EarthDNA's S.H.O.E.S. Project is Winner of 2025 MassTech AI Models Challenge

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - EntSun -- The non-profit, EarthDNA, answered the AI Models Challenge with Project S.H.O.E.S. (Sustainable Handheld Organized Ecosystem for Secondhand Footwear) and was selected as a $1 million grant recipient.

EarthDNA is proud to be an award recipient to dedicate their AI resources, innovative ideas and collective action approach to solve one of Massachusetts' most complex problems – footwear waste. The success of S.H.O.E.S. will enhance the state's position as a hub for ethical, applied AI and serve as a model for other states and countries.

"We are grateful for this generous grant and deeply honored to be a major part of this joint initiative between the Healey-Driscoll Administration and MassTech. We recognize the synergies among our fellow award winners and are excited to work together with them to solve problems, drive business growth and foster innovation for the benefit of Massachusetts, our country and ultimately for the sustainability of our Planet Earth," Dr. Yuly Fuentes-Medel, EarthDNA neuroscientist and materials expert and Executive Director of The Footwear Collective.

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Problem: Massachusetts faces an unsustainable waste trajectory, with 70 pounds of textiles discarded per resident annually – equivalent to burying 5,750 fully-loaded tractor-trailers of recoverable materials in landfills each year. MA risks $112M in avoidable waste management costs by 2030, 3.39M tons of CO2-equivalent emissions from decomposing footwear and 400+ local retailers and manufacturers losing up to approximately $592M/year in secondary market opportunities.

Solution: S.H.O.E.S. is an EarthDNA initiative, inspired by the expertise of The Footwear Collective. S.H.O.E.S. is an AI-powered operating system that transforms the footwear waste crisis into a circular economy opportunity. By creating the first-ever scalable data-lake for footwear, S.H.O.E.S. enables intelligent sorting, valuation, and routing – transforming waste into wealth. With reliable shared data, stakeholders can identify priority interventions, track progress toward sustainability goals, and demonstrate accountability while preserving collective action in a federated learning AI architecture. S.H.O.E.S. catalyzes action, democratizes access to informed decision-making and converts individual efforts into measurable, sector-wide outcomes.

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Award details: https://masstech.org/news/healey-driscoll-administration-announces-29-million-awards-through-massachusetts-ai-hub

EarthDNA
EarthDNA is a nonprofit organization with the mission to empower everyone to act every day to heal spaceship Earth within one decade by interacting with a curated AI operating platform. Led by experts in the aerospace industry, science, academia, policy, and industry, EarthDNA's efforts in technology, industry, and education focus on ensuring the sustainability of our home planet through the intersecting design of people, technology, and the environment. For more information, visit https://earthdna.org.​