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Finalists Chosen Out of Hundreds of Applications to Live Pitch During United Nations General Assembly Week in New York
Today MIT’s new Solve initiative announced the finalists for the Solve Challenge Finals in New York City during the United Nations General Assembly Week. Twenty innovators and entrepreneurs were selected as finalists for the Youth, Skills and the Workforce of the Future Challenge and will pitch their solutions on Sunday, September 17 to a live audience and a panel of expert judges including Lucy Ashman, Global Director of Social Innovation of Teach for All; Nafez Dakkak, CEO of Queen Rania Foundation (UK); and Melissa Beaumont Lee, Atlassian Foundation Manager.
Finalists also can win other incredible prizes including:
- Up to US$1 million in grant funding from the Atlassian Foundation for the Youth, Skills, and the Workforce of the Future Challenge to selected Solver teams from non-government organizations, non-profits, social enterprises, academics, entrepreneurs and for-profit organizations.
- Up to US$ 1 million in grant funding from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in grant funding for the Youth, Skills, and the Workforce of the Future Challenge to selected Solver teams who will have an impact in developing countries across the Indo-Pacific.
The finalists’ exciting and creative solutions answer how disadvantaged youth can learn the skills they need to prepare them for the workforce for the future and thrive in the 21st century.
Just a few examples of the 2017 Youth, Skills and the Workforce of the Future finalists’ solutions include:
- Markoding: An integrated community platform that can be used online or offline to teach underprivileged youth how to code in a fun and simple way for free, using their available resources like smartphones and internet shops. Coding and programming are quickly becoming one of the most important job skills of the future, and this platform prepares underprivileged youth for the future job market by providing easy and affordable access to coding lessons.
- Tuteria: An online platform where learners can easily find, evaluate, book, pay for and track lessons with a verified local teacher who can teach them to earn extra income. It is designed to help people living in countries like Nigeria, where there is not easy, reliable way to find teachers for subjects like Math, Physics, Art, and SATS.
- JobHack: JobHack is a free online course that teaches unemployed youth in developing countries the digital enterprising skills required to create their own job. The program aims to empower youth in areas where unemployment is highest, and benefit governments and society overall by creating stronger local economies and less talent loss through immigration.
A full list of finalists’ solutions can be found below:
Solution Team | Solution Name | Country |
40K | Australia | |
Generation | United States | |
Raspberry Pi Foundation | Building a translation community for digital making resource | United Kingdom |
Save the Children / BDjobs /Seek International / WSU | Bangladesh | |
Australia | ||
Asia Education Foundation | Australia | |
WeRobotics | United States | |
TULA Philippines | Philippines | |
Open Learning Exchange | Community Centers: Youth Learning to Make a Meaningful Living | United States |
Baan Dek Foundation | Thailand | |
MARKODING | Indonesia | |
National Educational Support Trust, USA (NEST USA) | United States | |
BagoSphere | Philippines | |
Solve Education! | Singapore | |
Ruangguru | Indonesia | |
PN TEAM | Play 4 Gateway - Games to better leverage on youth potential | Cambodia |
The Wanji Team | Wanji: Gamified Narratives Delivered Through Basic Telephony | United States |
The Rumie Initiative | Canada | |
ScriptEd | United States | |
Tuteria | Nigeria |
Immediately following the live pitch session, the finalists chosen by the judges will be announced as Solver teams and join the Solve community to build partnerships with cross-sector leaders that help pilot, scale and implement their solutions.
Solve is a community that brings together technologists, social entrepreneurs, business leaders, policymakers, researchers, and other change agents to unearth and implement solutions to specific, actionable challenges facing the world. More than 950 solutions from all over the world were submitted to Solve’s 2017 Global Challenges: (1) Brain Health, (2) Sustainable Urban Communities, (3) Women and Technology, and (4) Youth, Skills, and the Workforce of the Future.
To attend the Solve Challenge Finals in New York City on September 17, apply for a press pass to the event here and view the schedule here. Additional details will be released in the weeks leading up to the Challenge Finals.
About Solve:
Solve is an initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that identifies and supports lasting solutions to the world's most pressing challenges. Solve is a community that brings together technologists, social entrepreneurs, business leaders, policymakers, researchers, and other change agents to unearth and implement solutions to specific, actionable challenges issued around the pillars of Economic Prosperity, Health, Learning, and Sustainability. Learn more atsolve.mit.edu.
Press Contact:
Ken Meyer
617-475-8067
press@solve.mit.edu
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