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

Liesel Pritzker Simmons brings us into the origins of the IDP Foundation, which she co-founded with her mother, Irene Pritzker. The foundation’s mission: To participate in building a sustainable education ecosystem that embraces a mixed economy of provision, and caters for all children through access to finance for low-fee private schools, quality interventions and advocacy in Africa and beyond. C...

Community Jameel’s Director, George Richards, talks about their support of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) and numerous other initiatives supporting bright talent beyond the lab and across the globe. In 2019, the Nobel Prize for Economics was awarded to J-PAL’s co-founders, Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee, and long-time J-PAL affiliate Michael Kremer, for their experimental app...

The CEO of the Valuable 500, Katy Talikowska, advocates for synchronised collective action; using the power of business to drive lasting change for the 1.3 billion people around the world who are living with a disability. The Valuable 500 is a collective of 500 businesses, representing 22 million employees,  chaired by Paul Polman, who are innovating for disability inclusion. Through synchronised...

The Chancellor of Reach University, Mallory Dwinal-Palisch, joins us to discuss teacher shortages in the USA and their innovative apprenticeship route helping those from minority and disadvantaged backgrounds join the teaching profession.  Reach University’s approach addresses and tackles the hurdles that often stand in the way of people’s dreams of studying to become a teacher. From a lack of chi...

The Head of the Wimbledon Foundation, Paige Murphy, talks with Alberto Lidji, former CEO of the Novak Djokovic Foundation, about the charitable work of the Wimbledon Foundation, their key partnerships and the invaluable role of sports in providing essential skills for education and employment. The Wimbledon Foundation is the official charity of the All England Lawn Tennis Club and the Championship...

GiveOut’s Executive Director, Rupert Abbott, joins us to discuss the LGBTI movement through a human rights lens, and GiveOut’s work enabling the LGBTI community and its allies to give in one place to support this cause. We also explore GiveOut’s drive to increase philanthropic funding and the increasing importance of corporate support. GiveOut is an international LGBTQI community foundation workin...

The CEO of Save the Children Global Ventures, Paul Ronalds, joins us to talk about the impact investing side of Save the Children – unlocking capital and backing truly interesting initiatives around health, education, child protection and climate. Save the Children Global Ventures complements traditional grant-making and philanthropy with an increased use of innovative financing instruments, inclu...

The founder and director of the Sanctuary Foundation, Krish Kandiah, talks about the importance of welcoming refugees into our communities. He describes the work of the Sanctuary Foundation and shares his own personal experience of opening his home and welcoming refugees to live with his family. Despite what the negative headlines might suggest, the British public has demonstrated great warmth and...

Ahead of World Refugee Day on 20th June 2023, Emma Cherniavsky, UK CEO of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) joins us to discuss the refugee and displaced persons crisis. Emma explains that World Refugee Day is a time to celebrate what refugees have brought to our countries, societies and communities. It’s a time to celebrate the courage,  resilience, and extraordinary contributions of refugees and dis...

Hilary Cottam joins us to explore the field of social design and rethinking our vertical, post-war systems so as to ensure that we are not simply putting 1950s systems online, but rather are actually embracing a digital mindset with collaboration and sharing that are front and centre, being mindful that today’s challenges are vast and urgent and we need to think about them differently and rethink...

The CEO of the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery, Sophie Otiende, advocates for a survivor-led environment, enabling those with lived experience to have space, use their voice and become leaders in tackling modern slavery. Sophie was trafficked as a child and is herself a survivor-leader; she knows what it feels like to be in a policy discussion where she’s the only person in the room who’s actual...

Samhita’s Founder and CEO, Priya Naik, talks with us about sustainable livelihoods in India, social inclusiveness, gender, returnable grants and much more. Their initial funders include the Omidyar Network and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation; their partners include the likes of Unilever, Google and Kimberly-Clark. Samhita embraces an ecosystem mindset, and they work closely not just with indiv...

Nitzan Pelman, CEO and Founder of Climb Hire, joins us to talk about the value of networks and leveraging social capital. So often, those who come from the most marginalised backgrounds don’t have the connections and don’t benefit from the social introductions that can prove invaluable in the labour market and in developing a successful career. In this episode, we explore the innovative programmes...

New Constellations’ Founder and Co-Creator, Gemma Mortensen, joins us to advocate the value of big ideas, unconventional thinking, convening diverse stakeholders and imagining better futures. New Constellations was created to hold and grow new, experimental spaces for people to examine the moment of upheaval we are living through, and to imagine and begin shaping the better futures that can emerge...

Laura Kyrke-Smith is the IRC’s Executive Director in the UK and she joins us to discuss their work in supporting refugees and asylum seekers in the UK who come from Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Iraq, Sudan and beyond. This episode follows the earlier interview with David Miliband, President and CEO of the IRC, which aired in April 2021 and provided a global outlook of the IRC’s work. The IRC in th...

Join us as we sit down with John May, Chief Executive of Cats Protection, one of the largest animal welfare organizations in the UK. Our conversation focuses on the power of volunteering and its evolution in today's world. Whether you're a people person or prefer the company of animals, whether you have a lot of time or just a little, there's likely a volunteering role out there for you. Drawing o...

Gary Haugen is the CEO & Founder of International Justice Mission (IJM), a global human rights organization that works to protect the poor from violence. The context here is not one of war, conflict or mass atrocities but, rather, the everyday violence present in many low-income and marginalized communities around the globe, such as gender violence, forced labor, human trafficking, sexual violence...

Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President and CEO of Women's World Banking joins us to discuss the importance of women's financial inclusion. We look at the topic of women’s financial inclusion from various angles, including digital literacy, social norms and impact investing, and we also look at some of the research that tells us that this is not just a moral imperative but also an objective that makes c...

Sean Doherty is the Chairman of the JDRF T1D Fund — a venture philanthropy fund aimed at creating a market in type 1 diabetes (T1D)  by using capital and expertise to convince venture capital, biotech and pharma to make the investments needed to cure T1D. In 2015, there was virtually no private investment in T1D; there was a gap between scientific advancements and the delivery of solutions to the...

Alex Skailes heads the Centre for Charity Effectiveness at Bayes Business School (formerly known as Cass) and, on this episode, we explore the nature and drivers of mergers within the charity and non-profit world; we dive into the opportunities, challenges, incentives and research. Whether you’re based at a non-profit organisation, a for-profit commercial venture or both (or neither!), this episod...

Danil Mikhailov is the Executive Director of data.org — a nonprofit organization that is a platform for partnerships and is helping to build the field of data for social impact. They work with organizations from all over the world to increase the use of data in order to improve the lives of millions of people. At data.org they embrace a socio-tech perspective and appreciate that it’s not just abou...

Bernhard is the Head of the UN World Food Programme Innovation Accelerator, which he created in 2015.  We explore the work of the Innovation Accelerator and the World Food Programme (WFP) more broadly. The WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, with 20,000 staff worldwide, working in more than 120 countries — saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway t...

Co-founder of Rocket Learning, Namya Mahajan, joins us to share an extraordinary journey and remarkable work. Rocket Learning is a non-profit organization on a mission to revolutionise early childhood education (ECE) and early childhood development (ECD) in India by working closely with governments, parents and caregivers to create strong digital content that helps children develop during their ea...

Darshita Gillies is Founder and CEO of Maanch, an impact management platform. They inform asset managers, corporations, philanthropists and funders on impact tracking and impact management within an ESG and sustainability context. Maanch is a B Corp that is leveraging technology for good and embracing an innovative approach. The focus in this episode is on mobilising capital towards sustainability...

Jehiel Oliver, Founder and CEO of Hello Tractor explains how they’re leveraging technology and innovative financing to help Africa’s farmers close the yield gap between what they grow versus what the global averages are across key commodities. Hello Tractor is an agricultural technology company connecting small-holder farmers to farm equipment owners with excess capacity.  Their technology involve...