Do One Better with Alberto Lidji in Philanthropy, Sustainability and Social Entrepreneurship

The President of the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, Daniel F. Wilhelm, explains why it’s important to create and disseminate knowledge against violence.

At the Foundation, they support research across all forms of violence, including war, crime, and human aggression, with the aim of understanding the causes of violence, how it manifests itself and how to control it. They inform policymakers and practitioners, and drive public discourse.

We get insight into their various partnerships, including the work they’re doing with the MacArthur Foundation and others on the Global Innovations on Youth Violence, Safety and Justice initiative, which seeks to tackle youth violence and promote youth safety and criminal justice reform.

We discuss specific areas of research, such as the implications of adolescence and brain development, where young persons aged 18 to 24 are legally adults but may not physically be fully developed adults just yet. The brain is physically developing until the age of 24 and consequently young persons are more involved in the commission of crimes and acts of violence than older adults. From a policy perspective, this begs the question: how do you deal with this cohort of young persons whose brains are still developing, who are more likely to commit crimes and who are different than older adults?

We also hear about the funding the Foundation provides researchers across different phases of their careers, from identifying up-and-coming ‘emerging scholars’ (junior researchers who are PhD candidates focused on violence) to supporting established academics via their ‘distinguished scholars’ program, and their ‘African Fellows’ initiative focused on those academics who are conducting research on violence at African universities.

This episode provides a fascinating look into the world of knowledge-creation to tackle violence.

Thank you for downloading this episode of the Do One Better Podcast. Visit our Knowledge Hub at Lidji.org for information on 200+ case studies and interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship. 

Between 2010 and 2015, David served in the UK’s Coalition Government as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Schools Minister, and Cabinet Office Minister. Whilst Schools Minister he was responsible for policy areas including all capital and revenue funding, the Pupil Premium, accountability and policy on teachers and leadership.  Since 2015, David has been Chairman of the Education Policy Institute.

In this episode we focus on narrowing the education gap between rich and poor and delve into various areas, including creating and communicating a strong evidence base, engaging with policymakers and the media, the possible introduction of Value Added Tax to independent schools, and quite a bit more.

As someone who served as Schools Minister, David has key insight on how to engage with policymakers effectively and ensuring research reaches decision-makers at the right time.

Translating and summarising complex research, and boiling it down to the policy impact, is actually not the challenging part. The bigger challenge is in ensuring policymakers take note of the research even when it doesn’t align with their own views and, also, in ensuring research cuts right through policymakers’ busy diaries and grabs their attention.

Narrowing the education gap between rich and poor is one of David’s key focus areas. He explains how in the UK we have some of the best universities in the world, but there is a tail of underachievement which is very long and highly associated with income and social class, which is the weakness of the UK education system. If we can close the gap between rich and poor we’d have an education system that would genuinely be one of the very best in the world.

Thank you for downloading this episode of the Do One Better Podcast. Visit our Knowledge Hub at Lidji.org for information on 200+ case studies and interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship. 

The Chief Executive of the Refugee Council, Enver Solomon, joins us to discuss the refugee crisis and shed light on the work of the Refugee Council and the context in which they operate.

Every day, refugees are risking their lives by coming on boats from Continental Europe to the UK, and we see a political response of building walls and enforceability.

We explore the realities on the ground and the electoral challenges faced by policymakers, within a backdrop of heightened economic insecurity which often drives xenophobia.

Enver Solomon provides specific tips on how to be an effective advocate for refugees and universal values, and explains why engaging with policymakers and the public is essential for an effective communications strategy.

The Refugee Council was founded in 1951, following the creation of the UN Refugee Convention. They exist to support and empower people who have fled conflict, violence and persecution in order to rebuild their lives in the UK. They work with more than 13,000 women, men and children each year.

Thank you for downloading this episode of the Do One Better Podcast. Visit our Knowledge Hub at Lidji.org for information on 200+ case studies and interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship. 

The UK Supreme Court’s CEO, Vicky Fox, sheds light into her fascinating work and a range of initiatives focused on community outreach, education, and driving forward more diversity, accessibility and transparency.

Many people do not know the UK Supreme Court has a CEO and, indeed, many other countries' top courts also have CEOs. The Court does much international work and Vicky has met her counterparts in the USA, Canada, France, and Germany.

Vicky is in charge of all the non-judicial functions of the Court, including the running of an effective and efficient court, taking into account the lifecycle of a case – from the minute it enters their doors to the minute it leaves.

The Court runs a range of programmes to engage with communities. One such programme is called ‘Ask a Justice’ where a justice shows up in a classroom virtually and answers questions from students for an hour, leading to thoughtful, challenging, provocative interactions.

We also learn of their drive to encourage more diversity in the legal profession. The Court’s initiatives address the entire career pipeline, from schools and universities to very senior, experienced judges.  They work in partnership with many organisations, including a charity called ‘Bridging the Bar’, focusing on helping underrepresented groups into the legal profession.

Listen to this episode for some great insight and inspiration!

Thank you for downloading this episode of the Do One Better Podcast. Visit our Knowledge Hub at Lidji.org for information on 200+ case studies and interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship. 

Martin Frick is the Director of the World Food Programme’s Global Office in Berlin. We look at the global food crisis, how it relates to climate change and biodiversity, and explore how to move social drivers to empower people to make a positive difference.

The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organisation with 24,000 colleagues all over the world, particularly in the toughest regions of the planet – working with almost 1,000 NGOs and active in places where often times no other agencies are on the ground.

Thank you for downloading this episode of the Do One Better Podcast. Visit our Knowledge Hub at Lidji.org for information on 200+ case studies and interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship. 

The CEO of the Institute of Imagination, Martin Allen Morales, joins us to discuss creativity and imagination.

Imagination is a critical life skill and in this episode we explore how to unlock imagination in our children, encourage teachers to embrace this topic, and inform policy-makers so we transform an education system that often stifles imagination.

The Institute of Imagination is a pioneering education charity, working with parents, teachers, youth and community leaders, and academics, designing and delivering creative workshops across the arts, sciences and digital technologies (STEAM) for children aged 5-11 years old.

Thank you for downloading this episode of the Do One Better Podcast. Visit our Knowledge Hub at Lidji.org for information on 200+ case studies and interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship. 

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is one of the world’s largest and perhaps most celebrated school meals programmes, currently serving 2.5 million children every day, in India and the UK, having served nearly 4 billion meals.

Bhawani Singh Shekhawat sits on the Board of the Akshaya Patra Foundation, advocates for cross-sector collaboration and provides insight into his personal journey, transitioning from corporate success to non-profit social impact.

This episode focuses on nutrition and education, UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2 and 4 respectively, and the conversation provides an inspirational example of transformative change at scale.

Thank you for downloading this episode of the Do One Better Podcast. Visit our Knowledge Hub at Lidji.org for information on 200+ case studies and interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship. 

Rachel Sandby-Thomas sits on the UK Labour Party’s Council of Skills Advisors and is the Registrar of the University of Warwick. This episode focuses on skills and social mobility and explores resilience, soft skills, the impact of AI, the power of mentorship, and more.

Rachel has had a long career in the UK Civil Service, the last 8 years of which were as a Director General in the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills where she covered legal, corporate services and policy (skills, regulation, large and small businesses, local growth). She joined the UK Civil Service as a lawyer from Linklaters.

Skills are essential to productivity and growth, and this episode is for everyone who wishes to understand the broader context and specific opportunities.

Thank you for downloading this episode of the Do One Better Podcast. Visit our Knowledge Hub at Lidji.org for information on 200+ case studies and interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship. 

Liesel Pritzker Simmons brings us into the origins of the IDP Foundation, which she co-founded with her mother, Irene Pritzker.

The foundation’s mission: To participate in building a sustainable education ecosystem that embraces a mixed economy of provision, and caters for all children through access to finance for low-fee private schools, quality interventions and advocacy in Africa and beyond.

Corina Gardner joined the IDP Foundation as its CEO in 2020 and she starts by providing a broader context on the state of global education (SDG4) and how they’re driving systemic change.

The IDP Foundation is an active funder and champion for the complementary role that the non-state education sector plays in supporting national education systems.  

Governments are responsible for providing quality free education for all children, however in many developing countries this is not happening, despite often meeting, or exceeding, recommended UNESCO benchmarks on budget allocation.

As a funding partner and champion of the affordable non-state education sector (ANS), the IDP Foundation believes that low-fee private schools play a crucial role in increasing access to education and improving learning outcomes in low and lower-middle income countries.

They call for the global recognition, integration and support of this sector as part of a centrally-governed mixed economy of provision that embraces all hands on deck to build resilience into national education systems.

This episode will inform and inspire you, from education and policy to philanthropy and innovative finance, there is something for everyone.

Thank you for downloading this episode of the Do One Better Podcast. Visit our Knowledge Hub at Lidji.org for information on 200+ case studies and interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship. 

Community Jameel’s Director, George Richards, talks about their support of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) and numerous other initiatives supporting bright talent beyond the lab and across the globe.

In 2019, the Nobel Prize for Economics was awarded to J-PAL’s co-founders, Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee, and long-time J-PAL affiliate Michael Kremer, for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.  Community Jameel has supported and partnered with J-PAL since 2005.

George explains how Community Jameel supports scientists, humanitarians, technologists and creatives to understand and address pressing human challenges. An inspiring conversation shedding light on the power of philanthropy.

Thank you for downloading this episode of the Do One Better Podcast. Visit our Knowledge Hub at Lidji.org for information on 200+ case studies and interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship.