Vodafone Americas Foundation hosts a yearly contest to promote innovation in the mobile/wireless technology space. Learn about the 2016 winners and see what they brought to the table.

$700,000 in total prizes awarded to Neopenda, EyeSee, and c-Air for their promising wireless and mobile innovations designed to impact the global community.

Finalists competing to win a total of $600,000 in prize money for wireless and mobile innovations designed to impact the global community.

June Sugiyama is helping a major business to ramp up its efforts to empower women and girls in tech. Sugiyama, as director of the Vodafone Americas Foundation, is well placed to push forward an agenda based around promoting, protecting and educating women and girls in tech.

Vodafone Americas Foundation seeks to address the gap between women and men in the technology field, whereby, according to Vodafone Americas Foundation, “while women represent over half of college graduates in the US, they make up only 30 percent of workers at large technology companies.” A leader in empowering women, last year Vodafone “became one of the first organizations in the world to define a mandatory minimum maternity benefits standard. The company also committed to increasing the number of women in leadership roles within its company to 30 percent.” Now they seek to promote those values elsewhere.

The Vodafone Americas Foundation today added a new initiative to empower women and girls through technology. The new focus area will provide grants and additional support to technology-driven programs to strengthen the stance of women and girls. By adding this initiative to its three original priorities—spark innovation, improve lives, and strengthen the global development sector—the Vodafone Americas Foundation will support programs designed to enable and empower women and girls through the advantages of technology.

Gwendolyn Floyd is the co-creator of Soko, a high impact mobile marketplace that connects artisans in the developing world to customers everywhere. With an early focus on Kenyan producers, Soko received last year a $200,000 award through the Vodafone Americas Foundation Wireless Innovation Project (WIP), and sells goods directly to consumers, as well as through retailers such as Nordstrom and Forever 21.

Vodafone Americas Foundation holds an annual contest to promote innovation in the mobile/wireless technology space. They’re now accepting entries for their 8th competition.

The annual competition to award $600,000 in prize money to promising wireless and mobile innovations designed to impact the global community.

$600,000 in Total Prizes Awarded to Mobile and Wireless Solutions Addressing Global Social Issues from Sanitation to Clean Water Access to Health Diagnosis.