Several students in the GPP Minor have documented their Practice Experiences by keeping blogs. Follow the links below to visit their blogs and learn more about their experiences and insights.
With support from the Blum Center, the Berkeley Lab scientist and his colleagues provided the first substantive analysis of how electric lighting — specifically, high-efficiency solar-powered electric light sources unattached to an electrical grid — improves the lives and well-being of people using fuel-based lighting.
World Water Week is an annual conference and global observance focused on tackling the world’s most pressing water-related challenges — urging policymakers and innovators to take bold action on sustainable solutions. This year’s theme, “Water for Climate Action,” highlights the essential role that water plays in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to a changing climate.
As this year’s Global Poverty and Practice (GPP) graduates stepped onto the stage to receive their diplomas, they carried with them a hard-earned insight: the injustices they spent years studying weren’t distant or theoretical — they were urgent and unfolding all around them. Their time in the program has prepared them to enter the world beyond Berkeley with a strong sense of purpose, ready to confront poverty in a time of growing global uncertainty.
AgriSolar — a mobile and scalable solar-powered irrigation system designed for smallholder farmers’ accessibility and affordability — took home top honors and the first-ever Biggie trophy in the 12th annual Big Ideas Grand Prize Pitch Day on May 7.
Ekta Raghuwanshi and Maria Denna, her MDevEng classmate, worked at A Better Education Club as part of an internship pilot program that DevEng and ABE Club look to expand in the coming years. The organization, based in Kenya’s southwestern region of Kasigau, supports youth education and women’s empowerment by focusing on health, food security, hygiene, and farming practices.
Every summer, UC Berkeley’s Development Engineering students create global social impact. The 2024 DevEng Photography Contest showcased their work, highlighting projects from digital education in Kenya to climate justice in Nigeria. Winning submissions emphasized human-centered technology, community-driven financial practices, and sustainable development, capturing innovation and resilience through powerful visual storytelling.
At Berkeley’s 2024 Master of Development Engineering commencement, graduates like Tilti Thind and Excellence Joshua celebrated transformative journeys. Their capstone projects and unwavering commitment embodied Berkeley’s spirit of radical change. Amid challenges and sacrifices, they emerged as determined changemakers ready to address global inequality and build sustainable, equitable futures worldwide.
We celebrate the life of Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States, and send condolences to his family and friends. As President, he advanced solutions to global conflicts, championed human rights, and promoted development. After the White House, he continued serving the world through the Carter Center’s impactful initiatives.
Mingxi Tang, inspired by UC Berkeley’s Master of Development Engineering (MDevEng) program, shifted her career path from finance to social impact. Now part of the 2025 cohort, she aims to use AI and machine learning to improve the lives of people with disabilities.
Kevin Kung, co-founder of Takachar, began his climate innovation journey at UC Berkeley’s Blum Center through the 2015 Big Ideas Contest. Now hosting California Climate Action Fellows, Takachar helps transform agricultural waste into bioproducts, emphasizing a human-centered approach that addresses environmental challenges and supports underserved communities.
We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Doll as our new lecturer for GPP 115. This course serves students all across campus, introducing them to historical and contemporary debates on addressing poverty and inequality in the world. Dr. Doll’s extensive experience in the disciplines of critical development studies, political ecology, and cultural geography will bring a valuable perspective to this course.
Last month, the Global Poverty and Practice minor’s Class of 2024 celebrated a hard-earned and well-deserved commencement with an intimate ceremony in Sutardja Dai Hall’s Banatao Auditorium.
Soliver Ché Fusi is an environmental engineering PhD candidate at UC Berkeley. She hurries online to speak with me late in the Kenyan evening about her work at the Blum Center for Developing Economies. She’s telling me how the technology she’s working on hits on all these target issues — and it’s simple: sustainable agricultural fertilizer.
Under a new NSF-funded research program housed at the Blum Center, the Digital Transformation of Development (DToD) Traineeship, students are using their research skills to apply digital tools, such as machine learning and AI, to the issues and challenges of poverty alleviation, disaster relief, and more — in pursuit of digital and technological justice, equity, and empowerment.
“FireTools,” developed in DevEng C200, “Design, Evaluate, and Scale Development Technologies,” brings a wide array of resources under one umbrella for local decision-makers to use to improve disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and resilience — with a particular emphasis on doubly vulnerable communities.
SHE uses sustainable fashion design to empower talented rural women to break free from generational cycles of poverty while promoting rich African heritages to the world. The project helps women with years of skilled seamstressing experience who find themselves disregarded or deemed incapable due to the rural environment and a male-dominated society.
Yordanos Degu Zewdu’s journey to becoming a changemaker began as a child in Addis Ababa, inspired by a moment of compassion from her mother. At UC Berkeley’s Development Engineering graduation, she urged classmates to embrace resilience and unpredictability, fueling hope for a more just, equitable world.
DevEng Photo Contest Winners Highlight Both the Promise and Fragility of Technological Interventions
Water, sanitation, and hygiene are crucial pillars of public health initiatives and in the fight against poverty. Issues like inadequate water access and poor sanitation disproportionately affect under-resourced communities, leading to waterborne diseases and socioeconomic impacts within vulnerable populations. Solutions are interdisciplinary, blending research findings and policy interventions in pursuit of infrastructure development, with communities’ contexts and needs at the core of WASH efforts.
Innovators@Cal — UC Berkeley’s annual flagship entrepreneurship event, which brought together aspiring student innovators, students curious about joining early-stage ventures, and an inspirational keynote speaker tackling the “world’s dumbest problem.”
October 17 marked the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, a UN observance to uplift the voices of those in poverty. Aligned with this mission, UC Berkeley’s Blum Center offers programs like the Global Poverty & Practice minor, Master of Development Engineering, Big Ideas Contest, and Health Tech CoLab, giving students hands-on experience in addressing poverty’s root causes globally.
© 2024 Blum Center for Developing Economies