER AND LESS- HERE'S HOW: https://amzn.to/3ZELfWP
More about the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley
More about Rotary International:
Podcast and Zoom Host: Rushton Hurley
Podcast Producer: Elton Sherwin
Audio edited and enhanced with: Descript Studio Sound
#PositiveChange #Inspiration #Rotary
Today we'll learn about an organization called Real Ice.
Climate change, caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, could cause the global temperature to increase by several degrees by the end of the century, precipitating climate tipping points with serious consequences.
The solution to this problem is to cease the burning of fossil fuels and to eliminate excess greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere. However, lowering atmospheric greenhouse gas levels – even under the most aggressive scenarios – may not happen fast enough to prevent the onset of tipping points.
Such reasoning has led to proposals for methods to actively cool the Earth in order to buy time to decarbonize, and there has been considerable debate around the risks and benefits of these various methods. Sea ice thickening is one of these methods that aims at slowing or reversing the decline of Arctic sea ice through sea water pump by enhancing its natural formation and thickening.
Our speaker, Pascal Martin-Daguet, is a civil engineer from France who has spent over three decades as a project manager on large and complex construction projects over the world and especially in Asia. Pascal has specialized in what some would call "impossible projects," working to solve problems with sustainability in mind.
Pascal has lived in twelve different countries and believes that diversity in all its forms is what makes human societies rich and strong. He believes that we need to rethink and rebuild human societies so that life can continue to thrive, and he’s fully engaged in that challenge. Additionally, he was an active member of the Rotary Clubs of Penang in Malaysia and of Vladivostok in Russia.
Brewster Kahle, the founder of the Internet Archive, presenting "Universal Access to All Knowledge."
Current statistics: https://archive.org/about/
More about the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley
More about Rotary International:
Podcast and Zoom Host: Rushton Hurley
Podcast Producer: Elton Sherwin
Audio edited and enhanced with: Descript Studio Sound
#PositiveChange #Inspiration #Rotary
Leanne Fan is a high schooler from San Diego, CA. In 2022 she was named America's Top Young Scientist by 3M.
Fan's invention can both detect and treat mid-ear infections, and at a low cost.
Details: By 2050, 1 in 4 people will have hearing loss to some extent. In children, the majority of this hearing loss is caused by mid-ear infections.
Loss of hearing that comes from repeated ear infections can also affect one's future and health. For a child, this can affect the ability to learn and develop social skills. Diagnostic and treatment may be too expensive and unavailable in lower income countries, as over 50% of the world’s population doesn’t have access to healthcare.
Our speaker, Leanne Fan, was inspired by her mother's battles with multiple ear infections to invent the Finsen Headphones, a prototype that detects and treats mid-ear infections using acoustic reflectometry, machine learning, and phototherapy.
These headphones can both detect and treat mid ear infections, and at a low cost.
A high schooler from San Diego, Fan was named America's Top Young Scientist by 3M and Discovery Education in 2022 and rang the New York Stock Exchange opening bell. She strives to provide a low cost and non-medicinal ear infection treatment in place of antibiotics for kids to prevent hearing loss, control infections before surgery is needed, and reduce the spread of antibiotic resistance. Fan also encourages science and art in her community and in younger children by promoting her local science fairs and teaching children science at science expos.
To learn more about Leanne's project in the 3M Young Scientist Challenge, go to: https://wvnexus.org/?p=13513
More about the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley
More about Rotary International:
Podcast and Zoom Host: Rushton Hurley
Podcast Producer: Elton Sherwin
Audio edited and enhanced with: Descript Studio Sound
#PositiveChange #Inspiration #Rotary
GiveDirectly sends cash directly to people living in extreme poverty, no strings attached. GiveDirectly is the first – and largest – nonprofit that lets donors send money directly to the world’s poorest.
They believe people living in poverty deserve the dignity to choose for themselves how best to improve their lives, and cash enables that choice.
They have successfully delivered over $700M to approximately 1.5M people across 15 countries since their founding. Cash transfers are arguably the most-studied anti-poverty intervention, with proven positive impacts on recipients' economic, health, and education outcomes.
GiveDirectly has advanced the cash research base with nearly 20 randomized control trials from its own programs, generating rigorous evidence on key design and implementation questions across varied contexts.
Ilan Wallentin currently serves on GiveDirectly's Development team, having spent the previous two years as the organization's Chief of Staff under the leadership of Secretary of State for International Development, Rory Stewart.
https://youtu.be/38kFLfqsk50
To learn more, go to:
General -- https://www.givedirectly.org/
Research -- https://www.givedireGiveDirectlyctly.org/research-at-give-directly/
Donations -- https://donate.givedirectly.org/
More about the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley
More about Rotary International:
Podcast and Zoom Host: Rushton Hurley
Podcast Producer: Elton Sherwin
Audio edited and enhanced with: Descript Studio Sound
#PositiveChange #Inspiration #Rotary
The Chicago Eco House and Southside Blooms transforms vacant lots into sustainable urban flower farms, turning blight into economic opportunities for majority-Black inner-city communities.
Local youth are trained as florists and farmers through our workforce development program.
Why flowers? The floral industry generates $35 billion a year. 80% of flowers sold in the USA come from out of the country. Chicago has unused assets in blighted, vacant lots. Youth are unemployed and underemployed - they’re bored. The problems we are facing need systemic solutions, and this program ties together nature, economy, hope, faith, community, and good old-fashioned American progress, all while developing the inherent creativity of young people.
Our speaker is Quilen Blackwell, the president and co-founder of Southside Blooms and Chicago Eco House, a 501(c)3 nonprofit in Chicago with the mission of using sustainability to alleviate poverty on the southside of the city.
Quilen’s background in renewable energy and community organizing is well suited to his role as president of Southside Blooms and Chicago Eco House. His organizing credentials include work abroad as a volunteer in the United States Peace Corps organizing rural farmers in Thailand, as well as helping working-class residents of suburban Milwaukee attain affordable housing domestically.
He later worked in the biofuels industry where he procured feedstock such as used cooking oil and soybean oil for biodiesel production.
Quilen holds a bachelor’s degree with comprehensive honors from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and holds a master’s degree in environmental policy from the University of Denver.
To learn More:
https://southsideblooms.com
https://chicagoecohouse.org
https://instagram.com/southsideblooms
https://www.instagram.com/chicagoeco/
https://facebook.com/southsideblooms
https://facebook.com/chicagoecohouse
More about the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley
More about Rotary International:
Podcast and Zoom Host: Rushton Hurley
Podcast Producer: Elton Sherwin
Audio edited and enhanced with: Descript Studio Sound
#PositiveChange #Inspiration #Rotary
# minority
# underprivileged
# economic development
