I recently attended the inaugural ConvergeUS Gathering in Sausalito, CA. The entire conference was a great example of T4C (Technology for Change), so I was very excited to have the opportunity to participate. ConvergeUS was founded by Biz Stone (Co-Founder of Twitter) and Rey Ramsey (President & CEO of TechNet). The purpose of the gathering was to come up with innovative technology solutions that address major social problems. The three different tracks for the first year's gathering included STEM Education, Early Childhood Literacy and Child Nutrition. There was an incredibly diverse group of volunteer participants from all different industries: non-profit, academia, technology, government and more. Attendees included Craig Newmark (founder of Craig's List), Aneesh Chopra (CTO from the White House) and Darrell Hammond (Founder of Kaboom!) among others. 

Throughout the day, we gathered in small groups and participated in intense, collaborative brainstorming sessions facilitated by AmericaSpeaks. By the end of the event, we had developed a technology strategy and roadmap for each of the three tracks. (My group's focus was Child Nutrition, so we were working on issues such as childhood obesity, food deserts and nutrition education.) We'll be working on implementing our technology projects over the course of the next year. I'm really excited to see how our project shapes up in the coming months and I'm hopeful that we'll be able to make a real impact through our work!