Line of Sight Podcast

Page Crahan is general manager of Tapestry, a moonshot effort under Alphabet focused on the electric grid. Today, information about the grid is fragmented across numerous organizations, making planning and management difficult. Tapestry’s mission is to illuminate the electric grid. By providing visibility to all those who work with it, Tapestry aims to make the grid greener, fairer, and more relia...

David Wanjau, founder and CEO of Deevabits Green Energy, planned to be a research scientist before being encouraged by a fellow scientist to help “change the world.” Working for an NGO on food security issues and rabbit farming, he quickly realized that the farmers he worked with did not have electricity. Our host, Karen Runde, met up with David in Nairobi to learn more about his journey with Deev...

Founded in 2012, Access Afya provides high-quality, localized healthcare specifically designed to meet the needs of underserved neighborhoods in Kenya. Join our interview with CEO Daphne Ngunjiri as she traces Access Afya’s journey to serve over 10,000 people per month through community micro-clinics and a suite of digital health apps and her personal journey and growth as a leader. The Economist...

Father Greg Boyle and Homeboy Industries Provide Hope and Healing. When Father Gregory Boyle became the pastor of Dolores Mission Church, the community had the highest concentration of gang activity in Los Angeles. In 1988, Father Greg founded Homeboy Industries to improve the lives of former gang members in East Los Angeles. Since then, it has evolved into the largest gang intervention, rehab, an...

Growing up in the midst of the Salvadoran Civil War, Ariela Suster lived through car bombs in her neighborhood, shootings in her home, and the harrowing kidnapping of her brother. Early in her career, Ariela worked in high fashion in New York City, before founding Sequence Collection, an urban lifestyle brand that employs young men and women at risk of gang recruitment, to change the sequence of e...

While working in Morocco with the Peace Corps, Galen Welsh observed the disconnect between what communities need and what donors want to fund. With investment from his dad, Galen piloted his original Jibu model in Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda. All three failed, but Galen learned quickly and adapted. From those early failures to a harrowing experience defending his brand, Galen recounts his journey to...

In this episode, Brigit and Don talk with Madrin Maina and Alex Eaton about working with smallholder farmers around the world to address the challenges of poverty, food security, and climate change. Alex is the cofounder and CEO, and Madrin is the East Africa director of Sistema.bio, a social enterprise that provides access to innovative biodigester technology, training, and financing to enable fa...

Welcome to "Founders of Impact," our Line of Sight spin-off series that delves into the remarkable journeys of founders who are redefining success by combining business innovation with a commitment to positive societal change. In each episode, host Karen Runde, Miller Center's Director of Alumni Programs, engages in candid and insightful conversations with visionaries who have dared to challenge t...

Brigit and Don welcome Malika Anand to discuss the mission behind Catalyst Fund, the transition in its business model and its impact thus far, her role as Head of Impact, core values that guide the Catalyst Fund in their transition to VC, key barriers to having the greatest impact, and how the Catalyst Fund incorporates ESG frameworks into its work.

Alison Taylor joins us as we break down the essence and implications of ESG from a critical lens through dialogue regarding common misunderstandings about ESG, the impact of the Larry Fink letters, polarization in business culture, and how her upcoming book addresses the dilemma of being an ethical business in a turbulent world.

In today’s episode, Brigit and Don seek out the expertise of Allie Ottoboni as they dive into trust-based philanthropy and its unique approach, eBay Foundation’s strategic planning focus on equitable entrepreneurship and what this entails, her career journey that led to earning the Woman of Influence award from the Silicon Valley Business Journal, and her outlook on the future of philanthropy.

Brigit and Don embrace the youthful, yet tenured perspective of the 10-year old Child's Rights Activist and Climate Campaigner, Faatiha Aayat, as they discuss Faatiha’s first experiences working for climate change, why she values this cause so deeply, the connection between climate change and ethics, the target audience for her speeches, how others can support the mitigation of climate change, and...

Brigit and Don connect with Jim Koch and Eric Carlson to discuss the unique value proposition of Miller Center's Accelerator, formerly the Global Social Benefit Incubator (GSBI), the motivation to launch the accelerator, Eric’s decision to get involved and his passion for this work, why the accelerator program fits so well within Santa Clara University, its impact, and why mentorship is essential...

In this episode, Brigit and Don call on Gloria Duffy as they think through pre-eminent challenges to creating a more just, ethical, and sustainable world, the importance of balanced public information and dialogue about challenging societal issues, the Commonwealth Club’s approach towards addressing equity, justice, ethics, and sustainability, the homelessness crisis and its implications on San Fr...

In this episode, Brigit and Don chat with Kristi Bowers as they explore the mission, ingenuity, and journey of her data-driven agriculture company, Grape.ag; the implications of climate change on farmers across the globe, how Grape.ag ensures its ethicality and ESG duty as a startup, the value of working cross-culturally, ways that companies can leverage the Markkula Center and Miller Center to su...

In today’s episode, Brigit and Don request Lisa Kloppenberg to discuss her book, The Best Beloved Thing Is Justice: The Life of Dorothy Wright Nelson, hone in on the significance of drawing leadership from mentors, highlight her proudest accomplishments as SCU’s acting President, provide advice that she may have for aspiring leaders on how to deal with adversity, and reveal her next ventures as sh...

Sha Duncan Smith joins Brigit and Don as they discuss what drew her to the role as the VP of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at SCU, what it takes to be an anti-racist institution, how to build empathy and craft a culture of listening, differences she’s noticed between social norms in Silicon Valley v.s. the MidWest, taking accountability on properly recruiting diverse talent, and how she stays r...

Brigit and Don invite Dalia Cohen to indulge in the complexities of her upcoming fund, the investing landscape in Africa for women, exploring ESG companies and what this investment sector entails, the colonization of funding, social and societal impact of mobile money in Africa, and growing up in Zimbabwe.

In today’s discussion, Brigit and Don welcome Joyita Mukherjee to decipher the complexity and urgency of COP26, the imbalance of geographical carbon emissions, industrial animal husbandry practices and the environment, the discouraging nature of climate change and ways to cope, mitigation and adaptation, and social entrepreneurship’s role in combating climate change.

Brigit and Don welcome Mary Ellen Iskenderian to tackle the core themes within her upcoming book, There Is Nothing Micro About a Billion Women, such as the field of financial inclusion, the complexity of an untapped market, clearing the roadblocks and making a business case for financial inclusion, gaining support for this business case at scale, the ethical responsibility of policymakers to addre...

In this episode, Brigit and Don welcome Sharon Vosmek to explore the ongoing issue of funding for diverse female founders, the entry point for changing the system that enables funding disparities, why inclusive teams perform better, eliminating “unconscious bias” from the investment process, adapting to language barriers in global opportunities, and how her career path led to where she is today.

Mohini Malhotra sits down with Brigit and Don to delve into her focus on women’s economic empowerment, the correlation between leadership and international development, implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts into her leadership course, her interest in working with female artists, and the advice she would give to her younger self and students at Georgetown.

Lindsay Smalling joins Brigit and Don to discuss the meaning behind the name “60 Decibels” and its mission, making sense of qualitative research data, Lindsay’s passion and motivation, 60 Decibels’ significant impact working with NGOs and social enterprises, ethical issues that arise in this field, and her outlook for this work in the future.

Brigit and Don welcome Ronnie Lott and Will Smith as they explore their work with LEAD (a social enterprise focused on Leadership, Education, Athletics, and Development), what they hope to accomplish, and plans to expand LEAD into the US to further its vision and impact. They also discuss the beginning of Ronnie and Will’s friendship, the dichotomy of pursuing an ethical initiative and abstaining...