Future Food Scenarios in 2024: Nutrition, Environment, and Well-being
Layo George, the Founder and CEO of Wolomi, is dedicated to enhancing maternal health outcomes for women of color. She leads a multidisciplinary team focused on addressing the perinatal health crisis, considering populations, equity, and social determinants of health.
Wolomi, via its companion app, offers tools and guidance to support aspiring, expectant, and new mothers. By creating a unique platform for women of color, it fosters a community that tackles the support system gap for mothers of color.
Under George's leadership, Wolomi has witnessed significant progress. The platform facilitates access to maternal health experts of color and provides culturally pertinent resources, ensuring targeted support. According to the company's data, 98% of their mothers deliver at least 37 weeks or beyond, and 100% receive screenings for maternal mental health issues.
Prior to founding Wolomi, George made her mark in Health IT, Marketing, and Health Information Exchange companies. She spearheaded quality improvement efforts at the District of Columbia Primary Care Association, guiding 15 healthcare centers through value-based practice transformation and oral health primary care integration. In addition, she served on the Capital Clinical Integrated Network's leadership team at Mary's Center, developing a citywide care management program for Medicaid high utilizers.
Recognized as a 2024 AFROTECH Future 50 Leader in the Visionary Founder category, George's work with Wolomi underscores her commitment to closing the maternal health outcomes gap for women of color. Her leadership is a driving force behind positive changes in the healthcare system, improving the perinatal journey for all mothers and their families.
Asegun Henry, founder and CTO of Fourth Power, is a pioneer in developing industrial-scale energy technologies aimed at mitigating climate change. Haunted by the financial and environmental expense of fossil-fuel-derived electricity since childhood, he dedicated years to finding a sustainable energy solution.
After extensive R&D at MIT and Georgia Tech, Henry unveiled his breakthrough - fourth Power - a company creating on-demand renewable energy through utility-scale thermal battery technology. This innovation has the potential to be 10 times more cost-effective and capable of storing power for up to a month.
Henry has garnered numerous accolades, including the 2018 World Technology Award for Energy, the 2021 Nokia Bell Labs Prize, the 2022 Inaugural Lewis Latimer Fellowship, and the 2023 NSF Waterman Award. One of his innovations has entered the Guinness Book of World Records, paving the way for new high-temperature energy systems concepts such as methane cracking for CO2-free hydrogen production and grid-level energy storage approach named thermal batteries, affectionately termed "Sun in a Box."
Jasmine Crowe-Houston is a social entrepreneur, children's book author, and dedicated community leader, famous for her impactful work. Driven by compassion, she transformed personal philanthropy into Goodr, a waste management company committed to sustainable solutions, launched in 2017.
Under Crowe-Houston's dynamic leadership, Goodr has delivered over 30 million meals and diverted millions of pounds from landfills. By combining technology and humanitarian efforts, Goodr revolutionizes hunger relief and waste reduction.
Crowe-Houston's achievements have been recognized by organizations like CNBC, Oprah Magazine, and Forbes, testifying to her enduring influence. In addition to her role at Goodr, she holds board positions at the Metro Atlanta Chamber, Wellstar Foundation, Drawdown Georgia, and Universal Music Group's Taskforce for Meaningful Change.
Donnel Baird is a community builder and entrepreneur, known for founding BlocPower. BlocPower focuses on analyzing, financing, and installing clean energy and decarbonization upgrades in buildings in underserved communities.
A graduate of Duke and Columbia Business School, Baird boasts a longstanding advocacy career. He dedicated four years to grassroots organizing and subsequently managed a national effort to channel American Reinvestment and Recovery Act funds into energy efficiency projects for underserved communities. His influence is evident in his board memberships at the New York Federal Reserve Bank Second District Board, Climate Reality Project, Coalition For Green Capital, and the advisory board of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Small Business Capital Formation.
Baird has received multiple honors: Columbia Business School Entrepreneur of the Year in 2021, the National Venture Capital Association Startup Innovator of the Year in 2022, and the TIME Magazine's inaugural 'Dreamer of the Year' in 2022. In 2014, the White House named him a "Champion of Change" for his efforts in advancing clean energy and economic opportunities.
In 2022, BlocPower was recognized by Fast Company as the #4 Most Innovative Company in the World, TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential Companies, and the 42nd Most Disruptive Startup in the world by CNBC.
Layo George, a visionary entrepreneur in the field of health-and-wellness, applies her expertise in Health IT, Marketing, and Health Information Exchange companies to drive positive changes in maternal health outcomes for women of color. Her endeavor, Wolomi, leverages technology to cultivate a community that addresses the support system gap for mothers of color (venture capital, business, entrepreneurship, technology, health-and-wellness).
In the realm of science and environmental-science, Asegun Henry is creating on-demand renewable energy through utility-scale thermal battery technology, with the aim of mitigating climate-change (technology, science, climate-change, finance, business). His breakthrough innovation, Fourth Power, demonstrates potential to be 10 times more cost-effective and capable of storing power for up to a month (innovation, technology).
Jasmine Crowe-Houston, a dedicated community leader, transformed personal philanthropy into Goodr, a waste management company that combines technology and humanitarian efforts to revolutionize hunger relief and waste reduction (technology, business, social entrepreneurship, environment). Under her dynamic leadership, Goodr has delivered over 30 million meals and diverted millions of pounds from landfills (business, sustainability, waste-management).
Closely related to women's health, Donnel Baird, an entrepreneur and community builder, founded BlocPower, a company that analyzes, finances, and instals clean energy upgrades in underserved communities. BlocPower's mission is to decarbonize buildings in these communities (venture capital, business, environmental-science, climate-change).
All four individuals serve as driving forces behind positive changes in their respective industries, ranging from maternal health to clean energy, and demonstrate the potential for innovation to address global challenges such as climate change and health disparities (venture capital, business, technology, science, health-and-wellness, climate-change, women's health).
