Jul 8, 2019
On episode 86 we welcome Kathleen Kennedy, Executive Director of
the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence. Kennedy is a
frequent speaker at technology and entrepreneurship events around
the world. She serves as a judge for many competitions including
the MacArthur Foundation, the Inclusive Innovation Competition, and
the Lemelson-MIT prizes. In addition, she is a venture
partner at Good Growth Capital and she serves on the board of
Hubweek.
Prior to her current work, Kathleen served as a lead organizer of
The Engine, an MIT initiative created to advance innovation.
This venture fund and accelerator program was created to
provide comprehensive support to transformative ideas from the
formative stage to their most effective implementation.
Kennedy was also awarded the Folio: 40, which recognizes the
most innovative and influential people in the media industry, and
named by the Harvard Club as one of Boston’s Most Influential Women
of 2017.
During our 45 minute discussion we evaluate how technology and
automation will impact the future of food and its production.
More generally, we discuss the future of work and how advancements
/ innovation doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll have less jobs in the
future. We learn about how one of the first projects the MIT
Center of Collective Intelligence initiated – called the ‘Climate
CoLab’ – is using the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as
a proving grounds where computers and humans can work together in a
more cohesive way to take on big problems at vast scale.
Joining as cohost is Chris Sherman, President of Island Creek
Oysters. Focused on promoting the many values that shellfish bring
to humans, the Oceans and the planet – Chris and his team have
built a brand known for global excellence. As pioneers in
regenerative ocean farming – Island Creek Oysters have established
a sustainable model of sustenance, and jobs for their community in
Massachusetts. Levering his ocean smarts to do greater good, Chris
also curates the Island Creek Oyster Foundation, a non-profit which
has codified a replicable model of aquaculture for the developing
world. Additionally, Chris is a 2018 Eisenhower fellow. As
part of his program to Spain & Columbia – Chris assessed capacity
building and innovative financing models for the future of
biomimetic aquaculture.
TuneIn to hear how a Collective Intelligence in many forms allows
people and machines to work together in defining proper logic
structure and smarter implementation that can help address the
biggest problems facing humanity and our shrinking planet.