How lucky are we?

How lucky are we that we live in a time of such great opportunity – when, yes, we’re teetering on the edge of a global climate calamity, still reeling from a pandemic, knowing that our problems and challenges are not only enormous, but systemic, all-encompassing, and often linked together.

How lucky are we to be able to say – look at all of this opportunity, look at all of the ways I could have an impact, need to have an impact, right now?

How lucky are we that so many people, both scared for their futures and emboldened by a feeling of having both nothing to lose, and everything, all at the same time – that they are choosing not to go trade derivatives or build more ad tech, but instead dream?

People, and especially young people, dreaming and actually designing, building, and testing innovative, groundbreaking solutions.

This episode is another in our series of conversations with 776 Foundation fellows and I’m so excited to share it.

Part of the reason I left California was because of the fire risk, to my home and family, the smoke risk, and the drought. I was lucky to be able to leave, but so many can’t. 

Over and over we have been forced to confront fires that are burning bigger and hotter in drier vegetation, closer to where people live. Fires fought by exhausted, underpaid firefighters.

We need reinforcements, we need better ideas, and they need help.

We need people like Valkyrie Holmes.

Valkyrie is the co-founder of Project Firefly, a new company supported by the 776 Foundation that combines drone technology with pressurized air cannons to better contain wildfires. Yes, you heard that right.

In her brief but wildly impressive time as a professional, she’s worked as an intern at SpaceX and in various roles at MIT, NASA, Google, and more. We get at everything from self-confidence to heat signatures and what the hell vortex cannons do – and how they could help alleviate the enormous strain drought and fire are putting on resources the world over.

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INI Book Club:

• The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
• Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins
• Find all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-club

Links:

• Follow Valkyrie on Twitter and check out more of her work here
• Learn more about Project Firefly on their website
• Follow Project Firefly on Twitter
• Learn more about the 776 Foundation

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• Edited by Anthony Luciani
• Produced by Willow Beck
• Intro/outro by Tim Blane: timblane.com

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