Solving Big Nasty Problems by Design with Jasmine Burton, founder Wish For WASH

Jasmine Burton is an industrial designer by training and a social impact designer by choice. She’s a believer that design can help solve important societal problems…and that the next iPhone or app isn’t necessarily one of them. Instead, she’s taking on one of the biggest health problems in the world and one that, ironically, has also had little innovation over the years: sanitation. 

In college, she founded Wish For WASH, a social impact startup intended to bring innovation to sanitation. She and her team won a 6-figure innovation prize. Within weeks, they were working on the ground in Africa to test their designs. She has since worked in Kenya, Zambia, Uganda, Ethiopia, and the US. Her innovation success and willingness to take on big nasty problems, like sanitation, is quite a story. That’s why Jasmine has delivered more than 130 speeches on global stages and has been featured by the likes of CNN, Fast Company, TedX, and Wired.

In this episode of What I Wish I Knew with Mike Irwin and Simon Daw, Jasmine talks about “design as functional art”, “designing for dignity”, and offers a perspective on the role that companies, institutions, and individuals should play in integrating social good into daily work. She seeks to couple design thinking and business acumen with evidence-based science to accelerate access to universal health and sanitation for all. 

Along with serving as CEO of Wish For WASH, Jasmine is founder of The Hybrid Hype, a woman-owned global consulting firm which brings a multi-disciplinary approach to problem solving. She’s currently social enterprise fellow at Emory University. She earned a master’s degree in public health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine where she was a Rotary Global Grant Scholar. She is an industrial and product design graduate of Georgia Tech. 

What I Wish I Knew with Mike Irwin & Simon Daw... 

Life and career rarely go to plan. Breakthroughs happen on the ragged edge when things aren't quite going as expected. What I Wish I Knew podcast hosts Mike Irwin and Simon Daw explore lessons learned by leading athletes, entrepreneurs, experts, and difference makers. They all have three things in common: none are perfect, all are humble, and they've learned a few things along the way. In What I Wish I Knew, they share their lessons with you. We welcome your feedback at http://www.whatiwishiknewshow.com 

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Connect with Jasmine Burton:  https://jasminekburton.squarespace.com/