OZY's Top 10 Week: Technology & Entrepreneurship

www.ozy.com [OZY]() The newsletter to fuel — and thrill — your mind. Read for deep dives into the unmissable ideas and topics shaping our world. Jan 03, 2022 TODAY We don’t know about you, but with nearly two years of pandemic living behind us, we’re sure as hell ready for something different as the new year kicks off. That’s why each day this week the Daily Dose newsletter is focusing on some of the top movers and shakers across politics, science, sports, culture and other key issues. Today, in no order of priority, we’re highlighting some of the top voices in the world of technology and entrepreneurship. But we’re also keen to hear who you think is set to change our world. Send your top tips to ozycommunity@ozy.com and we’ll feature your suggestions later this week. Happy reading! 1 - Nomuntu Ndhlovu and Siyabonga Tshabalala This pair has brought cash to hundreds of impoverished South Africans who sell waste to their recycling company, SiyaBuddy. They’ve also helped to clean up their corner of Mpumalanga, a region where recycling is virtually unheard of due to the great distances people must travel to reach a buyback center.[When OZY profiled Ndhlovu in 2018](, she dreamed of expanding operations across the province, installing a waste-to-energy plant and manufacturing building bricks from black refuse bags. While the pandemic has put the waste-to-energy plans on ice, SiyaBuddy has purchased three more trucks, increased the number of jobs it provides from eight to 12 and grown from having just one site to four. The recycled building bricks, meanwhile, are currently being certified as safe for use in construction — a[trend that’s taking off]( around the world. 2 - Aaron T. Walker A former educator who worked for the New York City public school system, Walker is now aiming to close the opportunity gap in a different way. His New Orleans–based Camelback Ventures invests in diverse and innovative founders, but he’s been continually frustrated by systemic racism within the philanthropic community that backs many of his startups. So Walker launched racial justice trainings for white executives at corporations and philanthropies. [Read more]( 3 - Chris Kubecka Half-Puerto Rican, half-Dutch, Kubecka is one of the world’s leading cyber security professionals — from Saudi Arabia to South Korea and NATO to the European Union, they all turn to her when their systems are under attack. Few are more qualified than Kubecka to take on the world’s cyber challenges: While working at Unisys in July 2009, she helped halt a wave of North Korean cyberattacks aimed at South Korea. And in 2012, when the Shamoon attacks wiped out 85% of Aramco’s computer systems — while severely hampering Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain — Kubecka was the expert called to mitigate the damage and stabilize the[global oil market](. As cyber crimes increasingly become a major strategic threat, Kubecka’s influence is only going to rise. 4 - Tara Fela-Durotoye Which face do you want to see? Makeup artist? Entrepreneur? Lawyer? She can do them all (and much more).[Fela-Durotoye wears all these hats herself](, with eyes that smile yet also reveal steely ambition. She launched her brand —[House of Tara]( — from her living room before turning it into a phenomenon that’s now spread across Nigeria with ambitious expansion plans for the rest of Africa. She could have been[Nigeria’s first lady]( had her husband Fela Durotoye, a business coach and consultant, won 2019’s presidential election. Never mind. She’s already Africa’s makeup queen. 5 - Chinwe Esimai The murkiest of scams usually rely on those most regular of financial institutions:[big banks](. Nigeria-born Esimai is at the forefront of the banking sector’s attempts to reform itself. The Harvard-trained lawyer is Citibank’s first chief anti-corruption and bribery officer, and among the most powerful women of color in the white- and male-dominated world of banking. “The seeds of my passion for anti-bribery work were sown at an early age,” she[told Medium]( in 2019. “Conversations about anti-bribery and corruption dominated conversations in politics and at the dinner table.” 6 - Candice Matthews Brackeen and Brian Brackeen The African American power couple is behind a first of its kind $50 million VC fund for underrepresented founders in the American Midwest. “The venture capital market has failed BIPOC and, ultimately, itself,” Candice says, referring to statistics that show only 1% of U.S. venture-backed funds have Black founders and just 11% of funding went to startups led by women. Her goal? To prove that by investing in places, and people, that normally receive less attention, investors can actually make stronger returns. 7 - Lisa Gelobter Raise your hand if you’ve ever laughed at a GIF. You can thank Gelobter. The computer scientist helped[develop the animation software]( used to create GIFs. Great for jokes and expressing your thoughts and feelings in the virtual world, GIFs have been shown to also be[beneficial in the classroom](, in part because they capture and hold students’ attention, even if for a limited period of time. Gelobter, now 50, graduated from Brown University at 20 with a degree in computer science. She worked with the White House as chief digital service officer for the Department of Education under the administration of former President Barack Obama, serving as a part of a team responsible for[redesigning the College Scorecard](, an online mechanism used to compare the cost and value of schools. 8 - Glenn Cantave While people have been protesting on the streets for racial justice, activist and founder of Movers & Shakers NYC Cantave has joined them — but he’s also been busy developing a platform to rewrite Black and brown history in school curricula. His app has a catalog of “heroes you never learn about in school” — women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ community and more. Students use the app to select an underrepresented icon and then advance to doing assignments on them. Plus, they can take selfies with their chosen icon, download them and share. [Elizabeth Nyamayaro on 'The Carlos Watson Show']( Discover the truly extraordinary story of Elizabeth Nyamayaro, the award-winning humanitarian who has served as advisor to UN Women and the World Food Programme, and headed up the United Nations’ HeForShe campaign to advocate for gender equality. After surviving malnourishment while growing up in rural Zimbabwe, Nyamayaro dedicated her life to service and activism. Discover how the Shona-language greeting from her small African village is inspiring her global development advocacy. To listen to the full, unedited conversation between Carlos and [Elizabeth Nyamayaro](, subscribe to the podcast version of the show here: [( [Watch Now]( ABOUT OZY OZY is a diverse, global and forward-looking media and entertainment company focused on “the New and the Next.” OZY creates space for fresh perspectives and offers new takes on everything from news and culture to technology, business, learning and entertainment. 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