#plugintodevin - Your Mark on the World with Devin Thorpe

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Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/296yk9I.

Over the past few years, countless people have told me how important it is to learn from and partner with those we hope to serve in order to serve them effectively. Celeste Mergens, founder of the nonprofit Days for Girls, is the best case study for proving that principle that I’ve encountered in years of reporting on social impact.

Days for Girls works to provide girls and young women with feminine hygiene products to enable them to attend school and work, giving them five more days per month in school or at work learning or being productive. Working in 101 countries, Celeste is truly is making a dent in the universe.

Over the past few weeks, Celeste–Washington State’s 2014 Mother of the Year–has been working on some lessons she could share with us about being more effective in our development efforts. She calls them her “5 Keys to Reversing Cycles of Poverty.”

Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/296yk9I.

Need a speaker for an event, learn more about Devin Thorpe at devinthorpe.com.

Never miss another interview! Join Devin here: http://bit.ly/joindevin.

Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/293gwZy.

Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher.

As a teenager playing in the waves in Hawaii, I had a wave crash down on my back. The impact instantly paralyzed me, perhaps out of fear. As I floated beneath the surface of the water my life in a wheelchair flashed in front of my eyes. It was one of the most vivid experiences of my life. Fortunately, I walked away from the experience.

Of course, many people don’t walk away. Some of them don’t have the relative luxury of living in the developed world with access to leading edge treatment and fail to reach their full potential.

Morocco is one such place. There, Mohammed Sbia has launched MAIR in 2015 to provide treatment to people with spinal cord injuries. Zahra Charity is a U.S.-based nonprofit he organized to fund and support MAIR.

He explains, “Lack of neuro-rehabilitation care in Morocco and tragic subsequent, very high level of disabilities and/or death among patient population that is suffering of neurological conditions. Most of these patients would have a normal life if given access to adequate neuro-rehabilitation.”

The impact on individuals is dramatic. “We have helped many patients so far, some of whom are truly amazing medical stories of life-changing recovery,” he says.

Mohammed plans to continue to grow MAIR until it is internationally recognized. He hopes to serve “as many needy patient as possible, while developing education and research programs that will allow significant, long-term improvement of neurological rehabilitative care in Morocco.”

Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/293gwZy.

Need a speaker for an event, learn more about Devin Thorpe at devinthorpe.com.

Never miss another interview! Join Devin here: http://bit.ly/joindevin.

Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/296CBda.

Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher.

Lindsey Kneuven, Chief Impact Officer at venture-backed Cotopaxi, recently told me, “Businesses can be a force for immense good; let’s ensure they do good well.”

At the moment, she’s focused on making sure that Cotopaxi does good well. The social enterprise is scaling quickly and her role is to ensure that they don’t lose focus on the targeted impact.

Lindsey brings valuable experience to Cotopaxi, having spent time with the Silicon Valley Community Foundation helping some of the area’s largest companies with their corporate philanthropy. She is concerned that startups today need to become more disciplined to have the impact they want.

She asks, “As more young companies build models that integrate their social and environmental goals, how do we create a movement to ensure that they are leveraging best practices from the development sector? How we capitalize on the enthusiasm for social impact in a way that ensure models are informed, that effective solutions/interventions are prioritized, builds on the collective impact model, and prevents the dilution of donor dollars?”

The type of legal structure a company uses has an impact on its ability and commitment to having an impact. “Cotopaxi incorporated as a Benefit Corporation and was the first company to take this structure and then receive venture funding. We are committed to infusing social impact and sustainability into all aspects of our work. This takes shape in our giving, our employee engagement, our supply chain, our operations and our design and development philosophy,” she says.

One of the challenges she faces in her work at Cotopaxi is dealing with the rapidly changing context of her work. With rapid changes in supply chain, for instance, she must quickly react to ensure that each supplier meets the company’s impact standards, stretching her capacity.

Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/296CBda.

Need a speaker for an event, learn more about Devin Thorpe at devinthorpe.com.

Never miss another interview! Join Devin here: http://bit.ly/joindevin.

Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/296pqVY.

Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher.

Dr. Laura Lemle’s daughter was diagnosed with NVLD when she was five years old. Dr. Lemle had earned a PhD in clinical psychology decades ago, before getting into the real estate business. Now, applying her entrepreneurial skills to a social problem close to home, she’s launched a nonprofit, The NVLD Project, to help kids with NVLD.

Dr. Lemle, motivated by a desire to change the world for her daugther’s benefit, is moving quickly to build a top-flight advisory board and begin its work of helping those with NVLD and other social and spatial disabilities to lead more complete lives.

Up to this point, Dr. Lemle has provided most of the funding for the nonprofit, but the team is still small with just two other people on staff with her. Growing the organization’s impact will require growing its revenue.

Who hasn’t misread a social situation and felt embarrassed as a result? While that is the fertile soil that comedy writers use for sitcoms, imagine being unable to read social situations correctly.

Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/296pqVY.

Need a speaker for an event, learn more about Devin Thorpe at devinthorpe.com.

Never miss another interview! Join Devin here: http://bit.ly/joindevin.

Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/28Lk5mF.

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When Whitney Houston first sang “I believe the children are our future…” in 1986 it was certainly considered an inspiring ballad. Flash forward 30 years and there are plenty of reasons to worry that children aren’t prepared for the fast-moving, technologically intense future we’ve created for them.

Lindsey Mangone is the founder and Executive Director of the Audacious Institute, a for-profit social enterprise that empowers and inspires high school students to meet the social and technological challenges of our day.

Lindsey explains the problem as she sees it. “Today’s youth are struggling in a changing economy in part because they’re vastly unprepared for 21st century jobs. Traditional K-12 schools are failing to teach the skills youth need to succeed in the marketplace, such as problem solving, creativity, and critical thinking.”

“Before they set foot on a college campus,” she adds, “teens need ample opportunities to build the mindset, 21st century skills, and networks that will prepare them for jobs of the future. Teens also need exposure to authentic, real-world experiences pre-college to help inform fundamental college and career decisions.”

Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/28Lk5mF.

Need a speaker for an event, learn more about Devin Thorpe at devinthorpe.com.

Never miss another interview! Join Devin here: http://bit.ly/joindevin.

Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/2928Muj.

Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher.

Did the people who met Steve Jobs in 1976 have any inkling that they were talking to the person whose name would for a generation be synonymous with “entrepreneur”? More often, people have believed to have found the next incarnation of Jobs only to be disappointed. Perhaps you can help me determine if the subject of this article could become the Steve Jobs of impact investing.

From my perch in Salt Lake City on the west side of the Rockies, over the last few years I’ve been hearing rumblings from the other side of the mountains. In Denver, Dr. Stephanie Gripne has created one of the most dynamic centers of impact investing and social entrepreneurship in the world. With a goal to catalyze impact investments of over $1 trillion and a plan to get there, it is about time that people outside the Rocky Mountains took note.

Dr. Gripne founded the Impact Finance Center as a partnership between the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business and the Sustainable Endowments Institute, a special project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.

In 2014, the Center launched the CO Impact Days and Initiative with a three year goal to catalyze $100 million of impact investment in Colorado-based social ventures. The event has grown into a marketplace for impact investing.

Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/2928Muj.

Need a speaker for an event, learn more about Devin Thorpe at devinthorpe.com.

Never miss another interview! Join Devin here: http://bit.ly/joindevin.

Read the full GoodCrowdinfo article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/28NEvL6.

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Laurie Carey is an educator and consultant who provides “brain-based professional development for the classroom, the conference room and the boardroom.” She is the founder of both Laurie Carey Consulting and the nonprofit We Connect the Dots. Laurie was introduced to us by our sponsor, Eclat Impact.

We Connect the Dots is currently in the midst of a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo with the audacious goal to raise $1 million for STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) education.

Laurie connected with me to share some insights for us on operating in a more “brain-friendly” way. She says, “Understanding how your brain works, allows you to communicate better, to be a better leader, to be a better teacher, to be a better parent, and to handle life’s challenges both professionally and personally.”

Here are her three observations:

Life is just a state of mind:

The key to successfully developing positive change is to apply brain-friendly coaching to support the ability to shift from being uncomfortable to getting comfortable. Change can be difficult, and we can get caught up in our own brain bias, which prevents us from moving forward or stretching outside our comfort zone. The insight to solving problems can be right in front of us, but we can be blinded by our own bias without consciously even knowing it.

Read the full GoodCrowdinfo article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/28NEvL6.

Need a speaker for an event, learn more about Devin Thorpe at devinthorpe.com.

Never miss another interview! Join Devin here: http://bit.ly/joindevin.

Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/28QSft9.

Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher.

One of Utah’s leading nonprofit fundraising professionals recently left the Community Foundation of Utah where I serve on the board to launch her own business serving nonprofits. Katherine Fife is the founder of Philanthropy Matters.

Katherine recently share three tips with me for more effective philanthropy. I’ll share them here:

1. Giving options are multiplying. The philanthropic landscape is changing, both for those who make charitable gifts, as well as for those who are receiving them and putting them to work for social good. The options for giving are growing exponentially and charitable giving is no longer as simple as writing a check. Gifts are made for more personal reasons and based upon impact.

2. Investing parallels giving. More and more philanthropists are beginning to mirror their philanthropic giving with their personal financial investments. In the past, philanthropists and donors would manage their charitable giving in a completely separate way from their financial investments. In many circumstances, the two were often in conflict with one another. Today, social and financial returns are now being integrated and can even have complimentary portfolios.

Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/28QSft9.

Need a speaker for an event, learn more about Devin Thorpe at devinthorpe.com.

Never miss another interview! Join Devin here: http://bit.ly/joindevin.

Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1Ubin42.

Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher.

Imagine life for a moment without an economic identity, without credit, without a bank account, without access to the financial system. What would life be like if you were limited to cash or barter transactions?

It might be a bit like living in the dark ages with a window to the 21st century. You could see a life that others were living that is nothing like your own, like seeing a Toyota truck go by without ever conceiving of owning one.

Providing people with an economic identity sufficiently strong for storing money efficiently and conducting trade isn’t the solution to all the problems the world’s poorest people face, but it is a piece of the puzzle that could allow them to join us in the 21st century.

BanQu is a startup that is working on just this problem.

Founder Ashish Gadnis says, “There are 60 million refugees and over 2 billion people in extreme poverty. Most of them are without an economic identity. This holds them back and keeps them in camps and suffering.”

Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1Ubin42.

Need a speaker for an event, learn more about Devin Thorpe at devinthorpe.com.

Never miss another interview! Join Devin here: http://bit.ly/joindevin.

Read the full GoodCrowdinfo article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1USoswe.

Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher.

Todd Crosland, CEO of Seed Equity Ventures, shared some insights about investing in startups on the platform. While these steps are tuned to the Seed Equity platform, keep in mind that the process is similar across most all startup investing websites.

STEP 1: Sign Up and Join Seed Equity

At this time, Seed Equity only accepts investments from accredited investors, those well-healed investors with a net worth (excluding their primary residences) of at least $1 million or consistent personal annual incomes of at least $200,000. Seed Equity is evaluating interest from ordinary investors to participate under the newly issued rule for Regulation Crowdfunding.

A growing number of platforms now accept investments in startups from ordinary investors. Learn more here.

STEP 2: Customize Deal Flow

We will ask questions during your on-boarding process to help customize your Seed Equity experience according the preferences you indicate.

Customize your investment goals by telling us how much you have put aside to invest and what portion of that you would like to invest in startups.

STEP 3: Browse Investment Opportunities

At any given time, the companies listed at Seed Equity Ventures will change as deals are funded and new opportunities are listed.

Read the full GoodCrowdinfo article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1USoswe.

Need a speaker for an event, learn more about Devin Thorpe at devinthorpe.com.