MIT to host indigenous and antiracist innovators summit

MIT to host indigenous and antiracist innovators summit

CAMBRIDGE, MA –Solve is set to host their Indigenous and Antiracist Innovators Summit in an engaging two-day, in-person event held June 16 – 17 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Solve is an initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a mission to drive innovation to solve world challenges.

The Indigenous and Antiracist Innovators Summit is Solve’s flagship event for the Indigenous Communities Fellowship program and the Antiracist Technology in the US Challenge. It will convene, connect, and inspire Solve’s community – Fellows, Solver teams, MIT faculty and staff, leaders from  Member organizations, and local community leaders – to continue to uplift these innovators of excellence and reimagine Indigenous and antiracist futures for the United States.

The event will showcase incredible innovators and change makers from Indigenous, Black, and Brown communities, and bring together a community focused on fostering deep allyship to build brighter Indigenous and antiracist futures together. This summit is open exclusively to the Solve community and experts with a focus on uplifting Indigenous and Black and Brown innovators, as well as limited members of the media.

Attendees of the summit will have the opportunity to:

• Engage a growing community of Indigenous and Antiracist innovators: Dive into discussions with cross-sector leaders and explore key opportunities to strengthen impact-focused ecosystems for Indigenous, Black, and Brown entrepreneurs.
• Explore cutting-edge innovations: Connect directly with Solver teams to share strategic advice and new ideas. Through collaborative working groups and informal conversation, attendees will learn about innovative solutions and where their own work might align.
• Create impactful partnerships: Expand their organization’s social and environmental impact by partnering with Solver teams to scale their work.

Solve understands that to disrupt institutionalized inequities in the US, it must support the tremendous work of Indigenous, Black, and Brown innovators across the country. For Solve, this has defined the US-focused work, including the Indigenous Communities Fellowship, Antiracist Tech in the US Challenge, and this year’s launch of the  Black & Brown Innovators in the US program.

The MIT Indigenous Communities Fellowship has launched open calls for applications from Indigenous innovators annually for the past four years – the first year focused on Oceti Sakowin; the second expanded to include the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribes; and the third and fourth year have invited all American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiians, as well as Indigenous innovators in the US territories to apply.

The Antiracist Tech in the US Challenge, a response to 2020’s protests in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, looked for technology-based solutions by and for communities of color that help create antiracist and equitable futures in the US. Movements like afrofuturism, community-led efforts on digital literacy, indigenous data sovereignty, and the use of data science for positive change all speak to the potential of technology to support, inspire, and empower Black and Brown communities.

Building on this work – and Solve’s effort to be a culturally diverse and antiracist platform – Solve launched the Black & Brown Innovators in the US program in 2022. Based on a core belief that the best solutions are led by people from the communities that they serve, this special call is looking for 1-2 solutions led by Black or Brown innovators in the US who are addressing each of our 2022 Global Challenges.