Social Innovation Conversations

Marion Nestle - Making Good Eating Choices

Sun, 6 Jul 2008 00:00:00 CDT

The question of what to eat to be healthy has spawned a rash of often contradictory advice by "experts." In this talk, sponsored by the Stanford Ethics and Society Program, NYU professor and author Marion Nestle offers simple advice that cuts through the confusion. She highlights the difference between "nutrients" and "food," and suggests how to bring "nutrition" back into the food realm. Her discussion forays into how agriculture and business interact to produce the foodstuffs on our shelves.

Battle of Ideas - Recycling is a Waste of Time!

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 00:00:00 CDT

A panel of experts -- Thomas Deichmann of Novo magazine, Julie Hill of Green Alliance, author Julia Hailes, and spiked magazine's Rob Lyons -- debate the importance of recycling. Those against argue that recycling at the household level doesn't lead to the perceived benefits, but instead wastes more money and precious time. Those in favor argue that we are nearing a resource crisis that can be mitigated by the re-use of recycled material. Due to brief profanity, this program may not be appropriate for work or family listening.

Feliciano Reyna - Tackling AIDS in Venezuela

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 00:00:00 CDT

Feliciano Reyna, Founder of Accion Solidaria, talks with Design For Change host Sheela Sethuraman about his multi-pronged approach to tackling AIDS in Venezuela. He shares his successes in influencing his government's policies and his strategies for engaging the corporate sector in this effort.

David Goldwyn, David Dollar - Power, Poverty, and Progress: How Energy Effects Economic Development and Global Stability

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 00:00:00 CDT

People in the developing world expend more than a quarter of their potential earnings on energy. Economic development, environmental health and global stability all hinge on wise management of global energy resources. David Goldwyn and David Dollar paint a positive picture on what developing countries and governments in the west can do to improve energy use abroad and at home.

Alana Conner - Evaluation for Normal People

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 00:00:00 CDT

In the frenzy over accountability, funders, donors, and the general public are calling for more program evaluation. Yet few understand how expensive and complex good evaluation is. Dr. Alana Conner, senior editor of the Stanford Social Innovation Review, illustrates how half-hearted evaluation can do more harm than good. Rick Aubry of Rubicon Programs Inc. and Victor Kuo of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation join her to give nonprofit and foundation perspectives.

Paul Farmer - Scaling Up Health Care in Rwanda

Mon, 9 Jun 2008 00:00:00 CDT

AIDS, malaria, and maternal mortality are some of the chronic public health issues that plague Africa. Invited to Stanford, Paul Farmer talks about how his Boston-based organization, Partners In Health, is spending donor dollars to bring the lessons garnered from its work in Haiti to scale up health care services in war-torn Rwanda. His organization seeks to fill the gap that exists between medical R&D and health care delivery so preventions and cures can be brought to more of the people who need them.

Update from The Conversations Network - June 5, 2008

Thu, 5 Jun 2008 00:00:00 CDT

Lots of big news in this podcast: IT Conversations (our flagship channel) celebrates its fifth birthday; Google Grants supports The Conversations Network; ;08 Conversations, our latest channel, covers the 2008 U.S. Presidential election; Joel Spolsky and Jeff Atwood bring their StackOverflow podcast to IT Conversations; and we give you a sneak preview of The Conversations Network - Phase 2 strategy.

This program is from our Conversations Network News channel, which has a separate RSS feed.

Linda Rottenberg - Taking Entrepreneurism International

Sun, 1 Jun 2008 00:00:00 CDT

Ten years ago, "entrepreneur" didn't exist in the lexicon of many parts of the world. Now, thanks to the work of a nonprofit called Endeavor, entrepreneurs are emerging in countries where such activity was once impossible. In this talk, sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, co-founder and CEO Linda Rottenberg shares how her organization has gone from a "crazy" idea of two business school graduates to an important engine for empowering entrepreneurs in Latin America and beyond.

Networked Governance - Multilateral Institutions of the Future

Sat, 31 May 2008 00:00:00 CDT

As global leadership evolves from siloed hierarchies to multilateral approaches, networked governance has important potential and faces significant challenges. Panelists, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Ashraf Ghani, Ambassador John Bruton, Ambassador Harriet Babbitt, and Sir Ian Forbes, address the factors, from the practical to the philosophical, at play.

Beulah Thumbadoo - Making Reading Sexier

Wed, 28 May 2008 00:00:00 CDT

Join host Sheela Sethuraman for this interview with Beulah Thumbadoo, founder of Everyone's Reading in Africa. She shares her experiences promoting adult literacy, first from within government and university, and then through her own organization. She also shares some advice from her own experience on social entrepreneurship.

Stanford Social Entrepreneurship Day - Funding Social Enterprises

Sun, 25 May 2008 00:00:00 CDT

With valuable advice for all types of entrepreneurs, this panel from the second annual Social Entrepreneurship Day at Stanford University offers a unique perspective for funding a social entrepreneur start-up. Kriss Deiglmeier, Executive Director of the Center for Social Innovation, leads an engaging discussion between funders and social entrepreneurs that provides actionable advice and insightful lessons.

Rafael Alvarez - Preparing Students to Succeed

Mon, 19 May 2008 00:00:00 CDT

While volunteering at a charter school, Rafael Alvarez was confronted with some shocking information--hardly any students in the senior class had plans to attend college. So, in true social entrepreneurial fashion, he decided to match up this under-served market with another under-served market, entry level IT. He explains to host Sheela Sethuraman how Genesys Works prepares students technically and professionally to enter a corporate environment and change their lives.

Rick Duke - Reducing U.S. Emissions Affordably

Sun, 18 May 2008 00:00:00 CDT

Now that global warming is recognized as a real and serious problem, discussion is turning to practical challenges of reducing emissions in the long term. In this talk, sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, Rick Duke, director of the Center for Market Innovation, discusses a new report by McKinsey & Company that considers how to address the problem affordably. Duke outlines some of the emerging technologies and public policy changes that will be needed to support such a process.

William Drayton - The Importance of Being a Changemaker

Sun, 11 May 2008 00:00:00 CDT

If you're living on this planet you probably sense that the world is in a time of tremendous change. Ashoka founder William Drayton calls it "Revolution" in his keynote address on the occasion of receiving the Purpose Prize Entrepreneurial Leadership Award. In this talk, sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, Drayton offers inspiring words about the nature of the times we are in, and how becoming a changemaker is critical for seizing opportunities that are emerging in these unprecedented times.

Kim Feinberg - Self Sufficiency Through Education

Mon, 5 May 2008 00:00:00 CDT

AIDS in South Africa has left millions of children without parents or any resources to help themselves. In this episode of Design For Change, host Sheela Sethuraman gets Kim Feinberg to describe how her organization, the Tomorrow Trust, uses education to help these children grow into self sufficient, economically productive, and socially included adults.

Natalie Portman - Eradicating Poverty Through Microfinance

Sun, 4 May 2008 00:00:00 CDT

One of the biggest problems that low-income people around the world face is the lack of access to capital that might otherwise help them rise out of poverty. Actress Natalie Portman turns the spotlight on her work to promote FINCA's International Village Banking Campaign, aiming to bring financial services to one million of the world's lowest-income families through 100,000 Village Banks by 2010. This talk is sponsored by Stanford's Public Management Program and the Center for International Development.