Seeking simple solutions with huge impacts
Cauam Cardoso was only 17 when he decided to break from family tradition and pursue engineering instead of the arts, a move that set him on a path to working with communities in need. Over the past decade, Cardoso, a PhD student in international economic development at MIT, has helped communities on five continents overcome infrastructure issues such as a lack of sanitation, while always following the advice his dad gave him growing up: “You have two ears and one mouth for a reason, so listen more than you talk.” Experiencing problems, finding solutions Cardoso grew up in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in a poor neighborhood that bordered a slum, or favela. While his family always had enough to get by, he saw many problems right in his own backyard. “I always felt very bothered by that reality,” says Cardoso. “Growing up, seeing the lack of sanitation, being harassed by the police,...