Lead The Change

Leveraging Business to Protect Wild Places: A Conversation with Brady Robinson, Executive Director of the Conservation Alliance.  Brady Robinson is a conservationist, climber and educator whose career has included over a decade at Outward Bound and 11 years running the Access Fund, the national organization that keeps climbing areas open and conserved. He was Director of Strategy and Development f...

Putting Sustainability at the Core of Business: A Conversation with Trista Bridges of Read the Air   Trista Bridges is a marketing strategy and sustainable business expert, who's passionate about changing business for good. Strongly believing that sustainable business = smart business, she co-founded Read the Air to shift mindsets, business strategies, and ways of working towards business models t...

Transforming Degraded Landscapes into Regenerative, Circular Economies: A Conversation with Neal Spackman of Regenerative Resources Co. Neal Spackman is the CEO/Founder of Regenerative Resources Corporation .  He lived and worked with tribes of bedou from 2010-2018 in Makkah Province, Saudi Arabia, where he cofounded and directed the Al Baydha Project .  He is also the founder of Sustainable Desig...

Parks for the People: A Conversation with Mitchell J.Silver Mitchell J. Silver became Commissioner of the  New York City Department of Parks and Recreation  in May 2014. Commissioner Silver is also the immediate past president of the  American Planning Association . He is an award-winning planner with more than 30 years of experience and he is internationally recognized for his leadership in the p...

Breaking the Mold on Investing: A Conversation with Lily Trager of Morgan Stanley Lily S. Trager is an Executive Director and the Director of Investing with Impact and Head of Impact Solutions for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Since 2006, Lily has dedicated her career to sustainable and impact investing. Lily joined Morgan Stanley in 2014. In her current role, Lily works to provide individual,...

Strong Returns, Measurable Impact: A Conversation with Alexa Blain and Fernando Alvarado of Deetken Impact Deetken Impact is a Canadian impact investing firm. Their priority is delivering strong, uncorrelated stable returns to clients.  They differ from other firms in two striking ways: their focus is geographic and their mission is to make a social and environmental impact in  the Americas, with...

The Pioneer of Purpose: A Conversation with Carole Cone Carol Cone  pioneered the field of social purpose in the 1980s, and today is widely recognized as one of the world's foremost social impact experts. Her work has built global movements, garnered hundreds of awards and raised billions of dollars for a variety of worthy causes. For this episode of the Impact Report, Bard MBA’s  Lindsay Moreau  ...

Leadership During Crisis: A Conversation with Eric Adams Eric Adams  started out as a police officer, serving 22 years in law enforcement. He began his political career representing Brooklyn districts as a State Senator. Today, he serves as the Borough President of Brooklyn, advocating for a healthier, safer, and better Brooklyn and New York City. The work of the Borough President, including his l...

Using Design to Combat Extinction: A Conversation with Mitchell Joachim It has been said that the goal of architecture is to improve human life but throughout history , built environments and urbanization have destroyed natural ecosystems.  The balance between meeting the demands to house the growing population of the world and reducing harm to habitats has proven mostly elusive in practice. Last...

Transforming Waste Into Valuable Products: A Conversation with Isaac Nichelson, Co-Founder & CEO of Circular Systems  Isaac has been a creative leader and entrepreneur in the apparel industry for 25 years. He's best known for propelling cutting-edge product and market innovation in realms of sustainability and circular resource efficiency.  As CEO and Co-founder of Circular Systems , Nichelson cre...

Powering End-to-End Product Digitization: A Conversation with Natasha Franck, Founder & CEO of Eon .  Natasha Franck is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Eon .  Eon powers connected products for industry's largest global brands and retailers. Eon is the leading Internet of Things platform in fashion, apparel and retail – powering end-to-end business intelligence, customer engagement, new busi...

Making Tomorrow’s Farms More Sustainable And Stable For Farmers, Investors And Consumers: A Conversation With Don Wiviott Of Tomorrow’s Farms Don Wiviott , works with his own business, Tomorrow’s Farms, LLC and investors who manage or own 80,000 acres in organic farmland. The financial model includes a path to ownership for farmers while providing stable assets for investors and institutions commi...

Killing Color Trends in Fast Fashion: A Conversation with Journalist/Author Elizabeth Segran Elizabeth Segran is senior staff writer at Fast Company , whose work has appeared in a range of publications including The Atlantic , Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs , The Nation , The New Republic , The Chronicle of Higher Education and Salon . Her latest book The Rocket Years was released on March 31, 20...

Body Positive & Planet Positive Products For Women: A Conversation With Meika Hollender, Co-founder & President Of Sustain Natural Meika Hollender is the Co-Founder and President of Sustain, the leading brand of all-natural, vagina-friendly sexual wellness and period care products. Also an author, activist, and entrepreneur, Meika has consistently made marketplace history with a myriad of product...

How The 50th Anniversary Of Earth Day Is Going Virtual In The Face Of Covid-19: A Conversation With John Oppermann , Executive Director Of Earth Day Initiative For this episode of the I mpact Report , Bard MBA’s Kristin Hanczor speaks with John about how Earth Day is now more relevant than ever and how individuals and organizations can participate while social distancing. ImpactReportPodcast.com

Working to End Childhood Hunger In The U.S.: A Conversation with Billy Shore of Share Our Strength

Better Decisions With Better Data: A Conversation with Sarah Tuneberg, CEO & Co-Founder of Geospiza

Playing for Change: How the Green Sports Alliance Mobilizes Sports Fans 16 leagues. 194 teams. 195 venues. Members of the Green Sports Alliance embrace renewable energy, healthy food, recycling, water efficiency, safer chemicals and other environmentally preferable practices—and they inspire millions of fans to follow their lead. The Alliance believes that the sports industry is uniquely positione...

Smart Grids for the Future: A Conversation with John Radgowski, Vice President of Portfolio Management at Landis + Gyr For more than 120 years, Landis+Gyr has been an industry leader in energy management solutions. Using their advanced metering infrastructure and other cutting-edge smart grid technologies, they’ve helped utility companies all over the globe improve their operations, protect their...

Regenerating Natural Capital in the Rainforests of Costa Rica When Amanda Wilson, Joshua Hughes and Sara Czarniecki founded Blacksheep Regenerative Resource Management in 2015, they committed to honoring their custormers, communities, workers, shareholders and the land. Based on 178 acres in the rainforests of Costa Rica, the Blacksheep team works alongside local neighbors to regenerate degraded l...

Charging the Future By Making Batteries Obsolete: A Conversation Yuval Boger, CMO of Wi-Charge Yuval Boger  has served as chief executive, chief marketer and evangelist for technology companies from seed stage to NASDAQ. He led business and product development programs that generated over $200M in revenue. Wi-Charge is the leader in long-range wireless power technology. WiFi eliminated the data co...

ESG Data and Nasdaq’s Leadership on Enhanced Disclosure Nasdaq has promoted corporate responsibility for over a decade, playing its part in creating a more efficient and sustainable capital market system. Today, Nasdaq Global Head of Sustainability Evan Harvey and his team are at a nexus of companies, regulators, and investors working to enhance environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosur...

The View From 20—GM’s Global Sustainability Energy Manager Reflects on Changes at the Automaker Rob Threlkeld , Global Manager of Sustainable Energy, Supply and Reliability for General Motors, began his career at the automaker as manager of the powerhouse and wastewater treatment plant operations at GM’s Lordstown, Ohio assembly complex. In the almost 20 years since, his sustainability career has...

A Behind-the-Scenes Account of McDonald's Sustainability Journey: An Interview with Bob Langert Starting in the 1980s, McDonald’s was repeatedly challenged on hot-button social and environmental issues by powerful NGOs. It spent over a decade in defensive mode, as groups like Greenpeace and PETA demanded that the company rethink its approach to issues like packaging, animal welfare, deforestation,...

Waste-less School Supplies: Wisdom Supply Co.’s Mission to Reduce Plastic Waste, An Interview with Founder, Heather Itzla Unless you have school-age children, you may not realize that we’ve just come through the second biggest shopping season of the year. According to Deloitte’s July 2019 Back-to-School Survey , US shoppers will have spent $27.8 billion, or $519 per student, on everything from clo...