People NOT Money. Learning from the brightest stars on a foggy Portland morning

Good Morning foggy Portland! We were such dorks today walking from our hotel to the convention center. Ooohing and ahhhing that we could see our breath, and babbling about how it was SO COOL that we could barely see the buildings hidden in the fog!! HELLOOO, I grew up in New York, land of the grey. Arizona has definitely reshaped my perspective on weather. Maybe not a bad thing, since I was in awe over a little drizzle.

I'm at a convention full of MBA students, social innovators, presidents of non-profit organizations, educators, world travelers, movers & shakers looking to have net impact on this planet. I feel INSPIRED.

I just left a session where we heard from a panel of gentlemen who left Wall Street or Fortune 500 companies to start up/lead non-profits which are aiming to eliminate poverty through social innovation.

What does that mean? 

1st speaker - CEO of Solar Aid, a company which provides solar light bulbs to impoverished African villages. He told us that kerosene lamps were the most harmful and expensive piece of "technology" ever introduced there. A family in Kenya will spend 15% of their annual income on kerosene ALONE to light their homes. It's dirty, polluting, and dangerous. 

2nd speaker - CEO of One Laptop Per Child. Every single child in Uruguay has a laptop and internet access thanks to his group. Their goal is to get their solar powered laptops to every child. They brought the HULT Global Case Challenge their mission of distributing 100,000,000 laptops. ONE HUNDRED MILLION! That's insanely incredible. They are now re-focusing on America, and making sure American children have laptops too.

3rd speaker - President of Habitat for Humanity. He joined us via video stream. He recorded himself in his hotel room in New York on his iphone, put it on youtube for us, and we watched it (I am still in awe of technology sometimes). He told us how H4H will be building 500,000 homes this year. That's over 4x an increase from last year's 81,000 families served. How H4H is now the 6th largest home builder in the United States. That is incredible.

I love feeling surrounded by people who genuinely understand the value of money. It is a tool. Nothing more. Money does not buy happiness. These people are some of the smartest people in their fields, and they're working with and for the poorest people in the world. They are giving back and helping others. Could they be making bigger bucks on Wall Street? Yes, of course. Instead, they are putting their brains together, partnering for greater impact, and creating change to make our world a better place. Thank you for letting me learn from you.