Sara A Smolley: Making Voice Tech Accessible To Those Who Need It Most

Nov 03, 2021 Posted by: Anushree Nande Israel,  Sara Smolley,  SDG10,  SDG3,  USA

Sara: Voice-driven technologies are increasingly mainstream. For most of us, voice-activation can be convenient and fun. But for millions of people with motor-control challenges and speech disabilities due to developmental disorders, degenerative disease, stroke, and brain injury, the ability to communicate and be understood, to navigate the environment and control devices by voice can be life changing. Many who can potentially benefit from a “voice first” world cannot access these technologies because along with motor control challenges, they do not have standard speech patterns. Standard speech recognition isn’t designed to work for impaired speech (“dysarthria”). Voiceitt’s mission and vision is to make voice technology accessible to everyone.

Yaritza Vargas: Eliminating Language and Cultural Barriers to Improve Healthcare

Nov 02, 2021 Posted by: Jill Jha SDG10,  SDG13,  SDG3,  USA,  Yaritza Vargas

Yaritza: As a first-generation American, I have seen first hand how language and cultural barriers can make life more challenging for millions of folks in immigrant communities. These challenges are especially difficult when it comes to navigating US healthcare. Multilingual families are more likely to involve their younger loved ones in care but there often are not tools to facilitate this care. My co-founder and I are building a digital health company so families like ours can have better care.

Reese Wong: Peer to Peer Collaboration Empowers Young Changemakers

Nov 01, 2021 Posted by: Anushree Nande Honk Kong,  Reese Wong,  SDG17,  SDG4,  SDG8

Reese: Global education, as a system, hasn't fundamentally changed in the last 100 years. At ISSIA, we aim to provide a different kind of education—we cultivate global citizenship and empower young changemakers through peer-to-peer and project-based learning. We are the go-to hub for all things social issues with 250 members and counting across more than 60 schools. Since 2019, with a focus on SDGs 4 and 17, we've established more than 30 projects as the largest youth-led organization in Hong Kong. Projects include our flagship ISSIA Magazine, docu series on LGBTQIA+ rights, podcasts, the ISSIA Model United Nations (ISSIAMUN), and our Youth NGOs Conferences—which has connected more than 20 youth-led NGOs through up-skilling workshops and panels.