2014 Rhode Island Innovation Fellowship
We recognize that many applicants and members of the community want to learn more about the innovators and their ideas. In the spirit of sharing ideas and
collaboration, the applicants below agreed to share their name, email address, and project description.
Applicant(s)
E-Mail
D.K. Abbass,
RIMAP board
members, and
specialty
instructors
rhodeislandmap AT yahoo DOT
com
Nicholas Adams,
Andrew Shearer,
and Renee
Bessette
nick.adams AT carethread DOT
com
Douglas
Alexander
dougalexander AT gmail DOT
com
Christine
Allenson
chaywardot AT yahoo DOT com
Rui Almeida
ruigalmeida AT yahoo DOT com
The Rhode Island Innovation Fellowship is designed to stimulate solutions by Rhode Islanders to Rhode Island challenges. Briefly
describe your idea.
Success in marine archaeology depends on having command of the sciences, technology, engineering, math, and computer skills. Conservation of
archaeological artifacts requires specialized knowledge of organic and inorganic chemistry, physics, and material science in a laboratory facility.
Care of archaeological artifacts collected from the marine environment is even more complex. For 20 years the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology
Project (RIMAP) has offered diverse adult education classes, including "Artifact Management," but the lack of a proper facility has meant that our
teaching of artifact conservation techniques is mainly theoretical. Now we seek funding to expand our educational program in the sciences
related to marine archaeology, primarily to include the special needs of artifact management in a proper facility. Adults interested in saving
family heirlooms will find the training program useful, and younger students, attracted by the romance of marine archaeology, will be exposed to
its related sciences in a practical environment.
We propose "Patient-Center Communication and Collaboration in Rhode Island Using Mobile Technology". We will use our real-time, HIPAAcompliant mobile communication and collaboration platform to improve the quality of care of Rhode Islanders. Our platform, Care Thread, allows
healthcare providers and their patients to securely connect and create social networks of care that engage people wherever they are using
mobile technology; both providers, patients and their loved ones. So much of health care is transactional because providers and patients are not
connected in a meaningful way.
I'd like to start a free-standing, non-profit, engineering workshop called "EngineRI" to teach K-12 students robotics, design thinking, and
programming in an exciting hands-on environment. Using a space filled with materials, tools, computers, and experienced makers, students could
discover the joy of engineering as they build a robot, write a program, or create interactive art. I'd leverage my experience as a K-12 robotics and
programming teacher to create an engaging program of hardware and software skills that students don't get from the standard curriculum.
Community partnerships with universities, US FIRST, and schools would be formed to help build Rhode Island's culture of engineering innovation.
EngineRI would be an incubator for the state's future engineers and tech leaders, much like an independent gym is for athletes or AS220 is for
artists, and would be the go-to place for students interested in exploring engineering outside the bounds of the traditional school curriculum.
Unemployment or underemployment is a serious issue in the state of Rhode Island today. According to RI's Department of Labor and Training, in
September 2013, RI had the third highest rate of unemployment in the country. The issues of unemployment or underemployment affect a
person/family in many different ways and the affects also impact our state as a whole. I would like to develop a community (EmbraceRI) for
people who are unemployed or underemployed. I envision creating meeting place(s) for people to come together to share information, skills
training, resources and references in order to bolster employment in RI. I would like Rhode Islanders to support each other, hire locally, and train
locally for jobs within RI.
Love and knowledge changes the world. Being aware of our surroundings, connecting and engaging with our community, by directly intervening
in our neighborhoods can impact the outlook and development of our habitat and lives. By promoting self awareness and self esteem among the
youths in our neighborhoods, towns and cities through understanding the architecture of the buildings that comprise where we live, we can
change our future. Our homes are our most direct reflection of ourselves and crystalize our hopes and dreams. I want to help our youths
understand, hence love, the buildings, streets and neighborhoods they dwell. Our home is our castle, holding everything that we hold sacred and
dear to us, from our families to our belongings that we collect and use to live. Valued homes, and valued neighborhoods breads love, care and
understanding, in return giving our youth, and everyone else, esteem and make them proud of where they live, better protecting and using them.
Dima Amso and
Dr. David Badre
dima_amso AT brown DOT edu
Gene Andersen
gandersen AT qbchurch DOT
org
Thomoas Ardito
and Providence
Department of
Parks and
Recreation
ecorestoration AT gmail DOT
com
Elizabeth Atalay
elizabeth AT documama DOT
org
Mark Aubrey
markjaubrey AT gmail DOT com
Enriched experiences benefit cognitive and brain development. However, poverty diminishes opportunity for enrichment and 23% of children in
the state of RI live in poverty. We ask here whether digital media can bridge the cognitive enrichment gap. First, we will collect extensive data on
the daily experiences of children across socioeconomic status (SES) using novel digital data logging measures. We will use sophisticated analytic
modeling tools to determine precisely which of these experiences is impacting brain development as measured in our labs. We will next use this
information to design and test an entirely evidence-based digital intervention for low SES children that mimics experiences that are shaping brain
and cognitive development in children from middle and high SES homes. If effective, this type of intervention can be implemented in homes
and/or schools across RI and may prove an affordable substitute for expensive enriching experiences currently unavailable to low SES families.
Expand the Quidnessett Baptist Church basketball outreach to young men into a year-round program by procuring an inflatable sports dome to
allow play on an outside basketball court year round. Currently this program moves from two full-size outdoor courts to a quarter-court gym for
seven months of the year, severely reducing participation opportunities. During the months this program runs outside it attracts 60-80 young
men two nights a week and 30-40 teens one afternoon a week to a safe, supervised basketball program that incorporates biblical teaching and
opportunities for discipleship, counseling, and personal development. That declines to 30-40 participants each week during the indoor months.
"Church ball" has become a "mom-approved" destination for young men and teens who would otherwise hang out at public courts or engage in
potentially destructive behaviors. This program takes young men, most of whom are functionally fatherless, off the street and provides structure,
exposure to mentors and life-changing opportunity.
One of Rhode Island's greatest challenges is deindustrialization: a macroeconomic trend that has caused the decline of manufacturing and loss of
jobs. The result has been environmental degradation, high unemployment, and lack of funding for public resources, particularly in our cities. In
2007, with a small grant from the Rhode Island Foundation, I established the Center for Ecosystem Restoration (CER), a non-profit organization
with the mission of restoring communities and ecosystems. My idea for this Fellowship is to use CER to help restore one of our most important
public assets: Roger Williams Park. CER will work with the City of Providence, stakeholders and funders to create a new master plan for the Park,
and to develop a new organization to advocate and fundraise for RWP restoration. Through this work, we will grow CER into a full-time
organization that provides environmental improvement and green jobs for Rhode Island.
I have been amazed by the many local start-ups in the Global Development arena. I feel like Rhode Island could be an incubator and hub for
Global Development, which would not only bring jobs to the area and stimulate academic research but also put Rhode Island on the map on a
global scale. We have innovators in many of the critical areas of development, food security, Maternal and newborn health, Sanitation, Energy
Poverty, education/empowerment for girls, and immunology. Each time I connect with one new local innovator I learn of another. Global
solutions take collaboration; each facet of extreme poverty is connected to another. My dream is to pull together all of Rhode Island's Global
development Innovators to create a collaboration hub that pools resources and puts people to work. Imagine the global impact if you put all of
these brilliant problem solvers together?
3 stages- open Rhode Island fresh vegatable, fruit cafe franchise with a sound process, procedure and system of producing the highest quality
new food products .this model of my design of produces fresh juices, multivegatable flours for baked goods, pasta and soups .a sustainable
system of business for local farmers that grow and deliver fresh vegatables and fruit ,then picking up end result of food products for compost. this
model is designed as comfortable cafes promoting local artist work ,furniture. the food process a high quality healthy fast food with low overhead
and high wage jobs with ownership insentives. Retail, fresh juice delivery service-programs, juice party's and wholesale new food products .
establish edible landscaping maintenance company and inspire existing landscape company's to adopt edible landscaping as an addition to
services. create, promote, inspire Rhode Island citys to have the first edible landscaped public parks ...
Anthony Bailey
techiedarknight AT gmail DOT
com
Lori Baker and
Joshua Baker
llafountain77 AT yahoo DOT
com
Laurelei Ballard
laureleiwb AT mac DOT com
Sierra Barter
sierra AT pvdladyproject DOT
com
Alison BatesonToupin and Cathy
Sanford
alisonbatesontoupin AT gmail
DOT com
Susan Bayley,
Jennifer
Beauchamp, and
Diane
Sangermano
susanabayley AT icloud DOT
com
My idea is to establish a community-based education model, "The Equity Center", which will train Rhode Island students, selected education
professionals and community advocates to integrate five essential elements of educational and personal development into their platforms. Those
elements (Ethics, Social Equality, Social Justice Leadership, Nonviolence, and Communication) are often overlooked but are critical to meet the
demands of our changing world. My goal is to develop The Equity Center into a three-tier educational institute with an online education portal.
The Center will include the Social Justice Leadership Training Program (SJLTP), a chartered secondary school and a corresponding adult
development school. Rhode Island is diversely rich. We juggle multiple cultures and frequently struggle in a society commonly characterized by
inequality and injustice. These challenges can divide us or bring us together. The Equity Center will bridge our diverse communities and help
reestablish our core of collective ethics and civic participation.
Last year my son was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. Celiac disease is an immune reaction to eating gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and
rye. We live in Charlestown, RI, I have found it is quite hard to find a local bakery or store dedicated to Gluten free products such as breads,
pastas, ready made meals, and bakery items. Gluten free has been a very popular choice in the last couple of years for many individuals suffering
from either a gluten allergy or gluten intolerance. Many people even without a sensitivity to gluten have made a choice to not eat gluten. Many
studies have found gluten causes a lot of irritable bowel syndrome symptoms to go away.
I work in Advertising and Media. I sit on the board of a few Not For Profit organizations. Often, the difference between a charity raising money or
not is that NFP's ability to get the word out creatively. Most NFP's do not have a budget to bring in Ad or Event experts and most agencies simply
cannot afford to take on whole campaigns for free. This means the groups have lackluster marketing and hum drum events, which results in less
brand recognition and lower donations. I want to build an accessible network of Creative Professionals willing to work gratis on a project-byproject basis for Not For Profit organizations in Rhode Island.
The PVD Lady Project connects, inspires & showcases awesome women doing amazing things in Providence through events, membership and
community engagement. Memberships would continue to have corporate partners (like Moo and Uber), offer exclusive benefits and encourage
driven, motivated in that to meet others. Events would range from signature networking type events with three, three minute speakers,
giveaways and creative themes. Each event would also benefit a local non-profit that benefits either women or girls. We would continue to
support other organizations through event donations, promotion on our social media sites and member volunteer opportunities. We support
our members through promotion online, recommendations in our group, spotlights on our blog, gift guides and more. The Lady Project would
encourage and connect women from various industries in different career levels. Our 2013 250+ members already work together, support one
another and most importantly, do business with each other.
Literacy is critical to academic and vocational success. Despite federal mandates focusing on improving the educational achievement of all
students, a large number of children, especially in disaggregated categories, are struggling with literacy skill development. Reading disability
affects one child in five (Shaywitz, 2003). Despite literacy reform efforts across districts, special education students with Individual Education
Plans (IEPs) represent the only subgroup whose reading performance has declined over the past five years on the state mandated NECAP reading
assessment (2013 NECAP Report, RIDE). Without scientifically based, high quality interventions of sufficient duration, poor readers never catch
up with good readers (Shaywitz, 2003), persistent reading gaps remain, and a child's academic and vocational future is jeopardized. We
propose the creation of Centers for Reading Success, collaborative programs working in concert with public schools to offer innovative,
individualized, and research-based programming for students with language-based learning differences such as dyslexia.
Bone Builders is a nationally recognized osteoporosis prevention program that helps seniors improve their strength, balance and flexibility. It is
based on the work of Dr. Miriam Nelson, Director of the Center for Physical Activity and Nutrition at Tufts University. The Village at Waterman
Lake has spearheaded Bone Builders in Rhode Island by offering it to residents as part of the activities program. In April 2013 The Village offered
free classes for 12 weeks to members of the larger RI community. More than 30 seniors signed on. In August we resumed the offering. Today the
program continues indefinitely. We have a core group of almost 30 "regulars" who attend classes twice a week. We ask a donation of $1.00 per
class, which people are glad to pay. We envision extending the benefits of Bone Builders to seniors throughout the Ocean State. The Village is
training four aspiring volunteers who have stepped up to the challenge to lead their own classes.
Tyler Benster
3d AT tylerbenster DOT com
Amy Bernhardt
amy AT basicsgroup DOT com
Mark Binder
mark AT markbinder DOT com
Pete Bonk
peterjbonk AT gmail DOT com
Frank Borges and
Lucy Borges
bullszi AT live DOT com
Kevin Brady
clearobjectives AT verizon DOT
net
While working with leading 3D printing companies and manufacturers, I made a surprising discovery: the biggest challenge with 3D printing is
designing for additive manufacturing. Rhode Island's vibrant community of designers, artists and makers are up for the task. My proposal will
support thousands of new advanced manufacturing jobs by drastically increasing access to 3D printers. The project rests on two rocks: (1) Put a
3D printer in each of the 65 high schools in the state. Rhode Island will be the first state to accomplish this initiative and will be a national leader
in training our labor force for the new manufacturing paradigm. (2) Establish coalitions of manufacturers, universities and non-profits to purchase
industrial 3D printers. These printers will be shared according to financial contribution and empower existing initiatives in the medical space,
powder metallurgy and the maker community. With these two catalysts, Rhode Island can lead the third industrial revolution.
I will create a state-of-the-art research and manufacturing business for the design and production of digitally printed textiles. Alongside 3-D
printers, digital inkjet printing of textiles is on the cutting edge of design technology and by engaging local designers and leveraging our region's
unique textile history the state of Rhode Island is poised to become an industry leader. This innovative facility would position Rhode Island to tap
into the global textiles market, which reached $2.5 trillion in 2010 and is projected to double by 2017, allowing our state to regain global
relevance in the industry. The creation of a digital printing atelier would facilitate innovation through conferences, technical training, design
collaboration, resource mapping and the creation of a digital textile archive. A digital fabric printing service would transform this technological
exploration and creative invention into reality by producing quality goods and services that will directly benefit the Rhode Island economy.
Although embedded in the Constitution, Rhode Island's public education is dysfunctional. It has been strangled by regulations and over-testing.
Parents know this. Teachers know this. Administrators (mostly) know this. Young people need incentive and motivation to come to school and
learn. Striving to do well on a standardized test isn't enlivening, it's the opposite. But the testing continues. Literacy dwindles. Absenteeism rises.
Some people blame the Federal Government. Or teachers. Or Local government. Some blame school departments, or poverty. Some blame
private schools, for-profit schools, or publishing companies. Some blame video games. None of that will help the students in the schools today.
The challenge is changing the system now, re-making schools now. Teachers want to teach. Students are there to be inspired and taught. Parents
want to make it happen. How can we put these shifts in place immediately? What policy and political changes need to happen to put in place
those changes that will take longer? So, what's stopping us?
We will create a reoccurring Celebration of Narragansett Bay, in both the late Spring and late Summer, during the shoulders of the main summer
tourist season. A Signature Event of these celebrations will be a "Walk Across The Bay", where pedestrians can walk from North Kingstown to
Newport (or the reverse). The walk will allow visitors to enjoy the spectacular views of Narragansett Bay from the Jamestown-Verrazano Bridge
and Pell Bridges. With its islands and lighthouses to the north and Newport and the limitless horizon of the open Atlantic Ocean to the south, the
beauty of Narragansett Bay is breathtaking. These events will allow visitors to experience this unique Rhode Island asset in a way like never
before. These events can be self funding and will bring thousands of visitors and millions of dollars to Rhode Island communities. A proven
model exists for this celebration of Narragansett Bay.
The global technological business environment which frames the consumer experience relies almost intrinsically upon the competent navigation
of the power of the internet. Merchants and service-providers advertise, and consumers and clients research, the seemingly endless array of
product, price, and personalization available today. Viewing, comparing, ordering, requesting, and evaluating are regular components of the
online experience. Bullszi Neighborhoods, a community-driven business, facilitates for local businesses and individuals this marketing treasury.
Designed as a collaborative interface between all those who travel through the digital marketplace, it engages consumers in the development of
the business model. The merchant or service-provider thrives in symbiosis with the targeted population.
Rhode Island has a population of just over a million people, and according to the Department of Veterans' Affairs in August 2013, approximately
8.9% of the population (91,161) are veterans. As many as a third of these men and women are veterans of recent conflicts: of these, fully a
quarter suffer from some form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), while others have difficulty reintegrating and finding productive work
after military life. The Rhode to Resolution Project (R2R) would bring an effective, efficient model of trauma resolution (Traumatic Incident
Reduction, or TIR) to the population who needs it most and would then train this population to assist others in need with the same methods, first
beginning with the veteran population seeking PTSD treatment and then moving into other populations, such as domestic abuse, homeless, and
others in need of trauma services.
Jeffrey Bratberg
jefbratberg AT uri DOT edu
Mike Brito
mike AT
britoslandscapingservices DOT
com
Hugo Bruggeman
hugo_bruggeman AT brown
DOT edu
Nicole Bucka
nbucka AT nric-ri DOT org
Alison Buckser
abuckser AT aya DOT yale DOT
edu
Opioid overdose is a leading cause of preventable death in adults in Rhode Island. Currently, RI has the 13th highest overdose fatality rate in the
nation and the highest rate in New England. In 2012 alone, over $31 million was spent on hospitalizations for any diagnosis of opioid overdose.
Though overdose prevention education is not routinely integrated into health professional education or clinical settings, overdose death rates are
scientifically proven to decline in a cost-effective manner when this education is provided along with overdose rescue kits. I am proposing the
mobilization of health professional volunteer teams through the RI Medical Reserve Corps (RIMRC) to "immunize" Rhode Islanders against
overdose through the Naloxone and Overdose Prevention Education Program (NOPE). NOPE will emulate the activation of health professional
volunteers during the 2009 state-wide, school-based H1N1 vaccination campaign that resulted in the highest rate in the nation for H1N1 flu
vaccinations for children.
Senator Metts on June 6 2013 to the R.I. senate: "60 % of all inmates released from the ACI return within one year!" This is an unacceptable
reality, we see a way to off-set this fact. I have personally initiated, organized and conducted several "Landscape Construction Classes" for this
segment of Rhode Islanders. I have found that in an attempt to "turn things around" some of these individuals lack direction and skill to provide
themselves and there families with the hope of going straight. Once the course is completed they now have both confidence and skill to become
employable thereby starting on a journey away from jail instead of back to it! Expanding this training not just outside the walls but inside as well,
will allow these men & women desiring a better way to find it, before returning to the same environment once released and possibly going
straight into employment instead of sliding back into old behaviors.
Walkable neighborhoods are being recognized as critical engines for both economic growth and public health. This is great news for Rhode Island,
as the cities in our state are densely populated and the physical distances between residences and amenities are sufficiently short for walking.
But, to truly capitalize on this opportunity we need to build streets that promote travel on foot. My plan is to equip residents with social media
and web tools to gather data about their behaviors and observations while walking our streets. I will supply a model that turns such data into a
geographical measure of walkable streets and use it to visualize walkability on neighborhood maps. My idea will help to engage the residents of
Rhode Island with their city officials, so together they can create neighborhoods that are vital, safe and valuable.
The number of Rhode Islanders diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is growing rapidly. From 2000 to 2012, the number of students
with documented ASD has grown from 357 to 1,987. In addition, many others remain labeled "Developmentally Disabled" because of the stigma
attached to an ASD diagnosis. Without a proactive response to this growing area of need (from birth to career), these children will be our next
generation of unemployed adults, unable to live independently, and inadvertently burdening their parents and extended family support networks
as well as costing our state's economy millions. Costs nationally amount to $60 billion with 60% due to adult care services. A solution is to take
the variety of support agencies in this state who serve individuals with ASDs and work together to collaborate, streamline services, support
educators/parents it their quest to better educate these children because with proper early intervention, costs of lifelong care can be reduced by
2/3.
Facing a disaster? There's an app for that. If a hurricane brings down the power lines, or a flood undermines the water supply, or a terrorist
attack isolates communities, are you ready? Do you have three days of food and water? Do your children know what to do if they are not with
you? Do you know safe routes out of town? While few Rhode Islanders can say yes to these questions, many have smart phones. We will create a
free app to encourage Rhode Islanders to:

Plan: Create personalized emergency plans and make the necessary preparations.

Respond: Receive alerts about the disaster, obtain personalized emergency plans with prompts, gain information for dealing with
threats.

Communicate: Notify family members that they are safe or need help via text messages, twitter, emails, and social networks.

Follow-up: Recover with information about next steps, such as dealing with mold or downed power lines.
Mario Bueno and
Mayor James
Diossa
mbueno AT progresolatino DOT
org
George Burman,
Bruce Carlsten,
and Mark Pfeiffer
burmanarchitects AT
fullchannel DOT net
Cheryl Burns
cherylanneburns AT yahoo DOT
com
Thomas
Canterino
tcanterino AT gmail DOT com
Richard
Carpenter
richcarpenter02 AT gmail DOT
com
Picture a city where residents are actively involved in imagining and steering the economic development plans of their future. A place where
residents, business leaders, and supporters gather ideas and make human connections with each other and beyond to generate activity and
opportunities for the growth of the community. This is a city where residents would be developed as economic development ambassadors and
where they would be acknowledged for making a difference in their community. Ambassadors and supporters alike would pitch the city when
they travel and connect with others and take back opportunities to the city for development. The city and its ambassadors would work
collaboratively to execute and grow their plans as they evolve and report their progress to all the citizenry. As the word of success spreads, other
cities begin to implement ambassador programs bringing vitality and growth to the entire state.
Rhode Island's greatest challenge is the stagnant economy and the current lack of new employment opportunities in the manufacturing sector.
This proposal will create a new non-profit corporation to design and coordinate the production of prefabricated high-tech Disaster Relief Housing
units manufactured in Rhode Island creating many new skilled and unskilled jobs locally. There is a glaring need amongst the International Relief
Agencies for mass-produced reasonable cost, easily transported and deployed, semi-permanent Disaster Relief Housing. This need increases
following every new natural disaster such as an earthquake, tsunami, landslide or major flood. This proposal is designed to address that
International demand while providing new manufacturing jobs in Rhode Island. . The Innovation Fellowship will allow this team to complete the
design research and product development already begun in 2009 based on the use of existing manufacturing expertise and facilities already
present in Bristol, Rhode Island.
I would like to spearhead a new project in the town of Bristol. I would like to create an official Arts in Bristol plan to have a thriving Arts Row on
High Street in Bristol, RI. The plan would include bringing together the new Bristol 10 Year Comprehensive Plan (that includes supporting a
Performing Arts Center), local non-profits (Explore Bristol, Arts Night, Bristol Theatre Co., Community String Project, Bristol Warren Education
Foundation- as well as others to be identified) and key leaders (town administration, Executive Directors, Town Council, Roger Williams
University, the school superintendent and community). We would like to create an Arts Education & presenting organization within 1-3 current
town buildings that are going up for RFP's in January - which would house these groups and would offer year round Arts education and
programming in the town of Bristol and local communities.
I started developing FeedMe about a year ago, with a simple idea, I wanted to make it easy for any restaurant, big or small, to increase its take
out sales by letting customers place orders and pay directly threw the restaurants personal website, their facebook Page, or a custom branded
mobile application...with FeedMe you get it all. We start by creating a virtual online menu for each restaurant. Then we post the virtual menu on
your website, Facebook, and even make you your own app! That way your customers can do more than just find your nearest store. With feed
me they can custom build their favorite order, pre pay with a credit card, gift card, or feedme dough, and schedule their own pick up time.
Feedme then transmits the order directly to the restaurant, prepaid and just on time. Everyone is happy.
There is a problem facing a portion of the Rhode Island Community, more specifically Veterans of our armed services; the failure of well trained,
qualified military service members to successfully market themselves, and integrate into the business community. Having dealt with this
situation firsthand, I who am a recently separated, and decorated combat veteran feel that the solution lies in a comprehensive program to
evaluate, educate, and integrate these highly skilled motivated, yet overlooked members of our Rhode Island community into the corporate
workforce. Too often I have heard firsthand of absolutely first rate unemployed veterans feeling isolated, alone, and without recourse. It is my
goal to institute a serious program, to support this under served community, and allow these individuals to enrich the professional climate of
Rhode Island business today.
Kathleen Carty
kcarty AT cox DOT net
Kenneth
Castellone
hes133 AT etal DOT uri DOT
edu
Jeannine
Chartier,
Jonathan
Friesem, and
Renee Hobbs
programs AT vsartsri DOT org
Dennis Chretien
and SMCT board
members
director AT swampmeadow
DOT org
Margaretta
Clurman
megclurman AT verizon DOT
net
Interpersonal violence and substance use are highly correlated. Approximately 60% of the incarcerated males in the RIDOC are related to drug
use, approximately 90% of incarcerated men at the Intake Center are incarcerated for interpersonal violence offenses. Many are also victims of
violence. Developing a program, in Pawtucket and Warwick Junior High and High Schools, and in community centers, for those who have already
left school could provide accessibility to the target population. The program would include education regarding correlation between violence and
substance use, an evidence based violence and substance use prevention and recovery model, a therapeutic, safe setting, facilitated by certified
counselors and with input by attendees to identify core elements that are crucial for them to implement a healthier lifestyle. The program would
concurrently be an intervention group and training for individuals who attend to facilitate groups and implement programs in their own
communities with professional support.
Computer science is driving job growth and innovation throughout our economy and society. More than half of projected jobs in STEM fields are
in computing occupations; these occupations dominate help wanted" ads; and computer science is one of the hottest degrees for new college
graduates. Despite this, computer science education is marginalized throughout our K-12 education system -- denying access to this critical
knowledge, particularly among underrepresented groups. - Computing In the Core" My idea is to create an initial after-school STEM Academy
designed to develop self-confidence, create excitement and teach computer programming skills which include but are not limited to: JAVA script,
CSS, HTML, SQL and programming languages for creating APPS for cell phones and computer gaming. We will also create a network of educators
associated with STEM learning who can develop and lobby for computer science curriculum as a graduation requirement. Finally, a major
portion of this Fellowship will be used to establish a Charter School called the RI STEM Institute.
#hablemos (#letstalk) will engage citizen empowerment, new technology training, and community initiated problem-solving; piloted first in
Central Falls then expanded throughout RI. There are three proposed components:

Creation of a new, accessible mobile application that engages residents of all ages in citizen-owned multimedia journalism--with the
purpose of identifying and creating solutions to local community challenges.

Vocational training and skill building (programming code, news investigations based in new technologies, digital media) to replace
extinct jobs based on old technologies. Learning the skills of transmedia journalism and media production allows residents to conduct
research in their community, build civic engagement and create a platform for connecting citizens to take action.

Youth engagement, on-line and in non-school creative space, especially during the high-risk 3-6 PM time frame. Youth want places
where they feel safe, learn new job related skills, and are creatively engaged in contributing to their community.
Rhode Island has a strong history in the arts, including the performing arts, but facilities for this are sorely lacking in rural areas. Swamp Meadow
Community Theatre, in rural Foster, has been "Building Community Through Theatre" for more than a decade. A large part of our mission has
been providing training, opportunity, and experience to children and young adults as performers, directors, writers, and tech crew members. We
would like to form "The American Youth Theatre," to expand opportunities for children and young adults who are interested in theater to explore
and perfect their craft. We would invite applicants from across the country, hold auditions to select each season's fellowship, and provide an
intensive six-week session, culminating in several performances of a show. Participants would reside with host families in the area.
Social entrepreneurship is sparked by the same vital element common to innovative businesses, inspired design, and peaceful communities:
empathy. Inviting students "to walk in someone else's shoes" while imagining ways to improve our lives can be a key step in building peace and
resilient economic vitality for Rhode Island. Entrepreneurship education is a great equalizer: no matter the student's background, he or she is
unlikely to have any idea about how to start a business. Rising Tide Labs will unite students from across the socioeconomic spectrum in
addressing the needs of our state through entrepreneurial solutions. Partnering with the Moses Brown High School, The Institute for the Study
and Practice of Non-Violence, and Social Enterprise Greenhouse, we will create businesses that provide vital job skills for at risk youth while
fostering empathy and a sense of shared mission for the people of Rhode Island.
Robert Coderre,
Ashley Karpinsky,
Angela Fonseca,
and Edward
Bastia
rhcoderre AT yahoo DOT com
Dwight Coleman,
Gail Scowcroft,
Chris Knowlton,
Andrew Gingras,
Derek Sutcliffe,
and Alex DeCiccio
dcoleman AT mail DOT uri DOT
edu
Marianne
Coleman
Sonya Collins
mariannec AT gmail DOT com
sonyacollins111 AT yahoo DOT
com
Gina Colvario
Krupka
gina AT believeinyoutoday DOT
com
Darlene Correia
darlenecorreia AT yahoo DOT
com
RachelCroce
rcroce AT atrion DOT net
Our idea is to provide educational choice to all Rhode Islanders. We believe this is best accomplished by empowering parents to select the best
educational choice for their child not the local school district. For too many years, your zipcode determined your destiny. If you grew up in the
02818 zipcode (East Greenwich) or the 02806 zipcode (Barrington) you were fine. You hit the educational jackpot. However, if you grew up in
the 02905 zipcode (Providence) or the 02860 zipcode (Pawtucket) you may not have been so lucky. In this day and age it is unconscionable that
where you live determines your educational destiny.
The Inner Space Center (ISC) at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography is the hub for live ocean research and
exploration, providing real-time connectivity to oceanographic ships and instruments, including the hosting and distribution of high-definition
video from robotic vehicle systems supporting exciting missions to unexplored deep-sea environments. The ISC provides the linkages between
these science programs and a large and growing network of universities, schools, museums, aquariums, science centers, boys and girls clubs, and
other venues around the world. Yet, with few exceptions, undergraduate college classrooms and K-12 schools in Rhode Island are not well
connected to the ISC, nor do they follow along in live exploration programs or use our produced educational content. The idea for the Innovation
Fellowship is to build a state-of-the-art online virtual classroom of educational content around the missions supported by the ISC and to test the
classroom with live audiences.
I make handmade custom wigs for professional theaters. These wigs are traditionally made on a hard plastic lace and the hair is hand tied onto
the lace to make them realistic, breathable and light weight. It is a shrinking craft because they are expensive and time consuming to make. A
friend had breast cancer and lost her hair to chemo. She tried off the rack wigs and a top of the line wig. They irritated her bald head and she
refused to wear them but she and others want to look normal when going out. I made her a custom wig with a softer base material, she loved it.
I would like to teach support groups how to make these wigs for their loved ones.
I invented a medical device for the safe disposal of contaminated needle/syringes. With this device you're able to use the one hand method
when disposing of the needle/syringe. It would lesson the need for expensive safety needles that obstruct the field of view at site of injection.
Believe In You Today, founded by Gina Colvario Krupka, CLC in 2007, helps individuals recognize their hidden potential. Its primary focus is to
boost self-esteem. Our services are meant for all in need, regardless of income. We have found the people in greatest need often do not know
where to look or cannot afford self-help services. With this Fellowship, we would target teens and the displaced and/or unemployed. The
greatest determining factor of success is self-esteem. The Fellowship will help us focus on five points in developing our clients: 1.
One of the most complex and serious issues impacting Rhode Island, both on an individual and societal level, is the increase of domestic violence
and sexual assault. Rhode Island has implemented programs that assist some victims become survivors; however, the surface has not been
scratched. I plan on establishing a program that will deal with both the sexual offenders and victims. It is extremely important to decrease and
ultimately terminate the horrific crimes to attempt to understand what the offenders are thinking and feeling at the times the crimes are
committed. Services need to be made available to victims who cannot afford to pay for same and/or who do not have health insurance.
Atrion is offering a solution to stimulate and grow the IT industry in the State of Rhode Island, by addressing the critical skills gap, unemployment
crisis, and underemployment, by expanding our innovative IT technology Apprentice Program that is recognized as the first in the State of RI. Our
goal is to launch the careers of promising entry-level candidates entering into the IT industry, hiring and training them through our intensive
Apprenticeship Program. We blend technical and soft skills training together in an accelerated curriculum that offers hands on experience,
mentoring and industry recognized certifications. Providing these individuals with in-demand skills, we feel we are enhancing the employability of
Rhode Islanders, enriching our job market and ultimately impacting the economic, social and cultural vitality, health and well-being of the
community. With IT being one of the fastest growing employment-sectors, we intend to put RI on the map with a qualified workforce.
Michelle Cruz
michellecruzjazz AT gmail DOT
com
Elizabeth Cunha
and Kevin Cunha
beth AT cdlri DOT org
Lori Daiello
ldaiello AT lifespan DOT org
Lyndsey
Daigneault and
Ashley
Daigneault
Lyndsey.paparella AT gmail
DOT com
Tammy
D'Antuono
dantuono2 AT cox DOT net
Julian Dash
juliandash AT gmail DOT com
The "Music is Healing" sessions will involve music wellness sessions throughout the state provided by award-winning jazz vocalist Michelle Cruz.
The "Music is Healing" sessions will engage Alzheimer's and Dementia patients with activities to stimulate mood and memory using the
transformative power of music. In these sessions, I will use different genres of music (country, jazz, soul, blues etc.) to interest a diverse
population. This particular project holds a place for me personally as I have had family members with dementia and Alzheimer's. My godfather,
who introduced me jazz at age 5 suffered with Alzheimer's until his recent death on April 9, 2013. I used music in all their cases to bring new life
into their day, whether to trigger an old memory and story or listen to them sing entire lyrics to songs from days gone by. Music and memory
recall go hand in hand.
High Quality Education is the key to economic recovery and future success in RI. However, not every student learns the same way and in the same
time. Our educators our working at levels of frustration and cannot keep teaching to the middle. We need an innovative model which supports
teacher and student learning, promotes equality in the classroom, while simultaneously addressing skills gaps; this will occur by fusing soft skills
and academics delivered in real world settings. We are proposing the development of Innovative, Inquiry Based, Learning Incubators across our
urban sectors beginning with Central Falls. At these Incubators, small groups of teachers selected through an application and lottery process,
would be mentored by business leaders, experts in the fields related to STEAMM, and youth development practitioners. Students benefiting
from the Learning Incubators would selected from the highest at risk populations and also placed in a lottery system.
Alzheimer's is a progressive brain disease that destroys memory, and it is the most common form of dementia among older adults�" in Rhode
Island, over 24,000 suffer with this disorder. Nighttime is often not a time of rest for people with dementia, who are prone to wandering and
sleeplessness. Agitation, called sundowning," is especially vexing for those caring for them at home and is often a reason for nursing home
admission. Caregivers need sleep �" many have job and childcare responsibilities during the day. While there are day care programs for persons
with dementia, but no night care alternatives in Rhode Island. At present, the most common solution is prescribing of powerful sedatives, but
these drugs may not work well and have dangerous side effects that cause additional problems, like increased confusion, falls, and fractures in
persons with dementia. Night-time care programs are a better solution for persons with Alzheimer's Disease and their caregivers.
The College Unboxed Project will tackle three key issues facing our state: higher education affordability, job development and the skills gap. With
high unemployment and an increasing need for a highly trained workforce, Rhode Island needs a way to deliver alternative routes for young
people to obtain relevant training and education that leads to viable careers. CUP will create a college-like experience, enrolling students in a
program that focuses on creating highly specialized training through externships, online coursework using MOOCS (mass open online courses)
and mentoring. By partnering with corporate, philanthropy and non-profit organizations, College Unboxed will develop professional modules for
students to move through, focusing the bulk of their "studies" in experiential learning placements. The result is a highly affordable training
program that delivers 2-3 years of relevant career preparation, a strong professional network and a viable path to careers and higher education.
My idea targets WORKING single women and single mothers who can afford to purchase homes however choose not because of high
maintenance costs. Not only is there the upkeep of the house itself there is also the upkeep of plumbing,electrical, appliances, heating/ac
systems, etc. If there was a state and/or federal program that subsidized their costs this would not only stimulate Rhode Islands economy by
increasing home sales, home values, and adding jobs but also may be a stepping stone for a federally based program.
Inner City Energy ("ICE") capitalizes on opportunities provided by the growing renewable energy market to address poverty and income disparity
by creating career opportunities for low-income and inner city communities. In 2012, I was an Innovation Fellowship finalist focusing on closing
the gap between clean energy and low-income neighborhoods/small businesses. Since then the state has increased its investments in
renewables and I've secured funding to address small business challenges. With 15 projects, $7MM under development, and in partnership
conversations to double, we've had success. However, we've not had the investment to address the low income/urban communities and they
are still excluded from meaningful participation in this market. If fortunate enough to continue, you'll find an application with a refined business
plan, where resources are directed more to the execution of solutions rather than start-up and management of them. The result: A sustainable
organization, built upon market-based principles addressing this problem.
Christian de
Rezendes
breakingbranches AT gmail
DOT com
Janice DeFrances,
Margaret Holland
McDuff, and Saul
Kaplan
janice.defrances AT dcyf DOT ri
DOT gov
Anne DeGroot,
Alicia Curtin,
Diane Martin,
Shahla Yekta,
Valerie Joseph,
and Adam Silva
Dr.Annie.DeGroot AT gmail
DOT com
Sandra Demmler
D'Amico
pastor.sandra.damico AT gmail
DOT com
Zoitan Derdak,
Christoph RosePetruck, and
Ivana Suffredini
Zoltan_Derdak AT brown DOT
edu
Rhode Island is proud of its heritage and role in shaping the history of Industrialization in the United States. However, this great story, one that
has been 200 years in the making, is not complete. History has left out the nameless, the millworkers, who labored to build, work and live in the
mill villages. As lifelong residents of Rhode Island, we have the unique ability and perspective to tell this story, by creating several short
documentary films and an interactive, educational website with first hand stories of what it was like during the 1800's and 1900's in the
Blackstone Valley Mill Villages. The advanced ages of the prospective film participants make this the last chance to capture personalized accounts
of this story told; a story not only about history, but one that will also answer the question, "What can be learned from the past to grow
communities of the future?"
Rhode Island's Department of Children, Youth & Families (DCYF) seeks a new state child welfare model, transforming how it cares for children in
its custody, moving from a congregate care to a family-care centered model. The Business Innovation Factory (BIF) believes that transformation
starts with human-centered design and real world experimentation. By understanding experience through the lens of the citizen, we can design
models that meet people where they are and serve their unmet needs. By experimenting with complete system models in the real world, we can
accelerate the pace of transformative change and scale. In high social impact areas, from education to healthcare to government, BIF helps
leaders design and test transformational new models. They believe that transformational change is imperative but we often settle for
incremental improvement to the way things work today. We believe that this partnership with BIF will allow us to design, prototype and test a
new child welfare model for R.I.'s most vulnerable population.
CHEER Health Satellites in low-income and immigrant neighborhoods will reduce health disparities while saving millions of dollars in medical
costs. Through CHEER Health, we will provide health-disparities populations (HDP) with access to health screens, preventive interventions and
non-urgent healthcare while working with these individuals to improve health literacy and healthier lifestyle choices. To achieve these goals, we
will link and expand two successful programs that are currently based at Clinica Esperanza/Hope Clinic (CEHC), a clinic for uninsured and
'uninsurable' in Rhode Island: (1) the cost-saving CHEER program (projected $1.2M saving in health costs/year in a published study); and (2) the
innovative Vida Sana/Healthy Life program for individuals at hypertension, heart disease, diabetes and obesity (metabolic syndrome). Leveraging
our altruistic volunteers and experienced healthcare staff, we'll reach into HDP neighborhoods to make our cutting edge programs available to
HDP where they gather, in churches, soup kitchens, food banks, and neighborhood centers.
As a pastor, I hear what people struggle with and hope for. I wish to explore the loss of hope and its necessity for community life. The
Recession has been long and deep, fostering grief and isolation for those affected. Many Rhode Islanders struggle with hope. An end-of-the-world
mentality floats about. Especially seniors and those less tech-connected. But elders have stories and wisdom, about gathering hope when times
are tough. Youth have dreams we need to hear. Families need courage which hope brings. Churches, schools, artists, community leaders all work
to keep hope afloat. But I still hear it out there. As a leader, I know solutions emerge when we gather people together, ask questions, and then
wait, and listen. I am often well-advised by someone less fortunate, who knows their context better than I do, or keeps it simple. It is this
pathway of seeking counsel that I propose to engage in a project of reclaiming hope.
Cancer represents a serious healthcare problem in Rhode Island, as the state is in the top 5 based on the overall age-adjusted invasive cancer
incidence rate. There is a well-defined need to improve the treatment of cancer by increasing cancer sensitivity towards existing therapies or
providing new therapeutic options. This is a daunting task as cancers often exhibit significant biological diversity, by which they achieve resistance
to therapy. Our novel approach would target a distinct metabolic feature of cancer - rather than individual pathways - that is a common in most
of the cancers and absent from normal tissues: the exclusive reliance on glycolysis to generate energy. We will assess a large collection of plant
extracts from the Amazotlantic rainforests in a collaborative effort between Rhode Island Hospital, Brown University and the Laboratório de
Extração de Universidade Paulista (UNIP, Brazil) to identify those that may suppress glycolysis and tumor viability.
Peter
Diepenbrock
Gregory
DiGasper, Colin
McDonald,
Charles Garcia,
Nancy Lush, and
Jeff Bush
Bob Dilworth,
Clarissa Walker,
Norman Barber,
Munir
Mohammed,
Linda A'Vant
Delshinni, and
David Stephens
peter AT peterdiepenbrock
DOT com
greg AT dwellatease DOT com
bobman2 AT mail DOT uri DOT
edu
Dana DiPaolo,
Rajiv Sodlapur,
and Joe Lezon
danapaul AT alexandani DOT
com
Maeve Donohue
mdonohue AT namistudios DOT
com
The first rule of creative problem solving is to question the framework in which a challenge is presented. Innovation is the most over-used
trending word currently used by people to make them feel they are in a forward embracing mode of thought. The implied meaning of 'innovation'
is 'technology': an app. I offer a moderated counter point. I am a contemporary sculptor devoted to the value of public place making. I believe
staying within one's expertise is paramount. Therefor I am proposing to build an interactive, long term, public sculpture, to be installed, in the
soon to be renovated plaza on the city side of the Amtrak train station. The innovative value of this work will be in it's embrace of a traditional
belief in the power of aesthetics, permanence, and symbolism, while integrating technology, on a human scale, in a tangible manner, at a prime
'gateway' location to providence.
In 2014, 12,500 Rhode Islanders, 65 years and older, will fall in their homes and suffer an injury that will reduce their mobility and independence.
Direct medical costs for fall injuries will exceed $218 million. Patients' family members and caregivers will lose approximately $12 billion in wages,
social security, and pensions while caring for a patient. The problem is: Most people cannot identify safety issues in their home and are
neglecting to take the steps to make their homes safer. We've launched a web-based home assessment application to identify home hazards and
obstacles to accessibility. Our application provides actionable solutions and tools to correct home hazards and obstacles. Our products and
services empower people, with cost effective and easy-to-use tools and guidance, to create safe & accessible homes. This process reinforces,
peace of mind for seniors, family, & caretakers, and prevents accidental injury, financial loss and undue stress. Pick us.
Fragmentation that is endemic to Rhode Island's population, segregation with lines of demarcation drawn by class, economic disparity, variant
national, international and cultural identities are challenges of the state that impede progress in innumerable ways. But, what of Rhode Island's
future? Who will be our unifying champions and agents of change? How do our youth ages 15 to 21 prioritize social action and define
"citizenship" and "public participation"? Considering our constraints -- from marginalized immigrant voices to disempowered homeless youth -what value do these Rhode Islanders place on civic duty and community? This project relies on reflection (data gathering, interviewing,
community immersion, etc.) and social action and cultivating agents of change (creating public murals, producing and disseminating a video
documentary, composing blog content and holding workshops led by youth leaders). All work seeks to locate and capture community narratives
about various conceptualizations and obligations tethered to "citizenship".
Imagine: Dad, daughter walking in Providence. The girl, asks "Daddy, what's that?" Dad holds up his smartphone and confidently replies "Oh,
that's the Nelson W. Aldrich house, now home to the RI Historical Society." She replies "Looks creepy..." then adds "who's Nelson Aldrich, can we
pls go in?" Dad glances at the screen "He was a U.S. Senator, one of the most powerful in Washington at turn of the 20th century..." He taps on
screen again for the hours, prices, then shouts "Let's go!" With one more tap, he sends a digital card to his social network, letting friends, family
know what they're up to. Imagine: Groups of students and teachers in small groups with computers, creating artwork, historical copy, coding,
others white-boarding business plans. A student unpacks new smart phones and tablets, giving them to classmates, when a teacher loudly
exclaims "Hooray, we just launched v1.0!"
From coffee shops to board rooms, there's an ongoing discussion on moving the needle in RI. Everyone agrees we need to reduce the
ineffectiveness of siloed information and reverse RI's negative image, both external and internal. Around the world, we live our lives in digital
networks, leaving behind digital bread-crumbs of personal information. The World Economic Forum is seeking practical applications of new
privacy standards that return ownership of data back to the individual. By creating a suite of common services connected to a single state-wide
database, we eliminate technical development redundancy and facilitate collaboration between organizations. This unified platform offers users
the ease of a single login across siloed organizations and empowers them with personal dashboards to manage memberships, preferences and
privacy. This central repository creates a research testbed where users receive payment for access to their data, gaining the attention of the
World Economic Forum and giving Rhode Islanders pride and ownership in propelling us into the global spotlight.
Leah Dorfman
leah_dorfman AT alumni DOT
brown DOT edu
Lee Drescher
mrstreas AT comcast DOT net
John Duke
johnduke AT johnduke DOT
com
Taylor Ellowitz
Brendan English,
Steve Trychon,
Blair Morad, Paul
Sandin, and
Martin Deale
tellowitz AT gmail DOT com
Gary EpsteinLubow
Gary_Epstein-Lubow AT Brown
DOT edu
brendan_english AT rail-pod
DOT com
It is estimated that 30.1% of children in Rhode Island between the ages of 10 and 17 are overweight or obese. Obesity raises risk for a broad
range of serious health-related disorders. Therefore, reversing the trend of childhood obesity must be a public health priority in Rhode Island. It
is widely accepted that increasing energy expenditure and reducing energy intake form the basis of weight management. Research has
demonstrated that recess programs are inexpensive, simple ways to increase physical activity levels. Recess interventions thus far have sought to
change the recess environment rather than directly impacting the students' activity during recess in a structured way. This pilot project proposes
to implement structural changes in one Providence elementary school recess area which have been proven to be effective in other states. This
project is innovative in that these structural changes would be supplemented with facilitators to promote fitness and proper form.
2. Idea-It is my wish and desire to bring the gift of literacy and a love of the printed word to all of the children in Rhode Island while also
establishing an opportunity to launch a teaching program for broadcast. Treasure Time is a live educational literacy/arts program, which
interprets children's picture books through dance, drama, song and hands on art. It also relates to Science and Math and complies with emerging
concepts in education known as STEAM. Rhode Island has all of the necessary components which are supremely primed for bringing an innovative
learning program to fruition. Distinguished Colleges and alumni offer business, technical and educational expertise. RISD offers artistic excellence.
RIPBS is available to produce programs and the Film Office to assist. Extensive technology people exist in the area to create and maintain a web
and media presence, while Hasbro is poised to fabricate educational toys and games.
Establish a cooperative enterprise, called WORK.COOP, that supports manufacture of products with high inherent labor input, and directs
member buying choices to their purchase. This initiative answers the fundamental economic challenge of the 21st century: decades of
cumulative gains in productivity have made the labor of large segments of society superfluous. WORK.COOP will: 1. Develop and publish a
database of "workivity" factors for essential consumer goods. Workivity equals hours of labor input divided by retail sales price (inverse of
productivity). High workivity enterprises are inherently small scale, non-capital intensive, and energy efficient. 2. Manage and distribute opensource high workivity product designs for community-based manufacturing. 3. Host workshops in basic manufacturing practice for micro-scale
manufacturers, to facilitate start-up of high workivity businesses. The factors of production are labor, capital, raw materials, and energy.
WORK.COOP will enlarge the labor portion and shrink the others - a sustainable future economic model.
What if all Rhode Islanders committed to donate 5% of their income? This simple question could have a profound effect on life in Rhode Island,
leading to more than twice the amount of charitable giving in RI. My idea is to develop a 5% campaign that will promote, celebrate, and
ultimately instill in Rhode Islanders a personal responsibility to give - and a specific level that should be given. The campaign will shift Rhode
Islander's view of philanthropy so that donating 5% is viewed as a basic civic duty. The campaign's strategy will draw from recent insights in
behavioral economics, social movement theory, and social media advertising. Imagine a "I pledge 5%" meme - Facebook posts, bumper stickers,
buttons, and community leader endorsements - all celebrating the pledge. The campaign will use peer encouragement, social rewards, and group
pledges through social media and hand-written pledges.
RailPod is a unique railroad testing device using modern day robotics technology to: - Improve quality, frequency and reliability of daily rail track
inspection data; - Help improve overall condition of national / regional track networks; - Lower cost of inspections for a multi-billion dollar global
industry; - Lower the high cost of derailments (~2 occur every day in the US!); and - Improve safety of railroad track inspectors and passengers.
RailPod fills a gaping hole in the railroad industry by providing more sophisticated and timely information using cost lowering robotics to routinely
inspect and plan railroad track maintenance based on better factual inspection data.
I propose development and implementation of a Statewide Yardstick for Networking Care (SYNC) to aid individuals with dementia and their family
caregivers. The "Memory SYNC" program will promote engagement of family caregivers and people with memory difficulties into partnership
with clinicians. The entry point into Memory SYNC will be through a universal health-screening program completed by automated telephone,
Internet, or with a clinician. Results of the screening will lead to a 3-tiered follow-up based on level of urgency. Situations with low urgency will
be referred to routine care. "Emergency" situations will receive immediate clinical referrals. For urgent situations that are not an emergency,
family caregivers and individuals with memory problems will be guided through Memory SYNC electronic resources to further define the nature
of the problems; and the outcome of this Memory SYNC process will be an individualized plan for clinical services.
Michael Esordi,
Andrew Rosa,
and Tina Lefebvre
mesordi AT carene DOT org
Bradley Fesmire
and Riverzedge
Arts staff and
board
brad AT riverzedgearts DOT org
Kenneth Filarski
kjfilarski AT yahoo DOT com
Mary Flynn
Mary_Flynn AT brown DOT edu
Donna Folcarelli
folcarel AT aol DOT com
The health care system of the future will shift the focus from providers offering specialty care to sick people to those preventing illness in the first
place through a strengthened network of primary care opportunities. To accomplish that, health care organizations will need to be nimble,
inventive and customer-focused, bringing the care and health education out to people in fun and innovative ways. CNE envisions capitalizing on
the food truck craze by deploying a system-supported health coach to provide events that promote healthy living -- including on-site exercise
classes and the availability of healthy foods -- in a public setting. Using social media, we would broadcast the location of the truck (Roger Williams
Park, Fort Adams, etc.) and Rhode Islanders of all ages could meet up for a yoga class, fruit smoothie or various family-friendly activities. We
believe this would help fight sedentary lifestyles and chronic conditions by offering healthy options.
The Rural Project will be a regional hub for transformative change through the lens of design, fabrication, business innovation and credit bearing
learning to mastery. Located in Kingston, the Rural Project will provide industry mentors, space, cutting edge tools and exploration time to high
school youth and young adults to help them bring their ideas and dreams into fruition. This will be accomplished through authentic and passion
driven design and fabrication projects that have an eye towards cultural and community impact, that are of contemporary relevance, and that
offer pathways to earn academic credit supporting high school and post secondary success. The Rural Project is a catalyst for leveling an unlevel
playing field for at-risk youth, offering hundreds of young people with pressing need a leg up and out of poverty through their own development
and endeavor, and it will prepare the workforce RI needs to carry economic development forward.
The idea uses ECOLOGY for DESIGNING/EVALUATING/INTEGRATING PHYSICAL and PROGRAMMATIC INITIATIVES. The more we apply ECOLOGY
to initiatives, the greater likelihood for holistic success, enhancing our ecology, integrating limited resources. ECOLOGY is the synergy of how well
ideas/places - the "it" - behaves, expressed by these "E's": 1. ENVIRONMENT, the appropriate arrangement, quantity, scale of its
parts/components; 2. ESTHETICS, how it appears, its looks/shape/form, design, beauty, elegance; 3. EGRESS, how it allows
movement/navigation in, around, through it; 4. EXTENSIONS, how it connects to, and integrates with other ideas/places; 5. EFFICIENCY, how it
does more with less, eliminating redundancy, optimizing resources; 6. ECONOMY, how it assimilates/influences/enhances flows of
capital/investment. 7. EDUCATION, how it encourages formal/informal learning, discovery, invention; 8. EQUALITY, how it embraces
engagement, diversity, openness, access, questions, answers, exploration, tolerance; 9. ETHICS, how people involved with it conduct their affairs
of belief, business, governance, neighborliness, friends, family; 10. ECLECTICISM, how it encourages/embraces varieties of sources, styles, ideas,
anomalies, quirkiness, fun; 11. ENERGY, how it uses/generates/conserves/replenishes all resources, food, health, well being.
This application is for a long-term solution to decreasing health care costs by improving the diets of low-income RITE Care recipients. It will use
food as medicine, showing people how to improve their diet and health with a cooking program demonstrating healthy, low-cost recipes. It is
based on a completed study that showed the cooking program will de-crease food insecurity and body weight, and improves diet. This proposal
is to teach staff at health care centers and future physicians the cooking program and work with the cen-ters to make it part of their services.
The proposal will also continue a research protocol of the cooking program for type 2 diabetics testing improvements in blood glucose, body
weight, and diet. The health outcome data from the programs will be used to show the cost effectiveness of the program with a goal to make the
program a permanent service.
Case Management services to the elderly and veterans. These services would wrap around the needs of the client and be inclusive of all services.
Services would allow each individual to be able to get involved in community participation while getting the necessary services to lead healthy
productive stress free lives by continued support and care through home services. Services would range from companionship, mental supports,
problem solving for underlying issues causing depression, isolation and anxiety. Future thoughts include the initiation of elderly communities
which would be set up so that each individual has their own space in which they can be independant. This would simulate a household versus the
traditional set up used in assisted living facilities. There would be a worker onsite 24 hours per day to ensure each individual recieves adequate
care and supervision on a daily basis.
David Fontaine
davefontaine1 AT gmail DOT
com
Ellen Galkin and
Colleen
Cavanaugh
egalkin123 AT aol DOT com
Roberto Garcia
www DOT platncasandra_vn AT
hotmail DOT com
Jeannette Garcia
jgarciasbodyfxstudio AT yahoo
DOT com
Robin Gardner
info AT techfortomorrow DOT
org
Cynthia Gifford
cyn.gifford AT gmail DOT com
In the 21st century, teachers and students are finding traditional textbooks less useful and out-of-date before they reach the classroom.
Teachers only use a fraction of the material, and the costs have skyrocketed; even the smallest districts spend over $100,000/year on textbooks!
My proposal focuses upon 'crowdsourcing' the Collective Intelligence of secondary school subject-matter experts in the STEM areas. I will train
them to develop multi-media based digital textbooks that will use Open Education Resources as their foundation; thereby creating FREE, highquality, eTextbooks for ALL of RI schools. These eTextbooks will contain vetted content as well as embedded tutorials, edu-games, interactive
simulations, and multi-media to supplement the integration of Common Core State Standards. This is all while Differentiating Instruction for
English Language Learners and students across the skill spectrum, potentially saving cities and towns up to a million dollars over the course of this
fellowship.
Teenage years are a time of intellectual and emotional growth, identification of self, and independence. This journey is a minefield of
relationships influenced by external and at-home dynamics. "Portrait of A Teen/(R)Evolution" is a program showcasing student performance
incorporating spoken word, movement, art and music. Work will be developed and delivered by students, with guidance from outside mentors.
As emotions are exposed, students gain a sense of self-awareness, confidence, and pride.
The initiative weighs cultural and socioeconomic
factors when selecting school sites and tests the theorem that teen issues cross all boundaries. Individuality is championed and weaknesses
become challenges. Integrating performance with professional artists provides students with inspiration. Vignettes developed in workshops are
performed at schools and special repertoire pieces will be selected to create a community performance. Professional filmmakers will chronicle
evolution from writing to performance. The documentary will be distributed throughout RI to reveal teen reality and stimulate conversation
between parents, teenagers, and schools.
12/03/2013. I look forward to joining Adrianne Gagnon and Linn Taylor. Extending a solid and enduring bridge between the melting pot we live in
our RHODE ISLAND is the small business dream do. ISLAND T.V It is the commercial name for my idea of creating lasting and solid state of RI to
employment. I put reference in Spanish newspaper Providence, LATINA 100.3 FM on the radio dial and News in Spanish America. Bringing the
political, business and social information through a half Spanish Television the entire Hispanic community is my dream. Open that window at all
eager to study and create ideas, producing television and especially work on what you're passionate about youth. My idea is committed to
working directly with the foundation dumbbell or their representatives Leticia and John Carter. My name is Roberto Garcia Resident of
Providence RI. WWW.platncasandra_vn AT hotmail.com
my proposal is to establish a place where all human beings can come and learn the art of meditation which can promote thought and in turn
bring on dialog to explore serious problems and challenges that we; not only as Rhode Islanders face; but as human beings face and use the
resource (place) as a tool to collect data and information to bring about solutions and change.
This idea began taking shape in 2010 with the founding of the domestic non-profit Technology for Tomorrow. The purpose of TFT is to help
Rhode Island families are on the wrong side of the Digital Divide to develop the skills so useful in today's economy and so necessary for the
economy of tomorrow. There are two paths to meeting this goal: make quality technology education available to early childhood students in
economically disadvantaged communities in the state, and recycle used business computers to families with children on the free lunch program
at school. Unlike other programs that recycle used computers, we believe that recipients should also receive training so that they can become
empowered computer users. We believe that this will give parents a whole new way to engage with their children, plus provide them with new
skills that they can take to the job market.
One of the most daunting challenges facing Rhode Island is our aging population and our lack of readiness to provide meaningful housing options
to our "postretirement" community. At the same time the State lacks affordable homes for our young people. There are a number of "cohousing" projects in neighboring States organized by individuals or groups. These projects serve as working examples of productive and
affordable communities for young and old.
My idea is to explore the best way to introduce "co-generational" housing alternatives as a
statewide priority. We can influence the policies of our agencies which provide housing programs and social services , we can educate community
planners, we can lobby for changes to affordable housing legislation, we can create or very possibly transform a floundering affordable housing
project into a model for "co-housing" in Rhode Island.
Sheyna Gifford,
Benjamin Bauer,
Noah Philip, and
Benjamin Philip
dr.sheyna.gifford AT gmail DOT
com
Maria Gil and
Stephen Kogut
mgil AT er-card DOT com
Todd Giroux
girouxforgovernor2014 AT
gmail DOT com
Eric Goldlust
goldlust AT gmail DOT com
Francisco
Gonzalez
humanities AT netzero DOT net
Rhode island is a small state with an enormous drug problem. The problem centers around opiate use, in the form of heroin and prescription drug
abuse. This state of addiction has lead to a burgeoning Hepatitis C crisis, increasing diagnosis of HIV in through the early-mid 2000's, a healthcare
system overburdened by addiction-related visits, and an unknown toll on the families and individuals of Rhode Island. Tens of millions of dollars
in Federal grants are available to address this epidemic. These resources remain largely underutilized for one simple reason: no one has any idea
why this is happening. We intend to investigate the means of opiate addiction in this state by with the addicts themselves, whom we see
everyday. We then intend to follow our patients for at least a year to measure progress. What we learn can then be the basis for a campaign to
prevent addiction and steer those affected towards effective recovery.
Improve care transitions for patients upon discharge from a hospital and/or outpatient clinic in collaboration with a pharmacy advocate, care
coordinator and ER Card, an electronic personal health record, improving communication at all levels of care, along with counseling, education
and outreach to an underserved population. Poor transitional care is common, resulting in unnecessary re-hospitalizations and excess
healthcare spending, while adversely affecting patients' quality of life. Care access, coordination and communication among providers are critical
health-system factors that are often lacking. Health literacy, culture, and the sequelae of chronic conditions are patient-related factors that must
also be addressed. Medication reconciliation upon discharge can be confusing to patients, especially if new medications are ordered, and when
there is uncertainty regarding how they are to be incorporated into the previous medication regimen. Enhancing support for successful
medication use following a hospitalization will promote superior health outcomes and dramatically reduce costs of care.
Rhode Island Employment Agency - The unemployment levels remain above 50,000 in RI Labor Reports. The actual numbers of unemployed,
underemployed and those working yet looking for a new job may amount to 200,000 individuals are seeking employment in any particular crosssection of the seasons. I propose create a public_private jobs board that is more esteemed than craigslist and supportive to individual growth,
resume building and online employment profile to connect ri residents with the opportunity to find local work. RI companies can post jobs,
review job seeker, hire and become part of the compelling sucess of RI Working. The opporttunity to connect the employers and job se ekers is
available through existing software to manage with an agency focused on this key issue which does not exist at this time.
I propose to found a free dental clinic for the underserved population of greater Providence. Over 1/4 of Rhode Islanders are without dental
insurance, and subsequently go without dental care. While access to dental care may not seem vital, bear in mind that dental pain is a top cause
of lost work days. Without access to dental care, that pain may last weeks, months, or even years. And for those with tooth decay and loss, they
may be unable to find work -- ever. Many Rhode Islanders live with painful and unsightly dental conditions and have nowhere else to turn for
help. Left untreated, tooth decay and gum disease can lead to infected heart valves (endocarditis), heart attacks, stroke, diabetes, childbirth
complications, and more. A reliable source for free dental care could change the face, and the faces, of Rhode Island.
There is a war going on in education -- the fleeing refugees -- our children. The 'holy grail' of education has not been found. Charter Schools are
created in the hopes of finding it (removing burdensome bureaucracies, implementing innovative ideas, and novel methodologies). But reform
has taken many unwanted forms, often pinning teachers against administrators, paraprofessionals against professionals; I am announcing to all
that I have found the holy grail! It was found in an archeological site! Crusading educators missed it because it was a simple earthen object, not
bejeweled with gems or gold, or superfluous bells or whistles. It is called H-STEAM (Humanities-based Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts,
and Math). H-STEAM is a Role-play program that can be turned 'ON' or 'OFF' on teacher demand (in the classroom). Its Common Core contents
improve on STEM and STEAM ideas by encompassing the other sciences: the Social Sciences. H-STEAM also has measurable Game Theory
elements -- providing short-game-like-exposures to complex subjects.
Franicsco
Gonzalez
humanities AT netzero DOT net
Gemma Gorham,
Kim Gans, Julius
Kolawole, and
Rachel Newman
GEMMA_GORHAM AT BROWN
DOT EDU
Christopher Gray
d-a-d1 AT cox DOT net
Rebekah
Greenwald Speck
bekahjasmine AT gmail DOT
com
Joanne Griffing
joannegriffing AT verizon DOT
net
Lee Grossi
nfppartners AT yahoo DOT com
411/211 telephone systems help Rhode Islanders get information; I envision a drop-in center where presenters from all walks of life set up tables
24/7. Human communication being what it is, renders telephone-based systems non-verbally ineffective. This center will have awesome
aesthetic environments; places where local artists thrive and connect; a visual/auditory environment where the 'playing fields' are leveled for
those seeking assistance (not a dingy public agency where stereotypical images of poor people seeking help abound, but a vibrant space where all
share common human need). This center will be filled with beauty, history, and images of positive resolutions to social issues (in this day of
communication-abundance the 'human touch' is urgently needed). Places for public performance, dance, and music will make our center unique.
This center will enable Rhode Island citizenry to look at itself with compassion and without subtle class distinctions: The center's commitment to
assist Rhode Islanders with non-linear (holistic) models of service will save lives.
My idea is to increase access to affordable, healthful and local food in RI by expanding the innovative, evidence-based 'Fresh To You' (FTY) mobile
market program that brings discount, high quality produce markets to convenient locations in or near where people live and work. I propose to
do this by: a) creating a FTY non-profit to be run by RI residents with assistance from Brown faculty, staff and students who created,
implemented and evaluated the program; and b) partnering with, purchasing food from, and helping to expand the efforts of local urban farmers
and 'market gardeners', especially immigrant and refugees growing food from their native countries. We propose a 'Robin Hood' model whereby
markets would be brought into higher-income neighborhoods and worksites so that the higher profits from sales at these sites could help cover
the costs of bringing the markets into low-income communities, thus eventually creating a self-sustaining program.
The Designate-A-Driver (D-A-D) Mission is to help educate all youth and families about the dangers of irresponsible and underage alcohol
consumption; as well as illegal drug use in our communities. Utilizing our 501 (c) (3) status, we will purchase one hi-tech motor-coach vehicle to
provide one extracurricular trip per day, alternating between all six high schools in Newport County and Salve during the school year. Trial results
in 2011 and 2012 confirm that our d-a-d bus program will save school districts money and enlighten our student passengers along the way. We
charge private schools non-profit rates for better service than they already pay for, and we air a brief safety video during transit. This will help
subsidize public after-school, educational travel for years to come. D-A-D has effectively connected with children and young adults by
repetitiously providing a widely beneficial school community service in return for student attention and cooperation.
The "Listen to Their Idea" Project creates an open on-line forum for matching idea pitches from anyone or any group, any age, anywhere in RI, to
connect to others who want to do something, get involved, invest in change, or be inspired. Designed to equalize access to opportunity and
catalyze the most effective solutions, the "Listen to Their Idea" Project also will provide students and schools, individuals and groups with a
curriculum, tool-kit and services from the "Listen to Their Idea" Team to incubate ideas, create digital pitches, and follow up with time,
opportunity and fund investors and volunteers. The curriculum will catalyze leadership, entrepreneurship, new thinking, and self-reliance. The
"Listen to Their Idea" website is an initial platform to get fresh ideas in motion, get people together, and give people new tools and options to
create a better RI. Ideas are good in the eyes of the beholder.
My HOPE is to help the poor in Rhode Island. I would open Community Pods throughout our towns. Community Pod's would be a place for the
person residing in that town to go to for help. For instance, I live in Coventry so anyone who lives in Coventry would have a safe haven and it's
called Community Pod, a safe place to go. On the bulletin board which each Pod will have there will be a bartering board. Back to basics so folks
can get back on their feet. A place where people in our community could drop off clothes, food, toys, for those within our community.
Community Pods should pop up in every town; we need to start helping each other again.
In 1980 R I created a single state department to consolidate all services for children. Unfortunately, we have a system that is negatively perceived
by clients, stakeholders and citizens throughout the state. My proposal is to re-invent the child welfare system so that all child caring agencies
develop and adopt a new joint vision and strategic plan. The vision would be that "every child deserves a family". No child, regardless of need or
circumstances, should grow up in institutional care. It must be a joint vision that holds everyone collectively responsible. Following the adoption
of a joint vision and strategic plan; a report card would be developed to measure progress annually; a visible public figure would be identified to
provide visibility to the initiative; and an annual summit and report card would be issued to the public to show what has been achieved, what
barriers remain, and what needs to be done to achieve the vision.
Nicholas Haber
Wendy Hadley,
Christie Rizzo,
Elizabeth
Lowenhaupt,
Stephanie
Umaschi, and
Carol Lewis
nich AT nichhaber DOT com
wendy_hadley AT brown DOT
edu
John Haley,
Howard Kilguss,
and Chris
Maloney
ssiinc AT hotmail DOT com
Jim Halsband
vendemmia22 AT gmail DOT
com
Samson
Hampton, Alexia
Hurley, and
Christina Rivero
Providenceyouthnetwork AT
gmail DOT com
Christopher
Hannafin
channafindvm AT nsvs DOT
necoxmail DOT com
Rhode Island has a proud sports heritage and exceptional athletes. However, it is a challenge for our individual athletes to get the assistance they
need to become world class. Most post-collegiate athletes require several years of hard training to achieve their peak capabilities. My proposal is
for a community-based individual athlete incubator that nurtures these individuals as both athletes and role models in Rhode Island
communities. In the US, sports is a $470 billion industry that continues to grow. Rhode Island has all of the resources to create great athletes
and generate financial benefits from their success. This program is in effect a start-up business incubator. Successful individual athletes can
generate the kind of revenue that successful businesses can. This program can create the next wave of world class in our communities who will
take pleasure in the benefits of giving back.
Our proposal is to develop the capacity of HASBRO's Fostering Health Program to meet the behavioral health needs of youth in foster care.
Directed by our colleague, Dr. Carol Lewis, the clinic is a medical home for foster youth, providing primary care and brief behavioral health
screenings. In the current model, youth with positive mental health screens are referred to community providers for more extensive evaluation
and treatment; unfortunately this results in a 4-6 week care delay, limited access to providers trained in the needs of foster youth and limited
access to trauma-informed services. This is a significant problem as 49.7%of foster youth have mental health needs. Consistent with the
Affordable Care Act our proposal will unify services to consolidate care, improve outcomes, and minimize oversights. This model is especially
relevant for foster youth who face a myriad of systems and providers who are often ill-prepared to address their unique needs.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of protein shipped aboard trucks from Canadian shellfish farms pass through RI every year with a product
that can be produced in our State. Edible bivalves (mussels) now cultivated by a handful of small scale operations in RI have proven cultivation of
market ready mussels is possible in our waters, a potential major "agricultural" crop for RI. Current Federal/State regulations make it possible for
the industry to expand into areas of RI sound that can become an economic engine for the State -- employing thousands of Rhode Islanders. A
major hurdle for the industry is availability of seed stock (mussel spat) naturally produced by adult mussels once or twice a year. If pre-seeded
substrate (mussel growth "rope") was made available to shellfish farmers multiple growing seasons for RI Mussel farmers could be realized
without need for natural Mussel spawning -- this will change the industry.
Create a pilot model recycling center which will incorporate new pyrolysis technology that converts waste plastics into oil. This oil can be used
directly as home heating fuel, blended with diesel fuel as an additive on a 50-50 basis or it may be further refined into gasoline, diesel, kerosene
and heavy oils. Energy recovery costs per gallon of oil from 8.25 pounds of plastic is roughly 30 cents. Each conversion system will create a
minimum of 5 new jobs. Plastic waste streams will be diverted from the presently over-burdened landfills as an additional benefit to R.I.
It's Friday night and sport fans Johnny and Timmy can't find anything to do; tomorrow William tells them they missed a free BMX show just down
the road. After months of planning and countless dollars spent, organization ABC is about to launch their new program only to learn that funding
was cut because organization XYZ (just around the corner) has been operating an identical program for 10 years. These sorts of things happen all
the time. Finally sick of hearing these stories a few young adults decided to do something about, and thus Providence Youth Network (PYN) was
formed. PYN's goal is twofold. 1. To increase youth participation in cultural, educational, artistic, athletic and other enrichment to keep youth out
of trouble and foster a lifetime of achievement. 2. To facilitate inter-organizational communications between youth specific agencies to a more
successful and sustainable community. PYN is and independent Youth-Lead/Run agency.
The Rhode Island Agricultural Veterinary Educational Service (RIAVES) is establishing a collaborative network of local farms, schools, universities
and agricultural organizations with the purpose of providing livestock training and education programs for children, students, veterinary staff and
farmers. RIAVES has access to many different species of animals and will be visiting local farms and veterinary facilities with the goal of
developing a system of services that can deliver needed care and training to the agricultural community at a affordable cost. Currently there are
no veterinary practices in the state that are devoted to livestock. Farmers often have no veterinary or emergency care and must use out of state
services.The need for education and training in this area is growing due to a resurgence of livestock agriculture and demand for local farm
products. Institutions are seeking qualified training programs. RIAVES will provide a system to support livestock agriculture.
Brower Hatcher,
Marly Rogers,
and Dauna Noble
brower AT midoceanstudio
DOT com
Steven Heath,
Nick Logler, Tom
Kowalczyk, and
Chris Semonelli
sheath AT metmail DOT org
Kyle Hence and
David
Hornblower
kylehence AT earthlink DOT net
Elizabeth
Hermann, Silvia
Acosta, and
Daniel Feldman
ehermann AT risd DOT edu
Shelley
Honeycutt, Gayle
Jendzejec,and
Cathleen Dionne
solutions AT CRUSHcollegedebt
DOT com
John Horton and
Matthew Plain
johnhorton76 AT gmail DOT
com
The 'talent culture" present here in Rhode Island combined with under-utilized manufacturing capacity makes Rhode Island the ideal hot spot for
the creation of International Public Art and related products. Historically, Rhode Island has been the place where things are made. That fact has
long been a source of pride and identity. We intend to bring back that identity, create extensive employment opportunities, and reinvigorate our
creative infrastructure. Through Public Art projects we can create a global marketing network. The idea is to utilize what is inherently here to
create prosperity.
We will bring the most innovative and effective tools and methods for STEAM education to all Rhode Islanders. Only 10% of graduating seniors
are interested in pursuing STEAM. The number interested in engineering or programming has fallen to 4.5% and 2.9%. Yet, technology drives
innovation, economics and our future. The students we work with love STEAM. We are an MIT-inspired fab lab steeped in the pedagogy of
Seymour Papert and Maria Montessori. A learning and innovation environment where students without previous experience use 3D printers,
programming and electronics to turn ideas into realities. Our students play, develop passion and find purpose using the most powerful creative
tools available. We will work with learners, educators, businesses and policy makers to build innovation centers in schools, libraries and
communities across Rhode Island. Together, we can empower Rhode Islanders to make today and innovate tomorrow.
iQoin 'i' = island (locality), intelligence, innovation, investment (equity of, by and for the people), and individual. 'Qoin' = coin or currency--a local
medium of exchange, and the basis for an economy with active stakeholder equity and exchange activity built up across the community,
accessible to, and inclusive of all Rhode Islanders. iQoin is an online platform and mobile app designed to stimulate local economies by
integrating time banking, complementary currency and crowdfunding, a global first. It will bootstrap can-do yankee spirit to address Rhode
Island's failing faith and crisis of unemployment, underemployment and underinvestment. By integrating off-the-shelf currency platform Qoin
and the turn-key crowdsourcing platform Community Leader, iQoin will ramp up a dynamic, market-driven, economic engine to stimulate the
Rhode Island state economy, one 'island' at a time, one innovation at a time, one intelligent investment at a time.
In June 2014, DESINE-Lab AT RISD (focus on poverty alleviation, social justice and social and economic empowerment of distressed communities)
is launching an annual Design-Build Academy in partnership with PEI/Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia, and the City of Central Falls, RI.
The purpose of the Academy is to build international academic-community partnerships that collapse ideas of 'global' and 'local' while meeting
the specific needs of this post-industrial, economically-stressed largely Colombian-American community through a collaborative 'do-it-yourself'
training, design and physical construction process focusing on public projects. Each summer's work is identified during the preceding year
through a process of strategic planning carried out by the Lab, its related curriculum-based courses in planning and design, and by the City of
Central Falls. Projects and collaborations are intended to be catalytic and add up to more than the sum of the parts by creating fertile ground for
launching new creative, educational and entrepreneurial activities.
Recent college graduates and their parents are struggling with tremendous college debt! RI has the 4th highest college debt in the country.
Theses families are overwhelmed with monthly payments and NO OPTIONS! This is life altering for the students and the parents that have cosigned for these loans. In the media, we hear the "average student debt is $27,000" but as the experts we know this is NOT even close. With URI
(on-campus) per year AT $26,000 x 4= $104,000 unless you receive a lot of aid without LOANS- you GOT DEBT! College debt is infecting the
quality of life in RI. There are many innovative solutions BUT no real (unbiased ) experts to lead these borrowers out of this conundrum. We have
a team of experienced college debt experts, a proven method, the technology and the passion to change this for RI
The health and wellness issues facing our urban communities in Rhode Island are immense and we believe that the way to address these issues in
urban areas is to empower young people to spearhead changes in their own communities. Blackstone Academy Charter School in Pawtucket, RI,
has undertaken efforts to address these issues while engaging the student body and the surrounding community. Born 2 Run helps instill in its
students a deep understanding of the importance of a healthy lifestyle and how they can use their own skills to affect change in their community.
The class has three components: 1) Through the study of fitness-themed literature, students learn healthy habits and seek inspiration for a
healthy lifestyle 2) Students engage in customized running/fitness programs and 3) Students organize a 5K road race, the proceeds of which
benefit a school-wide wellness program. The program also forges partnerships between the school and its stakeholders that transfer beyond
Born 2 Run.
Brian Hull and
Jim Nellis
brianhull72 AT gmail DOT com
William Hutson
william_hutson AT brown DOT
edu
Xephyr Inkpen
xephyr.ink AT gmail DOT com
Carolyn James
and Thomas
Rieser
carolyn.james903 AT gmail DOT
com
David Janick
nypatsfan AT hotmail DOT com
Robin
Jarzembowski
RJARZ1 AT AOL DOT COM
Austin Jaspers
and Joshua
Jaspers
austin.jaspers AT yale DOT edu
We propose creating an annual event, the "Top 25 in RI" award ceremony, which will highlight successful, high-growth Rhode Island businesses.
Each year, we will identify the fastest growing businesses in the state and award them at a large public gathering to celebrate their success. The
firms will be identified through relationships with partners to recruit and recommend businesses for the Top 25 program. Each firm will be
evaluated based on revenue and employment growth over the last three years and the 25 fastest growing firms will be selected annually as the
"Top 25 in RI." We will have a robust social media presence that will be 100% focused on promoting these firms, the awards program, and the
relationships they garner every day, all year. We will be crafting a new message to the outside world, showcasing RI's success stories of award
winning businesses.
SeaWatch identifies, unifies and applies talents of Rhode Islanders interested in Narragansett Bay. SeaWatch includes children, teens, parents,
professionals. Children's sense-of-wonder fuels SeaWatch. Teens translate this wonder into ideas. Parents translate ideas into concepts.
Professionals initiate projects. Businesses create programs. Programs evolve into businesses. Everyone is involved in the evolution of this wonder
into the economic growth -- because all share this wonder and translate it in the way they know how. SeaWatch combines social networking;
creating awareness of the natural environment. Innovative ideas are generated and discussed over social networks. Ideas are nurtured and
monitored. Successful ideas are fostered. Ideas with potential are implemented. SeaWatch is interesting to all. SeaWatch is self-sustaining.
SeaWatch will be successful because all become invested in the creation, evolution and implementation of (their) innovation.
Bring textiles back to Rhode Island. One custom blanket weaving machine, my years of textile & product design, strong online markets & local
workers.
Tobacco regulations for exterior--and certain interior--areas of public spaces (offices/housing/ recreational facilities, etc.) are not consistently
implemented in RI communities. While there are existing, mandatory regulations, communities generally must "fend for themselves" in creating
more comprehensive tobacco-free policy. This challenge is compounded by a lack of clarity about how to become a "tobacco-free
agency/campus/facility." State and federal guidelines exist, but there are no "go-to" standards for efficient, effective, enforceable policy.
Thomas Rieser and I work for a non-profit, CODAC Behavioral Healthcare, that exceeded federal guidelines in becoming a tobacco-free agency
and campus. This included providing accredited tobacco cessation treatment to patients and employees. The innovation concept is to provide
consulting services to public and non-profit agencies across RI, utilizing CODAC's successful model. Needs assessment, logistical and technical
support, and tobacco cessation treatment would be provided for leadership and consumers at each facility.
Create a "team approach" to improving the quality of life for all who live work and visit RI. By encouraging local investment to improve the
quality of life by cleaning up and enhancing available and neglected properties.
I believe that Rhode Island is a beautiful state full of charming towns, and that we could be a prime destination for tourists from all over the
world. However, we need to provide more of an incentive for folks to visit and take advantage of all we have to offer. I would like to work on
providing more activities and entertainment in Providence that would bring people to the City and in turn, develop the means for them to tour
the state. Our biggest selling point, the ocean and our waterways, would be central to this project. I would like to capitalize on our beautiful
waterways and enhance many of the waterfront areas in and around Providence by adding parks, docks, vendor and food carts, pavilions for
entertainment, water sports and cruises. The biggest draw would be a new aquarium, preferable using an existing building.
Strong public education is vital to Rhode Island's economy, culture, and future. However, Rhode Island's students continue to score significantly
lower on standardized NECAP and SAT tests than their peers across the country. With the support of the Innovation Fellowship, we propose a
novel project to pivot student performance in a positive direction on a grand scale: We seek to implement an education program for 4,000 middle
and high school students in Rhode Island. The program will consist of after-school courses in math and science that complement students' inschool curricula. This idea is unique because it recruits and trains volunteer instructors from Rhode Island's higher education institutions such as
Brown, PC, and URI. Recommended students will be given a tablet computer in September which will be used to take online courses throughout
the week. This computer will serve as a commitment mechanism that will be rewarded to students in May if they meet a predetermined level of
performance.
Beth Jerskey, Eric
Correia, Eric M.
Morrow, Stephen
Sheinkopf, and
Thomas Anders
Beth_Jerskey AT Brown DOT
edu
Mark Johnson
mmjohson AT hotmail DOT
com
Maeve Jopson
and Cynthia Poon
maeve AT incrementstudios
DOT com
Aaron Jungels,
Dororhy Jungels,
Teresa Fox, and
Amy Harrington
ajungels AT everettri DOT org
Ann Kaiser
adkaiser196 AT gmail DOT com
Obtaining informed consent, either for medical or research purposes, is guided by many ethical values such as privacy, beneficence, and justice.
At times these principles are in conflict, directing clinicians and researchers to seek guidance at the state level. From a research perspective,
historically protections have been put in place to shield vulnerable populations; however, this protection has lead to the restriction of
participation in research, therefore, diminishing the scientific rigor found in non-vulnerable populations. With the advent of more invasive
treatment procedures, clinicians also face the dilemma of making healthcare decisions, which may be restricted due to the lack of a proxy to
authorize care. Although several states have enacted surrogate consent statutes for research or medical treatment, Rhode Island lacks such
statutes. If this project is successful, it will set Rhode Island up as a national model for resolving the current ambiguous environment surrounding
informed consent.
www.narragansettbayshellfishhatchery.com Design, build, and operate a (501c3 nonprofit) large scale shellfish hatchery and restocking project
for Narragansett bay and RI state waters in coordination with the RI Shellfish Management Plan. To spawn and grow native shellfish seed
(littlenecks, oysters, scallops). This seed will be used to restock shellfish beds where they will grow to legal size and then be available for harvest
by shellfishermen and the public. This will allow for the reestablishment of up to 2000 shellfishing jobs that have been lost over the past 30
years. This will produce job creation in related industries (boat and motor sales, trucking, marinas, education, restaurants). Shellfish remove
thousands of tons of nitrogen and other pollutants that sewage treatment plants discharge into our waterways. They also provide vital habitat
for other species that spawn in the bay. If restored to high production levels the economic impact for RI could reach 500 million dollars per year.
In 2012, 21% of children in Rhode Island have special needs, and 19% live in poverty, 36% of children in Providence live in poverty. Fortunately,
there are programs seeking to improve quality of life for these children. Our goal is to create a community that will engage many of these efforts
and bring families and children together. Increment designs toys that foster developmental skills. To reach out to more children and families, we
will open a playspace in Downtown Providence that can be easily accessed by the families and communities we support, and allow children with,
and without disabilities, and from any economic background, to play together and learn with each other. The playspace will also serve as a space
for events to promote communication between the organizations in Rhode Island that serve families. In this way, the public will become more
involved in discussions about education, health, and play.
RI public schools have an achievement gap between wealthier white students and low-income/minority students--in part because many students
growing up in poverty suffer from trauma. In the current school system, this trauma is generally addressed in a manner counter-productive to the
students' success. Research shows that to effectively help these children learn we must create environments in which they feel safe and can build
resilience. Everett will partner with The Nathan Bishop Middle School --which has a significant number of these students--to develop the Creative
Brain Academy. This pilot program is designed to bring students' emotional and behavioral issues to the foreground, understand them, and
address them within a safe educational environment so that academic learning can take place. Creative Brain Academy will offer engaging and
supportive learning experiences in school and after-school that narrow the achievement gap and help students succeed across the existing
curriculum.
My idea is to develop a consulting/project development firm to facilitate incorporating more exposure to engineering into high school science.
The overall goal of my project is encourage creative, innovative young people to remain in Rhode Island to pursue technical careers. I would work
to coordinate classroom projects, workshops and presentations with the needs of local industry and areas of potential future growth. As a former
engineer and current teacher, I am concerned that many students have little awareness of the opportunities that exist in their home state and are
not motivated to pursue technical degrees. The Next Generation Science Standards call for inclusion of engineering, yet many teachers have little
knowledge of the field and limited information about local opportunities in technical fields. There is a great need for resources to help facilitate
engineering in the classroom, while providing a pathway for employers to increase student awareness of opportunities.
David Kelly
dlkelly9103 AT cox DOT net
Matthew
Kiesewetter
mkiesewetter AT chm DOT uri
DOT edu
Dawn King and
Margaret DeVos
dawn_king AT brown DOT edu
Paul Klinkman
and Liberty
Goodwin
info AT klinkmansolar DOT com
Why Aquaponics...Why Here...Why Now? Hydroponics and aquaculture are state of the art for growing vegetables without soil and farm raising
fish. Each has major disadvantages, harsh chemicals and medicinal agents are required, both have waste water discharge treatment issues that
negatively impact the environment. The next evolution is Aquaponics, which has none of the problems associated with either process.
Aquaponics is a closed loop system, wherein fish are fed, the waste water is sent to growth beds (biofilters), converting it to products essential to
sustain growth, purified water is returned to the fish tanks. The process is completely organic. Challenges: Aquaponic farms require constant high
ambient temperatures year round and large surface areas to grow produce and fish for resale. Solutions: Vacant mills are available. Solar or wind
power, thin film insulation and lighted indoor greenhouses will solve the challenges. New businesses and decent paying jobs will be created.
This idea seeks to overcome multi-drug resistant cancer with fully biocompatible drug delivery polymers. Multi-drug resistance, where cancer
cells will initially respond to treatment but then aggressively return, represents a major hurdle in cancer treatment. While some polymer
approaches aimed at overcoming multi-drug resistance have shown promise, they are largely based on materials that cannot be metabolized to
benign products in vivo. Further, the FDA approval of polymers for cancer treatment modalities can represent a major hurdle to the clinical
implementation of drug delivery polymers. In this proposal, polymer backbones composed of natural repeat units will be developed. These
constructs can obviate FDA approval pathways and facilitate the rapid movement of the best treatment options from the laboratory to the clinic.
The proposed research will develop a new class of highly functionalized polymers for use in drug delivery-- built entirely from monomer units
derived from nature.
We propose to strengthen the Rhode Island food economy by increasing the viability of urban farms. Urban farmers experience extremely high
levels of demand at local farmers markets, often selling out within a few hours. Many are selling in low-income communities where fresh food is
scarce and they offer specialty ethnic crops not available elsewhere. Customers come from as far away as Boston and New York. Despite high
demand, urban farmers face barriers to business expansion: lack of year-round markets, limited access to land, and language limitations that
make traditional cooperative marketing methods nearly impossible. We will address these barriers by pursing three related activities. First, we
will validate the market for ethnic specialty crops. This baseline data will be used to support expansion of urban farm enterprises and marketing
venues. In addition, we will develop a multi-language mobile application that will facilitate communication and aggregation of specialty products.
We have a new concept for getting our unique, just patented no-fossil fuel solar greenhouse out widely, to benefit local farmers & consumers &
as a means of job creation in RI. See: www.klinkmansolar.com The idea is to offer a Build-It Design Package that enables farmers to build the
greenhouse themselves, with our help. The package will include plans & consulting/training time, initially by inventor Paul Klinkman. Then, we'll
train and license people to provide the building assistance to farmers and build units for others. Local businesses could also be licensed to supply
the concentrating solar reflectors. We will work with local groups - Revive the Roots, NOFA-RI & SCLT - to test various crops & develop effective
ways, including organic growing methods, to utilize the greenhouse's special heat-retaining, light-enhancing qualities. We'll seek to make our
greenhouses and the food they supply a year-round resource for all in RI.
Delia Kovac,
Corey Auger,
Antonieta
Falconi, Winston
Groman, Fletcher
Kent, Libby
Kimzey, Beatrice
McGeoch,
Michelle
Sheehan, Harry
Siple, Matthew
Stone, Cassie
Tharinger, Matt
Tracy, Philip
Trevvett, and
Michelle Walker
delia AT urbangreens DOT com
Mark Kravatz
kravatzgreen AT gmail DOT
com
Penny Krebs and
Elena Wildes
pennykrebs77 AT gmail DOT
com
Kate Lacouture
kate AT greencircledesign DOT
net
Rhode Island lacks access to healthy, locally produced food. At the same time, small Rhode Island farms and food businesses do not have access
to stable year-round retail markets. Urban Greens Food Co-op will open a full-scale community-owned grocery store on Providence's west side,
filling a missing link in Rhode Island's growing food economy, and creating a solution to both challenges. The store will provide and promote local,
healthy, affordable, and culturally appropriate food. By connecting farmers to new, bigger and more regular markets we can improve public
health and the RI economy. The innovative ownership model of a consumer co-op will ensure that profits from the grocery store recirculate
locally and will serve as an example to entrepreneurs interested in community-minded businesses. The scale of Urban Greens will allow greater
purchasing power, which will lower the price point of local healthy food, making it more affordable for Rhode Islanders.
Rhode Island has among the oldest housing stock in the U.S. 174,720 low-income households (127,546 rental, 47,174 homeowner) do not have
sufficient income to conduct proper maintenance or capital improvements. Research shows a direct correlation between old, unhealthy housing
and increased medical visits, chronic school/work absenteeism, higher energy costs, decreased home value, and poorer quality of life. The system
for delivering needed housing repair resources to low-income families does not meet Rhode Island's demands. It would take over $5 billion to
effectively retrofit the entire state's low-income housing stock. However, Rhode Island's present investment in low-income retrofits is less than
$30 million annually and most low-income families do not have access to supplemental loan products. My innovation is to demonstrate the
social and financial return on deep health and energy single family housing retrofits in order to attract private capital and provide an investment
grade return on those investments.
Create a non-profit organization, Warrior and Equine, to develop and implement equine facilitated activities for public service employees and
military personnel. An equine facilitated activity is defined as incorporating the experience of equine/human interaction in an environment of
learning or self-discovery. Our public service employees and military personnel are a large population of Rhode Islanders who are often under the
scrutiny of their employers for any mental health services they receive. Seeking professional help to deal with the stresses of their jobs are open
to employers review and kept on record as part of their permanent file. Warrior and Equine would provide public safety and military personnel
with a discrete and effective alternative to traditional services. It is already widely accepted that horses provide effective physical therapies.
(Recon : Unbridled [Extra] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChXea5gWcaI). Our programs will offer equine facilitated activity to address the
physical, mental and emotional needs of this demographic.
Gardens connect us to our food systems and greater environment. They pull us away from our computer screens and into the natural world. They
promote healthy eating, physical activity and community engagement. So why are school gardens so problematic? Started by overextended
parents or teachers struggling with demanding curricula and standardized testing, school gardens are typically underused during the school year
and neglected during the summer. Yet parents, teachers and administrators agree that school gardens have the potential to foster community
building and student learning across a wide range of disciplines. With the introduction of Common Core State Standards for education, and the
growing enthusiasm for urban gardening in the state, the time is right for the development and implementation of a Rhode Island-based schoolcommunity garden prototype, engaging science, math and the arts, embraced by teachers as a school-year educational tool, and tended by
community gardeners in the summer.
Kate Lally and
Nancy Roberts
KMLally AT KentRI DOT org
Robert Lancia
chaplainlancia AT aol DOT com
Jason Lavender
jason.t.lavender AT gmail DOT
com
Ann Law, John
Charde, Al
Peurini, Dylan
Kwait, Jay
Harwin, and
Sherri Steeneck
rundezvous2 AT aol DOT com
Eliza Lawson
elizalawson AT gmail DOT com
Neal Leaheey,
Ryan Hartigan,
Matt Scoggins,
Lisa Pasonelli,
and James Bagley
riimprovleague AT gmail DOT
com
As a population we need to talk about our wishes at the end of life. Most people envision the end of their life at home surrounded by family, yet
in reality three out of four people die in a hospital or nursing home. Many costly end of life interventions do little to either extend someone's life
or improve their quality of life and they are often not wanted by the dying person. Palliative care issues will become increasingly important in RI
and nationally as the population ages. Working with a team of stakeholders and RI employers, we aim to create the nation's first "conversation
ready" state so that Rhode Islanders' wishes for their end of life care can be known, respected and acted upon. This innovative project will
improve end of life care in RI, decrease health care costs, and ensure that end of life care is patient and family centered.
I am a former Navy chaplain and 100% disabled Vet. Returning Vets, young Vets in particular, are an underserved demographic when it comes to
job opportunities upon returning from overseas. Moreover, it's not only young returning Vets, but also teens and twenty-somethings whose job
needs are not being met.
My idea is to start a business (i.e., a concept restaurant), the funds from which, will go back into the community to
change young lives. Not only would the business generate income, but it would also provide job skills training as well as teaching
entrepreneurship. I have been accepted into a VocRehab program with the State of Rhode Island and Veterans Administration. I have also
been in contact with the Rhode Island Department of Health and Human Services. It is my goal to create a partnership to make this a reality.
The idea is to build a GPS based mobile app that reduces "bad spending" and shifts that money wasted to charitable giving through weekly
challenges. For example, while you are at the grocery store, you receive a push notification on your phone that reads "Put one item back that you
don't really need this week and donate the $2 to 'A Wish Come True' foundation in Warwick." Then, the following week as you enter the movie
theater, you receive a message that reads: "Instead of a large popcorn, try the small size and donate the $3 you saved to 'A Ray of Hope' in
Charlestown. Each week, members in the community have a chance to reduce wasteful spending and shift these nominal amounts into charities
throughout the area, improving the well-being for all members involved. The name of the app and vision is called "Robin Good."
The plan of the newly formed, Health Care Solutions for Rhode Island, a small group of committed physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses and
consumers, is to advance a health care delivery model that promises a new era in quality health care delivery at a fraction of the current cost. Our
model addresses the issues plaguing our health care namely excessive cost, poor outcomes, illness focused not preventiion oriented,
fragmentation, bureaucracy, fraud, poor access, no oversight and inadequte use of electronic records. With regret, the new federal Affordable
Care Act does not address these issues. We have designed a comprehensive, coordinated, prevention oriented, accessible (24 hours/day,
7days/week), cost effective, sustainable health care delivery model that is measurable and can be monitored for excellence. The simplicity of the
design allows it to be replicated in any community. We can have excellent health care at a reasonable cost. it is not an impossible task. We
believe our model will provide that solution.
Fuel: Healthy Food to Power People and Communities is a unique social enterprise with the potential to be self-sustaining. Fuel uses a marketbased approach to expand the existing efforts of farmers and job training programs and connect them to the needs of distressed communities.
Low-income and refugee farmers will increase their sales by supplying Fuel with produce. Graduates of culinary job training programs for at-risk
and low-income populations will be employed to prepare healthy, culturally distinctive meals with recipes of local food entrepreneurs. Meals will
be sold for profit through a low-overhead food truck, reaching beyond Farmer's Markets to more consumers. Revenue would fuel the ongoing
purchase of produce, income for workers and entrepreneurs, and would subsidize the delivery and sale of healthy "value meals" in RI's distressed
communities with food deserts/swamps. The result can impact the unequal burden of poverty, unemployment, and diet-related disease that
threatens RI's most vulnerable.
There is a need for arts education in RI high schools that most districts struggle to meet. In our program, teachers and artist educators teach
students how narrative is constructed through the process of learning how to create improvised theater; this process is also linked to the
Common Core English/Language Arts standards. Students learn how to apply techniques that create well-built narratives in their own improvised
theatrical work, and then practice recognizing those same techniques used by authors in their English coursework. Once students at a
participating school are sufficiently skilled in creating improvised theater together as a group, they form teams of players to prepare for
interscholastic performances in the TheaterSports format. Teams from opposing schools come together creating head-to-head TheaterSportsstyle improvised theatrical performances with all the thrills of a rivalry-packed sports match in front of enthralled audiences and community
judges to determine a winner. Winning teams then complete in playoff matches to determine a RI state champion.
Karen LeBoeuf
chrysalisenviron AT aol DOT
com
Sonja Lee
scle702000 AT yahoo DOT com
Francis Lennon
frankl69 AT aol DOT com
Adam Leonard
adamleonard88 AT gmail DOT
com
Eva Ligeri
docwilink AT cs DOT com
The problem of residential sharps disposal in Rhode Island is escalating, with over 10,000,000 needles either being thrown in the trash, left on the
streets or flushed down the toilet each year. Additionally, the problem of unused/expired medications ending up on the streets for illicit drug use
or improperly disposed is unquantifiable at present. Improperly disposed of sharps and medications are causing environmental problems,
creating public health risks with exposure to Hepatitis and HIV and adding to the crisis of illicit drug use in communities. Currently, several RI
cities and towns have medication disposal kiosks in police departments, but no consistent public education campaign. Through the Fellowship
Program, I would create a PR campaign to address both the problem of sharps and medication disposal. Because the state of RI does not
currently have any sharps disposal drop off sites, I would create 15 drop-off sites throughout the state.
A Community Spanish Lab that would give the underprivileged and minority a chance to be competitive when it comes to applying for jobs in this
economy also a chance for them to learn new skills in jobs that are not widely available jobs like interpreters and also sign language and dictation
I would also like to have a team that can help people who would like to start there own small business the option of having there business plan
done for them I have been to several business classes and learned to do a feasibility plan and even went to Score and the SBA the only thing out
there really is templates which most layperson can not understand or complete that part of the plan would be a pay for service so that some of
the cost could be paid for I would also like to offer a class for women to learn the stock market and money management
We plan to develop a financially self-sufficient family attraction, education and job training center, museum and memorial in Middletown,
featuring the retired aircraft carrier USS John F Kennedy as the centerpiece. Use of the Coddington Cove pier will involve an innovative publicprivate partnership with the Navy. Rhode Island is burdened with high unemployment and a stagnant economy. Our economic engine will create
jobs, stimulate growth, educate our youth and add new tax dollars to state and local treasuries. Since we are not requesting financial support
from the State, this project will be the antidote to the 38 Studios debacle. A carefully developed business plan focuses on the diversification of
revenue streams to insulate against the seasonality of the Rhode Island economy. This project truly does offer the "greatest good for the greatest
number" of Rhode Islanders, since the positive impacts will reach to every corner of this state and beyond.
For the past 6 years, Rhode Island has been a regional outlier in its poor economic performance. In response to the negative impact that the
recession has had on the local labor market, both public and private sector organizations tasked with addressing issues such as skills gaps and
high unemployment have maintained a scope of responsibility that ends at the state border. While understandable, this insular approach has
proven insufficient in relation to the challenges that we currently face. For my Innovation Fellowship, I would like to create a regional labor
market information system. Built upon existing and available data, this system will enable the development of evidence-based strategies to
address skills gaps and unemployment in a regional context. Open access will be provided to this resource, empowering all Rhode Islanders to
make academic, career, and organizational decisions that are informed by complete and accessible labor market information.
Vitamin D deficiency is a silent epidemic in Rhode Island resulting in a myriad of diseases including chronic pain, muscle and bone weakness,
cancer, autoimmune disease, endocrine dysfunction, respiratory infections, cardiovascular disease, psychiatric problems, depression, dementia,
autism. Many people unknowingly suffer from poor health due to low vitamin D levels with concomitant medical costs. Unfortunately, physicians
are not cognizant of how crucial vitamin D is to health. When deficiency is found, the medical prescription is a short course of high dose vitamin
D2, a plant form produced commercially, but not found in animals, making it less bioactive and having a greater potential for toxicity. My idea is
to significantly improve the health of the Rhode Islanders with a reduction of disease incidence from all causes by mounting an education
campaign for the general public and healthcare practitiners to raise awareness of the benefits and necessity to supplement with vitamin D3, to
raise blood levels to 50-80 ng/ml.
Karin Liiv
Pasha Lippitt
llovepasha AT aol DOT com
Michael
Lombardi
explore AT oceanopportunity
DOT com
John Lombardi
lombardi DOT johnn AT gmail
DOT com
Eric Lopez, Tatia L
Lopez, and
Robert H. Green
ericlopez31 AT gmail DOT com
Gabriel Luddy
alexluddy AT yahoo DOT com
When a teacher disciplines a student, all students in the classroom lose instructional time. Schools with lackluster academic achievement often
exhibit high rates of classroom disruptions and disciplinary referrals. Yet research on best practices for improving discipline frequently leads to
"one-size-fits-all" programs that do not take into account the specific issues and unique attributes of individual schools. Participatory Action
Research (PAR) is a process through which students and teachers can themselves conduct research to identify solutions to the most salient issues
in their school. Providing PAR training to middle and high schools in RI will enable students and teachers to not only develop solutions to
disciplinary issues for their school, but skills in research methods and critical thinking that can serve them throughout their lives. Graduate
students can hone their teaching and research skills by providing PAR training to schools at no cost. Thus, connecting RI secondary schools and
graduate students through PAR training is a win-win solution for all.
Rhode Islanders need to develop a holistic vocational, post-secondary education to stimulate a communal economic growth. We need to find a
way to keep our money in our state and to make housing, education and energy affordable. We need to train youth to be self supporting in
unstable economies and share these goals with other Rhode Islanders. Students can participate in a hands-on experience enabling them to learn
how to create and sustain economic living conditions. A-typical curricula will include: agriculture, animal husbandry, organic textiles, herbology,
alternative health care, organic habitats, (utilizing gray water), hydroponics, and solar.
Rhode Island, the 'Ocean State', has long proclaimed its position as a leader in the marine and ocean sciences. While this is true, the State has
suffered setbacks in investing in cutting edge programs in the wake of today's economic climate. This proposal seeks to water the seeds of an
emerging cooperative center, built here in the Ocean State, focusing on the absolute forefront of ocean exploration - placing humans at depths
beyond the convention in more routine diving (the gift of Cousteau) which will afford our species access to the next frontier for ongoing
exploration, marine studies, and evolution of the humanities subjects inspired. By creating a formal 'center' surrounding such exploration, the
effort will provide a catalyst for economic and political change at scale.
I have been experimenting with using carnivorous plants as a means of insect control and to replace or eliminate the need to use harmful,
noxious chemical pesticides. I am confident that I have developed a strategy to practically eliminate the need for these harmful chemical
pesticides. Not only does the environment benefit from less pesticides being used, but many of the carnivorous plants that I plan to use are
critically endangered in their native environments. In addition, my strategy includes a third world option, as I envision these plants being grown
specifically to slow or eventually prevent insect transmitted disease. There are over 600 carnivorous plants in the world, and I have selected the
most beneficial and accessible to make this plan a reality. It would create a new industry, with its epicenter in RI.
Reading Kingdoms is a program that serves urban areas within close proximity of focus, priority and warned schools. Reading Kingdoms will
consist of foreclosed homes transformed into comfortable, inspirational, and noise free reading zones. Primarily, these homes will be located in
the vicinity of low performing schools to encourage parent's active involvement. The close proximity within the neighborhood will also promote
safety and increase attendance. Students will be able to be read to by their parents or read alone and /or complete their homework in the
Reading Kingdom's nurturing and family interactive environment. This project will strategically target not only reading, but positive family
concepts, social development and a sense of community to address urban issues that weigh down the education progression like deteriorating
housing, socio-emotional problems and violent crimes
Using art to promote RI. I operate a website, under my artistic alias Ruddiger Haansum, called RAGDNESS.com featuring funky, colorful offbeat
scenic views of the northeast and RI in particular. Possibly along with other artists also creating art which shows off and accentuates what can be
seen, found and offered in our state I could travel and promote RI through exhibitions to encourage tourism as well as reasons to move here and
set up shop with new small businesses, specifically targeting a hip, open minded and possibly younger demographic.
Cathy Lund
clund AT city-kitty DOT com
Coryndon
Luxmoore and
Jason Pamental
coryndon AT luxmoore DOT
com
Stephen Maciel
endhunger AT cox DOT net
Naomi Mandel
mandel AT uri DOT edu
Caitlin Mandel
and Jeffery
Mandel
cluderer AT gmail DOT com
Lee Mangano
leemangano AT gmail DOT com
Ocean State is an aquarium-based sensory experience that bridges the divide between science and the arts. In this mind-bending space, the
traditional displays of an aquarium become enhanced and filtered in a way that inspires the imagination and encourages exploration. You enter a
darkened room: Below your feet, beneath the glass floor, is a fanciful recreation of life in mudflat tenements--huge clam siphons wave upward,
spiny worms bristle and twist, and far above, a gigantic bird foot descends and churns up the muddy silt. This uniquely captivating treatment of
the coastal world around us brings science alive, and allows us to visualize familiar marine creatures and fish in an entirely different manner. As
we go from room to room, the creative use of altered dimensions and perspectives, the coda of music and light, help bring us to a place we could
only dream of. This is Ocean State.
Currently local Rhode Island organizations cannot afford to hire the best local design talent to invest in innovation and growth of their business.
While the design community has increasingly turned to clients outside of Rhode Island where their services are competitively priced. We seek to
connect the Rhode Island design community to local manufacturers, industry, and local government. We believe that design can drive innovation,
decrease cost, while improving services and that making this connection will help reverse economic decline in the state while building on an
already strong design community.
Rhode Island First (RI 1st) - A statewide initiative to serve as a rally point to help improve Rhode Island's economy. The intent of the RI 1st
initiative is to generate revenue, maintain employment and improve the economy, while building a stronger value proposition relative to the
regional market. This will be achieved by re-focusing our attention inward to support (existing and future) Rhode Island businesses first.
Many teachers can recall a time when they shared with their students the same cultural references. A hip teacher could quote Beatles lyrics to
convey an abstract or difficult concept. As the rate of change is accelerated with technology, teachers must work hard to reach the young people
in their classrooms. Students Teaching Teachers: Flipping the Script aims to overcome this generation gap. The initiative trains students to
develop and publish tutorials about the music, memes, games, apps, and icons that inform their lives. Designed to enhance teachers' fluency in
youth culture, these tutorials will also allow students to articulate the connections they see between the culture they live daily and the
knowledge they acquire in the classroom. The tutorials will be uploaded to an open-access digital forum that will serve as a student-generated
resource for teachers at all levels.
Our state is currently experiencing a local food revolution. Efforts to connect residents with products harvested locally have both dramatically
increased our access to these items and provided a more stable and diversified income for food producers. Several RI restaurants that utilize
these exciting new pathways have received national recognition and our state is now home to several incubator kitchens providing small business
startups with an affordable workspace. Our idea is to create a non-profit marketing collaborative that would provide these businesses with
affordable strategic branding and marketing plan resources. By capitalizing on two of our state's other strengths, the education and arts
community, this collaborative would connect arts and marketing students with local food startups. These startups would receive critical strategic
planning at an affordable rate, while the students would receive financial support and critical experiential projects for their portfolio.
We are all aware of today's economy & the fact R.I. ranks at the bottom of many US categories from unemployment to business, forcing families
to cut back on extra activities and after school programs for their children due to the increase in living expenses & the decrease in jobs &
opportunity. That said, the HS music & sports programs are first to feel state budget cuts, yet both professions are extremely important at this
crucial stage while considering higher education and potential career choices. My "DSIR"" program can offer "every" high school student the
opportunity to experience the "Power Of Music" through drums, keeping in mind, drums are the "Universal Language" and the easiest instrument
to learn. Why drums ? ... A: no matter what instrument you decide to play in the future, "every" professional musician needs to know the
importance of rhythm & timing and how to feel the groove & backbone from the drummer.
Linda Manning,
Paula Manning,
and Melissa
Kirdzik
LindaManning23 AT gmail DOT
com
Gail Manzotti
bythefronds122652 AT outlook
DOT com
Henry Marciano
Sailboats18 AT cs DOT com
Louis Marciano
lou7950 AT aol DOT com
Joe Marino
jmarino AT rite-solutions DOT
com
Pat Mastors
patmastors AT yahoo DOT com
Children and Family Wellness (CFW): This program is designed as an after school home activity, targeting the 12-18 age group and/or DCYF
participants, who cannot afford care needed to combat being overweight/obese and boredom. Designed to be implemented from the comfort of
their home using a computer, high speed internet/ web cam. Children will CYBER TRAIN LIVE, with a personal trainer either in a group of six
friends in different locations or by themselves, plus have fun using fitness apps on cell phones tracking results. LIVE nutrition counseling will teach
proper food choices. Both modalities will raise self-esteem, help loose weight and reduce the use of drugs and alcohol. In completing the mission
we will decrease cardiovascular risks, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension, therefore creating healthy children who become healthy adults. Once
established CFW will be a model for after school activities and the general public in every community in Rhode Island and ultimately across the
United States and beyond.
As an avid walker (no less than ten miles a day). I have encouraged my children and grandchildren to keep fit. We live in a state with valuable
resources to maintain an active lifestyle, but I rarely see parents with children working out together. My thought was to have a business with
"circuit training" for parents and children. "Circuit Training", allows resting time in between circuit machines. With the obesity rate rising in
young children, this would be adequate exercise. It allows parents and children to workout together, in a lively environment and positive
feedback. This is not gymnastics and does not give the same results. Having a medical background has stressed to me the importance of a
business like this. Height and weight will be taken as well as body mass on a monthly basis. Accompanying "Circuit Training", this facility will
have a walking round and instruction on walks with walking poles and exercises along the walk.
According to the Governor's Workforce Board, Marine Technology is a growing industry. Unfortunately, the Rhode Island Marine Industry has
difficulty recruiting new skilled employees. Lack of training facilities is among the reasons why this problem exists. Those limited institutions that
offer training are too costly for most people to attend. The solution is to expand the number of public school districts offering courses in Marine
Technology. Currently, only three school districts offer such courses. They include: Chariho, Warwick, and North Providence. This plan would help
ensure that Rhode Island's Marine Industry have a well trained stable workforce. It would also provide free educational training to the vast
majority of individuals incapable of affording the high tuition charged by training facilities like IYRS and the Landing School.
My wife recently died after an 8 year struggle with Alzheimer'sdisease. I kept her at home until her death. During the last year she constantly
would grind her teeth. Doctors, nurses and dentists could not give me a solution that helped. I tried mouth guards etc, but she would not tolerate
them. I decided to develop a type of bridle, such as are utilized on some animals. I put two popsticle sticks ONE ON TOP OF THE OTHER, PUT A
RIBBON AT EACH END AND TIED THE BACK TO HER SKULL. THIS STOPPED THE GRINDING, AND WAS OBVIOUSLY COMFORTABLE FOR HER. THIS
ALSO ALLOWERD HER TO SLEEP WITHOUT GRINDING. Hospice staff and workers at the Hope Alzheimer's center liked the idea very much, and
suggested I invent a product. Most mouthpieces cost upwards of $25, and are not appropriate for the situation I described.
We have intrumented over 100 school buses with a system called Rite-Track. It provides VOIP, GPS position, Idle alerts, and video capture
information in real time to several RI schools and Ocean State Transit (another RI entity), who operates the buses for the schools. We now have
found "concealed weapon sensors" that can alert school officials of a concealed weapon on a student and where on the student hat threat device
is (i.e. backpack, belt, jacket pocket, etc.) A snapsot of the student, the GPS location of the bus and the size and placement of the threat can be
immediately sent to school officials. We would like to add this feature to our product for RI as an innovation that has application everywhere. We
propose to share any profits associated with this innovation outside the state with the state as an economic accelerator.
Health care is the largest employer/industry in RI, and unintended medical harm claims up to 440,000 lives per year. My idea is to improve health
literacy, reduce 30-day readmissions (a national Medicare goal) and foster a more holistic, patient-centered approach to health care that can be a
model for the nation. The idea follows a simple concept, explained in an available narrative from RI's QIO (which oversees Medicare in RI):
patients should be engaged to write down in their own hand, while in the doctor's office or prior to hospital discharge, information about their
ailment, treatment, and the steps they must take at home and/or rehab to maximize health outcomes. I've created a unique tool
(thepatientod.com) which can facilitate this learning and would like to deploy and test it per our QIO's vision. With RI's city/state nature, we are
uniquely poised to model this simple but what I ultimately believe will be effective approach nationwide.
John Mattson
jmattson22 AT cox DOT net
Joanne Matuszek
j.matuszek AT verizon DOT net
Alyson McGregor
amcgregormd AT gmail DOT
com
Suzanne
McLaughlin
smclaughlin1 AT lifespan DOT
org
Allison McNally,
R.C. Barcus, and
George Barcus
walcottav AT mindspring DOT
com
Rhode Island is facing a major crisis caused by the abuse of substances by our young people. The use of prescription drugs is on the rise in all RI
schools, based on data collected in statewide school surveys. Alcohol and marijuana use rates are on the rise - RI ranks among the national
"leaders" in per capital consumption by underage youth of these substances. However, funding for prevention efforts continues to decline- local
substance abuse coalitions received 27% cutbacks in funding last year to their small budgets. I propose developing a non-profit business,
Prevention Product Partners, that would manufacture locking devises and other products, to be sold to families and individuals who receive
medicinal marijuana, pharmaceuticals or maintain supplies of alcohol at home. The profits from this business would be distributed to
communities that need these funds to subsidize targeted evidence-based strategies that prevent youth substance abuse.
I am a native Rhode Islander. I want to make a difference in the RI economic development. I believe "made in America" is becoming important
again, even Walmart is starting the move. I want to manufacture intimate apparel in Providence, on a bus line so people can get to work without
a car. My goal is to 1. take an unused building, revitalize the neighborhood with a flourishing business. first floor, subsidized daycare facility,
second floor manufacturing, cutting and sewing. Third floor, management. Employ approx. 25 employees initially, women who can not work
because they can not get, or afford daycare. Women on welfare, unmotivated because no one will train them, or they don't have a vehicle to get
them to work, or they can't afford daycare. Collaborate with the high schools colleges and universities in RI offering co-op work programs to
promote talent in the local business community I have over 20 years in the intimate apparel business.
Women represent over half of the Rhode Island population and utilize more health care services, including visits to the emergency department,
than men. Historically, however, most health related knowledge from medical research has focused on men. The Institute of Medicine has
stated that there are significant differences in men and women and how they experience health and disease. With over 300,000 visits annual to
emergency departments within R.I., the emerging concepts of incorporating the knowledge of patient sex and gender in the evaluation and
treatment of emergent conditions has an opportunity to make a significant impact to both women and men seeking emergency services in R.I..
This proposal is for a state-wide education and training program for emergency providers on awareness and impact of sex and gender in a
medical emergency.
Rhode Islanders suffer from a lack of access to primary care, and moreso from a lack of access to medical homes where primary care is managed
to address barriers to better health and management of chronic conditions AND thoughtfully shepherd resources in this effort. Local training
programs could better supplement the current workforce, but lack focus on the preparation of physicians for roles in medical homes. The project
capitalizes on two significant RI efforts: Alpert Medical School's expansion of primary care track and the CSI collaboration - we are altering the
education and practice landscape without altering the preparation to work within it. A 3 year project to promote training in patient centered
medical home (PCMH) settings could establish sustainable PCMH-focused clinical sites for the residency training programs in RI and contribute to
growth in the individual abilities and overall number of graduates becoming community primary care physicians, improving access to primary
care.
In 2013, an assessment of broadband internet service performance, conducted by volunteers and professionals in the three Aquidneck Island
communities of Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth, demonstrated how underserved our island is relative to the rest of the state and nation.
This cripples our ability to grow economically. As Aquidneck Island looks for ways to compete and flourish in a global economy, strategic
investments in broadband infrastructure will be transformative. If we are going to compete, ultrafast internet with gigabit capability at least 200
times greater than today's is essential to our economic future. We envision a "Gigabit Island" positioned for growth, driving economic
development, attracting enterprises and talented people seeking high speed, high capacity internet services to create the innovative applications
of tomorrow in telemedicine, maritime cybersecurity and education. The gigabit-enabled Aquidneck Island would serve as the model for RI to
become the first "Gigabit State" in the nation.
Peter Mello
peter AT waterfire DOT org
Gabriela Mendez
gamendez76 AT yahoo DOT
com
John Migliaccio
Johnemigliaccio AT gmail DOT
com
Paulette Miller
millerpaulette AT hotmail DOT
com
Borrowing ideas and lessons learned from Teach for America, Design for America and Venture for America, engaging Rhode Island's rich artist
community and higher education institutions, and leveraging the popularity of WaterFire, one of the most successful examples of creative
placemaking in the world, my proposal is to create Art for America as an art education/youth development pilot initiative providing underserved
high school students with paid internships and exposing them to post secondary education opportunities and diverse career paths available in the
Arts. Art for America will recruit professional artists as well as undergraduate and graduate students to serve as mentors for program
participants. Art for America will collaborate with RI higher ed institutions in designing programs covering various arts disciplines. The primary
program objective is create experiences for youth who would probably not otherwise pursue a career in the Arts.
I propose to launch an outreach program (English/Spanish) to strategically educate the community, parents and students to navigate through the
educational system. My approach will be aggressive, dynamic and systematic. In the first phase, I started reaching out to faith leaders to
implement the program within their congregations. I intend to replicate the program in every congregation in Rhode Island. The second phase
will involve reaching out to community members to establish educational support groups in their neighborhoods. Pilot will be launched in Greater
Providence Stages:
1. Meet with leader to present program/select delegate
2. Data collection to evaluate program success
3. Train group of volunteers to continue program
4. Conduct workshops:
a. raising awareness
b. system bureaucracy and how to advocate for their rights
c. reading students' schedules and tracking graduation requirements
d. ESE and ESL rights
e. Steps for college admission
5. Follow up, data analysis, accountability and support
Rhode Island companies are being severely impacted by rising health care costs. The best corporate wellness and prevention programs lower
workers comp, reduce absenteeism, reduce prescription costs, improve productivity and lower health care costs. However such programs are
not being effectively utilized by smaller RI companies. My effort is to create and test a wellness tool box with a unique message delivery system
(assisted by area college interns) to employees. As employers look for ways to manage health care costs, larger companies are building workplace
wellness and prevention programs into their overall strategy however smaller companies do not have the resources to do the same. This idea
would be an effective solution for small companies.
While watching the PBS special on the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, I joined thousands of people emotionally moved by his
words. The final line is playing over and over in my brain like some advertising jingle: "this government, of the people, by the people, for the
people, shall not perish from this earth." Why this line? I'm worried. For 13 years I've worked for a municipal government and learned that public
engagement enhances government effectiveness and brings about positive social change. Conversely, communities grow weak with public
disengagement. Statistically evident, our detached citizenry is a federal, state, and local challenge impeding the progress of our cities and towns.
Lincoln in his timeless insight recognized that The people can move mountains (and they have), but only if they are prepared and motivated to
take action. My idea is to develop community-specific tools that build civic awareness and public engagement.
Ruarri Miller,
Christine
O'Connor, and
Nancy Tilton
ruarri AT gotoapiary DOT com
Donald Miller
and Shawn Rubin
dmiller212001 AT gmail DOT
com
Karin Moellering
karin.moellering AT gmail DOT
com
James Monteiro
jamesmonteiro1969 AT gmail
DOT com
Theresa Moore
theresa AT t-timeproductions
DOT com
Laurie Morgan
lauriekmorgan AT gmail DOT
com
In Rhode Island we struggle to retain college-educated young adults--a demographic critical to our state's economic health and growth. The
annual exodus of new graduates diminishes RI's economic potential. The Apiary's living and learning ecosystem is one part of the solution. We
aspire to spur an economic revival in one of RI's poorest cities: Woonsocket. The Apiary AT Blackstone Valley is our mixed-used development
project with equal parts economic revitalization and education revolution. For the 350 young adults who will live at The Apiary, we'll offer
targeted housing solutions bundled with lifelong learning programs in business to support skill development beyond the foundation created in
college. Education is no longer a 4-year degree; affordable, flexible, and effective lifelong learning is essential to personal enrichment.
Simultaneously, our commercial ecosystem tailored to the needs of young adults will revitalize Woonsocket with new businesses and
entrepreneurial energy needed in Northern RI.
Collaboration Station - Mission/Vision: A venue/opportunity for educators of all levels to come together, to build, encourage, support and sustain
growth in education. As the founder of #EdChatRI, I will partner with Shawn Rubin, the founder of #EdTechRI and with the support of
Commissioner Gist, we will create this amazing opportunity for the educators of our great state.
Being a mom can be very rewarding but also isolating. Working from home, which is increasingly available, provides much-needed flexibility. At
the same time, juggling meetings and naptimes can be a nightmare. And isolation increases once more. The goal of my project is to address this
issue by creating a co-working space specifically designed for moms (or dads, or ...) of babies, toddlers, kindergartners. Imagine a place where you
can work and meet like-minded people in a similar situation. Where your children can come with you if needed. Where they can play in a safe
area and still connect with you when they feel like it. But also with affordable babysitting service if you are in a meeting. While the advantages
are immediately obvious for working-from-home-moms, stay-at-home-moms or -dads with ambitious projects of any kind face essentially the
same challenges. The space is membership-based and community-oriented.
The Billy Taylor House, (BTH) is a grassroots non-profit organization founded by residents of Providence, Rhode Island's East Side neighborhood,
whose desire is to promote youth engagement for the community of Providence as a whole. The organization has its origins in the mentorship of
the late William "Billy" Taylor, a man who dedicated his life to at risk youth in the 1980s. My idea is to continue "Billy's" legacy with the diverse
community of the East Side and partners throughout the city of Providence. Noticing the need for youth engagement in the neighborhood, and
the lack of jobs for youth and young adults, 14-21. This group has come together in order to acquire the abandoned property that Billy used to
live in, 185 Camp Street, and turn it into programming that supports youth in the pursuit of their dreams via workforce development,
employment preparation, education and training, and life skills.
My company's concept is to address issues in the areas of education and health/nutrition through the development and innovative use of
educational and informative digital curricula, exploring subjects such as history, math, nutrition, physical activity, leadership, social activism,
entrepreneurship, etc. Original video content and apps will be available to various constituencies throughout the state, with a particular focus on
minority populations, via the distribution platforms they most frequently use in their daily lives, namely mobile, online, tablets, gaming devices
and television. Use of these ubiquitous distribution platforms will facilitate awareness of, access to and usage of the curricula in traditional (e.g.
schools) and non-traditional (e.g. bodegas, churches) venues. As a part of our work, we will encourage the state's youth and college students to
help develop the curricula and accompanying apps, developing their STEM skills/literacy and laying the foundation for the next generation to
share their voice and vision through media and technology.
In 2010 The RI Department of Health rated diabetes as the eighth leading cause of death. The most unstable type 1 diabetes are traditionally
children and young adults whom desperately want a normal life. Type 1 diabetes are severely sensitive to glucose changes. Their blood sugar
levels are constantly changing often resulting in critical lows. They do not have the decision making ability at those points to make interventions
that will stabilize their rapidly declining glucose levels. It can be critical minutes or hours before they can react or seek emergency care, which is
life threatening. I want to create an application that works in conjunction with an already functional medical device the patient uses daily. When
the levels are out of range that are predetermined by the patient and his doctor, the application will notify preset emergency contacts or 911 and
give GPS coordinates in a map form.
Michael
Mulholland
michael.v.mulholland AT gmail
DOT com
David Mullen and
Michael Mullen
dave AT kloudbook DOT com
Kevin Murphy
and Daniel Highet
kmurphy AT kbmlawoffices
DOT com
Lori Murphy and
Angela Anderson
lmurphy24 AT cox DOT net
Greg Nemes and
Nic Schumann
mail AT gregnemes DOT com
Naomi Neville,
Amie Shinego,
and Allison
McNally
naomi AT nlneville DOT com
Growing RI manufacturing in the sustainable energy sector by sourcing, constructing, installing and maintaining helical wind-powered generators
(roof-top or garden style). Expands education, employment, energy efficiency and community outreach. This green company would support
cooperative education, help non-profits, and donate 10% of its profits to minister to widows and fatherless children.
Economic development and unemployment are currently significant challenges for Rhode Island. I will address these challenges by basing my
highly scalable startup company in Providence. It will provide significant job growth to Rhode Island. People are constantly changing email
addresses and cellphone numbers. KloudBook is a social media site that will make it simple to maintain an up-to-date contacts list. To add
friends to your KloudBook contacts list, look them up on KloudBook.com and then send friend requests. In the future, whenever these individuals
change contact information, these changes will be reflected on your contacts list. People rarely post contact information to LinkedIn or
Facebook, because when they do this contact information is shared with all connections, not just true friends. KloudBook will allow users to
choose which specific pieces of information to share with each individual user. Depending on the relationship a user might share a work number,
a personal email address, or a mobile number.
The mission of Hope Man Initiatives, Inc. is to raise the collective consciousness of Rhode Islanders through stories that inspire economic growth,
cultural vitality and social change. The webcomic component features Hope Man (RI's first superhero) and Grant Hope (Hope Man's secret
identity), a frustrated associate at a Providence law firm. Grant Hope's gradual recognition of his own superhero powers suggests that all Rhode
Islanders could accomplish great things if we learned to embrace our own considerable powers. This webcomic will show the nation that RI is an
exciting place to live, work, play and grow businesses. There's also an educational component featuring Hope Boy and Hope Girl aimed at
elementary school students. Some RI political leaders would like these characters introduced into public schools. Using Hope Boy and Hope Girl in
a Social Emotional Learning curriculum would be an incredible way to help RI youth.
For the hand that rocks the cradle, is the hand that rules the world. This famous quote by William Ross Wallace is what comes to mind when I
think about the impact of my proposal. I would like to implement a state wide initiative to create teaching programs for all caregivers of infants
and children in the techniques of Infant and Pediatric Massage. I believe by doing this we can shape the future generation to be healthier and
more socially and mentally adjusted. Studies have shown babies and children who receive regular massage cry less, sleep better and brain
development if facilitated. The levels of the stress hormone Cortisol are reduced in both the caregiver and the child. The increased levels of
Oxytocin that are produced are linked to positive emotions and social bonding. Socially this would help our communities in many ways and
economically by creating jobs.
While rich in institutions of higher education, Rhode Island lacks adequate community and resources for emerging creative talent to invest in this
state as their home. Collegiate retention rates are below 33% statewide, and that number drops to below 10% in the creative disciplines. With its
history of design and manufacturing, and distinguished arts institutions and organizations, Rhode Island is uniquely poised to become a hub for a
thriving community of creative innovators, but without a springboard for that community's success, many graduates simply leave the state.
However, for the creatives that consider staying, the question remains "how can I build my practice and engage in my community?" To build a
vibrant creative economy, the state needs a 'Center for Contemporary Making and Working', providing access to both cutting-edge and
traditional fabrication tools, skill and project based learning, and community exchange.
Stemming from initiatives of a grassroots group of residents and professional stakeholders in Newport and Middletown, the concept of the
Thompson Techno Expo was born. An 8 week after school program teams up professional mentors with Middle School Students to develop a
basic understanding of "What is Information Technology and the future of Communications? The program culminates in a public Exposition of
the students' projects presented to the general community with the goal of bringing up the overall level of understanding of information
technology in our local community. A smarter community is a more educated consumer and a more adventurous user. We envision the
Thompson Techno Expo, currently being implemented by volunteers this winter, as a beta project for developing curriculum and a series of after
school programs that could be hosted through out Rhode Island benefiting students, residents and businesses, raising the bar of Rhode Island's
competiveness in all aspects of our digital world. The students become the Technology Ambassadors.
Dauna Noble
John O'Keefe
Quadry Olalekan,
George
Cifuentes, Nick
DaSilva, Garrett
Guthrie, Darren
Kaw, and Max
Peliwanga
dauna AT fertileunderground
DOT com
jokeefe01 AT g DOT risd DOT
edu
hrdepartment AT udcginc DOT
com
William Park
william_keun_chan_park AT
brown DOT edu
Joel Pavlow
joelpavlow245 AT gmail DOT
com
Barbara Pelletier
barbarafp AT aol DOT com
What we need is a sense of connection. To each other, to our communities, and to the unique Rhode Island soil beneath our feet. We think we
need employment and economy, but what we first need in order to achieve these things and make them sustainable is each other and an
understanding of the laws of nature. I propose we direct this year's Fellowship to develop and expand the Fertile Underground Natural
Cooperative, supporting the creation of an all-access resource for the single most empowering, community building, and natural employment and
sustenance model---cooperatives. This would, over time, enable the creation of several cooperative businesses, enabling first dozens, then
hundreds, to become not only business owners but truly community members. It would also enable the development of the Fertile Underground
Eco-Arts Institute, a cooperative school where people come together to learn the principles of cooperation and natural order .
My proposal is to study, design, educate, and ultimately build a Public Pool Barge/Bath/Sauna that would serve Rhode Islanders living along
Upper Narragansett Bay's Urban Waterways. The design would incorporate resurrected pieces of buried coastal infrastructure from Providence's
rich shipping past as docking stations, take advantage of every opportunity to heal the waterway's battered ecosystem, and help direct the
conscientious reactivation of the disembodied, underutilized waterfront recently unearthed by the removal of the old I-195. The Providence Pool
Barge is a fitting billboard for the culture of design and innovation the city is currently promoting, and could help push the development of this
reborn piece of the city in the right direction.
Small businesses are essential to Rhode Island's economic health as they make up 96% of all employers in the state. Many of these businesses are
very small as 75% of them have no additional employees and most have fewer than 20 employees. With such limited resources, many small
businesses may not be best equipped to succeed in these challenging times. Universal Dynamic Consulting Group (UDCG) is a consulting firm that
offers a one-stop shop to meet the needs of any entrepreneur. UDCG's various departments, including Business Development, Graphic Design,
and Financial Forecasting and Evaluation help small businesses in Rhode Island maximize their opportunity to start sustain, and grow their
business. UDCG's matrix-based design provides small businesses affordable and accessible business consulting. UDCG also gives directly back to
the community through its Skills to Succeed initiative, which trains local residents with necessary business skills.
Serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT) is a key enzyme at the rate-limiting step of the entire de novo sphingolipid biosynthetic pathway in which
ceramide is a precursor to essential sphingolipid products including sphingomyelin, sulfatides and cerebrosides. I have a series of small molecule
SPT inhibitors with a low nano molar potency. I am interested in establishing therapeutic platforms with these compounds, and further
discovering new chemical matters targeting SPT. Ceramide has long been understood as a major structural component as a lipid-bilayer of cell
membranes. Currently, it is known to play a much more important and complex role in cell biology including cell signaling, regulation of
differentiation, growth and death (apoptosis) of cells. A pathological cellular ceramide concentration has been suggested, which may result in a
wide-range of diseases that include fatty-liver disease, NASH, neuro- and age-related degenerative diseases, cancer, atherosclerosis, type-II
diabetes as well as MCI and AD.
I would petition the department of Business regulation and get a list of all profitable business in R.I. and gather information on their growth over
the last 5 years and survey the needs, success, ideas, etc Once this was done, I would put together a survey sheet plainly and concisely showing
who was most successful and why. I would then source their needs and match them up with existing educational opportunities to stimulate
growth. If educational opportunities did not exist, then I would petition educational institutions to provide the instuctions needed to continue to
stimulate growth. If they could not do this then I would partner with non-profits who offer mentorship programs to coordinate the needed
training. I would be looking to stimulate this growth in the higher salary end of business. I would also look at new teck. startups and see who was
successful and moving in a positive direction, but needs additional help.
Fort Barton, a revolutionary war redoubt in the town of Tiverton has not bee used to its optimum potential . During the Battle of Rhode Island,
General Washington staged more than 10,000 soldiers at the Fort in attempting to thwart the British invasion by sea. This proposal would
develop a means to highlight the Fort.: 1: Placing a few mounted binoculars on the existing observation platform 2: Installing electrical
service for potential presentations. 3: Planning a broad range educational presentation on the significance of the Fort. This could be
written to serve as a text guide for teachers as well as the interested public. 4: Visits by Rhode Island school children should be encouraged and
subsidized to learn history at its source. 5: As the Town representative to DISCOVER NEWPORT, I am aware of the importance of money spent
on travel, and think that awareness brought to the site by improvements would stimulate spin off business in the Town .
Deborah Perry
Joy PettirossiPoland, Jeff
Deckman, Liz
Taber, Paul
Herman,
Katharine White,
Shauna Duffy, Al
Marciano, Tim
Murray, and Kas
DeCarvalho
mollie1492 AT aol DOT com
joyppoland AT aol DOT com
Tim Phillips
tphillips42301 AT msn DOT
com
Elizabeth Pierotti
info AT theinventinglife DOT
com
Leo Pollock and
Nat Harris
leo AT compostplant DOT com
On average, about 18% of computer science degrees go to women, and 19% of software developers are women. And according to the US
Department of Labor, by 2020, there will be 1.4 million jobs in fields related to computing. For our state to thrive, we cannot squander girl's
potential. Rhode Islanders must cultivate the knowledge-driven, entrepreneurial sectors of our economy and we must get girls into this pipeline.
To do so, we will have to greatly increase the number of women holding college degrees in computer sciences. Fantastic Girlstasic Code
Company™, an organization dedicated to demystifying code through intensive girl-centric training, access to female role models and mentors,
and connections to local institutions of higher education and employers, will provide a systematic way for girls to participate in technology, and
participate in meaningful ways that will lead them to seek local college degrees and local careers in the computer sciences.
The RI MVP Program is a consulting & education program that teaches businesses/organizations how to become more sustainable/profitable,
while simultaneously empowering all employees and managers. Our strategies are PROVEN to increase health, well-being, employee
engagement, productivity, increase emotional intelligence skills & reduce health care costs & combat obesity. MVP teaches how to increase the
wealth of employees through examining (educating about) their 401K plans and pensions plans for sustainability and risk. This can be applied to
review bond issues and can teach RI how to increase their bond ratings and resolve pension transparency and risk issues. MVP teaches how to
lower energy costs, reduce carbon emissions & natural resource intensity. MVP then constructs sustainability reports which will measure & show
clear social value. MVP develops leadership skills and these strategies are then integrated into the schools creating more effective teachers, &
academic curriculum which will solve RI's CURRENT SKILLS GAP and completes the ecosystem for real change.
I have designed a state of the art manual wheelchair that provides the user with capability and comfort never before experienced. In an era of
mass technological explosion, the design of manual wheelchairs has remained virtually stagnant in the last 50 years, save for the modification of
using lightweight metals. My design incorporates 10 unique improvements, each of which are protected under a provisional patent for now.
These elements include: 1. Carbon Fiber frame and seating. 2. Unique center located trailing arm and cantilevered suspension design. 3.
Reclining backrest (not available on any current manual wheelchair models). 4. Enclosed footrest. 5. Unique frame design. 6. 5" narrower
footprint enabling entry through common 28" doors. 7. Extremely light weight, 7-9 lbs. 8. Accessory pouch that mounts and quick releases
between the knees. 9. Wheel locks that engage the hub of the wheel and not the tires. 10. Lever drive propulsion system that improves
propelling efficiency from 18% to 80%.
The fact is that despite the best efforts of educational institutions and small business support networks, the failure rate for start-ups, new
product introductions, and invention launches borders on the abysmal. Something is missing and it has little to do with a shortfall of ideas or lack
of initiative among entrepreneurs. I believe that what's lacking is an education in the fundamentals of transforming creative concepts into
viable ventures. My idea is to introduce an online resource dedicated exclusively to establishing proficiency in the 3C's that are the foundation of
all successful innovation... Creativity, Collaboration, and Concept validation. If we truly believe that a vibrant innovation environment is central
to economic growth, then we need to pre-emptively arm our creative community and future generation of entrepreneurs with a solid foundation
on which to make informed decisions. They will then know where markets are headed, and what people will buy.
Food waste is one of the largest, yet least recovered, waste streams in the U.S. RI has an urgent challenge: our infrastructure for composting is
seriously underdeveloped, yet our central landfill will reach full capacity in roughly 25 years. Unaddressed, the cost of waste disposal for
municipalities and businesses will be economically devastating in the decades ahead. Leo Pollock and Nat Harris incorporated The Compost Plant
in October 2013 and will use the RIIF to leverage additional funding for the creation of an urban commercial composting facility designed to divert
large volumes of organic waste from the landfill, produce high-quality compost, and anchor the launch of a compost network. By spurring
increased compost infrastructure and encouraging responsible management of compostable waste, the opportunity exists to close the loop in the
local food system and show Rhode Islanders that we can fuel business development by being truly innovative in recapturing resources.
Douglas Poscich
5thaxis AT sbcglobal DOT net
Andrew Posner
andy AT capitalgoodfund DOT
org
Rhonda Price
rprice AT manupri DOT org
Rick Quiles
drquiles AT yahoo DOT com
Nora Rabins and
Fred Roy
rabinsdesign AT gmail DOT com
I currently hold a provisional patent on a coastal barrier system referred to as the Hydrofission barrier. The system is designed to be a simple
deployable barrier that suppresses wind driven wave energy by providing, a physical wall, dampening column, and venture cooling. Theses unites
can be deployed in an emergency situation (hurricane, coastal storm), be deployed to prevent beach erosions, or strategically placed to provided
desired surf conditions. (Manmade surf breaks) The individual units have a buoyancy compensation system that controls the deployed state (e.g.,
air, foam, or low-density material can be used within the buoyancy rods.) The system can float at the surface or be submerged below the surface
and activated when needed. This allows you to have a system in place, with it stored out of sight until needed. Each unit can be connected in
various configurations depending on the desired protection requirements.
Children in poverty do worse in school than their peers, and income is the greatest indicator of academic success. This is unsurprising: the
parenting ability of underpaid, overworked parents -- stressed, behind on rent, hungry-- is invariably compromised. With high levels of poverty
(25% of children) and failing schools in RI, we need a new approach. Financial Coaching Plus Schools (FC Schools) offers these parents one-on-one
Financial and Health Coaching, free tax preparation and small loans. The theory of change? Children will excel in a financially stable and healthy
family. If poverty is the biggest academic barrier, and education the surest ticket out of poverty, then we must tackle the root problem: poverty.
The NY Times notes, "...improving the quality of our parenting and of our children's earliest environments [is critical]. Let's invest in parents so
they can better invest in their children." FC Schools delivers that investment.
According to the 2012, ACI Population Report, 1,520 black males were committed to the department, 308 were sentenced and 94 were awaiting
trial. The statistics for the Latino male population was just as alarming (18% of pop). In a State where the African American community makes up
7.3% of the population, this is unacceptable. We must ensure that these urban young men are represented in the broader State and Cities
economic/educational objectives. By creative and measurable solutions we can make a college degree attainable, training for high demand jobs
available, reducing the rate of recidivism workable and enhancing public safety possible. My plan is to empower these men to reach their
economic potential and achieve sustainable development and prosperity through substantive partnerships with the RI judiciary,
colleges/universities, Department of Labor and Training, N.E. Institute of Technology SAMI, OIC of RI, et al, to help stabilize the economy and the
family.
My idea is to address healthcare disparity through innovative multimedia music videos. I refer to this initiative as the HIP HOP HEALTH Initiative.
I believe this will be an effective, culturally competent way to promote positive evidence based routines and education targeting the high risk
children of families in our urban areas. I have already received great feedback and collaboration with community leaders from my first video
entitled "I love it when I Read with my Papi" targeting paternal involvement with early literacy goals for high risk children. This video was
discussed on Latino Public Radio in Rhode Island, approved by Maria Hinojosa of NPR, and highlighted in an interview with Maria Navarro of CNN
Espanol. We have a growing Latino population that is young, underserved and subject to poverty. I hope to address literacy, asthma, lead
poisoning, diabetes, hypertension and violence among other themes.
In an effort to further progress in the wider pursuit of sustainable energy, this project would particularly focus on repairing a windmill located in
Portsmouth, towards the northern end of Aquidneck Island. A faulty gearbox has rendered the Windmill non-operational; this critical component
cannot be replaced by the company who supplied the windmill originally due to bankruptcy. The cost of replacement parts and labor is
prohibitively high. Consequentially, the blades have been motionless for over a year. Portsmouth has been in negotiations with various parties in
an attempt to resolve the issue, but no consensus has been reached. The scope of the project is not limited to restoring this specific windmill's
functionality. Educational initiatives and programming to encourage future innovation would contextualize this effort. Topics addressed would
include local history of wind energy, feasibility of current models, climate change, fossil fuels, and relevant concepts of physics, science, and
technology.
Megan Ranney
megan_ranney AT brown DOT
edu
Patricia Raskin
patricia AT patriciaraskin DOT
com
John Reagan
jreagan AT lifespan DOT org
Sav Rebecchi
srebecchi AT cox DOT net
Patricia Recupero
and Lisa Shea
precupero AT butler DOT org
Rosemary ReillyChammat
rosemaryrc AT cox DOT net
I have been a resident of Rhode Island for 10 years. In this time, I have witnessed a dramatic rise in the number of adolescent psychiatric- and
violence-related visits to the Emergency Department. In my prior research, many of these teens have told me that they have few social supports
and little access to mental health care. The lack of resources for high-risk teens is a common theme with Rhode Island families, teachers, and
healthcare providers as well. We know that the vast majority of RI youth have mobile phones, and almost all of them use text-messaging. A
text-messaging-based intervention is more accessible and appropriate for adolescent interventions than either in-person or "mobile app"
interventions. In this project, I would disseminate a tailored, three-way text-message-based depression and violence prevention intervention to
high-risk teens seen in emergency departments and primary care (family medicine/pediatric) practices across the state.
I would use the Fellowship to expand my three radio programs, Positive Business, Patricia Raskin Positive Living and Positive Dating on Cumulus
Broadcasting, which focus on transforming problems into solutions in Rhode Island. We will explore key issues Rhode Islanders face and provide
valuable resources and solutions for them through radio interviews with emphasis on the positives and hope. The radio programs will give Rhode
Island entrepreneurs, business owners and non-profit organizations a voice to share their stories and to offer listeners opportunities and positive
ways to turn their problems into solutions. This will be done through long form radio interviews, caller interaction, marketing and promotion of
the interviews, and social media and podcasts which have shelf life to bring Rhode Island consumers the information. This work has been my
calling and my mission to bring positive messaging to listeners through the media for over 30 years.
One major challenge facing Rhode Islanders is the cancer epidemic. Current treatments have improved initial responses and resulted in some
cures, however for many cancers either little in the way of treatment options exist or the current treatments are too toxic because of age or
other medical conditions. The primary mode of cancer treatment development is focused on new drugs with trials run by large pharmaceutical
industries that serve as the study's sponsor. Older cancer drugs that have not previously been used for a type of cancer or combinations of these
drugs that may be more effective, less toxic, and/or less expensive than existing therapies are not examined since there is no sponsor to run the
trial. My idea would be to run two clinical trials for Rhode Islanders with different blood cancers using cancer drugs that are no longer on or soon
to be off patent.
OnTheRecordRI.com is dedicated to "local" government oversight, "by the people for the people". We provide video recordings of Boards,
Commissions and Committees on-line, on-demand, 24/7. We currently provide various levels of service in Newport County and seek help in
bringing it to all 39 Rhode Island communities... as soon as possible.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control, Rhode Island has the highest overall rate of suicidal ideation (SI) in the US. For people between
18 and 29 years of age during 2008-09 and estimated 5.7% of the US population had SI, ranging from 3.3% in North Carolina to 5.1% in RI to 8.8%
in Nevada. For adults over 29 years, RI had a prevalence of 6.5% - the highest in the US. In Rhode Island, there were a total of 599 suicides
between 2005 and 2010, for a crude rate of 9.4%. Additionally, 90% of individuals who suicide have a diagnosable mental illness, 80% of
individuals see a physician within a month prior to succumbing to suicide, and 60% of all suicides occur on the first attempt. Recently CNE
completed a Community Health Needs Assessment that demonstrated that mental health access and treatment were top priorities for Rhode
Islanders. We propose to eliminate suicide in Rhode Island.
Imagine a town where learning is a priority for everyone; from children to grandparents, a place where learning is a core component of the
town's culture. The idea for Cumberland's Townwide Learning Community began, with the development of the Cumberland Public Schools
District Strategic Plan. The participants realized that what was necessary to our support our youth transcended organizational boundaries. This
plan took a bold step: as it moved the focus to include our entire community. A World Café was held including over 100 community
stakeholders to gather ideas and strategies to further define Cumberland town Wide Learning This proposal; would support the development of a
systemic infrastructure to support Cumberland Townwide Learning based on the conditions of collective impact, as described by Kania and
Kramer (2011), including the development of a common agenda, shared measurements systems, mutually reinforcing activities, continuous
communication, and a backbone support organization.
Michael Reppucci
mike AT solspirits DOT com
Hannah Resseger
and Amistad RI
key2lyfe AT gmail DOT com
Alison Riese and
Dina Morrissey
Yasmin Rincon,
Pamela
Rodriguez, Ana
Rodriguez, and
Angie Polion
ariese AT lifespan DOT org
yasminrincon AT yahoo DOT
com
Sheyla Rivera and
Umberto Crenca
shey AT as220 DOT org
Richard Robinson
redsoxwarrior AT cox DOT net
David Rocheleau
drochel677 AT gmail DOT com
Despite Rhode Islanders' desire for quality local and sustainable produce, agricultural manufacturers in Rhode Island struggle to compete against
under priced, mass produced products. The Sons of Liberty Spirits Company (SOL), distilling since 2011, is an extension of the 'go local'
movement. SOL sources ingredients for their spirits from local farmers, hires local vendors, and gives their spent grains to local farms to be used
in feed. Sons of Liberty Spirits Company's idea is to expand their local sourcing, primarily by creating a facility to malt RI grown barley for use in
production of single malt whiskey. The malt house will allow SOL to buy grains from RI farmers to produce Single Malt Whiskey, that will be sold
as a product made 100% in RI, and then will give all of the spent grains back to the farmers to reduce their feed costs.
As an educator who has volunteered and worked with thousands of students (K-12 + College) throughout the state over the past 20 years, I am
extremely concerned with the lack of knowledge and understanding around culture, heritage and history, especially pertaining to the significance
of indigenous peoples and the African Diaspora. This unfathomable, yet rich, resilient and inspiring past, and its connections to the present, was
completely marginalized when I was a student in the 90's; unfortunately, not much has changed since. Our idea is to form a coalition and submit
proposals to the governor and RIDE to establish an Amistad Commission (modeled after New Jersey, 2002). This endeavor will infuse a holistic
representation of oppressed peoples into the curriculum and standards of our school system to engage and empower all students, especially
those who have become disinterested in learning due to lack of representation or connection to materials.
Motor vehicle accidents are a leading cause of child mortality and morbidity, yet child restraint misuse occurs at an alarmingly high rate.
Improper use of car seat harness, premature transition from rear- to forward-facing car seats, and lack of booster seat use have all been directly
linked to child injuries and death. At this time, parents can identify a police officer trained as a child passenger safety technician, and request
assistance, however this service is not commonly taken advantage of. Conversely, the pediatrician's office is a place frequently visited by parents
and young children, yet discussion about child passenger safety rarely occurs. We would like to revolutionize the way we ensure the children of
Rhode Island are traveling safely, by linking child passenger safety to pediatricians' offices statewide. We will examine feasibility and effectiveness
of offering child passenger safety services at the pediatrician's office, and coordinate implementation across Rhode Island.
Comprehensive Family Center Establish a center to assist families to integrate with the various technological advances and cultural barriers. For
example: Help for online applications for social services, forums and discussions of security in the internet. Talks on how to use computers at a
level where we can help teens. Talks aimed at family values. Advice to parents with broken families. Support groups for families with problems.
Motivational talks. Information on employment opportunities, summer camps and sports activities. Offer all this services in different languages.
Encourage the creation of cooperatives with families for economic development
As local artists we envision a space where art and business; culture and community; ideas and action all converge in the Center for Industrial
Creativity (CIC). The CIC will unite creativity dispersed across separate communities all over the state under one roof. After so many meetings
with so many different communities, from fellow artists to makers to designers to manufacturers to economic planners, it is clear that cross
pollination needs a central hive. We want to make the Place To Be for Rhode Island's creative sector: a salon/ guild/studio/factory/gallery all-inone, where artists and amateurs, designers and dilettantes, manufacturers and makers meet, mash up, and mix.
To plan and develop a state of the art little league field and baseball program for children with disabilities. This will be implemented and run by
veterans and their families. The idea is to create a place where veterans and children with disabilities can work together to help both realize they
are not alone, but part of a much bigger family.
I would create a comprehensive food waste resource designed to change the cultural norms surrounding food waste in our state. It could include
a website, social media, and direct outreach and programming to residents and businesses in RI. It will serve as a one-stop reference for what is
already happening here, and what is happening elsewhere that we can learn from. Using the EPA's Food Waste Hierarchy as a guide, this resource
would catalyze state-wide educational and outreach projects for food and food packaging waste prevention, food donations, on-farm gleaning,
composting, and more.
Bryan Rodrigues
brodrigu AT risd DOT edu
Antonia
Rodrigues
Antonia82485 AT yahoo DOT
com
Julian RodriguezDrix
julian AT ejlri DOT org
Allison Rogers
Bruce Rollins,
Jane Parillo,
Richard
DiGennaro, and
Sue Oberbeck
Michael Ryan
AllisonIrisRogers AT gmail DOT
com
josh1948 AT verizon DOT net
mike AT writeryan DOT com
I would like to use the Fellowship to teach pre-college students in Rhode Island to use 3D scanning equipment to document architecture in the
cities and towns, and to 3D print their results in order to make a large scale map (approx 30'x20') of the state. The map will be in sections so that
it can be transported and stored more easily, and it should become the centerpiece of a traveling exhibit that promotes the state for tourism and
business, and to celebrate the students, schools, and organizations involved in its design and construction. Ultimately the map should become an
ongoing project that will be appendable and changeable. There will always be an opportunity for any students to add buildings for historical
maps, or to update real changes in the current landscape. In this regard the project will be to literally rebuild the state, only in miniature.
I work in a Providence Public School. Every year, I encounter students and their families that do not have proper clothing, apropriate tools for
hygene, proper furniture, etc. I encounter families that are extremely uneducated about the importance of maintaining a clean environment at
home. Trouble with speaking English. Although, there are many already established agencies that provide assitance in these areas; children are
suffering more with government cuts and funding. Many programs only disperse a very small amount of donations, and they are not able to
provide families with enough assistance. I would like to establish a program, that provides assistance to families when they cannot afford
necessary items needed to provide for their families. Provide support for families when unexpected emergencies happen. Establish a program
within the school system that will provide aid to families in the Providence area. Provide any possible assistance towards helping homeless
people get back on their feet.
I propose a dual-focus biodiesel initiative that will lead to economic growth and improved air quality and public health. First, I will scale up the
successful "Green DRIVE Bus" pilot project, which offers eco-friendly transportation and education about Rhode Island's poor air quality and high
asthma rates. This social enterprise will have multiple vehicles running on local biodiesel and recycled cooking oil, train drivers through a
workforce development program, and offer affordable charter services to schools, organizations, and municipalities. Second, I will facilitate key
partnerships between public and private sector transportation providers, biodiesel producers and sellers, food service industry producers of used
cooking oil, and policy makers in order to increase the percentage of local biodiesel used by all transportation providers in the state. This multitiered project creates a unique solution to environmental and public health problems while stimulating growth in multiple economic sectors.
Most of my 32 years have been spent living in Rhode Island. I grew up here, left for college and my first job, then returned, left for DC, and then
returned again. However, many of my talented and incredible friends from growing up have left the state and have no plans to ever move back
again. This is something that I would like to change. I would like to create a "Rhode Island Homecoming" conference, similar to Toronto's
Homecoming conference (http://torontohomecoming.ca/), with the purpose of inspiring talented Rhode Islanders who have moved away to
consider returning to Rhode Island. Second, I would like to target alumni of Rhode Island colleges and universities who are now in high-level
corporate positions elsewhere in the world to also return for the "Rhode Island Homecoming" conference, to encourage them to consider
opening up offices in Rhode Island as well.
The historic Odeum Theater is a cultural jewel for East Greenwich and the entire West Bay. Odeum's Trustees have overseen expensive fire code
and auditorium improvements, but an aging physical plant hinders their ability to serve its vibrant cultural market. Local theater, regional
touring and national acts appear in New England, but many cannot perform at the Odeum. The entire West Bay's arts and cultural climate is
diminished by the theater's physical decline, but can be significantly enhanced by a modernized Odeum.
Every RI city has inefficient processes and procedures for permitting, registering, etc. I'm regularly frustrated bringing physical pieces of paper
back and forth from multiple offices to accomplish basic tasks. Software engineers, students of process management, and those raised in the
computer age are equally astounded by these procedures. This statewide inability to embrace technology, from faxes to user-accessible
databases, leaves dramatic room for improvement. Conversely, RI has world-class educational programs, fostering business, technology, and
policy students. My proposal to solve this challenge and simultaneously enhance student opportunities: Create a local techno-peace-corp model.
This enhanced internship-like program matches students to city and state offices(and participating non-profits). Students receive a mix of class
credit, resume building, real-world experience, and stipends. Meeting prerequisites in systems and computer classes, they would receive
specialized initial training and weekly group-learning sessions where they share experiences and plans in a supportive setting with high-level
coaching.
Michael Ryan
mike AT writeryan DOT com
Jim Ryczek
jim AT rihomeless DOT org
Patricia Sandoval
and Dennis
Fernandez Pierre
psandoval AT lifespan DOT org
Jo-Ann Sarafin
and Rhode stroke
Coordinators
Network
jsarafin AT lifespan DOT org
Foster Sayers
foster AT 121nexus DOT com
Sidra Scharff
sidra_scharff AT alumni DOT
brown DOT edu
In the spirit of equal-time arrangements for political candidates, I would like to see a form of "equal web presence" for those running for office in
Rhode Island. Right now, the political process is painfully tied to financial realities, so that the candidate with the best funding has a significant
advantage in a given political race, regardless of their positions on issues. I have been frustrated in personal attempts to compare apples to
apples where the online representations of candidates are concerned. A standardized website would allow voters to compare candidates in onestop, where each candidate could represent their own views online in an easy to compare format -- similar to a debate, where each candidate
gets to respond to the same question.
I consistently ask myself: How do we not only challenge power inequalities, but - campaign by campaign -- to build power toward change? In
other words, as we organize against homelessness and for safe affordable housing, how do we choose campaigns we think we can win...grow
more powerful so that we can tackle ever larger campaigns...and finally end homelessness and meet the goal of safe, affordable housing for all
Rhode Islanders? Any approach must be geared to build a sustainable movement that supports a right to housing in our state. It must build a
strong public will - that in turn drives a strong political will - to solve our state's homeless and housing problems. In essence, affordable housing
must generate a solution-oriented public discourse equal to that involving our education, infrastructure, healthcare, economic development and
job creation endeavors. I will build the will to end chronic homelessness in Rhode Island.
Childhood obesity has a detrimental impact on the state of Rhode Island. The state ranks 23rd in the nation for its prevalence of overweight and
obesity among youth, with approximately 30.1% of adolescents 10 to 17 categorized as overweight or obese. The specific aim of the proposed
program is to create a multifaceted community outreach program that will hone in on providing nutritional education such as portion control and
healthy food choices to adolescents living in Providence. This goal will be implemented through cooking demonstrations at a local middle school,
where students along with their families, will be invited to attend. Demonstrations will be performed by high school seniors interested in
nutrition and who have an educational requirement to fulfill. The program will tailor to the diverse minority population it is serving and will be
both culturally sensitive and appropriate.
Stroke is the 4th leading cause of death in the United States and the leading cause of adult disability. Rhode Islanders are not immune from the
devastating effects of this disease. Last year alone 1,739 Rhode Islanders suffered a stroke. Recent data suggests that many stroke patients
arrive at the hospital too late to receive tissue plasminogen activator or t-PA, the only proven treatment to reduce the devastating effects of
stroke. In Rhode Island approximately 30% arrived at the hospital within 3 hours following stroke symptoms. Many cannot identify the signs and
symptoms of stroke and do not seek emergent treatment. Annual community stroke education programs offered to the people of Rhode Island is
key to recognition and early treatment.
As someone who falls between the Millennial and Generation X divide, I have read with great interest the various articles that have been written
criticizing the millennial generation as it begins to enter the workforce. Criticisms are generally focused on the notion that Millennials are
unprepared for the workforce and that colleges are not doing enough to prepare them. Meanwhile, budding RI start ups with little capital
cannot afford to hire college students for internships. My idea is called the Real Experience and Learning Program, (REAL Program) where RI
college students and companies (primarily small companies and start ups), can participate in a fellowship program for one term where companies
agree to bring the student on to work for a semester and in exchange the student will receive a stipend from the REAL Program and possibly
college credits (if academic institutions want to fully participate in the REAL Program).
The project entails creating three ten minute plays reflecting various aspects of negative eating behaviors such as eating addictions, emotional
eating and stress eating. These various behaviors can lead to obesity, diabetes, heart disease and other chronic health problems, experienced by
Rhode Islanders. The three plays reflect the three stages individuals often experience when encountering and overcoming weight control
challenges. As well as, developing coping strategies and long-term weight-loss maintenance, and lifestyle changes. I would create the original
three ten minute plays, and produce and direct each one of the plays at four college/university settings in Rhode Island-- Brown, URI, RIC, and PC.
The intent is to create awareness among the college population about methods for controlling or decreasing the likelihood of gaining weight and
the consequent associated medical conditions.
Geoffrey Schoos,
Adam Pallant,
Edward Feller,
Elizabeth TobinTyler, and
Patricia Flanagan
geoff AT riclapp DOT org
Julius Searight
Food4good012 AT gmaill DOT
com
Thomas Shevlin
tdshevlin AT me DOT com
Darius Shirzadi
darius AT projectgoal DOT org
Joshua Short and
Michael Gennaro
josh AT thewilburygroup DOT
org
Darlene
Shumchenia and
Anthony Ward Jr.
dfs218 AT verizon DOT net
Our idea is to expand the Rhode Island Medical Legal Partnership (RIMLP) model to the Providence Health Centers and the Rhode Island Free
Clinic to assist patients with benefit applications and to address that social determinants that affect health and prevent good health outcomes.
By establishing a collaboration with medical staff at these facilities, we can also engage in educating the community on a variety of topics relative
to housing, public benefits, and domestic relations; and serve as a resource to medical staff as part of the medical team. The RIMLP model has
worked successfully at Hasbro Children's Hospital and is adaptable to any medical facility, and to any patient population.
To provide great tasting food while allowing consumers to improve the lives of others in need by supporting the Food 4 Good truck and the food
we sell. The Food 4 Good food mobile truck will be owned and operated by Julius Searight, a Johnson & Wales Culinary and Food Service
Management graduate, Food 4 Good is a mobile food truck and soup kitchen. We will operate as a 501 c3. Food4Good cares about the people
we provide meals no matter if it is our customers or the clients we serve. We believe that by providing great meals and by being eco-friendly to
our environment, we can contribute to making our plant a better place. With the profits that we earn and every five dollars spent at our food
truck Food4Good can provide two meals to some in need at our 4day a mobile soup kitchen.
Rhode Islanders tend to be as enterprising as they are independent, and across the state, scores of small home-based businesses have taken root.
However, faced with lending and logistical hurdles, few ever realize their potential. The Hope Microfacturing Cooperative aims to celebrate the
state's makers and innovators through the development of a collaborative mentoring and shop space aimed at cultivating Rhode Island's next
generation of small business leaders. Much like the tech-centric incubators that have sprung up from coast to coast, the Hope Microfacturing
Cooperative aims to provide entrepreneurs the professional expertise and manufacturing capabilities to bring their ideas from concept to
creation. Our ultimate goal will be to bring new products to market that are produced wholly by Rhode Island-based companies and artisans.
Along the way, Hope Mentors will work with makers to develop prototypes, business plans, and marketing strategies.
Ten years ago I began saving the lives of children from our toughest cities. Cities like Providence, Pawtucket, and Central Falls, where children are
not achieving levels of academic achievement consistent with the rest of the state or country, not graduating, and not going onto college. My
innovation was to use the global sport of soccer as the tool to keep these urban kids engaged in academics and teach good decision making for
success. This innovation shows these kids from the three most struggling cities are defying the notion that the zip code where a child lives
defines his/her future. I have given them access and exposure to better schooling choices and promoting deep parental involvement. An
internationally recognized academic and life skills program disguised as a soccer program that has saved lives called Project GOAL (Greater
Opportunity For Athletes To Learn).
The Wilbury Theatre Group, a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicating to being Providence/s home for cutting-edge theatre and performance art, is
seeking funding for FringePVD, Providence's first ever international fringe festival. The Providence Fringe Festival will serve as a platform for
local, national, and international artists of all disciplines and all levels of achievement. From July 21-26 2014, FringePVD will turn Providence into
a city filled with theater, dance, music, visual art, and everything in-between. Art will take over our neighborhoods, animating the spaces of our
city -- from traditional theaters to corner bars and vacant storefronts. In addition to the cultural impact of the festival, the economic impact to
the city would be great with Hundreds of artists coming into the city, thousands of audience members, all looking for hotels to book and
restaurants to eat in.
Our idea is for a sensory play space for special needs children. We propose a membership gym to allow your child the space to grow, play and
socialize in a comfortable and safe environment. In addition, this space will be used for occupational/speech/physical therapists to rent while
providing private therapy services. Guest speakers for both parents and local therapists will be provided for continuing education to further
enhance and enrich all involved. This space will also be used for career development using local tradesmen and craftsmen to expose middle/high
school students to different aspects of a particular interest or vocation.
Jen Silbert and
Andy Cutler
jhsilbert AT spartinaconsulting
DOT com
Barbara Silver
and Helen
Mederer
silver AT uri DOT edu
Amy Silvia
aesilvia AT wihri DOT org
Kevin Simpson
kevinneilsimpson AT gmail DOT
com
Edward Skurka
EdSkurka AT verizon DOT net
John Smithers
john_smithers AT verizon DOT
net
Nothing impacts more Rhode Islanders than education. Nearly one in four high school freshmen doesn't graduate with their peers, costing RI
taxpayers $292,000 per dropout over a lifetime. Many want change but don't know how to help, disengaged by the often politicized, polarizing
conversations that widen the family-teacher-administrator gap. Learning401 is a focused effort to engage the masses and revamp our RI
education ecosystem. Our vision is to create a digital library of powerful learning stories that shift the education debate and give voice to the
public who are public education. More than shining the light (or camera) on powerful learning, we're starting a movement, engaging Rhode
Islanders to own their role/contribution -- students, parents, educators, employers, community leaders -- from wherever they stand. The result: a
more innovative means to engage and gauge learning in ways that testing alone cannot, with digital assets to effect local/state policy and inform
classroom/curriculum design.
RI workplaces have barely begun keeping pace with dramatic workforce demographic changes, particularly pressing needs of working families.
Beyond salary and benefits, family-friendly policies and flexible workplace options are top-rated employee needs, while traditional, rigid policies
constitute some of the most grievous, and sometimes desperate, challenges working families face today. Financial security for families; stable,
committed workforces for businesses; and economic development for the state depend partly on responsive employers who engage 21st century
solutions. The drive for innovative workplace practices is a powerful national movement; its implications profound. It is embraced by many large
corporations, organizations, and the federal government, all dedicated to improving business functioning while helping America's workers remain
employed. RI can become a bold leader by being the first to embrace this movement on a statewide level, thereby improving its economy,
citizens' well-being and security, and reputation as a great place to work and raise families.
The specific aim is to increase the rates of exclusive breastfeeding through 6 months postpartum in women from low socioeconomic backgrounds
in Rhode Island. There are specific populations that do not meet the recommended guidelines for breastfeeding duration and exclusivity. The rate
of exclusive breastfeeding is still far below the national recommendation; however, mothers from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and younger
mothers tend to have lower breastfeeding initiation rates. Many interventions have shown that educational breastfeeding sessions help increase
the initiation of breastfeeding; however, few studies have been able to increase the duration of breast only feeding through 6 months
postpartum. Social support is a main factor in continued breastfeeding. Having someone to help encourage the breastfeeding mother and help
her overcome any perceived barriers and obstacles can help increase exclusive BF. This study proposes to educate not only the mother but a
social support partner on how they can both ensure the mother will exclusively breastfeed through 6 months postpartum
We've all been there -- walking out of the coffee shop, local restaurant, or state office building and finding a parking ticket slipped under our
windshield wiper. The meter only expired three minutes ago! Okay, maybe not. You're 10 minutes late. But a $25 dollar fine? Really wish there
was another option. How about "Doing Time for the Ticket Fine"? Get a parking ticket in Providence, and you are given the option of either paying
the fine or performing volunteer work at one of the city's community service partners. Two hours of your time -- landscaping with the Partnership
for Providence Parks, lend a hand at Amos House, help sift through donations at Salvation Army, or work with one of many other volunteer
organizations in the city.
Every organization and business needs leaders. Comfortable confident public speaking skills are a keystone skill to positive successful leadership.
Public speaking is the #1 FEAR of most adults and students. Most schools and colleges graduate students to the working world with very little or
absolutely no public speaking training. Most adults lack comfortable confident public speaking skills. Consider the benefits to schools,
organizations, businesses and the State of Rhode Island if students and adults possessed the attitude, perspective, experience and skills of a
comfortable confident speaker. With NEW Public Speaking Training beginning in primary schools and taught with equal importance of other core
academic, art, dance, sport and business skills, the future development of leaders..
RI non-profits are increasingly challenged as community services needs surge, budgets decrease and outcome scrutiny and reporting
requirements intensify. Non-profits increasingly depend upon technology to serve their constituents, manage finances, and report to various
compliance and funding entities. Most non-profits have old unreliable technology and insufficient support staff. To address these issues I would
use the Fellowship grant to develop an approach for improving the use of technology (including its reliability). This "non-profit technology
improvement approach" will improve the quality of services delivered to constituents, free funds wasted on older unreliable technology and
improve compliance reporting.
Barbara Somers,
Kathleen Castro,
and Laura Skrobe
bsomers AT ds DOT uri DOT
edu
Jennifer Specker
jspecker AT mail DOT uri DOT
edu
Russell Spellman
and Sterling
Clinton-Spellman
info AT itssaladman DOT com
Carder Starr
carder189 AT gmail DOT com
Julia Steiny
juliasteiny AT gmail DOT com
Mike Stenhouse
and RI Center for
Freedom &
Prosperity
mstenhouse AT cox DOT net
Fisheries is an important part of Rhode Island's character and economic fabric. The challenge ahead is to maintain our maritime cultural heritage
while continuing to produce healthy abundant seafood that is sustainable in a changing world-economically and ecologically. With recent
changes in water temperatures, new species in Narragansett Bay have emerged as alternative products and an avenue for new job creation. Blue
crab is commonly found in the Mid-Atlantic but now is being caught in high abundance in Narragansett Bay. Demand for blue crab far exceeds the
current supply available. The most lucrative product is the soft shell crab. Researchers have developed a new approach to culture blue crabs in
fresh water ponds and the technology now exists to raise blue crab from larvae through adult stages using lab and pond techniques. This project
will address the feasibility of rearing blue crabs in fresh water ponds in Rhode Island.
Transportation and transportation infrastructure grease the wheels of change. I envision a light rail system that connects all institutions of higher
education in Rhode Island. A bike path will exist alongside the rail system. Travelers could easily mount their bikes on the light rail cars and catch
rides. The ease of riding a bike at least partway serves to increase physical fitness and thereby reduce our health care burden. As our eleven
institutes of higher education are a major employer in the state and the production of graduates a major element of our economy, making access
to the specialties represented at each campus and eliminating the need for owning a car would open doors of opportunity for those between jobs
and all those seeking more education and training.
About 62% of Rhode Islanders are overweight and 26% are obese. Being overweight can lead to a host of health issues such as chronic disease,
depression and a diminished quality of life. Potentially, 62% of Rhode Islanders are sick, depressed or feel insecure because of their health issues.
Using a holistic approach, we will create an Urban Health and Wellness Center called Healthy, Get Addicted. It will give our community access to
healthy food, as well as education on living a healthy lifestyle. We will offer workshops, seminars and food demos to the community. We will
focus on nutrition as well as lifestyle factors that create optimal health: relationships, career, physical activity, and spirituality. We know that
when people are healthy they will have better results in all aspects of their life, making for a better community. We want our community to get
Addicted to being Healthy!
I have developed an educational, multilingual online word game. The game will challenge players of all ages to switch between two or more
languages while playing. This game is similar to online Scrabble, Lexulous and Words with Friends but with a major distinguishing characteristic -"change language" squares. When a word is played across a change language square the language for the next player changes to another of the
pre-agreed languages -- of the five initial languages. A non-provisional patent was filed last spring covering the multilingual aspects of the game
and the design of the board. Not only will this game will be appealing to bilingual and multilingual families and friends it will also be appealing
to those who want to keep their minds active, particularly with a global perspective. The game will be a useful learning tool in language classes
(all levels) and for competitions between classes or schools.
RI's juvenile incarceration rate is 31st in the nation, far from the best. I want to build an effective juvenile-justice diversion program based on
restorative practices (RP), giving our courts and communities safe, helpful alternatives for holding most young offenders accountable.
Restorative justice (RJ) involves offenders' families, victims and community members in a "conferencing" process. Rather than relying on
punishment alone, RJ holds offenders accountable by helping them grasp the harmful impact of their actions on others and to make restitution to
the victims and the community. Vermont's juvenile RJ program consistently achieves the lowest juvenile incarceration rate in the nation. In
Central Falls we've already established a restorative approach to school discipline, designed to address the root problems. We've successfully
reduced chronic misbehavior. We're looking to expand this approach into the juvenile justice system, making CF a pilot for statewide
implementation of restorative justice programs by 2017.
A reduction or repeal of the State Sales Tax would help keep Rhode Island as home to families and businesses. We are hemorrhaging people,
jobs, and wealth to other states because of our high cost of living, and lack of employment opportunities. Research indicates that significant
reform of this tax would keep money in the pockets of every family and business and create tens of thousands of new jobs. Low income families
would see disproportionate savings on every day items, and all Rhode Islanders would benefit from increased job opportunities. Ample evidence
exists from New Hampshire's experience as a zero-sales-tax state and from numerous sales tax experiments in Rhode Island and Massachusetts in
the liquor, cigarette, and boating industries. Eliminating or reducing this tax on families and business will keep Rhode Islanders home -- both to
live and to shop -- and will also attract shoppers, families, and entrepreneurs from other states.
Philip Stewart
Mark Stiles
prstew86 AT gmail DOT com
mstiles2008 AT aol DOT com
Ted Stricklin, Jon
Stricklin, and Tim
Stricklin
tedstricklin AT yahoo DOT com
Yixin Sun and
Kayla Authelet
ys2650 AT columbia DOT edu
Kaeli Sutton
kaeli AT motioncenter DOT
com
Tejal Tarro,
Donna Sams, and
Amisha Patel
tejaltarro AT gmail DOT com
Antonio Tavares
miraclesofchi AT comcast DOT
net
My idea is to renovate and launch a versatile creative space for the West Side of Providence. By transforming a vacant building into a bustling,
multi-purpose space that features a small business incubator, a clothing exchange, an intimate performing arts venue and is home to a West Side
Clean Up Crew, I seek to improve environmental cleanliness, provide affordable clothing and enriching opportunities to low income families and
teens, foster community collaboration, and revitalize the West Side.
Poison rats and vermin using large amounts of Coca Cola.
We want people to move here, instead of moving out of here, to choose to go to school here instead of somewhere else, and choose to come
here for vacation again and again. We have created a business that gives visitors authentic Rhode Island experiences and introduces them to the
scenery, history, places, people, and foods which make Rhode Island unique and special. Our slogan is "showing you what's great about the
Ocean State". We believe there is no reason why Rhode Island can't become the most hospitable and livable state in America and we believe the
way we serve our guests is the key. Our idea is to pick people up daily from the RI Convention Center and area hotels and show off the state to
them with various tours. We have already started with such experiences as: Explore Providence, Autumn in Rhode Island, and Christmas in Rhode
Island, among others.
Recently, a Toronto non-profit launched a kitchen library where people who are a part of the library are allowed to Recently, a Toronto non-profit
launched a kitchen library where people who are a part of the library are allowed to borrow small-medium sized kitchen supplies. It is the latest
innovation in a concept called "sharing economy". This would be an incredible resource to have in Rhode Island, where unemployment has
recently been on the rise again (~9%). Especially in Providence, with ever growing income disparity, rising homeless rates, and crime rates way
above the national average, a library that not only lends out kitchen supplies, but also sewing machines, suits for job interviews, and a host of
other necessities would be incredibly beneficial in helping people save money and creating community unity.
The human, social, and economic costs of inadequate perinatal support in Rhode Island are substantial. Inadequate support is known to create
higher infant and maternal morbidity and mortality rates, postpartum depression, disease and illness in mother and child, child abuse,
educational challenges, and continuation of the cycle of poverty. I intend to develop a program that trains and supervises Perinatal Community
Health Workers (PCHW) and Doulas from within at-risk communities. These workers will serve as vital, culturally-sensitive educators, supporting
mother/child health, skillful parenting, future educational success for the child, and cultivating ripple-effect participation within the community.
Women will be followed through pregnancy, birth and the first year postpartum, providing an essential care continuum. Good perinatal
education, healthcare, and social support have exponential impact on a community. This program would improve the lives of the CHW's and
Doulas, the program participants, their children, and their broader community.
We believe that positive transformation for Rhode Island begins with new ways of thinking. The same ways of thinking will only get us the same
results. We believe that women in Rhode Island are an under utilized, yet highly skilled, resource in new ways of thinking. By supporting these
women leaders to make an authentic impact in their homes, communities, academia, professions and government, we will see positive
transformation. In Q1 of 2014, we are launching Centered Change, a practice that connects conscious women in a way that allows them to make
an authentic impact in the world.
To teach as many people as possible about the mind/body relationship and how they can use one of the most powerful techniques in the world
to relieve symptoms ranging from pain and migraines, to illness and post traumatic stress. I have taught hundreds and helped thousands of
people change their lives by introducing them to EFT ( emotional freedom technique ). I need help reaching more people and getting into
schools and businesses. This technique is world famous and will revolutionize healthcare in the future. When done in groups, nearly 80% of the
people will have their symptoms greatly reduced or eliminated. We could reach the entire state's population. Pain accounts for $168 billion
dollars in health care costs, lost wages, non-productivity. Instant results.
Jordan Taylor
jtaylor02 AT risd DOT edu
Linda Thibault
lpaul AT seniorservicesri DOT
org
Pat Thompson
rihuntress AT yahoo DOT com
Elizabeth Toll and
Daniel Spencer
etoll AT lifespan DOT org
Darlene Trew
Crist and Sara
Hickox
dtcrist AT gmail DOT com
Ethan Tucker
Ethan AT mobilelifeapps DOT
com
Kiln as Incubator My proposal is a piece of public art in downtown Providence in the form of a public space that cultivates creativity, cultural
discourse, economic growth, and more public art. In Reggio Emilia education philosophy, a student has three teachers. The parent is the first
teacher, a school teacher is the second, but the space-- the classroom-- is the third teacher. My space is a forty-foot-long elliptical dome, built
from 10,000 color glazed ceramic tubes, located in downtown Providence. The space will house cultural programming like arts workshops, yoga
or other exercise classes and performing arts events. It will function as a wood fired ceramics kiln and finally also as a translucent lantern whose
fire is tended by Rhode Islanders. My proposal is for a unique "classroom" in which Rhode Islanders will be an economic engine by teaching us
about our own creative potential.
The Senior Wellness Program of Senior Services, Inc., under the direction of a registered nurse, is a health promotion, disease prevention
program, giving seniors in Northern RI the necessary tools to stay active and healthy so that they can remain as long as possible in their preferred
home environment. Beginning in 2009, this proactive program held events at the senior centers, community centers & senior residences
throughout Northern RI focusing on health education, health screening and fitness activities. In its first year, the program reached over 800
senior citizens and conducted over 85 health promotion and screening events. This outreach ended in 2010 due to lack of funding. However, a
successful Senior Wellness Program continues, but due to lack of funding is confined to Woonsocket.
I found in my previous employment that women face challenges and need empowerment. When given an opportunity to learn and try things of
which they are fearful, they rush to classes. At the end of a weekend event, they have made new friends and have new confidences. This
outdoor weekend program has been lost in Rhode Island and, with it, the courage women have. I would like again to produce seasonal weekend
events for women, offering outdoor classes such as camping, archery, outdoor cooking, fishing, fly fishing, canoeing, kayaking, rock climbing,
ropes courses, etc.
Accessing quality mental health for children, especially by psychiatrists, is challenging for Rhode Island parents and pediatricians alike. By default,
pediatricians often deliver first-line mental health care despite little training. With this grant, psychiatrist Daniel Spencer, MD (child and adult
psychiatrist and pediatrician) and primary care physician Elizabeth Toll, MD (pediatrician/internist with experience in integrated care) will
improve mental health care access through a phone triage system staffed by Rhode Island mental health professionals. It will offer pediatricians
prompt phone consultations with psychiatrists and therapists regarding medication questions, the management of mental health concerns, and
assistance navigating the mental health system. Our program emulates the successful Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Project (MCPAP),
which includes six regional teams for that state's 1.3 million children. Consultation with the co-directors of that program suggests that Rhode
Island's 210,000 children can receive equivalent care with the single team we will create with this fellowship.
to stimulate solutions by Rhode Islanders to Rhode Island challenges. Briefly describe your idea. I propose an innovative project to marry
science and the arts, build collaborations and strengthen relationships between Rhode Island institutions of higher learning, celebrate the
positive talents and attributes of the Ocean State (scientific discoveries, grand arts, and Narragansett Bay), and capture people's imaginations and
seize their hearts. How? By building upon and scaling up (way up) Studio Blue, a multimedia coastal and ocean learning commons, currently
located at URI's Narragansett Bay Campus, where ocean scientists and artists come together to create art that visualizes wide-ranging scientific
concepts. I envision expanding this concept of scientists and artists working together across institutional and creative boundaries by hosting a
statewide competitive arts competition involving the state's marine scientists, art faculty and student artists, elected officials, business leaders
and others. The resulting art will depict scientific advances in media from spoken word to music to video to visual arts.
My idea is simple; repurpose some of the many available commercial old mill & manufacturing spaces in Rhode Island to a highly efficient and
sustainable indoor Aquaponic growing system to meet the growing food demand for all Rhode Islanders. Producing high quality, organic, and
chemical free fruits and vegetables. Aquaponics is essentially the combination of Aquaculture and Hydroponics. Together, the positive aspects of
both aquaculture and hydroponics are retained and the negative aspects no longer exist. The combined closed environment ecosystem is both
highly efficient and highly producing. A 5000 sqft foot print can produce up to 100,000 heads of lettuce annually.
Ethan Tucker
Constantine
Vavolotis
Ethan AT mobilelifeapps DOT
com
connie AT eastcoastembroidery
DOT com
Marie Vedder
marie.vedder AT gmail DOT
com
William Vinci
will.vinci AT cox DOT net
John Vitkevich
johnvit AT verizon DOT net
John Vitulli
q-tip0313 AT cox DOT net
Amy Walsh
awalsh09 AT gmail DOT com
Rhode Island's App- a powerful mobile application platform focused around a civic portal that empowers communication between residents,
business owners, and municipal/ State offices. The application makes it easy to access information about various government departments and
offices, such as People names/ Titles/ contact information, Key projects, cascading objectives, and marketing budgets. This developed app
technology improves the user experience of resident's business owners and government workers by making it easier to interact with relevant
public sector information. The mission is to make it easier to access information about resources, places, people; providing a single platform to
receive trustworthy information from the state agencies and municipalities. Interactive and real time information on RIPTA, RIRRC, Secretary of
State, RIDEM, RIDOT, etc..
The funds would allow me the opportunity to develop a team to work on the project.
Partner with URI's Master Gardener program and Rhode Island's public schools to create gardens (mostly urban) at every willing school. The
gardens should: include as much food stuff as possible; be organic; contribute food to each school's daily cafeteria menus; give students a chance
to grow their own food; be incorporated into the curriculum (health, biology, chemistry, etc...); include plants to nurture local birds, bugs and
bees; be built with the local community (donations for supplies, assistance with construction); be a space for local food banks to help their clients
grow their own food.
A not-for-profit high-tech services business (eg. software testing, quality assurance) employing the following target population: adult Asperger's
Sydrome (ie. high-functioning autism) individuals. The business will utilize the unique strengths of this target population: exceptional attention to
detail, ability to super-focus, above average stamina, superlative technological aptitude. The business would partner with universities, health
professionals, and outreach groups to attract qualified applicants and provide consulting and training expertise.
Hydrokinetic electricity generation from the Sakonnet tidal basin. The tidal flow of the Sakonnet as it passes through the Old Stone Bridge and in
to the Sakonnet basin, en-route to Mount Hope Bay, must be studied. A detailed study of the flow will aid in the design of the hydrokinetic
generators to be used. The type and style of generators will be determined from the study and aligned between the existing (old) Sakonnet
Bridge piers into the bedrock. The hydrokinetic generators will not interfere with navigation. Legislation would be introduced to create The Rhode
Island Energy Group, LLC with The Rhode Island Department of Transportation to join in a public-private partnership and would receive the
estimated maintenance funds of $1.6M per year to maintain the new Sakonnet Bridge. The generation of electricity from this site would negate
having a toll on this bridge and provide maintenance funding for future generations.
A novel energy source.... people thruout the world have combined dried leaves that you rake from the yard and any source of paper, such as
newsprint or magazines and after soaking in water they are combined in approximately 60:40 ratio and pressed into bricks. After a period to dry,
these are great fuel source for fireplaces. Every public works department collects leaves from the residents as well as recyclable paper and these
departments could produce energy logs as we will call them to be sold to the public with a tax added for the state so both cities and towns as well
as the state would benefit, with the biggest winners being the residents who purchase these logs which could sell for very little money. make
compost and the paper is This would be a very good use for resources we currently get very little for in return and are free at the point of
acquisition.
I propose to launch "Season of Earth" - an innovative interdisciplinary arts and media project that will dramatically increase awareness,
understanding and action about Rhode Island's ecosystems and environmental challenges through the lens of innovative, high-impact and widely
visible public art collaborations. Positioning Rhode Island as a model state for ecological culture, local and national artists will collaborate with
scientists, youth groups, municipalities, farms, museums, community groups and more in an interdisciplinary artists' residency program taking
place in significant rural and urban locations around the state and reaching diverse audiences typically left out of "art world" settings. In addition,
SOE will create an online media center which will document the artists initiatives and become a regional hub for innovative, creative approaches
to the multifaceted issues of climate change, environmental justice, ecological restoration and more.
Guan Wangm,
Chao Qian,
Zhangquan Zhou
Royal.G.Wang AT gmail DOT
com
Takeo Watanabe
takeo_watanabe AT brown
DOT edu
Ellen Waxman
fivemain AT verizon DOT net
Ellen Waxman
fivemain AT verizon DOT net
Douglas Weeks
dwweeks AT juno DOT com
Douglas Weeks
dwweeks AT juno DOT com
Patricia Weltin
and David
Mandelbaum
Pweltin AT rarediseaseunited
DOT org
Parking is a great problem in the life of people of Rhode Island, especially on special days such as "Black Friday". There is no way for the driver to
know whether there are available parking spaces near their destinations or where they are. We want to develop a multi-functional parking space
direction system, the users could simply type in their destinations and requirements ( price, special, time ), our system would show the locations
of the available parking spaces, and offer navigation. The system encourages the users and the owners of parking spaces to report available
resources by paying them back with credits which can be used for more services. A series of technology are being used: Machine Learning,
Human-Computer Interaction, Computer Vision, Pattern Recognition, Database.
Rhode Island has the highest percentage of serious mental illness occurrences in the nation. In 2011, for example, as many as 7.2 % of Rhode
Islanders had serious mental illness at present or in the past as compared with 4.6% in the national rate. Particularly, there has been an
exceptionally high rate of depression patients in Rhode Island. Recently my laboratory has developed an online neurofeedback method in which a
certain pattern of activity in a target area of the brain can be repeatedly inducted and has found that application to this method can change
human behaviors. This study was published in Science (Shibata et al, 2011), a most prestigious journal in science and greatly attracted national
and international attention. Although the method was originally applied to normal subjects, the proposed project is to modify and apply this
promising method to the people who suffer from depression.
The overall health of our state's economy is determined in part by the economic health of our individual cities and towns. My idea is to create a
community development toolkit to help strengthen Rhode Island's communities. Such a toolkit would be useful for cities and towns that are
struggling with their revitalization efforts due to a lack of guidance or leadership, and the absence of a structure for economic improvement. This
toolkit will include a framework for action, processes for change, methods for public engagement, and a community development website. It is
inefficient for multiple communities to each work at establishing similar structures when trying to achieve the same goal. This toolkit to help
community leaders guide their process, would be a significant contribution towards the goal of improving Rhode Island's economic health. The
state's small communities should not be left behind.
I want to create a website that provides a unified inventory of Rhode Island's arts assets. Without excluding any person or group, it will list every
artist, gallery, museum, art club, art organization and school within the state, and serve as a public resource to showcase and promote artistic
works produced here. With an open-source philosophy in mind, such a website would contribute to the intellectual community by providing a
place for openly and freely sharing information relating to art, artists, and art happenings in Rhode Island. This kind of resource is especially
important now in light of the newly established law that provides a statewide tax exemption on the arts, the first of its kind in the USA.
A while back my mother had knee surgery. During her recovery she had to do several exercises at home. Due to her living situation she does not
always have someone to assist with the exercises. Seeing this I developed a device that allowed her to perform the needed exercises on her own.
Basically as she sits on a sturdy chair she had to pull her foot back as far as possible to stretch the muscles. Normally someone has to sit at her
foot to guide the foot back. My device was developed to guide her foot back without the need for anyone's assistance. The other benefit for this
device is that it is very portable and can be easily slipped into a drawer or bag and carried with the individual. I have shown the device to several
physical therapists and they all seem to like the idea.
I have developed a physical therapy device to assist individuals who have had a knee replacement. This device allows them to be able to do
certain exercises on their own that presently require someone to assist them. I need some assistance in getting the product patented, produced
and packaged. If funded I would be interested in offering the foundation an equity position in the Company to assist in your on-going efforts to
improve RI.
The Rhode Island Rare Disease Foundation's mission is to improve the lives of the 120,000 Rhode Islanders living with a rare disease. One of the
major issues facing the rare disease patient is diagnosis time. On average, it takes 7 years for someone living with a rare disease to be correctly
diagnosed and in some cases diagnosis time can be decades to a lifetime without receiving the correct diagnosis. The financial cost of an incorrect
diagnoses to the state and economy is in the millions of dollars through unnecessary testing, doctors visits and incorrect treatments. The cost to
the patient is loss of time at work, financial loss, unnecessary suffering and too often death.
James White
jim AT corenotions DOT com
Timothy Whitfeld
Timothy_Whitfeld AT brown
DOT edu
Daniel Widrew,
Geoffrey Schoos,
Jeannine
Casselman, and
David Kreutter
danielwidrew AT gmail DOT
com
Reginald
Williams, John
Vitkevich, and
Micheal Buckley
Thehopefloatspa AT gmail DOT
com
Michael Zanni
zanmia AT yahoo DOT com
Edward Zesk
ezesk AT cox DOT net
The Rhode Island Idea Bar (RIdea Bar) is a unique storefront and workshop location featuring the education and implementation of the latest
technology in 3D printing and manufacturing. The RIdea Bar welcomes community members, students, entrepreneurs, and business owners to
get hands on experience with state of the art 3D printing equipment and software as well as innovative desktop manufacturing equipment and
processes. Here, anyone can come with an idea, and leave with a plan to bring that idea to life and to market. Our mission is to incubate
innovation, new product development, inventions, education, and stimulate Rhode Islanders to start new small businesses. We will reserve grant
money to help the most promising community made RIdea Bar products on along the path to success. The RIdea Bar has a end goal of developing
and producing innovative products and small businesses in RI through the latest technologies available.
To establish a network of long-term vegetation monitoring plots in all the different plant communities across Rhode Island. These "Critical Trend"
plots would monitor the effects of environmental change on local biological diversity. Within each plot, all plants and certain key groups of insects
(e.g., important pollinators) would be identified along with site characteristics such as soil nutrients and light conditions. The plots would be
resurveyed every five years to track changes and better understand how resilient our natural communities are in the face of climate change and
invasive species. No such survey exists in Rhode Island but the state is likely to experience higher temperatures, more intense storms, and rising
sea levels over the next few decades. These effects could have drastic impacts on biodiversity. Without long-term monitoring, the changes will go
undocumented making it harder to implement vital mitigation policies.
Rhode Island law gives tenants many rights, particularly around the maintenance of properties that are not properly being kept up in accordance
with building and housing codes. Unfortunately, many people are not aware of these rights or of the process for effectively making use of them.
This has resulted in an abundance of substandard housing in Rhode Island, occupied by people who are not aware of their options, and owned by
people with no motivation to fix up their properties. I would like to address this problem by a program of outreach and education for tenants,
coupled with free or low-cost legal service for those who wish to take advantage of their rights. In collaboration with municipal departments of
code enforcement and minimum housing around the state, we would work to ensure all renters in Rhode Island have homes fit to live in.
Floatation therapy has become internationally recognized as a powerful tool for the promotion of health and well-being. "Floating" as it has now
become called, is a state achieved through the use of twelve hundred pounds of Epsom salt dissolved in approximately two hundred gallons of
water and then heated to skin temperature. Within a lightproof, soundproof "pod" the human being is suspended upon the surface of the water
and experiences a unique sensation of being weightless in a zero-gravity like state. This form of therapy has a wide variety of uses and can
provide Rhode Islanders with access to a new form of rest, relaxation, and relief from pain and fatigue. We would use the Fellowship to create
the state's first float spa.
I have invented and patented a brand new safety device for ALL type of automobiles, motorcycles, trucks, buses, etc. I have a working prototype
and am interested in manufacturing and distributing the devices from RI. The device is an accident avoidance system that will save many, MANY
lives and BILLIONS of dollars for insurance companies as well. It will also help save municipalities MANY claims against them resulting in lower
insurance premiums for the municipalities.
The concept is to revive and modernize the basic design of the Quonset Hut to meet today's short and long term housing needs resulting from
natural disasters, population displacement, and homelessness in RI, the US and throughout the world. The Quonset Hut was manufactured in RI
at Quonset Point during World War II as a highly durable, portable and versatile structure that could be transported around the world and used
as shelter for men and material. These modern Quonset Huts will be designed and manufactured by Rhode Islanders in RI at Quonset Point
which is easily accessible to trains, trucks, container ships and heavy lift aircraft for timely transportation across the US and around the globe. At a
time when Rhode Islanders wonder what we stand for, establishing a manufacturing industry that is fundamentally designed to provide shelter
for people in need is something in which we can all take pride.