Published on Saturday September 24th, 2011
By Andrea M. Meek

 

The Social Good Summit wrapped on the fourth and final day with discussions on social entrepreneurship, global health, the Arab Spring, and the announcement of the Startups for Good Challenge winner.

Barbara Bush, CEO and co-founder of Global Health Corps, and Mashable's Pete Cashmore spoke on 'The Power of Youth: Mobilizing Communities through New Media.'

Bush and Cashmore discussed how young people can become leaders for global health.

Bush said that young people want to make a difference, but often don't know what steps to take.

"Young people are very curious about global challenges now. We’ve seen through technology what’s happening around the world,” said Bush.

“I think there’s a tremendous desire to do good in this generation and be entrepreneurial and think about things in a different way.”

Investor and entrepreneur Yossi Vardi spoke, with much enthusiasm, on social entrepreneurship.

"How do you turn profits into joy?" Vardi asked.

His solution? "The recipe for happiness is finding someone who is in need and helping them," he said.

Shahinaz Ahmed, CEO of Education for Employment Foundation in Egypt, gave an 'Update on Tahrir Square' and spoke on the role social media played in effecting change in Egypt.

"Social media allows people to have a voice,"Ahmed said from Cairo via Skype.

She added,"Social media is a powerful mobilizing tool but the real action needs to happen on the ground."

The Andrea Koppel, vice-president of Global Engagement & Policy of Mercy Corps; Neal Keny-Guer, CEO of Mercy Corps; Ronan Farrow, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s Special Adviser for Global Youth Issues; and Salman Shaikh, Director of Brookings Doha Center participated in the final panel 'The Arab Awakening: Apps & Aspirations' to discuss ways to empower Arab youths by providing opportunities.

Surprise guest Dr. Margarita Cedeno de Fernandez, the First Lady of the Dominican Republic, was given a Social Good Award for her commitment to using social media to help solve global problems.

“I think social media is an extreme tool to get connected," she said. She has brought technology to rural areas and has used that technology to promote literacy and to empower women to generate their own income.

The first lady, who has a Twitter following of nearly 40,000, ended her speech by saying, "You will always be in my heart and in my iPad."

The last event of the day, and the summit, saw 8 finalists competing for $10,000 in the Startups for Good Challenge. Nineteen-year-old Eden Full walked away with the prize for SunSaluter, a rotator that moves solar panels towards the sun to increase their output without using electricity. A complete list of participants can be found here.

Links to the day's videos can be found here.