Tribewanted: Vorovoro

a friend of mine sent info about this new google contest, called ten to the hundredth, which is a math term related to scaling ideas and power up very quickly (by powers of 10). the aim is to help fund ideas which can have the most impact helping the greatest number of people – so, they’re committing $10 million to fund the best ideas.

the first round of submissions are due october 20th, and then 25 will be selected from there to be narrowed into finalists.

http://www.project10tothe100.com/how_it_works.html

they have loosely broken the categories out as follows:

• Community: How can we help connect people, build communities and protect unique cultures?
• Opportunity: How can we help people better provide for themselves and their families?
• Energy: How can we help move the world toward safe, clean, inexpensive energy?
• Environment: How can we help promote a cleaner and more sustainable global ecosystem?
• Health: How can we help individuals lead longer, healthier lives?
• Education: How can we help more people get more access to better education?
• Shelter: How can we help ensure that everyone has a safe place to live?
• Everything else: Sometimes the best ideas don’t fit into any category at all.

i thought the question about community was interesting, as it lies at the heart of what tribewanted is about. the question really is about scale. and the tension between building NEW communities while protecting unique existing cultures is the toughest part of the challenge, especially when leaving behind the old and embracing the new is often perceived as progress.

i can’t wait to see how this plays out, just as we are participating the our own evolution of tribewanted!