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

A wide-ranging conversation on the topic of domestic abuse. Hetti sheds light on sobering statistics, attitudes and behaviours and describes the challenges presented by COVID lockdowns and how new technologies are impacting the field.

In England and Wales, around 2 women a week are killed by a current or former partner, and 1 in 4 women will experience domestic abuse at some point in their lifetime.

The problem goes beyond domestic violence. As Hetti points out, coercive control is the dark side of domestic abuse and often leads to the worst outcomes.

Refuge is an organisation helping those who experience domestic abuse. They run the National Domestic Abuse Helpline and also have deployed a Tech Abuse Team, who support women who are experiencing online abuse and other tech-related abuse.

Innovations in technology present serious challenges – innovations leading to the miniaturisation of surveillance technology, for instance, or software that can compromise WiFi connectivity and remotely lock doors and override temperature control and other features in one’s own home.

This episode explores domestic abuse from various angles and provides invaluable information on the state of affairs and opportunities for improvement.

Thank you for downloading this episode of The Do One Better Podcast. Visit our website at Lidji.org for information on nearly 200 interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship. Please leave us a rating and a review to help others find this show.

The Veddis Foundation is based in India and is both a grant-maker and an operating foundation. They make unrestricted, multi-year grants and approach programs with a view to pilot, scale, institutionalise and exit.  They’re keen on investing at the intersection of policy, technology and impact.

We explore their approach to trust-based philanthropy and learn how they go about building trust among all stakeholders. We get an insider’s look at how they operate and what success looks like at the Veddis Foundation.

Before venturing into the world of impact and philanthropy, Murugan spent 20 years working at Cisco in India, and he takes the opportunity to shed light on corporate philanthropy in India and identifies gaps that present opportunities for improvement.

Murugan notes that “the future is looking bright for India” and we get a glimpse of why the philanthropy sector in India is so vibrant, exciting and full of opportunity right now.

Thank you for downloading this episode of The Do One Better Podcast. Visit our website at Lidji.org for information on nearly 200 interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship. Please leave us a rating and a review to help others find this show.

This episode provides insight into a dynamic corporate foundation and sheds light on the growth of philanthropy in Australia.

Macquarie Group is a diversified financial srvices organisation with 18,000 employees; working in 33 markets around the world. Interestingly, the foundation was established at the same time and alongside the company itself.

Employee engagement is a key aspect of their philanthropic work. Their matched giving program is generous (matching each employee’s giving up to AUD $50,000 annually) and they also encourage engagement through volunteering, mentoring and sharing of expertise.

Last financial year, the foundation and its employees contributed AUD $44 million to community organisations. We explore their strategic grant-making program, which is focused on economic and social mobility, and which ranges from education and employment of young people in Australia, to higher education access and career attainment in the United States. Their philanthropic work feels different in different regions, and we also hear of their new impact investing work.

Lisa is also co-chair of Philanthropy Australia and she sheds light on the state of affairs and future outlook for philanthropy in that country.

Thank you for downloading this episode of The Do One Better Podcast. Visit our website at Lidji.org for information on nearly 200 interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship. Please leave us a rating and a review to help others find this show.

Per joins us back on the show after last having been with us on 6th September 2020. We continue where we left off and start by looking at the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), which the IKEA Foundation set up with the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bezos Earth Fund.

GEAPP is working in partnership with countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean to operationalise renewable energy transitions and expansions, which will reduce greenhouse gases, extend clean power to underserved people, and enable green jobs.  As Per notes, we need to embrace radical collaboration – it’s the way to get to Net Zero.

We also look at the IKEA Foundation’s approach to measurement, learning and evaluation; the importance of using evidence to guide grant-making, and the importance of funding research to build such bodies of evidence when they don’t exist.  Evidence is key for achieving systems change, and philanthropy needs to take risks, innovate and collaborate.

The conversation also looks at the work the IKEA Foundation has traditionally been doing with refugees in the Global South and, more recently, how IKEA’s commercial operations are supporting refugees from Ukraine in the Global North. Per details the close collaboration between IKEA’s philanthropic and commercial sides.

Thank you for downloading this episode of The Do One Better Podcast. Visit our website at Lidji.org for information on nearly 200 interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship. Please leave us a rating and a review to help others find this show.

Shannon Elizabeth is an actor who is passionate about animal conservation. She has starred in over 50 films and television shows, including American Pie, Scary Movie, Love Actually and That 70’s Show.  Simon Borchert has a strong family history of animal conservation in South Africa. Together, this dynamic husband and wife duo are protecting rhinos and strengthening the field of conservation through the work of the Shannon Elizabeth Foundation.

We learn about the foundation’s operations, programs, advocacy with legislators and we gain insight into leveraging the celebrity platform to drive forward positive change and get the message across.

Thank you for downloading this episode of The Do One Better Podcast. Visit our website at Lidji.org for information on nearly 200 interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship. Please leave us a rating and a review to help others find this show.

Unhealthy environments have been linked to a range of significant health risks to children, including premature birth, stillbirth, increased lifelong risk for brain and behavioural problems, respiratory disorders, cardiovascular disease, cancers, dysfunction of hormonal and reproductive systems, and more.

Globally, more than 1 in 4 childhood deaths under 5 years of age are attributable to unhealthy environments—a statistic that will continue to rise as climate change magnifies the world’s most important environmental risk factors.

While environmental health risk factors are clearly leading causes of child illness and death in Asia, country-specific, systematic data needed to develop approaches to improving children’s health and reducing, minimising, and preventing environmental risk factors is often lacking. 

We learn how Children’s Environmental Health Indicators (CEHI) can fill the data and knowledge gap in children’s environmental health; enabling tracking, assessment and reporting on the status and impacts of climate and the environment on children’s health as well as the evaluation of environmental interventions and policies.

Thank you for downloading this episode of The Do One Better Podcast. Visit our website at Lidji.org for information on nearly 200 interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship. Please leave us a rating and a review to help others find this show.

If you ever wondered how to create a truly diverse talent pool and intentionally attract the next generation of leaders from countries not usually represented in senior management teams, this episode will inform you and show you how some of the world’s leading organisations are embracing this challenge.

Atlas Corps was founded in 2006. They are a non-profit, a social enterprise and a registered 501(c)(3) in the United States.

Their Fellowship program identifies strong talent and human capital potential from the Global South and they act as a matchmaker by placing Atlas Corps Fellows with leading organisations such as SAP, Save the Children and the Hilton Foundation.

Thank you for downloading this episode of The Do One Better Podcast. Visit our website at Lidji.org for information on nearly 200 interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship. Please leave us a rating and a review to help others find this show.

Great advances in medical treatments enable most people with HIV to live lives with life expectancy comparable to the general population. Unfortunately, stigma and negative social norms persist and must be tackled.

The Elton John AIDS Foundation is a global grant-making foundation focused on ending the AIDS epidemic. They’re based in London and New York, they fund services on the ground and organisations that are working in the field in up to 50 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia; they are also active in the UK and US.  They are the fifth largest AIDS foundation in the world and were founded in 1992.

Anne shares her very touching personal story that brought her to the field of HIV/AIDS; she speaks with passion about the innovative ways they’re leveraging new technologies to reach those most marginalised individuals and communities; and she gives us a glimpse of what it’s like to work with Elton John to improve lives and change mindsets.

Thank you for downloading this episode of The Do One Better Podcast. Visit our website at Lidji.org for information on nearly 200 interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship. Please leave us a rating and a review to help others find this show.

In light of so many indicators pointing in the wrong direction, what can we do with the resources and powers at our disposal to tackle the food crisis and drive forward improved nutrition? 

This conversation provides clear suggestions and insight for philanthropists, business leaders and policymakers alike -- the case for improved nutrition has never been stronger.

Thank you for downloading this episode of The Do One Better Podcast. Visit our website at Lidji.org for information on nearly 200 interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship. Please leave us a rating and a review to help others find this show.

In this episode we bring you a heart-warming interview with Zane Wilemon – an ordained priest from Texas who embraced social entrepreneurship in Kenya and improved the lives of children and women through philanthropy and commerce.

We hear how Zane’s philanthropic work led to the creation of Ubuntu Life, a successful social enterprise that is backed by social investors and whose products made it into Whole Foods and were recognised by Oprah Winfrey on her 2020 ‘Favorite Things List'.

Proceeds from the social enterprise go to the Ubuntu Life Foundation, whose work in Kenya supports children with special needs in education and health.

This episode highlights how anyone, anywhere, can make a positive difference to improve our world.

Thank you for downloading this episode of The Do One Better Podcast. Please visit our website at Lidji.org for information on more than 150 interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship.