313. Partnerships in Action: How Mobile Tech is Driving Social Impact - June Sugiyama & Meena Palaniappan
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Overview
Meet June & Meena. This dynamic tech-for-good team is on a global mission to empower girls with technology, and the results are quite extraordinary. Their combined expertise and grit is powering community-based technology projects in the developing world for the past two decades - and the effect is staggering. Tune in🎧
💡Learn
The massive opportunity to put technological innovation to work for good.
Importance of social media networks to enact positive change rather than spread misinformation
Case Study: campaign to tackle vaccine hesitancy in Puerto Rico
Overview of Atma Connect & Vodafone Americas Foundation
Today’s Guests
Meena Palaniappan, Founder and CEO of Atma Connect
June Sugiyama, Director of the Vodafone Americas Foundation
“Every one of these issues that we really care about in crisis and disaster, it’s women that are on the front lines. They’re the ones that are bearing the brunt of all of this. It’s these women that we need to empower to be able to create the change that’s needed.”
Episode Transcript
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Episode Highlights
Meena’s story and journey to where she is today (4:20)
June’s story and journey to where she is today + an overview of Vodafone
(6:00)
How Meena met June + an overview of Atma Connect (10:15)
Using Technology for Good (15:00)
How women disproportionately experience the affects of disasters (19:00)
Creating human-centered tech (32:00)
A powerful moment of philanthropy in June’s life (37:45)
A powerful moment of philanthropy in Meena’s life (40:10)
June’s One Good Thing: You have to be really good listeners to create solutions. (42:15)
Meena’s One Good Thing: Being an entrepreneur is not the journey for the the meek of heart and what keeps me going is always connecting to the why. (42:45)
Powerful quotes
“We just weren't really achieving all we could with technology for social good. We're here living in Silicon Valley and there isn't a tech for social good project that's reached the scale of Facebook or Google, there's no reason for that. I really wanted to create the breakthrough technology that was going to reach the billions of people around the world. Connect to them so they could have the voice, take the collective action and to create the world that they wanted to see.” -Meena
“Feeling that you're ahead of your time can get kind of lonely.” -Meena
“The world is caught up. We've seen the harms of technology that is not designed for connection and, and making the world a better place.” -Meena
“It has really started to change for good, and then we're going to see even further change. Technology just moves fast, the speed of light, so we're going to continue to see change.” -June
“From our challenge and learning so much from our entrepreneurs and our winners was the fact that we really needed to drill down and focus and see where the gaps within our communities were.” -June
“Women and children are 14 times more likely to die in disaster than men.” -Meena
“Every one of these issues that we really care about in crisis and disaster, it's women that are on the front lines. They're the ones that are bearing the brunt of all of this. It's these women that we need to empower to be able to create the change that's needed.” -Meena
“You have created an empowerment hub.” -Becky
“If we want to get as big as Facebook, we need to play in this way. Lean Startup, human centered design, zero attachment to what we think is the problem.” -Meena
“By being a good listener and really listening and looking at the needs of your constituents is really an important thing to be successful in the technology for your organization.” -June
“Being an entrepreneur is definitely not the journey for the the meek of heart. And what keeps me going is always connecting to the why. why are we doing this? It's not for this grant. It's not for this milestone. It's for this vision of this world of billions of people, all the women in the world, all the girls in the world lit up with knowledge of their power, and an experience of their power as creators of a better world.” -Meena
Connect with Meena
Connect with June
LinkedIn / Email / Vodafone Website
