From Micro Insurance to Violence Prevention, PopTech Announces 2010 Fellows

PopTech is a global network of innovators anchored by an annual fall conference in Camden, Maine. Not exactly about social entrepreneurship, not exactly about arts or technology, its strength is in the diversity of the actors it convenes. The third class of PopTech Social Innovation Fellows reinforces that fact, and will bring together exceptional changemakers in areas as diverse as mobile credit, conflict resolution and promotion of the sciences for a training program later this October.

The Social Innovation Fellows program began three years ago as an ancillary offering to the three-day conference. For about a week before the big event, the Fellows are treated to workshops and lectures across a range of issues, from measuring social impact to presentation style. At the event itself, each Fellow gives a five-minute presentation to the whole crowd -- and at last year's conference, more than one person told me they thought these speeches were the highlight even in an ocean of great content.

The program has already supported some of the most promising social entrepreneurs in the world, including the founders of Ushahidi, FrontlineSMS, Catapult Design, Global Citizen Year, and a host of other organizations regularly featured on this blog. Some of the past fellows have returned this year as faculty for the current class. All of this means that this is a group worth watching.

Even in the diversity, there are a few trends that spring up across the 17 ventures represented in this fellows class. There are a couple organizations focused on promoting science in different ways, including Seeding Labs -- a program that helps skills, knowledge and IP transfer to scientists in the developing world. Keeping up a tradition from past years (not to mention employing a specific expertise of the PopTech network) there are a set of mobile-focused companies, such as ChildCount+ which helps use mobile phones to enable health workers to better track patients. This year's class also features two organizations focused on conflict and violence prevention, including innovative Chicago-based CeaseFire.

One of the other trends is not so much about an industry vertical but about a particular approach to opening up access to services that are the pillars of a functioning economy. Samasource creates a gateway for workers in Africa and India to do micro-tasks for international corporations and builds their job skills through support and training. The Syngenta Foundation is a fascinating addition to the agriculture development space, insuring farm inputs against both drought and excessive rain, all via mobile. FrontlineSMS:Credit is trying to make it easier than ever to access basic credit via phones.

This is a pretty tremendous class, and signals both the diversity and strength of PopTech's network as well as the innovation in the social space more broadly. Keep track of these organizations.

Photo credit: poptech