Social Entrepreneur

(For show notes and a full transcript, see https://tonyloyd.com/deirdre-horan). Dri produces durable, fashionable, and environmentally sustainable umbrellas from ocean-bound plastic. As a fifteen year-old, Deirdre Horan left her comfortable home in Acton, Massachusetts to join a youth group traveling to Gulfport, Mississippi. This was two years after Hurricane Katrina, and the community continued to struggle. “What really struck me was the level of devastation that was still there two...

For a full transcript and extended show notes, see https://tonyloyd.com/shubham-issar. Shubham Issar and Amanat Anand go from the UNICEF Wearables for Good Challenge to Shark Tank and beyond. Shubham Issar and Amanat Anand grew up in New Delhi but met at Parsons School of Design in New York. They loved working together on hands-on design projects that made a difference. In 2015, they entered the UNICEF Wearables for Good Challenge. While investigating the challenge, they ran into a...

Is it possible for the company formerly known as Facebook to be a force for good? There are some bright spots. NOTE: For a full transcript of the conversation, go to https://tonyloyd.com/emily-dalton-smith If you want to hear bad news about Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, you don’t have to look far. And, there’s plenty of bad news to find. If you’re interested in reading more about that, just Google the phrase Facebook Papers. But, for me, there’s a more interesting...

For extended show notes, see: https://tonyloyd.com/dan-miller Steward is a community of borrowers and lenders who support regenerative farming. Can a farm make the earth healthier? Regenerative farming is a set of practices that rebuild soil health by restoring carbon and nutrient content. This improves productivity and the health of the planet. But there’s a problem. The agricultural capital system wasn’t built for small, regenerative farms. That’s where Steward comes in. Steward...

For complete show notes, see: https://tonyloyd.com/kate-glantz Luma Legacy: A Fairer, Kinder World “Luma Legacy is a segment within Luma Pictures,” Kate explains. “It’s a magical creative studio that's been in the world for about 20 years. The bread and butter of the business is making movie magic - so visual effects. Luma Pictures makes superheroes fly, creates new worlds and realities, and all of the really fun stuff that keeps us entertained and dreaming big. “Luma also has a venture...

For extended show notes and a full transcript, see https:://tonyloyd.com/shamiri-institute Half of the young people in Kenya have elevated depression and anxiety. 45% of the disease burden comes from anxiety and depression. The Shamiri Institute has an answer. Kenya has been described as a young hustle culture. But that hustle takes a toll. According to Tom Osborn of the Shamiri Institute, “Mental health and wellbeing are really important. This is especially true in low-income settings...

I’ve been thinking about you. You want to live a life of significance You feel compelled to serve a cause greater than yourself. You see a need in the world that you can’t unsee. There’s a cause that burns in your heart. To make a difference, you have to overcome the status quo. The status quo whispers in your ear, “That’s just the way things are.” The status quo is that you get up every day and act as if nothing is wrong in the world. It’s easy to be lulled into complacency by the...

NOTE: For extended show notes, see https://tonyloyd.com/aziz-abu-sarah MEJDI Tours sees tourism as an opportunity to transform lives through dual narratives and by strengthening local communities. Aziz Abu Sarah is a peace-builder, social entrepreneur, cultural educator, and author of Crossing Boundaries: A Traveler’s Guide To World Peace. But Aziz wasn’t always a peacemaker. “I grew up very angry,” Aziz says. “I didn’t have any Jewish or Israeli friends growing up until I was 18 years...

NOTE: For full show notes, see https://tonyloyd.com/isabella-he. High school students work on behalf of those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In the United States, 1 in 54 children has autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Unemployment rates for individuals with ASD are approximately 85%. More than half a million individuals with ASD will enter the workforce in the next decade. The need for specialized vocational training is growing by the minute. A CDC study found that 50 percent of...

What would you do if you were 1% more courageous? Judith Martinez is a leader at the intersection of social justice and the future of human capital. She is the CEO of InHerShoes, the modern woman’s community for courage. When Judith was in the fifth grade, she witnessed a scene that changed her life direction. “I’m a first-generation Filipino-American,” Judith explains. “I grew up with Filipino as my first language. My grandparents raised me. “I remember we were at the LAX airport. My...

Helping bamboo farmers and women in impoverished regions become self-reliant while eliminating plastic waste. If Kathy Ku’s name is familiar to you, you might have heard about her previous social venture in Uganda, Spouts of Water. I interviewed Kathy in December 2016. Kathy and her co-founder John Kye left Spouts of Water, but it continues to thrive. Around the same time that Kathy and John were in Uganda working on clean water, Dr. Noah Park was volunteering in low-income...

Offering paid job training for youth. Sara Hart Weihmann is the Director of Social Enterprise at New Avenues for Youth in Portland. She oversees a portfolio of workforce development social enterprises that offer goods and services to the local community. This provides paid work experiences and job training for youth experiencing housing instability. These enterprises include a Ben & Jerry’s scoop shop and a screen-printing business, New Avenues INK. “I have always had a strong sense of...

People who were involved in the criminal justice system are more than their labels. Karen Lee is the Chief Executive Officer of Pioneer Human Services. She was born during the 1960s civil rights era. “During my lifetime, I’ve seen quite a bit of discrimination. I’ve always wanted to do something about that in a way that was true to me.” Karen graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point. She served our country until the 1990s. After her military service ended, she...

What Sandra Goldmark learned from a seven-year experiment fixing stuff. Sandra Goldmark is the Director of Sustainability and Climate Action at Barnard College. For seven years, she ran Fixup, a popup repair shop for household items of all kinds. It was staffed by theatre artists. “We use our backstage skills to fix people's broken stuff,” Sandra explains. “and to create an alternative to use and discard.” Sandra has gathered her lessons learned and put them in a new book, Fixation: How to...

NOTE: For a full transcript of the conversation, see: https://tonyloyd.com/karim-abouelnaga. Close the Opportunity Gap through high-impact programs before, during, and outside of school hours. Karim Abouelnaga is CEO of Practice Makes Perfect, a company he founded when he was 18 years old. Practice Makes Perfect partners with K-12 schools to help narrow the opportunity gap. Karim is a TED Fellow and Echoing Green Fellow. At 23, he was named to Forbes’ 30 under 30 list in education, and...

If you want a better future, you need a better story. “Leading change has never been tougher,” Denise Withers says. “Fear, apathy, and uncertainty have paralyzed most of the world, making it almost impossible to engage people in even the most straightforward initiative. “But it doesn’t have to be like that. Story Design can help. It’s a practical way for leaders to take the risk out of change and create a better future.” Denise Withers is an award-winning storyteller and ICF certified...

YardHomes Minnesota uses a prefabrication approach and an innovative financing model to create affordable housing. YardHomes Minnesota is creating housing affordability by building and maintaining accessory dwelling units (ADUs). “We are a startup that focuses on delivering ADUs in Minnesota as a method of housing,” Nichol Beckstrand explains. “ADUs are tiny houses designed to be permanent living spaces. The problem we set out to solve is housing affordability.” Under its Y-HELP program,...

For every planner and course sold, #ThisIsMyEra helps a child with an education. #ThisIsMyEra produces a 90-day planner that helps you set goals that align with your values. They also provide online courses to help you get clear on your life’s purpose. For every planner that is purchased, #ThisIsMyEra donates school supplies to kids in need in Africa. So far, they’ve provided more than 10,000 school supplies. And for every course that is purchased, they provide a school scholarship. Why...

For extended show notes, see https://tonyloyd.com/zoe-levin Trees Should Capture Carbon, Not Crap We know the problems with carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions: Climate change, rising sea levels, flooding, droughts, wildfires, ocean acidification, climate refugees, political instability, and a lot more. We know that it’s important to reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere and the oceans. We can do that by reducing the production of CO2. We can also do that by capturing CO2 in carbon...

For extended show notes, go here: https://tonyloyd.com/karima-ladhani/ 80% of maternal and infant deaths are preventable. Dr. Karima Ladhani is the daughter of immigrants. Her parents moved from India to Uganda. In 1972, Ugandan president Idi Amin expelled Asian minorities. He gave 90 days to leave the country. Karima’s mother made her way to Canada. Her father was in a refugee camp in Malta before immigrating to Canada. “We can’t take for granted the luxuries and privileges that we...