Hey, I'm Byeongjun. In case you don't know me, I'm a high school junior based in Vancouver, Canada building cool projects with the Internet of Things and scaling nonprofits for social impact. I wanted to share some things that I've been working on for the past two months below:
Highlights
Launching MERGE 2021, the world's first-and-largest hack+policython!
Back in September 2020, I started a nonprofit organization called the Hack+Policy Foundation to engage students from different backgrounds to solve our society's most pressing challenges through technology and public policy.
And... yes, I know. There are a gazillion student-led, registered nonprofit organizations out there – this one's unique. It's unique in the sense that we're fighting for a mission that no one really believed in before, and organizing an event that everyone thought would be impossible due to its complex nature.
After several months of outreaching and planning, we launched our inaugural event, MERGE 2021, with over 500 attendees from 45 countries. I'd call this a decent success. I personally enjoyed speaking to guests from various levels and building my professional network, but above all, realizing the power of the intersection between STEM and policy – once again affirming that things are possible, in fact, more effective when united together.
We have big things planned up – for example, we're hosting MERGExIndia on June 25-27, in the hopes of ameliorating the current situation in India. Learn more about the event here.
Building Kinisi, a moonshot company
It's The Knowledge Society's moonshot season! This time, I teamed up with Jessica, Rohan, and Anastasija to build our moonshot company – Kinisi.
Paralysis can be caused by many factors, such as strokes, Spinal Cord Injuries (SCIs), or congenital disabilities. However, the common theme is that life for a paralyzed patient is significantly different post-injury, as the patient undergoes treatment or therapy to learn to live with immobility. The financial, physical, and emotional cost of living with paralysis can be devastating, as it exacerbates the risk for a host of cardiovascular diseases and mental health disorders.
After researching these causes, our team decided to create Kinisi – a solution that fully restores mobility to paralyzed patients through neurotechnology and machine learning.
Take a look at our deck here, Jessica's article here, and our whitepaper here!
What's next?
MERGExIndia
On June 25-27, 2021, my team and I are going to be hosting a successor event to MERGE, aiming to support the crisis currently in India leaving millions to death while jeopardizing its healthcare system.
- Sign up for the event here; or
- Donate to Hack+Policy Foundation (100% donations received will be spent towards supporting oxygen supply in local grounds)
Other Events
In June, you can find me at:
- Prosper Vancouver 2021, British Columbia's largest student-run business case competition
- Canadian Economics Olympiad, the official qualifier for the IEO
On an ending note
As mentioned above, last year I was accepted into The Knowledge Society, and the program has definitely challenged me to step out of my comfort zone and try something very unconventional. I’m super grateful to be surrounded by a community of unconventional high school students working on technologies and solving global issues. If you know students aged 13-17 that are ambitious and curious, please help me spread the word.
Applications for next year are already open; the deadline to apply is May 31st. While TKS is a need-blind program that offers A LOT of scholarships, you can also share this link or my code “BYMO0522” to give them $200 off their tuition. I’d love to see more people in the program next year!
2021 is now almost 41.67% over. Be intentional about the things you do, time really files!
Thanks for joining me on my journey, and if you’ve made it until the bottom of this newsletter, feel free to shoot me an email or reach out to me on Twitter.
If you enjoyed this newsletter, please share this with a few friends if you feel like it. They can subscribe to this newsletter through this link.
Until then, stay safe!
Byeongjun