We are living through an intelligence crisis.
Not a lack of IQ, degrees, or information — but a catastrophic underuse of human ingenuity.
Every year, the global economy loses an estimated $29 trillion due to untapped human potential. That loss accounts for about 5 billion people — whose contributions the current system never cultivates or captures.
The structures we’ve inherited — educational, economic, institutional — were built to measure compliance, not creativity. And so, despite the exponential rise of technology, brilliant ideas continue to die in silence. Genius goes unfunded. Visionaries remain unseen.
But what if we stopped asking, “What do you do?”
And started asking, “Where could your potential take you?”
That question led me to build something I hope will become more than a social impact company.
It led me to develop a framework — Ingenuity Ecology — that can hopefully one day coin the systems we design to discover, support, and scale human brilliance.
What Is Ingenuity Ecology?
Ingenuity Ecology is a framework for cultivating a more human, expansive definition of genius — especially the kind that does not show up on standardized tests or grade point average.
It’s the brilliance we witness in our parents’ resilience, in a child’s questioning, in communities that create beauty and function out of scarcity. It’s not elite — it’s everywhere, if we choose to see it.
It includes:
Systems of Belief that empower unconventional thinking
Social Infrastructure that fosters experimentation and mentorship
Tolerant Spaces that allow ideas to evolve without fear of failure or judgment
Dynamic Mediums that uplift underrepresented thinkers — regardless of where, when, or what they were born into
Within Ingenuity Ecology, potential isn’t extracted.
It’s grown — from seeds the world has overlooked.
And like any true ecology, it thrives on diversity, interdependence, and care.
Girls In Research: A Prototype for Ingenuity in Action
We founded Girls In Research (G.I.R) as a living prototype — a radical beta model that brings Ingenuity Ecology to life. G.I.R is the world’s first global, virtual research and tech incubator for high school girls, designed to unleash human potential at one of its most formative stages.
In less than six months from ideation, we received applications from girls in over 50 countries across five continents — proving that while talent is equally distributed, opportunity is not. G.I.R exists to fill that gap.
At Girls In Research, every scholar is paired with a mentor from the top 1% of global researchers — Harvard PhDs, Stanford postgraduates, and more — to develop original, university-level research.
Since launch, G.I.R has enrolled scholars from 29 countries and built out:
6 interdisciplinary field tracks
Over 130 research subjects
Multiple program lengths
All fully virtual.
All globally accessible.
We don’t train girls to fit into systems.
We create the infrastructure for them to build their own.
Real Projects, Real Impact
Girls In Research is a living demonstration of what happens when you stop gatekeeping innovation — and start cultivating it.
These aren’t hypothetical case studies. These are real girls, solving real problems — before they’ve even finished high school.
Our teenage scholars have:
Created a nutrient-dense food powder from agricultural waste in the Philippines, now being explored as a scalable solution for food insecurity (Sachi, 15, Philippines)
Built Dia-Care, an AI-powered diabetes app to address critical rural healthcare needs (Aksungul, 16, Uzbekistan)
Produced original research on quantum key distribution, earning international recognition from Women in Tech Global (Aziza, 16, Uzbekistan)
And they haven’t stopped there. Our alumni have:
Been accepted to global institutions like the University of Pennsylvania as a Penn World Scholar (Tomiris, 17, Kazakhstan)
Won national and international awards, including published authorship on biodiversity (Varnessa, 13, Nigeria)
Continued their research journeys, including receiving a fully funded scholarship to Yale (Milagros, 16, Argentina)
Launched peer-led global initiatives on space tourism and public education (Ezoza, 16, Uzbekistan)
Presented their work at state fairs and national science competitions, including 1st place at the Washington State Science and Engineering Fair (Isha, 17, USA)
Excelled in national academic competitions, including gold in the National Biology Olympiad (Lilliana, 16, Slovakia)
They’re not just building résumés — they’re shaping communities in real time. And together, they are proving: When we invest in female innovation today, we’re solving humanity’s biggest problems for tomorrow.
Ingenuity Ecology to Spur a New R&D Model
Girls In Research is the first of many systems I hope to build that work at the intersection of innovation and possibility — on untapping our most underutilized resource, human ingenuity.
A system powered sustainably and carbon-free — not by artificial intelligence, but by human intelligence. Spaces designed around imagination, empathy, and equity — where the goal isn’t product, but potential.
What if a girl in São Paulo reimagined food systems?
What if an artist in Beirut designed a new model for civic care?
This isn’t science fiction.
It’s the future we’re already building at G.I.R.
Anticipating the Critique
Let me guess your questions:
“Is this scalable?”
“Is this realistic?”
“Isn’t this just a beautiful idea?”
Yes — and it is critical.
And yes, it’s designed to grow.
But ecosystems don’t scale like startups. They grow through regenerative action — where one life reaches, another begins to grow.
This isn’t idealism. If we can fund algorithms and deepfakes, we can fund brilliance that heals.
G.I.R is not just a platform — it’s a testament:
To the girls the world overlooked.
To the brilliance we never bothered to map.
To the future, we still have time to build.
Why This Work Matters Now
We are in a planetary emergency — socially, politically, environmentally.
Yet the answer has always been right in front of us.
People with imagination, resilience, emotional intelligence, and audacity.
That means investing in the teen coding climate tech in Nairobi. Listening to the girl in Atlanta building a mental health chatbot for her peers. Creating systems where underfunded genius can thrive — not just survive.
This is what investing in Ingenuity Ecology makes possible.
I believe we can create a carbon-free, post-institutional innovation ecosystem powered by the human mind — for the benefit of the entire planet.
Because the world doesn’t need more efficiency.
It needs systems that believe in people.
It needs bold frameworks for untapped brilliance.
It needs ingenuity.
And it starts here.