From a 3D printed vaccine patch to an electric truck, a seawater-powered lamp, and countless other bold innovations, the sixth annual awards honor the products, concepts, companies, policies, and designs that are driving change, tackling issues from climate change to inequality, and so much more.
The winners of Fast Company’s 2022 World Changing Ideas Awards were announced today, honoring clean technology, innovative corporate initiatives, brave new designs for cities and buildings, and other creative works that are supporting the growth of positive social innovation, tackling social inequality, climate change, and public health crises.
Work Shield’s Portal 2.0, which received honorable mention in the workplace category, provides employee relation groups, HR and internal counsel with a compliant, efficient and user-friendly experience that reduces risk and modernizes reporting and misconduct management by identifying potential problem areas, including inappropriate behavior patterns, incident trends and more. With a click of a button, organizations receive access to real-time data that provides a comprehensive snapshot of its cultural health, including in-depth insight into all harassment, discrimination and misconduct issues.
Now in its sixth year, the World Changing Ideas Awards showcase 39 winners, 350 finalists, and more than 600 honorable mentions—with climate, social justice, and AI and data among the most popular categories. A panel of eminent Fast Company editors and reporters selected winners and finalists from a pool of more than 2,997 entries across transportation, education, food, politics, technology, health, social justice, and more. In addition, several new categories have been added this year including climate, nature, water, and workplace. The 2022 awards feature entries from across the globe, from Switzerland to Hong Kong to Australia.
Fast Company’s Summer 2022 issue (on newsstands May 10, 2022) will showcase some of the world’s most inventive entrepreneurs and companies tackling global challenges. The issues highlight, among others, probiotics for coral reefs, easy-to-assemble kit homes for refugees or disaster survivors, a 3D printed vaccine patch, an electric truck, a system to heat homes from the waste heat of a name-brand factory, and prosecutor-initiated resentencing for overly long prison sentences.
“We’re proud to be recognized among other game changers in the workplace category that are on like-minded missions for creating safer workplace cultures centered around diversity, inclusion and equity for all,” said Jared Pope, CEO and founder of Work Shield. “Our Portal 2.0 is a testament to our continued commitment to providing an enhanced and data-driven platform for improving organizations’ understanding of their cultural health, while continuing to empower employees’ voices to be heard.”
“We are consistently inspired by the novelty and creativity that people are applying to solve some of our society’s most pressing problems, from shelter to the climate crisis. Fast Company relishes its role in amplifying important, innovative work to address big challenges,” says David Lidsky, interim editor-in-chief of Fast Company. “Our journalists have identified some of the most ingenious initiatives to launch since the start of 2021, which we hope will both have a meaningful impact and lead others to join in being part of the solution.”
To learn more about Work Shield’s Portal 2.0, please visit workshield.com.
About Work Shield
Founded in 2018, Work Shield is the first and only solution that partners with employers to efficiently manage reporting, investigation and resolution of workplace harassment and discrimination issues in their entirety. For the first time, employees have access to an immediate and impartial secure platform to safely voice harassment and discrimination incidents, while employers are ensured peace of mind that every issue is investigated and resolved with care by Work Shield-certified legal professionals. Implementing the Work Shield solution fosters a more positive and open workplace culture comprised of integrity and trust. To learn more, visit https://workshield.com.
About the World Changing Ideas Awards: World Changing Ideas is one of Fast Company’s major annual awards programs and is focused on social good, seeking to elevate finished products and brave concepts that make the world better. A panel of judges from across sectors choose winners, finalists, and honorable mentions based on feasibility and the potential for impact. With the goals of awarding ingenuity and fostering innovation, Fast Company draws attention to ideas with great potential and helps them expand their reach to inspire more people to start working on solving the problems that affect us all.
