Strands of Genius: Peace Tech, Peace, Inc. Monsters, Inc.

Guest curated by Liz Grandillo

Mar 10, 2022

:: A BIT MORE ABOUT GUEST CURATOR, LIZ GRANDILLO ::

LOCATION: NYC, NY

PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT: Independent Consultant

Hello, I'm Liz and right now, I’m in a fractional leadership role as - Head of Brand and Marketing - for a new venture in development from The 92nd Street Y, New York. The emergence of fractional leadership roles for startups and companies in transition has been keeping me busy for the last 10 years or so and helps keep life fresh. It also leaves me free to play in passion projects like the emerging peace-tech industry.

Editor’s Note (Faris): I met Liz when she was one of the smartest planners inside one of the biggest agencies in NYC. She hugely impressed me straight away, she fiercely smart, thoughtful, empathic, and kept her head when things got hectic. It’s been delightful to see her develop her business practice that uses and broadens her impressive array of skills and we are very grateful for this thoughtful and much needed edition at the right moment.

:: THE LINKS ::

PEACE TECH

It is the most important industry you have never heard of. These innovators are trying to change the world for the better yet there's no VCs lining up for this innovative industry. The Department of Defense typically has a budget of about $500 billion. The Department of State and US Aid which provide the funds for diplomacy and development recently had a budget of $46 billion. The United States Institute for Peace created by Congress and responsible for conflict management and peace building around the world typically has a budget of only $35 million.
We're widely funded to industrialize and innovate for fighting but not so much for innovating our way to peace. (YouTube)

PEACE, INC

The burgeoning field of peace-tech uses technology, media, and data to make, build, and sustain peace. The problem is, it is not really an industry, at least not yet. This kind of work, is largely realized from the personal drive of those who conceive the solutions - who may or may not get support from governments or charitable foundations. If we hope to make technological solutions for peace viable in the long term it is going to require more than continuing to tap these benefactors It is time to not just financially support tech for peace but finally revolutionize the (government/charity/activism) model for solving humanitarian issues that we've relied on for centuries, even millenia millennium.
We need to consider humanitarian efforts as a global industry. (Foreign Policy)

MONSTERS, INC

Monsters, Inc should be the label for dictators waging war, destroying peace. "The bad guys are winning" and they're in attack right now. Our governments are failing to hold the world in peace or to hold autocracies in check. This last week and days has proven that we have no transnational strategy designed to confront this transnational problem.
It's a bit amazing that we continue to rely on our governments as we have for centuries, for millennia, to try to keep the peace - despite the fact that it is the governments who are the leading destructors of peace. (The Atlantic)

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:: AND NOW… SOME FAST FAVORITES ::

:: Game :: Wordle - Come on. who's not a little addicted to that now?

:: City :: Como, Italy is a bit of a paradise

:: Book :: A Primate's Memoir reads like fiction and is a study of social beings that every human strategist should read.

:: Podcast :: I love all the innovation podcasts like How I Built This or StartUp but if you want to have a reality check listen to Ram Dass Here and Now.

:: Album :: The album you should hear but probably haven't is - Mr. Jones Tom Jones produced by Wyclef Jean and Jerry Wonder Duplessis.

:: WHAT3WORDS ::

What3Words is a great example of technology that is perfectly balancing serving business needs, economic needs and humanitarian needs.

If you're interested to volunteer some time working on peace tech solutions - find me here and I will try to put us all to good use.

Liz Grandillo

liz@grandillo.com

grandillo.com

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It's called Genius Steals because we believe ideas are new combinations and that nothing can come from nothing. But copying is lazy. We believe the best way to innovate is to look at the best of that which came before and combine those elements into new solutions.

Co-Founders Faris & Rosie are award-winning strategists and creative directors, writers, consultants and public speakers who have been living on the road/runway since March 2013, working with companies all over the world. Our Director of Operations is nomadic like us, our accounting team is based out of Washington, our company is registered in Tennessee, and our collaborators are all over the world. Being nomadic allows us to go wherever clients need us to be, and to be inspired by the world in between.

Hit reply and let’s talk about how we might be able to work together :)

Strands of Genius