Do One Better with Alberto Lidji in Philanthropy, Sustainability and Social Entrepreneurship

  Deval Sanghavi, Co-Founder of Dasra, joins Alberto Lidji to discuss strategic philanthropy in India. Dasra began as a venture philanthropy fund to invest in early stage non-profit organizations in India. After listening to this episode you will have better insight into the philanthropic landscape in India; understand how grant-making foundations are including the voices of NGOs into their grant-...

Let’s transform education systems by reigniting intrinsic motivation! The Chair and CEO of STiR Education, Jo Owen and Girish Menon, explain why motivation is key to success. STiR Education operates in India and Uganda, they’ve recently started a program in Indonesia and are currently in discussions with the education ministry in Ethiopia.  Brazil is being explored. They’ve been funded by some of...

Transforming lives by setting up kids’ operating rooms and training paediatric surgeons in low and middle income countries. Garreth Wood, Chair of KidsOR, talks about need, solutions + economic impact. KidsOR is operating in 20 countries; they’re focused on building centres of excellence for children's surgery; dramatically increasing capacity and access for safe surgery; and they’re doing it in g...

Jay Weatherill, CEO of Thrive by Five and former Premier of South Australia, discusses Early Childhood Development within an Australian context and introduces an exciting new parenting app. Thrive by Five is an initiative of the Minderoo Foundation — a philanthropic outfit founded by Nicola and Andrew Forrest that has grown to AU$2.5 billion and is today one of the largest foundations in Australia...

  What if we loved politicians? Lisa Witter, CEO of the Apolitical Foundation, joins us to explore investing in new types of political leaders who will help us achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals. A great conversation on empowering democracy for the 21st Century; supporting and training policymakers and political leaders; closing the gap between evidence and informed political action; and...

  Fran Perrin, Chair of 360Giving, calls for more data transparency in philanthropy and explains how grant-makers, charities and beneficiaries can benefit from sharing data. 360Giving is about making better grant decisions by having more information, and fitting funding to where it’s most needed and has the most impact. They are a charity helping organisations publish open, standardised grants dat...

  Dr Randa Grob-Zakhary, Founder and CEO of Education.org, is unequivocal about the need to reduce the gap between the existing body of evidence in education and the small amount of that evidence that’s actually being used by policymakers.  Education.org is a young foundation making big, positive waves within the world of education. Early stage investors and partners supporting it include the Oak...

  Let’s talk collaborative philanthropy! We are joined by Anna Hakobyan (Chief Impact Officer at CIFF — the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation), Deepali Khanna (Managing Director for Asia at the Rockefeller Foundation) and Anurag Banerjee (Co-Founder & CEO of Quilt. AI) for a candid and thought-provoking conversation. This is an in-depth episode with views from three influential and consequenti...

Celebrating our 150th Episode! Tania Bryer of CNBC fame interviews Alberto Lidji to explore insights from The Do One Better Podcast’s 150 episodes. A candid look at podcasting, philanthropy and more. Alberto Lidji launched The Do One Better Podcast in early 2019, shortly after stepping down as Global CEO of the Novak Djokovic Foundation.  He has also been a Senior Advisor to the Goldie Hawn Founda...

A must-listen episode that will inform and inspire. Learn how Pinterest is leveraging its scale and reach of 444 million global, monthly active users to change narratives and drive forward social change around emotional wellbeing and mental health. Pinterest is one of the most inspirational destinations online and, indeed, their mission is to help people discover the things they love, and inspire...

  A must-listen episode for anyone who is interested in integrating ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance) into their investments and taking an active, strategic approach to ensuring investee and portfolio companies drive forward the Global Sustainability Agenda. Yellowwoods is an investment firm and business-builder. They are driven by purpose and we explore how they’re leveraging a range of to...

We explore the importance of making the latest evidence on children's rights and wellbeing accessible to a broad audience, strengthening and framing key arguments by using the most engaging language and communicating with policymakers and politicians so they make informed budgetary and voting decisions. The Institute for Inspiring Children’s Futures works with diverse partners, including the OECD,...

It’s been said that philanthropy is under attack. In this episode we explore key arguments in favour and against philanthropy and highlight opportunities for the road ahead.  No matter your views on philanthropy, you will find this episode informative and thought-provoking.  Beth worked as a fundraiser and charity manager for a decade before co-founding the Centre for Philanthropy at the Universit...

This episode provides clear insight into how the EdelGive Foundation developed, structured and executed a highly collaborative fund to support 100 NGOs in India, securing funding from the likes of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies and the Chandra Foundation.  The EdelGive Foundation is a grant-making organization, helping build and expand...

  Get a behind-the-scenes look at how ‘the Squirrels’ came about and how the programme is providing 4 and 5 year olds with skills for life when it matters most by promoting key skills like working together, communication and language, as well as creativity and community awareness. Gain insight from an in-depth conversation covering the entire journey of how the Squirrels went from initial concept...

  A great conversation on how foundations are able to nurture the organisations they fund and support. We look at the power dynamic between grant-maker and grantee, delve into fostering trust and explore how foundations are able to provide support that goes beyond financial grants. Simon Sommer is Co-CEO of the Jacobs Foundation, which has 7 billion Swiss Francs in assets (roughly USD $7 billion),...

  Safeena Husain founded Educate Girls in 2007 and today they operate in more than 20,000 villages across three states in India. They’re mobilising communities in the most marginalised and remote areas to get out-of-school girls back into school and ensure they stay in school and are actually learning. They’ve grown at a fast pace and today have a team of 2,200 full time employees and 15,000 volun...

  Tom founded TerraCycle 20 years ago when he was a student at Princeton. Today, TerraCycle is the world’s leader in the collection and reuse of non-recyclable post-consumer waste.  They work with more than one hundred major brands — including Tesco, Heinz and Coca-Cola — in twenty countries across the globe to collect used packaging and products that would otherwise be destined for landfills.  Th...

  On 4th October 2021, Pope Francis and leaders from other faiths gathered to appeal for robust commitments from political leaders in the run up to COP26 (2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference). Chris Trott, the UK's ambassador to the Holy See, shares his views on the significance of this extraordinary gathering and its highly consequential nature. The Pope has been a long-standing voice o...

With a presence in more than 100 countries, IHG has 6,000+ hotels, employs 350,000 staff and caters to many segments across 17 brands, from Holiday Inn to Crowne Plaza, InterContinental and Six Senses.  They recognise the tremendous opportunity to drive positive change. We learn what Keith and his team are doing to reduce their carbon footprint, improve operations and reduce waste. They’re embraci...

COP26 starts this Sunday and the world’s attention is focused on climate. Food systems are an integral component and we need to recognise their hidden costs and positive benefits. Traditional accounting often fails to account properly for negative externalities, such as habitat destruction, soil erosion and water contamination, or positives such as carbon sequestration, insect pollination and resi...

Sandy lost his eyesight in 1961 from glaucoma while he was a student at Columbia. At that point, he promised God that he’d do everything he could for the rest of his life to make sure no one else should go blind — he has led a successful life full of purpose. Just days ago, Johns Hopkins Medicine’s Wilmer Eye Institute established the Sanford and Susan Greenberg Center to End Blindness.  Sandy she...

  The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is at the forefront of funding cardiovascular research, with £447m in active research commitments across the UK, powered by 4,000 staff and 20,000 volunteers. They are celebrating their 60th birthday in 2021. Every year the BHF funds around £100m in new research, backing the best talent and a wide range of projects, from data science and new AI technology to ge...

Caroline had an 18-year career at the World Bank, where she worked as Managing Director in charge of Operational Policy; Chief of Staff; and Vice President for External Affairs.  She subsequently joined UBS as Group Managing Director to spearhead the firm’s sustainability policy and investment products. Today, despite being part of the NGO sector herself, she expresses her views candidly and notes...

  We start off by delving into the differences in approach and expectations between traditional investing, ESG investing and impact investing. Today, the broad view is that it is perfectly viable to seek competitive, risk-adjusted returns, while pursuing best practice in ESG (environmental, social and governance). While, on the more philanthropic side of the spectrum, there are those who are happy...