Introducing The Festival of Urgent Reinventions, a Two-Day Event Questioning and Reimagining How to Build a More Accessible and Equitable Future

NEW YORK, Jan. 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Great Foundation, a non-profit organization redefining what's possible and improving the world through action, and Instrument, a design agency built for change, today announced The Festival of Urgent Reinventions, a free, two-day event to question and reimagine how we can use our skills to build a more accessible and equitable future. Part conference, part competition – the virtual event takes place February 4 - 5 and is designed as a forum where ideas will be shared, community will come together, and solutions will be invented and developed in response to the world's most urgent and systemic issues.

The Festival of Urgent Reinventions is a combination of inspiration from a lineup of prominent change makers, and actionable briefs that intersect health, economy, society, and technology. These briefings will take the form of a live talk, and be supported with a set of downloadable resources. Event participants - thinkers, creators, artists, and innovators - will have 48 hours to invent, imagine, and ideate a solution aimed to solve the world's most urgent problems. Four winning participants will receive a cash prize of $10,000, as well as opportunities and support to make their winning ideas into world-changing realities. If winners are involved with non-profit organizations or student groups, additional $5,000 grants will be made to those initiatives.

"This past year showed us what's possible when we put our minds together - that the digital realm can be a space dedicated to community and progress, and that we all have the skills and tools needed to ideate, create and implement solutions to build a better world," said Andrew Trousdale, of The Great Foundation. "That's exactly why we started The Festival of Urgent Reinventions - to create a space for all of us to come together to reimagine how we can use our skills to build a more accessible, equitable future."

Keynotes and topics include:

• How can we make education more available and accessible to anyone in a post-covid world?, led by Gitanjali Rao, an American inventor, author, scientist, and STEM promoter. She won the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge in 2017, was recognized on Forbes 30 Under 30, and was named TIME's Kid of the Year in 2020 for her innovations
• How can we make health and wellness practices more accessible to underserved communities around you?, led by Nicola Cordoza, an award-winning serial social entrepreneur, investor, author and public speaker making wellness accessible for everyone
• How can we provide underrepresented and disadvantaged groups in your community more access to professional opportunities?, led by Alex Stephany, a sharing economy expert and founder of Beam, a platform and support network that crowdfunds new career opportunities for homeless men and women
• How Can We Eliminate Waste and Tackle Plastic Pollution on our Collective Earth, led by Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez, an architect, inventor, and co-founder of Notpla, a London-based startup with the goal of making packaging disappear

"We are at the edge of a new decade staring down a global pandemic, rising unemployment, hunger, raging wildfires, a social justice emergency, and new problems that grow out of our broken systems every day," said Jack De Caluwé, Creative Director at Instrument. "The Festival or Urgent Reinventions is a forum to reward creativity and dream up ways that will make the next 10 years of life on this earth, a decade worth living."

The Festival of Urgent Reinventions is free and open to all by RSVP - no invention or engineering experience required, and ideas of all kinds will be accepted and considered. To learn more and register, visit https://www.thefour.live/.

About The Great Foundation:
Launched in 2015, The Great Foundation is a non-profit organization made up of a group of like-minded New Yorkers. Their goal is to awaken people to redefine what's possible in the world by creating a positive, conscious, and community-focused environment.

The Great Foundation believes in order to ignite positive change on a global scale, they must inspire individuals to view their world from the perspective of solutions, not problems, with the effect that they will inspire those around them to redefine what is possible as well.

The Great Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3).

About Instrument:
Instrument is a digital product and brand experience innovation company with offices in Portland, Oregon and Brooklyn, New York. This dynamic group of creative technologists uses the power of design and technology to be agents of change for their ambitious clients. Instrument exists to help organizations look ahead, bringing concepts to life and building systems that shape the future. With broad capabilities and a deep pool of talent in the areas of Strategy, Design, Development and Content Creation, Instrument builds modern experiences for brands with purpose.

Launched in 2006 by Justin Lewis, JD Hooge and Vince LaVecchia, Instrument is a purpose-driven company on a mission to enrich human lives through design and technology. For more information, visit instrument.com.

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