Celebrating Great Work Happening Everywhere

Human resilience is rooted in understanding the patterns of nature—the steady rhythm of daylight through shifting seasons, the way rain rejuvenates a parched landscape, the rise and fall of tides in a harbor.

We prepare for the challenges of the moment by seeing patterns and assessing, adapting, and inventing. The human mind is by nature restlessly creative and instinctively suited to solve problems. We tinker and experiment. We grapple with the implications and inequities of the status quo so we can dream in new dimensions. We are both practical and visionary.

We do this knowing that perseverance is impossible in isolation and that the foundation of progress is rooted in community. Amid the rhythms of daily life, we catch the syncopated beats of ingenuity. There is an abundance of noise in our country, but if we listen closely, we can hear the hum and buzz of all the original work that is always taking place in our midst—in the sciences, the arts, and across the broad spectrum of our capabilities. The serious work that seeks not glamour but results. The steady exertions of women and men who, problem after problem, challenge after challenge, keep discovering and inventing solutions to what ails and blocks us.

Creators and builders are the light-makers, and their illuminations never cease. They deserve our honor and support, because they put the substance in our hope. They give us reason not to fear the future, but to create it. They are the custodians of humanity’s capabilities. And they are proof that good work is happening everywhere. 

At Emerson Collective, we are honored to invest in entrepreneurs and innovators who are working to create a world of abundance for future generations. As we bring 2024 to a close, it’s my pleasure to highlight a few of these partners, many of whom presented at this year’s Demo Day. They are leaders whose unwavering sense of purpose will inspire us in the new year and for many years to come.

POWERING THE FUTURE

Our ability to recognize connections is being revolutionized by technologies like artificial intelligence, which are poised to shape the next era of human history. These forces will transform industries, societies, and daily life in profound ways—but to harness their benefits, we must also find new, sustainable methods for powering our world.

The data centers essential for AI development will require extraordinary amounts of energy, with experts estimating that their electricity demand will more than double by 2030, consuming nearly a tenth of the nation’s total electricity generation within a few years. As national and global economies fuel an explosive demand for abundant, affordable, and clean energy, it is essential to expand beyond the current options for electricity generation.

At Emerson Collective, we are fortunate to partner with several innovative companies that are reshaping how we create and manage our power needs and reduce emissions. 

Bob Mumgaard and his team at Commonwealth Fusion Systems are in a global race to become the first company to deploy what he has called “the last energy source that we will ever need”—fusion energy. Long a dream, fusion is racing toward becoming a reality. Its success will depend on continued technological innovation and the vision to persevere by keeping a relentless focus on what lies ahead. As Bob told our audience at Demo Day, “[Fusion] could power the world we have today, but also the world we want in the future.”

Emerson partner Nicholas Flanders is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Twelve, a company whose mission is to eliminate global emissions by transforming carbon dioxide into essential products through the power of electrochemistry. Already, Twelve has developed synthetic jet fuel by capturing CO2 from industrial processes, turning waste from one sector into energy for another. It has up to 90% lower life-cycle emissions than conventional jet fuel, and it takes 1,000x less water and 30x less land than biofuels to produce. The fuel is chemically identical to petroleum-based fuel and is set to enter commercial service on Alaska Airlines next year.

EDUCATION INNOVATION

Every child should be equipped with an education that will prepare them to thrive in a competitive and rapidly changing world. We created the XQ Institute nearly 10 years ago to help high schools become centers of innovation and rigorous learning. Today, we are seeing the fruits of that work in high schools across the U.S., like the Purdue Polytechnic High Schools (PPHS) network in Indiana. A partnership between Purdue University, business leaders, the city of Indianapolis, and the state of Indiana was formed with a powerful goal in mind—to raise the number of students from underrepresented backgrounds attending Purdue University and pursuing STEM careers. The PPHS schools have been so successful that they’ve more than doubled the average number of public school graduates from Indianapolis who enroll at Purdue University each fall.

Another leader we are proud to partner with is Patrick G. Awuah Jr., the Founder and President of Ashesi University, a nonprofit institution in Ghana dedicated to educating a new generation of ethical and entrepreneurial leaders in Africa. Patrick founded Ashesi in 2002 with the belief that Africa’s future will be shaped by its universities. Speaking at Demo Day last month, Patrick highlighted the immense potential of the African continent, where the population is projected to grow from 1.5 billion to 2.4 billion by 2050. To scale to meet this potential, he established the Education Collaborative, inviting other schools and universities to join Ashesi in sharing best practices for curriculum design, research, innovation, startup incubators, and career-placement services. Thanks to these efforts, over 320,000 African students are now benefiting from improved teaching and learning opportunities.

CLOSING A CARE GAP

The potential for AI to transform health care is only starting to become clear, but one thing is already certain: its impact will be profound, affecting every aspect of medicine. We look forward to progress in a wide array of fields of research. But caring for people will always also require a human touch, and we are witnessing human-driven innovation being made right now by leaders like Joanna Strober at Midi Health, who is expanding access to health care for women through a combination of virtual care and connections to local practitioners. Midi is addressing the gap in women’s health care in the U.S., where half of all counties don’t have an OB/GYN and most medical students never learn about menopause.

“When I started to understand the extent of this care gap, I got really angry—and then I got moving,” Joanna said recently. Because when women “are understood and given the right care, they thrive. And when women thrive, we all do.”

MAKING MONEY WORK FOR WORKING FAMILIES

Growing up in a working- and middle-class family from the Midwest and Appalachia, Carrie Joy “CJ” Grimes was raised with the belief that hard work creates opportunity. Yet as she grew older, she saw that many hardworking people were struggling to afford the basics of daily life.

Today, as the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of WorkMoney, CJ leads a nonprofit organization that supports over 8 million people in improving their financial well-being. WorkMoney helps its members save on essentials like cable and groceries, reduce debt, and make their homes more energy efficient. To date, the organization has helped members save more than $1 billion—empowering them with greater confidence in their futures and a stronger sense of civic agency.

LOOKING AHEAD

Let us remember that humans have never stopped proving, in good times and bad, that we possess the abilities and the skills to carry the world forward. What our imaginations can picture, our minds can create. What is innovation, after all, if not creativity? And what is creativity, if not the refusal to surrender to limits? It is a privilege to work in this community of scientists and engineers, educators and entrepreneurs, artists and creators, all, who push beyond their limits, on a mission to leave their mark. There is so much good, hard work to do. I am grateful that we get to do it together, guided by constellations of opportunity.