501CTHREE

Anxiety about climate change and the environment is prevalent among today’s youth. In the face of alarmism and counter-programming, youth are being made to feel hopeless and powerless to address the changes that are coming. By making a low-carbon lifestyle cool, accessible, and pervasive, we influence the adoption of climate-positive attitudes and behaviors.

We understand that historic and systemic barriers keep people of color from accessing things like voting, food, and water but we also know that racial inequality doesn't stop there. The racial gaps go way deeper, multiplying injustice into lesser known areas (like clean energy and the internet) and harming the wellness, safety, and success of millions of Black, LatinX, and Indigenous people every day. "Race X" is about understanding the intersections between race and access everywhere, and taking action to change things, no matter how hard the challenge may seem. Communities of color have been facing racial problems in the shadows for too long, and it's time for us to shine a light on solutions. We're going to use our voices, our platform, and our resources to make an impact and empower people of color across the world, starting at Race X - https://www.501cthree.org/race...

Jaden is a co-founder of 501CTHREE along with Drew FitzGerald a non-profit dedicated to driving innovation, engineering and advocacy of solutions around global energy water and food challenges. Their first projects are in water filtration and water recycling in Flint MI and Los Angeles CA

Jaden is one of the co-founders of JUST: a company formed to drive positive social and environmental impact in everyday items while creating sustainable awareness around energy food and water. Their first product - JUST water- was created to reduce both plastic utilization and emissions in bottled water packaging. The company also was an innovator in water sourcing engaging in a public-private partnership to ensure a product that is ethically sourced and conserved.

Smith is an advocate for a cleaner world and was recently honored for his leadership and action on environmental issues at the 2016 EMA Awards with the “Male EMA Futures Award” and also Jaden has been awarded the first ever Robert Redford Award for his environmental justice work in 2018.

501CTHREE is an innovative non-profit founded by Jaden Smith and Drew FitzGerald in 2019 that works at the intersection of youth, climate justice and storytelling. The organization focuses on deploying clean technology solutions in water, energy and food largely in communities of color.

The Water Box was designed in response to the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. In 2014 the municipal water system was contaminated with lead and Flint’s residents were forced to rely on donations of bottled water for drinking, cooking and hygiene. Bringing in and distributing millions of bottles of water became a heavy burden for the city and community organizations.

By 2019 most of the country had forgotten about Flint and donations of water began to dry up.  501CTHREE partnered with First Trinity Missionary Baptist Church to develop an alternative way for the church and other community organizations to get water to Flint’s residents - one without the high cost, heavy logistics, and plastic waste of relying on single-use water bottles.

501CTHREE is a non-profit reimagined for the next generation. We are building a global community of young people that are excited about stopping climate change and embrace a low-carbon future. 

We fill a gap not served in the market as a multi-dimensional media and technology deployment. The deployment of the Water Box provides resources to the community and in turn empowers the community.

501CTHREE utilizes storytelling around the tech deployment to amplify the scalable programs that other changemakers facing similar issues in struggling communities can learn from and apply. Providing an experience is the best teacher - it changes minds, alters decisions and creates cohesive action which will shape perceptions, interpretations, lives & businesses & will be the groundwork for using stories as credible tools.

We work to dive deep into the origin stories behind change makers and the solutions they’ve developed and of the Water Box, not only addressing the issues at hand but more importantly how these solutions are not just band-aids but lifelines to an entire community and city. We tell real stories from the heart, with each piece of content thoughtfully produced to engage viewers, future donors, and other like-minded individuals to inspire change, inspire similar movements in other communities in need - all powered by what determined, dedicated people and technology can achieve.

The goal of the Water Justice campaign is to launch Waterboxes in low income communities and communities of color that disproportionately experience contaminated water. 501CTHREE will introduce a new element of workforce development and job-skills training with the Water Box. The program teaches key skills that workers need to enter an apprentice program across a variety of skilled trades and key mentorship for guidance and future opportunities. 

The Water Justice project focuses on low income communities & communities of color that disproportionately experience contaminated tap water. Currently 501CTHREE impact in 2019/2020 in Flint, Michigan; Newark, New Jersey; Los Angeles, CA, Jackson, Mississippi.  The Water Box has deployed 68, 216 gallons of clean water, replaced 545,728 16 oz plastic bottles, and reduced 86, 771 kg of carbon dioxide.

In 2021, 501CTHREE plans to bring the Water Box for impact in Chicago, Illinois; St. Louis, MO; Oakland, CA; Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota; Cheyenne, Wyoming; Navajo Nation, AZ; Houston, TX; Pittsburg, PA; and Off-Grid in Puerto Rico and Uganda. More Water Boxes, Water and Power Boxes for off-grid and emergency responses along with developing a nutrition program to address the elevated levels of lead found in the children of Flint.

Currently over half a million Americans who are water insecure live within 1 mile of a 501CTHREE Water Box.

We currently serve 10,000 plus of residents in each of our current cities - Los Angeles/ Skid Row and Watts, CA; St. Louis, MO and IL; Flint, Michigan; Newark, NJ; Jackson, Mississippi.

In 2021 we will also deploy Water Boxes in the following locations: Phoenix and Navajo Nation in AZ; Cheyenne, WY; Pine Ridge, SD; Houston, TX; Chicago, IL; Puerto Rico and Uganda.

Through enhanced technology, 501CTHREE is funding research into low-cost sensors that can be an early warning system for water contamination.

We currently measure progress through our deployment and content at Water Box locations through the following:

• Technology programming: Articulate what constitutes development of technology and establish criteria by which social needs are identified and by which a project’s success is measured.

• Advocacy programming: Clarify the 501CTHREE’s mission to inspire others to collaborate to make the world a better place and identify the means by which 501CTHREE communicates that message.

• Identifying 501CTHREE offerings to support other grassroot organizations in addressing societal issues and the means by which food, water, energy and shelter resources are made available.

IMPACT:

Number of Food and Water Boxes
Population served and demographics
Improved health outcomes

Single-use bottles replaced and COS reduction

ENGAGEMENT:
Number of donors and volunteers
Number of jugs distributed and reused
Supporting organizations, fundraisers

INFLUENCE:
Content and SM impressions
Improved health outcomes in population
Awareness in the target population

ADOPTION:
Number of organizations adopting the program
Institutional support and endorsement for program

SUSTAINABILITY:
Open source program model
Program cost reduction

We need to organize and articulate the relationship between the innovation and storytelling side of 501CTHREE. Through the Elevate Prize we can delineate between the two and work on all the potential extensions that exist in relation to 501CTHREE.

We will work to dive deep into the origin stories behind change makers and the solutions they’ve developed, not only addressing the issues at hand but more importantly how these solutions are not just band-aids but lifelines to an entire community and city.  We will tell real stories from the heart, with each piece of content thoughtfully produced to engage viewers, future donors, and other like-minded individuals to inspire change, inspire similar movements in other communities in need - all powered by what determined, dedicated people and technology can achieve.

501CTHREE will develop and implement a dynamic and effective media strategy, including the prioritization of 501CTHREE objectives and define the 501CTHREE social media activities. 501CTHREE will embark on powerful and frequent social media engagement, beginning with strategic listening, then engaging in the conversation, and then measuring and refining the strategy as the results and outputs are analyzed. In addition to establishing its own voice on social media, 501CTHREE will also adopt a social influencer strategy - that features social media mavens and celebrities who share the vision for 501CTHREE. To accomplish this objective,

501CTHREE must define its social footprint, discover social influencers that are relevant and contextual to 501CTHREE, monitor all social influencer activity - including theirs to see if there are opportunities to piggyback, engage and enact social influencers that are willing and able to support the vision of 501CTHREE and the Elevate Prize, and finally, measure and refine all activities in this vein.

501CTHREE will develop a global audience for these stories and produce a content program that addresses the community impacts with first-hand looks at the researchers, entrepreneurs, and public sector agencies helping to make these solutions a reality.

We understand that historic and systemic barriers keep people of color from accessing things like voting, food, and water but we also know that racial inequality doesn't stop there. The racial gaps go way deeper, multiplying injustice into lesser known areas (like clean energy and the internet) and harming the wellness, safety, and success of millions of Black, LatinX, and Indigenous people every day. "Race X" is about understanding the intersections between race and access everywhere, and taking action to change things, no matter how hard the challenge may seem. Communities of color have been facing racial problems in the shadows for too long, and it's time for us to shine a light on solutions. We're going to use our voices, our platform, and our resources to make an impact and empower people of color across the world, starting at Race X - https://www.501cthree.org/race-x

My motivation started when I was about eleven years old, and it came from me learning about the environment from my teachers at school.  It got to the point when I really wanted to make an active change and I wanted to do something that could make a difference in the world. As I started to evolve these ideas, I started to realize that we have problems so close to home.

501CTHREE has a track record in Flint, MI, Newark, NJ and Los Angeles, CA in providing low-income communities and communities of color, who disproportionately experience contaminated tap water, clean water through the Waterbox. We saw this problem most notoriously in Flint, but contaminated drinking water is a problem throughout the country.

Jaden Smith & Drew FitzGerald founded JUST to do packaged water better. Next, they tackled the challenge of water insecurity. Tragically, many areas in the US- often communities of color- don’t have the access to the most basic human need: safe and clean water. Since first launched in Flint, MI, Water Boxes have filtered 70,000+ gallons of water for tens of thousands of people.

Jaden Smith and Drew FitzGerald went on to found JUST Water, which demonstrated a more sustainable approach to bottling water. Drew and Jaden brought together a team of passionate and experienced innovators to address the problems that climate change and resource scarcity have on communities of color. What began as an experiment to come up with an alternative to single-use plastic water bottles in Flint became the Water Box program and then 501CTHREE, a new type of nonprofit for a younger generation focused on Energy, Food, Water and Shelter. 501CTHREE is at the intersection of innovation and storytelling, and brings attention to the solutions that will help us build a cleaner, more sustainable and more hopeful future.

Most recently in Brave Blue World

See the trailer below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-dneEJWa9s&t=8s

Website:

https://www.braveblue.world/th...

Q&A Session:

Jaden Smith, Gary White, Paul O'Callaghan and Laurie Segall.

Why is water attracting the next generation of high profile entrepreneurs? Join three of the stars of a new feature length documentary – Brave Blue World – to find out. 

www.vimeo.com/370984070

As an Elevate Prize winner we will be able to develop and implement a state-of-the-art operation and infrastructure for 501CTHREE.  We will further develop and mobilize a dynamic and inspirational 501CTHREE communications platform to go along with our climate technology mobilization of the Water Box across the country.

501CTHREE will mobilize the next generation to fight climate change by creating a global community that embraces low-carbon culture. This community will be built by intersecting YOUTH, TECHNOLOGY and STORYTELLING.

Youth: By making a low-carbon lifestyle cool, accessible, and pervasive, we influence the adoption of climate-positive attitudes and behaviors.

Storytelling: 501CTHREE will tell stories that present a more hopeful future, present the low-carbon lifestyle as desirable and attainable, and provide ways for young people to get engaged. Our global community will be built by sharing a narrative about the promise of a low-carbon future led by technology and positive lifestyle changes.

Technology: Climate change will not be stopped without the rapid replacement of legacy carbon-emitting systems. Innovative climate change solutions need to be the preference of the next generation and valued for their contribution to a more sustainable future.

501CTHREE Water Box:

Boys & Girls Club of Central Mississippi

Environmental Media Association

First Trinity Baptist Church

Flint Fresh

Homeless Healthcare Los Angeles

LatinX Technology Center

Natural Resource Defense Council

Newark Water Coalition

People’s Advocacy Institute

Sylvester Broome Empowerment Village

The Solutions Project

Think Watts Foundation

Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis

Watts Labor & Community Action Center