Lead With We

It’s hard to overstate Paul Hawken’s contribution to transforming the relationship between humanity, business and the natural world. His books and leadership have built the foundation and laid out the roadmap for how we work together to address the climate crisis. It was a privilege to speak with him about his new book: Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation.

In this episode of Lead With We, Paul and I talk about what “regeneration” means, the actions business and humanity must take to end the climate crisis in one generation, and where we stand as a business community when it comes to authentically embracing the practices that will regenerate and nurture life on earth. 

Paul Hawken:

Paul Hawken starts ecological businesses, writes about nature and commerce, and consults with heads of state and CEOs on climatic, economic and ecological regeneration. He has appeared on numerous media including the Today Show, Talk of the Nation, Bill Maher, CBS This Morning, Charlie Rose, and others, and his work has been profiled or featured in hundreds of articles including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Newsweek, Washington Post, Forbes, and Business Week. He has written nine books including five national and New York Times bestsellers: Growing a Business, The Next Economy, The Ecology of Commerce, Blessed Unrest and Drawdown. He is published in 30 languages and his books are available in over 80 countries having sold more than two million copies. His last book, Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming debuted on April 18, 2017 as a New York Times bestseller and is currently in seventeen other languages. He is the founder of Project Drawdown, which worked with over two hundred scholars, students, scientists, researchers, and activists to map, measure, and model the one hundred most substantive solutions that can cumulatively reverse global warming. He is the founder of Regeneration.org and his new book, Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation, is published by Penguin Random House launching September 21st, 2021.

Simon Mainwaring:

Simon Mainwaring is a brand futurist, keynote speaker, and bestselling author. He is best known as the author of We First: How Brands and Consumers Use Social Media to Build a Better World and his upcoming book, Lead With We: The Business Revolution That Will Save Our Future; as the Founder and CEO of We First, an award-winning strategic consultancy that works with purpose-led companies to build their brand strategy, company culture, and impact storytelling; and as the author of the influential ‘Purpose At Work’ column in Forbes and host of the podcast, Lead With We.

This episode of Lead With We was produced and edited by Goal 17 Media and is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. You can also watch episodes on YouTube at WeFirstTV.

Resources

Learn more about Paul’s work at regeneration.org

Connect with Paul on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/paul-hawken-0792b/

For case studies and other free resources about purposeful business, go to WeFirstBranding.com

Simon’s new book, Lead With We, is now available for pre-order on Amazon, Google Books and Barnes & Noble. Check it out!

Common Future is a mission-driven non-profit organization that has diverted nearly $300 million into marginalized communities through grants and low-barrier loans since 2001. And they just received a game-changing gift from philanthropist Mackenzie Scott.

It was a pleasure to chat with CEO Rodney Foxworth on the precipice of this new chapter for Common Future. We spoke about his plans for building up this BIPOC-led organization to close the racial wealth gap in America, how his own experiences with racism inform this work, and how he and his team are building a powerful network of “wealth-holders” and “wealth-builders” to create lasting change.

Rodney Foxworth

Rodney is CEO of Common Future. Before joining the organization in 2018, he founded Invested Impact, a consulting firm that directed investment capital to underrepresented social entrepreneurs through foundations, financial institutions, and policy organizations, including Annie E. Casey Foundation, Aspen Institute, Calvert Impact Capital, Greater Washington Community Foundation, Legg Mason, and T. Rowe Price Foundation. Rodney has also held leadership positions at the Warnock Foundation, a venture philanthropy affiliated with the private equity firm Camden Partners, BMe, a national social entrepreneur network for African American men, and Job Opportunities Task Force, a policy advocacy and workforce development organization.

An inaugural Ford Foundation Global Fellow, Rodney serves on the board of directors of Nonprofit Finance Fund and Race Forward, and the steering committee of Justice Funders. He has spoken atSocial Finance Forum, Council on Foundations, Global Philanthropy Forum, SOCAP, Open Markets Institute, Skoll World Forum, Brookings Institution, and other stages. His writing has appeared in publications such as Boston Review, Chronicle of Philanthropy, and Nonprofit Quarterly, and he has been featured in Conscious Company, Devex, Forbes, ImpactAlpha,Inside Philanthropy, and The New York Times.

Resources

Learn more about Common Future

Connect with Rodney on LinkedIn

For case studies and other free resources about purposeful business, go to WeFirstBranding.com

Simon’s new book, Lead With We, is now available for pre-order on Amazon, Google Books and Barnes & Noble. Check it out!

Deanna Bratter heads up sustainability at the world’s largest public benefit corporation: Danone North America. It’s a $6 billion food and beverage company with a massive portfolio of well-known brands.

It was so refreshing to get Deanna’s perspective on finding the intersections between purpose and profit when advocating for change within a behemoth organization. We also spoke about the responsibility of not only being a B Corp but also a Benefit Corporation and how that has helped Danone set benchmarks for progress across all parts of their business, and how COVID spurred optimism amongst sustainability practitioners.

This episode of Lead With We was produced and edited by Goal 17 Media and is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. You can also watch episodes on YouTube at WeFirstTV.

Resources:

Learn more about Danone North America's "One Planet. One Health" Vision

Connect with Deanna on LinkedIn

For case studies and other free resources about purposeful business, go to WeFirstBranding.com

Simon’s new book, Lead With We, is now available for pre-order on Amazon, Google Books and Barnes & Noble. Check it out!

Deanna Bratter:

Deanna Bratter is the Head of Sustainable Development for Danone North America, where she drives strategy and programs to support the interconnectivity between the health of people and the planet. Recently, Deanna led the company’s B Corp Certification, completing it in just one year, two years ahead of its publicly announced 2020 goal. Deanna previously led Corporate Sustainability at WhiteWave Foods where she developed the company’s Values in Action employee engagement program and led the journey to 100% certified sustainable palm oil and cocoa powder, before WhiteWave was acquired by Danone. In addition to completing Six Sigma Management and GRI training, Deanna holds dual bachelor degrees from the University of South Florida and certifications from the University of Denver in Sustainability Leadership and Implementation and Harvard Business School in Sustainability and Corporate Performance.

Simon Mainwaring: 

Simon Mainwaring is a brand futurist, global keynote speaker, and bestselling author. He is best known as the author of We First: How Brands and Consumers Use Social Media to Build a Better World and the Founder and CEO of We First, a strategic consultancy that works with brands to define their business strategy, company culture, and brand communications.

Rachel Lincoln loved fashion, but she didn’t love how she saw the industry treating workers and the planet. So she joined a small California-based activewear brand prAna and worked her way to Director of Sustainability where she is now transforming the entire industry through the Responsible Packaging Movement (RPM). RPM is a coalition of pre-competitive brands who share knowledge and practices that reduce packaging waste and promote the use of sustainable materials and a powerful example of leading with we.

In this episode Rachel and I chat about this unique collaboration in the sustainability space, the evolution of sustainability in consumer products, and how she, her team, and the 80+ brands who are a part of RPM are making a substantive effort to save the planet. 

Rachel Lincoln:

Rachel K. Lincoln is a sustainability business strategist, connecting product, process,and sustainability within apparel brands. Over the last 11 years at prAna Living, a Southern California apparel brand rooted in sustainability, she has driven the implementation of bluesign® certified products, helped to launch Fair Trade™ Certified products,and been an instrumental contributor to the company’s double-digit growth year over year. She is driven by closing the loop on circularity within the apparel industry, creating humanity in manufacturing, and the promotion of a work/life balance. Rachel serves as a connector between sustainability and a product creation team of designers, developers, tech, and sourcing specialists. Born and raised in California and a graduate of FIDM, she is currently raising two young girls to be strong, independent thought leaders.

Simon Mainwaring: 

Simon Mainwaring is a brand futurist, global keynote speaker, and bestselling author. He is best known as the author of We First: How Brands and Consumers Use Social Media to Build a Better World and the Founder and CEO of We First, a strategic consultancy that works with brands to define their business strategy, company culture, and brand communications.

This episode of Lead With We was produced and edited by Goal 17 Media and is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. You can also watch episodes on YouTube at WeFirstTV.

Learn more about prAna's Responsible Packaging Movement

Connect with Rachel on LinkedIn

For case studies and other free resources about purposeful business, go to WeFirstBranding.com

Simon’s new book, Lead With We, is now available for pre-order on Amazon, Google Books and Barnes & Noble. Check it out!

Whether you know it or not, JUST Capital is playing a crucial role in business by supplying the economy with critical knowledge that holds companies accountable based on what they hear directly from the American public and how the American public believes they should behave.

In this episode, JUST Capital CEO Martin Whittaker and I had a thought-provoking conversation around the present and future of business. We explored how JUST’s public rankings help direct market forces to build a better future, where we are in the journey towards stakeholder capitalism, why it’s absolutely necessary to create a more equitable economy, and what business leaders can do to bring about this change.

This episode of Lead With We was produced and edited by Goal 17 Media and is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. You can also watch episodes on YouTube at WeFirstTV.

Martin Whittaker

Martin Whittaker is the founding CEO of JUST Capital and is responsible for the overall leadership of the organization. He is also co-founder and Board member of the CREO Syndicate, a family office investment network; a Board member of the Carbon Disclosure Project U.S.; and a member of the Forbes Finance Council and Forbes Contributor. Some of Martin’s previous work includes co-founding the impact investing firm Sonen Capital and serving as the Director of MissionPoint Capital Partners, a family office-led private equity firm. Martin received his Ph.D. from University of Edinburgh, an MBA from the University of London, an M.Sc. from McGill University and a B.Sc. from University of St. Andrews.

Resources:

Learn more about JUST Capital

Connect with Martin on LinkedIn

For case studies and other free resources about purposeful business, go to WeFirstBranding.com

Simon’s new book, Lead With We, is now available for pre-order on Amazon, Google Books and Barnes & Noble. Check it out!

Diversity, equity and inclusion should be top of mind for any business leader, but we don’t often think about age when it comes to DEI.

In this episode of Lead With We, I’m sharing a conversation with AARP’s Jean Accius, who shared some fascinating research about how businesses benefit from a multigenerational workforce. We talked about why age diversity is a competitive advantage, how businesses can be more inclusive of workers over 50, and what Jean thinks the private sector can learn from nonprofit leadership.

This episode of Lead With We was produced and edited by Goal 17 Media and is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. You can also watch episodes on YouTube at WeFirstTV.

Jean Accius

Dr. Jean Accius is an internationally recognized thought leader on aging, longevity, equity, health systems transformation and modernizing the delivery and financing of long-term care. As Senior Vice President of Global Thought Leadership at AARP, Jean identifies emerging trends around the world and forges global strategic alliances that become the foundation for collaboration to change systems and improve the lives of the global population as it ages. Jean has been recognized with the Next Avenue’s Influencer in Aging Award (2020), Black Enterprise magazine’s 2018 Modern Man of Distinction and more. He is also a member of G100’s Transformational Leadership Network and completed his doctorate studies in public administration at American University.

Resources

Learn more about AARP

Connect with Jean on LinkedIn

For case studies and other free resources about purposeful business, go to WeFirstBranding.com

Simon’s new book, Lead With We, is now available for pre-order on Amazon, Google Books and Barnes & Noble. Check it out!

As CEO at Urban Remedy, Paul Coletta is pushing back against our industrialized food system by trying to cracking the code to bring ultra fresh, clean, and convenient food to consumers at scale. 

In this episode of Lead With We, Paul and I chatted about their “progress not perfect” approach, taking an omnichannel approach to brand building, nurturing culture, reimagining change with innovative partnerships such as healthcare and hospitals. Hear his vision for how technology could help reduce food waste and make fresh, clean food more accessible. It’s a story of high risk with even higher reward that you’ll want to hear more about.

Paul Coletta:

Paul Coletta is Chief Executive Officer at Urban Remedy, a plant-centric organic food company that seeks to reimagine our industrialized food system and give consumers easy access to ultra-fresh and clean prepared meals. Paul’s background in the food and beverage industry includes serving as the Chief Marketing Officer for Jamba Juice, Pinkberry, and POM Wonderful. Earlier in his career, he held leadership roles with The Walt Disney Company, Viacom and Hewlett-Packard. Paul is on the Board of Directors for Equator Coffee. He is an advisory board member at UC Davis where he is currently working with students, faculty and industry partners to reduce food waste.

Simon Mainwaring:

Simon Mainwaring is a brand futurist, global keynote speaker, and bestselling author. He is best known as the author of We First: How Brands and Consumers Use Social Media to Build a Better World and the Founder and CEO of We First, a strategic consultancy that works with brands to define their business strategy, company culture, and brand communications.

This episode of Lead With We was produced and edited by Goal 17 Media and is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. You can also watch episodes on YouTube at WeFirstTV.

Resources:

Learn more about Urban Remedy

Connect with Paul on LinkedIn

For case studies and other free resources about purposeful business, go to WeFirstBranding.com

Simon’s new book, Lead With We, is now available for pre-order on Amazon, Google Books and Barnes & Noble. Check it out!

As a college student, Ryan Lupberger wanted cleaning products that were actually clean. But even nontoxic brands used wasteful plastic packaging. So he decided to create the eco-friendly, zero-waste cleaning brand, Cleancult.

In this episode of Lead With We Ryan shares how focusing on product efficacy helped everything else fall into place, partnering with CarbonFund to ensure operational sustainability, and the surprising advice he got from his parents for weathering the long and winding journey to business success.

This episode of Lead With We was produced and edited by Goal 17 Media and is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. You can also watch episodes on YouTube at WeFirstTV.

Resources

Learn more about Cleancult

Connect with Ryan on LinkedIn

For case studies and other free resources about purposeful business, go to WeFirstBranding.com

Simon’s new book, Lead With We, is now available for pre-order on Amazon, Google Books and Barnes & Noble. Check it out!

Rebecca Henderson teaches at the Harvard Business School, but she’s a vocal critic of “business as usual.” In fact, her scholarly research focuses on how we need to change capitalism in order to overcome the myriad of crises humanity is facing, and she recently published a book on the topic called “Reimagining Capitalism In A World On Fire.”

Rebecca and I have some things in common, so it was a pleasure to speak with her one-on-one about how we can shift our economic system to drive positive change in the world. It may sound daunting, but she gives some really actionable advice that any business leader or employee can put into practice.

This episode of Lead With We was produced and edited by Goal 17 Media and is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. You can also watch episodes on YouTube at WeFirstTV.

Rebecca Henderson

Rebecca Henderson is one of 25 University Professors at Harvard, a research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a fellow of both the British Academy and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her research explores how the private sector can build a more sustainable economy, focusing particularly on the relationships between organizational purpose, innovation and productivity. Rebecca also sits on the boards of Idexx Laboratories and CERES.

For several years Rebecca taught a Harvard course called “Reimagining Capitalism: Business & the Big Problems”, which is the basis for the newly released Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire – a book that has just been shortlisted for the FT/McKinsey 2020 Business Book of the Year Award. Her other publications include Leading Sustainable Change: An Organizational Perspective, and Accelerating Energy Innovation: Lessons From Multiple Sectors.

Resources

Learn more about Rebecca Henderson

Connect with Rebecca on LinkedIn

For case studies and other free resources about purposeful business, go to WeFirstBranding.com

Simon’s new book, Lead With We, is now available for pre-order on Amazon, Google Books and Barnes & Noble. Check it out!

Rachel and Andy Berliner started Amy’s Kitchen based on their own need. Like many new parents, they needed some convenient meals after the birth of their daughter, Amy. But they couldn’t find high-quality, frozen, organic vegetarian food in stores, so they decided to make it themselves!

In this episode of Lead With We, I spoke with Rachel and Andy about how they helped bring about a major shift in the American food system, and how they built a business that aligns with their values. 

This episode of Lead With We was produced and edited by Goal 17 Media and is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. You can also watch episodes on YouTube at WeFirstTV.

Rachel & Andy Berliner

Rachel & Andy Berliner started Amy’s Kitchen in Petaluma, California in 1987 with a simple mission to make good food for everyone at the table. Their first product was a vegetable pot pie with a flaky, homestyle crust. Today, Amy’s is still family-owned and sells more than 250 products in over 23 countries with the help of over 2,700 employees. 

Resources

Learn more about Amy’s Kitchen

For case studies and other free resources about purposeful business, go to WeFirstBranding.com

Simon’s new book, Lead With We, is now available for pre-order on Amazon, Google Books and Barnes & Noble. Check it out!