Inspiring Social Entrepreneurs Podcast

Ben is founder of Agora Parternships an organisation that provides early stage social entrepreneurs in Latin America with the resources they need to grow-primarily through the Agora Accelerator, a four month program designed to provide entrepreneurs access to the knowledge, networks, and capital they need to succeed. Since 2011, Agora has supported some 125 companies that...

Oorja is a social enterprise that enables underserved rural communities in India to transform their crop waste crop waste into  clean energy and biochar using hybrid solar and biomass-powered microgrids. Some 450 million people in rural India do not have access to reliable electricity — Oorja’s mission is to provide clean energy access to these people with...

Chuck Slaughter is Founder and CEO of Living Goods, a social enterprise building a sustainable distribution platform for products designed to fight poverty and disease in the developing world. Living Goods operates networks of independent entrepreneurs (currently in Uganda, Kenya, and Myanmar) who make a living by selling medicines and products to poor people that...

Alex is the CEO and co-founder of Conservation X Labs, a startup for tech innovation for conservation and development.  Prior to founding Conservation X Labs Alex served as the Chief Scientist at USAID and founded the Global Development Lab.  Conservation X Labs aims to harness exponential technologies, open innovation, and entrepreneurship to dramatically improve the efficacy, scale and sustainability of conservation efforts...

Echoing Green is a leading global non-profit that provides seed funding and technical assistance to emerging social entrepreneurs with ideas for social change. The organisation is celebrating its 30 anniversary in 2017. Over that time it has forged a community of global pioneers, now over 700 strong, and played a pioneering role helping accelerate these leaders to...

Jordan Kassalow is founder of VisionSpring, a US social enterprise whose mission is to expand affordable access to eyewear, everywhere. To date, VisionSpring has distributed over 3.5 million eyeglasses to their target customers, who typically earns below $4 per day. They estimate their total economic impact to be over $756 million.  The World Health Organization...

Christian is a scholar of social innovation –he is the Leo Tindemans Chair for Business Model Innovation at KU Leuven — a visiting scholar at the Stanford University Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society and an academic visitor at the Said Business School, University of Oxford. Christian, together with Johanna Mair are co-authors of the...

Willy Oppenheim is an educator, a researcher, and the founder of Omprakash a social enterprise working to make international volunteering more ethical and impactful. Willy founded Omprakash (www.omprakash.org) in 2004 with the goal of creating a platform to connect volunteers with social impact opportunities around the world. Omprakash is a free online platform that connects grassroots health, education, and environmental organizations in over 30 countries with a global audience of volunteers, donors, and classrooms that can learn from and support their work. wjo_head_photo3Willy studied anthropology and religion as an undergraduate and went on to earn his doctorate in Education from Oxford University. He continues to lead Omprakash and its newest initiative, Omprakash EdGE, which is an online training and mentorship program intended to help university students enrich their international learning and impact.

Marc is on faculty at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford and a Fellow of Wolfson College.  His research and teaching focus on innovation, institutions and infrastructure, with particular empirical projects at the intersection of organizational strategy and economic sociology in nascent markets.  Current work explores early moments approaches in markets for UK impact...

Jeffrey Hollender is a social entrepreneur, author and activist. After a wide ranging entrepreneurial career, Jeffrey co-founded Seventh Generation and built it over 25 years into a leading natural product company recognised for its authenticity, transparency, and progressive business practices. Jeffrey recently co-founded Hollender Sustainable Brands, which sells Sustain Natural sexual wellness products; he is...

Noora Health is an innovative non-profit that provides health training to help patients transition between hospital and home -one of the most precarious and rushed times in healthcare delivery. Noora provides training and information to caregivers and patients after surgery to ensure that patients are well taken of during their recovery process –to improve health...

Envirofit is a global social enterprise that develops innovative smart cookstoves designed to reduce smoke and CO2 emissions and enable families to live healthier lives, while reducing climate change and increasing clean energy initiatives.  Since the company was set up in 2003 it has grown into a global company serving over five million people, with over...

Taylor has spent almost a decade designing data systems for leading international development organizations. He co-founded Vera Solutions—an organization that works with social impact organizations to create affordable, powerful and flexible technology solutions that put real-time information in the hands of the people who need it. Vera has now served more than 175 organisations around...

In this episode we speak with Mariana Christen Jakob, CEO & Founder of SEIF, the Social Entrepreneurship Initiative & Foundation, based in Switzerland. 

John is the Founder and CEO of PEAS (Promoting Equality in African Schools), a rapidly growing and multiple award-winning social enterprise that widens access to secondary education in Africa.  Ten years ago John began working full time on setting up PEAS –the aim was to create a sustainable and self-sufficient network of schools, which can...

Deep is an Indian social worker and NGO activist He co-founded the pioneering Indian non-profit organisation, Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN), of which he was the Executive Director till 2007. PRADAN is involved in building self-help groups, developing land and water resource, natural resource management, forest-based livelihood, horticulture and agriculture. Deep was awarded the...

MyAgro is an award-winning social business which allows farmers in West Africa to buy fertilizer and seed by a series of small payments  via a mobile phone platform and a network of local village vendors Myagro’s helps farmers move out of poverty and has led a doubling of farm income. It has grown almost five...

James Perry is Co- Chair and Co-founder of B Lab UK-a UK registered charity, which exists to support a community of UK-based B Corps; he was also instrumental in managing the launch of B Corps in the UK James is currently Chief Executive of Panahpur, where he has led the transition from  a traditional grant making...

Michael Norton has had a prolific career in the world of social change. In 1975, Michael set up Directory of Social Change, the UK’s leading provider of information and training to the non-profit sector.  Twenty years later, he set up the Centre for Innovation in Voluntary Action. In 2000, he co-founded UnLtd, which supports social...

Rodney is Founder of ClearlySo which works with high-impact businesses, charities and funds in the UK to raise capital, and introduces them to institutional and individual investors. ClearlySo is Europe’s leading impact investment bank, and has helped nearly 100 clients raise more than £108 million in investment capital by leveraging its extensive network of high-net-worth...