Capita In Conversation

At a moment when the old global order is fraying and the future feels radically uncertain, how can we prepare for what comes next? In this episode of Per Capita , Joe Waters speaks with Nils Gilman, Senior Advisor at the Berggruen Institute, about how to think systematically about the future in a moment of institutional rupture and geopolitical instability. Drawing on his intellectual journey—from...

Africa’s demographic future is arriving faster than most policymakers are prepared for.  In this episode of Per Capita , Joe Waters speaks with Blessing Adesiyan, Founder and Chief Care Officer of Caring Africa, about how rapid population growth, urbanization, and changing family structures are creating an urgent care crisis in Nigeria. With nearly half of the country’s population under 15 and a g...

Africa’s rapid urbanization is shaping the future of cities and families in the continent.  In this episode of Per Capita , Joe Waters speaks with Joseph Asunka, CEO of Afrobarometer, about what Africans across more than 40 countries say their governments should prioritize—from the recent rise of health as a top concern to ongoing challenges around unemployment, security, and economic opportunity....

Artificial intelligence is advancing faster than our social, moral, and political frameworks, and families are feeling the consequences first. In this episode of Per Capita , Joe Waters speaks with Ron Ivey, Founder & CEO of Noēsis Collaborative, about how artificial intelligence is reshaping family life, work, and education. They explore why many parents fear AI will undermine economic stability,...

The United States and many other democracies are in the midst of a dramatic political realignment with shifting views on national security, economics, technology, and the role of government.  In this new episode of Per Capita , Joe Waters is joined by Marshall Kosloff, Senior Fellow and Director of Special Projects at the Niskanen Center, and host of The Realignment , one of the most insightful po...

Are families caught in a polycrisis within the polycrisis? Housing, health care, caregiving, paid leave, economic uncertainty are just some of the relentless forces reshaping family life in the U.S. today. In the midst of these overlapping pressures, a deeper question emerges: who do we believe ourselves to be? Are we independent, self-reliant individuals? Or are we fundamentally dependent, interc...

In this episode, Jay Chaudhary, a Visiting Fellow at Capita and Senior Fellow at the Sagamore Institute, interviews Capita Co-Founder + CEO Joe Waters, Daniel Williams, CEO of the Steelcase Foundation, and Jesús Gerena, CEO of UpTogether, during the Aspen VisionXChange in Aspen, Colorado. They explore recent coverage of the Baby’s First Years evaluation, the role of two-parent households in addres...

In this episode, Capita’s Chief Strategy Officer Caroline Cassidy sits down with Katie King, Senior Director of Strategic Engagement at KnowledgeWorks to revisit the first-ever ten-year forecast focused on the flourishing of young children and their families co-developed by Capita and KnowledgeWorks in 2019. A lot has changed in just five years. From the pandemic’s lasting impact to the rise of ho...

In this episode, Capita CEO Joe Waters talks with Isabelle Hau, the author of "Love to Learn." They discuss the importance of relationships and connections in early education. Hau argues that there is a relational crisis in society and that we need a relational revolution to support children's learning and overall development. She emphasizes the role of love and relationships in brain development...

In this episode, Joe Waters and US Representative Becca Balint speak about the crisis of loneliness and disconnection in America. They discuss the lack of social support for parents of young children, the impact of economic inequality on social cohesion, and the role of social media in exacerbating loneliness. They also explore potential solutions, such as investing in physical infrastructure to c...

In this episode, CEO Joe Waters speaks with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Dele Olojede, who was in Pretoria on May 10, 1994, covering Nelson Mandela's inauguration and the formal transition to democracy in South Africa. The following day, he flew to Kigali to cover the early days of the Rwandan genocide. In just a matter of days, Dele witnessed both the best of humanity and its greatest deprav...

In this extended episode, Deb Chachra, materials scientist and professor of engineering, explores the profound connections between care and infrastructure in our society; infrastructure systems are ways we take care of each other at scale. This conversation challenges us to rethink how we value and sustain the systems that underpin our lives. Deb Chachra is the author of HOW INFRASTRUCTURE WORKS (...

In this episode, Joe Waters talks to Jon Baron, President of the Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy, to discuss the evolution and impact of evidence-based policymaking in the U.S. Jon shares his journey and insights on how government funding can prioritize programs proven to work, tackling social issues through a rigorous, data-driven approach. The conversation explores some of the challenges and...

In this episode, Capita’s Ankita Chachra talks to Jane Gilbert, Chief Heat Officer for Florida’s Miami-Dade County. In 2021, Jane became the first Chief Heat Officer in the world, a position that is now found in cities across the globe. Jane talks about how heat particularly impacts children and families, the types of strategies that can help keep residents safe, and how she is helping to create a...

In this episode, Capita Co-founder & CEO Joe Waters interviews Dr. Erin M. Cline, Tagliabue Distinguished Professor in Interfaith Studies & Dialogue at Georgetown University and Senior Research Fellow, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs. They discuss Cline’s book “Families of Virtue” which compares Confucian and Western views on childhood development and moral education. Cline desc...

In this episode Capita Senior Fellow Elliot Haspel interviews Brendan Ballou, author of  Plunder: Private Equity’s Plan to Pillage America . They discuss the basics of private equity and its differences from venture capital firms and hedge fund investments. They outline the risks of private equity on the human services and child care sectors. Finally, they touch on policy solutions and how individ...

In this Capita in Conversation episode, Senior Fellow Elliot Haspel talks to Abby Jitendra from the UK’s Joseph Rowntree Foundation about financialization threats, particularly from private equity firms, facing both the UK and US child care systems. They discuss Jitendra’s proposal for a new social licensing model that treats child care more as a public good and aims to improve quality and supply...

In this episode, Capita Senior Fellow Elliot Haspel interviews Chiara Rosselli, co-founder and executive director of the APROPOS Group, a non-profit, politically neutral think tank operating in the field of democratic innovation specializing in the development and implementation of process design methods for the political sphere. Elliot Haspel Elliot--Senior Fellow at Capita--is a child & family p...

Capita Senior Fellow Ian Marcus Corbin speaks with author Jennifer Banks about her book "Natality: Toward a Philosophy of Birth." Ian Marcus Corbin Ian is a Senior Fellow at Capita. He is also a philosopher on the Neurology faculty at Brigham and Women's Hospital / Harvard Medical School, where he co-directs the Human Network Initiative . He serves on the ethics committee at Brigham and Women's, a...

Capita visualiza un futuro en el que las niñas y los niños, y sus familias, puedan desarrollar todo su potencial en una sociedad justa, pacífica y próspera en un planeta sostenible. A menudo, quedan excluidos de cómo moldeamos nuestros sistemas políticos, económicos y sociales. Sin embargo, al priorizar a nuestros niños más jóvenes, sus familias y sus comunidades, tenemos el potencial de transform...

Capita Co-Founder + CEO Joe Waters talks with UpTogether CEO and Aspen Ascend Fellow Jesús Gerena on wealth inequality and the work UpTogether is doing to help low-income people. Joe Waters Joe Waters is the co-founder and CEO of Capita. An independent, nonpartisan think tank with a global focus, Capita works to build a future in which children and families can realize their full potential in a ju...

Capita Chief Strategy Officer Caroline Cassidy speaks with LaDon Love, Executive Director of Spaces in Action, to talk about communities, the power of storytelling and listening, and how we build trust. Caroline Cassidy Caroline directs overall strategy for Capita, which includes public engagement, communications, and organizational development. For two decades, Caroline has been a leader in the t...

Capita Chief Strategy Officer interviews Play Africa's Managing Director Rongedzayi Fambasayi about the role of cities in protecting child rights, creativity in tackling the climate crisis, governance for child-centered climate action across Africa, and more. Caroline Cassidy Caroline directs overall strategy for Capita, which includes public engagement, communications, and organizational developm...

Capita Senior Fellow, and Instructor in Neurology at Harvard Medical School Ian Marcus Corbin, interviews writer Pete Davis to discuss how this culture of restlessness and indecision is causing tension in the lives of young people today. Ian Marcus Corbin Ian is a Senior Fellow at Capita. He is also a philosopher on the Neurology faculty at Brigham and Women's Hospital / Harvard Medical School, wh...