Innovation for Social Impact


credit: FastCoExist

The potential for technology to solve challenges in new ways, to enable faster scale, and to invite people around the world into the global economy is limitless. With technological innovation and entrepreneurial resolve we know change is possible.

We hope everyone will join us as we track the Living Progress Challenge solutions. We know the deeply exciting advances for the organizations, and the people they serve, lie just ahead.

After a highly competitive process with more than 130 proposals submitted from 28 countries around the world for Hewlett Packard Enterprise's the Living Progress Challenge:


  • 17 proposals were selected and designed into prototypes
  • 10 teams pitched live at the final pitch event in New York.
  • 4 innovative solutions were ultimately selected as the final winners


These solutions span a range of impact areas from helping rural women save money and gain access to financial tools; to combating the illegal trade of fisheries products; to connecting youth in Mexico with mentors; and helping the world's largest volunteer organization transform the way people engage in their communities.

Each solution is in its final testing phase and will be launched over the coming weeks and months. These teams reflect that same innovative and entrepreneurial drive that is heralded so many Silicon Valley start-ups. For some of the NGO teams, this was the first time pursuing digital tools into their problem-solving. Teams were courageous, they learned about their user needs. Read the Entire Article

Selected Grant News Headlines

A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.

Philanthropist Tsitsi Masiyiwa P'17 to Receive Honorary Degree

Bryant University in Rhode Island will bestow an honorary degree on one of Africa's most prominent philanthropists during its May Commencement ceremony, the Providence Journal reports. Tsitsi...more

Safe Walking, Biking, and Scootering: Idaho Receives Youth Mobility Grant

"As students become more independent, being able to get where they are going safely is an essential life skill. Our goal is to educate these students so they can get where they are going, safely,...more

Innovative models like GUDS critical in equipping youth with green skills for climate-resilient ...

Marfaa Naseem is a 22-year-old student of Pakistan's Quaid-i-Azam University, and she's used a US grant to set up a rainwater harvesting and hydroponic farm on her rooftop. The idea came to her...more

Rivne: A Beacon of Sustainability in a Time of Turmoil

The Ukrainian city of Rivne is trying to become the first city in the world to be carbon neutral by 2030, the Guardian reports. According to the Telegraph, Ukraine has been grappling with a lack...more

Media Advisory

The UN will hold its first-ever forum on science, technology, and innovation for sustainable development in May, with the goal of harnessing the "power of science, technology, and innovation to...more

Partnership Opportunities to Transform Food Systems

With the world's ever-growing population and ever-changing eating habits, the world's food supply is in real danger of running out of food, according to a new report from the UN Food and Agriculture...more

Making connections for climate change and mental health

Climate change isn't just bad for humans, it's bad for our mental health as well, according to a new report from Imperial College London. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National...more

Resource Innovation Institute Releases Best Practices Guide For Integrating Controls and ...

"The technologies serving Controlled Environment Agriculture have advanced at an exhilarating pace over the past decade," Rob Eddy, resource efficiency Horticulturist at the Resource Innovation...more

Sustainability: More Than Just Preventing Climate Change

When you think of sustainability, you probably think of things like meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. But there's...more

Conduent Collaborates with Microsoft on Generative Ai to Drive Innovation in Business ...

Conduent, a global technology-led business solutions and services company, has announced an innovation initiative with Microsoft that will use Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service to bring the power of...more





Social enterprise, HandiConnect, wins the Audacious-Business Idea competition’s Doing Good category. The company is spearheaded by University of Otago entrepreneurship master’s student Nguyen Cam Van.