News: Chemonics Empowers Young Innovators at Arctic Circle

August 29, 2022, Nuuk, Greenland — As average global temperatures continue to rise, Greenland’s melting ice sheet, the second largest in the world, could trigger a foot of global sea level rise, according to a new study. Communities in the Arctic region are already confronting their unique vulnerabilities and risks to the changing climate, with…

Creativity and Innovation Can Save the Day

With today’s incredible advancements in technology, medicine, and industry, there has never been a better time in history to be alive. Yet universal gaps in income and wellbeing persist to a staggering degree, especially compared to the relative wealth and resources generated by the world economy. According to reporting by the World Economic Forum, the richest…

Global Change Requires Local Leadership

This post originally appeared in Foreign Policy’s April Issue. Mert Tangonan was stuck. It was 2017, and Tangonan, a native of the Philippines, wanted to persuade the country’s largest banks to accept digital payments. With 99% of the transactions conducted in cash or checks across the nation’s 7,000 islands, the banks had little incentive to…

News: Chemonics Invests in Women’s Empowerment Social Impact Venture

On Sunday, February 6, 2022, Chemonics awarded a team of young problem-solvers with funding and in-kind support to assist in the further development and scaling of their innovative solution for achieving UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for Gender Equality. Chemonics’ President and CEO Jamey Butcher announced the award during the closing ceremony of the UNLEASH Global…

News: Chemonics Joins Partners in Anacostia River Cleanup Event

On Saturday, November 20, Chemonics International, the Water Environment Federation (WEF), Reading Partners D.C., and Anacostia Riverkeeper partnered on the first UNLEASH: Race for Oceans – D.C. Cleanup Event. The organizations mobilized members of the Washington metropolitan community to participate in the event as part of a global movement to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 14: Life…

Development Works Here with Karina Perez Jvostova

We’d like you to meet Karina Perez Jvostova! Karina is Chemonics’ monitoring, evaluation, and learning specialist for USAID’s Violence Prevention and Reduction Activity in Mexico. In this video, she shares her path to global development, what she learned as an UNLEASH ambassador, and advice for those interested in working in the development sector. Posts on the blog represent the…

All Hands on Deck: Furthering Youth Engagement in Climate Mitigation

In celebration of International Youth Day, Chemonics calls on the global development community to amplify youth voices and embrace them as an integral part of fighting the climate crisis. At Chemonics, we believe that empowering young people to improve the structures around them catalyzes positive, more inclusive outcomes for youth and their communities. Young people will suffer the…

Wayne Lifshitz

Wayne Lifshitz is an entrepreneurial senior leader, systems-thinker, business strategist, and strategic connector with more than 20 years of cross-cutting experience in Big 5 consulting, start-up, nonprofit, federal, and social enterprise sectors. He is currently a Senior Director in Asia for the USAID Global Health Supply Chain Program-Procurement and Supply Management (GHSC-PSM) Project and acted…

Innovation → Accelerating Progress Toward the SDGs

Innovation. Beyond its value as a buzzword, what does it mean for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals? Like those of the past, today’s challenges – climate change, global health security, sociopolitical unrest – demand innovative solutions. As development professionals, how do we adopt the mindset needed to foster innovative thinking? What lessons can we learn…

News: Chemonics Invests in Youth-Driven Social Enterprises

On Sunday, December 13, Chemonics awarded two teams of young problem-solvers with funding and in-kind support to assist in the further development and scaling of their innovative solutions for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Chemonics’ President and CEO Jamey Butcher announced the awards during the closing ceremony of the UNLEASH Global Innovation Lab’s UNLEASH+…