• A 26 year-old scientist and inventor is developing wireless power.

• She wants investors and inventors to tackle difficult projects, not easy ones that deliver quick financial returns.

• Investing in the future and doing something meaningful with your talents should be everyone’s primary concern.

Meredith Perry is one of those rare people that actually thought being smart at school was cool. When you’re in elementary school it’s not something the other kids usually admire or respect. While her friends were dreaming of what to wear to parties that weekend, Perry would be dreaming about winning a Nobel Prize for curing cancer. “I thought that it might be possible,” she says. “I’ve always pursued things that other people think are crazy.”

How does wireless electricity sound for crazy? This is what the 26 year-old is currently working on, and she’s already formed a company, uBeam, raising more than $23 million in funding and raising the eyebrows of seasoned scientists. Her idea sounds simple: charge a device by sending electricity through the air. It’s something most of us have considered at some point, but thought impossible. Serbian-American inventor, Nikola Tesla, experimented with wireless lighting and electricity distribution in the late 1800s, but was dismissed as a “mad scientist” by an amused public.

Perry has created a technology that uses ultrasound to transmit power over the air to charge electronic devices wirelessly. A transmitter emits ultrasound waves, and then a receiver attached to a phone captures the sound and converts it into electricity. For the purpose of talking to Real Leaders, this was all Perry was prepared to give away.

“It allows for a “Wi-Fi-like” experience of charging,” says Perry. “Our goal is to have uBeam in every aircraft and airport terminal, or on the sides of buildings; anywhere electricity is available. The inventor is well aware of the large impact an invention such as uBeam can have on society, but the everyday applications of the technology and convenience factor is also top of mind.

“Yesterday, I flew from New York to L.A. and at the end of my flight I had two dead phones. I couldn’t call an Uber until I charged my phone for 10 minutes at a wall socket. While wanting to make an impact on the world, I also selfishly want to solve my own needs,” she says laughingly.

If wireless power becomes the norm, then battery sizes can shrink because devices will always be charging. Power cords will become redundant and international charging adaptors will disappear.

In school, Perry was not aware of the fact that a woman pursuing science and technology was something rare.. Only when she entered the world of business did she realize the disparity in the workplace for the very first time.

“Some of the most exciting and innovative companies, doing very complex work, are run by females,” says Perry. She gives examples of Danielle Fong of Lightsail Energy, who is solving energy storage for solar power and Leslie Dewan of Transatomic Power who is using nuclear waste to create green power.

“These technologies and companies are some of the most disruptive, futuristic and innovative that I have come across in the last five years,” says Perry. “The best way to change perceptions is to keep doing what you’re doing and people will start to see that women are leaders in engineering and business too.”

Perry is a deep thinker and her thoughts on transmitting things through space go far beyond charging a mobile device. She studied Paleobiology and astrobiology at the University of Pennsylvania and originally took an interest in finding life on other planets. Paleobiology is the study of old life and astrobiology is the study of life in space. She has a keen interest in terraforming planets too – turning other planets into ones like earth.

“For example, Mars has no atmosphere,” she says. “We would need to create an atmosphere or change our biology to fit a new environment. This would require a biologically or genetically modified human to be able to survive.” Perry’s view on why we should look to space for our species survival is not based on ignoring the challenges we face on earth. “I think both are important,” she says. We need to protect earth, but I feel it’s our duty as a species to explore other worlds if we have the capability to do so”.

After developing uBeam into a marketable and scalable product within the next two years, Perry would like to focus on increasing longevity. “I view death as a problem. I don’t want to die at 90 years old,” she says. It saddens me that I will never get to visit another galaxy because it simply takes too long to get there. Finding a way to move faster than the speed of light would be nice,” she says.

For the moment though, Perry is focused on moving energy a few yards through the air and has a vision of inventors changing the world, alongside equally visionary investors. “Don’t just work to sell an app to a big company, if you have the skills, do something meaningful,” she says.

“Invest in the future. Invest in difficult things. uBeam would not exist if very specific people hadn’t taken a risk to invest in complex, difficult technologies. Sure, it will take longer to become profitable than your average software start-up, but we all need to do our part in moving the world forward.” says Perry.

Julie Edwards, President of Real Leaders, put some questions to Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina at the recent National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) conference in San Antonio, Texas.

What is a real leader?

A leader challenges the status quo and never accepts the way things are. You shouldn’t resist change just because things have always been that way. A leader unlocks potential in others. It has nothing to do with your title or position, anyone can lead from anywhere.

How do we get more women into top leadership roles?

We have to focus on merit and results. When we do that women will rise. I have always relentlessly built meritocracies, and at the end of the process, half my staff are usually women. In most organizations, they think they’re building on merit, but they aren’t. You’ll hear excuses such as, “Oh, I don’t know her. She’s never done this before.” Sometimes it’s about people being more comfortable with people like themselves. This is more about being a victim of the status quo than asking yourself who will produce the results, who will make the best contribution or who has the merit.

How do we fight the scourge of drugs among our youth?

Most people don’t realize what an epidemic this is. I didn’t realize either until I started hearing from so many parents that it was happening to them too. It’s a silent epidemic. We need to start talking about it more so that the stigma disappears. We need to start investing more in treatment and prevention and our criminal justice system needs to be reformed. The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, with two thirds of inmates imprisoned for non-violent offences, mostly drug related. This approach is not working. 

We lie to kids too. When we tell them that smoking a joint is like drinking a beer, it’s not. Lets make sure they understand the risks involved. 

Julie Edwards with Carly Fiorina.

Doctors without Borders (Medicines Sans Frontiers – MSF) is not the first organisation to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, there have been 20 organizations, foundations and institutes that have been awarded the prize since its inception in 1901. Many individuals who have won have become laureates because of a single act or from becoming known as a champion for peace against a particular struggle, an organization because of it’s global reach.

Medicines Sans Frontiers was founded in 1968 and selected for the prize in recognition of its pioneering humanitarian work on several continents. Their work is now spread over 80 countries and they have treated tens of millions of people. They provide assistance to populations in distress, to victims of natural or man-made disasters, and to victims of armed conflict, and they do so irrespective of race, religion, creed, or political convictions.

James Orbinski (pictured above) was the president of Doctors Without Borders when the organization was awarded the prestigious Nobel Peace prize in 1999 and his opinion is that consistency and a strong commitment from staff is the reason they won. They are also known for more than just their medical work – they also speak out on behalf of the people they treat and act to expose injustice.

Using his acceptance speech at the award ceremony, as a platform to speak out, Orbinski spoke directly to the then Russian leader Boris Yeltsin and condemned that country’s violence against civilians in Chechnya.

Justifying this unprecedented move, Orbinski said: “Silence has long been confused with neutrality, and has been presented as a necessary condition for humanitarian action. From its beginning, MSF was created in opposition to this assumption. We are not sure that words can always save lives, but we know that silence can certainly kill.”

A strange trait of humanity is that governments always seem to find money for weapons and war but not for medical supplies. “An act of charity is not a necessity for many governments,” says Orbinski. He’s the first acknowledge both the power and the limitations of humanitarianism.

“No doctor can stop a genocide. No humanitarian can stop ethnic cleansing, just as no humanitarian can make war. And no humanitarian can make peace. These are political responsibilities, not humanitarian imperatives. The humanitarian act is the most apolitical of all acts, but if its actions and its morality are taken seriously, it has the most profound of political implications. And the fight against impunity is one of these implications,” he says.

Orbinski’s defining moment came about while working in Somalia in 1992 during the famine and civil war. He developed pneumonia and then meningitis and I was flown out to Nairobi, Kenya for treatment. At the time, he was also struggling to find doctors to work in Somalia, a country where they were trying to treat 100,000 patients. “I remember looking at myself in the mirror of the hospital washroom,” he says. “ I realized that if I didn’t go back, I could never look at myself the same way again, I would have failed. The question to myself was was, ‘Will you go back?’ My answer was ‘Yes!’”

Orbinski witnessed atrocities so horrific that he struggled to continue at times. Yet, he knew the people they were helping needed the assistance more than his personal coping problems. “There are moments when you can become overwhelmed,” he says. But you need to recognize that if you have the capacity or ability to respond to another’s circumstances, then you should.”

He’s a strong believer in looking beyond the “Band-Aid” – approach of patching something up and moving on, but acknowledges that the Band-Aid approach has its merits.

“You do it so that a person or community has an unbearable and intolerable suffering relieved,” says Orbinski. “It can be the first step in helping people restore their own economy or political system. It’s worth it because it allows a person who’s suffering to become an active participant in determining their own destiny.”

The latest global crisis is the hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the war Syria and Iraq. Thousands are dying in a desperate attempt to enter Europe with their families. Orbinski is clear on how we should view these people. “It’s not an immigration crisis. These are not immigrants –they are refugees,” he says.

“To risk the lives of you and your family, you have to be leaving a situation that is far worse than the risk you are taking.”

He also wants to dispel the myth that these are people simply looking for jobs, for the so-called “better life.” Many like to refer to.

“It’s not the choice of a nation to refuse a refugee, says Orbinski. “This has been international law since the Second World War. I remember very well the slogan that emerged after this war; around the Holocaust and the massive numbers of people moving across Europe and the world – never again.”

When Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa announced the creation of a new government ministry in June 2013, to be called the Ministry of Happiness, there were coughs of restrained mirth and some checked their calendars to see if it was April first.

The Secretaria del Buen Vivir, loosely translated as “good living,” “wellbeing” or “happiness” is the smallest government department of Ecuador, with a staff of 27 and a budget of $2 million for the current financial year. The man leading the ministry is Freddy Ehlers (pictured above), a former journalist and television producer who has a strong leaning towards social causes and the protection of nature. In 1996 he ran for president, representing the independent party Nuevo Pais Party; that pushed for anticorruption legislation and environmental change. He finished third, garnering 20 percent of the vote, but despite not becoming president, he’s probably happier today, and having more fun. Most global leaders have to deal with regular economic meltdowns, global terror threats and the ruthless jostling for position that politics brings.

His official photograph has him wearing an open shirt and Panama hat. If you sidled up alongside him at a beach bar and began an idle conversation you’d be non-the-wiser that he works directly with the president on matters of national importance.

The ministry is a mixture of think tank, incubator and promotion agency and Ehlers has used his experience in producing environmental documentaries to create awareness around how vital conservation is to the wellbeing of all of us.

“It will require the equivalent of four planet earths for all seven billion of us to become middle class,” says Ehlers. “We obviously don’t have this option.” Ecuador has become the first country to have the rights of nature built into the constitution. “Protecting our rivers, animals and forests is a great way for human beings to show that we are actually the most intelligent species on the planet,” he says.

Ehlers considers much tourism to be unconsciously destroying nature and the social fabric of society through drugs, prostitution and unsustainable practices. His observations are not based on some moral high-ground either, but more to the fact that he also served as Minister of Tourism for a while. Harmony forms part of the idea of Buen Vivir and Ehlers has a vision on how to tackle the greatest crisis humans have faced in history – create more happiness.

“We face a crisis of the environment, society, politics, the economy, ethics and spirituality,” he explains. “Happiness is more important than aspirational living and collecting assets. It’s not possible to achieve if you don’t change inside first.”

Ehlers cites the growing trend in yoga as evidence that mindsets are shifting towards a greater mindfulness. He’s introduced Zen meditation (a moment of silence) in schools. “Imagine if everyone started their day with meditation? It would create the biggest revolution for good in history. Becoming mindful of the beauty of the universe can do this,” he says.

His job is not without detractors. The president is regularly asked by other ministers why he spends so much time with the Ministry of Happiness, when there are more pressing issues to attend to. Yet, in an unusual way, Ehlers is actually suggestion ideas that could become the starting point for serious reform and legislation. He believes that ideas that seem crazy at first, can eventually have their day. 

“The King of Bhutan proposed a GDP of happiness as a measure of wealth 40 years ago,” says Ehlers. “He was laughed at then, but look how important the idea has become today. We’re moving into an era where the idea of wealth and success is being redefined. After World War 2 progress meant more money, arms and security, and growth was equated with development.” He wants Ecuador to become a constitutional and legal example to other world governments that shows other solutions are possible. “We are living in the most beautiful and dangerous moment of our existence,” says Ehlers. “We need to challenge the model that has led to compulsive consumption and the degradation of the ecosystem.”

There are signs that consumption is changing, spurred on by technology. Uber has created a steamlined transport solution, Airbnb allows tourists to stay with ordinary people in their homes; solutions are increasingly appearing that offer more resourceful, less wasteful solutions.

“Great leaders are found inside us, not outside us,” says Ehlers. “Even the Pope has come out strongly in favor of social issues and the environment. He’s an ethical leader, alongside the likes of Nelson Mandela and Ghandi. Happiness doesn’t need to have any religious affiliation. Spirituality is not something exclusive to religion.”

In the middle of a construction site, amongst the dust and noise that is more suited to a burly construction worker, stands a woman in a neatly pressed business suit wearing a hard hat. It’s Cindy Ortega (pictured above), senior vice president for corporate sustainability at MGM Resorts International. She’s surveying what is now the largest privately funded construction project in the history of the United States, a 16,800-square-foot area of Las Vegas known as CityCenter. The $9.2 billion project has seen a new city of seven buildings rise from the desert floor to become the most LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certified construction projects in the world.

While newly constructed cities around the world face a challenge of how to integrate sustainability into long-term planning, along with the constraint of government red tape, it has taken a private company to demonstrate how its done.

“We feel that part of our responsibility is to spread the word about environmental responsibility,” says Ortega. “CityCenter proved that you can build luxury responsibly on a large scale.”

The large scale Ortega mentions is staggering. More than 41,000 hotel rooms and suites are associated with MGM Resorts’ ten major resorts on the Las Vegas Strip. A dedicated 8.5-megawatt natural-gas power plant was built to power CityCenter, reducing emissions and deploying waste heat to swimming pools throughout the development. 52,000 MGM Resorts employees live in Las Vegas, spreading the MGM Resorts’ influence way beyond its borders and you could build four Eiffel Towers with the amount of steel used in one section of CityCenter alone. Of course, being Vegas, they already have a replica Eiffel Tower.

Built primarily to take advantage of the 40 million visitors to Las Vegas every year, Ortega had no idea of the global attention CityCenter would attract. “Five years on, I would never have guessed I’d be invited by countries around the world to share ideas around CityCenter and advise major metropolitans on environmental sustainability,” she says.

It’s made Ortega realize that if you include stakeholders, vendors and suppliers in the greening of your environmental footprint, you will create the added value of seeing your values spread beyond the construction site – into supply chains and communities.

“Business is one of the key factors in changing the future,” says Ortega. “In 2007 we were all a little sceptical about the implications for a business ‘going green.’ Most businesses were pretty conservative in this area, so I began to research how we could achieve something remarkable.”

What Ortega came up with was a formula that looked crazy at the time. She approached CityCenter president, Bobby Baldwin, with her report and asked if this was something he really wanted to do. His reply was, “Cindy, if we don’t do something now our environmental footprint is going to step on our children.”

Got solar? MGM Resorts has installed one of the nation’s largest rooftop solar arrays.

It’s a company-wide attitude that keeps surprising Ortega in pleasant ways. Recently, she approached company chairman James Murren with some cutting-edge technology she wanted to introduce as part of the sustainability program at CityCenter. “I thought he was going to postpone it for sure,” she says. “But he gave me more budget. He’s genuinely committed to us being a better steward of the environment.”

Before heading up MGMs sustainability drive, Ortega’s previous job was in finance. While monetary management might seem unrelated to the environment, Ortega is convinced that it’s actually the best way to approach sustainability.

“What I’ve learned from the MGM project is that the business of sustainability is successful only when it’s an effective business practice,” she says.

This effective business practice was put to the test in 2008 when the economic downturn hit Vegas hard. MGMs stock went from around $100 to just under $2 over a three-month period. The company went into survival mode and reviewed costs across the board. Ortega’s environmental plans turned out to be a benefit rather than a liability. “If MGM had viewed my ideas as ‘nice to have,’ I would have been first on the chopping block,” she says. Her ideas and policies turned out to be a good investment. Many other companies fail to see that ‘going green’ can also read ‘money saved. 

When Ortega first introduced her green ideas into Las Vegas, it was done quietly, behind the scenes. A city known for its escapist hedonism didn’t want to be prescribed rules or to have patrons ‘guilted’ into behaviour change. Today, she’s beginning to see a very different mindset. “Increasingly, guests are finding it unacceptable when a business doesn’t show a commitment to the environment,” she explains. Large, sophisticated corporations, that make up 25 percent of MGM’s room revenue, now demand a more environmentally aware service and are less compromising with whom they do business.

“It comes down to getting buy-in from your suppliers and from effective team work within your company,” says Ortega. “Sustainability does not happen in isolation. When a company positions itself as a leader in a particular field, it has to behave in a way that is harder than usual. Ultimately, people will become better at what they do if they work for a company that demonstrates good leadership.”

How CityCenter Puts Sustainability To Work

• To build an energy and water-efficient resort in the middle of the desert, MGM looked carefully at the location of buildings, what direction the windows were facing and the type and size of trees to be planted.

• Choosing water-wise fixtures helped conserve 33% of water and $40 million worth of sustainable, ethically-sourced wood was chosen, despite the increased cost.

• Three different types of cooling systems are used, to work most effectively with the different styles of construction. Instead of traditional ceiling vents, in buildings with high ceilings, cooled air comes from under the floor or from cold water pipes underfoot. Air contaminants are pushed upwards, away from guests.

• Faced with an 8 percent recycling rate and 300,000 tons of waste, CityCenter capitalised a small, local recycling company with a $2 million loan. They built a facility, bought trucks and paid the loan back through their services. Las Vegas now has a construction-recycling infrastructure.

• MGM encourage large companies to work with small, minority and women-owned businesses. In the first phase of CityCenter, an experienced company with no minority or female shareholders was required to work with a smaller, qualifying company that built the framework for a skyscraper to the 4^th floor, with the larger company completing the job to the 55^th floor.