This looks quite interesting.

IDEO, an organization known for bringing spurring innovation, creative thinking and user-friendly design, is looking to focus on the social sector. As part of this effort they are going to be hiring a number of residents to use IDEO’s approach and methodology to focus on pressing social problems around the world. IDEO’s an organization I’ve a lot of time and respect for, certainly somewhere I think it would have been amazing to spend a summer in college or a few years afterwards.

Here’s two snippets from their website:

We’re launching IDEO.org to spread human-centered design through the social sector and improve the lives of people in low-income communities across the globe. IDEO.org is starting this September and looking for its first class of residents to be part of the team. Build empathy, generate ideas, prototype concepts, deliver solutions. Join us!

and

Through the course of 11 months, residents will work on poverty related challenges covering an array of topics – such as, agriculture, gender equity, financial services, health, and water and sanitation. Example projects include working with a microfinance institution in Kenya to create new ways for low-income customers to save, supporting a small Indian start-up to design a low-cost electricity system, or partnering with a domestic healthcare non-profit to bring birth control options to low-income women in the U.S.

Residents will be based in San Francisco, but will spend significant time traveling and in the field. Candidates should have an openness to other cultures and lifestyles and will be expected to be self-reliant and thrive in a start-up environment.

You can read more here. Definitely an opportunity worth checking out.