Outstanding middle, high-school and college students traveled to Washington D.C. in January for Envision’s ninth Presidential Inauguration Leadership Summit. In addition to witnessing the historic 58th Inauguration, the students were challenged to collaborate on solutions for some of the most pressing issues of our time.
Previously, we focused on the High School Summit Showcase; today we highlight the exceptional contributions from our college scholars.
2020 Issues
At the college level, the Summit's scholars tackled the "issues of 2020"—real-world global challenges facing their generation. After selecting their topics from a compelling list of options, the students formed small teams to collaborate. They honed their public-speaking skills as they presented their solutions to a panel, and then finalists presented to the entire Summit before the Collegiate Closing Reception. Three teams were chosen from this final group, to be awarded college scholarships.
Here are our three ultimate winners!
3rd Place: A Smarter Planet Category
Maggie Kelley (Presenter), Grant Olson, and Kelsey Carrick
The issue: Displacement of humans due to advancements in technology. As of 2016, it is estimated that 7.1 million workers in the world's richest countries could lose their jobs to mechanization and automation. As an example, Anheuser Busch has already successfully tested its first driverless delivery truck—technology that could potentially replace the jobs of 3.5 million in the U.S. alone.
The team’s solution: Enabling re-education options for displaced individuals, while transforming the underlying educational system to keep pace with evolving technology and innovation. The team’s specific focus was on education for displaced lower-income people, to be provided at the two-year community college level. Funding for the effort could come in the form of a tax on automobile companies that outsource their production to foreign countries.
2nd Place: Racing Extinction Category
Alia Elkady (Presenter) and Jasmine Devenny
The issue: Vehicular emissions dumping nitrates into the atmosphere. These gases pose health risks for humans, while also contaminating rain water, which ultimately threatens our water supply.
The team’s solution: Self-cleaning concrete—depolluting the air, one building at a time. By mixing a photocatalyst, specifically titanium dioxide, with cement, we can create a product that would break down polluting chemicals and emit ecofriendly gases into the atmosphere. A photocatalyst is a substance that accelerates the rate of a chemical reaction when exposed to sun. Titanium dioxide traps contaminants such as fungus and bacteria, and through the process of photocatalysis, performs deodorization, sterilization, and air purification. The team recommends that the U.S. follow Europe and Japan’s ground-breaking progress in leveraging this process, and thus use our own architecture to provide an affordable self-cleaning device for our environment.
And now, for our first place winner – drum roll please...
1st Place: Curing The Future Category
Olivia Kelly (Presenter), Alexander Grant, Markeya Hall
The issue: Water contamination, inadequate sanitation, and poor hygiene. In 2014, it was estimated that 81% of the global population lacked proper hand hygiene resources, making those populations vulnerable to preventable infections. Of the nearly 1 million water, sanitation, and hygiene-related deaths in 2012, 45% of the fatalities occurred in Africa, where 115 people in Africa die every hour, due to a lack of mere soap and water.
The team’s solution: Converting fruit crop waste into ethanol to be used for sanitation in low-income regions of Africa. In many poor countries with agricultural-based economies, lack of money and infrastructure prevents the adequate storage and transport of fruit crops, which often spoil in the heat before reaching market. The Sustainable Hygiene Program (SHYP) proposes fermenting and distilling these spoiled fruits into ethanol and bottling that sanitizing agent as a 60% alcohol-based hand-rub. Distributing the hand sanitizer to the local populations could reduce the horrific death rate from infectious diseases and diarrhea, improve sanitation in medical and domestic environments, and stimulate the economies of impoverished areas throughout the world.
"Ameliorating the World"
The 2020 Issues and Delegations for Change workshops enabled all Summit attendees to let their voices be heard, and to realize their own potential to impact positive change. When asked for her reactions to the Summit, attendee Alexa told us, "I met many interesting people, many of whom harbored different political opinions than my own. However, there was a surprising consensus in the 2020 Change Agent Workshops: despite having different political views, every single person I encountered had a positive and unifying vision... Everyone was incredibly dedicated to ameliorating the world."
We at Envision are proud to empower a new generation of leaders!
Check back soon for our article honoring the Middle School Summit Showcase winners.
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