System Catalysts

Due to institutional racism, the number of Black-owned banks in the US has more than halved in the past two decades, making them an endangered species. Ashley Bell and Brandon Comer, founders of the National Black Bank Foundation, or NBBF, are here to save them. How? By building a brand-new network of support. Listen if you want to learn how to forge strategic and effective relationships. If you w...

Trust is hard to establish. But it can be done! Even between the most disparate of parties. Don’t believe us? Listen as Matthew Forti and Doreen Ndishabandi of One Acre Fund explain how they built trust with local farmers and government agents to combat famine in Africa. If you want to learn more about One Acre Fund, visit ​​ oneacrefund.org -- If you aspire to be a System Catalyst and need resour...

We talk a lot about ecosystems on this show. So today, our guest is an ecosystem expert, aka a farmer! Jack Algiere is the Chief Agroecology Officer at the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture. In this conversation, you’ll learn how to harness the holistic power and complex beauty of regenerative agriculture into systems change. If you want to learn more about the Stone Barns Center, visit...

This podcast was created to tell the stories of people using a systems catalyst approach to solving the world’s biggest issues. But what does that actually mean? In today’s episode we take a step back to answer that question. -- If you aspire to be a System Catalyst and need resources to help you on your journey, subscribe to our newsletter.  To learn more about our mission and our partners,...

They say that you should “shoot for the moon.” Well, our guest, Yemi A.D., took that literally. He was selected to join dearMoon, the first civilian mission to the Moon. What led Yemi to this opportunity, is also what ushered him to an illustrious career as a multidisciplinary artist and social entrepreneur: channeling authenticity, fostering collaboration and dreaming big. Listen to hear advice f...

If you are a fan of the show, you know we are all about collaboration. So today we decided to practice what we preach and bring you an episode from another podcast we think you’ll love. It's called High Impact Growth and it's for anyone working at the intersection of technology and global health and development. It’s about the challenge of building solutions that are both impactful and scalable, a...

Donors might be well-intended, but they often don’t know how to be true partners to the people they fund. Today, hosts Jeff and English talk about the barriers that prevent donors and system catalysts from collaborating effectively, and explore how to overcome them.  -- If you aspire to be a System Catalyst and need resources to help you on your journey, subscribe to our newsletter.  To...

You might think that the public and private sectors are always in competition. What’s good for one is bad for the other, right? Jonathan Fantini-Porter, founding CEO of the Partnership for Central America, disagrees. Today, he explains how he is getting governments and corporations to work together to fix one of our most complex issues: the border crisis.  If you want to learn more about the...

Are you an organ donor? If yes, good for you! But you should know that your organs might not reach the person who needs them. That’s because the organ donation system is a mess, leading to over a dozen preventable deaths daily. Thankfully, our guests today – Greg Segal of Organize and Jennifer Erickson of Federation of American Scientists –  tell us about how they discovered the hidden proble...

Having trouble forging effective and lasting partnerships? Granted, it’s hard, but Jean Oelwang, the CEO of Virgin Unite, is here to help. She wrote a whole book about the subject called “ Partnering .” So listen up if you want to collaborate like a pro! If you want to learn more about Virgin Unite, visit unite.virgin.com . -- If you aspire to be a System Catalyst and need resources to help you on...

The global refugee crisis is one of the biggest challenges of our time and climate change is poised to make it a lot worse. So what do we do? Today, Sasha Chanoff, founder and CEO of Refuge Point, offers some creative system level-solutions and –  more importantly –  a radically new way of seeing refugees. If you’re feeling pessimistic about the current situation, listen up, because Sash...

Do you feel like your organization isn’t  making enough of an impact?   Here’s why: you’re not close enough to the issue you’re solving or the people you’re helping. Take it from our guest, Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO of Acumen. She’s a veteran of the social-change space who supports social entrepreneurs across the globe through impact investing. If you want to learn how to turn a loc...

Imagine having a sick child, no access to transportation, and the nearest hospital being hundreds of miles away. Without community health workers, this is the reality of about half of the world’s population. Under the leadership of Phyllis Heydt and Claire Qureshi, CHAP's international work has brought together key players in the community health system for roughly a decade. Today, they share insi...

As a foster kid, Sixto Cancel experienced the shortcomings of the foster care system in the worst  way. At 27, he found out he had family who could have cared for him, instead of his abusive foster parents. As the CEO of Think of Us, Sixto is now making sure that no one experiences the same trauma.  Today, he reveals how to use lived experience –  both personal and collective –&nbsp...

Our guest today is a true leader. Ai-jen Poo is the president of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, an organization that fights for the rights of the 2 million domestic and care workers across the country. In our conversation, she talks about her early organizing days, how to pass bills state by state and the looming future of the care industry.   If you want to learn more about the...

How do the millions of refugees across the globe get health care? Mostly, they don’t. Senan Ebrahim wants to change that. He is the co-founder and chair of Hikma Health, an organization that uses data and technology to get refugees the health care they deserve.  If you want to learn more about Hikma Health, visit hikmahealth.org -- If you aspire to be a System Catalyst and need resources to h...

Tostan was built on the belief that, given the right tools, communities can solve their problems better than foreign organizations. After two decades of supporting hundreds of communities across Western Africa, that belief has been proven true. Today, Tostan’s CEO Elena Bonometti explains why the organization’s unique community empowerment program is so effective and how other entities can impleme...

Despite having the best intentions, philanthropic organizations can suffer from institutionalized racism. That’s where Stephanie Kimou comes in. She is the director of PopWorks Africa, a consultant group that provides courses designed to help decolonize organizations. She is also a certified doula! Today, Stephanie and English talk about the changes they’d like to see so that philanthropy can serv...

According to a recent poll, 71% of Americans think same-sex marriage should be legal, compared to 27% in 1996. Marc Solomon, a partner at Civitas Public Affairs, was at the forefront of this remarkable shift. Today, Jeff speaks to Marc about the strategies for systems change he used in the long fight to legalize same-sex marriage, including engagement, persuasion and community mobilization. ...

We can’t fix the world alone. But, collaborating isn’t easy, and systems seem to be allergic to change. So how do we do it without losing our damn minds?  That’s what we're here to find out. Join Jeff Walker English Sall as they crack the code for systems change.  -- If you aspire to be a System Catalyst and need resources to help you on your journey, subscribe to our newsletter.  L...

Today, hosts Tulaine Montgomery, Jeff Walker and English Sall sit down to talk about the highlights from Season 1. You’ll get to hear some of the best parts from episodes throughout the season, like Cliffs Notes for those of you who aren't caught up with the show! Resources mentioned in this episode: Ep 1 It's a Movement if it Moves Without You with Giving Tuesday Ep 5 Creating an Education Leader...

Today we are bringing you an episode from another podcast we think you'll love. Collective Impact Forum is all about sharing resources, tools, and stories to support social change makers that collaborate across sectors. In this particular episode, Courtney W. Robertson, the Programs and Partnerships Director at Collective Impact Forum speaks to Anthony Smith, Executive Director at Cities United, a...

During the seven years Teresa Hodge spent incarcerated, she witnessed many women returning to prison. She realized that background checks were preventing them from getting a job after release, or even borrowing money to start their own business. As soon as Teresa came out of prison she started Mission Launch with her daughter Laurin Leonard. The organization developed R3 score, an alternative to b...

If we are to change systems, we must first start with changing our beliefs. And this requires us to learn to listen to one another. That is exactly what The Moth was created for. Through their live storytelling events, workshops and The Moth Radio Hour podcast, they are elevating stories that create empathy all around the world.  In this episode, we’ll be tackling one of the most powerful too...

In 2015, Julian Walker set out to fix the low turnout rates of Black voters. By listening to the community, he learned that people were lacking stories of Black liberation. If people better understood their past, perhaps they would feel more inspired to vote for their future.  Today, PushBlack is the nation’s biggest nonprofit media organization for Black Americans, reaching over 9 million pe...