Startup Archives - Page 7 of 11

Kathleen Kelly Janus, Author of Social Startup Success

Launch, Scale Up, and Make a Difference, with Kathleen Kelly Janus

January 8, 2018

Kathleen Kelly Janus is the author of Social Startup Success: How the Best Nonprofits Launch, Scale Up, and Make a Difference. Kathleen Kelly Janus grew up in a family that cared about social causes. “My family cared about volunteering, and spent our weekends volunteering at soup kitchens,” she explains. “But they also cared about the organizations, and supporting the conditions so that nonprofits can not only survive but can thrive.” Kathleen studied the law at UC Berkley. After graduating, she worked as an attorney. In 2004, she co-founded a nonprofit, Spark. Spark makes it easy for young people to give to women’s causes. At their first fundraising event, Kathleen and…

From #MeToo to #HeForShe, with Julie Kratz, Pivot Point

January 1, 2018

Julie Kratz is the author of One: How Male Allies Support Women for Gender Equality. Our 24-hour news cycle is filled with thousands of short-lived moments: a school shooting; government corruption; crisis in the Middle East. Each headline crowds out the next. It can be hard to focus on one story for any period of time. But every now and then, a story sticks around. It breaks through the noise of the busy news cycle. A moment becomes a movement. From the admission of a presidential candidate that he had groped women and gotten away with it, to the Women’s March last year, and gaining momentum with the Harvey Weinstein…

Create a Better World through…Paperwork? Rachel Armstrong, Farm Commons

January 1, 2018

Farm Commons empowers farmers to rewrite farm law by and for themselves. Rachel Armstrong knew exactly what she wanted to do when she grew up. She wanted to be a farmer, just like her father and her grandfather. “Respecting where food comes from was part and parcel to my childhood, Rachel explains. But she received some important advice. “I changed my mind a little bit when my mother said, ‘That’s a terrible idea.’” Rachel knew the realities of agriculture. “The farming life is very difficult…Rural people are disadvantaged in so many ways.” So, she did as so many farm kids did. She went away to college. But a funny thing…

Community Feasts for a Cause, with Emily Torgrimson, Eat for Equity

December 18, 2017

Eat for Equity is building a culture of generosity through sustainable community feasts. In the early 2000s, Emily Torgrimson was a college student on financial aid. She lived in a cooperative house in Boston with 24 people. “We always came together around food,” she recalls. “The kitchen was the hub of the home.” During Emily’s senior year, Hurricane Katrina struck the southern US coast. Not only was Katrina one of the costliest and deadliest storms in US history, it also uncovered financial and racial inequities. Emily wanted to do something, but, she says, “I had no money to give. So, I wondered what kind of difference I could make.” Because…

Kate Goodall Explains Why Halcyon is Like the X-Men

December 11, 2017

Halcyon catalyzes emerging creatives who are striving for a better world. Kate Goodall, the CEO at Halcyon explains their work this way: “If you think of the X-Men, and you think of Charles Xavier’s Academy for the Gifted, that’s kind of like Halcyon. We take these amazing social entrepreneurs from different backgrounds. They all come together in this inspirational setting to grow together. And they support each other towards solutions that can impact many lives around the world.” Halcyon supports scientists, artists, and entrepreneurs. They are looking for people with a great vision for solving important problems, and who has the talent to do so. For these folks, Halcyon provides…

Educational Opportunities for All, with Maimuna Ahmad, Teach for Bangladesh

December 4, 2017

Nearly 60 million children in Bangladesh are denied high-quality education as a result of an inequitable system. Teach for Bangladesh is addressing this problem. Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world, and yet a country of great opportunities. However, those opportunities are not evenly distributed across society. Many children live on less than $2 per day. They go to school for as little 2-3 hours per day, often in classrooms that can swell to 120 students or more. Of the 17 million children who begin elementary school each year, only around 2 million will graduate from high school. The teachers themselves are sometimes poorly educated, with most…

From Iron Deficiency to Iron Man, with Gavin Armstrong, Lucky Iron Fish

December 4, 2017

Iron deficiency is a massive, but preventable condition. Lucky Iron Fish Enterprise is dedicated to reducing iron deficiency rates around the world. In high school, Gavin Armstrong was bullied severely. “I took it that I needed to make lots of money to prove bullies wrong,” Gavin explains. “The image I had of bankers was, they were all successful, driving expensive cars. And, I thought if I could live that life, I would prove to bullies, and maybe even to myself that I had worth.” Gavin attended the University of Guelph to study finance. However, he described his coursework as “miserable.” While at the university, he took a field trip to…

Improving Healthcare, One Story at a Time, with Jay Newton-Small, MemoryWell

November 27, 2017

MemoryWell is making lasting memories for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients. Jay Newton-Small knows a thing or two about storytelling. She’s worked as a journalist for more than 15 years, with her work appearing in Time and Bloomberg. Jay’s father Graham was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s when Jay was in college. He became one of her first in-depth interview subjects. She spent many hours interviewing him and grew to become his voice. When her mother passed away in 2006, Jay became her father’s primary caregiver. When Jay moved her father, Graham, into an Alzheimer’s assisted living facility, she knew that it was time to tell his story. Upon arriving at the facility,…

Global Competencies for High School Graduates, with Abby Falik, Global Citizen Year

November 27, 2017

Global Citizen Year is a program that offers a year of travel, discovery, and growth for high school graduates. What does it take to succeed in a work world that is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous? How does a young person succeed as a citizen of an integrated global economy? While traditional, fundamental skills are still important, so are empathy, ease with ambiguity, resilience, grit, and global mindset. But how many high school graduates possess these skills? Abby Falik describes her high school self as an “excellent sheep.” She remembers graduating from high school exhausted. “I had gotten into Stanford, which was very exciting, but I wasn’t super motivated to…

The Twin Cities Impact Investing Ecosystem Map with Susan Hammel, Cogent Consulting

November 20, 2017

The Twin Cities Impact Investing Ecosystem Map documents impact investing activity in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. If you would have picked up a copy of the Financial Times last Saturday, you might have noticed a half-page ad asking readers to participate in the Investing for Global Impact research study. Two pages later, you may have also noticed a full-page ad for a report from Principles for Responsible Investing (PRI) on the relationship between the Sustainable Development Goals and investment opportunities. And, you may have caught this interview with Rehana Nathoo of The Case Foundation on their efforts to map this space. Impact investing is a hot topic. According to the…

Startup

Welcome!

Let’s Connect

Grab the book, Crazy Good Advice

Which Sustainable Development Goal Inspires You?

What does it take to start a podcast?