At NPCA we're always on the look out for returned Peace Corps volunteers who are using their skills to break new paths and we're always happy to spotlight awards that help us do this. Like the Tech Awards, sponsored by The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, California.
The Tech Musuem Awards honor innovators from around the world who use technology to benefit humanity in the categories of Environment, Economic Development, Education, Health, and Equality. Many Tech Laureates have been Peace Corps volunteers.
- Tim Prestero, of Tech Award winning organization Design that Matters, was a Peace Corps volunteer from 1995 to 1997 in Ivory Coast, Africa. He worked as a consulting engineer in the Urban Environmental Management program in a town called Soubré. Tim built Design that Matters as a way to combine what he learned in the Peace Corps with his experience as a graduate student at MIT. Design that Matters' Kinkajou Microfilm Projector was a Tech Laureate in 2005. Tim built on Peace Corps networks and language skills when Design that Matters implemented the product in West Africa.
- Elisabeth Stock, of Tech Award winning organization Computers for Youth, was a Peace Corps volunteer from 1990 to 1992 in Ghana, West Africa. She worked as a high school math and physics teacher and initiated a AIDS/sex-ed seminar in a small rural town called Juaso in the Ashanti region. Many of the principles upon which Elisabeth built Computers for Youth came from her Peace Corps experience such as: "All families want their children to succeed" -- Low-income parents value their children’s
academic achievement just as much as do high-income parents; and "All families can play a role in their children's success -- With proper support, all parents can be powerful contributors to their children's education.
The Tech Awards honor 25 Laureates each year and five share a cash prize of $250,000. The Awards is seeking nominations for this year. Self-nominations are accepted and encouraged. Individuals, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit companies are all eligible.
The nomination deadline is March 24, 2008. Reward those making a difference and nominate
today at http://www.techawards.org.
