Rebroadcast: Building Tech Solutions for Social Impact Using Blockchain Technology
Release Date: 09/11/2019
Rebroadcast: Using Artificial Intelligence and Comedy To Open Hearts and Minds
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Hello listeners, and welcome to another exciting episode of Tech Forward! This week, we're rebroadcasting my covnersation with award-winning comedian . Over the last several years, she’s participated in numerous comedy competitions, and been featured in the NBC Showcase at the Women in Comedy Festival Boston 2018. She was also a recipient of Netflix's 2018 Diversity of Voices fellowship at the Banff World Media Festival. On her latest project, “,” Ana-Marija will be joined by a unique co-host: a functioning AI chatbot. Today, we’ll be talking about her plans for the show, what it’s...
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Rebroadcast: Building Tech Solutions for Social Impact Using Blockchain Technology
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Hello listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward! This week, we're rebroadcasting my conversation with , Founder and CEO of . By using blockchain technology, Impact Chain Lab is focused on building equitable communities around the globe. Aishwarya became interested in the disruptive power of blockchain in her previous roles as a consultant and leader at Build Academy, and now identifies ways to apply this technology to create solutions in the global development landscape. On this episode, we discussed her entrepreneurial journey, and the various ways Impact Chain Lab uses blockchain...
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Rebroadcast: Using Technology to Mobilize Capital for a Diverse Group of Funds
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Rebroadcast: Providing Culturally Sensitive Teletherapy to Increase the Life Expectancy of Black Men
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Hello listeners! Welcome back to another episode of Tech Forward. This week, I hope you'll enjoy the rebroadcast of my conversation with , Founder and CEO of . Henry Health's mobile app provides self-care and mental health support through culturally sensitive teletherapy, serving the population with the lowest life expectancy in the U.S. — black men. Kevin is an experienced public health leader, and through Henry Health, he is committed to leveraging the power of technology to add 10 years to the life expectancy of black men in the next 25 years by focusing on their emotional and mental...
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Rebroadcast: Sparking Dialogue about Race and Racism Through Storytelling and Interaction
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Hello listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward! This week, we're featuring a rebroadcast of my conversation with Catherine Wigginton Greene, Executive Director of content and engagement at . She directed the feature documentary (INRAI) which followed a diverse group of teens through a yearlong exploration of race and racism. From there, she led the development of Point Made’s newest offering – INRAI Digital – which uses the documentary as the foundation for a 3.5-hour online antiracism course. She also travels the U.S. leading workshops and facilitating dialogue about race and...
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Rebroadcast: Leveling the Playing Field for Female Entrepreneurs
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Rebroadcast: Creating a Platform for Music Discovery While Ridesharing
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Rebroadcast: Confronting Bias and Unequal Treatment From All Levels In the Workplace
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Hello, listeners! Welcome back to Tech Forward. For this week’s rebroadcast, we're featuring my conversation with , a marketing strategy and product launch expert who works as a consultant and advisor to multiple consumer brands and tech startups. She serves as a mentor to entrepreneurs through her roles with and . Previously, Wes was the founding Executive Director of Seth Godin's . Today on the show, we’ll be talking about the leadership lessons she’s learned during her career, and her advice to other managers on how to adequately encourage and support women in the workplace. After...
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Rebroadcast: Using Five Core Skills to Help Women Advance Their Careers
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Rebroadcast: Helping Women of Color Identify Inclusive Work Environments in STEM
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Hello listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward! Kicking off our summer rebroadcasts, we're featuring the second episode of our November 2018 job seeker series, when I spoke with , founder of . PositiveHire is a tech company engineered to bridge the gap between employers and women of color STEM professionals. Michele’s vision is to not only help experienced women of color find inclusive workplaces, but to help enterprises recruit them. PositiveHire does this via matching experienced women of color STEM professionals to relevant management positions within organizations. In this episode, we...
info_outlineHello listeners, and welcome back to Tech Forward! This week, we're rebroadcasting my conversation with Aishwarya Balaji, Founder and CEO of Impact Chain Lab. By using blockchain technology, Impact Chain Lab is focused on building equitable communities around the globe. Aishwarya became interested in the disruptive power of blockchain in her previous roles as a consultant and leader at Build Academy, and now identifies ways to apply this technology to create solutions in the global development landscape. On this episode, we discussed her entrepreneurial journey, and the various ways Impact Chain Lab uses blockchain technology to drive positive social impact.
As someone who knew from a young age that she wanted to go into business, Aishwarya’s entrepreneurial spirit is imbued with her natural curiosity and affinity for calculated risks. Her role as employee #1 at Build Academy gave her real time insights into the process of building a company from the ground up. That, combined with her firsthand experience in the venture capital and angel investing sphere, played a significant role in the creation of Impact Chain Lab. Aishwarya noticed that while support for impact investing has been growing, that increased interest has so far not been reflected in the flow of capital. With Impact Chain Lab, Aishwarya wants to use blockchain to funnel funds to social enterprises in a meaningful way.
Impact Chain Lab’s main focus right now is a project called Bystander, which Aishwarya summarizes as “a cross between Reddit and Wikipedia.” Bystander allows users to retain and to benefit from the digital assets that they create — a power that users of the largest crowdsourced platforms generally lose the moment they hit “submit.” Users on Bystander can share and discuss information around a variety of topics, and when the community decides that information is valuable to them, individual users are rewarded for collecting and sharing high integrity, reliable data. “On our platform, the people producing the data are also the people consuming it.”
Currently, the team at Impact Chain Lab is more than 50% female — which Aishwarya says was an intentional choice. “I’d like to keep building a team that is very diverse in all ways. In building any company, and especially a consumer facing one, it’s critical to have people on the team who represent the people you want using the platform. I want to make sure that we do that.” Her advice to other entrepreneurs who are ready to grow their team is to hire slowly. “Bring in people who are aligned with your business goals as well as your personal mottos and morals.”
Aishwarya, thank you so much for joining me on the show to talk about your work with Impact Chain Lab and some of the exciting potential of blockchain technology. Thank you as always to our listeners for sharing and reviewing the show. See you next week!
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