On This Land – Using Historical Markers to Address Forgotten African American Histories: The Genesis and Realization of a Social Impact Project
Destinee Filmore was an undergraduate at Spelman College when she realized that there were almost no historical markers in Atlanta that explicitly addressed the history of enslavement in the city. She decided to change that by creating a technologically innovative social impact project that addresses forgotten, hidden or ignored African American histories. Filmore takes us through the challenging process that resulted in moving her idea from concept to execution.
Brain Care: A Radical Vision for Reducing Risk of Brain Disease
Did you know you can take care of your brain and reduce the risk of developing dementia, stroke, or depression through simple lifestyle changes? Massachusetts General Hospital’s McCance Center for Brain Health lays out a bold vision for reducing the risk of brain disease and scaling it globally.
A New Frontier: Generative AI, Business Risks, Opportunities, and Investments in Climate Change
Finding emerging climate market opportunities can be challenging. As generative AI moves into the mainstream, Harvard Business School Professor George Serafeim shares how it can transform the way stakeholders and investors unlock new insights to better evaluate a company’s climate solutions, next generation innovation investments, and potential downstream risks and opportunities impacting business performance, human capital, and industry disruption.
Grassroots Revolution: Building Resilient Nonprofits with Strategies from Political Fundraising
Nonprofits struggle to harness the influence of grassroots donors. Henry Carroll and Taylor Greenthal recommend leveraging political fundraising strategies and collaborative efforts to efficiently build a broad grassroots donor base, ensuring successful navigation of the digital fundraising transformation.
Book Reviews: Best Books for Kids on Climate Change – Explore, Learn and Make a Difference
Explore over 30 diverse climate change books for kids, spanning various age groups and featuring unique perspectives. Despite challenges such as politicization and book bans, these resources provide valuable insights, offering pathways for children to confront climate challenges through awareness and positive actions. Prepare the next generation for civic engagement through empowering climate literature.
Pursuing Happiness: Lessons Learned from the Harvard Kennedy School Inaugural Leadership and Happiness Symposium
As you create New Year’s resolutions for 2024, consider applying some of the current research presented at the inaugural Leadership and Happiness Symposium, hosted by the Leadership and Happiness Laboratory Founded by Professor Arthur Brooks at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership, to make yourself, your communities, and the world a happier place.
The Moral and Economic Answer to NYC’s Homelessness Isn’t Shelter, It’s Housing
The surge in New York City's homeless population, exacerbated by the expiration of pandemic-related measures, poses a critical challenge, with numbers reaching unprecedented levels. Christine Quinn urges upholding the "right to shelter," faster transitions to permanent housing for cost savings, and collaboration to address the multifaceted crisis.
Can AI Be Fair and Unbiased?
OPINION COMMENTARY:
Artificial Intelligence seems to be everywhere, from the agenda of world leaders to the limited series-style boardroom drama at OpenAI. Harvard Fellow, Paulo Carvão, discusses the challenges and importance of fair algorithms to ensure responsible and unbiased AI use.
Keeping Alive the Legacy of Legal Trailblazer Charles Ogletree
Esteemed Harvard Law professor and civil rights lawyer, Charles Ogletree Jr., died on August 4, 2023. Former Transportation Secretary and Harvard ALI fellow, Rodney Slater, recalls Ogletree's remarkable career, including his role in the creation of Harvard's Advanced Leadership Initiative (ALI), and the Charles Ogletree Black ALI Association (COBALI).
Accelerating a Just Transition to 1.5ºC: Mobilizing Climate Finance through High-Integrity Carbon Markets
Global demand for high-integrity carbon credits is significant. However, current voluntary carbon markets lack transparency, consistency, and high-quality standards, hindering their potential contribution and impact on climate change. Annette Nazareth is spearheading the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market focused on more efficiently mobilizing finance toward mitigation and climate resilient development with greater speed and scale.
Shared Responsibility for Climate Change: Who Should Fund the Solutions?
One way to mitigate the global climate crisis is to help developing countries build a carbon neutral energy and industrial infrastructure. This, however, requires both money and technology, resources possessed largely only by developed countries. In this article, Rajan Mehta analyzes the issue of emissions responsibility and suggests a pragmatic approach to limit climate change and reduce its impact.
Empowering Drivers: Tech Tools for Safer Traffic Stops
OPINION COMMENTARY:
If you get pulled over, chances are you won't recall your rights due to the stress of dealing with the police. Anthony J. Mohr proposes a way to provide a rapid review of the dos and don'ts during traffic stops, potentially saving lives.
Negotiating Peace: Lessons from Colombia´s Historic Peace Accord
The agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) exemplifies purposeful, multi-year negotiations where incremental alignment led to peace. Former High Commissioner of Peace during the Santos Presidency, Sergio Jaramillo, shares the highs and lows, along with important lessons from the negotiation process that ultimately ended the armed conflict.
The Social Impact of Parking Your Car
Parking your car has significant social implications that few of us consider. Henry Grabar discusses his latest book, Paved Paradise, where he describes the societal and economic impact of our parking policies, which encompass fines, valets, garages, permits, and more.
Rapid Development of New and Affordable Medical Treatments
Did you know that there exist inexpensive generic drugs and supplements that might be effective as novel treatments for many diseases? Yet, pharmaceutical companies lack financial incentives to develop them. Could the creation of a federal agency designed to fund and oversee such efforts lead to new affordable treatments for unmet medical needs?
Artificial Intelligence and the Path Forward for Technology Policy
Chris Lewis, CEO of Public Knowledge, answers questions from 2019 ALI Fellow Lisa Macpherson about the current public fascination with generative artificial intelligence, the policy solutions we really need for AI, and the regulation for digital technology that’s way overdue.
Inspiring and Shaping Future Social Impact Leaders
A conversation with Brian Trelstad, newly appointed Faculty Chair of Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative. A Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School, Trelstad discusses his vision, priorities, challenges and goals as he takes over as the third Faculty Chair of the first interdisciplinary academic fellowship program created for experienced third stage leaders to help them address society’s pressing challenges through social impact strategies and projects.
Helping Youth Facing Barriers to Employment: When Small is an Advantage
Small organizations can often provide the most effective approaches to helping youth who face serious barriers to employment. Andrew McKnight, Executive Director of The Challenge Program and CP Furniture, describes the advantages of being nimble and innovative, along with the realities and challenges of being a small nonprofit working with this population of youth.
Adaptive Evaluation for Innovation and Scaling
The scaling of innovations in development often involves system transformation. Siddhant Gokhale and Michael Walton delve into how using an Adaptive Evaluation framework offers practitioners essential tools to drive impactful change through informed actions.
Babcock Ranch — Shelter From The Storm
Hurricane Ian wreaked historic devastation in Southwest Florida one year ago, highlighting the threat of violent storms amplified by climate change, but the solar-powered community Babcock Ranch was unscathed due to comprehensive sustainability and resilience planning. David Cifrino and Luis Perez tell the story of Babcock Ranch, including in the words of its visionary founder, Sydney Kitson.