Follow the Data Podcast

As the beginning of the school year approaches, we revisit an episode of Follow the Data profiling the development and launch of Cornell Tech – the first campus ever built for the digital age -- bringing together academia and industry to create pioneering leaders and transformational new research, products, companies and social ventures.

Back in December 2010, New York City launched Applied Sciences NYC, issuing a challenge to top institutions from around the world to propose a new or expanded campus. The following year, Mayor Bloomberg announced the winning bid from Cornell University and Technion Israel Institute of Technology – pairing two of the world’s top institutions in the fields of science, engineering, technology, and research.

Cornell Tech is on track to generate over 8,000 permanent jobs, hundreds of spin-off companies, and more than $23 billion dollars in economic activity over a period of 35 years.

We look back to the project’s inception and what the future holds for the school with Dean Dan Huttenlocher and former Deputy Mayor Bob Steel.

Bloomberg Philanthropies has enjoyed a deep relationship with the Mayor of Gary, Indiana, Karen Freeman-Wilson, and this episode of Follow the Data presents a conversation with the Mayor and James Anderson, who leads Government Innovation at our foundation. Mayor Freeman-Wilson and James sat down at the Engaged Cities Award Summit earlier this year. The summit was hosted by the national nonprofit Cities of Service and recognized creative ways city leaders are harnessing the power of people to solve problems.

They discuss engaging residents, making local government more nimble, and how participating in the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative over the past year helped the Mayor sharpen her skills as a consensus builder.

This week, we revisit an episode featuring a conversation with Dr. Tom Frieden, one of the world’s leading public health experts, and President and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, and Allison Jaffin of Bloomberg Philanthropies as they discuss non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and what it takes to protect the world.

As the former Director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and former New York City Health Commissioner, Dr. Frieden talks about leading public health efforts in New York under the Bloomberg administration.

Today, Dr. Frieden runs Resolve to Save Lives, a $225 million, 5-year initiative housed at Vital Strategies and funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a nonprofit organization aimed to work toward the vision that all people are protected by a strong public health system.

In 2014, Bloomberg Philanthropies joined with the King Baudouin Foundation to support the Foundation Center in creating a free web portal, Equal Footing – the first-of-its-kind platform to collect, index, analyze and visualize data on past and current philanthropic efforts in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda.

Equal Footing creates a level of transparency and accountability for organizations, and for donors. It helps identify where the greatest needs are and which organizations are making a lasting impact.

Lisa Philp, senior advisor at Foundation Center, and Verna Eggleston, Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Women’s Economic Development program lead tell us more about the Equal Footing and how non-profits can learn from one another.

Follow the Data presents a conversation with Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer and James Anderson, who leads Government Innovation at Bloomberg Philanthropies. Mayor Fischer is serving in his second term and says that to be a good mayor, you need the “head of a CEO, but the heart of a social worker.” Mayor Fischer and James discuss the discipline required to create a truly innovative city hall, why citizen engagement is so important, and how Louisville’s focus on becoming a more compassionate city has not only helped attract new businesses but also caught the attention of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

On June 1st, 2017, the Trump Administration announced its intention to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement. In the days following the announcement, Mike Bloomberg and California Governor Jerry Brown launched America’s Pledge, an initiative to aggregate and quantify emissions reduction efforts of states, cities, businesses, and universities in the U.S.

One year after the federal government announced it would pull out of the Paris Agreement, 2,700+ U.S. cities, states, and businesses are saying, "We Are Still In." Together, these non-federal actors have rallied their commitments in order to ensure the U.S. meets its Paris Agreement climate goals – with or without Washington.

Even before the declaration of the America’s Pledge initiative, organizations and individuals have been working to transition America to cleaner energy. On this anniversary of the Trump administration’s pull-out of the Paris Agreement, we revisit a recent episode of the show in which Katherine Oliver speaks to two local leaders working to move the U.S. beyond coal – who were also featured in From the Ashes, a documentary film about the future and legacy of America’s coal industry.

The heart of Athens historic center is experiencing a revival. The 27-acre district is bounded by three of Athens’ most historic squares: Syntagma, Ommonia, and Monistraki. The Commercial Triangle, locally referred to as “Trigono,” is a working district, with commercial activity dating back to the 19th century.

This episode features conversations with Alexandros Kambouroglou, the Executive Director of the Athens Partnership, and Elina Dallas, the Project Manager for the Trigono program. Jake Elder of Bloomberg Associates Sustainability Team joined them in Athens.

The United Nations International Coral Reef Initiative has declared 2018 the International Year of the Reef. Coral reefs are home to one in every four fish in the ocean, and are a critical backbone of ocean ecosystems. Unfortunately, climate change and destructive fishing practices threatens to destroy 90 percent of reefs in the next three decades.

Bloomberg Philanthropies Vibrant Oceans Initiative is working to replenish fish populations and create a more sustainable environment.

We re-visit the Vibrant Oceans Initiative with a rebroadcast of our show featuring a conversation between Andy Sharpless, the Chief Executive Officer of Oceana, and Melissa Wright from the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Environment team.

In the United States, over two million people are addicted to opioids and an average of 115 people die every day from opioid overdoses. It is a complicated issue that requires multifaceted solutions, with engagement and action from many stakeholders.

In this episode, Dr. Kelly Henning, Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Public Health Program Lead, speaks with Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, Vice Dean for Public Health Practice and Community Engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is also director of the school's Bloomberg American Health Initiative, which was launched with a $300 million gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Dr. Henning and Dr. Sharfstein dive deeper into the opioid epidemic, addressing the factors that contributed to increased opioid use in America, harm reduction strategies and treatment options that can be implemented in American healthcare systems, and lessons-learned by American and global communities.

The American Talent Initiative (ATI) has united schools with the joint mission to enroll 50,000 additional talented, low- and moderate-income students at institutions of higher education with strong graduation rates – by 2025. As of the date of recording this episode of Follow the Data, 96 schools are members of ATI, and the group continues to grow.

ATI Steering Committee member and Franklin & Marshall College President, Dan Porterfield, spoke to Howard Wolfson, who leads Bloomberg Philanthropies education program, about the power of uniting schools in their mission to execute a “talent strategy.”