Halcyon 2018 Incubation Programme for Social Entrepreneurs in the US

Deadline: 4th April 2018

Halcyon seeks and celebrates creativity in all forms and galvanizes creative individuals aspiring to promote social good. Halcyon brings together diverse groups of changemakers in art and social enterprise and provides a safe haven for their bold ideas to take flight. Halcyon offers an ecosystem of advocacy that encourages socially engaged creatives to learn, freely experiment, sometimes fail, and advance their talents and visions. In doing so, they foster new pathways to knowledge and resources and help innovators transform their inspiration into impact.

Offer

  • Five months of free housing at the historic Halcyon House (Residency Phase)
  • 13 months of free workspace at Halcyon House (Post-Residency Phase)
  • A $10,000 stipend per venture for food and living expenses during the Residency Phase
  • Strategy and operations consulting provided by Deloitte
  • Legal and business advice through Arnold and Porter LLP 
  • Technical advice and hosting credits through Amazon Web Services
  • One-on-one executive coaching provided in partnership with The HR Sage
  • Each venture is paired with an experienced, field-specific mentor who provides weekly guidance and support during the Residency Phase.
  • Select dinners and events engage fellows with a robust network of supporters, advisors, and potential funders.
  • Access to entrepreneurs, press, and supporters during a formal debut at Kick-Off, an event at the beginning of the Residency Phase
  • Access to potential funders, investors, and partners during the Halcyon Showcase, an event at the end of the Residency Phase
  • Access to key community figures and innovators at conferences and other events

Eligibility

  • Entrepreneurs must have a transformative idea in any sector and a commitment to turning that idea into a venture
  • Entrepreneurs must be founders or co-founders of a potentially high-impact social enterprise
  • Entrepreneurs must be available 100% of the time during the Incubator Intensive; participation in simultaneous programs is not advised
  • Entrepreneurs must secure their own visas and/or legal documentation for entrance into the United States; Halcyon can provide official invitation letters for each participant if necessary
  • Entrepreneurs must be a positive, collaborative and open-minded individuals with a willingness to learn and work hard

 Click here to apply

 

 

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This Cement Gives You Light At Night

 

Juan Carlos Rubio Avalos and his team invented a phosphorescent cement which can illuminate highways, bike paths or buildings without using electricity.

According to the researcher at the Michoacan University of San Nicolás de Hidalgo in Mexico, cement is an opaque body, it does not allow the passage of light to the interior, so they made a change in its microstructure to allow a partial entry of light into the interior for it to have this behavior.

Phosphorescent materials absorb energy from radiation such as the ultraviolet light emitted by the sun—or by lamps, if indoors—energy they later emit as light, which can be seen after dark. As it loads up energetically with ultraviolet rays, even on cloudy days the cement will be able to absorb enough energy to glow during dark periods for up to 12 hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The RIC Cities for our Future Challenge- £50,000 Grand Prize

Deadline: 31 May 2018.

The Cities for our Future Challenge is a global competition run by the Royal Institution Of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in partnership with UNESCO UKNC and the ACU.

Are you an imaginative, problem solving young professional, start-up or student involved in surveying, urban design, architecture, or engineering? Then share your transformative ideas for projects and policies that solve some of the defining issues of our time: Rapid Urbanisation, Climate Change, and Resource Scarcity.

The winner will receive a £50,000 prize and mentoring with industry experts to bring their idea to life.

Submit your entry by selecting a challenge by core topic and region of the world. The best entries will be shortlisted in June 2018, and each entrant will receive mentoring from a RICS professional to help develop their idea ready for the final global judging.

An international judging panel will select the final winner from the shortlisted applicants in November 2018.

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR

Exciting, innovative ideas that help solve Rapid Urbanisation, Resource Scarcity and Climate Change. Our judges will rate your idea based on impact, excitement, scale, relevance and feasibility.

 WHO WE’RE LOOKING FOR

Students in the fields of surveying, design, architecture or engineering.

Start-ups who want to boost the prospects of their proptech, green or built environment business.

Young professionals in the fields of surveying, design, architecture or engineering.

HOW TO ENTER

  1. First, choose the topic you want to tackle: Rapid Urbanisation, Resource Scarcity or Climate Change, then select the city you’d most like to create a solution for
  2. Read the brief and download the entry document.
  3. Fill in the document with your entry and then submit it online by 31 May 2018. All entries must be in English.
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Stop The Not Yet Mentality (1)

On or before 31st December 2017, most people developed their resolutions, goals and potential achievement for 2018.

That you came up with that list is a great start, I commend your efforts.And for those who came up with nothing, I congratulate you too.I have the conviction, you have the big picture in your head and if otherwise, you have a better chance to live a purpose-driven life.

But the great concern I have is many people who wrote down their pursuit for 2018 have not started execution and may not achieve anything by 31st December 2018. But the danger point is that you may turn out to be bittered or rebuff when you are invited by the people in your circle of influence who may smash their goals for 2018.

I am not here to condemn your busy schedule but the truth is you must have a way to balance your aspirations and dreams. Let me share with you a real-life story.

A mindset coach called Carol Dweck was trying to find out how people use the word NOT YET.So, she chose some children as her cluster/sample for the research. She developed questions that were above their grades for them to solve. They were all exposed to the same text, controlled environment, tutors and other facilities for prep and excellent outcome.

After a while, they had examinations to affirm their knowledge. Unfortunately, few kids passed the examinations. Ok, that wasn’t bad since they were kids and the questions were not meant for their grades, right? Do not forget that the intelligence component of a child is formed from age 1-7, the rest is build up. Let’s proceed.

She conducted an interview for those who succeeded and those that failed and their comments were genuine and valid.

Those who failed

  • The intelligence was up for judgment. I am “not yet” at that grade.I will do better when I get there
  •  If I am given such exam next time, I will cheat than study.
  • I will rather run away from such attempt than succumb to ridicule of failure

Sam didn’t help me.He allowed me to fail.when I fail, my friend has failed too.

Those that passed.

  •  I love challenges, they make me grow and learn.
  •  I had access to tools that helped me succeed.
  • I just learnt that ability can be developed, an error can be corrected and a process can be formed to achieve greatness.
  • I was able to dominate the environment and not allowed the “controlled environment” to surpass my ability.

What is that NOT YET syndrome killing your desire to feature in the big picture of your future, it’s time to smash it.No more “NOT YET” but implementation and efficient execution.

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