TED Community » Rye Barcott

Sign in to send Rye an email »

About Me

While an undergraduate at UNC-Chapel Hill in 2001, Rye founded Carolina For Kibera (CFK) in Kenya with Salim Mohamed and the late Tabitha Atieno Festo, who each shared the conviction that the poor have the solutions to the problems they face. Named a Time Magazine and Gates Foundation “Hero of Global Health,” CFK fights poverty and promotes ethnic and religious reconciliation through a unique model of participatory development.

Rye served on active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps for five years and is currently a joint MPA and MBA candidate at Harvard University, where he is a Reynolds Social Entrepreneurship Fellow and a George Leadership Fellow. He is currently working with a number of cleantech start-up companies, including a leader in synthetic biology Amyris Biotechnologies of Emeryville, CA, and Consert, a Raleigh, NC-based smart grid company..

The President of Harvard appointed Rye to the Harvard Endowment’s Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility and the Harvard University Committee on Rights and Responsibilities. He also serves as a member of the UNC NROTC Board of Directors and the World Learning Board of Trustees (Audit and Investment Committees). In 2006 ABC World News named him a “Person of the Year.”

Location:
United States, Cambridge, MA
Current organization:
Carolina For Kibera
Past organizations:
Amyris Biotechnologies, Harvard Business School, Harvard Kennedy School, U.S. Marine Corps
Gender:
Male
Areas of expertise:
Cleantech, Military Intelligence, Counterinsurgency, Smart Grid Technology, Biofuels, African Development & Capacity Building, Youth, volunteerism, Waste reduction and recycling, Social Entrepreneurship, Writing books
I am:
Business adviser, Change Agent, Christian, Connector, Entrepreneur, Environmentalist, Global soul, Public servant, Social entrepreneur, Writer/Editor
Associations:
World Learning, Army Navy Club, Marines Memorial Club, Consert Smart Grid, eGo Electric Scooters
Languages:
Swahili
My website links:
Carolina For Kibera, Amyris Biotechnologies
Universities:
Harvard Kennedy School (Reynolds Fellow), UNC- Chapel Hill (NROTC), Harvard Business School (George Fellow)
TED conferences attended:
TED2009
Member Picture

TEDCRED 50+ TED FellowAssociate

More About Me

I'm passionate about

I'm fascinated by the role that interdisciplinary, cross-sector approaches can play in solving our most difficult problems, especially global warming and energy independence.

An idea worth spreading

In Kibera we are tackling some of the most vexing problems in one of the toughest, most concentrated areas of abject poverty in the world. We are doing it from the ground-up, empowered by the vitality, unrelenting drive, and leadership of remarkable young Kenyans, Americans, and Europeans working together to make the world a safer and more equitable place. The young leaders in Kibera and abroad grow with Carolina For Kibera (CFK), the NGO we founded together in 2001. They are changing their communities. They are changing their countries. They are changing the world. But CFK cannot continue to grow and support these leaders, let alone be a model of participatory development worldwide, without a sustainable base of financial resources. We forge ahead with the community.

Talk to me about

Cleantech, start-ups, community development, ethnic violence and violence prevention, counter-insurgency.

People don't know that I'm good at

Salad making, kitten loving, falling asleep fast.

Comments

  • TEDCred score: +60.00 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

This user has not yet posted any comments.

Favorite talksSee all »