Joe Simitian and Michael Kirst - Financing California Schools

How is California, home of the technology revolution, preparing the next generation of students to lead the charge of innovation?  In this University podcast, Senator Joe Simitian and Professor Michael Kirst argue that school financing in California is neither adequate, efficient, nor equitable. Speaking at the Stanford School of Education, they discuss the challenges of financing California's K-12 schools in a rapidly changing environment with diffuse accountability and dilute authority.

William McDonough - Environmental Sustainability and Green Design

When it comes to environmental sustainability, William McDonough is nothing less than a hero for the planet. In this audio lecture, he discusses how he has designed eco-friendly buildings with unique properties, such as the ability to produce oxygen. He urges his audience of Stanford Graduate School of Business students to set goals not toward an efficient bottom line of doing the wrong thing less badly, but rather toward the effective top line of doing the right thing.

Innovation in Public Education - Bridging the Gap 2005

In this panel discussion, entrepreneurs in the field of education talk about how to work with the market and apply business practices and frameworks to the problem of urban education reform. Their lessons have relevance in areas ranging from teaching to administration, and from recruitment to organizational design.

Rick Lowe - Urban Villages: Art As Social Innovation

Rick Lowe has given new meaning to the phrase "artist-in-residence." This Heinz Award winner and former Loeb fellow at the Harvard School of Design is the founder of Project Row Houses, an organization that merges art and architecture with social activism. In an audio interview with Globeshakers host Tim Zak, Lowe describes how this experiment in "social sculpture" is redefining the role of art and artists in society.

Marty Ashby - The Future of Jazz

As executive producer of MCG Jazz, Marty Ashby works with musicians who often devote their proceeds to a community arts and vocational training center in Pittsburg, Penn. In this audio interview, Ashby charts for Globeshakers host Tim Zak his career from jazz musician to director of this philanthropic jazz performance and recording venue.

Bill Strickland - Globeshakers

On Pittsburgh's gritty north side, just down the street from where he grew up, Bill Strickland has created a youth development and adult training center like no other. In this audio interview with Globeshakers host Tim Zak, Strickland talks about the environment he has melded over more than 40 years surrounded by stunning art, the sounds of jazz, beautiful orchids, and brilliant architecture, with programs that get kids into college and adults a job with a future.

Darrell Hammond - The Importance of Play for Children

Play affects children's quality of life. Yet, in many communities, schools, and families, this element has been pushed to the back burner. In an audio interview with Globeshakers host Tim Zak, Darrell Hammond envisions a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. Since 1995, KaBOOM! has used its innovative community-build model to bring together business and community interests to construct more than 850 new playgrounds and skateparks, and renovate 1,300 others nationwide.