Advocacy

Alice Tepper Marlin - Setting the Standard for the Global Economy

Social Accountability International President Alice Tepper Marlin has been leading the push to create a credible, comprehensive, and efficient verification system for assuring humane workplaces around the world. In this audio lecture, she describes the strategies the Social Accountability International's SA-8000 standard has used to get global supply chain stakeholders operating on the same page when it comes to providing employees with safe, equitable, and financially beneficial working conditions.

Advocacy

Peter Eigen - Champion for Accountability

Transparency International is a global network with a mission to create a world free of corruption. In this audio lecture, Peter Eigen chronicles the experiences that led him from a directorship at the World Bank to the head of a movement to strengthen civil society by stamping out corruption. He reports on new incentives for good conduct that have made the elimination of corruption a cornerstone in the international effort to promote global equity.

Economic Development

Dr. Muhammad Yunus - Banker to the Poor

Muhammad Yunus started a movement that has lifted millions out of poverty. When he formed the Grameen Bank in 1983 and started giving out microloans, Yunus bridged the divide between business and social needs. In this audio lecture, he describes how he created microcredit, collateral-free lending, and began offering other business services to the poor. Yunus lays out the path to his extraordinary vision and success, which is driving global social change.

Economic Development

Fazle H. Abed - Innovator for the Poor

The beginnings of the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) were fraught with uncertainty. Initially surviving entirely on donations, it has since earned back two pennies for every one it has spent on welfare activities, and is today the largest, self-reliant international NGO, employing more than 97,000 people. In this audio lecture, Fazle Hasan Abed reminisces about the organization's humble beginnings and shares the organization's achievements.

Foundations

Katherine Fulton - Finding Philanthropy’s New Sweet Spots

How can philanthropy have a greater impact on social problems? In this audio lecture, Katherine Fulton,  Monitor Institute president, envisions a new era in which philanthropy will reclaim the American dream for communities that have been left behind. In a talk sponsored by the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Fulton reviews how philanthropy has changed over the last 10 years, and how the public and private sectors can work together to create social change.

Economic Development

Muhammad Yunus - Creating a Poverty-Free World

Professor Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of Grameen Bank, changes traditional principles of banking by putting poor people's needs first. Today, Grameen Bank is a powerful organization that supports poor people by providing microloans, credits, and banking services. In this audio lecture, Yunus describes the reasons behind his philosophies and how they have led to the launch of new enterprises in various industries in Bangladesh.

Leadership

Bill Barnett - Preparing Environment-Conscious Leaders

If sustainability is to be woven into all human activities, tomorrow's leaders will be required to understand how their organization interacts with its environment. In this audio lecture, Stanford Graduate School Professor Bill Barnett looks at the new leadership challenges facing executives in business, government, and nonprofit organizations with an environmental purpose. Barnett now offers the first of its kind executive education leadership program designed to advance environmental responsibility across sectors.

Impact Investing

The Climate of Capital Change - Social Entrepreneurship and the Environment

Environmental sustainability is an area ripe for social entrepreneurship. In this panel discussion at Stanford, industry experts discuss the challenges and opportunities for enterprising business minds in the area of climate change. They consider how new economies like China and India are tackling the problem, and whether entrepreneurs should lead with "impact" or "profitability" in pitching solution-oriented ideas to investors.

Impact Investing

The Climate of Capital Change - Social Entrepreneurship: Personal Pathways

In this panel discussion, social entrepreneurship is the common thread uniting a leader of a multibillion-dollar private equity fund, a dot-com carbon cowboy, and one of the original Schwab social entrepreneurs. All of them are harnessing business to build a better world. Paul Fletcher, Dan Whaley, and Nic Frances give their Stanford audience a glimpse into the personal side of being a social entrepreneur.

Food

John Mackey & Michael Pollan - The Past, Present, and Future of Food

In this audio lecture, Michael Pollan and John Mackey take their year-long blog discussion live in front of an audience of Berkeley foodies. In response to Pollan's critiques of Whole Foods' practices, Mackey describes some of agriculture's less savory practices, lays out his vision for a more sustainable and humane food system, and unveils Whole Foods' new consumer-education initiatives.

Leadership

Tom Tierney - Nonprofit Management and the Leadership Deficit

One of the biggest challenges in nonprofit management is hiring and retaining talented executive leaders. In this conversation with Stanford Social Innovation Review managing editor Eric Nee, Thomas Tierney shares findings from the Bridgespan Group's study on the "leadership deficit." Tierney talks about how this crisis is affecting nonprofits, and what organizations can do to address the problem.

Human Rights

Dechen Tsering - Human Rights and Sex Trafficking

One of the greatest human rights abuses is sex trafficking. Millions of women and girls each year are tricked, trapped, bought, sold, and forced into service in sex industries. In this audio lecture, Dechen Tsering explores the causes of trafficking and the techniques used by traffickers. She advocates a holistic approach to stop this grave violation against women and describes the work Global Fund for Women undertakes in Southeast Asia and around the world toward this end.

Social Enterprise

John Sage - Social Enterprise, Fair Trade and Coffee

Combining idealism with a genuine love of business, John Sage cofounded the social enterprise company Pura Vida, one of the largest distributors of fair trade organic coffee in the world. In this University podcast, he discusses his mission to improve the lives of people in coffee-growing regions. Sage explains how Pura Vida works at the intersection of the for-profit and nonprofit sectors, showing how the two can be blended to generate both revenues and social good.