The Purpose Pod

"Diversity gives you resilience. Monoculture and the current way of farming is not the only way" What is healthy soil and how can you help nurture it? What is the true definition of regenerative agriculture? And is it possible to grow different fruits from the same tree?! Take a walk around the incredibly biodiverse farm of Sheila Darmos, farmer and agri-food social entrepreneur. The farm act...

“Climate change is applying pressure to a society’s weakest fissures”  Europe is by some distance the world’s fastest warming continent and the Mediterranean is one of the fastest warming seas. In this half an hour chat, author and environmental journalist Peter Schwartzstein describes the lessons learned from his many years of research on the front lines of climate conflict including Af...

"Globally, just 1-2% of financial assets are managed by women or people of colour" In a climate in which the business value of DEI is increasingly undermined, this wide-ranging discussion with Bonnie Chiu, MD of The Social Investment Consultancy , sets the record straight on how the inclusivity debate should be re-connected to innovation and finding the best talent, how she is helping to shap...

"On our current path, there will be more plastics in our oceans than fish by 2050" Lefteris comes from generations of fishermen, though by his own admission he is not a natural... However, when out on fishing boats as part of a Greek fishing school run by his start up during the financial crisis, he witnessed a fisherman hauling plastic out of the sea along with their catch - and simply throwing t...

“Why are we measuring Impact? To make sure we are maximising impact”    Across the impact investment industry there is an ongoing evolution of impact measurement. But how often do you hear details of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that impact funds are actually using and the reasons that they were chosen? In this impact masterclass, Lara Viada of Creas, Spain’s pioneering impact i...

“Within the next decade the financial system has to make some progressive moves to protect our way of life, because if we don’t, the economy as we’ve known it for the last 150 years is going to break.”  With the meaning and value of Diversity Equity and Inclusion increasingly undermined, Beth Knight, Head of Social Sustainability at Lloyds Banking Group, shares her lived experience of the nec...

“I would like to invite impact investors to look at the region as an opportunity for revival”    After 20 years of leading effective capacity building across social enterprises in the MENA regional through venture philanthropy, Alfanar are now launching the first regional impact investment fund for the Arab world, aimed for investing in scalable enterprises matching purpose wit...

"The cost of inaction will be substantially larger than the cost of action" The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review  has become one of the most influential reports on climate change ever produced since its release by Her Majesty’s Treasury of the UK Government in October 2006. Dimitri Zenghelis, senior economist for the review, worked under Gordon Brown as Head of Economic Forecasti...

"I would encourage philanthropists to ask the question, ‘How is your philanthropy unlocking capital?’”   Over the last 10 years, 1billion people have gained access to energy for the first time from solar lighting and home systems. 30% of those people were provided energy by companies that Acumen invested in.    Working across climate resilient agriculture, off grid energy access, wo...

“If you’re not generating a healthy return and an impact, then people should not back you” ETF (Environmental Technologies Fund) Partners are one of the original pioneers in sustainable investing, with nearly $1bn raised across 4 funds since 2006. Currently with 31 portfolio companies across the energy transition, future mobility, green connectivity, the responsible consumer and sustainable f...

"We should no longer move fast and break things, but rather create systems change through collaboration and kindness."   - Collaboration as the key to systems change - How do you build an impact ecosystem? - Can you match a financial instrument to a personality type? - Why you shouldn't take yourself too seriously - Why kindness should not be underrated - The do's and dont's of co-founder dat...

"There are many committed businesses out there with a lot of power - that movement creates a place where the others cannot hide" Business for Societal Impact (B4SI) is a global membership network uniting close to 200 mid to high cap corporations in managing & measuring their shared value & intentional approach to positive social impact, with up to $3bn held in community investments. So how...

"Guests expect everyone to be offering a sustainable holiday so they don't think that they should be paying more for it" As we reach peak holiday season, join Eleni Andreadis, ESG Executive Director of Sani Ikos resorts group as she describes their 15 year journey to fully embed ESG principles and actions across 12 resorts in Greece and Spain with over 7000 employees, to become the exemplar for su...

“We are now in an age where people are consuming somewhere between 5 and 7 hours of content a day. The power to use that time to do good is colossal” Founded in 2020 by Ellen Windemuth , Executive Producer of My Octopus Teacher , WaterBear has rapidly become the leading platform and impact media network dedicated to global purpose driven storytelling. What exactly is a Waterbear? Sam Sutaria,...

"Everyone in Impact is open to sharing failures as well as successes" In an impact ecosystem in which thousands are scrambling for attention and the volume of must-read sources is seemingly endless, how can you cut through the noise and select, structure and transfer impact knowledge in the most beneficial ways for all? Join Alessia Gianoncelli, Director of Knowledge and Programs at Impact Europe...

"We can help the land, so the land can help us" How to solve the problem of rodent infestations costing farmers in Thessaly, the breadbasket of Greece, more than EU100m each year, while mitigating overuse of rodenticides that harm biodiversity, ecology and human health? With the perfect nature-based solution, of course…   Spend some time in the home and in the fields at dusk with agricultural...

“We always provide food supplies that we would give to our children” In 2013, in the depths of the financial crisis, when Melina Taprantzi visited a regional social grocery supplying food for the unemployed, the only thing that was available on the shelves was razor blades.    This stark reality was a turning point for Melina, who has since focussed her energies on building Wise Greece i...

“The paradigm shift embodied in the impact investment community is from Egosystem to Ecosystem”   Why should we be building Impact Economies across the world? And how can it be done?   This is the mission of The Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSG). Spearheaded by Sir Ronald Cohen, GSG are already enabling impact capacity building by establishing and supporting national impa...

"The relationship between entrepreneurs and investors is like a marriage. You really have to be certain that on the human side of things you are also aligned". In the world of impact finance it’s easy to focus a lot of attention on the myriad challenges: How to source and support the most impactful enterprises; how to find like-minded investors with skillsets aligned to the entrepreneur business;...

"I've realised that being close to nature gives you a different understanding of what growth is, of what a meaningful life may be." Is it possible to tackle climate change and soil-degeneration with a nature-based solution while at the same time building a resilient social economy for an existing remote community and for those that migrate there? Yes. Staramaki  is a Social Cooperative E...

"There is this bridge between philanthropy and business that cannot be filled by foundations" Since 2012, IKEA Social Entrepreneurship has partnered with and supported social entrepreneurs to create a positive impact for vulnerable and marginalised groups around the world. Join Åsa Skogström Feldt for a wide ranging conversation including how Ikea SE optimise various approaches to supporting socia...

"Once you've been helped, you help someone else" Impact Philanthropy has for many years been the engine for social entrepreneurs, but can often result in limited one way transactions. We Share Forward Foundation are transforming the practice with an innovative model that reuses and recycles catalytic capital to support more and more early stage social entrepreneurs. By in effect turning Social Ent...

Established in 1980 and with EU25 billion assets under management, Triodos Bank has a mission to make money work for positive social, environmental and cultural change. In this episode, their Chief Economist & Director of Impact and Economics, Hans Stegeman takes a bird's eye view of global impact economics and markets, including ESG vs Impact, the true meaning of Degrowth (or 'Post Growth') a...