Speaker picks 03: Bianca Griffith

Speaker picks is an ongoing series where past TEDxMH speakers share what they’re up to, wax poetic, and divulge their TED Talk of choice with the community. This week: Bianca Griffith. 

Pedro Delgado, a social entrepreneur from the Unreasonable Institute who is not only working hard to democratize water through sustainable plant purification technology from Mali to America, but knows how to laugh even in the face of seemingly unsurmountable obstacles, and exudes a passion for innovation and humanity that is infectious. [Ed. note: Pedro is currently at Unreasonable at Sea. See profile and read about the project here]

Fearlessness, Awareness, Excitement.

I have been working on several projects including a news website, based on user generated content from around the world, which offers customized content aggregation and curation based on the users geographies and topics of interest. Through interactivity, it also aims to magnify user impact on the causes behind the news. We are launching in the end of February, which is very exciting. I am also working on re-envisioning the Sante Natural website. The aim is to offer a site which does not simply provide information about our work, rather offer more useful tools to communities we work with. It will offer an open-source DIY green technology library and platform for local communities to post projects they are working on to connect and collaborate with other communities locally and internationally.

The Alchemist, again. (Paulo Coelho)

To dance more – Salsa and through life in general.

What’s your favorite TED talk?

I really love Sir Ken Robinson’s ‘Bring on the Learning Revolution.’ I deeply believe that the US is facing an education crisis, and despite on-going concerns of the economic recession our country must not forget that schools should be inspiration incubators, not factories. To build a robust economy of the future fueled by innovation, we must cultivate future generations which are fearless to chase their passions and have access to the resources necessary to be successful. No one articulates this case better than Sir Ken Robinson whose perfectly informative and humorous TED talk offers inspiration.

From TED.com:

“In this poignant, funny follow-up to his fabled 2006 talk, Sir Ken Robinson makes the case for a radical shift from standardized schools to personalized learning — creating conditions where kids’ natural talents can flourish.”