Crossing Faiths and Building Bridges
One of the innovations of the podcast is that it doesn't have to be just two people talking. We want to make sure that we have a space that is participatory, not just from a listening perspective, garnering support from different communities—but making sure that they see it as space for anyone to come and talk about the issues of the day, and utilize that format in that space.
China’s Data-Driven Philanthropy
Since China instituted the Charity Law in 2016, charitable giving in the country has continued to grow as it opened more platforms for citizens and business leaders to participate in social responsibility. The Law also emphasizes transparency, requiring charities to report all the basic information related to their operations. An advocate of data disclosure and transparency, Tao Ze, founder and president of YISHAN, shared with VantagePoints his thoughts and experience on philanthropy in China.
As a philanthropist, are there any philosophies that inform your philanthr...
Storytelling for Social Impact
In the digital era, the shape and delivery of stories have evolved dramatically. It has provided an opportunity to reach more people and get them engaged.
Our Better World (OBW), the digital storytelling initiative of the Singapore International Foundation, leverages the power of stories and digital media for social impact. Rebecca Lim, Head of OBW, shared with VantagePoints that their approach is to tell stories of people doing good in Asia to inspire their global online community to take action. In September 2018, OBW won the Best International Not-for-Profit Case ...
Coding to Fight Gender Inequality
In the 2017/18 Women, Peace and Security Index launched by the Georgetown Institute of Women, Peace, and Security and the Peace Research Institute of Oslo, Afghanistan and Syria tied at the bottom as the worst countries to be a woman. In both countries, years of violence, discriminatory practices, and cultural barriers have denied women job opportunities and inadequate representation in the society.
In this feature, Fereshteh Forough drew upon her own experience of being born a refugee in Iran during the Soviet’s invasion of Afghanistan. She witnessed ...
A Spirit of Service: Technologists Are Advancing UN SDGs
There are many wonderful, bold projects around the world, not just in the US, being developed in answer to the world’s most pressing problems, from giving identity to the most vulnerable to trafficking, giving banking to the unbanked, transparency in food supply chain, and tokenizing activities to give everyone financial inclusion in this data-driven economy.
Peace Tech is Good for Business
We like to say that, “We can spot stories before they become stories.” We’re projecting things like likelihood of protests—some of which are violent—down to the city and date. That’s what we’re actually doing in terms of our projections. We monitor data, and we can see some trends and say, “Hey, this might turn into some big story.”
Artificial Intelligence is Changing the Conversation
"The true end goal is to have an embodied agent moving around. You can think of AI as the brain, and robotics as the body. Right now, we have disembodied voices speaking to us–that’s not real. When we finally have these physically present robots, things will change. Robotics and virtual or augmented reality are two areas to focus on. Robotics is the tipping point. "
PART II: ADVOCATING FOR GREEN BUILDINGS: IMPACT OR RHETORIC?
"Recognition can drive some of that demand from CEOs and clients, and mechanisms like that also help to create that demand and interest, but also guide the specifics to make sure that those buildings are true to being a green building."
PART I: ADVOCATING FOR GREEN BUILDINGS: URGENCY AND POSSIBILITY
"When you look at a vehicle, you see the emissions coming from the vehicle. It's different with buildings—you don't actually see the emissions that come from buildings, even though buildings contribute to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions"
H3C: HELPING HOSPITALS HEAL CHILDREN EXPLORATORY STUDY
"Multiple children in one incubator; crumbling facilities kept scrupulously clean; these scenes are just a few examples of the extreme human dedication amidst extreme resource deprivation and mismatched inputs that we encountered during our exploration of the public medical facilities of Kyrgyzstan"
