Sectors - Articles

Devendra Raj Mehta - Bringing Mobility to the Disabled

In remote rural areas in India, 18 million people suffer isolation and poverty due to their inability to work. In this audio interview, Jennifer Roberts, associate editor of the Stanford Social Innovation Review, converses with D.R. Mehta, whose NGO gives mobility to 20,000 people a year through the fitting of a high-tech prosthetic limb known as the Jaipur Foot. Mehta discusses the genesis of his organization, which makes the prosthesis freely available to the poor.

Wendy Kopp - Narrowing Educational Gaps Across America

In an effort to narrow the gap in educational opportunities, Teach For America currently places over 5,000 teachers in low-income and poorly performing schools across the country. Its growing corps of alumni is also taking their educational experiences into careers in law, public health, policy making, and leadership. In this audio interview, Wendy Kopp, founder and chief executive officer of Teach For America, tells host Sheela Sethuraman about the history, goals, and ideals of that program.

Rodrigo Pizarro - Making Salmon Farming More Sustainable

In Chile, the farming of salmon seemed the ideal solution to the depletion of world fish populations—until it became clear that acquiculture causes its own environmental problems. In an audio interview by Eric Nee, managing editor of the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Rodrigo Pizarro explores the challenges of acquiculture and the foundation's project to reduce the impact of salmon farming through a sustainable system of seaweed cultivation.

Jeroo Billimoria - Empower Children Through Financial Literacy

Jeroo Billimoria is the founder of six successful enterprises. Her most recent effort is Aflatoun, a nonprofit organization that provides social and financial education to children. In this audio lecture, Billimoria shares the wisdom she's acquired over the years with Design for Change host Sheela Sethuraman. She talks about her successes with Aflatoun, including securing pro-bono support from various corporations, developing a scalable training model, and creating a global network of organizations.

Nick Yeo - Inspiring Youth Through Global Communications

TakingITGlobal is an online social network that enables socially conscious youth worldwide to learn about and take action on global issues. Kriss Deiglmeier, the Center for Social Innovation Center executive director, conducts an audio interview with Nick Yeo about how the endeavor leverages its online platform to partner with other organizations and inspire youth to make a difference.

Gary Smith - Doing Well and Doing Good in the Supply Chain

Timberland, the footwear and apparel company headquartered in New Hampshire, is putting good old New England values to work to integrate socially responsible management practices throughout the value chain. Speaking at Stanford during the 2007 Responsible Supply Chains Conference, Gary Smith demonstrates in this audio lecture how in the more than 35 countries where his firm has a business presence, doing good does not have to be at odds with doing well.

Tony Prophet - Social Good and Environmental Sustainability at HP

With energy costs on the rise and the U.S. government expected to push for reduced carbon emissions, environmental sustainability has become a market imperative for Hewlett-Packard. Speaking at Stanford for the 2007 Responsible Supply Chains Conference, HP's senior VP of personal systems, Tony Prophet, shares how his company is working to reduce its environmental footprint throughout the product life cycle.

Stuart Smolkin - Disaster Managment Lessons from Katrina

When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, Stuart Smolkin's conveyor belt manufacturing company, Intralox, had no disaster plan in place. The company had to deal with the disruption of electricity, phones, and computer systems in order to organize evacuated employees into recovery teams. How did Intralox get running again in a mere 30 days? In this Stanford podcast, Smolkin offers lessons on preparedness for businesses faced with disruption.