A collection of special moments and projects with purpose, experiences curated, and actions taken with a goal of creating meaningful impact while deepening human connection. All collaborations were created with passion and inspiration for making the world a little brighter.
In the bustling heart of New York City luminaries from diverse disciplines—science, engineering, economics, policy, finance, and industry—convened at the United Nations for the groundbreaking Inaugural Climate Restoration Forum. Girolama was in attendance of this pioneering gathering explored the imperative of climate restoration as a foundational framework for sustainable climate action.
IDEO has a dedicated team of multidisciplinary designers—from business designers. brand strategists, food scientists, circular designers, and engineers to architects and organizational designers—who bring IDEO’s human-centered design approach to the world. Girolama has helped partner with changemakers across industries—from Fortune 500 brands and government organizations to workforce leaders and small disruptors—to help drive positive change across industries.
Girolama contributed as a judge for the Food Systems Vision Prize, an initiative inviting global organizations to envision a regenerative and nourishing food system by 2050. Partnering with The Rockefeller Foundation, SecondMuse, and OpenIDEO, this collaborative effort aimed to empower communities worldwide, fostering actionable solutions and creating a progressive vision for the future of our food system. Read more here: www.foodsystemvisionprize.org
Read all about the enso collaborative team retreat where the whole team all committed to bring our full selves to work and life - recap here.
What is one to do with all that frenetic voting day energy? There are many answers to that question, but as a creative impact agency, enso decided to use our creative prowess to make some art. On Election Day, we chose to express our thoughts and emotions through collage. Girolama’s collage pictured above. Read the entire recap here.
Read the Stories of Purpose issue here, a collection of over 50 anecdotes from Changemakers around the world published December 2016. Though the initial project may have failed, I had a great experience getting another incredible project off the ground and my purpose remains true. Thank you to Tara Byrne for the incredible opportunity to share my story.
Inspired by world-renowned Professor W. Chan Kim, Strategy & Management, INSEAD and Professor Renée Mauborgne, Strategy, INSEAD who co-authored the bestselling book Blue Ocean Strategy which is recognized as one of the most iconic and impactful strategy books ever written, published by Harvard Business Review. The Blue Ocean Entrepreneurship Competition is now set to become the country’s largest entrepreneurship competition run for and by high school students. The competition challenges high school students to come up with an 8-minute pitch for a blue ocean business idea – one that stands apart from the competition; delivers innovative value at low cost; and produces win-win outcomes for everyone involved. It also encourages students to operationalize their blue ocean ideas into commercially viable businesses.
Check out the video here.
On June 10, 2014 the UN Foundation and the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI) co-hosted the Global Accelerator at UN Headquarters in NY. The Global Accelerator was a first-of-its-kind forum for entrepreneurs and UN officials to connect and explore innovative solutions to the global challenges of job creation and youth employment, water and sanitation and gender equality. In partnership with the UN, the Global Accelerator brought approximately 100 nominated entrepreneurs from around the world to take part in this day-long program focused on supporting the UN on these issues. Innovation workshops with the entrepreneurs were facilitated by 15 UN entities. Support the UN and help create solutions for global challenges. www.GlobalAccelerator.org (site now retired)
The Global Entrepreneurs Council and Innovation team supported the life-changing work of UNHCR at Nakivale Refugee Settlement. ‘Together we have the power to change lives by supporting innovation, expanding learning opportunities and enabling refugees to make personal investments in their future.’ Learn more at: https://refugeeaid.tilt.com/
Bui had the opportunity to share my insights as a thought leader as the Feeding the Planet Summit hosted by George Washington University. Though there were so many incredible ideas and innovations in this space, the biggest takeaway was that we should continue pushing boundaries and conversations around hunger relief, a nutrient rich economy, and food systems innovation to propel the best solutions forward and truly scale impact.
It was a pleasure to be able to attend this FastCompany event to celebrate entrepreneurs, to meet and connect with the inspiring honorees of FastCompany’s MCP1000 and to encourage the incredible work that people are pioneering.
In the Fall of 2014, I had the pleasure of giving a guest lecture to Professor Tun-jen Cheng’s class on Political Economy class where I shared the development of the Sustainable Development Goals during pre-launch of the 2030 goals.
I am honored to have shared the stage with many other incredible lecturers of the William & Mary DC Institute immersion program that enabled me to succeed while as a student. Fun fact: Former FBI Director James Comey, also a Tribe Alumni, is currently a guest lecturer of the W&M DC Institute.
Ashoka announces the launch of "Nutrients for All," a movement to encourage leading social entrepreneurs and innovators to look at nutrients as the core deliverable and to design direct nutrient interventions at each stage of the agricultural and food value chains—in ecosystems, farming, food production, and wellness.
The campaign includes a series of Google+ Hangouts that will take us on a journey to understanding the role of each sector and actor in building a “Nutrients for All” world. Join us as we feature stories and conversations between thought leaders, experts, innovators, and media gurus from a wide range of fields, culminating in the launch of a global search for new ideas and innovations in April of 2013.
Keep the conversation going on Twitter! Just follow the hashtag #nutrients4all.
Ashoka’s Nutrients for All and Ashoka Changemakers have been seeking innovative solutions that will ensure the availability of nutrients for healthy, natural ecosystems, farms, food, and people. Entrants were competing for a chance to win a total of $45,000 in cash prizes generously offered by the Lemelson Foundation and Aberdare Ventures, among others.
Winners Announced! Competition Judges have selected eight winners among the 21 competition finalists. Three grand prize winners will each receive $10,000 US in prize money. Five Runners-Up will each receive $3,000 US.
Follow at #nutrients4all on Twitter
"Making more health" is a long-term initiative with the goal to improve health in communities around the world by identifying and supporting the most promising solutions to challenging health problems. Since 2010, Boehringer Ingelheim and the non-governmental organisation Ashoka are working together in a global partnership. Together with our partner Ashoka we engage actively in single social entrepreneurship projects. Ashoka displays competence in creating change and comes with the network and know-how to identify and to advance social innovators. Boehringer Ingelheim is competent in the healthcare and business sectors. We can provide the social entrepreneurs with a great deal of experience in professional project management. Furthermore, we support the entrepreneurs with our skills, experience, and network. This way of collaboration forms a win-win situation for everyone: For our fellows, for Ashoka and Boehringer Ingelheim.
Through a fellowship with the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Foundation, we partnered with the largest non-profit in the Guanacaste region, CEPIA to raise over $350,000 to develop land donated from the Huacas village into a community center to increase outreach of programs by three-fold and provide over 9 classrooms, a public library, and office space for local non-profits to work out of.
Here are some visuals created for the a campaign strategized to gather our community to break the world record for most people blowing chewing gum bubbles simultaneously.
I was an organizer that collaborated with a small group of independent students who wanted to work together and break a Guinness World Record. We succeeded in our attempt while gaining attention from news outlets including NPR prior to even producing the event due to our viral guerrilla marketing efforts I was able to help implement. (www.pleasespoon.me is now retired.)
The W&M community remembered the tragic events of 9/11, including the loss of its own, as it marked the 10th anniversary and paid tribute through a whole days worth of programming culminating in a ceremony with distinguished guests and community leaders to honor those lost and affected.
After waking up with a dream to create a flashmob and not knowing where to start, I tapped into William and Mary’s community and engaged over 100 participants to do a secret flashmob that became an annual tradition on campus. From teaching myself to cut music, source choreographers, run sessions, and event execution, we ended up garnering local news coverage in our effort to not only have fun and raise school spirit in doing something we’ve all wanted to do, but we also raised attention for our community partner Beyond Boobs - a Williamsburg non-profit committed to informing and supporting breast cancer awareness.
Bacteriophages — or just plain phages — are a class of virus that infect bacteria. Pictured above is the one Girolama was able to successfully isolate and perform bioinformatic genetic analysis on to prove it was a novel discovery in building out our genbank library for phage therapy treatments as alternatives to broad-spectrum antibiotics.
Phages are interesting little assemblies of protein-wrapped DNA or RNA that by most biological standards don’t even rise to the level of being alive. They’re not exactly dead, either. A phage will sit around, dormant and inert, until it bumps into a host cell. Then the phage will stab the host bacterium with its “tail,” and insert its own genetic material.
The act allows the phage to reproduce parasitically. That bacterium is never the same again. Bacteria-destroying phages have the potential to supplement — and even replace — many antibiotic drugs.
Selected William & Mary incoming freshmen takes on the study of bacteriophages each fall supported by the Science Education Alliance of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute called the Phage Hunters Advancing Genomic and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) project.
Sequencing Putative Genes associated with Helicobacter Pylori Virulence
Girolama has conducted research in Dr. Forsyth’s microbiology lab since his sophomore year including work over the summers of 2011 and 2012. His project involved determining the sequence of a cryptic, partially deleted prophage sequence (a viral DNA sequence contained as a genetic parasite within a bacterial DNA genome).
‘Girolama's work has helped us show that this unusual viral DNA element may be present in isolates of a human stomach bacterium at frequencies higher than most researchers ever imagined.’
More about the fellowship here named after acclaimed lab designer Cory English in honor of his wife’s memory, Katchen Stonehouse.
Joe & Mimma’s restaurant has been owned and run by the Buffa family since November 1972. Original Founders Girolamo & Rosaria Buffa renovated the former Western Auto Store in Yorktown, Virginia in 1970 after immigrating from Sicily to New York in 1968. The Buffas had four children, Joe, Mimma, Anna, & Mario who grew up watching the restaurant grow with them. Rosaria, who everyone knows as Mama Buffa retired in 2003 (and I grew up knowing as my Nonna). Harold a long time employee runs the restaurant after working there for over 40 years now with the help of his children named after his second pair of parents.
Stop by if you’re ever in town, my top favorites include wings, calamari & banana peppers, the meatball sub (that dreams are made of), and the carbonara pasta.