#6: Global Trends

Gamifying Behavior Change | Mariam Adil | TEDxYouth@ColumbiaHeights

West African Entrepreneur, Innovator, and Educational Specialist Mariam Adil has a dream of enlightening not only her country but the world to new challenges and ways of thinking. Alumna Mariam Adil is the founder of The Gaming Revolution of Inspiring (or International) Development otherwise known as GRID. This is a social venture that creates low-cost mobile games that are played by people around the world to change stereotypes and serve as educational resources according to GW Hatchet. Believe it or not this large inner-web of latter cognition began with just a day-dream in an economics class back in 2013. Today we see Adil in her prime as a game developer and team leader, nearing a total of 9 productions. However, this is a side job to her position as an operations analyst for the World Bank.

By setting a target towards maturation, she opens mental doors for people who have never had the chance to be reached. Adil worked with UNICEF Pakistan to spread the games through workshops with students where the group provides information on the topic and encourages attendees to download. GRID games are accessible as mobile applications which target a younger or more complicated demographic. Adil’s games are free on the App Store for both iPhone and Android users. This ongoing trend of "faster and cheaper" enhances the attraction of low-cost and free applications which increases the chances of downloads. In fact Adil brought up a shocking revelation that "we are looking at a world where people have mobile phones, even if they don’t have toilets," so the importance of entertainment and connections is definitely a high priority.

Mariam Adil is on a mission for the success of others. She told GW Hatchet "I want to have many, many games, solve several different problems and really become a pioneer in the use of games to inspire behavior change and to solve problems not only in the West but around the world." Adil is currently working with George Mason University on a new game that educates users on endometriosis, a painful disorder when the lining of the uterus grows on the outside, and their target audience is women in the United States. Adil said she is also working on games related to climate change, student loans, financial literacy and youth employment. Not only does she exemplify a super hero for unconsciousness, she is sort of the kind of kindred light that the world currently needs.