Beeline Reader
- 90 social entrepreneur finalists will present their solutions to the Solve community; Solve will announce the most promising 40+ that have been selected as Solver teams or Indigenous Communities Fellows
- Additional speakers include Harry Moseley, Global Chief Information Officer of Zoom; Dalila Wilson-Scott, Senior Vice President of Community Impact, Comcast Corporation and President, Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation; along with a powerful performance by artist and gender activist, Madame Gandhi.
- Livestream the closing plenary on September 29 at 3:30pm ET at solve.mit.edu. Join as a Solve Member to access the full event.
September 22, 2020 (Cambridge, MA)—Solve, an initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), today announced 90 social entrepreneur finalists from 34 countries and a lineup of speakers that includes Sal Khan, Founder and CEO of Khan Academy, to join Virtual Solve Challenge Finals on September 29.
Throughout the day, finalists, selected from a pool of over 2,600 applications from 135 countries, will present their solutions to one of Solve’s five 2020 Global Challenges: 1) Health Security & Pandemics, 2) Learning for Girls & Women, 3) Good Jobs & Inclusive Entrepreneurship, 4) Sustainable Food Systems, 5) Maternal & Newborn Health, and the 2020 Indigenous Communities Fellowship. Out of the finalists, 35 social entrepreneurs will be announced as Solver teams and 6-8 will join as Indigenous Communities Fellows.
“The quality and diversity of finalists, hailing from Nairobi to Vienna, is inspiring and gives us all a reason to be hopeful—particularly given the ongoing Covid-19 crisis,” said Alex Amouyel, Executive Director of MIT Solve. “We look forward to welcoming a new group of innovators to form the next class of Solver teams and Indigenous Communities Fellows. With the support of the Solve community, they will make a tangible impact on world challenges.”
More than $2 million in prize funding is available for selected Solver teams, including the following prizes:
The Gulbenkian Award for Adult Literacy, supported by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
The Elevate Prize for Health Security, supported by the Elevate Prize Foundation
The AI for Humanity Prize, supported by the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation
The GM Prizes on Learning for Girls & Women and Good Jobs & Inclusive Entrepreneurship, supported by General Motors
The Innovation for Women Prize, supported by the Vodafone Americas Foundation
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Funded Award for Maternal & Newborn Health
The Andan Prize for Innovation in Refugee Inclusion, supported by the Andan Foundation
The Experian Prize for Financial Health Innovation, supported by Experian
Future Planet Capital Prize, for innovators across Solve’s Global Challenges, supported by Future Planet Capital
Health Workforce Innovation Prize, supported by the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Court
In addition, all solutions selected for Solve’s five current Global Challenges and Indigenous Communities Fellowship will receive a $10,000 grant from Solve
During the closing plenary, Sal Khan, Founder and CEO of Khan Academy—a collection of online learning tools and video classes used by tens of millions of students around the world—will discuss the future of education in an era of distance learning. Harry Moseley, Global Chief Information Officer of Zoom, a video communications firm that has been ubiquitous during the Covid-19 pandemic, will be in conversation with Jessica Hubley, Founder and CEO of AnnieCannons. A Women & Technology Solver, AnnieCannons transforms survivors of human trafficking into software professionals.
Artist and activist Madame Gandhi will speak about gender liberation and perform for the virtual audience. Dr. Phillip Atiba Goff, Co-Founder and CEO of the Center for Policing Equity, will also be joining to discuss the role of tech in the fight for racial justice. The full event program can be found here.
Anyone can tune in to solve.mit.edu to livestream the closing plenary by registering here. Finalists for all 2020 Global Challenges and Indigenous Communities Fellowship can be found here.
Media interested in attending Solve Challenge Finals should email press@solve.mit.edu. Non-media interested in attending the entire event can inquire about Solve membership at membership@solve.mit.edu.
About MIT Solve:
Solve is an initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a mission to solve world challenges. Solve is a marketplace for social impact innovation. Through open innovation Challenges, Solve finds incredible tech-based social entrepreneurs all around the world. Solve then brings together MIT’s innovation ecosystem and a community of Members to fund and support these entrepreneurs to help them drive lasting, transformational impact. Join Solve on this journey at solve.mit.edu.