For the final 5 years, I’ve spent a whole lot of time listening to and documenting the tales of builders which might be utilizing AWS applied sciences to resolve laborious human issues for my sequence Now Go Construct. Whether or not it’s offering an id to beforehand unbanked rice farmers in Indonesia, utilizing laptop imaginative and prescient and machine studying to responsibly farm fish in Norway, or discovering methods to pair cloud expertise with human instinct to reforest elements of Hawaii, revolutionary people around the globe are displaying that not everybody desires to be the following unicorn, and proving that it’s doable to do good and run a worthwhile enterprise.
Nonetheless, realizing the total potential that expertise gives to resolve these urgent points, similar to catastrophe aid and local weather change, takes extra than simply monetary funding. It requires a devoted deal with nurturing and creating the technical experience and innovation capabilities of the leaders in these areas. That’s why earlier this yr at VivaTech, I introduced the Now Go Construct CTO Fellowship in collaboration with AI for Changemakers led by Tech To The Rescue.
This fellowship is tailor-made for aspiring tech leaders in nonprofits and social influence organizations. It supplies fellows with coaching, mentorship, and entry to AWS consultants to speed up their progress and the event of tech options that may make a profound distinction in areas similar to catastrophe administration, local weather, well being and past.
In the present day, I’d wish to announce the primary two cohorts of the Now Go Construct CTO Fellowship: Catastrophe Administration, and Local weather Resilience. These people and their organizations are taking over a few of humanity’s hardest issues — and I’d wish to introduce them to you (in their very own phrases).
Aleksandra (Ola) Bilicka, Assist.NGO
Primarily based in: Poznań, Poland
From a younger age, I acknowledged the numerous potential of expertise to do good, from flying ultralight plane to witnessing drones establish at-risk penguin colonies. Hybrid edge computing and its means to deal with a number of the world’s most difficult humanitarian and improvement points has been a driving power for me. In my present position, I’m lucky to leverage these applied sciences as our staff responds to crises and sophisticated emergencies, starting from hurricanes in Mexico and tornadoes in Kentucky to earthquakes in Turkey and battle in Ukraine. Our staff makes use of open-source AWS workloads to allow multinational organizations, native leaders, and first responders to grasp subject challenges, visualize information, make knowledgeable choices, and talk on the transfer. I hope the Fellowship will equip me with management expertise and supply a deeper understanding of rising applied sciences and their functions in emergency settings.
Primarily based in: Saint Paul, MN, USA
Mercy Corps is a worldwide group serving communities in over 40 nations, serving to them rebuild after disasters, break cycles of poverty, and forge paths to prosperity within the face of injustice, instability, and local weather change. We leverage digital applied sciences, distant sensing, AI, and cloud computing to develop and scale revolutionary options that improve the effectiveness and effectivity of humanitarian help. As Senior Director of Expertise for Improvement, I spearhead efforts to establish new functions for expertise and information, develop methods for tech integration, and construct inner technical capability. The CTO Fellowship presents a unprecedented alternative to be taught from one of many world’s most revolutionary executives and elevate our means to harness expertise for social good.
Primarily based in: Pittsburgh, PA
With 20 years of expertise expertise spanning various industries together with gaming, finance, and now meals restoration, I’ve been serving because the Head of Engineering at 412 Meals Rescue/Meals Rescue Hero for the previous 5 years. Throughout this time, I’ve helped increase the Meals Rescue Hero (FRH) platform to have interaction over 50,000 volunteers throughout 20 North American areas. The FRH platform gives Meals Restoration Organizations a complete resolution for environment friendly operations and volunteer administration, aiming to streamline the meals restoration course of and make it as intuitive, equitable, and accessible as doable for all stakeholders. This Fellowship presents a singular alternative to realize insights into the challenges confronted by different revolutionary organizations in our subject. Furthermore, it can amplify our nationwide attain and pave the way in which for our world growth efforts.
Primarily based in: Heredia, Costa Rica
I’m deeply captivated with leveraging revolutionary applied sciences, distant sensing, picture and information processing to create constructive influence. Because the CTO of qAIRa in Lima, Peru, and the CEO of Inexperienced Xpo Lab in San José, Costa Rica, I lead groups that harness distant sensing expertise, information analytics, and AI fashions to develop options that empower our purchasers to make knowledgeable choices. Our focus is on creating the perfect platform to current these outcomes, guaranteeing our purchasers not solely entry the information they want but in addition achieve useful insights that drive steady enchancment of our choices. The Fellowship represents an thrilling alternative for me to chart a transparent path in direction of turning into an distinctive undertaking and product supervisor, in addition to a more practical expertise chief. As I try to steer my groups to success, I’m keen to accumulate the instruments and methods essential to information our efforts and obtain our bold objectives extra successfully.
Primarily based in: Ubungo, Tanzania
Because the CTO at Code for Africa, I lead groups that construct civic tech options to empower communities and drive social change throughout the continent by means of data-driven initiatives. My ardour lies in utilizing expertise to deal with social points, specializing in creating accessible instruments for citizen engagement, information evaluation, and public service supply. As an open-source advocate and seasoned technical chief, I’m dedicated to creating expertise that serves those that want it most.
Primarily based in: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Rising up in Latin America, I witnessed firsthand the challenges our area faces. This expertise fueled my want to make a distinction, main me to a profession in public affairs the place I honed my expertise in driving impactful change. Nonetheless, I sought a option to apply these expertise with higher precision and scale – like a surgeon needing a scalpel, not only a hammer. This pursuit led me to CRIES, the place we leverage AI and OSINT to deal with essential points similar to arms trafficking, defending indigenous group rights, combating disinformation, and stopping climate-driven conflicts. I consider the Now Go Construct Fellowship will likely be instrumental in scaling our influence and creating an bold early warning system for the area.
Primarily based in: Bangladesh and Nepal
With practically a decade of expertise in innovation administration inside the humanitarian and improvement sectors, I deal with selling open-source improvements and whole-of-community approaches to reinforce resilience in resource-constrained environments. My experience lies in leveraging social innovation, human-centered design, and the even handed utility of frontier applied sciences to deal with challenges confronted throughout humanitarian crises. As Chair of the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub’s Advisory Group and a Fellow on the Ethereum Basis, I convey a various perspective to the sphere. At the moment, I’m spearheading efforts in exploration, technique improvement, and fast experimentation round Generative AI at ACAPS and BRAC.
Primarily based in: Bristol, UK
I’m Petya Kangalova, Expertise Partnership and Engagement Lead on the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Group (HOT). At HOT, we offer map information that revolutionizes catastrophe administration, mitigates dangers, and contributes to attaining the Sustainable Improvement Objectives. We develop a collection of open-source instruments for collaborative mapping and geospatial information assortment, together with an AI-assisted mapping service that enhances effectivity for humanitarian mappers.
As an open tech fanatic, group builder, innovator, and advocate for variety and inclusion within the tech trade, this Fellowship will empower me to strengthen my management expertise and speed up innovation within the open mapping and geospatial subject. It is going to additionally facilitate connections and collaborations with different leaders within the tech and humanitarian sectors, enabling us to refine our applied sciences and create extra sustainable influence in addressing right now’s most urgent challenges.
Primarily based in: Pune, India
At WOTR, I spearhead initiatives that harness expertise to reinforce rural resilience and empowerment, addressing challenges in sustainable agriculture, meals safety, drought resilience, and local weather adaptation. By integrating AI, satellite tv for pc imagery, and cellular instruments, we allow communities to make data-driven choices and enhance operational effectivity. The CTO Fellowship gives invaluable insights and connections that may assist us scale our influence on rural livelihoods and environmental conservation.
A name for future fellows
Whereas our inaugural Fellows has been chosen, we’re nonetheless recruiting fellows with a spotlight in these essential areas:
- Well being
- Training
- Financial Improvement
Go to Tech to the Rescue to be taught extra in regards to the Now Go Construct CTO Fellowship and to apply.
Now, Go Construct!