Congratulations to alum Paige Balcom for being one of two recipients of UC Berkeley’s Mark Bingham Award for Excellence in Achievement by Young Alums.

On May 21 at the Berkeley Charter Gala, Paige, who earned the DevEng designated emphasis with her PhD in 2022, was honored alongside a select few Berkeley-alum luminaries, including the author Amy Tan. The Mark Bingham Award commends alumni who graduated within the last 10 years and have made a significant contribution to their community, country, or the world at large.

Paige, also a past winner with the Big Ideas Contest, is the co-founder of Takataka Plastics, which transforms plastic waste into tiles for use in homes and buildings, while providing employment to marginalized groups and opportunities for healing for trauma survivors.

The social enterprise was recently profiled for creating 60 full-time jobs for vulnerable individuals and 250 informal roles for community plastic collectors. Environmentally, the venture has diverted 142 tonnes of plastic waste and prevented an estimated 312 tonnes of CO2 emissions.