social entrepreneurship

Man playing guitar in front of projected images laughing, with woman next to him, arm around his shoulder. Laptop on chair in background.

Haiti has a burgeoning entrepreneur scene, but can it make room for Haitians forced to return from the US?

Temporary Protected Status for Haitians runs out on July 22, 2019. There are about 58,000 Haitians and their 27,000 US-born children who will be affected.

Haiti has a burgeoning entrepreneur scene, but can it make room for Haitians forced to return from the US?
Vision test, as part of VisionSpring's efforts to reach people in remote areas who need glasses.

Bringing the world into focus for some of the 2 billion people globally who need glasses but don't have them

Bringing the world into focus for some of the 2 billion people globally who need glasses but don't have them
A group meets at IIX Impact Institute

A novel investment exchange in Asia is rewarding entrepreneurs who want to make the world better

A novel investment exchange in Asia is rewarding entrepreneurs who want to make the world better
Medical stretchers are seen abandoned along the corridors at the main hospital during a strike

Kenya tries to come to grips with treating mental illness

Kenya tries to come to grips with treating mental illness
Hidayat

One man is planting mangroves in Indonesia to stave off tragedy

One man is planting mangroves in Indonesia to stave off tragedy
Boyan Slat

Meet the 22-year-old with a big idea for cleaning up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

For the past six years, 22-year-old Boyan Slat has been working to perfect a way to filter vast amounts of plastics out of the world's oceans. He has a prototype now that might just prove successful.

Meet the 22-year-old with a big idea for cleaning up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Getting internet in small towns

Tired of waiting for high-speed internet, farm towns build their own

The economics of high-speed internet don't send providers rushing to small, distant towns. These communities tried a little DIY to make it happen.

Tired of waiting for high-speed internet, farm towns build their own
Children drink water from the SHRI sanitation system.

This doctoral student is building public toilets in India that also provide clean drinking water

India has a severe shortage of toilets, something the government of Narendra Modi has pledged to address. Anoop Jain is already working on it. He's an American doctoral student who's building public toilets in one of the poorest states in India.

This doctoral student is building public toilets in India that also provide clean drinking water
Entrepreneur Vivian Vargas (center) chose to start her business in Puerto Rican to be closer to Latin American markets.

Young Puerto Ricans bucking the flow: Heading home to rebuild their island

Puerto Rico is experiencing a brain drain — more than 10,000 Puerto Ricans are emigrating each month, among them doctors, engineers, and other professionals. A small crop are heading in the opposite direction.

Young Puerto Ricans bucking the flow: Heading home to rebuild their island
A watch from Fonderie 47.

How old guns are turned into beautiful new jewelry

An innovative company is trying to recycle old guns into designer watches — and they're having some success.

How old guns are turned into beautiful new jewelry
Ghaith is a Syrian refugee living in Beirut. He can't work there but now he can earn a living as an online Arabic teacher.

This startup helps Syrian refugees earn a living. All they need is a laptop.

NaTakallam connects Syrian refugees with jobs, even in countries where they aren't allowed to work.

This startup helps Syrian refugees earn a living. All they need is a laptop.
An engineering professor in South Africa challenged his students to come up with a way to prevent devastating shack fires that displace thousands. One of them came up with this fire detector, Lumkani, that can alert a neighborhood.

A little blue box that might help save thousands of homes in South Africa

A one-time engineering student has created a battery-operated device that provides a community-wide alert for fire in South African townships.

A little blue box that might help save thousands of homes in South Africa
The Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot (STAR).

Would you trust a robot to perform your surgery?

Robots do a lot of things for us — build cars, make computer chips and more. But should we give them life and death power, and allow them to perform surgery?

Would you trust a robot to perform your surgery?
LaTanya Dickson's family has to travel 20 miles to get clean water, which they store in jugs under the kitchen table of their hogan on the Navajo Nation in northern Arizona.

An NGO focused on water poverty turns its attention from Africa back to the US

A call from a potential donor to an international NGO working on access to clean water proved a turning point for both the group and a fight in the US.

An NGO focused on water poverty turns its attention from Africa back to the US
l’Épi Dupin head chef François Pasteau.

These chefs are giving French cuisine a climate change makeover

Climate change has far reaching impacts — including on French cuisine. Many restaurants in the foodie mecca now have on their menu dishes that have been deemed “good for the climate.”

These chefs are giving French cuisine a climate change makeover