EarthX Leads Environmental Innovation With Entrepreneur-In-Residence Program

DALLAS, September 23, 2020 /3BL Media/ – EarthX has announced it has launched a new Entrepreneur-in-Residence program, EarthX <EIR>, providing the world’s most talented thinkers the opportunity to incubate their ideas and spur innovation for environmental benefit. The program provides resident entrepreneurs with the necessary resources to bring world changing ideas to market.

Over the course of 10 years, EarthX has grown to be the largest environmental experience on the planet, ranging from the Earth Day Texas expo to EarthxTV. EarthX <EIR> is a commitment to those focusing their life’s work on improving the world by solving age-old problems using innovative solutions. Residents are afforded two years of full salary along with access to an unparalleled network of content creators, mentors, academics, industry professionals, and investors with the goal of taking their hardware or software company to maturity. EarthX <EIR> launched with Cody Merrill, founder of Socialwyze, as the first resident and will start accepting applications following the Concordia Summit where Mr. Merrill will be speaking about using technology to achieve environmental and social impact.

"EarthX is well positioned to incubate environmental technology as the number one hub for international environmental thought leadership,” said EarthX Board Chair Lynn McBee. “We couldn't be more excited to leverage our expertise, network, and platform to catalyze environmental innovation through direct support of ambitious environmental entrepreneurs. I am delighted to welcome Cody Merrill, because he offers a fundamentally new approach to solving the world's most pressing social and environmental problems at scale."

Merrill comes to EarthX with a degree in Finance and Economics from Southern Methodist University and experience at multiple medical software startups, including CareExpand. After witnessing the travesty of wasted human potential from homelessness while residing in San Francisco and Dallas, Merrill focused his attention on creating Socialwyze.

Socialwyze is a mobile app that helps governments and donors pay unemployed people to perform public benefit work to help them afford housing and transition back into employment. Many individuals struggle to convey credibility to potential employers whenever they have experienced job loss, homelessness, prior incarceration, or PTSD. Workers automatically build up their digital resumes while tackling their communities’ most pressing environmental problems, allowing them to project credibility to landlords and employers. The instant financial stability and flexible scheduling allow people to take care of their family while pursuing a comprehensive path toward upward mobility.

“When households experience income disruption, it is far cheaper for society to pay them to perform meaningful public benefit work to afford housing than to allow them to hit rock bottom through eviction, homelessness, or incarceration,” said EarthX EIR Resident and Socialwyze Founder Cody Merrill. “There are enough resources around the world to eradicate poverty and reverse climate change if we can stop viewing these problems in isolation. Socialwyze breaks down these silos by helping communities pair people who most need income with local environmental work that most needs to be completed.”

Socialwyze will be launching their first pilot in EarthX’s home base in Dallas by deploying workers from local homeless shelter The Bridge to a local community garden at Hatcher Station. Workers will generate income accelerating their transition to private housing while building work experience and a digital resume helping them secure long-term private employment. Their work at the community garden will help address the produce shortfall in Dallas’s southern sector food desert while expanding regenerative and local agricultural practices that can materially impact climate change at scale. Visit www.socialwyze.com to learn more about the Socialwyze app and company mission.

To apply to the EarthX <EIR> program visit EarthX.org/EIR

About EarthX
EarthX convenes the world’s largest environmental expo, conference and film festival, and is a member of IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature. EarthxTV, launching in Fall 2020 is a web-based platform for balanced, inclusive environmental conversations, programs, emerging media & films.  Founded in 2011 by environmentalist and businessman Trammell S. Crow, the Texas-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization promotes environmental awareness and impact through conscious business, nonpartisan collaboration and community-driven sustainable solutions.  Earthx2020 was held virtually in April and drew over 550,000 visitors worldwide. Visit www.EarthX.org or follow us @earthxorg on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Cody Merrill
Cody Merrill is an experienced entrepreneur with a background primarily focused in software. His burning passion for upward mobility and the environment led him to launch Socialwyze, a mobile app that helps governments and donors award grants to unemployed individuals to perform environmental public benefit work. Cody recently joined forces with EarthX as Entrepreneur-In-Residence to pursue an ambitious campaign to bring poverty and environmental funders together to tackle inequality and climate change simultaneously.