UN Will Back Project AdviseHer to Aid Women in STEM Education

by Chris Preimesberger

Here’s British Airways’ logo for the first UnGrounded tour from Silicon Valley to the United Kingdom. Organizers say they want this to become a regular event—and for other segments of the market.

As soon as participants got settled onboard the Boeing 747, they had some dinner and then went right to work in small groups to start brainstorming the problem areas. These were defined as improving the roles of females, meeting growing demand for STEM talent in the U.S., growing local STEM opportunities in emerging economies and expanding the reach of STEM in general.

Waze founder Mark Campos, who earlier in the week sold his company to Google for $1.3 billion, works on an assignment. Israel-based Waze is a GPS-based navigational mobile app, which uses turn-by-turn navigation, as well as user-submitted travel times and route details.

Team members notated their remarks and opinions to leaders, who in turn added all the concepts to large poster-sized signs taped up all over the plane. Despite the size of the 747 cabin, it still was a little crowded, with 130 people milling around like a big party.

Tiffany Shlain, founder of the Webby Awards, and Gina Bianchini of Mightybell tape up some of their team’s concepts inside the cabin.

Red-haired Dr. Sue Black, a computer scientist at University College in London, smoothes out a point with a fellow team member.

Gerald Brady, managing director of Silicon Valley Bank, laughs during a team discussion. Colorful Post-Its, capturing every idea mentioned, were everywhere in this project.

Craigslist founder Craig Newmark was one of the better-known members of the trip. Team members said he brought a lot of good ideas to the table.

Virgin Airlines and Music founder and entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson talks to reporters in a side room at the G8 Innovation Summit, held at London’s Crystal conference center.

The Crystal, opened only a year ago, was the site of the G8 Innovation summit and the DNA (Decide Now Act) Conferences, which were held concurrently. The all-glass center is located in East London, not far from City Airport, on the Thames River. The 2012 Olympics were held only a short distance away.

Great Britain’s Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. David Cameron, extolled the virtues of the UnGrounded organizers and team members, saying that “innovation happens when people get together and motivate each other to new heights. That’s what this group is doing. Well done!”