Changing the World Through Raw Materials with Stephanie Benedetto

2019-10-08

Stephanie Benedetto is a former corporate lawyer who found her path to change the world. Prior to starting Queen of Raw, Stephanie worked as a lawyer in the fashion, media/entertainment, start-up, and technology industries and co-founded a sustainable textile manufacturing facility. While spending a lot of time in factories and warehouses, she saw perfectly good fabric collecting dust. These would eventually be burned or sent to the landfill. There was no alternative. This was when Stephanie realized that there was a supply demand mismatch — and she wanted to do something about it. Today, Stephanie is the CEO and Founder of Queen of Raw, a marketplace to buy and sell unused textiles. The company keeps these materials out of landfills and turns pollution into profit.

“Don't doubt that you can make a difference and you can solve problems and absolutely go change the world,” says Stephanie.

Stephanie was selected to join the Circular Economy Solver Class in the recently concluded 2019 Solve Challenge from MIT Solve. MIT Solve is an initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that advances lasting solutions from tech entrepreneurs to address the world's most pressing problems. The incoming Solver class was selected by Solve’s expert judges and was selected from a pool of nearly 1,400 applicants from over 100 countries.

After a rigorous process, Queen of Raw, with Stephanie at its helm, was chosen as a promising Solver who will drive transformational change.

Queen of Raw: www.queenofraw.com

This episode was produced in partnership with MIT Solve.

MIT Solve: solve.mit.edu

Learn more about MIT Solver Stephanie Benedetto:

solve.mit.edu/challenges/circular-economy/solutions/6727

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This episode is sponsored by Coin Up, a revolutionary mobile donation app that makes giving effortless, while making fundraising more efficient.

Learn more: coinupapp.com

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Special thanks to our incredible Production Intern Katie Santamaria.

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