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Podcast

Sam Goldman - Lighting the Way to Economic Development

Let there be light! That's Sam Goldman's motto, and he's taking it around the world. The founder of d.light design talks with Stanford Center for Social Innovation correspondent Sheela Sethuraman about how he is bringing affordable, ecologically sustainable electricity and lighting to billions who are now operating in the dark. In this audio interview, he details aspects of the design, function, marketing, and distribution of the organization's products, as well as the kind of impact the social enterprise is having in some of the most remote, poor areas.

Podcast

Premal Shah - A Wild Ride - Creating a New Marketplace

Kiva has created an online marketplace that allows ordinary citizens through responsible investing to help specific entrepreneurs around the world thrive with as little as $25. How did Kiva get the critical mass it needed to make its operations a go? How does it work with nonprofits, entrepreneurs, and lenders through the online format? In this talk, sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, Kiva President Premal Shah talks about how the organization got started, how it functions, and how it plans to grow.

Podcast

Jacqueline Novogratz - Patient Capital in International Development

Neither markets nor philanthropy alone are sufficient to help the world's poorest people. In this audio interview with host Sheela Sethuraman, Jacqueline Novogratz, founder of the Acumen Fund, describes how a combination of patient capital plus management support is making a difference in tackling poverty in Africa and Asia. Novogratz shares experiences and anecdotes from her recently published book, The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World.

Podcast

Rob Reich - Tax Incentives for Philanthropy

Given current tax laws, $300 billion in charitable dollars can end up costing the U.S. Treasury $50 billion in lost income. Should taxable income exclude charitable contributions? In this audio lecture, sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, Stanford political philosopher Rob Reich asks some tough questions, ultimately proposing a new way of looking at tax incentives to support the nonprofit sector.

The Profit in Nonprofit

By Bethany Coates & Garth Saloner 14

Why Kiva chose to be a 501(c)(3), what this tax status buys the organization, and how being a nonprofit poses challenges.

Podcast

Brian Lehnen, Scott Morgan, Anne Marie Burgoyne - Year One in the Life of a Nonprofit Start-up

What fuels the creation of a nonprofit organization? In this panel discussion, sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, panelists talk about their experiences founding an education-related nonprofit in the United States and a microenterprise in Africa. They explore how they came up with the ideas for their enterprises, how they focused and manifested those ideas, and what smart and not-so-smart choices they made along the way. A portfolio manager adds her insights on what elements make a startup appealing to potential funders.

Podcast

Jeffrey Eisenach - Global Regulation and the Digital Economy

Should the internet be regulated? In this audio lecture, Jeffrey Eisenach presents the potential for harm caused by cyberspace while outlining the challenges faced by regulation to the digital economy. In the end, he emphasizes the necessity of global institutions and frameworks to bring order to the online sphere.

Podcast

Paul Saffo - Forecasting Future Trends

In this audio interview, forecaster Paul Saffo covers a range of interesting subjects, including different methodologies for forecasting social trends. Topics he offers predictions about include global warming, the mortgage crisis, and the decline of the nation state.

Podcast

David Brooks - Neuroscience and Sociology

What does the ability to resist marshmallows have in common with a successful life? In this fascinating audio lecture, David Brooks of the New York Times talks about neuroscience and sociology, what these seemingly disjointed topics have in common, and why they are important. He explores why some people succeed and why some people don't, and how success fits into the transformation from a global, physical economy to a global, human-capital economy.

Podcast

Joseph Stiglitz - Globalization and International Development

In this audio interview, Asia Society President Vishakha N. Desai speaks with Nobel Prize winning economist and globalization "rockstar" Joseph Stiglitz on matters concerning international development. The conversation focuses on Stiglitz's concept of "the economics of information," and his latest book, Making Globalization Work. In this fascinating in-depth interview, Stiglitz discusses intellectual property rights, the shifting global balance of power, challenges facing Africa, and much more.