Bringing profitable clean technology investments and services to communities that have been left behind can present challenges to business as usual, but also huge opportunities.

Poverty and pollution are not separate issues. They unfortunately often go hand in hand, with the most impoverished people suffering the brunt of pollution.

Vien Truong, national director of Green For All, challenged business and tech leaders at VERGE 2015 to take on these two related issues by building services and products that improve life in all communities and help clean up the air and water.  

Doing so, she said, would help build their customer base by reaching new markets in new communities. Clean tech for all, she said, is a win-win approach.

"Poverty and pollution, these issues traditionally have been seen as so big they have to be tackled separately. What we now understand is these issues are so interconnected they have to be tackled together," she said.

Hear all about it at VERGE 2015 in San Jose.