George Gascón oversaw 9,000 officers as the Assistant Chief of the LAPD. In 2006, he famously squared off against Joe Arpaio and anti-immigrant groups as the Chief of the Mesa Police Department. And In 2011, after District Attorney Kamala Harris vacated her seat, he was tapped by Gavin Newsom to be the District Attorney of San Francisco.  

Since his appointment, George has earned a national reputation as a visionary in criminal justice reform. He has been named among the Top 100 Lawyers in California by the Daily Journal, and the Anti-Defamation League honored him with its prestigious Civil Rights Award. 

He joins us to talk about criminal justice reform, investing in education, and his vision for the future of Los Angeles.

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Michael is one of his generation's great table-makers, underground restaurateurs, food provocateur, and credited with creating the modern underground restaurant movement in the United States.

He's a Partner at RoundGlass, the founder of deathoverdinner.org and The Living Wake, the co-founder of MuslimNeighbor.com, and the author of Let's Talk About Death.

He currently serves as a Board Advisor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts. He is also the founder of Convivium, a creative agency specializing in the common table's technology and the ability to shift culture through thoughtful food and discourse-based engagements and happenings. 

He joins us to discuss founding what many regard as the modern underground food scene in the US and how that work led him to his current focus around death, dying well, and his view that talking about death is medicine for the living.

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Jaisen Freeman is the Co-Founder/CEO of Phusion Projects—the maker of Four Loko, one of the most controversial and successful beverages of the past two decades.

Starting with a big idea, passion, and some capital from a Small Business Administration loan, Phusion Projects has grown into a global business with more than 200 employees. The company has sold over $1 Billion in alcoholic products during its short history and has expanded sales to 30 countries worldwide. All of this, as an independent company without outside investment capital.  

Jaisen is also an investor and partner in SWISH Beverages, makers of the wildly successful White Girl Rosé and Not Your Father's Root Beer.

He joins us to talk about the importance of having skin in the game, how to lose your ego, and the value the comes with staying true to your brand.

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Entrepreneur Kara Goldin is the founder and CEO of hint inc., the San Francisco-based company which produces the leading unsweetened flavored water. 

She's also the host of the Unstoppable Podcast and author of her upcoming book Undaunted, which releases October 20th.

She has been named one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business. Before Hint, Kara was Vice President of Shopping and E-commerce Partnerships at AOL, where she led the growth of its startup shopping business to a $1 billion enterprise.

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Walter Driver is the co-founder, Chairman, and co-CEO of Scopely, one of the fastest-growing mobile game companies globally.

Walter joins us to discuss the art of understanding weaknesses and surrounding yourself with people that compliment your skillsets. We talk about the importance of confidence and the power of storytelling when it comes to selling your ideas, and how he envisions a future where we more closely interact and foster deeper connections with the entertainment we consume.

Scopely creates and publishes a highly-diverse portfolio of top-grossing, immersive game experiences, including the award-winning MARVEL Strike Force, Scrabble® GO, Star Trek™ Fleet Command, and YAHTZEE® With Buddies, among others. Fueled by a world-class team, Scopely leverages its proprietary technology platforms to bring directed-by-consumer, interactive experiences to audiences worldwide.

Under Walter's leadership, the company has achieved more than $1B in lifetime revenue and attracted more than $450M in financing from leading venture capital firms, tech luminaries, and cultural icons.

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Scott Budnick is the Founder of One Community Films, the Founder of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, and one of the most successful comedy film producers in history.

Scott was the Executive Producer of the Hangover film franchise and via One Community Films, the producer of Just Mercy, the feature film that details the story of Bryan Stevenson, the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative.

Scott's work with the Anti-Recidivism Coalition began as an annual camping trip bringing together a few dozen formerly incarcerated young people with positive mentors to offer encouragement, guidance, and resources. 

Today, ARC has grown into a support and advocacy network of more than 450 members and hundreds of volunteers, mentors, and allies committed to helping one another through reentry and advocating for a fairer criminal justice system. 

ARC provides its members with mentorship, mental health services, supportive housing, access to jobs and education, opportunities to advocate for criminal justice reform, and has been responsible for changing dozens of laws that create a more humane reality for those at the bottom of our society.

He joins us to discuss his circuitous journey, from producing the Hangover franchise to founding one of the leading advocacy+policy groups affecting criminal justice reform, and back again to making films and television whose stories seek to change policy by changing perceptions.

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Matt Pohlson is the co-founder and CEO of Omaze, the online fundraising platform that offers people the chance to win once-in-a-lifetime experiences while supporting nonprofits worldwide. Since founding in 2012, the company has raised more than $130 million for more than 350 charities and was recently named one of "The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies" by Fast Company magazine.

Matt joins us to discuss his origin story, Omaze's founding and big break, and the profound impact a near-death experience had on his philosophy—leading Matt to his deepen commitments to work, renew his relationship with himself, and double down on his belief that Optimism is a superpower.

Whether you want a double date with George and Amal Clooney in Lake Como or you're looking to win a rare luxury automobile, own a multi-million dollar new home, or have your student debt paid off, Omaze provides a democratized system giving anyone the chance to win their dream prize while raising much-needed funds for nonprofits spanning the globe.

Pohlson graduated from Stanford University and received his MBA from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. He currently resides in Los Angeles.

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Baron Davis is an entrepreneur, investor, and two time NBA all-star.

Over his thirteen-year career on the court, Baron was known as a powerful point guard with an electrifying style, garnering national acclaim for executing in critical, high-pressure moments.

As a businessman, Baron was one of the original investors in Vitaminwater and helped launch Thrive Market.

Baron is now the founder of several companies, including Sports and Lifestyle in Culture (SLIC), The Black Santa Company, BIG, and No Label—each with the objective of combining creative talent with original publication and production to develop and provide educational and heartwarming stories that appeal to global audiences of all ages.

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M. Sanjayan is a global conservation scientist whose work spans genetics to wildlife migration to nature's impacts on human well-being. He has served as Conservation International's CEO since 2016.

Sanjayan joined Conservation International in 2014, overseeing its successful $1.1 billion capital campaign and its critically acclaimed brand campaign, "Nature Is Speaking," and its push into virtual-reality filmmaking.

Raised in Southeast Asia and West Africa, Sanjayan's unique background has informed his work. He has attracted widespread media coverage, from The New York Times, Outside Magazine, and CNN International.

He has hosted more than a dozen documentaries from PBS, BBC, National Geographic, Discovery, and Showtime.

He recently hosted the University of California and Vox Media's Climate Lab series, which has garnered over 20 million views.

Sanjayan holds a master's degree from the University of Oregon and a doctorate from the University of California-Santa Cruz. His peer-reviewed scientific work has been published in Science, Nature, and Conservation Biology.

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Harley Finkelstein is an entrepreneur, lawyer, and the Chief Operating Officer of Shopify.

He founded his first company at age 17 while a student at McGill. Harley completed his law degree and MBA at the University of Ottawa, where he co-founded the JD/MBA Student Society and the Canadian MBA Oath.

Harley is an Advisor to Felicis Ventures and one of the "Dragons" on CBC's Next Gen Den.

He recently received the Canadian Angel Investor of the Year Award, Canada's Top 40 Under 40 Award, and was inducted into the Order of Ottawa.

From 2014 to 2017, Harley was on the Board of the C100; from 2017 to 2020, he was on to the Board of Directors of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).

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