The Rumi Foundation

Innovation Night
at the Royal College of Art

Innovation Night 2012 at the Royal College of Art, the third of five annual keynote lectures to be endowed by the foundation, was held on 2nd May 2012. Joining us as guest speaker was will.i.am, frontman and founder of The Black Eyed Peas, one of the world’s most successful recording groups.

will.i.am is the founder of the i.am.angel foundation, a charitable foundation focused on transforming communities. The i.am.angel foundation has funded scholarships to underprivileged children, and one of its key goals is to promote the teaching of science and technology in our classrooms.

A self-dubbed UNEEK (a “universal nerd geek”), will.i.am is a firm believer in the role of technology in our society. In January 2011 he was appointed Director of Creative Innovation for Intel Corporation where he is helping Intel to explore how technology can better relate to everyday interactions and how today’s youth can better engage with technology. will.i.am created i.am.FIRST, a programme to encourage the engineering and technological skills of primary and secondary school students, which included a robotics competition and programmes to make science equivalent to sports or music in the eyes of children.

In February 2012, will.i.am hosted the inaugural TRANS4M conference, based in his home town of Boyle Heights, California. The conference brought together brands, businesses, community organisations and philanthropists to create new business models to invigorate the economy and community of Boyle Heights. The Rumi Foundation is working with will.i.am to host a TRANS4M conference in Hackney or another deprived area of London.