The talks from Crypto School were situated under the psychedelic mushroom sculptures of Papaya Playa’s sandy beachside courtyard. Speakers were approachable, spiritual and profound, educating noobs and enthusiasts alike on best practices for acquiring crypto, NFTs, wallet safety measures and what not to do along your crypto journey.

Conscious Crypto

Conscious crypto is a vibe unique to Tulum that mixes spirituality, a mindset of abundance, self-reliance, personal expression, and a conscious relationship with money into a perfect barefoot luxury blend that has permeated its way into the psyche of the fest.

Embodied by the Ascended Trader, Crypto Love Ninja, and Tulum Crypto Club Founders, barefoot luxury promises a lifestyle abundant in time and freedom, over visible material wealth.

Education goes Hand in Hand with Crypto

In order to create a decentralized world, we must onboard more people into crypto. Even in a bear market, we can see that crypto can be a path to wealth and financial independence. With so many countries adopting bitcoin as a national tender it is easy to see that the current dip crypto is a buying opportunity. But that’s what someone who has already drunk the kool-aid would say. 

The Women Taking the Lead in Web3 panel featured a group of strong badass chingonas that are making waves in the web3 world sharing their journeys and lessons.

Miroslava Pineda Landa, is a serial entrepreneur and CEO of Fractional Class Mexico. Miroslava and her team are advancing fractional ownership of high end real-estate through the blockchain, having developed their own marketplace, smart contracts and wallets to offer democratized real estate investment opportunities to the public.

Francesca Martina, crypto enthusiast and founder of More Women in Crypto, believes that a decentralized way of life using blockchain can create new social and financial systems that benefit those traditional financial systems often leave behind. The organization has a mission to drive the adoption of crypto, offer mentorship opportunities, and bring exposure and visibility to women in blockchain.

Steph Ferrera is a Mexican entrepreneur, artist, community leader and cofounder of More Women In Crypto. Steph is passionate about encouraging mass adoption of decentralized systems and believes women have a powerful role to play in DEFI. Her experience as an ecologist and regeneration warrior has helped her bridge her passions into utility for Regen Tulum and as part of the team that is bringing Tulum Coin to market.

Karen Sieves is digital and traditional business designer, specializing in blockchain, NFT, and metaverse strategy development. Karen has been building projects in the blockchain and Web3 since 2017 and believes that these technologies are integral and essential to all modern and successful businesses. Her current projects such as MetaInvestors.eth are focused on education, web3 adoption and marketplace growth.

NFTs to Save the Planet

Another insightful and inspiring panel, NFTs to Save the Planet was headlined by Charlie Graham, CoFounder of Nemus and Pinche Chucho of Petgaseritos collection from Petgas. Both collections are on a mission to save the planet through Web3. 

Nemus´ model is the creation of NFTs that correlate to actual Amazon Rainforest land held in trust. The mint raise goes to the protection of this land, approximately the size of the island of Barbados or 41,000 hectares with plans to continue to expand the protected land acquired as well as sustainably develop the land with indigenous populations. Nemus is the first to use many innovations in both its planned game mechanics as well as how it is currently crowdsourcing its lore and getting its Guardians involved in the building and creation process. Nemus is building a ¨greenprint¨ for how to use Web3 as a model for conservation and inspiring a movement of similar projects that are using NFTs to bring awareness to and to save precious ecosystems like the Amazon.

Petgaseritos is the brainchild of Pinche Chucho, also known as Chucho Escoto Faces, Cofounder of Petgas.mx, a Mexican company that is bringing a new innovation to market that transforms plastic into clean fuels. The Petgaseritos go on adventures IRL (in real life) and around the metaverse incentivizing “plastic mining” through beach cleanups and other plastic collection initiatives which tie into the Petgas mission of shared responsibility where we all take part in saving the earth and de-plastifying the planet. Petgas NFT collections such as Petgaseritos will offer actual Petgas plant revenues as passive income opportunities and other drops of unlockable content. Petgaseritos and Petgas coin are two of the planned NFT collection launches it is planning as part of its web3 and corporate innovation strategy.

The XibablaNFT takes inspiration from Nemus´ Greenprint for Conservation. The 10,000 NFT planned collection will present the 10,000 square meters of stalactite and stalagmite filled cavern that is the most important cavern in the Mayan World.

A beautiful jewelbox of nature’s artwork, it hosts thousands of natural formations that have been forming since the meteorite that hit the earth and caused the Ice age killing the dinosaurs. It has one formation that is over 500,000 years old. The NFT project is meant to continue the work of the family that has been taking care of the cenote and restoring it to its current state and beauty. 

NFT Boutique at the Beach Holographic Experience

The NFT Boutique brought its holographic experience to the beach at Papaya Playa featuring new upcoming collections

such as the House of Panther, existing house collections Cosmic Cats 420, Petgaseritos, and also new partner collections currently for sale and minting such as The Eye of Soluminati, and Plantiver.se a collection of NFTs made by the plants themselves!

Plantiver.se is giving plants autonomy and a voice so that they can be active participants in the metaverse as well as our real world! The project attaches sensor to different plants and let their state control what art gets made. In this way, the plants have created beautiful images from a moment in their life, making them unique, collectible records and reminders of the powers and talents of the natural world we live in.

Tulum Crypto Fest brought the Tuluminati barefoot luxury beach vibes and showed the world why Tulum is the cultural center of Web3. A huge thanks to fest organizers, Tulum Crypto Fest, Like Group, Nazieh Fazli and Peiman Fazli of Coworking Tulum, and Feel the Fruit.

The post Tulum Crypto Fest: It’s a Wrap! appeared first on Grit Daily News.

Tulum’s exquisite beauty is everywhere – from its clear, crystal blue sea water to its cleansing and transcendent cenotes, it is a magical place with extraordinary energy and pull. This shiny gem on the Mayan Riviera has always been a place of great importance and energy. The ancient Mayan name for Tulum is Zama, meaning City of Dawn. Zama was an important trading hub, where the Mayans built a beautiful temple.

Tulum has always been a cultural center. Digital nomads, technologists, crypto enthusiasts, and eco-warriors from all over the world (author included) have flocked to Tulum since realizing that WFH (work from home) could in fact mean WFB (work from the beach).

Tulum Crypto Fest (TCF), May 13-15, plans to shine a spotlight on this “barefoot luxury” lifestyle. Tulum has become a portal to a life of business mixed with pleasure, while surrounded by nature.

The festival theme “Where nature meets technology” unites the two worlds through an IRL techno-luxury experience connecting with the brightest minds in Defi, planet freethinkers, and eco-conscious builders, along with excellent content and networking. TCF is a non-traditional festival that features renowned international speakers, unique interactive experiences and a spotlight on the boho-chic decentralized way of life that has become a magnet for the world.

TCF has partnered with NFT Boutique in Tulum to provide an “NFT Boutique at the Beach” experience through holographic NFT displays in the Papaya Playa Project courtyard, where the festival will be centered.

NFT Boutique is also excited to present a special daily happy hour during the fest from 5-8pm featuring Crypto Art and Culture exhibit by Aaron Koenig.

The festival itself takes place in the beautiful beachside eco-hotel, Papaya Playa Project (PPP), a hotel that is emblematic of Tulum’s boho chic. TCF will be an immersive experience featuring 5-star service and unique experiences accessible only to attendees. These include a private cenote event, healing and wellness, and evening activities including top DJs. Attendees can truly have a taste the barefoot luxury lifestyle Tulum offers.

For tickets to Tulum Crypto Fest, use this link and code NFTBoutique for a discount! See you at the beach!

The post Is Tulum the Cultural Center of Web3? appeared first on Grit Daily News.

According to a CNBC survey, twice as many men as women invest in crypto. People of color, however, have embraced crypto on a larger scale worldwide. A Harris poll survey showed that 23 percent of Black Americans and 17 percent of Latino Americans own crypto, compared to 11% of White Americans. 

For International Women’s Day, I wanted to showcase 5 amazing women-led initiatives in the Web3 space.

Women Rise

First on our list is Women Rise, with a collection of 10,000 unique NFT art pieces created by the internationally acclaimed visual artist Maliha Abidi. The beautiful art pieces inspire collectors to support a diverse community of women, so they too can see themselves represented in the tech, blockchain, and NFT space.

Women Rise donates 7.5% of proceeds go to global organizations working to educate girls, especially in the most marginalized communities of the world. Women Rise also contributes to causes for women’s rights, violence against women, and gender equity.

Remarkable Women

Another exciting female-led collection comes from the Remarkable Women team founded by artist, Rachel Winter. Her vibrant colors and wild patterns grab your attention and lead viewers into a journey of ideas, stories and emotions about the world today.

Remarkable Women are not only on a mission to increase the representation of women in Web3, they also plan to expand access to curriculum, tools, and community support for women, men, and allies looking to learn more about Web3, Metaverse, Crypto, and NFTs. They work with a diverse range of brand ambassadors, ranging from rapper Ja Rule to Youtube influencer iJustine.eth and an amazing group of influential Web3 women such as Shira Lazar, Melissa Jun Rowley of Warrior Love Productions.

Cosmic Cats 420

Cosmic Cats 420, my personal project, are NFTs with a mission to save cats and deplastify the planet. Cosmic Cats 420 are mutant cats that survived the eco-apocalypse of 2420 when the world became completely overrun by plastic. They now roam the galaxy to educate humans on the error of our ways. Funds from NFT sales will be used to start a TNR (trap, neuter, release) program, support veterinary care and fostering, as well as a future Cosmic Cats 420 Cafe and Sanctuary in Tulum.

Cosmic Cats 420 along with a number of other NFT for good collections can be seen IRL at the recently opened NFT Boutique, a storefront in Tulum that showcases NFT collections and their merchandise. 

It’s the first of its kind in Latin America, a gathering place for crypto and NFT enthusiasts that is quickly becoming a tourist and local hot spot.

More Women in Crypto

More Women in Crypto (MWIC) is an initiative which has partnered with the NFT Boutique in Tulum. More Women in Crypto is creating a space for women to discuss these innovative tools, technologies, and new models. The group meets both in person and via Zoom calls on a weekly basis at NFT Boutique in Tulum, in a bilingual and intimate setting that has even hosted a first-of-its-kind NFT baby shower.

It’s exciting to see how our vision of bringing women together to learn and collaborate is coming to life. We’ve needed a space to learn from each other and our More Women in Crypto group is a safe place to share our perspectives, fears and hopes.

Francesca Martina, Founder of More Women in Crypto

MWIC knows that it’s important for women to collectively come together and create a culture that redefines business as usual. The group plans to hold hands-on training for various topics in crypto such as crypto trading, launching an NFT project, and more as well as launching both an NFT and crypto fund for its members.

TulumCoin

TulumCoin is an initiative from Regen Tulum, Steph Ferrera and her other Regen Tulum founders believe that the launch of their DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) will be the vehicle to sustainable and responsible growth for Tulum. The Regen DAO will be launching the TulumCoin token, which is a  cryptocurrency that will provide value back to the region in the form of funding regenerative projects.

TulumCoin will be a catalyst for local benefits and a currency that anyone will be able to use for local services with zero fees on transactions. If distributions are made from TulumCoin into another currency, there is a 5% charge on the transaction that will go into the Regenerative Projects fund and voted on by the Regen DAO. With most credit card transactions in Tulum charging 5% every time you pay, this is a new way to make those funds count. The idea is a simple yet secure system to empower a local economy with crypto and use withdrawal fees to restore Tulum’s ecosystems and cultural heritage. TulumCoin is currently minting on Near protocol and you can still get in early by getting a TulumCoin Founders Club NFT which gives you extra benefits and early access to the Dao, token, staking, minting, event access, merchandise royalties, and many other benefits from the DAOs network. 

With Web3 initiatives taking the world by storm in traditional tech hubs such as NY, SF and Miami, it’s exciting to see the innovation coming out of Tulum, a trendy beach town where influencers flock. In the last few years, Tulum has become a mecca for digital nomads, crypto enthusiasts, and creatives so it’s no wonder that it is also rapidly becoming the center of the Web3 universe.

Women Making Waves in Web3 

From increasing representation in financial systems that have historically excluded women, to creating coins that generate local wealth for communities, the impact women are having in the Web3 space continues to grow. 

It no longer is just a question of where are all the women in tech. When it comes to Web3, women are leading the way and showing how these technologies can have a real impact on the most pressing issues of today,  but even beyond that, we are showing the world how to build new economies centered on collaboration and shared values.

Full disclosure: The author owns NFT Boutique and holds some of the NFTs mentioned.

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Today, we must face the consequences of our past and present decisions, such as the reality that every single minute 200 million disposable plastic bags are used around the world. That’s about one trillion bags a year, which is a monumental amount, and in spite of a rigorous branding effort by the recycling industry, most of these bags and other types of plastic are not recyclable. In fact, the recycling movement has failed us. At the moment, only 9% of all plastics are recycled. In previous years, the majority of the world’s plastic was shipped to China, but in 2017, the country made a change to its trade policy that banned the import of most types of plastic. This change meant the West could no longer export its waste problems overseas, but unfortunately the problem has only shifted to other poor countries such as Venezuela, Malaysia and even Mexico which are now taking a portion of the West’s plastic waste.

The Truth Behind Plastic Labeling 

Currently, all plastic in use today is labeled in 7 different ways. Of these only types, 1 and 2 are actually recyclable and even those plastics can only be recycled and turned into other plastic products between 1 – 4 times. The entire labeling program was an invention of the plastics industry, used only to confuse the public into believing that recycling meant acting in custody of the environment.

This means that the problem has few very limited solutions, and recycling can only help us with a small portion of what’s needed. Beyond this issue is the matter of cost, recycling plastic is extremely expensive. It requires huge operating costs in energy, manpower, and equipment maintenance. A lot of countries also don’t have any policies in place, or enough money to start caring about recycling.  A plastic bottle can stick around for 450 years. That means when a world leader drinks from a plastic bottle, the next 50 of his successors will be dealing with the fallout. New solutions are needed or we’re never going to properly get rid of our plastic waste plague.

Reimagining Plastic

I spoke with Chucho Escoto, co-founder of Petgas in Mexico, a company that has developed a technology that transforms plastic into fuel through the science of non-catalytic pyrolysis. Pyrolysis is the process of changing the material substance of plastic from solid to gas in the absence of oxygen through use of heat pressure and quantum physics.

All plastic originally contains carbon chains so it makes sense that it can be reverse-engineered to transform back to its original form. Petgas’ patented technology is unique because it employs a non-catalytic pyrolysis. This is essentially creating an oxygen-free process where plastic can be heated up without being burnt. A big issue with traditional pyrolysis technology until now has been the use of extra catalysts which are unsafe for humans, environmentally harmful, and more expensive. Petgas’ breakthrough in its non-combustible approach means that the plastic can be converted into “non-fossil” fuels that are cheaper, much safer than fossil fuels, with zero sulfur and 50% less CO2 emissions. 

“Our mission is to not only transform plastic into usable clean energy but also to transform the public mindset into seeing that plastic has value. We are creating a movement to de-plastify the planet and the only way we can achieve this is by adopting a shared, collective responsibility to do it together. All of us.”

Chucho Escoto, Cofounder Petgas.mx

The most common type of catalytic pyrolysis can not only cause health problems, but it is also more costly, and still unable to deal with many types of plastic that can not be transformed, such as PVC, the third most commonly used plastic polymer in the world. 

Petgas’ pyrolysis doesn’t have these limitations, using non-catalytic processes enables Petgas to transform every single type of plastic, even PolyStyrene, more commonly known as styrofoam. Styrofoam is the worst in terms of its ubiquity in common coffee cups, packaging, and food storage. Worse still is its inability to break down, it doesn’t, and the fact that its lightweight material makeup can be broken into thousands if not millions of tiny particles or microplastics that float among us, get into our water, seep into our soil, and leach harmful materials into our food. The sad fact is that today we are still producing enough styrofoam cups everyday day to circle the earth if lined up end to end. Using non-catalytic pyrolysis with Petgas converts this ubiquitous pest into usable fuel and stops it from becoming microplastic particles floating in our air and in our seas.

The Value Chain of Plastic, a Circular Economy

Closing the loop on the plastic value chain is the key to Petgas’ massive potential. By creating a value for plastic where once there was none, opens up whole new ecosystems, facilitates the circular economy, and enables economic incentivization structures where everyone wins. The common consumer such as you and I can participate in the Petgas-coin economy, Petgas’ cryptocurrency by simply collecting our plastic and turning it into a Petgas collection point such as with Makers Global Tulum, home of a future collection site. 

Imagine paying for a beautiful scuba diving trip to Cozumel (one of the world’s most vibrant coral reefs) with the plastic you’ve been collecting at home or even better, from one of your organized community beach cleanups. When both businesses and consumers are incentivized to participate in the movement to de-plastify the planet, everyone wins.

The beauty of the business is that all of the end material that is created from the transformation process also holds value. Having gone through its patented non-catalytic pyrolysis, Petgas transforms 100% of plastic into usable, clean fuel, with 48% becoming gasoline of 102 octanes, the world’s most used car fuel, and 28% becoming ULSD, ultra-low sulfur diesel. But unlike fossil-based gasoline and diesel that when purchased at the pump contain environmentally harmful chemicals such as hard metals, sulfur, and other additives, Petgas Gasoline and Diesel are clean and better performing for cars and they are non-fossil fuels. The remaining 24% is turned into kerosene, paraffin, and butane-propane gas, leaving only 2% as a final residue called coque (cake), and even that can be sold on or used! The team has plans to power a Nascar race car with its fuel as a proof of concept and validation of the quality of their fuel.

De-plastification is the Way

While new alternatives to plastic continue to be developed and give us hope that single-use items will one day be biodegradable, we know that something must be done about the plastic that exists today. Until now, most of the plastic we use will continue to live on up to 500 years from now and in the case of styrofoam or Polystyrene, it will not decompose for over 5,000 years. However, today Petgas is able to take all of this plastic, even previously unrecyclable substances such as polystyrene, and transform them into energy.

Petgas plans to franchise its plant operations as well as fund its own plants through its recent successful crowdfunding raise, and its newly launched venture fund. It already has several plants in operation and underway all over Mexico in major cities such as Cancun, Veracruz, Tulum, Chihuahua, Holbox, Isla Mujeres, and Cozumel. Beyond Mexico, Petgas has plants planned in California, Hawaii, Spain, and many other global locations. 

Petgas wants you to imagine a future where you’ll be able to drive your car to one of their stations, drop your plastic and get your car filled with their clean fuel at the same time. 

Our Collective Responsibility

One of the keys to Petgas success is its message of shared responsibility, “Responsabilidad Compartida” where we, everyone can be part of Petgas’ mission and participate in the Petgas coin economy simply by doing our part and collecting plastic. Today, people are realizing more than ever that there is a problem here that must be solved, and it’s largely due to the developed world’s insatiable consumerism and throw-away culture. The responsibility to clean up this mess lies with us. We are the answer, the change we’ve been seeking, it is within each of us. This shared responsibility is one of Petgas’ core values,  and their innovation provides us with a way to clean up our ocean, our world, our climate and all take part in contributing to the solution.
Visit their website to keep up to date with their new developments!

The post Waste to Energy: A New Way to Think About Plastic Waste appeared first on Grit Daily News.

The conversation consisted of a number of seasoned entrepreneurs and investors with experience investing in the continent. Panelists included Geetha Tharmaratnam, a Partner at Aequalitas Capital and impact investor focused on Africa, Luni Libes, founder of Fledge Accelerator, and several other VCs, angels, and seasoned investors. The consensus agreed that while VC is possible, there are many challenges to tackle and that it must be tailored to Africa rather than exporting traditional funding models from abroad. Major hurdles include:

• Silicon Valley copy and paste doesn’t work
• Bringing Limited Partners (LPs) to the other side
• Need for new funding models that aren’t tied to IPO exits

Silicon Valley Copy and Paste

The traditional Silicon Valley VC model operates with 2% yearly management fee and 20% carry, meaning the bulk of the return is generated upon a successful IPO. This model works fairly well for the established Silicon Valley VC ecosystem where investments go mainly into asset-lite (software, mobile, etc) companies, and there are many high multiple opportunities. However, for Africa, this is only a small portion of the market, and most SMEs are not on a path to IPO.

The cost for a fund manager of operating in the African region is also quite high and with the exception of a few countries with solid wifi penetration, the length of time it takes to find investments and execute them means fund managers are forced to take on additional roles they are not used to and become more involved in the startup itself. Given the smaller size of funds, this makes working in that model challenging both operationally and financially.

According to Tharmaratnam, VC is just another quiver in the bow adding to the types of financing vehicles in the region but not the main one. She states we have to start with the fundamentals of the business and whether real value is being created, otherwise it is a game of musical chairs. In Africa “the value of early-stage business starts with what they are doing for the economy vs. if there is a sufficiently sexy story to tell” which is a common thread for US venture capital markets where valuations are many times “divorced from cash flow.”

Another opinion that was voiced was that if investors can adjust to the African reality, where income levels are lower and businesses need to scale across smaller markets, while additionally taking on a very hands-on approach, that the VC model can in fact work. However, for exits, it’s important to know who strategic investors and likely buyers are while keeping in mind that IPO is not an option, and keeping focused on EBITDA and cash generation.

Bringing LPs to the other side

The other challenge that remains difficult for VC in Africa is not only the need for different financial models but also the need to educate limited partners (LPs) providing the fund capital so that they understand the different structures and adjust return expectations accordingly. New financial models such as Smart Asset Financing, flexible capital, and other non-diluted structures are better for the smaller, asset-intensive needs of African startups, and payouts differ vastly. Often these models are a mix of debt plus revenue share or debt/equity mixes that are hard for traditional investors to wrap their minds around, it will take more market education through platforms such as The Nest to make these models more widely understood.

What are the Alternatives?

Untapped Global has developed a unique alternative financing vehicle, called Smart Asset Financing 

that leverages technology to track the usage of assets purchased through a debt model. For small businesses in Africa and in frontier markets, access to capital for large equipment purchases is often hard, if not impossible for entrepreneurs to secure. Untapped fills that gap for asset-heavy companies and with the use of its IoT sensor technology, enables investors to know exactly how their investments are being used, and how well they are generating returns on CAPEX. 

Another unique approach to financing African startups comes from Fledge Accelerator, where they have developed redeemable equity, also called royalty equity. This revenue-based equity model enables Fledge to provide a loan instrument that has upside built into it. The accelerator buys shares but doesn’t fret over valuation. The funded company is then contracted to buy back their shares with a price set at the time of purchase and equal to a certain percentage of revenue every quarter. The example below provides a potential scenario where $100,000 is invested for 10 percent ownership, the startup then agrees to re-purchase half of those shares, buying back five percent at a 2x return to the Fledge, still leaving the accelerator with five percent ownership and an opportunity to share in startup upside. 

“The revenue-based equity model aligns our interests with the founders, avoids any pressure to “sell-out”, and lets us invest in just about any market segment and most any country in the world. Plus, we make introductions to impact investors and make follow-on investments from our family of seed funds.” Luni Libes, Fledge Accelerator

Africa holds much promise as the fastest-growing continent on the planet, and with rapidly digitizing economies that are poised to leapfrog developed economies through growth and adoption. The keys to making investments work in Africa are approaching the continent with a unique perspective and mindset quite different from the Silicon Valley investing mindset. It requires patience, more hands-on involvement, more ecosystem building, and more creativity when it comes to financing models such as what Untapped Global and Fledge have developed. Rewards await both in terms of impact and profit for those who can master these nuances. 

You can find and listen to this fascinating conversation here.

The post Is Venture Capital the Right Model for Investing in Africa? appeared first on Grit Daily News.

Unfortunately, the ocean and its importance to humanity’s survival remains largely a mystery to most of the world’s population. Forty percent of the world’s population lives on or near a coastline, but many fewer than that know what actually happens under the water. If you don’t live on the coast and feel the effect of the ocean, it is even harder to actually comprehend. The ocean feels far away for a lot of us, and it’s harder to see. As opposed to space, where we can look up anywhere in the world, see the stars, and see just how complex it is, just how much there is to explore. The ocean and its depths are almost hidden from the eyes of the public. However, space doesn’t need us. Space is fascinating, but its existence isn’t threatened in the same way as the ocean. The threats to ocean health are multifold, complex, and seemingly insurmountable However, to bring solutions forward for the ocean, we need to inspire and bring more people over to the cause. Our survival depends on it.

Building the Blue Economy Workforce

Most people who work in the Blue Economy do it because of their passion for the ocean. Yet the Blue Economy holds extensive financial opportunities and is estimated to grow to $3.2 trillion by 2030. If the Blue Economy were a nation, it would be the 7th largest in terms of GDP. The opportunities are growing and the reality is that we need a plethora of new faces who haven’t yet been introduced to the Blue Economy as an area of work. 

Cultivating the next generation of ocean leaders is an important task. Several prominent organizations are dedicated to the cause, such as Unicef,  Hey Caribbean, and the Caribbean Girls Hackathon. Ocean Heroes Bootcamp is a non-profit focused on activating youth for the ocean with virtual and in-person experiences that give existing and emerging youth activists leadership training, mentorship, and support to create and coordinate successful campaigns that benefit the health of the ocean.

I spoke with two amazing young women who have been taking on the ground action to inspire their communities and create change for the ocean.

Bringing Equity to the Blue Economy

Veta Wade is the Founder of Fish ‘N Fins and the Blue Zone. She is a young Caribbean activist dedicated to bringing racial and economic equity to the emerging blue economy. Based on the small island of Montserrat, Wade highlights the dependencies of the islands on tourism, especially impacted during times of COVID. 

There’s still a huge amount of inequity and poverty and access to opportunity is limited to a select few. Seeing the blue economy through this lens of justice, how do we integrate the community and make sure that the blue economy is pro-poor, it needs to be for poor people.

Her work is dedicated to ensuring the blue economy brings opportunities for all, such as making sure her community has affordable access to new technologies. More recently, she has been working with technology companies to bring affordable data vessel monitoring services to the Caribbean and working with small-scale local fisheries and fishermen to help them use the technology for their benefit. Enabling small local fishermen to have access to more lucrative markets through data is just one example of all the work that’s being done to bring justice and equity into the blue economy.

Activating Youth for the Ocean

Summer Benjamin has always had a close relationship to the ocean. She learned diving and sailing at a young age and stays connected to her Caribbean roots. She recently moved to St. Thomas from the mainland to engage and activate local youth grassroots efforts. She is launching the first Caribbean Sustainable Ocean Alliance SOA chapter, a global movement that promotes education, action, and policy change for the ocean. Benjamin feels strongly that education is a key part of the equation to creating a connection to the ocean. She sees that even in island communities, that is still a huge hurdle to overcome.

It’s important for people to understand just how connected our ecosystems are, and how their actions in the cities and the mountains affect the ocean. And how the ocean’s health also affects our own health, making that circle so that people understand that everything is linked together, no matter how far away you are.

Benjamin is also actively involved with The POP Ocean Initiative, a group that connects young ocean leaders to their counterparts in international organizations such as the UN fostering dialogue and giving youth a voice to influence and drive international policy. 

The hope for both of these incredible ocean activists is that their voices will inspire change and action in their communities and beyond. It’s clear that on World Ocean(s) Day, and every day, the ocean needs us all. We must come together to stop our harmful practices and move away from our extractive behavior to a more connected and restorative relationship with the ocean.

The post Inspiring Passion and Action for our Ocean appeared first on Grit Daily News.

I recently sat down with Elyse Kaye, founder of Bloom Bras and an experienced product development executive who has spent decades working with factories across the globe on behalf of companies like Procter and Gamble, Black & Decker, and Nine West. One thing that was key for Kaye in launching Bloom Bras, an activewear line for curvy women, was ensuring that the factory where her line was being manufactured have a sustainable focus. Finding a more environmentally-friendly solution that matched her values became a top priority. 

It was imperative to find a match to my brand values in quality, sustainability, and excellence. Additionally important, a partner, with great communications and a vast knowledge of the world of technical sports bras.

Elyse Kaye, Founder Bloom Bras

Obstacles Along the Way

Building a sustainable fashion brand at an affordable price is no easy feat and the fashion industry is well aware of the conundrum. Recently, The Sustainable Apparel Coalition has set a target of 45 percent emissions reductions by 2030 for its members. Unfortunately, that has not slowed the pressure from consumers and retailers alike on pricing. China is still the leader in manufacturing for fashion, and in getting ready to launch, Kaye knew she had to start there. She went through a grueling process of interviewing over 50 mostly Chinese factories, to produce a highly-technical, size-inclusive sports bra line, but she ran into a ton of obstacles. 

Most were not able to meet her specifications, wanted to charge more for larger sizes or did not meet Kaye’s ethical standards. A good majority of factories would not work with startups no matter how great the idea, many wanted to charge extra for using more materials on larger sizes or refused to produce them at all. Finally, Kaye was connected to a factory through a high-profile colleague, she then spent a year prototyping, experimenting with materials and testing the bras on hundreds of women. 

Kaye was finally set to launch Bloom Bras, having ordered the bras in November and expecting the product to ship by March. Three nights before her shipment date, she got the call from the owner of the factory explaining that there was a problem. They would not be producing the order. In fact, they had not even ordered the approved materials and never had any intention of moving forward. Kaye’s order had been shoved aside for larger orders that had come in. She had two options – breakdown and give up on her dream or start fresh and find an alternative solution.

She went back to the drawing board to restart her search for an ethical manufacturing partner. Building a sustainable brand for Kaye meant more than just meeting responsible environmental standards, it also meant ethical working conditions and wages. What’s incredible to realize is that 93 percent of the brands surveyed by Fashion Checker aren’t paying their garment workers a living wage.  

A New Location Brings the Answer

Kaye’s restart brought her to an unexpected location, Sri Lanka, where she learned that a thriving garment industry was gaining traction in the areas she most needed, experience in the development of technical sportswear. Sri Lanka met Kaye’s quality standards with a workforce that was skilled at complex seams, technical sportswear structure, with strong communication skills, and access to sustainably sourced materials.

Kaye came across a group of industry experts who were establishing a new facility on a mountain in Sri Lanka that embodied what she had been searching for. The workforce was sourced from the neighboring villages so that employees could walk to work and still be with their families in the evenings. There was plentiful spring mountain water from the river that ran behind the property and abundant sources of fruits, vegetables and rice grown on the property.  Kaye decided that the only way to follow through with her dream of building a responsible and sustainable brand, would be to build her own factory. She joined forces to lead the build out of the factory and shaped the vision to include energy power from wind and solar panels, and the sourcing of materials locally in order to support and build up the community.  Kaye and her team spent the better part of a year walking through every detail meticulously.

“Selecting the proper materials has been the most difficult part of the design process. Each detail from the seams riding along the bone structure in the back, to my insistence that any material that touches the body be soft, comfortable and free of certain nasty chemicals was non-negotiable.,” Kaye continued, “I was particularly insistent on having a zipper in the front.”  It takes 38 different parts to make up a Bloom Bra, from threads to zippers and hooks, to the proprietary materials used. Each of these different components come from different factories. One of the key challenges with sustainable manufacturing is shipping. The shipping industry is responsible for more than 18 percent of some air pollutants so Kaye wanted to reduce the many links in her supply chain by sourcing as much locally as possible. Kaye spent much of her time directly speaking with and evaluating each vendor of every component and material of the product to ensure not only their quality, but also location. She consolidated sources and ensured that each vendor was as close to her facility as possible in order to reduce the practice of double shipping which is so harmful to the environment.

Overproduction and overconsumption are crippling the planet. Over the past twenty years, clothing production and consumption have doubled with an astonishing 100 billion clothing items produced annually.  Brands like Bloom Bras are focusing on changing that from bottom up.

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I recently moderated a panel Using Technology to Monitor and Protect Oceans and Coastal Communities for AI LA’s Earth Summit which brought together a diverse range of voices to discuss the future of sustainability and ways in which AI can be used to make an impact.

The panel included a range of ocean technology experts including Dr. Ersin Uzun, General Manager and Vice President at Xerox PARC. Jenny Krusoe, Founding Executive Director at AltaSea. Yanis Souami, Founder and CEO of Sinay, and Paul Holthus, Founding President and CEO of the World Ocean Council.

The Journey to Ocean Health Starts with Clean Data

The problems in the ocean are vast and the time to act is now, thankfully there are many working on solutions. Dr. Ersin Uzun from PARC noted that “History tells us that government interests which include defense and the security and health of citizens can really accelerate innovation and bring new technologies to bear.”

He continued, AI is here today and improving every day, for certain narrow applications we have the data to do basic reasoning, but to really understand the complex interaction of different activities and how they correlate with each other, we simply need high resolution and better data. PARC’s collaboration with DARPA is taking steps towards obtaining higher resolution. The program deploys low-cost drifters that collect temperature, humidity, air pressure, CO2 level, ship emissions, as well as algae and plankton population. Having a clear image of what is taking place in the ocean gives stakeholders across the board an opportunity to develop practices, policies, and initiatives that keep ocean health at the forefront.

Sinay, founded by Yanis Souami, has built a platform that leverages data to deliver actionable insights to maritime clients such as ports, shipping companies and the French Navy, helping these organizations to be more sustainable, and operationally efficient through the use of data and artificial intelligence.

As a nonprofit dedicated to renovating the Port of Los Angeles, AltaSea has a charter to advance the emerging blue economy through business innovation and job creation.

Krusoe spoke about the range of issues ports such as Los Angeles face, such as weather and other delays that cause congestion with ships arriving at different times and a need to use technology to help optimize ship entry and docking.  Vessel routes, ship arrival times, and identifying where the human activities are impacting wildlife are just some of the instances where data has been leveraged to protect the ocean.

In spite of the vast amounts of data about the ocean from tides to temperature, to salinity to depths, the consensus among the experts was that we still need more data to be able to properly tackle the problems the ocean and coastal communities face.

The ocean covers 70% of the Earth’s surface, yet so much of it still remains unexplored. It makes complete sense then, that in order to better protect coastal communities and ecosystems, we must first have an understanding of how they function, and more data at the foundation of getting to that understanding.

Integrated Networks and Collaboration

“This is an all-hand-on-deck moment and the collaboration that needs to take place is vast,” emphasized Krusoe. Access to more clean data can accelerate our collective approach. However, data is only one piece of the puzzle.

Holthus, founder of the World Ocean Council is committed to creating an integrated network and fostering collaboration across the maritime sectors.

We’ve got 80,000 to 90,000 merchant ships out there, there’s 1.2 million kilometers of submarine cable, there’s three to four million fishing boats, there’s tens of thousands of platforms for offshore energy of different sites and aquaculture and other use

Paul Holthus, Founder World Ocean Council

Getting all of these major players together and collaborating together is no small feat. It requires representation from the shipping industry, cruise lines, governments, marine scientists, and more to come together in one central network as a necessary function to be able to take on these problems effectively.

I really believe that products must have deep connectivity with each other, for example to be able to connect any type of IoT sensors to each other and other technologies which provide indicators or specific artificial intelligence on a topic. It’s a common problem and bringing technologists together to share and collaborate will enable us to better strategize to overcome the problems”

Yanis Souami, CEO Sinay

An integrated network is vital. While different stakeholders may collect data, simply storing data in walled silos doesn’t do much good. What’s more, building technologies without interoperability that is difficult to integrate with other tech only slows down collaboration. For the sake of ocean health and regeneration, integration across platforms, services, and other technologies must be a priority.

Making integrated networks a priority is also about making a cultural shift. “We have to embrace this,” Krusoe pointed out. “We have to learn a new culture of collaboration and work together to meet these goals that are so important to all of us, no matter what. It’s a lot of listening and then figuring out how people can speak the same language.”

Earth Summit by AI LA was an amazing gathering of movement builders, industry leaders, and people working tirelessly to take care of our planet. While the role of technology is integral to monitoring and protecting our oceans and coastal communities, the key lesson is that we must also come together to support integrated platforms that enable data sharing and collaboration.

The recorded panel session can be found here.

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I recently hosted a panel discussion with Laura Montoya and Benito Berretta during the AI Show Biz Summit to discuss this topic. Laura, who has roots in Colombia, is CEO of Accel.ai. Benito is the GM for Hyper Island and based out of Brasil.

Laura and Benito provided contrasting examples for why it is important to bring in diversity into AI, particularly from the perspective of the Latinx community. 

Why Diversity in AI Matters

If AI is science-based, why does diversity matter? Laura points out that there is in fact a problem “with diversity in technology, the STEM industry, and the problem is an underrepresentation of women, people of color, and the LGBTQ community.” The goal of Laura’s organization, Accel.AI is to make the Latinx community more visible across the AI ecosystem and at industry conferences.

Benito defines diversity in two dimensions, ethical and one with return in investment. He argues that we need to embrace diversity in both to make a better world for all. The first step to this is for homogeneous groups to first come to an awareness that those gaps exist and then they can start their journey to find more diversity. 

AI can be a tool to be a facilitator for this, especially in identifying who isn’t being included in collaborative work. AI can monitor dialogue in real-time, model who is getting the most air time, and act as a facilitator to ensure that there is space for other voices to participate. 

To improve diversity of thought in work settings, AI can play a role in making space for diverse voices, understanding who it is that gets to put content out in the world, and ultimately shining a light on the content that is missing. 

Digitization in Latin America

There are universities and institutions throughout Latin America that have been leading work in machine learning, but in contrast to high profile US universities such as Stanford, are not associated with the AI industry and are often left without recognition. 

Barriers to digitalization in Latin America include funding, changing institutional practices, and working with old languages or systems. Benito remarked, “ If you want to have an understanding, for example of the Amazon, then you need to go there and not lean on a statistical average”. We need to be cautious in trusting data. In the Latin American context, generating data, as Laura outlined, may also include “the risk of disrupting indigenous societies and structures”.

The term Latinx is full of rich history in both South and Central America. Latinx people share similarities but are also from different countries, races, and indigenous histories. Regardless of how one may want to slice it, AI with the Latinx diversity is rich.

The Future of AI with Latinx

There were two main themes behind what the future holds for Latinx AI communities, predictive and behavioral change. 

Media and AI is a representation of the community. There are social inequalities in how the media represents Latinx even within Latin America, often Afro-Latinx and Indigenous-Latinx characters are represented in jobs as a janitor or service industry. Having algorithms for facial recognition that pick up on some qualities and not others “can cause damage in the future” stated Laura. 

On the other hand, Benito brought up the perspective of changing behavior for Latinx. “Modeling efficiencies such as when you have the most productive time using AI can help people change behaviors”, and while we share many similarities, the mates, coca teas, or cocoa consumption throughout the Latinx world vary. 

Beyond fair representation, there is a business case for having Latinx at the decision tables of the AI industry. Latinx in AI is important for Latin America because we have our own knowledge bases, scientific practices, and languages, that only we can translate into automation that works for our communities.

La Familia

The exchange of ideas is pivotal for innovation, and it is special occasions like this session that allow for the Latinx community to share perspectives and collaborate. The Harvard Business Review recently found that diverse teams are able to solve problems faster than teams of cognitively similar people and that when diverse teams made a business decision, they outperformed individual decision-makers up to 87% of the time.

It is always a pleasure to faciliate these fascinating conversations, thank you to AI Show Biz for having me on as a host. The entire conversation can be found here.

Accel.ai is Bay Area based non-profit in the mission to lower the barriers to entry in engineering artificial intelligence. They focus on integrating AI and Social Impact through consulting, workshops, and research on ethical AI development and applied AI engineering.

Hyper Island designs learning experiences that challenge companies and individuals to grow and stay competitive in an increasingly digitized world. They have over 5000 alumni, online programming, and locations around the globe. 

The post The Importance of Latinx Participation in the AI Community appeared first on Grit Daily News.

The stories we tell have ripple effects that can reach far and wide, that’s why we must be intentionally proactive in telling stories that will inform the world we want. Through this series of fireside chats we will explore the relationship that technology has with the world. Today we interact differently than we did before technology played a major role in our everyday lives, and it’s only going to change even more in the future.

Both Ronni and Brian are future visionaries who explore the impact of frontier technologies, such as AI, VR, and IoT on how we interact with the world. We’re excited to interview them on July 9.

As the world finds itself a giant pandemic-induced reboot, it gives us time also to rethink our current path and explore what is needed to truly create the future we want. The role of storytelling during this time has grown in its importance, but the data and expert voices we hear often add to our collective confusion. This is the first in a series of talks with innovators around the world to explore these concepts and help us reframe our views on technology. How we can make technology work for us and help us create compelling and inspiring stories of the world we want to see.  

The first talk is scheduled for July 9, 2020, at 4pm PST, with more to follow. Interested attendees can register here. 

The post The Future We Create appeared first on Grit Daily News.