The Economics of Sustainable Food: Smart Policies for Health and the Planet! Author of The Economics of Sustainable Food: Smart Policies for Health and the Planet. Nicoletta Batini is the Lead Evaluator of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Independent Evaluation Office. Prior to the IMF, she was Advisor of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, Professor of Economics at the University of Surrey, and Director of the International Economics and Policy Office of the Treasury in Italy. She holds a Ph.D. in international finance (S.S.S.U.P. S. Anna) and a Ph.D. in monetary economics (University of Oxford). Today her research focuses on the economics of energy and land and sea use transitions for climate mitigation. Her new book “The Economics of Sustainable Food: Smart Policies for People and the Planet” was just published by Island Press and the International Monetary Fund.

Leadership Strategy Senior Contributor for Forbes.com and bestselling author of the award-winning “Crisis Ahead: 101 Ways to Prepare for and Bounce Back from Disasters, Scandals, and Other Emergencies" (Nicholas Brealey). "Profit by Publicity" PR guide (iUniverse) and was the basis for a paperback book, e-book, audiobook, and workshops. • Chief Executive Officer. CEO of two non-profit membership organizations. Led and managed the Greater Los Angeles REALTORS® Association, one of the largest regional REALTOR® organizations in the U.S. (more than 9,000 members); previously served as CEO of the Marin Association of REALTORS® in Northern California. • Advocacy. Conducted more than 24 advocacy campaigns for the Maryland Departments of Agriculture and Economic Development, Plastics Industry Association, Airbus, two REALTOR® associations, and others. • Certifications. Earned the Certified Association Executive (CAE) credential from the American Society of Association Executives. The highest professional credential in the association industry, the CAE has been earned by less than 5% of association professionals; it earned the REALTOR® Certified Association Executive (RCE) designation from the National Association of REALTORS®. Edward helps CEOs, entrepreneurs, business owners, board members, and their staff prevent, manage and recover from crisis situations.

Dr. Aravind Chinchure is a renowned academician, a corporate strategist and an innovation leader. He is an expert in the formulation of corporate and governmental policies that influence innovation and research. He holds a PhD in Physics, and has an experience spanning 25 years in R&D, innovation, intellectual property, startup venture investment, policy, social development and teaching.

Dr. Chinchure has worked with many global innovation thought leaders and Nobel laureates on projects of national and regional significance. He credits these associations for shaping his perceptions and expertise around results-driven innovations. He was part of Indian and global research organizations, and large multinational and Indian companies in diverse technology areas, driving innovation in technology as well as leading intellectual property-driven assets creation at workplaces.

He is credited with designing and implementing India’s first two-year residential and experiential MBA course on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, at Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM), Pune. Currently, Dr. Chinchure is the Chair Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Symbiosis International University, Pune, India.

In this episode Mary-Frances Winters, one of the most interesting and insightful voices in race relations, joins Af for a no-holds-barred conversation on D&I in the workplace.

Author of Black Fatigue: How Racism Erodes the Mind, Body, and Spirit, Mary-Frances believes her purpose on earth is to break down barriers and build bridges across differences. She is known to be a provocateur and not afraid to have difficult conversations.

Among her many awards and distinctions, she was named a diversity pioneer by Profiles in Diversity Journal, received the Winds of Change award from the Forum on Workplace Inclusion, and was featured twice in Forbes as one of the DC Metro area’s most powerful women, as well as one of 10 trailblazers in diversity and inclusion. She has served as a torch bearer for the Olympics and has previously been recognized as an Athena Award winner from the Chamber of Commerce for her contributions to women and the community.

In this forward-looking discussion, Af interviews Tony Hughes, the co-author of Tech-Powered Sales: Achieve Superhuman Skills to discuss the ways in which AI is completely changing the game in sales.

Tony is an international keynote speaker, best-selling author, professional selling educator, award-winning blogger and the most read LinkedIn Author globally on the topic of B2B sales leadership.

He is co-founder of Sales IQ Global and also ranked by Top Sales Magazine as the most influential person for professional selling in Asia-Pacific.

With 35 years of sales and business leadership experience, Tony is an experienced CEO and company director having served as Director of Sales for public corporations and as the Asia-pacific Managing Director for a number of tier-one global technology companies.

He teaches 'modernized selling' within the MBA program at the University of Technology, Sydney and has taught for other universities.

Tony serves on a number of advisory boards and his clients include Salesforce, SAP, Docusign, and Adobe, among others.

Sebastian Mallaby is the Paul A. Volcker senior fellow for international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). An experienced journalist and public speaker, Mallaby contributes to a variety of publications, including Foreign Affairs, the Atlantic, the Washington Post, and the Financial Times, where he spent two years as a contributing editor. He is the author of five books, most recently The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Making of the New Future.

His other books include The Man Who Knew (2016), More Money Than God (2010), and The World's Banker (2004).

Join Af as he learns about the incredible advances in DNA manipulation with Kevin Davies, the author of Editing Humanity: The CRISPR Revolution and the New Era of Genome Editing.

Kevin has 30+ years in science publishing as an editor of leading academic journals (with Nature Genetics, Nature and Cell Press); in trade publishing (Bio-IT World), and as a publisher (C&EN). In 2018, he spearheaded the launch of The CRISPR Journal, published by Mary Ann Liebert Inc. His books include "The $1,000 Genome"​ (Free Press, 2010), "Cracking the Genome" (Free Press, 2001), and "Breakthrough: The Race for the Breast Cancer Gene."

Kevin is the founding editor of Nature Genetics, the first offshoot from Nature. He holds an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from Oxford University and a PhD in molecular genetics from the University of London.

With work-from-home and COVID defining a whole new way of relating to work, this is a thought-provoking episode with the author of The Gig Mindset Advantage: Why a Bold New Breed of Employee is Your Organization’s Secret Weapon in Volatile Times 

Jane McConnell is an analyst-practitioner with over 20 years of hands-on advising organizations on their internal digital strategies and 12 years of research. She conducted annual surveys on The Organization in the Digital Age with 300-400 companies around the world, and published annual reports from 2007 through 2017. She created the term "gig mindset" and after 2 years of research (300 organizations globally) and wrote The Gig Mindset Advantage and started the podcast boldnewbreed.com.

Join Af as he interviews Ed Hajim about his memoir, a powerful story touched with family trauma, deprivation, and adversity balanced by a life of hard work and philanthropy!

On the Road Less Traveled is the inspirational story of Edmund A. Hajim, an American financier and philanthropist who rises from dire childhood circumstances to achieve professional success and personal fulfillment. At age three, Hajim is kidnapped by his father, driven from St. Louis to Los Angeles, and told that his mother is dead. His father soon abandons him in order to seek employment—mostly in vain—leaving his son behind in a string of foster homes and orphanages.

This establishes a pattern of neglect and desertion that continues for Hajim’s entire childhood, forever leaving its mark. From one home to another, the lonely boy learns the value of self-reliance and perseverance despite his financial deprivation and the trauma of being an orphan. As time passes, Hajim displays a powerful instinct for survival and a burning drive to excel.

A highly motivated student and athlete, he earns an NROTC college scholarship to the University of Rochester; serves in the United States Navy; works as an application research engineer; then attends Harvard Business School, where he finds that the financial industry is his true calling. So begins his rapid ascent in the corporate world, which includes senior executive positions at E. F. Hutton, Lehman Brothers, and fourteen years as CEO of Furman Selz, growing the company more than tenfold. He also creates a happy and abundant family life, though he never forgets what it means to struggle. At age sixty, he is reminded of his painful past when a family secret emerges that brings the story full circle.

Mick Ryan is a retired major general who served in the ADF for more than 35 years and was commander of the Australia Defence College. He is the author of War Transformed: The Future of 21st Century Great Power Competition and Conflict.

A distinguished graduate of Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, as well as the USMC Command and Staff College and USMC School of Advanced Warfare, he is a passionate advocate of professional education and lifelong learning. He has commanded at platoon, squadron, regiment, task force, and brigade level. Ryan has also led strategic planning organizations in the Australian Army and led several reform programs in the past decade. In January 2018, he assumed command of the Australian Defence College in Canberra, Australia.