Shaq, IDEO, and Bone Marrow
02.24.11What do these three things have in common? Well, normally not much except right now they are coming together around an important topic – bone marrow donation. In one of the the most interesting developments to come out of the social impact space in 2010, design firm IDEO launched OpenIDEO a program that essentially crowd sources the process for innovation and coming up with game changing, world-bettering ideas.
The OpenIDEO project kicked off with celebrity chef and TED Prize winner Jamie Oliver’s challenge of “How might we help kids realize the importance of fresh food.” Now, one a current OpenIDEO challenges is around raising the profile of bone marrow donation, and getting people signed up for the bone marrow registry.
Why is this important? Well, good question – often a bone marrow match can save the life of someone suffering from leukemia. Word is the registry is lacking bone marrow matches from people of South Asian descent in particular.
Sign up for the registry here, but don’t take it from me, listen to Shaq “slam it down big man” as Bill Walton would say…
