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.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
When Rachel Dzombak and Vivek Rao began planning for the spring 2020 Development Engineering course “Innovation in Disaster Response,” part of their motivation was to get students to think about the use of technology during past disasters. But by early March, it was clear to Dzombak and Rao that the COVID-19 pandemic was increasing the relevancy of their class in ways no one could have predicted.
George Moore, an InFEWS Fellow and Development and Mechanical Engineering PhD student, has been awarded the Birgeneau Recognition Award for Service to Underrepresented Students.
Around the UC Berkeley campus, there has been a plethora of COVID-19 responses that will help developing and developed countries alike.
The Blum Center welcomes Michelle Nunn, CEO of CARE USA, and Afsaneh Mashayekhi Beschloss, CEO of RockCreek, to its board. Both bring extensive experience in humanitarian and sustainable investments, supporting the Center’s mission to advance interdisciplinary research and global citizenship through initiatives like Development Engineering and the Big Ideas Contest.
Woojin Jung’s research merges social welfare, public policy, and development engineering to analyze poverty metrics, revealing key discrepancies in global poverty measures. Using satellite imagery and spatial analysis, Jung advocates for clearer poverty definitions and targeted aid strategies to better support under-resourced communities, shaping her innovative academic career.
Erica Stone, president of the American Himalayan Foundation (AHF) for nearly 30 years, transformed the nonprofit from a small startup to an impactful organization distributing $4 million annually. From empowering women through STOP Girl Trafficking to supporting healthcare for children, Stone’s dedication to Nepal and its people has driven AHF’s success and resilience.
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation today unveiled that the LoaScope Project for Removing the Greatest Obstacle to the Elimination of River Blindness was one of the highest-scoring proposals, designated as the Top 100, in its 100&Change competition for a single $100 million grant to help solve one of the world’s most critical social challenges.
Global poverty has dramatically declined, with the share of people living on $2 a day or less dropping by over 75% since 1981. Yet many Americans remain unaware of these gains. At UC Berkeley’s Blum Center, students are tackling global poverty and inequality through innovation, education, and impactful fieldwork, fostering hope for progress.
With all of the excitement and funding directed at artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, and gene editing, it is hard to remember that one of the most consistently innovative and financially robust sectors in the United States is the “creative industry.”
For Aboubacar Komara, a combination of cultural values inspired the mission behind Kaloum Bankhi–a registered NGO in Guinea that maximizes existing and limited housing space for people in the slums of Kaloum.
How can we meet increasing human demands from the land while protecting natural systems? This is the question that Matthew Potts, UC Berkeley’s S. J. Hall Chair in Forestry Economics and the Vice Chair of the Graduate Group in Development Engineering, asks in his scholarship.
Amy Liu, founder of Junior Hearts and Hands, was inspired to support pregnant women after assisting a Haitian refugee during a challenging 35-hour delivery. With mentorship from UC Berkeley’s Big Ideas Contest, Liu advanced her mission, becoming an Innovation Ambassador and continuing to empower mothers through her organization, Partners in Life.
The Blum Center celebrates the Nobel Prize in Economics winners for pioneering randomized control trials in poverty interventions. Building on these insights, development engineering integrates economics, technology, and social sciences to address global challenges. The center aims to advance this interdisciplinary field by hiring professors in health, energy, and entrepreneurship.
Joe Leitmann, a World Bank expert in disaster resilience, highlights the shift from response to prevention in managing natural disasters. Advances in digital forecasting, catastrophe financing, and risk planning have significantly reduced fatalities and economic losses. Leitmann emphasizes cross-sector collaboration and innovative solutions to protect development gains and foster global resilience.
For 12 years, UC Berkeley’s Global Poverty & Practice Minor has enabled students to engage in impactful fieldwork across 72 countries. The annual photo contest showcases their experiences, with this year’s winners capturing moments of resilience and community—from Oaxacan weaving traditions to Tanzanian water distribution and Mayan fire ceremonies in Guatemala.
In just five years, SOMO has transformed from a Big Ideas Contest proposal into a thriving nonprofit. Receiving nearly 2,000 applications annually, it has supported 58 Kenyan entrepreneurs in launching businesses through a two-year acceleration program, empowering communities and fostering sustainable economic growth.
Titled “Innovations and Collaboration at the Nexus of Food, Energy, and Water Systems: Toward Sustainability in the Middle East,” Halasah’s talk covered his role as founder and co-director of JICCER, his solar water pumping project with Palestinian and Jordanian farmers, and the lessons he has learned about community development and environmental peacebuilding.
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