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

Felix Brooks-Church is Co-Founder and CEO of Sanku, a social enterprise and non-profit focused on combatting malnutrition through food fortification in East Africa. They operate out of Tanzania and Kenya. Sanku works with local stakeholders in rural and marginalised communities to fortify staple foods by adding nutrients, vitamins and minerals; aiming to improve health outcomes in the process. In...

Habitat for Humanity International’s CEO, Jonathan Reckford, sheds light on their efforts to tackle housing poverty in more than 70 countries by looking at the challenge through both equity and climate lenses. Jonathan provides insight on how former US President Jimmy Carter became a key supporter of their work and gives us a behind-the-scenes overview of this transformative non-profit with $2 bil...

There is a robust body of research on 'what' donors fund. However, many questions around ‘how’ to fund need to be researched and explored more thoroughly. If you have $100 million available to fund a cause, do you give it all in one grant, do you make a handful of large grants or do you make a high number of small grants? In this episode we explore some of the big questions on how to fund; conside...

Peter Kaye AM ESM and Stephen De-Wint, CEOs of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award in Australia and Canada respectively, talk about the work of the Award locally and across more than 100 countries.  They provide first-hand insight into how the Award embraces non-formal education and transforms lives.  This broad conversation looks at diversity, equity and inclusion; volunteering and mentor...

Mike Adamson is Chief Executive of the British Red Cross, an organisation with 4,000 employees, 15,000 volunteers and an annual income in 2022 of £400M. In this episode we explore the British Red Cross’ key focus areas, their roll in systems change and their approach to driving forward strategic partnerships.  We also explore the importance of fostering trust between diverse organisations and stak...

Nidhi Bhasin, CEO of the NASSCOM Foundation, joins us to talk about tech for good in India and initiatives to drive digital literacy.  The NASSCOM Foundation is part of the NASSCOM ecosystem — the biggest industry body representing the tech industry in India. Much of their focus is on going deep into rural areas and reaching that ‘last mile’. Inclusion is at the core of their strategic thinking. D...

This episode looks at modern-day slavery and we host Nick Grono, CEO of the Freedom Fund — a collaborative fund tackling slavery and human trafficking globally. Many people think of slavery as something from 200 years ago but, in reality, it is a serious problem plaguing our world today — not just in developing countries but in the UK and US as well.  The scale and prevalence of the problem is eye...

We discuss the power dynamics of Global North / Global South philanthropy and explore the Centre’s work and research. Shonali leads the Centre’s research agenda on philanthropy in global growth markets, specifically Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. She is an expert in global philanthropy for development, and her previous work focused on the implications of new financial instruments in...

As we celebrate our 200th episode we bring you insights from Siya Kolisi, David Lynch, David Miliband, Paul Polman, Julia Gillard, Bob Moritz, Cherie Blair and Keith Barr. Let’s not be daunted by the scale of the challenge. Things are only unmanageable if we don’t manage them.  We should find purpose and work for more than just ourselves. Thank you for downloading the 200th episode of the Do One B...

OutcomesX is transforming social impact into an investible asset. They’re creating the infrastructure to standardise, price, trade and verify social impact credits, and building a marketplace to buy and sell social outcomes. We explore their innovative work and also take a look at the disconnect between growth in ESG funds and stagnation in the drive to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals...

Generation is a global non-profit supporting adults to achieve economic mobility; they provide training and placements into careers that individuals would normally find inaccessible.  They operate in 16 countries across the globe, have helped more than 70,000 individuals and support those who are unemployed, underemployed or need to learn new skills.  In this episode we also take a close look at t...

This episode focuses on global conflict prevention and resolution and we are joined by Comfort Ero, President and CEO of the International Crisis Group. The International Crisis Group provides independent analysis and advice on how to prevent, resolve and better manage deadly conflict, combining field research, analysis and engagement with policymakers across the world in order to effect change in...

On this episode, Dan Corry sheds light on the work of New Philanthropy Capital (NPC) and we explore the impact agenda from a range of angles, including: (1) How does the impact agenda relate to trust-based philanthropy?  (2) Is impact measurement is too top-down? (3) Are randomised control trials (RCTs) preferable to quicker, more iterative alternatives? (4) Is there enough risk-taking in philanth...

We explore the merger between Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation, which resulted in the creation of Asthma + Lung UK.   We look at the pros and cons, the opportunities and the headaches that Sarah Woolnough has been coping with and driving forward as CEO of Asthma + Lung UK. Sarah provides a truly candid view and this episode is particularly useful for anyone contemplating, managing or wish...

Thrive at Five supports parents and communities through collective action across the public, private and voluntary sectors, so every child reaches a good level of development at age five.  Aida Cable brings a wealth of experience in the early childhood development space. Prior to joining Thrive at Five she worked at The Royal Foundation of the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and now Prince and...

Charity Navigator is an organisation that evaluates charities and provides in-depth, objective ratings and analysis of the financial health, accountability and transparency of 200,000 charities. They also facilitate the giving process. Charity Navigator is a household name for many leaders in the philanthropy and non-profit space.  They have just launched a new website and new functionalities. Mic...

The British Asian Trust was founded in 2007 by His Majesty King Charles III and a group of British Asian business leaders, to tackle widespread poverty, inequality and injustice in South Asia. Richard Hawkes sheds light on the work of the British Asian Trust, especially around development impact bonds across a range of thematic areas including skills and employability, and girls’ education in Sout...

Ewan is a philanthropist with a head for numbers and we look at the interaction between philanthropy and risk. The question: Is the world of philanthropy too risk averse? Ewan is the Chairman of the Management Committee of the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Chairman of DeepTech Labs, and a Non-executive Director of BAE Systems.  He argues that philanthropic capital should have t...

The State of the World’s Girls 2022 Report has just been launched by Plan International and Mustafa Kudrati sheds light on its key findings. The report is focused on girls’ and young women’s political participation, based on a survey of close to 29,000 girls and young women ages 15-24 from 29 countries. How girls perceive their ability to participate in the political process might surprise you. Mu...

MacKenzie Scott’s donation to VisionSpring is the largest single private donation helping to tackle the challenge of uncorrected blurry vision in the developing world. We look at VisionSpring's work and learn about the low levels of access to corrective eye glasses in the developing world and low-income segments. Ella Gudwin remarks: the market for eye glasses is broken. It’s a 700-year-old techno...

Action Against Hunger is active in 51 countries, they have 8,000 staff and assist around 26 million people annually; their turnover is around half a billion euros. In the UK, they are part of the DEC (Disasters Emergency Committee), which brings together 15 leading UK aid charities to raise funds quickly and efficiently at times of crisis overseas. They are focused on prediction, prevention and tr...

We hear from the Gates Foundation’s Dr Asyia Kazmi on what the state of global education looks like, the work they’re doing in tackling literacy and numeracy challenges, and why achieving our education targets for Sustainable Development Goal 4 is a solvable problem. If you are born in a high-income country, 9 out of 10 children can read by the age of 10. If you are born in a low-income country, 9...

Shaady Salehi joins us from San Francisco to discuss the work of the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project and pretty much cover every angle around trust-based philanthropy. We hear of trust-based philanthropy’s origins, how the pandemic and racial reckoning helped thrust trust-based philanthropy into the spotlight, and we look at the different interpretations and misinterpretations of what trust-based...

In September 2022, Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng was awarded the inaugural Africa Education Medal, awarded by T4 Education to “an outstanding individual who has demonstrated impact, leadership, and advocacy in the field of education”. Hear the truly remarkable personal and professional story of Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng -- overcoming great adversity in poverty and South Africa’s apartheid, and reaching th...

Nick Hanauer is one of the world’s most provocative thinkers about our society’s growing inequality, the dire consequences that increasing inequality creates for our democracies, and how to fix the system. An engaging conversation on income inequality that is full of economic and political arguments on the merits of increasing wages and ensuring income inequality doesn’t lead to widespread social...