Spark

Ramani Durvasula is a licensed clinical psychologist, professor of psychology, media expert, and author. Her research on personality disorders has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and she is a Consulting Editor of the scientific journal Behavioral Medicine. She has shared her expertise on narcissistic personality disorder and narcissistic abuse, in leading media outlets including Red Table Talk, National Geographic, Today and Good Morning America. 

Claudia Viek founded the Invest in Women Entrepreneurs Initiative in 2018 after serving for ten years as CEO of CAMEO, the leading network of 120 organizations serving 50,000 micro and small businesses in California. She is the former Executive Director of the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center, an award-winning training, financing and business incubation program in San Francisco. Claudia was a longtime board member of the national Association for Economic Opportunity and a previous President of NAWBO Bay Area chapter. Her expertise has been featured in leading media outlets including Forbes, Washington Post and San Francisco Chronicle. 

In addition, Propel is a co-creator of Project 100 that has quickly raised and distributed over $140 million in cash to the most vulnerable population during this pandemic.

Propel is building software for low-income Americans who are often overlooked by traditional tech innovation. Their current focus is on helping people manage their food stamps, a $70 billion program that reaches 40 million Americans, with the goal of providing an economic empowerment platform for them. The company is one of three finalists in The Wall Street Journal's Financial Inclusion Challenge. It is a winner of the NY Times’ Good Tech Award and Fortune's Impact 20. Propel has been featured in leading media outlet, including the Forbes, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and WIRED Magazine. 

Most goods are created by millions living in poverty around the world. BankQu uses its blockchain technology to empower those who are unable to prove their identity and economic participation. Through implementation with corporations to record all impoverished farmers or workers that are contributing crops, raw materials and services to their supply chain, it enables these farmers and workers to have financial identity and viability.

BankQu is an award-winning, social impact enterprise that is providing the invisible poor with digital identities and transaction history. It is the winner of TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2019 and Fast Company's 2019 World Changing Ideas Awards in the Developing World Technology. Ashish Gadnis has been recognized as MIT Innovate for Refugees Award, Young Global Leader (World Economic Forum), Change-Makers Innovator Award and Battery Ventures Innovation Award. BankQu has been featured in leading media outlets including Forbes, Wall Street Journal and Wired. 

Polaris is an award-winning, non-profit organization that is leading a data-driven social justice movement to fight sex and labor trafficking. For more than a decade, Polaris has assisted thousands of victims and survivors through the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline, helped ensure countless traffickers were held accountable and built the largest known U.S. data set on actual trafficking experiences. It has been a recipient of social impact awards and featured in media outlets including CNN, Reuters, NBC, NY Times, and LA Times. 

Unseen is an award-winning, non-profit organization working to end human slavery. Its focus spans from providing safehouses, support helpline, victim outreach, re-integration, multi-sector partnerships and working with businesses on transparent supply chain. It has been a recipient of social impact awards and featured in media outlets including BBC, Business Times, Reuters, CNN, and The Economist. 

Beam's social impact innovation has won numerous awards including MIT - Inclusive Innovation Challenge, Tech4Good Awards and Financial Times' Europe’s 100 Digital Champions. Its mission and success have been featured in leading media outlets including BBC, Forbes, Financial Times and Reuters. 

Through the Defy Ventures, 82% employment rate was realized for its post-release program in 2018. The recidivism rate (return to prison) rate for Defy graduates is 7.20% within the first year compared with the national average of 44%. Andrew shares the factors that lead to a successful transition for ex-inmates and how we can support their transformation into becoming contributing members of society. Defy Ventures is a non-profit organization focused on addressing challenges tied to incarceration, recidivism and successful transition back into society, by providing training, funding and support to ex-inmates. Its mission and success has been featured in media outlets, including CBS, Forbes, ABC and Bloomberg. 

Mi Terro’ Pro-Act technology has been recognized as a leading innovation in sectors including agriculture, food technology and sustainable solutions. It upcycles or repurposes surplus food and agricultural by-products, into plastic-alternative and cotton-alternative fibers for the fashion, medical, and packaging industries. In addition, it is helping farmers and agriculture processors create a new stream of revenue from its surplus supply. At the same time, it is providing compostable, cost-efficient, high-quality, and non-toxic alternative materials. 

Its innovation has been featured in leading media outlets including Wired, Forbes, Bloomberg and International Business Times. Robert Luo has been recognized as Forbes Under 30 Scholar, Global Shaker's Sustainable Fashion Innovator 2019, Entrepreneur Hall of Fame at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business and GreenBiz “30 under 30” honoree.

Every dollar you spend determines who and what thrives. According to Nielsen, e-commerce is booming, with the online grocery industry expected to exceed $100 billion by 2022. In this larger retail shift, consumers are also looking to support brands that embody their values. 75% of millennials are actively changing their consumption habits to reduce their impact on the environment, with 80% willing to pay more for products with social responsibility claims. By 2021, consumers are projected to spend nearly $150 billion on sustainable goods.

Katie Tyson is the co-founder of Hive, a new online marketplace for sustainable grocery and household products, where consumers can shop their values and make an impact with every purchase. Founded in 2020, the company is on a mission to create an ecosystem where every purchase contributes to a more sustainable and equitable world. The platform features a collection of environmentally-friendly and socially-conscious brands. All Hive marketplace products are vetted by the Hive Five, a set of curation criteria that revolve around: rave-worthiness (high quality), low impact ingredients, environmentally-friendly packaging, low carbon footprint and a commitment to social good.