July 2020 – Hunt Institute for Engineering & Humanity

July 28, 2020September 17, 2020

Social Entrepreneurs: Stories of Resilience

SOCIAL ENTERPRISES INNOVATING IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19: It goes without saying that the coronavirus pandemic has significantly impacted businesses and social entrepreneurs around the world. We have collected three stories of resilience about innovative social enterprises that have successfully adapted their business models during this time of crisis. The worst of times can bring out the trueness of character. For these social enterprises, that character is evidenced in finding ways to give and impact people’s lives irregardless of the obstacles in their way.

Our first example is Restorative Farms which is a part of the Hunt Institute’s Social Enterprise Program. Restorative Farms effectively transitioned the focus of their operations to selling Victory GroBoxes. With the profits from the GroBoxes, Restorative Farms is able to continue accelerating its mission – to foster a vibrant and viable community-based urban farm system in South Dallas, a community that needs better access to fresh food and employment opportunities. Restorative Farms dedicates 10% of GroBox revenue to provide boxes for community members in need. To date, Restorative Farms has supplied 52 Victory GroBoxes, full of fresh produce, to the South Dallas community.

Secondly, we focus on PichaEats, a catering company based in Malaysia whose mission is to empower refugees by training them as professional chefs so that they can earn a living and support their families with dignity. With in-person events no longer taking place, PichaEats had to figure out another way for the chefs’ meals to reach the community. Through the ZaZa Movement, PichaEats chefs were able to cook from home and deliver meals to front-line workers and those who had lost their jobs. To date, the organization has distributed almost 15,000 meals.

Finally, we share the story of Change Please, a UK-based social enterprise that supports people out of homelessness by training them to become baristas and providing them with a job at one of the organization’s coffee shops. In addition to paying for the baristas’ wages, the profits from the coffee shops also go towards paying for housing and counseling. In the wake of the lockdown, Change Please, with the support of corporate partners, moved their operations to hospitals, serving free coffee to front-line workers. Although the organization is unable to operate as usual, this innovative change allowed the baristas to continue working and receiving a living wage.

To learn more about the Hunt Institute’s Social Enterprise Program, visit smu.edu/socialenterprise. For more case studies and examples, stay tuned to the Hunt Institute Digest.

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

July 28, 2020February 28, 2022

Moments that Matter

The Veteran Women’s Enterprise Center is working toward improving engagement with veteran women entrepreneurs through a series of national focus groups in 2020. The data from the focus groups will help business development and support providers across our nation improve how they engage women veteran entrepreneurs. The purpose is to gather data to advocate for additional services and adequate funding across our nation for women veteran entrepreneurs.

VR Small is the VWEC’s CEO and an Associate in the Hunt Institute. VR’s project was accepted into the 2020 Cohort for the Global Development Lab in January. Phase I of Moments that Matter was comprised of a survey to women veteran entrepreneurs in the DFW metroplex in collaboration with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. A report of the survey outcomes is expected to be released summer 2020. Phase II is the design and implementation of the focus groups for a deeper dive into key survey questions.

VR’s undergraduate analyst Scott Zuo, undergraduate project manager Shelby Lauren Griffith, and GDL Portfolio Manager Corrie Harris have navigated uncharted waters due to the global pandemic managing to push this project forward amid closures, delays, and ever-changing redirects. As a result, they have created an online alternative for the focus groups. Collaboration with faculty members has helped the team to design an online formulate qualitative questions for the focus group sessions. VR is also a Navy veteran and social entrepreneur. She brings an added layer of relevance to the process with her many years of experience in the small business arena.

Ultimately, this process will result in an online platform that provides a national, regional, and local overview of women veteran entrepreneurs, outlining demographics, industries, average revenues, contracts, capital secured, and more. This platform will offer metrics that clearly identify how women veteran entrepreneurs are helping to drive our nation’s economy. In addition, this data will highlight potential areas of support, such as enhanced technical assistance, access to varied financial products, and expanded contracting opportunities. Both veteran women entrepreneurs and those that partner with them will have access to this platform.

Gaining feedback from women veteran business owners about the moments that matter most during their entrepreneurial journey will provide key decision makers and funders with a vivid illustration of the real economic impact. It will also inform them of the ongoing challenges faced by women veteran entrepreneurs. The data from their feedback will help drive the timely allocation of funding resources to areas that will have the greatest impact toward advancing women veteran owned businesses in our nation. In addition, this is an opportunity to highlight those who have proudly served in the military and to share their unique experiences. Now more than ever, we need to amplify the voices of our women entrepreneurs and ensure they have the resources needed to succeed.

July 21, 2020February 28, 2022

Filling the Gap for Seismic Protection

Peru is located in a seismic zone where the South American Plate moves toward the sea over the Nazca Plate causing earthquakes as a result of the thrust faulting on the interface of the two plates. According to Volcano Discovery, Peru endured 81 quakes in May of 2020. With the exception of an occasional break in seismic energy, Peruvians live with earthquakes as a daily condition. Dr. Nicos Makris, Hunt Institute Fellow, has been leading a research team of collaborators and students at SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering as well as internationally, to address this pressing issue. Their project in the Global Development Lab (GDL) focuses on seismic protection solutions for confined masonry urban housing. The in-country partner is Dr. Marcial Blondet who has dedicated over thirty years to researching the effects of seismic activity on masonry and adobe construction in Peru.

All projects in the GDL address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This effort directly targets SDG #11 which seeks to ensure that growth in housing and urban development is safe, equitable, and environmentally conscious. UN Target 11.5 highlights the importance of this effort as it sets the target to “significantly reduce the number of deaths and the number of people affected and substantially decrease the direct economic losses relative to global gross domestic product caused by disasters…with a focus on protecting the poor and people in vulnerable situations” (1).

Kostas Kalfas (Ph.D. student and researcher), Corrie A. Harris (Portfolio Manager), JuliaGrace Walker (Undergraduate Project Manager), Sam Borton (Undergraduate Research Analysis), and Dr. Nicos Makris.

Even middle-class urban residents in Peru’s urban environment often reside in poorly constructed confined masonry houses which, in the case of a severe earthquakes, are at the risk of suffering serious damage. Professional construction is expensive and beyond reach for the majority of Peruvians. For this reason, the seismic protection market is increasingly narrowing its focus to low-cost solutions. One of the goals of this project has been to evaluate existing low-cost solutions accessible for most Peruvians (2). Finding that even “low-cost” solutions are out of reach for most Peruvians, Dr. Makris makes an alternate proposition. Rocking isolation offers great potential as an innovative and economical alternative for seismic protection, but it has yet to be implemented as low-cost housing reinforcement. Makris’ emerging system of seismic protection could address the pressing need for affordable seismic protection of existing masonry structures.

Sam Borton, Hunt Institute Undergraduate Research Analyst, made a significant contribution to this post with his market analysis of low-cost seismic protection. The complete analysis will be released in a future post. Stay tuned to read more!

About the Sustainable Development Goals – United Nations Sustainable Development. (n.d.). Retrieved 2020, from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/
Blondet, M., & Loaiza, C. (2020). Vulnerabilidad Sísmica de las Construcciones en el Perú: Informe Preliminar. Lecture presented in Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú: Departamento de Ingeniería.

July 20, 2020February 28, 2022

Sustainable Food Systems

The Hunt Institute’s Social Enterprise Program is a social enterprise incubator focused on developing and improving food systems in Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex and across the globe. According to Harvard School of Public Health, food system is defined as “all the elements and activities that relate to production, processing, distribution, preparation, and consumption of food.” So what does it mean to create a sustainable food system? The Agriculture Organization of the United Nations defines a sustainable food system as one that “delivers food security and nutrition for all in such a way that the economic, social, and environmental bases to generate food security and nutrition for future generations are not compromised.”

In the article linked below from the International Monetary Fund, the authors share why now, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, it is even more crucial that we work as a society to rebuild our food systems in a sustainable way. More importantly, they argue, that now is the perfect time to do so as we simultaneously work to rebuild our economies. The article outlines four key components that must be in place for a sustainable food system to function: resilient food supply chains, healthy diets, regenerative farming, and conservation. Read the article to discover more about sustainable food systems.

To learn more about the Hunt Institute’s Social Enterprise Program, visit smu.edu/socialenterprise. For more case studies and examples, stay tuned to the Hunt Institute Digest.

July 15, 2020September 17, 2020

What is Social Entrepreneurship?

Hunt Institute's Social Enterprise Program

In his article “The Meaning of Social Entrepreneurship”, Greg Dees, co-founder of Duke Fuqua’s Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE), defines social entrepreneurs as “change agents in the social sector”.

Furthermore, he outlines 5 characteristics that social entrepreneurs exhibit:

“Adopting a mission to create and sustain social value (not just private value),
Recognizing and relentlessly pursuing new opportunities to serve that mission,
Engaging in a process of continuous innovation, adaptation, and learning,
Acting boldly without being limited by resources currently in hand, and
Exhibiting a heightened sense of accountability to the constituencies served and for the outcomes created.”

The above elements often take the shape of a social enterprise, an organization that is pursuing a social or environmental mission using business methods. Social enterprises are catalytic innovators who produce disruptive innovations. These organizations are key to directly addressing social needs in under-resourced communities using entrepreneurial strategies. The objective of the Hunt Institute’s Social Enterprise Program (SEP) is to support innovative, early-stage social entrepreneurs in overcoming common obstacles and accelerating the societal impact of their social enterprises.

Social entrepreneurs can also act as change agents within large organizations, corporations, government or nonprofits. These social intrapreneurs pursue innovation, change, and impact within their ecosystem. As an example, Kazi Huque and Narayan Sundararajan, colleagues at Intel, partnered with Muhammad Yunus of Grameen Bank to create Grameen Intel Social Business LTD. Now branded as Technology for Social Impact, the organization exists to find affordable technological solutions to improve the lives of people in developing parts of the world.

The graphic featured in this post, from Suzanne Smith of Social Impact Architects, is helpful in distinguishing between the common terms used within the social impact space. Click here to read Suzanne’s blog to learn more. Stay tuned to the Hunt Institute Digest to learn more about our Social Enterprise, case studies of social entrepreneurs, and other examples.

July 7, 2020February 28, 2022

Owen Lynch, Ph.D., Co-Founder of Restorative Farms

Dallas has one of the largest food deserts in the country and is also one of the most-at-risk cities for food supply disruption. This makes Dallas the perfect location to launch a coalition like Restorative Farms which was co-founded by Dr. Owen Lynch, a Hunt Institute Senior Fellow and SMU professor. Restorative Farms was started in 2017, but it is based on a cumulation of ten years of research on food deserts, food swamps, and urban Agri-Systems—some of which was done in partnership with the Hunt Institute, which focuses on Sustainable Food Systems as one of its three key areas.

Hatcher Station Training Farm and Community Garden (HSTFCG)

Since its founding in 2017, Restorative Farms has launched a seedling farm at the MLK Community Center in South Dallas and the Hatcher Station Training Farm and Community Garden (HSTFCG) in Spring of 2020. At the heart of both the MLK Seedling Farm and Hatcher Station Training Farm is Master Gardener Tyrone Day, who is from the community and manages the farm.

The objective of Restorative Farms is to be a self- sustaining nonprofit farm that will not only grow local food, but train and grow local urban farming professionals. The MLK Seedling Farm produced 20,000 seedlings per year as of Spring 2019 and that number is projected to reach 40,000 by 2020. These seedlings, combined with the training that will be offered at Hatcher Farms, will ultimately provide the resources and training needed for people in South Dallas to start community gardens and keep them up and running. Hatcher Farms and the MLK Seedling Farm are just Restorative Farms first steps in bringing Dallas closer to having a sustainable local food system.

To read more about Owen and Restorative Farms, visit the website at restorativefarms.com . To learn more about the Hunt Institute’s Social Enterprise Program, visit smu.edu/socialenterprise. Check the Hunt Institute Digest next week to meet another amazing entrepreneur.

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

July 6, 2020August 30, 2021

Harshada Pednekar

Harshada Pednekar ’21 joined the Hunt Institute to work in GIS mapping and research in environmental engineering with a concentration in waste to energy. Before coming to the United States to pursue a master’s degree in environmental engineering from Lyle School of Engineering, Harshada had a professional career in India, most notably working as a Design Engineer at Indo-French company Mailhem-Ikos Environment Pvt. Ltd. where she designed portable biogas plants and bio-methanation (UASB Reactor) plants, capacity ranging from 1000kg to100 TPD of municipal solid waste. After graduation, Harshada began work at AECOM in Greenville, South Carolina as a Civil Engineer.

When asked why she was drawn to the Hunt Institute, Harshada said, “I was attracted to the Institute when I heard about the “Waste to Energy” Project. Waste is not waste until we waste it. I believe that working at the Institute will support my aspirations for working in this field with a strong industrial interface that will keep me updated with the latest developments. This project is teaching me all the aspects of engineering, management, and finance.”

Harshada now has both a master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from Southern Methodist University’s Lyle School of Engineering and a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering from KIT’s College of Engineering in Kolhapur, MH, India. In addition to working in the Institute as a Graduate Research Analyst, Pednekar served as a Teaching Assistant in the Field & Lab Methods for Lyle School of Engineering. She was also an active member of the Lyle Senior Design Team that took First Place in the virtual Student Design Competition, sponsored by the Water Environment Association of Texas (WEAT).

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

July 2, 2020February 28, 2022

James McGuire

James McGuire is a Fellow in the Hunt Institute where he brings his expertise as a government executive with expertise in water, energy, and the environment. McGuire also serves on the Leadership Council for the Hunt Institute’s Inclusive Economy.

He is Regional Counsel for U.S. EPA Region 6, covering Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. Prior to his role at EPA, James served the public as the Director of Environmental Quality & Sustainability at the City of Dallas and as general counsel to Dallas Water Utilities.

In all of his roles, he has used his significant experience in regulatory compliance, enforcement, permitting, emergency response, resilience sustainability planning, and environmental law to lead and innovate.

“I chose public service because of the opportunity to work towards making a positive impact. I take satisfaction in knowing that my efforts have supported a higher quality of life in the community, and that is a true reward for a job well done. Fortunately, there are many people in Dallas and associated with SMU and the Hunt Institute that are making significant impacts in their respective fields and helping solve inequities.”

James received a B.A., English, Duke University, a B.S., Earth & Ocean Sciences with highest honors, Duke University, an M.S., Geological Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin, and a J.D., Emory University School of Law. 2019 awards related to work at the City of Dallas include the United Nations Day Global Leadership Award, U.S. EPA Excellence in Green Power Use Award, TXU Energy Sustainability Award, and the Air North Texas Award for Outstanding Initiative.

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

July 1, 2020October 28, 2020

Hunt Institute’s First Student Social Entrepreneur

The Hunt Institute Social Enterprise Program is proud to introduce our first student social entrepreneur, Mohammed Njie. Mohammed is a rising senior at Southern Methodist University studying Electrical Engineering in Lyle School of Engineering. He was born and raised in The Gambia, a country in Western Africa. In the Gambia, 52% of people do not have access to electricity, and the remaining 48% have unreliable access. Mohammed attended high school at one of the few schools with electricity. Seeing students at other institutions that did not have access to electricity, motivated him to help close this gap.

Mohammed founded Janta Energy, a social enterprise, with the goal of bringing clean, reliable energy to The Gambia. His vision is to see all of Africa have access to reliable affordable clean energy in his lifetime. With support from the Hunt Institute, SMU’s Office of Engaged Learning, the Grand Challenge Scholars program, and the Hart Center for Engineering Leadership, Mohammed initiated a pilot project on his last trip to The Gambia during the winter break in 2019. The project installed solar panels on a school rooftop in a rural area in The Gambia to test capacity and determine elements needed to enhance students’ academic experience.

Items Installed for the pilot project;

Five 330 Watt 24 volt solar panels.
Two 250 amp, 12-volt solar batteries.
A 50 amp solar charge controller.

After several months of usage, the report from the school administrators revealed that having access to electricity created many opportunities for this school and its students.

A library at a school in Tintinto village that now has electricity thanks to Janta Energy. — A library in the school in Tintinto Village now has electricity

According to their report, the school is currently only utilizing 30% of the installed capacity. With this excess capacity, they are in the process of introducing fans throughout the school. The estimated usage is expected to rise to approximately 70% capacity. The school plans to utilize the last 30% to install computers for student use, which will greatly enhance the possibilities for exploration and learning. Once the pilot project is completed, Janta Energy plans to use this concept to build a microgrid, with the school at the center, to help power the entire village. Looking ahead to the future, Janta Energy seeks to replicate the model used in Tintinto Village across other rural villages, eventually spanning the rest of the country.

Stay tuned for more updates from Mohammed, and his Janta Energy continues working to provide The Gambia with access to sustainable electricity. To learn more about the Hunt Institute’s Social Enterprise Program, visit smu.edu/socialenterprise. Check the Hunt Institute Digest next week to meet another amazing social entrepreneur.

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.