Back arrow
back to all topics

Innovation

Related Episodes:

This is some text inside of a div block.

Elemental Excelerator: Driving Innovative Solutions to Combat Climate Change at a Massive Scale with COO, Avra van der Zee

In this episode of Cause & Purpose, we sit down with the COO of Elemental Excelerator, Avra van der Zee. Avra's dedication to combatting climate change has spanned her entire career. From e-bikes, to sustainable pre-fabricated construction materials, to the 150+ startups in Elemental Excelerator's portfolio, Avra has worked to help build and scale innovative climate solutions that will help shape our environment for generations to come.

This is some text inside of a div block.

The Heat Initiative: Combatting Online Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) with Sarah Gardner

The right to privacy is one of the most important provisions of the U S constitution, and fundamental to everyone’s ability to live freely and follow their dreams. However, with social media and cloud-based storage becoming ever more and more prevalent in our culture, issues of online privacy trust, and safety have emerged as one of the key challenges of our day. What seemed simple a generation ago, is now a highly nuanced and complex issue that includes technology, common sense, law enforcement, and personal responsibility. Under Sarah’s leadership, the Heat Initiative has launched a multi-channel campaign to pressure Apple, and eventually other technology providers as well, to do the right thing - to implement policies and technologies to help eliminate harmful sexual abuse material from their platforms and to bring the perpetrators of this type of sex trafficking to justice.

This is some text inside of a div block.

Unleashing Nonprofit Growth: Strategies and Success During Challenging Times with Matt Scott

In this episode, Matt Scott returns to the podcast for a second time and discusses the importance of having a growth strategy and hiring the right people to execute it in the nonprofit sector. He emphasizes the opportunity to stand out during challenging times, such as the pandemic, by focusing on growth and hiring. The conversation delves into the changes CauseMic has undergone and the challenges they faced during the pandemic. Matt also touches on building brand awareness for small nonprofits, managing organizational growth, and the significance of culture and communication in driving success, as he outlines in his new book, The High Growth Nonprofit.

This is some text inside of a div block.

Generational Activism: Engaging Millennials and Gen Z with Derrick Feldmann

In this episode Derrick Feldmann discusses the importance of building social movements and engaging individuals in creating meaningful change. He explores the intersection of social issues and generational engagement, highlighting the unique perspectives and characteristics of Millennials and Gen Z. The conversation also delves into personal journeys in civic engagement, the motivations for giving and sustaining involvement, and the need for inclusive activism.

This is some text inside of a div block.

Human-Centered Design, Innovation, and Life in The Peace Corps with Chris Bessenecker from Global Communities

Shortly after graduating from college with a degree in political science, Chris Bessenecker enlisted in the Peace Corps. Alone and with minimal resources, Chris learned first-hand the power of human-centered design in development work, and went on to apply those learnings to building a unique innovation program at Project Concern International.

This is some text inside of a div block.

Engaging Millennials and Social Entrepreneurship in the Developing World with Becky Straw from The Adventure Project

Throughout her career, Becky Straw has seen the impact stable employment can have on individuals and their families. A self-described “advocate for the unsexy,” Becky has repeatedly gotten involved with causes that foster entrepreneurship and job creation in developing communities around the world.

This is some text inside of a div block.

Data, Technology, and Building the Most Generous Generation in the History of the World with Tim Kachuriak from NextAfter

Tim Kachuriak is the Founder, Chief Innovation Officer, and Optimization Officer at NextAfter, a fundraising research lab and consultancy. They specialize in work with cause-driven businesses and nonprofit organizations to help them better understand their customers and inspire their donors to give generously. He's also the founder of The Human Coalition, a nonprofit that is committed to the goal of rescuing children and families from abortion. Tim joined us on Cause & Purpose to tell the story of how he was able to take career experiences from the world of advertising marketing and fuse it with the world of social impact. We also got tons of actionable insights for nonprofits to go along with the exciting tale.

This is some text inside of a div block.

Giving Tuesday, Open Source Campaigning, and Inspiring Long-Term Generosity In the Post-COVID Era, with Giving Tuesday Chief Data Officer Woodrow Rosenbaum

Woodrow Rosenbaum is the Chief Data Officer at Giving Tuesday, a movement designed to unleash the power of radical generosity around the world through a dedicated day for giving. Every year, Giving Tuesday activates over 70 national movements, 300 communities, and tens of millions of people to support organizations across the globe. Woodrow joins us for an exclusive interview on Cause & Purpose to share the origins behind Giving Tuesday, how we can shift mindsets for the social sector, and countless data-backed insights that can be applied to your organization on a year-round basis.

This is some text inside of a div block.

How User-Centered Design and Development is Helping Karin Underwood Make a Massive Impact in Healthcare with Verano Health

Karin Underwood is the Founder and CEO of Verano Health, an accessible mobile platform to provide life-changing diabetes self-management training to low-income Americans with chronic disease. She’s spent a lifetime embedded in social impact, from high school service trips all the way to living in Kenya for two years post-college with the One Acre Fund. Karin joins Cause & Purpose to detail her exciting journey as a nonprofit tech entrepreneur and share countless lessons-learned from a lifetime of firsthand experience interfacing directly with the communities she wants to help. Long before she founded Verano Health and graduated from the Fast Forward nonprofit tech accelerator, Karin Underwood was diving headfirst into service projects with her church and high school. Working with childcare centers, orphanages, and halfway homes for women at this formational time showed her that the world was so much bigger than her comfortable upbringing. The shining example for Karin came while she was in college working with homeless populations in St. Louis. The director of the center where she worked came to a meeting one day without her laptop. When asked what happened, her director said that her house was broken into and had many things stolen. Her response to all this was: “It’s OK, because I’m sure they needed it more than I did. I’m lucky enough to have the resources to get a new computer and replace these things.”“That moment had a huge impact on me. It was compassion in the face of great loss, and it showed me the kind of person I wanted to become.”Inspiration from her mother’s work in healthcare, on-the-ground service in East Africa, and time in the trenches with community health clinics would help her become that person. In this episode, you’ll hear:Heartfelt stories of impact from Karin’s time on the frontlines with patientsWhat a healthcare system of the future could look like in the U.S. About the importance of user-centered design and developmentHow to successfully introduce tech and innovation to people who really need itEditor's Note: In this episode, Karin refers to her company as CoachMe Health. They have since rebranded to Verano Health.

This is some text inside of a div block.

Redesigning Educational Content for Marginalized Students with Almost Fun Founder and CEO Lisa Wang

Lisa Wang is the founder and CEO of Almost Fun, an innovative nonprofit organization whose mission it is to ensure low income and BIPOC students have a culturally responsive, accessible, and engaging resources that empower their learning. Almost Fun is also a graduate of FastForward’s nonprofit accelerator program, which we have featured in our startup edition on the podcast. Lisa joins Cause & Purpose for a tactical and enlightening discussion of what needs to change in how educational content is being made, what she learned from her time at Google about educational effectiveness and progress, and the lessons she has already learned in scaling a non-profit startup.

This is some text inside of a div block.

Evolving as Human Beings to Use Capitalism for the Greater Good with Common CEO Mark Eckhardt

COMMON Foundation combines the power of an incubator with philanthropy and social entrepreneurship to support, promote and develop non-profit ideas and organizations in the US and abroad for the benefit of people, planet, and peace. Prior to becoming the CEO of COMMON LLC, Mark Eckhardt was a principal at UFUSE Visionary Strategy Management, a global consulting firm devoted to unleashing creativity and helping entrepreneurs produce outstanding results through innovative business strategies, organizational design, and alignment of partnerships. Mark is also a Zen Buddhist Priest who has dedicated his life to transforming the nature of capitalism through social and environmental entrepreneurship. Mark joined us at Cause and Purpose to share the lessons he has learned through an entire career of conscious impact-building within capitalism.

This is some text inside of a div block.

Creating a Legacy for Female Hackers with Womens Society of Cyberjutsu CEO Mari Galloway and Black Girls Hack Founder Tennisha Martin

Mari Galloway is the CEO and a founding board member of The Women's Society of Cyberjutsu (WSC), a Northern Virginia-based non-profit organization passionate about helping and empowering women to succeed in the cybersecurity field. Their primary mission is to advance women in cybersecurity by providing programs and partnerships that promote networking, education, mentoring, resource-sharing, and opportunities. Tennisha Martin is the founder and Executive Director of BlackGirlsHack (BGH Foundation), a national cybersecurity nonprofit organization dedicated to providing education and resources to underserved communities and increasing the diversity in cyber. BlackGirlsHack provides black women and girls with resources, mentorship, direction, and training required to enter and excel in the Cybersecurity field.

This is some text inside of a div block.

Guiding the LGBTQ+ Community Through Coming Out with Co-Founder and CEO of Worthy Mentoring Michael Edmonson

Michael Edmonson is the co-founder and CEO of Worthy Mentoring, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that connects mentors and mentees in the LGBTQ+ Community through a mobile iOS and Android App. The Worthy Mentoring App offers a safe platform for our community to seek personal guidance, professional advice, support, and friendship.

This is some text inside of a div block.

Training Teams to Independently Innovate with Senior Director of Community Innovation, Impact Labs & Open Source Commons at Salesforce Amy Guterman

Amy Guterman is a human-centered designer and innovator, with a focus on leveraging tech for social impact. She is the Senior Director of Community Innovation, Impact Labs & Open Source Commons at Salesforce. At Salesforce, her team leads Impact Labs and Open Source Commons to foster community collaboration and inspire innovation on the world's most pressing challenges. Amy's work includes designing interventions to address issues in equity in education, housing and homelessness, and global health information systems. Her work has been featured in publications such as Forbes, FastCo, Wired, and The Verge and recognized internationally by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The White House.

This is some text inside of a div block.

Expanding the Role of Technology in Non-Profit Impact with Nonprofit Technologist Jason Shim

Jason Shim is the Director of Digital at the Ontario Science Centre. With over 15 years of experience spanning the nonprofit and academic sectors both as an employee and a consultant, he has consistently helped organizations stay ahead of the technology curve. He loves to help organizations explore the question “How can we harness technology to make a difference in the world?” In 2013, he led Pathways to Education to become the first Canadian charity to issue tax receipts for Bitcoin donations, providing access and awareness to a brand new tech-savvy audience.

This is some text inside of a div block.

Bridging the Gap Between People Who Stutter and The People Who Can Help with Myspeech Founder Nathan Mallipeddi

Nathan Mallipeddi is the Founder and CEO of Myspeech, an international nonprofit, where he leads a team of ~50 members and ~200 volunteers in tackling two of most significant issues in the field of healthcare services in speech therapy—the lack of access to care and unaffordable prices. They are currently building a technology platform to scale therapy and community services to millions of people who stutter around the world. They’ve impacted ~25,000 people in 26 countries, with partnerships in 30 schools. Their partners include Fast Forward, Future Founders, Harvard Innovations Labs, Microsoft, Salesforce, Verizon, the Westly Foundation, Donald A. Strauss Foundation, UCLA SOLE, the World Stuttering Network, and many more.

Related Blog Articles:

Oh no... we couldn't find any posts in this category :(

Latest episodes in your mailbox

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
cancel

Search podcasts, blog posts, people