Stories of Impact and Change
At the Blum Center for Developing Economies, we are driven by a shared mission: to innovate, inspire, and empower solutions that tackle global poverty. Explore our latest stories, ground-breaking research, and impactful programs that bridge the gap between theory and action.
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Global Poverty & Practice
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The 25 students enrolled in UC Berkeley’s newest class are shooting for more this semester than a good grade. In addition to earning an “A,” they intend to help solve the Bay Area’s housing shortage, prevent wildfires in the East Bay hills and slow climate change.
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Kara Nelson, a UC Berkeley professor of civil and environmental engineering, has dedicated her career to solving global water and sanitation challenges. By championing "aspirational technology" and interdisciplinary approaches, she develops innovative, sustainable solutions for low-resource settings while mentoring the next generation of development engineers tackling critical infrastructure and environmental crises.
Big Ideas
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In July 2014, a series of natural gas explosions ripped apart Kaohsiung, a Taiwanese city where Po Jui “Ray” Chiu, MEng ’14 (BIOE) had lived with relatives just a year before, while he was completing his compulsory military service.
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Education technology (edtech) holds immense potential to improve global education access and quality. However, as explored in the Berkeley Education Initiative for Development panel, thoughtful implementation is critical. Panelists emphasized the need to integrate tech within local contexts, prioritize teaching over tools, and focus on human support systems to ensure edtech’s effectiveness in resource-poor settings.
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In 2018, the world saw over half its population join the middle class and a billion people rise out of extreme poverty since 2000. This milestone raises critical questions about sustaining progress in Asia and addressing concentrated poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa, where targeted investments in education and health are deemed crucial for future growth.
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Will Tarpeh, Stanford professor and UC Berkeley alum, discusses how Development Engineering shaped his work in ecological sanitation and resource recovery. Combining electrochemical engineering with fieldwork in Kenya, Tarpeh emphasizes iterative design and community engagement to address global sanitation challenges. He advocates for inclusivity and sustainability in STEM to create impactful solutions.
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Siddharth Kara’s report Tainted Garments documents the plight of Indian home-based garment workers earning as little as $0.13/hour. Over 99% lack minimum wages, with 42% starting as children. Research Fellow Siddharth Kara urges brands to improve transparency and worker rights to break cycles of poverty and exploitation.
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At the Blum Center, Ann Mei Chang, former Chief Innovation Officer at USAID and author of Lean Impact: How to Innovate for Radically Greater Social Good, shared strategies for maximizing social benefit. Drawing on examples like NexLeaf Analytics and Copia Global, Chang urged change-makers to set audacious goals, embrace iterative experimentation, and focus on solving problems, not clinging to solutions.
Big Ideas
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Since its founding in 2005 at UC Berkeley, Big Ideas has grown into one of the nation's largest and most diverse student innovation competitions. Supporting early-stage social entrepreneurship, the contest offers mentorship, training, and resources. In 2017, Big Ideas launched the Innovation Ambassador program to expand accessibility across all ten UC campuses.
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Siddharth Kara’s Tainted Garments: The Exploitation of Women and Girls in India’s Home-based Garment Sector provides the most thorough investigation to date into the conditions faced by women and girls working in India's home-based garment sector. The report reveals that 85% of these workers, who predominantly serve U.S. and EU supply chains, earn just $0.15 per hour and belong to historically oppressed communities. Kara aims to inspire coordinated efforts among governments, companies, and nonprofits to address this pervasive exploitation.
Development Engineering
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Ryan Shelby, a UC Berkeley PhD in Mechanical Engineering, applies co-design methodologies and engineering expertise as a USAID Foreign Service Officer in Haiti. Through the Build Back Safer II program, he’s repaired 4,000 roofs, trained over 2,000 locals in hurricane-resistant construction, and advanced sustainable infrastructure to empower communities and enhance resilience.
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On February 26, 2018, Maria Artunduaga had a breakthrough while discussing her wearable prototype for COPD patients with UCSF Professor Mehrdad Arjomandi. Hearing his frustration with costly, time-intensive testing methods for COPD, the third leading cause of U.S. deaths, she realized her innovation could revolutionize patient monitoring and care.
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UC Berkeley's Global Poverty & Practice minor and Development Engineering program exemplify Chancellor Christ's strategic goals by fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and addressing societal challenges. Projects like STEM workshops with the Pinoleville Pomo Nation and cervical cancer screening in Ghana showcase innovative solutions, mentorship, and experiential learning to advance equity and impactful global change.
Big Ideas
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UC Berkeley Bioengineering Professor Dan Fletcher is advancing neglected tropical disease (NTD) treatment with the LoaScope, a smartphone-based microscope. The device enables rapid, low-cost diagnosis in remote areas, crucial for treating River Blindness safely in Loa loa-endemic regions. Scaling and funding remain the main challenges to broader implementation and impact.
