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Kate Torgovnick

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What would you do for the world with $1 million?

The TED Prize has entered a new chapter, with this year's winner receiving $1 million dollars to execute their one wish to inspire the world.

This has me thinking: what would you do for the world with the $1 million prize? Answer here and you may see yourself on the TED blog soon.

Want to nominate a mentor, colleague, friend or even yourself for the TED Prize? Nominations are open from now until August 31st at this website:

http://www.tedprize.org/

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  • Han Kim

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    Aug 31 2012: I would reshape the creative minds of our youth that has been missing. independent children who focus's and strive for happiness beyond their selves. I would start a group organization that will teach and share ideas with children around the world. I truly believe our generation has been the dominant yet negative influence. From Media entertainment, articles(propaganda of terrorism), Teachings of division(rich and poor/Racism), and simply what truly defines happiness. I believe we all need to wake up and reach out to our youth. We simply forget the limits of our times and are easy to forget about the end(death). I would use the one million dollars to teach understandings far from education, and focus on the insights of world slavery, Natural disasters, Animal cruelty, and simply human health conditions. Would focus and deliver these problems to their attention, As I believe the children from half of the world truly live with joy. From teaching self respect, and self understanding, I believe this would generate love and understanding through one another. As the group of youth age with responsibilities, they would consider the absence of others needs to fully bring peace and equality through out the world.
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    Levi LCL 10+

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    Aug 31 2012: I'd use the money to fund a organization which inspires a human identity and sense of global patriotism, since most real issues exist at a global level and have no masses behind them, pushing, demanding, and ensuring their needs are met globally, and permanently.

    Riling up the human spirit and an identity of a global citizenry as a real living breathing thing, with both legal and political realities, has far reaching potential to address the problems we face today.

  • Kaylor Garcia

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    Aug 30 2012: I would like to help the current infrastructures that are currently in place to support the development of children (like schools) be better. Namely, I want to link these infrastructures with other community programs so that groups are able to focus on what they do best while still providing wrap-around support and services for children and teens. Having this level of coordination would provide kids with ideal environments for development and maintaining efficiency.
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    Imad Atwi 10+

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    Aug 24 2012: The TED prize requires people with accomplished track record, which puts certain people at disadvantage, and does not quite promote the entrepreneurial spirit of TED, as I would like to believe it does.

    What if this TED plan was their main breakthrough? And they did not have any proven track record to wet the appetite and comfort of TED jury?

  • Robert Bujnarowski

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    Aug 23 2012: I would seek further possibilities in games like foldit, using competetivness and gamers imaginery to solve complex problems. Alternatively, i would try to arrange game developers meetings with a purpose of making them introduce educational value on a higher level into their products, as gaming have became fully developed media, not only for kids.
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    Simone Choy

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    Aug 21 2012: I would love to put a pencil and paper in the hand of every child and teach them how to read and write... When they can write their own name they begin to know how much they matter and that they can make a difference. I would start with orphanages and with girls. What kind of change could occur if they all knew how to read and write? Then let them teach each other how to read and write and how to plant and catch water... their own imaginations would take over and they would build a better world for themselves....

  • Lori Scott

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    Aug 20 2012: I would use it entirely to hire people for various jobs. If local people needed help with projects, it would be wonderful for the local econonmy to offer good paying jobs. Too many times help is looked at as a hand out...hand outs don't offer people confidence and pride the way a good job does.

  • Gerald Gormley

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    Aug 19 2012: Walk up to first homeless person I met, Give them the money

  • Emma Jones

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    Aug 18 2012: I'd buy out part of MTV and make 8-10pm documentary time with a bit of John Pilger for one hour and then someone aged 18-25 who is analytically and academically grappling with a work issue through documentary making with a live twitter or Facebook discussion happening whilst the programme is airing. The last half hour would invite the presenter back with a couple of field experts, a politician and a uni student/'young person' to bring up and discuss some of the points raised, raised and talked about via twitter or Facebook, 'cafe style'. Along with all the online users there would be a list of tangible things that could be done to move forward that are accessible to everyone - for example, suggestions for diret action through policy change for local and national politicians, action that can be implemented tomorrow by you and I, charities/NGOs names who are already working towards the changes discussed as well as further sites for information.

    Of course, Kim kardashian would be along for the ride... Can't completely revolutionise MTV too fast ... And I think it would be pretttttty funny!

  • Diana Pederson

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    Aug 18 2012: Develop the innovative NeuroKinetics Health Services medical expertise for drugless trauma and concussion treatment into computer algorithms, systems, and tools so that it can be more easily made available to the millions who need it. (www.neurokinetics.com) When you treat someone who is chronically ill, it helps not only that person, but also their family and support network.
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    Wade Crum

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    Aug 18 2012: I would start a farm that run's on renewable energy. Then I would teach others (hands on) how to start a farm that run's on renewable energy. Then I would teach others how to teach others (hands on) how to start a farm that run's on renewable energy. Then I would give the $1,000,000 back.
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    Mats Kaarbö 10+

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    Aug 17 2012: I would donate the money to further the non-profit organization The Venus Project's goal to render money itself, obsolete. That way I know that if we as humans were to ever consider having a tiny chance of surviving on this little planet and finally become civilized, we would have to declare all of Earths resources as the common heritage of all of the inhabitants, not just a select few. Not by force, but with education. And that is what The Venus Project is providing. The education. The blueprints of a better world. A world without money. A world where war, politics, poverty and human suffering is a thing of the past. A world in equilibrium.

  • Tanja Nestoroska

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    TED Translator
    Aug 17 2012: I would gather the crew that helped green the great Loess Plateau in China, the size of Denmark. In ten years they turned the desert into a rainforest. All done with the locals, grasroot, the only way a process can be controled and protected. I'd gather them if they're willing and take them to the next devastated area in the world, to do the same, doing it as many times as the money will last. Greening the plateau not only improved the lives of the locals, it stopped erosion which was the main cause of pollution and smog in the cities along the main river. The climate also changed, and the watter supply in the area is now at a constant high level. Greening devastated areas is the best thing we can do. It provides biodiversity, supports all kind of wildlife and can be of a great significance to future human generations.

  • Marlon Ventura

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    Aug 17 2012: I'd like to invest the money in El Salvador (Centro America) to buy thousands of acres around the country in every community for plant millions of organic plants, fruits, vegetables and put on the market for free without a profit, every community will own acres near of they live and they will share part of his time to produce, cultivate, they will share with other communities part of what they have on hand so make that system balance,(refer to variety of vegetables in fruits, etc) Of course the families have the option to invest his time for have free healthy food or make a donation or just take it for free. Second, teach to all the people about how to eat right, how they can be healthy eating right, how to plant, care the plants, how to keep the seeds, put a descent food in the table of every family in my country. Make people feel they have a new opportunity to learn something that can help the community his families, his country, the world. Make a new agriculture system based on share without profit, without selfish making right for everyone.

  • Lands End Dmc Baleon

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    Aug 17 2012: I think that I will design an organization that will make accessible health programs that insurance companies don’t apply because they consider not necessary but for a person do make a night and day difference like… reconstructive plastic surgeries and prosthesis.
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    Jeremy Garner

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    Aug 17 2012: Turn it into two million then four million... Greed always starts with his kind of thought process... So what would i do for the world with one million dollars? The same things i am doing right now learning to be a millionaire...

  • Bryant Alden

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    Aug 17 2012: I would start a college fund for the average student, education is power.
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    Jean-Luc M

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    Aug 17 2012: I would make a program to teach every individual how to be happy:-)

  • Sally Vallongo

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    Aug 17 2012: I would use the $1 million TED prize to start a pilot program in a depressed area of the U.S., say Toledo, where I live, which would illustrate the value and necessity of a national service operation to be available for all U.S. citizens from age 17 to 21.
    The operation would start with total remediation: medical and dental treatments; educational catchup, physical fitness, personal counseling, basic skills for life (what used to be called home economics and shop). That would probably take a year. At the end, through various testing mechanisms, these young people would be steered into training programs to prepare them for the full range of careers and workplace opportunities.
    This initiative could well provide our country with a new generation ready and willing to move the U.S. ahead in a more balanced and ecologically-informed manner.
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    Stephanie White Place

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    Aug 17 2012: I would open a Montessori school and offer the curriculum at a reduced rate with scholarships to families in financial need in the Northeast USA, the region where I call home. I would hire teachers with the most compassionate and over-flowing hearts who possess a true passion for the spirit of enlightened education, and then we would create an integrated learning environment in which students are encouraged to turn their minds"ON" rather than "OFF," assuring the genius and innovation of generations to come!

  • Mary Krause

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    Aug 17 2012: I would start an after-school program in low-income areas that taught kids how to cook. Each day, we would cook a meal and a snack. The snack would be eaten while at the program. The meal would be enough to feed a family and would go home with the child. The family's immediate need for food would be met and the child would be taught skills they will need in the future - whether that is simply making healthy meals for their own family or moving into a job in a professional kitchen.
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      Robert Carter

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      Aug 17 2012: Mary, I love this Idea. I've done some volenteer work at a food bank and one of the problems we constantly noticed was the number of people who didn't know what to do with a bag of dried beans or how to cook a roast. I would include adults in this kind of education.

      • Mary Krause

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        Aug 17 2012: Thanks, Robert! I've worked with a farm that offers a CSA/Food Stamp program which includes cooking classes. But they have trouble raising interest. I think a Food Bank where people already understand the model would be a great place to teach both adults & children.

  • Jeff McEldowney

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    Aug 17 2012: It's estimated that 40% of youth homelessness is LGBT kids who have left or been thrown out of their homes. While working with some friends to help a kid in the USA, we found that there are limited resources, and worse, that they're not well publicised, linked to things like the suicide hotlines, Trevor Project, etc., and don't have the staff or funding to work with the number of kids impacted. My goal would be to support the groups like Albert Kennedy Trust and Ali Forney in the UK and US, and develop a coordinating capability that would be sustainable, and deliver not only housing but coordinate counseling, education and job training, with regional and local authorities.
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    Elisa Sly 20+

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    Associate
    Aug 17 2012: I would take inspirational Ted Talks to every country in the world especially to people that have no access to computers.
    Show them about leadership , innovation,creativity and then do streamings of this in every city.
    Education , education , education so human beings see that the world is changing and we must adapt to the new order.
    Remember there is a lot of difference between one culture and other . In some places we talk about stem cells and in another about people that have sanitation problems.
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    Uday Pasricha 100+

    • +1
    TED AttendeeAssociate
    Aug 17 2012: While choices help us in business to make better decisions, This is one area where the overwhelming needs of so many diverts the emotional response to focus on alleviation. Too much money is spent on temporary alleviation and hardly any to build sustainable models and infrastructure that can sustain for years and help create self sufficiency away from the cities. One need not always be helping the poor and many times the desire to maximize geographical reach becomes a paradoxical waste as we see in almost all Government programs. A tough evaluation 2 years ago had recommended a very rightfully sceptical philanthropist to fund a not very poor couple running an NGO to get their own accomodation closer to their targetted beneficiaries, rather than use those funds for supporting some families for a year or so. This has thankfully proved to benefit many more people and hopefully forever because the NGO is now able to extend benefit to atleast 100 more families per annum because they have closer access, Lesser costs of travel, and more hours to dedicate and mentor to help their targetted families become self sufficient. For me the focus of usage for a million dollars would appear to be cruel as i would not want to allow emotion to spend it all on those desperate for a meal, but execute on a model that can sustain itself over years. Replication is the lowest cost way to multiply benefit, so developing more models will yield the highest returns. Billions of Government and global aid money is wasted on emotional alleviation and after decades we still do not have a NON URBAN economic development model for the few billion who are not in urban cities. This intellectual bankruptcy of our education and research which has convinced all our rural folk and sold them just one dream; To run away to the the city and accept a lower quality of life than find sustainable ways to improve within rural environments. They have anyway sent off their kids and are waiting for ?

  • Nathan Kessel

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    Aug 14 2012: I would use the money to create an open online communications platform (a web app that would be a mix between an internet forum and a social aggregator [like reddit]) to brainstorm and generate new ideas and crowd-source solutions to problems humanity faces and facilitate transparent collaborative action on the most effective and promising solutions, leveraging the huge cognitive surplus currently available in order to create a more desirable future for humanity.

  • Joe Black

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    Aug 10 2012: I like Jan-Bernd Pauli's micro credits for startups in economically underdeveloped countries, which allows people to help themselves.

    Looking at the numbers of people in third world countries one easily realises the need for more money to support more start-ups or humanitarian projects. :)

    Looking at the current financial system in probably all western countries you realise that all it takes
    to have more money to spread out is creating a real bank using the 1 million as initial reserve.
    After founding a real bank you are allowed to create more money out of nothing by giving out loans of up to 10 times more money than used to found it which is called fractional reserve banking.
    Giving that we are not aiming for profit like all the other commercial banks and we do not use any money taken from a central bank at any interest rate > 0, we are not forced to charged intrest as we use our own 1 million, so there is nothing that stops us from lending about 10x our money without charging intrest.

    I also like the implementation of the suggested 'instead rates', an obligation to grant at least one micro credit themselves under the same conditions to help others when the start-up business reached a stable financial situation.

    http://www.positivemoney.org.uk
    http://www.positivemoney.org.uk/2012/08/imf-backs-full-reserve-banking/

    • Sébastien Paris

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      Aug 10 2012: I find that most occidental approaches to solve problems is money. This might be true in already developed countries (even if i doubt it), but we cannot simply duplicate our cultural ways of doing to all.
      Even if micro-credit is a proven venture (mainly when given to women, such in Africa), I think it can also be dangerous to always come back to micro-credit as THE solution when it comes to more global approach. Allowme explain my thoughts:

      Firstly, credit is prohibited by a lot of cultures-religions such as Muslim, the biggest population on earth. So right there, micro-credit is a discriminative approach.

      Secondly, in most of this civilizations the individuals that have access to foreign influence (credit, money, etc) are casts that already have the dominance in their community (and not always in a positive way). Access to money has also proven to create more problems then solutions (think Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.)

      Thirdly, but not the least, money (or credit) doesn't do much without knowledge. In the human world we live in, we now know that well intended people are often taken advantage of by more egoist-driven influences with another objective: money.

      So I think money is not the forefront tool to all global problems, human knowledge is...

      • Joe Black

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        Aug 11 2012: Knowledge transfer (in both / all directions) is most important,
        but I believe that many people here assume and know this has to happen
        and participate in the exchange of knowledge without thinking much about it...

        Micro-credit is seen as an effective solution because it is part of the philosphy to
        help people help thenselves. This help always includes some form of knowledge.

        Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.
        Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

        We know from Prof Herzberg that the motivation to help oneself
        (a result of training which created an ability) is not enough,
        but people also require the opportunity to act upon their ability (to fish).
        Here starts the impact of mirco finance as these loans avoid the trap
        of perpetually rising debt by not charging any intrest.

        I can imagine that the unfounded accumulation of wealth by creditors led to
        the prohibition of conventional credit in some of those cultures/religions
        which were/are more future-oriented...
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