Inside Social Innovation Podcast

Marion Nestle - Making Good Eating Choices

The question of what to eat to be healthy has spawned a rash of often contradictory advice by "experts." In this audio lecture, sponsored by the Stanford Ethics and Society Program, NYU professor and author Marion Nestle offers simple advice that cuts through the confusion. She highlights the difference between "nutrients" and "food," and suggests how to bring "nutrition" back into the food realm. Her discussion forays into how agriculture and business interact to produce the foodstuffs on our shelves.

Panel Discussion - Recycling’s Role in Environmental Sustainability

In this education podcast, a panel of experts debates the importance of recycling in the effort to achieve environmental sustainability. Those against argue that recycling at the household level doesn't lead to the perceived benefits, but instead wastes more money and precious time. Those in favor argue that we are nearing a resource crisis that can be mitigated by the re-use of recycled material. Due to brief profanity, this program may not be appropriate for work or family listening.

Feliciano Reyna - Tackling AIDS in Venezuela

Feliciano Reyna talks about his multipronged approach to tackling AIDS in Venezuela. In this audio interview with Design for Change host Sheela Sethuraman, he shares his successes in influencing his government's policies and his strategies for engaging the corporate sector in this effort.

David Goldwyn, David Dollar - How Energy Effects Economic Development

People in the developing world expend more than a quarter of their potential earnings on energy. Economic development, environmental health, and global stability all hinge on wise management of global energy resources. In this audio lecture, David Goldwyn and David Dollar paint a positive picture of what developing countries and governments in the West can do to improve energy use abroad and at home.

Alana Conner - Evaluation for Normal People

In the frenzy over accountability, funders, donors, and the general public are calling for more program evaluation. Yet few understand how expensive and complex good evaluation is. Speaking at the 2006 Nonprofit Management Institute at Stanford, Alana Conner, senior editor of the Stanford Social Innovation Review illustrates how half-hearted evaluation can do more harm than good. Rick Aubry and Victor Kuo join her to give nonprofit and foundation perspectives.

Paul Farmer - Scaling Up Healthcare in Rwanda

AIDS, malaria, and maternal mortality are some of the chronic public health issues that plague Africa. Invited to Stanford, Paul Farmer talks about how his Boston-based organization, Partners In Health, is spending donor dollars to bring the lessons garnered from its work in Haiti to scale up healthcare services in war-torn Rwanda. As dicussed in this audio lecture, his organization seeks to fill the gap that exists between medical R&D and healthcare delivery so preventions and cures can be brought to more of the people who need them.

Linda Rottenberg - Taking Entrepreneurism International

Ten years ago, "entrepreneur" didn't exist in the lexicon of many parts of the world. Now, thanks to the work of a nonprofit called Endeavor, entrepreneurs are emerging in countries where such activity was once impossible. Invited to speak at the Center for Social Innovation at Stanford, Linda Rottenberg shares in this audio lecture how her organization has gone from a "crazy" idea of two business school graduates to an important engine for empowering entrepreneurs in Latin America and beyond.

Networked Governance - Multilateral Institutions of the Future

As global leadership evolves from siloed hierarchies to multilateral approaches, networked governance has important potential and faces significant challenges. In this panel discussion, panelists, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Ashraf Ghani, Ambassador John Bruton, Ambassador Harriet Babbitt, and Sir Ian Forbes, address the factors, from the practical to the philosophical, at play.

Beulah Thumbadoo - Making Reading Sexier

Beulah Thumbadoo talks about her experiences promoting adult literacy, first from within the South African government and university system, and then through her own organization. Talking with Design for Change host Sheela Sethuraman in this audio interview, she also shares advice from her experience on social entrepreneurship.

Stanford Social Entrepreneurship Day - Funding Social Enterprises

With valuable advice for all types of entrepreneurs, this Stanford Entrepreneurship Week panel offers a unique perspective for funding a social enterprise startup. In this panel discussion, Kriss Deiglmeier leads an engaging discussion between funders and social entrepreneurs that provides actionable advice and insightful lessons in this discussion from the second annual Social Entrepreneurship Day at Stanford University.

Rafael Alvarez - Preparing Students to Succeed

While volunteering at a charter school, Rafael Alvarez was confronted with some shocking information—hardly any students in the senior class had plans to attend college. So, in true social entrepreneurial fashion, he decided to match up this under-served market with another under-served market, entry level IT. Talking with Design for Change host Sheela Sethuraman in this audio interview, he explains how Genesys Works prepares students technically and professionally to enter a corporate environment and change their lives.

Rick Duke - Reducing U.S. Emissions Affordably

Now that global warming is recognized as a real and serious problem, discussion is turning to practical challenges of reducing emissions in the long term. Host of the Center for Social Innovation, Rick Duke, discusses a new report by McKinsey & Company that considers how to address the problem affordably. In this audio lecture, Duke outlines some of the emerging technologies and public policy changes that will be needed to support such a process.

William Drayton - The Importance of Being a Changemaker

If you're living on this planet you probably sense that the world is in a time of tremendous change. Ashoka founder William Drayton calls it "Revolution" in his keynote address on the occasion of receiving the Purpose Prize Entrepreneurial Leadership Award. In this audio lecture, Drayton offers inspiring words about the nature of the times we are in, and how becoming a change maker is critical for seizing opportunities that are emerging in these unprecedented times.

Kim Feinberg - Self-Sufficiency Through Education

AIDS in South Africa has left millions of children without parents or any resources to help themselves. In this audio interview with Design for Change host Sheela Sethuraman, Kim Feinberg describes how her organization, the Tomorrow Trust, uses education to help these children grow into self sufficient, economically productive, and socially included adults.

Natalie Portman - Eradicating Poverty Through Microfinance

One of the biggest problems that low-income people around the world face is the lack of access to capital that might otherwise help them rise out of poverty. Invited to Stanford, actress Natalie Portman turns the spotlight on her work to promote FINCA's International Village Banking Campaign, aiming to bring financial services to one million of the world's lowest-income families through 100,000 Village Banks by 2010.