An Umbrella Made from Ocean-Bound Plastic, with Deirdre Horan, Dri
Deirdre Horan, Founder and CEO of Dri Dri produces durable, fashionable, and environmentally sustainable umbrellas from ocean-bound plastic. As a fifteen year-old, Deirdre Horan left her comfortable home in Acton, Massachusetts to join a youth group traveling to Gulfport, Mississippi. This was two years after Hurricane Katrina, and the community continued to struggle. “What really […]
Grants, Challenges, and Incubators (Oh My!) with Shubham Issar of SoaPen
Shubham Issar of SoaPen Shubham Issar and Amanat Anand go from the UNICEF Wearables for Good Challenge to Shark Tank and beyond. Shubham Issar and Amanat Anand grew up in New Delhi but met at Parsons School of Design in New York. They loved working together on hands-on design projects that made a difference. In […]
Dan Miller Goes Against the Grain
Dan Miller of Steward makes a difference by going the opposite way from the status quo.
Kick-Off Season Four
I’ve been thinking about you. You want to live a life of significance You feel compelled to serve a cause greater than yourself. You see a need in the world that you can’t unsee. There’s a cause that burns in your heart. To make a difference, you have to overcome the status quo. The status […]
A Traveler’s Guide To World Peace, with Aziz Abu Sarah, MEJDI Tours
Aziz Abu Sarah, MEJDI Tours MEJDI Tours sees tourism as an opportunity to transform lives through dual narratives and by strengthening local communities. Aziz Abu Sarah is a peace-builder, social entrepreneur, cultural educator, and author of Crossing Boundaries: A Traveler’s Guide To World Peace. But Aziz wasn’t always a peacemaker. “Growing up in Jerusalem as […]
Tap into the Strengths of Neurodiversity, with Isabella He
Isabella He, SN Inclusion and AUesome High school students work on behalf of those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In the United States, 1 in 54 children has autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Unemployment rates for individuals with ASD are approximately 85%. More than half a million individuals with ASD will enter the workforce in the […]
A Sense of Justice for Women and Girls, with Judith Martinez, InHerShoes
What would you do if you were 1% more courageous? Judith Martinez is a leader at the intersection of social justice and the future of human capital. She is the CEO of InHerShoes, the modern woman’s community for courage. When Judith was in the fifth grade, she witnessed a scene that changed her life direction. […]
Eliminate Plastic from Your Oral Care, with Kathy Ku, Juni Essentials
Helping bamboo farmers and women in impoverished regions become self-reliant while eliminating plastic waste. If Kathy Ku’s name is familiar to you, you might have heard about her previous social venture in Uganda, Spouts of Water. I interviewed Kathy in December 2016. Kathy and her co-founder John Kye left Spouts of Water, but it continues […]
Screen Printing with a Social Mission, with Sara Weihmann, New Avenues INK
Sara Weihmann, New Avenues INK Offering paid job training for youth. Sara Hart Weihmann is the Director of Social Enterprise at New Avenues for Youth in Portland. She oversees a portfolio of workforce development social enterprises that offer goods and services to the local community. This provides paid work experiences and job training for youth […]
Changing Lives through a Second Chance, with Karen Lee, Pioneer Human Services
Karen Lee, Pioneer Human Services People who were involved in the criminal justice system are more than their labels. Karen Lee is the Chief Executive Officer of Pioneer Human Services. She was born during the 1960s civil rights era. “During my lifetime, I’ve seen quite a bit of discrimination. I’ve always wanted to do something […]