The Social Impact Podcast - Your Mark on the World with Devin Thorpe

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The difference between community redevelopment and gentrification isn’t entirely a subjective judgment left to the eye of the beholder, say Fran Seegull and Jen Collins. Fran is the executive director for the U.S. Impact Investment Alliance and Jen is a fellow-in-residence at the Beeck Center at Georgetown University. They are leading minds on community-based impact investing under Opportunity Zones created by the 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act.

The law that created Opportunity Zones did not limit the investments to those with demonstrable social impact. The U.S. Impact Investment Alliance and the Beeck Center have partnered to develop a framework for investing in Opportunity Zones intended to be a defining difference between community redevelopment and gentrification.

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Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/2CrposD.

“Brilliant” is the word one source used to describe Project Drawdown’s ranked list of 100 climate change solutions, begging the meta question, should the list be on the list.

Having a variety of climate change solution options is only useful if everyone who should know they exist does know, making a credible list of climate solutions potentially as important as the solutions on the list.

In 2017, Project Drawdown, published the New York Times bestseller Drawdown, edited by the founder, Paul Hawken, 72. (Be sure to watch the full interview with Hawken in the player at the top of the article.)

Hehjabeen Abidi Habib, the author of Water in the Wilderness, based in Pakistan, the seventh most vulnerable country to climate change effects, serves on the Project Drawdown advisory board. She sees the effort as evidence “that it is not too late to make choices to change our world view and the actions that arise from the current paradigm.”

Jason F. McLennan, founder and chair of the International Living Future Institute and CEO of McLennan Design has known Hawken for years and notes that his work was mentioned in Drawdown. “I think it’s brilliant is the short answer,” he says. “It doesn’t spend time and energy on pointing fingers or criticizing things. It focuses on positive solutions.”

Congressman Tim Ryan (D-OH) who counts Hawken as a friend notes that the project is intended “not just to slow down climate change but reverse it.”

Daniel J. Siegel, MD, author of Aware: The Science and Practice of Presence and a clinical professor at UCLA School of Medicine agrees with the Congressman, adding, “My take on Project Drawdown is that it is a scientifically solid, insightful guide to some of the most important and effective steps we are taking to reverse global warming.”

Habib highlights the optimism embedded in the project. She notes that Hawken says in the introduction that climate change is “happening for us” to help us create a better world.

Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/2CrposD.

Click the following link to learn my insider secrets to media publicity for social impact: http://bit.ly/75offmedia.

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For decades, Sam Daley-Harris has quietly gone about changing the world. Much of the global success in eradicating extreme poverty can be credited in part to him and his leadership at RESULTS. His secret has been to train and empower ordinary citizens to be effective activists.

He helps organizations learn the secrets to empowering a group’s membership to act independently and effectively to drive change. This requires organizations to train their membership with the skills they need and at the same time to step back and allow the membership to act on their behalf--even when members might muddle the message.

His approach has proven effective not only with RESULTS on poverty but also with the Citizens Climate Lobby. Today, Sam is focused on a new organization called Civic Courage, teaching other organizations how to empower their members.

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Pact is a large NGO that isn’t content to do things the way they’ve always been done because it’s the way things have always been done. Amidst a global impact investing and social entrepreneurship boom, Pact created Pact Ventures and tapped experienced impact investor Brian Vo to lead the effort.

Using funds from its own balance sheet, Pact is seeking to prove that invested capital can be returned and recycled for future impact when funds are used to scale proven interventions.

Already reaching millions of people each year with a 2018 budget of $200 million, PACT seeks to increase its reach by strategically applying an investment approach in certain circumstances.

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Village Capital was founded to invest in social entrepreneurs using a novel, peer-selected methodology. A decade later, under new leadership, it remains committed to those principles.

Allie Burns recently succeeded Ross Baird (who left to start Blueprint Local) as the CEO of Village Capital. She joined Village Capital nearly three years ago after leaving the Case Foundation, working closely with Jean Case on communications surrounding impact investing initiatives.

Allie joined me to talk about three key ideas. First, she noted that investors need to look beyond equity as the primary structure for startup finance. Second, she noted the success of the peer-selection model at Village Capital. Finally, she noted that the peer-selection model not only yields good investments it eliminates gender bias.

Be sure to tune in to the full interview in the players above.

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Shri Ajvalia, Global Medical Affairs, Project Management at Janssen Pharmaceuticals (a subsidiary of our sponsor Johnson & Johnson), has conducted two successful crowdfunding campaigns on CaringCrowd. He joined us to share his passion and insights.

In two separate campaigns, Shri raised money to fight human trafficking and gun violence. Neither is a top of mind public health issue, but both certainly are health issues that are impacting the public.

CaringCrowd, a crowdfunding site sponsored by Johnson & Johnson, is focused exclusively on public health nonprofits. That definition focuses not on interventions and activities but on outcomes, allowing for a broad range of nonprofits to raise money on the platform.

In our discussion, Shri shared some insights about what he’s learned from his crowdfunding success. Learn more by tuning in to the full interview above.

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Jason Lewis, an expert nonprofit fundraiser and author of The War for Fundraising Talent and How Small Shops Can Win, joined me for a disscussion about his insights from the book.

Jason encourages nonprofits to build real relationships with donors who can give significant amounts of money, sharing a story of a career highlight when he mentored a small nonprofit that had established a weak relationship with a big donor and was on the brink of losing her.

With his help, the nonprofit was successful in strengthening the relationship and in obtaining additional funds to support its mission.

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Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/2O2aspl.

Inspired by Visa’s cooperative ownership structure, Michael Dillhyon, founder and board member of Healthbank Cooperative, has created a novel way for people to keep and own their health and medical records. Envisioned as a global solution and based in Switzerland, the co-op has 270,000 members, giving it a credible start.

The members of the co-op each have one vote in corporate decisions, regardless of their ownership. The co-op itself owns the data and an operating subsidiary that is working actively to grow the business. The co-op controls the subsidiary, but some financial returns will go to investors.

Co-op member, Otto Philipp Braun, who is the managing director for Metamorphoses, says, “The cooperative offers an individual, safe and transparent way to use healthcare data.” He also expressed appreciation for the oversight the co-op provides to the corporate subsidiary.

Healthbank CEO, Reto Schegg, 49, joined me for a recorded discussion, which you can watch in the player at the top of this article. He describes Healthbank as a “data for good” project. “We deliver trust and enable world-changing services under the full control of the user.”

Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/2O2aspl.

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One of the world’s leading experts on philanthropy, Phil Buchanan, president of the Center for Effective Philanthropy and author of the book Giving Done Right, joined me to share insights about philanthropy. His fundamental premise is that giving effectively is more difficult than getting money for most philanthropists.

He first notes that while the nonprofit sector is much maligned--perhaps because there are still problems in the world--it’s work is both important and generally effective. Philanthropy is different from investing--in many ways more difficult--and requires a unique set of skills. He also argues that nonprofits must by their nature collaborate rather than compete.

Tune in to watch the entire interview in the video player at the top of this article.

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Jaclyn Lindsey knows more about kindness than any living human.

Her organization, Kindness.org, seeks to be the singular authority on kindness, including scientific research on the benefits and results of kindness.

Her goal is to catalyze more kindness everywhere. Her theory of change concludes that all social problems--even environmental problems--can be positively impacted by greater kindness.

Be sure to watch the full interview with Jaclyn in the player at the top of this article.

Click the following link to learn my insider secrets to media publicity for social impact: http://bit.ly/75offmedia.

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