#impact: Social Impact | Social Entrepreneurship | Social Good

What if the biggest barrier to solving climate change, inequality, or the AI revolution isn't a lack of technology, but a lack of human skills?

In this episode, Regina sits down with Alice Schmidt, a leading voice on sustainable transformation, to unpack the question that's often missing from conversations about the future: Who do we need to become to create the world we want to live in?

Together, they explore why resilience, empathy, courage, self-awareness, and the ability to navigate complexity may be just as important as innovation itself. Alice explains why the Inner Development Goals are gaining momentum around the world and why looking inward should never become an excuse for avoiding the urgent action that needs to happen today.

The conversation takes us from Viktor Frankl's powerful insights on hope and survival to the opportunities and ethical dilemmas of artificial intelligence. Alice shares why she's optimistic about AI, not because the technology is inherently good, but because its impact depends on the values of the people building and using it.

You'll also hear about the World Climate Game, an immersive experience that leaves participants seeing global challenges (and their own ability to influence them!)in a completely different way.

This episode is an invitation to think bigger, lead differently, and remember that lasting change doesn't happen by choosing between inner work and outer action. We need both.

If you've ever wondered how one person can make a meaningful difference in a world that feels increasingly complex, this conversation will leave you with more hope, more questions, and perhaps a little more courage to use your own voice.

Connect with our guest

• Alice Schmidt: Website | LinkedIn | Sustainability Puzzle | Weltklimaspiel
• Weitblick GmbH: Website | LinkedIn

Connect with the #impact team

• #impact | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn | [email protected]
• Share your voice on #impact HERE.

How are you making an impact? What are you building, creating, or changing in the world? And how can we support you? Between our in-depth conversations, we want to make space for more voices from around the world. Here are a few Voices of Impact we've received recently. We'd love to hear yours too. Share your voice at www.hashtagimpact.com/more.

3 inspiring stories, 3 strong voices. And so much impact! Thank you for making an #impact, Imogen!

About Imogen:

Story has always been central to what I do. I wrote my first novel at sixteen (long before I understood storytelling!) and later spent twelve years in corporate communications across London, Sydney, and Hong Kong. Those years showed me how powerfully language shapes belief, behaviour, and momentum—especially in moments of change.

Today, I run the Asia business for Write the Talk, working with leaders and organisations to help them navigate complexity with clarity and confidence.

Alongside this, I've built a creative life as a writer and screen storyteller. I co-founded an Australian production company focused on telling fierce female stories, producing award-winning work that has reached audiences around the world. I have two novels coming out this year, published by independent publishers in the US and Europe.

Across everything I do, story is the through-line. It's how change becomes human, how leadership builds trust, and how people find the confidence to speak in their own voice. And perhaps most importantly, how we find our tribe.

Connect with Imogen Short:

• Linkedin: https://hk.linkedin.com/in/imogenshort
• Website: https://writethetalk.com

Thank you for making an #impact, Adetayo "Tutipsy"!

About Adetayo "Tutipsy":

Adetayo "Tutipsy" Manuwa is a Nigerian-born musical artist, keynote speaker and founder of the One Community Project in Germany. His work uses music, dance, storytelling and small human encounters to build trust across cultures and generations. Through his award-winning community work, TEDx Talk The Power of Small Encounters, documentary Noch einmal Walzer and creative workshops with young people, seniors and children from vulnerable backgrounds, Adetayo explores how simple moments of connection can challenge prejudice, reduce loneliness and help people feel seen.

Connect with Adetayo "Tutipsy" Manuwa:

• Website: 🌐 https://tutipsy.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tutipsy
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adetayo-tutipsy-manuwa-60bba0150/

Thank you for making an #impact, Tony!

About Tony:

Tony Loyd is a former Fortune 500 executive who knows what it means to endure.

As a lifelong marathoner, Tony has raced across continents, always chasing something deeper than a finish line. But in 2025, everything changed. After cancer surgery reduced his lung capacity by 25 percent, he faced a different kind of endurance challenge: learning how to keep going when the path forward looks nothing like the one behind you.

Now he's training for the 2026 Age Group World Championship marathon—on a mission to discover what it takes to get 100 percent out of 75 percent of his lungs. That journey—equal parts grit, humility, and science—mirrors the message he brings to leaders around the world.

Tony is a TEDx speaker, best-selling author, and host of Social Entrepreneur, a podcast ranked in the top 1 percent globally. Through keynotes, workshops, and executive coaching, he equips mission-driven leaders to endure, adapt, and create lasting impact.

Tony's message isn't about "bouncing back." It's about moving forward—deliberately, authentically, and together. Because resilience isn't an individual trait. It's embedded in the organization's texture.

That is The Endurance Advantage.

Connect with Tony Loyd:

• Website: https://cultureshift.com

Connect with the #impact podcast team at: www.hashtagimpact.com or email us at [email protected]

In this episode of #impact, we hear from Sarah LaPham, director of A Different Story in Amsterdam.

A Different Story was born out of our experience of parents to a little boy living with a rare neurological disease. From obtaining a diagnosis to finding quality care to fighting for accessible education and to building a supportive community, their experience in this journey is the foundation of A Different Story.

Together in conversation with Sarah is Nina Aziz Justin, another mother from the same community, whose story holds an almost uncanny connection. The two first met in a global Facebook group for families navigating rare conditions only to later discover they live in the same neighbourhood in Amsterdam, with children the same age.

What unfolds is a conversation about what often remains invisible: the quiet isolation that can come with raising a child whose needs don't fit into familiar categories. The subtle, often unspoken shame that can arise not from the child themselves, but from a world that doesn't always know how to meet differences with understanding. And the concept of "living loss" — the ongoing experience of holding deep love and deep grief at the same time, every single day.

At the heart of it all is one clear thread: what changes when people are truly seen. Not fixed. Not pitied. But met in a real community.

Through A Different Story, that kind of space has been growing in Amsterdam since 2022 — centering care intensity rather than diagnosis. Monthly in-person gatherings with childcare, online meetups, and spaces where children aged 8–16 can simply be children, while parents are given something many of them rarely experience: a breath.

Sarah also makes an important call for what needs to follow — more awareness, more curiosity, more empathy, and yes, more funding, so that this kind of support stops being the exception and becomes part of how we care for one another.

There is something very humbling about seeing how a community can form like this. And then watching it grow into something that now reaches across cities and countries, holding people who might otherwise never find each other.

Small moments of recognition.

Someone saying: me too. I get it.

After you listened, we have a feeling you will never look at community building the same way again.

Connect with our guests:

Sarah LaPham: LinkedIn |

A Different Story: Website | Instagram | LinkedIn | DONATE NOW

Nina Aziz Justin: Website | LinkedIn | Nina's book: The Home Within

Connect with the #impact team

#impact | Website | Instagram | LinkedIn | [email protected]

Share your voice at #impact HERE

How are you making an impact? What are you building, creating, or changing in the world? And how can we support you? Between our in-depth conversations, we want to make space for more voices from around the world. Here are a few Voices of Impact we've received recently. We'd love to hear yours too. Share your voice at www.hashtagimpact.com/more.

We got a voice note! Thank you for being a voice for #impact! Thank you for making an #impact, Joanne!

Joanne shares:

I am a mom of two beautiful children - Skye (11 yo) and Harris (8 yo) I am a TEDx Speaker but I just did it last week so there is no official videos yet. I am an ICF Master Certified Coach (MCC), only 5% of ICF certified coaches are MCCs in the world.

Connect with Joanne Hay:

• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/joannehay
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/beyoubook/

Thank you for making an #impact, Rhoda!

Rhoda shares:

I am a specialist in the relational and organisational impact of work-related travel on couples and families.

With over 20 years of first-hand experience being married to a frequently travelling partner — including time living apart in fragile contexts— I bring both professional and experiential insight into the intention required to sustain relationships, parenting, and careers across distance.

My expertise includes supporting individuals and organisations in managing the relational, emotional, and practical dimensions of travel-heavy roles. I work at the intersection of family wellbeing, talent recruitment & retention, intercultural communication, and sustainable career pathways.

Connect with Rhoda Bangerter:

• Website: 🌐 rhodabangerter.com
• Podcast: Holding the fort abroad
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhodabangerter/

Thank you for making an #impact, Nina!

Nina shares:

I am Malaysian, married to a Frenchman, have lived across multiple countries, and still haven't found a simple satisfactory answer to the question, "Where are you from?" … but I'm equally happy discussing food, long distance running and why some of life's biggest lessons arrive disguised as detours!

Connect with Nina Aziz Justin:

• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/ninaazizjustin
• Website: https://theresiliencementor.com

Connect with the #impact podcast team at: www.hashtagimpact.com or email us at [email protected]

Share your voice at www.hashtagimpact.com/more

What does it actually take to see yourself as a changemaker?

In this episode of #impact, you meet Stephanie Cox, Country Director of Ashoka Austria. Ashoka is the world's largest network of social entrepreneurs.

But this conversation isn't just about titles or achievements.

It's about a girl growing up in a small Austrian village who kept asking questions. Who didn't quite accept "that's just how it is." And who followed that instinct all the way to co-founding one of Europe's largest career fairs for refugees…and becoming one of the youngest members of the Austrian parliament.

Stephanie shares what it really means to challenge the status quo, not in theory, but in everyday decisions. We talk about raising your voice (even when it shakes), finding allies, and why systemic change is never a solo climb.

One concept I especially loved: her idea of "Courage Fuel Stations." Spaces where we refill. Where we remember who we are. Where we borrow courage from each other when ours runs low.

This episode is about leadership, yes. But it's also about belonging. Resilience. And the many mountains we climb when we decide to care.

If you've ever wondered whether you're "the kind of person" who creates change, this conversation might gently challenge that.

Connect with our guest:

• Stephanie Cox LinkedIn |
• Ashoka Austria: Website

Mentioned in this episode:

• #impact episode feat. Ashoka Fellow Jimmy Westerheim | Impact on a small scale. Listen here.
• #impact episode feat. Natalie Chan. | A decade of building with purpose. Listen here.

Share your voice on #impact at www.hashtagimpact.com/more

Share your voice note with our listeners at www.hashtagimpact.com/more We are so curious to hear how you are making an impact.

Thank you for making an #impact, Johannes & the andererseits team!

About andererseits:

We are changing journalism!

ACCESSIBLE We are a magazine about disability and society. People with and without disabilities work together. Together, we create the kind of journalism that has been missing.

CRITICAL We help you understand disabilities and expose the injustices and systemic issues surrounding the topic. We decide how we report. Our funding comes from our subscribers.

Connect with Johannes and the andererseits team:

• https://www.andererseits.org
• Support their fundraising & subscribe at https://www.andererseits.org/abo/

Connect with the #impact team: [email protected] www.hashtagimpact.com

Share your voice note at www.hashtagimpact.com/more

Thank you for making an #impact, Regina.

Regina shared:

"Motherhood is really beautiful and really hard. Care work is still so often overlooked, underappreciated, and uncompensated in many ways. Yet raising the next generation of kind and caring humans will impact every aspect of our future. This moment captured at bedtime, the voices, laughter, and chaos of my young children, is what drives me to keep showing up for the impact I want to make, both within my family and out in the world."

Connect with Regina Larko:

• www.hashtagimpact.com
• www.reginalarko.com
• Linkedin

Connect with the #impact team: [email protected]

www.hashtagimpact.com

Share how you are making an impact at www.hashtagimpact.com/more

Thank you for making an #impact, Forrest.

Forrest shares:

'This matters to me beyond media. Wine isn't just a product — it supports farmers, small businesses, tourism, and entire local economies. But the industry is losing market share, especially with younger consumers, and when they disengage, those communities feel it first. What I strive in building helps reverse that trend — bringing wine back into top-of-mind relevance by making it feel natural, modern, and inclusive instead of intimidating or outdated. I'd like to think I'm not just creating content — I'm helping reconnect a new generation to an industry that depends on them. If we don't bring a new generation into wine, the industry doesn't just shrink — it fades."

Connect with Forrest Kelly:

• www.thebestwinepodcast.com

Connect with the #impact team: [email protected]

www.hashtagimpact.com

Share your voice note with us at www.hashtagimpact.com/more

Thank you for making an #impact, Andreea!

Andrea is an advocate for multicultural, cross-border storytelling. She is also founder of HerTime Romania, a non-profit dedicated to young women's leadership and development. Andreea is also Co-Founder of PodVision as well as Founder and editor of Eurowaves, the go-to European podcasting newsletter.

Connect with Andreea Coscai:

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreea-coscai/
• https://www.instagram.com/hertimeromania/
• https://pod.vision/
• https://eurowaves.substack.com
• https://hertimeromania.com

Share your voice with any throught or question you are pondering around impact making at www.hashtagimpact.com/more

Thank you for making an #impact, Taylor!

20 Years old, Global peace builder & connector. Traveled across 5 continents doing peace and youth development work. Serving as Deputy Director of KidsKonnectUkraine.

Connect with Taylor Thigpen at Kids Konnect Ukraine:

• https://kidskonnectukraine.org/
• https://www.instagram.com/kidskonnectukraine/

Connect with the #impact team at [email protected]

www.hashtagimpact.com