The Blue Marble

On this episode I speak with Nada Lena about the importance of defining company culture and what it means to effectively engage the workforce.

Nada is the founder and CEO of Rise Up For You, Leadership and Career Confidence Coach, and TEDx Motivational Speaker.

With over 10 years of experience as a college professor and former top executive for an education corporation, Nada understands the importance of fusing education, empowerment, and leadership together as she works with her clients and speaks to audiences worldwide. She has toured the world as a singer, has a Master’s degree in Administrative Leadership, and has coached and mentored close to 50,000 individuals around the world on self-empowerment, career strategy, and soft skills.

https://www.riseupforyou.com

On this episode we speak with Colin Curtis the Managing Director of Support the Goals, an initiative to rate and recognise the businesses that support the UN Global Goals. A former Group Head of Sustainability for one of the world’s largest technology companies, Colin spent many years consulting with business leaders to help them understand the importance of balancing people, planet, and profit.

Colin is passionate about the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the vital role of businesses to help achieve the goals . He’s a straight-talking Lancastrian who prides himself on his ability to keep things simple and honest – this can get him into trouble!

You can learn more about Colin and his organisation on the link below:

Support the Goals

On this episode we speak with Chris Costanzo the founder and editor of Food Bank News. Chris started Food Bank News in 2019 with the goal of providing a forum for food bank executives to share news and best practices to better solve hunger.

Before that, she worked as an editor, writer and reporter for nearly 30 years covering financial services. Chris is a graduate of Cornell University and she lives just outside of New York City with her family.

We talk about the challenges being seen with food insecurity in 2020, the increase in demand and the disruption due to the pandemic, and what Chris has learnt about the sector since starting Food Bank News.

To find out more about Chris, connect on LinkedIn or check out the website Food Bank News.

Yen-Lu is a former Apple Distinguished Technologist, serial entrepreneur, angel investor, mentor and advisor, social innovator, and humanist.

He's the Executive Chairman, WholeTree Foundation; Co-Founder and Director, Asia Institute of Mentoring; Chairman, Singapore Creations; Founding Partner, Fatfish MediaLab; Executive Mentor, YSI SEA; and founder of the Deep Human Movement.

With the launch of his family foundation and other social impact initiatives, Yen-Lu devotes his time serving both society and the nation in his various capacities. He is on a life mission to help bring about a kinder, gentler, more inclusive, more just, and sustainable world.

We talk about Yen's journey from entrepreneur to mental health and wellbeing advocate.

AIM

Linked In

On this episode we speak with Bian Li (aka B). B is an entrepreneur, futurist and former investment banker at the intersection of finance, operations, technology and social innovation. 

With 15+ years of experience working with hundreds of entrepreneurs of all sizes across 30 countries, she is now the founder of The Hungry Lab, where she specializes in building startups and designing the collaborative value networks and "glocal" ecosystems needed to grow them.  She has been a TEDx speaker, appeared in Inc. Magazine and presents frequently around the world. She is a board member and advisor to a diverse array of startups. She is a member of Women in Blockchain and a mentor for Blockchain for Social Impact's Decentralized Hackathon and Incubator.  

B is a certified Rescue Diver and when not at work, you'll find her scuba diving and raising awareness for ocean conservation. When B grows up, she wants to be a stand-up comedian/professional Latin dancer/anthropologist.

We chat about her work with Hungry Lab, some of the pivots she’s seen due to Covid, also what startups can expect in 2021 and beyond, we talk the UN Sustainable Development Goals and their importance in business and we touch on the notion of purpose and understanding your WHY.

Books that B recommended:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40745.Mindset

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42940498-limitless-mind

Today I’m chatting with Colleen Bataille of the WOCstar fund, and the podcast VCs off the record. Colleen is on a mission to build out new businesses that are disrupting and transforming the marketplace. 

She is an entrepreneur at heart with in-depth business development, operational, and event management experience from leading her own successful company and most recently serving in a senior management role at startup, 828 Venue Management. 

Colleen thrives on business development, sales, project management and working with startups in her current position with the WOCstar Fund.

We chat about working with startups in 2020, what qualities it takes to thrive and we touch on workplace diversity - what the future might look like with all the positive shifts we're seeing today.

The WOCstar Fund -

Podcast | VCs off the Record -

On this episode we chat with Steve Gibbons. A member of our board, Steve is co-founder of Ergon, one of our business partners and a company that helps organisations implement commitments on human rights, labour standards and gender equality.

Steve has over 25 years’ experience in labour and human rights issues. He has consulted to major international institutions, multinational companies, not-for-profit organizations and trade unions, including the ILO, World Bank Group, EBRD, the European Commission, London 2012, the ETI, UK Department for International Development and OSCE. He has worked in more than 20 countries across sectors including oil and gas, mining, retail, agribusiness, finance, and clothing and merchandise supply chains.

Steve has particular expertise in facilitating stakeholder dialogue and in devising and managing grievance and dispute resolution mechanisms in line with the UN Guiding Principles, including for the London 2012 Olympic Games. He is a expert member of the Independent Complaints Mechanism of DEG and FMO.

Before Ergon, Steve was head of employment law at Incomes Data Services, the UK’s largest labour relations research centre. He is a UK-qualified lawyer, a regular conference speaker and the founder of the UK’s leading online training company for lawyers, CPDCast®.

We chat about the current pandemic, how it has disrupted business and whats still to come in 2020 and beyond.

You can find our more about Steve’s work at: https://ergonassociates.net

Andy is a Rugby World Cup winner in 2003 & played for 7 premiership clubs spanning 17 years & amassing over 200 premiership appearances, matched only be 9 others in the Premiership.

He was educated at Bedford School where he captained England U18 to a Grand Slam & Oxford Brookes University achieving a degree in Marketing Management & Tourism.

Andy has won League titles, Premiership titles & Cup titles in his time with London Wasps & Gloucester. His dream of wearing the England No 9 jersey in a World Cup Final was reached in RWC 2007, the team showing enormous resilience to make back to back World Cup finals. He was awarded an MBE for services to Rugby in 2004 for his part in winning the world cup in 2003.

Andy retired from the game in May 2010 & is now a Director & Owner of his family business N2S. (Network 2 Supplies Ltd). N2S are a Telecoms & IT services supplier, started in 2002 by his father Jack. His role see’s him lead the overall sales strategy & partnerships in the channel. N2S provide unique services in the lifecycle of products, specialising in reuse & recycling of all associated materials. Investment in the circular economy places N2S in an exciting phase, especially with new privacy laws (EU GDPR) set to become official in 2018, supporting business & government to protect their data holding devices.

Andy's drive, inspiration & determination in sport & business came from his hero Muhammad Ali to whom he met as a 5 year old. His involvement in rugby is now as a commentator, starring in RWC 2011 & 2015 with ITV. He commentated in last years Rugby World Cup Final for the World Feed, his 3rd involvement in a Final.

Andy is also a trustee to ‘The School of Hard Knocks’ (SOHK), currently filming their 9th series in London Docklands, & is an ambassador to The Wooden Spoon. His fundraising is normally achieved on the golf course where he is a 16 handicap! He is married to Francesca & has three daughters, Olivia, Indianna & Grace.

You can find out more about Andy on Linked in: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewgomarsall/

Today we're chatting with Samira Khan. Samira works at the intersection of social impact + tech at Salesforce. She's focused on impact measurement and the SDGs and has worked on global social impact and innovation across corporations, governments, and the social sector for over twelve years. Samira's work spans the Americas, the Middle East, and Asia. She is a former strategy /management consultant at Accenture; and while with A.T. Kearney in Southeast Asia, played a leading role in starting their social impact organization. Samira is also passionate about youth empowerment toward the SDGs and gender.

We speak about social entrepreneurship, what that means today and how its important, where technology is being put to good use both in the for profit and not for profit sectors and of course touch on the current situation - the impact and changes being seen following the disruption of 2020.

Samira can be found@samiraakhan on Twitter / LinkedIn.

On this episode I’m speaking with Nicole Wilks from Animal Food Bank in Canada. An organisation she founded and runs with her partner AJ. Originally started in Kelowna, BC, the Animal Food Bank aims to become a national organization promoting the sharing of resources and knowledge, and promoting collaboration between organizations working to feed and shelter the homeless and their pets and low-income individuals, house them, and help change their circumstances. Their aim is to help fill gaps where they find them, and collaborate and support existing organizations.

They plan to create a nationwide network of support for each other, and people in need with their pets, from food, to supplies, to vet care, to housing.

For more information on Nicole and Animal Food Bank visit their website:

https://animalfoodbank.ca