Ideagen Intersection
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Ideagen Intersection
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Ideagen Intersection
Camila:
Well that's a great question Kate, thank you. The first thing is that I am a firm believer that a wish doesn't change the world. It's a decision what makes things happen. So you can have a lot of wishes and a lot of good will, but until you make the decision to change something, nothing will actually happen. So that's the main driver for me. That became very tangible when I was in Colombia and I was given the opportunity to participate as the leader of a group in Google that's called Women@ that is based on three main pillars: connections, community, and development. And the community part was something that really inspired me because it gave me the opportunity to utilize technology and utilize something as powerful as connecting people to make a change in a society. So that's when I decided that it was about time to make a change and we started partnering with different NGO's, with different universities, with different government entities, to inspire business entrepreneurs to use technology, to inspire women and girls to utilize technology to breach the diversity gap or the income gap that we can see in a country such as Colombia. That was from a corporate standpoint. Later in life, when I had my son, it was very clear to me that I needed to do something at a bigger scale to leave him with a better world, and that where Proud2BeGood was born, out of the idea of this dream of making the world little bit better by inspiring others of taking action and doing good deeds. So that's where everything started and I believe the combination of having a good dreaming place, making a decision, taking an action, and then utilizing technology to expand that breach is a really good combination and a great starting point for many projects.
George:
Camila, profound and incredibly insightful. What key lessons and vantage points help you successfully carry out your role? Not only at Google but also at Proud2BeGood.
Camila:
The first one is there is no dream that is too big. I believe it's all about the context and the will. You can definitely achieve anything that you want. The next thing I would say is people want to help, reach out. There's a lot of people in the world that wanna do the right thing, that wanna do good and it's just a matter of doing the right connections. It's just a matter of reaching out and asking people. A good example is Proud2BeGood. proud2BeGood was born out of an idea and then I just started asking for help, to my brother, to my sister-in-law, to my aunt, to my cousin, to everyone to get involved. And that is how things were born so I definitely would like the audience to reach out for anything. There's people out there that want help. Third thing I would say, there is a big difference between dreaming about something and doing something. The reward for those who dare to do something is to actually leave a mark that will last forever. So if you really wanna make a change, it's a good moment just to start doing something. It doesn't have to be huge, it just has to be something with the right purpose in mind. So that goes for anything. You can be in a corporation trying to cure cancer, or you can be at home trying to entertain your kids. Both are very noble things to do, so I will invite everyone just to try to do something one day at a time, one small thing, everything adds up. And then finally I would say opportunities don't come twice in life. So just get out there, risk it all, make sure you're taking everything over that you can and just try to do it always with a positive mindset and with a positive attitude.
Katie:
That's great answer. I'm curious as to how you see the tech industry effectively leading, innovating, and positively affecting the nation?
Camila:
Yeah Kate, that's a wonderful question. Technology is a powerful tool that can be used for many things. It can be used to bring people together, it can definitely help us to make education a human right, available for everyone, accessible to all. It could also teach machines to do things for us, like for example, try to find cure for the diseases that we have never been able to do so. Or even increase or enhance medical procedures that we have never been able to do at this point. I do believe technology plays a significant role in educating people, trying to make sure that the big problems that we have in the world are being solved for, something that we can
all contribute to. One human right should be accessible internet for all in the world. Technology can serve as a bridge to close gaps, for example, social, economic gaps, gender gaps, education gaps. Technology can contribute to opportunities, economic growth, better quality of life. But most importantly, it will improve the life of millions, not just a few but millions. That is really what technology is all about.
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