Impact People

There is stubborn misconception that the cultural and creative sector represent riskier, less interesting investments. Nevertheless, in the EU, the two sectors combined currently account for 5% of its GDP and represents 8.7 million jobs , with this ratio expected to expand even more in coming years. The potential for impact, in particular, is immense. We sat down with  Javier Arias, Director of Bu...

With over 20 years of experience at EIB,  Shiva Dustdar is one of the leading voice in the European impact discourse. Leading into Impact Week , she took some time of her busy schedule to discuss their most recent projects, how they contribute to European competitiveness and which innovations they foresee in the years to come.

Collaboration is a magic word in the impact space, but it's not always easy to pull off effectively. The Take-a-Stake Fund , which supports SME's in the WASH and WASTE sectors, is a shining example of how to execute for maximal impact.  We spoke to Åsa Skogström Feldt ( IKEA Social Entrepreneurship ), Kajetan Hetzer ( WASTE ) and Raj Kumar ( Yunus Social Business ) on their learnings, th...

How's the impact investing space in North Macedonia? Don't know? Let's fix that. Recently, Impact Europe launched a new EU-funded market building programme called Invest For Change, focusing on an underserved region: the Western Balkans. By way of introduction, we sat down with Marjan Icoski and Irina Janevska of ARNO, our new partner in the country, for a chat on their impact ecosy...

Join Eleni Theodorou for a conversation on leadership, empathy, community and more, spanning her work as Managing Director of We Share Forward Foundation to the many alliances to which she contributes. What’s the role of listening in impact leadership? How do diverse stakeholders and co-funders come together around impact goals? What’s next for Europe’s foundations? What’s the role of catalytic ca...

Anastasiia Dieieva (CEO, Tokarev Foundation ) has described the work of Tokarev Foundation as ‘tech philanthropy.’ But what does that mean in the context of wartime Ukraine? Anastasiia has answers – and big questions – to share. She’s joined by Darii, a young scientist supported by Tokarev’s programs, to add a perspective on EdTech’s future.  Read Tokarev Foundation’s 2024 Impact Report and check...

We’re at ChangeNOW in Paris — three days, 40.000 people, bold ideas everywhere, and one big question: Whose minds do we still need to change — and how? In this special episode of Impact People , we take you into the heart of ChangeNOW 2025 — weaving together raw, honest reflections from founders, funders, thinkers, and doers who pitched at Funds For Change, the stage we co-organised. Tune in to he...

The Impact Generation was assembled by Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo and tasked with putting together a youth impact agenda. We heard from them on Impact People last year in Torino – and this year in Bilbao, they’re back! Tune in to hear them ask big questions, share learnings and ponder what being ‘likeminded’ really means.   About the Impact Generation (in Italian)   https://www.compagniadis...

In a rare quiet room at the very buzzy Impact Week, seven Cartier Women’s Initiative Fellows sat down to talk. What unfolded was a conversation unlike the others in this series: about the life of founders – sometimes wonderful, sometimes not. Our guests shared their experiences on balancing family, business partners and expectations; their biggest questions for each other; and what it takes to kee...

The Cartier Women’s Initiative Fellows are innovators, changemakers and impact entrepreneurs par excellence. Five of the Fellows came on Impact People to let us inside their world – three in this episode, two more in Part 2. We start with Amaia Rodriguez, whose company Gravity Wave removes plastic from the ocean to give it a new value. Then there’s Salma; she founded Green Watech, a solution that...

Part 2 of a multi-part episode on the work lives of five Cartier Women’s Initiative Fellows. Ishani founded Serein, which helps companies prevent harassment and discrimination in the workplace. Next, we hear from Rana, founder of RS Research, a next-generation therapeutics company developing novel nanomedicines based on innovative drug delivery platforms to treat patients fighting cancer. Join us...

Empowering Systemic Investing: what needs to be done? It’s a big question for the impact ecosystem. It’s also the title of an upcoming session at Impact Week, moderated by Shiva Dustdar, Director, Head and Dean of the EIB Institute. Shiva talks about the concept, big news from EIB, books she’s reading and lots more.    https://institute.eib.org/   https://www.linkedin.com/in/shivadustdar/   https:...

The EIB Institute and EIF launched the Empowering Equity Academy in June to encourage female students in STEM and sustainability subjects to consider careers in venture capital and private equity. Mara and Laura, students with backgrounds in clean energy transition, have joined the Academy and are now learning a lot about how finance can create the world they want to live in. Join Mara, Laura and...

Looking up the sheer glass face at night, you could imagine there’s the beacon they flash to summon the city’s impact people. The BAT Tower stands tall as a central, collaborative space for Bilbao’s impact sector. Our latest episode of Impact People takes us live inside BAT Tower for a chat with the people behind the slate of Impact Week pre-events happening in the tower. After a quick intro with...

Bilbao Berrikuntza Faktoria, a collaborative space from Mondragon University and the City Council of Bilbao, brings together learning, innovation and entrepreneurship all in one impactful place. Impact People takes us inside for interviews with the residents: Ziortza Olano Astigarraga (Team Coach, Mondragon Team Academy), Marisol Menendez (CEO & Founder, Bilakatu, WITH) Juan Zubiaurre Atxa (Bu...

How does the acorn grow to an oak? Seed Capital Bizkaia has answers, as exemplified by the dozens of impact enterprises they’ve nurtured over the years. After an introduction from Oscar Ugarte Gamboa (Director, Seed Capital Bizkaia), we hear from three social entrepreneurs Seed Capital Bizkaia has supported: Aitor Ojanguren (Socio Fundador, Koiki), Luis Miguel Aras Portilla (Executive President, I...

Lever for Change has mobilised over $1 billion in philanthropic capital by matching donors to issues in open-call challenges. Dr. Cecilia Conrad, CEO of Lever for Change, joins Ben for a conversation on how this model works, what voices it amplifies and how more impact people can get involved. A trained economist with 31 years in academia, Cecilia jumped into the world of philanthropy with a splas...

We’re going LIVE from Basque country, first stop: BBK Kuna in Bilbao. Meet the impact people of this incubation space during a round table discussion with Kristian Prieto (Director, BBK Kuna), Oihane Aldaiturriaga (Head of Entrepreneurship & Employment, BBK), Isabel Abascal Canales (Founder, Compostree) – and a special appearance from Ainhoa Isla Lopez (CEO, Auziker). Public and private, place...

Business transformations. Personal transformations. Systemic transformations. Join Casper Jones (Krisos), Ushma Issar (Rypple) and Mike van Wijhe (Treety) for an impact-driven chat – and a grand finale to our Impact Transformers series!   https://krisos.eu/   https://www.rypple.org/   https://www.treety.co/   https://www.linkedin.com/in/casperjones12/   https://www.linkedin.com/in/ushmaissar/   ht...

Paul Wiemann and Jethro Tieman, students and founders at Unknown University, swing by the Titaan podcasting studio to talk transformations – personal and global.   https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-wiemann-935a021b0/   https://www.linkedin.com/in/jethro-tieman/   https://farmbizafrica.com/   https://www.impacteurope.net/  

Nora Praher (UN World Food Programme) was fresh from a panel on gender lens investing when she paid a visit to the Titaan podcasting studio. Should we even call it ‘gender lens’ anymore? To discuss...   https://www.wfp.org/   https://www.linkedin.com/in/norapraher/   https://www.impacteurope.net/  

Sami Simreen co-founded KiCo to empower impactful food entrepreneurs. He and Ben talk food transformation in the Titaan podcast studio, a few floors up from KiCo’s test kitchen. “I hate siloes,” says Sami – find out why.   https://www.kico.kitchen/   https://www.linkedin.com/in/sami-simreen/   https://www.impacteurope.net/  

It took courage to open Ukraine’s first museum run by visually impaired people. Then the full-scale invasion began. Our new impact film, Underseen , tells the story of Alina Marnenko, the founder of a museum run by the visually impaired, as she navigates the meaning of her “Museum in the Dark” in the darkness of wartime. Alina joins us, along with Rafael Cortes, director of the documentary. We tal...

After the release of a collaborative report between Sattva and SAP on social procurement, Srikrishna Sridhar Murthy (Sattva) and Alexandra van der Ploeg (SAP) joined Ben in the Titaan studio to take the discussion a step beyond.   https://www.impacteurope.net/insights/global-transformers-live      https://www.impacteurope.net/insights/paving-way-business-resilience-and-sustainability   https://www...

Recorded shortly before Impact Transformers, this episode dives deep on the origins, purpose and personal stories from Unknown University.  We heard from  student-founders on the last episode; now the University and its unique approach to impact gets the spotlight when Jurgen Nieuwenhuijsen takes the mic.   https://www.linkedin.com/in/jurgennieuwenhuijsen/   https://unknown-universityas.com/   htt...