Purpose 360 with Carol Cone

What can a national litter study tell us about human behavior, environmental stewardship, and the future of America's communities? In this episode of Purpose 360, Carol Cone welcomes David Scott, Senior Vice President of Impact and Analytics at Keep America Beautiful, to discuss the organization's newly released National Litter Study—one of the most comprehensive analyses of litter and waste behav...

Long before sustainability, ESG, and stakeholder capitalism entered the business mainstream, Jeffrey Hollender was building a company founded on the belief that business could serve both people and the planet. In this episode of Purpose 360, Carol Cone welcomes Jeffrey Hollender, co-founder and former CEO of Seventh Generation, and her fellow pioneer of the purpose movement for a candid conversati...

This special episode of Purpose 360 was recorded live at the Engage for Good conference, and host Carol Cone continues her conversations with leaders shaping the future of corporate purpose, nonprofit partnerships, employee engagement, and social impact strategy. Carol Cone is joined by Bryan Klopack of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Nathan Measom of the American Red Cross, Deborah Barge of...

Social impact is moving out of standalone CSR departments and into the center of how organizations think about leadership, culture, talent, and innovation. Recorded live at the Engage for Good conference, this special episode of Purpose 360 brings listeners inside conversations shaping the present and future of the industry. Engage for Good brings together leaders across philanthropy, nonprofit le...

Balaji Ganapathy returns to Purpose 360 as a leader with decades of experience shaping one of the world’s most purpose-driven organizations and a renewed vision for what comes next. Longtime listeners will recognize his journey from building impact at Tata Consultancy Services to scaling global social initiatives. Now, he is launching his own venture, Social Positive. But throughout his career, on...

Bombas was already thriving—scaling rapidly, achieving billions in sales, and donating more than 200 million items to people experiencing homelessness—when founder David Heath recognized that the company’s next phase of growth would require a different kind of leadership. He made the intentional decision to step aside as CEO, and Jason LaRose, a seasoned operator with experience scaling brands, wa...

Many companies today are choosing silence over visibility when it comes to their social and environmental commitments. What might appear as retreat or inconsistency is, in fact, something more deliberate. Christopher Marquis describes this phenomenon as “strategic hibernation,” or a calculated pause in external communication driven by political tension, stakeholder scrutiny, and shifting expectati...

Baltimore faces a set of deeply interconnected challenges: aging and unsafe housing, high energy costs for families with limited means, and a generation of underemployed youth struggling to access meaningful work. These overlapping issues reveal a systemic gap highlighting an opportunity to rethink how housing, workforce development, clean energy, and economic mobility can be addressed together. W...

Playspaces are often dismissed as “nice-to-haves” with their colorful swings, slides, and monkey bars, but KABOOM! was founded on the urgent belief that they are an essential community infrastructure. The organization’s origin traces back to a tragic moment when two children lost their lives playing in an abandoned car because there was nowhere safe to play in their neighborhood. That devastating...

Sustainability is at a pivotal moment. Amid political backlash, greenhushing, and growing scrutiny of ESG and DEI, many have questioned whether the movement has lost momentum. We invited Andrew Winston, globally respected sustainability advisor, bestselling author, and recently named #1 management thinker in the world with Paul Polman by Thinkers50, to share his perspective on where sustainability...

In a moment defined by disruption and accelerating change, Carol Cone sits down with one of the world’s most seasoned CEO observers to decode what’s really keeping leaders up at night. Alan Murray, journalist, former CEO of Fortune, and now Founding President of the WSJ Leadership Institute, has spent decades in candid conversation with the heads of the world’s largest organizations. What emerges...

JUST Ice Tea was born from a refusal to let a company’s purpose and impact disappear. JUST Ice Tea’s roots trace back to Honest Tea, a pioneering brand built on the idea that beverages could be better for people and the planet. But when Honest Tea was ultimately discontinued after being sold, something incredible happened. The founders and long-standing partners across the supply chain came togeth...

Patagonia has long stood as the north star for companies striving to create meaningful impact and proving that business can thrive with purpose. Today, Patagonia stands alone in its ownership model: it has one shareholder—the planet. Instead of “going public,” Patagonia famously “went purpose,” restructuring in 2022 so that 100% of its voting stock flows into the Patagonia Purpose Trust to guard i...

Purpose 360 convenes leading voices in social impact, business, and philanthropy at the start of every year and asks them to share their predictions for what lies ahead. As we enter 2026, purpose leaders are navigating rapid advances in AI, growing pressure on social sector funding, shifting workforce expectations, and a renewed focus on culture, leadership, and human connection. Together, these e...

Leadership coaching has the power to unlock profound personal and organizational transformation. That belief lies at the heart of 100 Coaches. Founded by executive coach Marshall Goldsmith, 100 Coaches began with a bold experiment: Marshall offered to teach 15 people everything he knew for free, in gratitude for the teachers and leaders who helped shape him. As those first 15 committed to “pay it...

Sport has always been central to Nike’s identity, not just as a business, but as a force for human potential. This commitment extends to the social issues at the heart of youth athletics today, particularly surrounding keeping youth in sports and connected to physical activity and elevating the role of caring, well-equipped coaches. With young people today navigating unprecedented levels of stress...

Only a handful of companies were bold enough to connect their business to a deeper societal or environmental issue in the early days of purpose branding. These companies stood out precisely because they believed that brands could and should stand for more than profit. But the tide has shifted over the past two decades. Purpose became not just acceptable but expected, and suddenly everyone has a st...

The most prominent argument against purpose is that doing good doesn’t actually pay off at the bottom line. For decades, and throughout Carol Cone’s career, skeptics have dismissed purpose as a “soft” strategy that is good for reputation but not for financial returns. That misconception is what Impact ROI set out to challenge. Impact ROI’s Project ROI reports have published research that links pur...

Employee engagement is rapidly becoming one of the most powerful forces shaping corporate philanthropy today. And skilled volunteerism—where employees contribute their professional expertise to nonprofits—can transform both the organizations served and the employees themselves. We invited Lauren Coape-Arnold, Executive Director of the Apollo Opportunity Foundation (AOF) and Global Head of Citizens...

There are only five years until the 2030 deadline for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, and the urgency for bold action has never been greater. Many companies are struggling to truly address the mounting crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and social inequity. Now is the time for leaders and organizations to chart a path forward, ensuring their strategies and actions rise...

Artificial intelligence has the power to reshape economies, societies, and our daily lives. But with its rapid rise comes an important question: how can we ensure AI is developed and applied ethically so that it serves humanity instead of harming it? Responsible use requires transparency, accountability, and inclusivity—but defining and implementing these is complex. JUST Capital, a nonprofit dedi...

Hunger is one of the most pressing challenges of our time—driven not only by a lack of food, but by inequality, conflict, climate change, and health crises. For more than 45 years, Action Against Hunger has been on the frontlines of addressing these interconnected issues. The organization works in nearly 60 countries, reaching over 21 million people annually through lifesaving nutrition programs,...

In the years following the pandemic, the U.S. saw a historic surge in small business creation—a promising sign of entrepreneurial spirit and economic resilience. Yet, if historical trends continue, nearly half of these new businesses will fail within five years. Small businesses in rural communities face even steeper challenges, from lack of access to capital to limited digital tools and networks....

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) professionals are facing unprecedented challenges—from the politicization of ESG, to executive orders targeting DE&I, to dramatic shifts in federal funding. The landscape is turbulent, the language is shifting, and the pressure to prove business value has never been higher. Yet, in this moment of uncertainty, many CSR professionals are finding the most val...

From the moment Henry Ford put the world on wheels, Ford has stood for not just cars, but mobility. More than just helping people move from one place to another, Ford gives people the opportunity to reach and achieve more. That same ethos drives Ford Philanthropy today. Rebranded from the “Ford Fund” to reflect a deeper, more holistic commitment, Ford Philanthropy is using the company’s global rea...