Do One Better with Alberto Lidji in Philanthropy, Sustainability and Social Entrepreneurship

Transforming lives by setting up kids’ operating rooms and training paediatric surgeons in low and middle income countries. Garreth Wood, Chair of KidsOR, talks about need, solutions + economic impact

Transforming lives by setting up kids’ operating rooms and training paediatric surgeons in low and middle income countries. Garreth Wood, Chair of KidsOR, talks about need, solutions + economic impact.

KidsOR is operating in 20 countries; they’re focused on building centres of excellence for children's surgery; dramatically increasing capacity and access for safe surgery; and they’re doing it in government hospitals, creating safe spaces and the right tools. They are training a local healthcare workforce so they can care for their own nation’s children.

Beyond the moral imperative to support children, there’s a strong economic argument as well: Countries face a staggering difference in economic benefit between a child who spends their entire life living with a disability versus a child who’s able to contribute fully to the country as they grow up. 

In this conversation we explore a range of relevant issues, from the need to train paediatric surgeons, biomedical engineers and the local healthcare workforce, to scaling up internationally and collaborating with governments and ministries of health.

Thank you for downloading this episode of The Do One Better Podcast. For information on more than 150 interviews with remarkable thought leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship visit our website at Lidji.org

 

Jay Weatherill, CEO of Thrive by Five and former Premier of South Australia, discusses Early Childhood Development within an Australian context and introduces an exciting new parenting app

Jay Weatherill, CEO of Thrive by Five and former Premier of South Australia, discusses Early Childhood Development within an Australian context and introduces an exciting new parenting app.

Thrive by Five is an initiative of the Minderoo Foundation — a philanthropic outfit founded by Nicola and Andrew Forrest that has grown to AU$2.5 billion and is today one of the largest foundations in Australia and the region.

We explore the Early Childhood Development landscape; the work of Thrive by Five and the Minderoo Foundation; and their new parenting app.

As a former Premier of South Australia, we hear how James is able to draw on his experience and expertise to create a social movement and change political realities in the drive to put Early Childhood Development front and centre on the agenda.

Thank you for downloading this episode of The Do One Better Podcast. For information on more than 150 interviews with remarkable thought leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship please visit our website at Lidji.org

 

What if we loved politicians? Lisa Witter, CEO of the Apolitical Foundation, joins us to explore investing in new types of political leaders who will help us achieve the Sustainable Development Goals

 

What if we loved politicians? Lisa Witter, CEO of the Apolitical Foundation, joins us to explore investing in new types of political leaders who will help us achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

A great conversation on empowering democracy for the 21st Century; supporting and training policymakers and political leaders; closing the gap between evidence and informed political action; and encouraging citizens to participate throughout the political process.

Thank you for downloading this episode of The Do One Better Podcast. For information on more than 150 interviews with remarkable thought leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship, just visit our website at Lidji.org

 

Fran Perrin, Chair of 360Giving, calls for more data transparency in philanthropy and explains how grant-makers, charities and beneficiaries can benefit from sharing data

 

Fran Perrin, Chair of 360Giving, calls for more data transparency in philanthropy and explains how grant-makers, charities and beneficiaries can benefit from sharing data.

360Giving is about making better grant decisions by having more information, and fitting funding to where it’s most needed and has the most impact. They are a charity helping organisations publish open, standardised grants data, and empowering people to use it to improve charitable giving.

Through data sharing they also help lower the barriers to entry for small charities that are fundraising, so they know where to apply and, in the process, stop wasting time applying for money that’s never going to be given.

In this episode we go beyond data transparency and also explore how COVID has shifted philanthropic thinking; the need for increased focus on diversity, equity and inclusion; power imbalances; and the increased prominence of trust-based philanthropy.  

Thank you for downloading this episode of The Do One Better Podcast. For information on more than 150 interviews with remarkable thought leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship please visit our website at Lidji.org

 

Let’s ensure education policymakers rely on evidence! Dr Randa Grob-Zakhary is Founder and CEO of Education.org and is making big, positive waves as a start-up foundation

 

Dr Randa Grob-Zakhary, Founder and CEO of Education.org, is unequivocal about the need to reduce the gap between the existing body of evidence in education and the small amount of that evidence that’s actually being used by policymakers. 

Education.org is a young foundation making big, positive waves within the world of education. Early stage investors and partners supporting it include the Oak Foundation, Dubai Cares, Porticus, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and Echidna Giving.

Randa brings innovative thinking to the table and, as she points out, “it’s very hard being a start-up in the education sector because the sector is so oriented towards the status quo”. 

Prior to founding Education.org, Randa held various roles, including CEO of the LEGO Foundation; Board Member with the Global Partnership for Education; and Global Head of Education at Porticus. She holds an M.D. and PhD in neuroscience from Johns Hopkins University.  

Thank you for downloading this episode. For information on more than 150 episodes with remarkable thought leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship just visit Lidji.org

 

Let’s talk collaborative philanthropy! Anna Hakobyan (Chief Impact Officer at CIFF), Deepali Khanna (MD for Asia at the Rockefeller Foundation) and Anurag Banerjee (Co-Founder & CEO of Quilt.AI)

 

Let’s talk collaborative philanthropy! We are joined by Anna Hakobyan (Chief Impact Officer at CIFF — the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation), Deepali Khanna (Managing Director for Asia at the Rockefeller Foundation) and Anurag Banerjee (Co-Founder & CEO of Quilt.AI) for a candid and thought-provoking conversation.

This is an in-depth episode with views from three influential and consequential thought-leaders in philanthropy and social good, who bring a breadth of experience and expertise ranging from grant-making and impact measurement to data-sharing and artificial intelligence for good.  

Collaboration in the world of philanthropy is not only increasing in prominence but is also becoming ever more sophisticated and innovative.  

We take a look at collaboration across numerous dimensions, including funder to funder; funder and grantees; grantee to grantee; Global South to Global South; private and non-profit sectors; and large/experienced organisations to small/inexperienced ones.

We also discuss how impact measurement, evaluation findings and evidence reviews should be viewed as a public good; fully transparent and shared widely; within an environment of trust that creates safe spaces for candid exchanges on what works and what does not.

And, we explore the importance of going beyond traditional knowledge-sharing by targeting the right audiences with key insights at just the right time when they’re in the decision-making process.  This is an episode that will inform you and equip you to achieve more social good. 

Thank you for downloading this episode of The Do One Better Podcast. For information on more than 150 episodes featuring remarkable thought-leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship please visit our website at Lidji.org

 

Celebrating our 150th Episode! Tania Bryer of CNBC fame interviews Alberto Lidji to explore insights from The Do One Better Podcast’s 150 episodes. A candid look at podcasting, philanthropy and more

Celebrating our 150th Episode! Tania Bryer of CNBC fame interviews Alberto Lidji to explore insights from The Do One Better Podcast’s 150 episodes. A candid look at podcasting, philanthropy and more.

Alberto Lidji launched The Do One Better Podcast in early 2019, shortly after stepping down as Global CEO of the Novak Djokovic Foundation. 

He has also been a Senior Advisor to the Goldie Hawn Foundation and Director of Development at the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Foundation.

The purpose of The Do One Better Podcast is to inspire a global audience to be more philanthropic, to act more sustainably and to embrace social entrepreneurship.

Guests over the past three years have included Paul Polman, Siya Kolisi, David Lynch, Julia Gillard, David Miliband, Cherie Blair and Ricardo Lagos.

On this episode we explore:

(1) What it was like in the early days of the podcast.

(2) Advice for up-and-coming podcasters and those who want to create a podcast.

(3) The move from private sector into philanthropy.

(4) What to think about if you’re looking to get into philanthropy.

(5) Lessons and surprises from 150 episodes.

(6) Most moving philanthropic initiative?

(7) What are some of the key trends in philanthropy and broader sustainability agenda?

Thank you for downloading this 150th episode of The Do One Better Podcast. For information on many other interviews with remarkable thought leaders, visit our website at Lidji.org

 

Ari Simon, Pinterest’s Head of Social Impact and Philanthropy, joins Alberto Lidji to discuss their work supporting emotional wellbeing and mental health -- leveraging scale with half a billion users!

A must-listen episode that will inform and inspire. Learn how Pinterest is leveraging its scale and reach of 444 million global, monthly active users to change narratives and drive forward social change around emotional wellbeing and mental health.

Pinterest is one of the most inspirational destinations online and, indeed, their mission is to help people discover the things they love, and inspire them to go do those things in their daily lives. 

However, there’s an appreciation that life isn’t always so inspiring, and things on the internet aren’t either. Real-life feelings and experiences can carry over to our lives online. 

Pinterest is focused on emotional wellbeing and they’re leveraging their product, scale and philanthropic network to make a difference to millions of people across the globe.

Thank you for downloading this episode of The Do One Better Podcast. For information on nearly 150 interviews with remarkable thought leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship, visit our website at Lidji.org

 

Nicola Galombik, Executive Director of Yellowwoods Holdings (owners of Nando’s restaurants, Hollard insurance, Spier wines and many others), joins Alberto Lidji to discuss achieving ESG impact

 

A must-listen episode for anyone who is interested in integrating ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance) into their investments and taking an active, strategic approach to ensuring investee and portfolio companies drive forward the Global Sustainability Agenda.

Yellowwoods is an investment firm and business-builder. They are driven by purpose and we explore how they’re leveraging a range of tools, including procurement, supply chains, youth and inclusive employment initiatives, and regenerative agriculture to drive impact across entire industries.

All of Yellowwoods’ businesses were born in South Africa and many are now global multinationals and household names.

This episode inspires, informs and serves as a call to action for investors and grant-makers alike to leverage commercial models and multi-sectoral partnerships for good. 

Thank you for downloading this episode. For information on nearly 150 other podcast interviews, we invite you to visit our website at Lidji.org

 

Prof Jennifer Davidson, Executive Director of Strathclyde University’s Institute for Inspiring Children’s Futures discusses how to translate research on children’s rights so policymakers understand it

We explore the importance of making the latest evidence on children's rights and wellbeing accessible to a broad audience, strengthening and framing key arguments by using the most engaging language and communicating with policymakers and politicians so they make informed budgetary and voting decisions.

The Institute for Inspiring Children’s Futures works with diverse partners, including the OECD, Unicef and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and engages with policymakers and politicians internationally.

They aim to ensure children facing adversity have what they need to reach their full potential, and much of their focus is on children who come into contact with the justice system.

Despite the fact that the wellbeing of children is an important indicator of the future stability of society and prosperity of the economy, there is still far to go to ensure children’s rights are realised.

Thank you for downloading this episode. For information on nearly 150 other interviews with remarkable thought leaders visit Lidji.org

 

Beth Breeze, Director of the Centre for Philanthropy at the University of Kent, joins Alberto Lidji to discuss her latest book “In Defence of Philanthropy” — we explore the arguments and opportunities

It’s been said that philanthropy is under attack. In this episode we explore key arguments in favour and against philanthropy and highlight opportunities for the road ahead. 

No matter your views on philanthropy, you will find this episode informative and thought-provoking. 

Beth worked as a fundraiser and charity manager for a decade before co-founding the Centre for Philanthropy at the University of Kent in 2008.

She researched and wrote the annual Coutts Million Pound Donor Report from 2008-2017, co-authored Richer Lives: why rich people give (2013), The Logic of Charity: Great Expectations in Hard Times (2015) and co-edited The Philanthropy Reader (2016). 

Her last book The New Fundraisers: who organises generosity in contemporary society? won the AFP Skystone Research Partners book prize for 2018, and her new book, published in Autumn 2021, ‘In Defence of Philanthropy’, is a timely response to growing critiques of private giving.

Thank you for downloading this episode. For information on nearly 150 episodes with remarkable thought leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship, visit our website at Lidji.org

 

Naghma Mulla, CEO of the EdelGive Foundation, talks about philanthropy in India and their new GROW Fund — supporting 100 NGOs in India and backed by the likes of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

This episode provides clear insight into how the EdelGive Foundation developed, structured and executed a highly collaborative fund to support 100 NGOs in India, securing funding from the likes of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies and the Chandra Foundation. 

The EdelGive Foundation is a grant-making organization, helping build and expand philanthropy in India by funding and supporting the growth of small to mid-sized grassroots NGOs committed to empowering vulnerable children, women, and communities. 

This approach has enabled the foundation to be a go-to partner of choice for Indian and foreign funders wanting to engage with the Indian development ecosystem.

The Grassroots, Resilience, Ownership and Wellness (GROW) Fund is aimed at building the capabilities, resilience and future readiness of grassroots organisations.

The GROW Fund aims to strengthen 100 high impact grassroots organisations over 24 months, through capacity building and support of key organisational functions.

Thank you for downloading this episode. For information on nearly 150 interviews with remarkable thought leaders in philanthropy. sustainability and social entrepreneurship, please visit our website at Lidji.org

 

Matt Hyde, CEO of the Scouts UK, and volunteer Andrew Bollington join Alberto Lidji to discuss ‘the Squirrels’ — a new Early Years provision for 4 and 5 year olds

 

Get a behind-the-scenes look at how ‘the Squirrels’ came about and how the programme is providing 4 and 5 year olds with skills for life when it matters most by promoting key skills like working together, communication and language, as well as creativity and community awareness.

Gain insight from an in-depth conversation covering the entire journey of how the Squirrels went from initial concept to successful funding, evidence-based piloting, execution and meaningful scale. 

We hear of the many challenges that had to be overcome, the funding sources that were tapped and the diverse stakeholders who were brought on board to make this initiative a success.

Thank you for downloading this episode. For information on nearly 150 interviews with remarkable thought-leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship visit our website at Lidji.org

 

Simon Sommer, Co-CEO of the Jacobs Foundation, and Sharath Jeevan, Founder of Intrinsic Labs, join Alberto Lidji to explore motivation in the world of foundations

 

A great conversation on how foundations are able to nurture the organisations they fund and support. We look at the power dynamic between grant-maker and grantee, delve into fostering trust and explore how foundations are able to provide support that goes beyond financial grants.

Simon Sommer is Co-CEO of the Jacobs Foundation, which has 7 billion Swiss Francs in assets (roughly USD $7 billion), granted out nearly 90 million Swiss Francs in 2020 and is a strong backer of education, internationally.

Sharath Jeevan is the Founder of Intrinsic Labs, which helps leaders and their organisations tackle deep motivation challenges. He is the author of the recently-published book “Intrinsic”.

Thank you for downloading this episode of The Do One Better Podcast. For information on nearly 150 interviews with remarkable thought leaders in the world of philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship visit our website at Lidji.org

 

Let’s get “out-of-school girls” back into school! Safeena Husain, Founder of Educate Girls, talks about their work in 20,000 villages in India and launching the first development impact bond (DIB)

 

Safeena Husain founded Educate Girls in 2007 and today they operate in more than 20,000 villages across three states in India.

They’re mobilising communities in the most marginalised and remote areas to get out-of-school girls back into school and ensure they stay in school and are actually learning.

They’ve grown at a fast pace and today have a team of 2,200 full time employees and 15,000 volunteers.

Under Safeena’s leadership, and in conjunction with the UBS Optimus Foundation and Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), they launched the first development impact bond (DIB). This was a highly innovative approach to align performance with funding.

Educate Girls was the service provider; CIFF was the outcome payer (who were purchasing two results: (1) getting out-of-school girls back into school and staying in school, and (2) ensuring learning outcomes); and the UBS Optimus Foundation was the social investor. 

We hear the ins and outs of what turned out to be a highly successful initiative.  Educate Girls took the risk of performance, UBS took the financial risk and CIFF got to purchase the impact. 

We also hear how Educate Girls was the first Asian organisation to become an Audacious Project — an initiative run by TED that brings philanthropists together to collaborate and back really innovative, big bets that improve the world.

The COVID-19 pandemic is severely impacting girls and women, and Safeena's view is that if action isn’t taken it could well set girls’ education back by a decade, if not more, so let's work together to get out-of-school girls back into school!

Thank you for downloading this episode of The Do One Better Podcast. For information on nearly 150 other interviews, please visit our website at Lidji.org

If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and follow, share with others and leave us a review and rating. Thank you very much!

 

Let‘s recycle everything! Tom Szaky, Founder and CEO of TerraCycle, on managing waste to minimise climate impact.

 

Tom founded TerraCycle 20 years ago when he was a student at Princeton. Today, TerraCycle is the world’s leader in the collection and reuse of non-recyclable post-consumer waste. 

They work with more than one hundred major brands — including Tesco, Heinz and Coca-Cola — in twenty countries across the globe to collect used packaging and products that would otherwise be destined for landfills. 

Through their ‘Loop’ initiative, they are changing the way we shop by creating sustainable new packaging solutions and enabling consumers to enjoy their favoruite products from popular consumer brands in refillable containers.

A fascinating and thorough exploration of the world of recycling, with key insight into the economics, solutions, opportunities and challenges. We can all make a difference.

Thank you for downloading this episode. Visit The Do One Better Podcast website at Lidji.org for information on around 150 interviews with remarkable guests in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship.

 

Let’s harness the power of global diplomacy and interfaith dialogue to tackle climate change! UK Ambassador to the Vatican, Chris Trott, joins Alberto Lidji during COP26

 

On 4th October 2021, Pope Francis and leaders from other faiths gathered to appeal for robust commitments from political leaders in the run up to COP26 (2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference).

Chris Trott, the UK's ambassador to the Holy See, shares his views on the significance of this extraordinary gathering and its highly consequential nature.

The Pope has been a long-standing voice on matters pertaining to sustainability. In 2015, he issued an encyclical called Laudato si’ in which he called for care for our common home and decried environmental destruction.

On 25 September 2015, Pope Francis addressed the UN General Assembly and he made the appeal for a common plan for our common home. On that day, world leaders adopted Agenda 2030 and the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

The UK is hosting COP26 right now and Chris Trott shares a unique insight into the importance of faith communities in helping drive positive change by advocating for responsible behaviour towards climate.

Economist Jeffrey Sachs, an expert in sustainable development, noted a few years back that “Pope Francis has been a champion, together with other religious leaders who are, of course looked to for guidance and admired worldwide within their faiths and well beyond their particular faiths, in helping the world to understand why sustainable development is the challenge of our time.”  

This episode of The Do One Better Podcast underscores this view and provides unique and timely insight during COP26 and in the face of the climate crisis.

Thank you for listening to The Do One Better Podcast. Please subscribe and leave a rating and review if you enjoy the show. For information on nearly 150 interviews with remarkable thought leaders, please visit the show’s website at Lidji.org

 

Let’s decarbonise one million hotel rooms! Keith Barr, CEO of InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), joins Alberto Lidji to discuss how they’re improving and innovating to become more sustainable

With a presence in more than 100 countries, IHG has 6,000+ hotels, employs 350,000 staff and caters to many segments across 17 brands, from Holiday Inn to Crowne Plaza, InterContinental and Six Senses.  They recognise the tremendous opportunity to drive positive change.

We learn what Keith and his team are doing to reduce their carbon footprint, improve operations and reduce waste. They’re embracing artificial intelligence (AI) and new technologies to fluctuate energy utilisation more effectively and are challenging every aspect of their supply chains to innovate for more sustainable solutions.

Annually, IHG disposes of around 2% of their hotel properties, which is a significant number when one considers they have more than 6,000 hotels.  Many of these properties are removed because they are older, no longer commercially viable and are often high energy inefficient.

Reducing the carbon footprint of their existing hotel portfolio is key. This is complemented by a focus on designing the hotels of tomorrow for low or zero carbon and, also, by leaning into renewable energy.

No matter how efficient the operations become, it is imperative that they can tap into renewable energy.  This is where government needs to play an active role to decarbonise energy grids.

Governments are quite good at setting grand targets for future carbon emissions but they are not necessarily as good when it comes to presenting the transition roadmap to reach their net zero destination.

This is where private business is taking the lead; individual industries are much more aware of what needs to be done to decarbonise in their space. Consequently, there is much governments can learn from industry leaders as nations transition away from fossil fuels.

The hotel experience will likely change more now and in the next 10 years than it has in the past 50 years. The race to decarbonise one million hotel rooms is on, so watch this space!

Thank you for listening to The Do One Better Podcast. Please subscribe, share and leave us a rating and review. For information on nearly 150 interviews with remarkable thought leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship visit our website at Lidji.org

 

Let’s transform food systems! COP26 Special. President of WWF Int’l & CEO of GIST, Pavan Sukhdev, and Executive Director of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, Ruth Richardson, call for action

COP26 starts this Sunday and the world’s attention is focused on climate. Food systems are an integral component and we need to recognise their hidden costs and positive benefits.

Traditional accounting often fails to account properly for negative externalities, such as habitat destruction, soil erosion and water contamination, or positives such as carbon sequestration, insect pollination and resilience to natural disasters.

True-value accounting and true-cost accounting paint a much more holistic, comprehensive view which, in turn, helps inform food pricing, policy documents and balance sheets. If we are serious about sustainability, we need to account for the whole picture.

Pavan and Ruth provide insight, call for action and shed light on the invaluable work of WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature), GIST Impact and the Global Alliance for the Future of Food. The evidence is robust and the arguments are clearly laid out in this podcast episode.

Ruth delves into their recently-published “True Value” report, which was launched just days ago by the Global Alliance for the Future of Food and identifies ‘beacons of hope’ to understand the breadth and depth of food systems’ positive impact.

We also learn from Pavan and Ruth of a 6-year old project in Andhra Pradesh, India, focused on natural farming, where more than 700,000 farmers (mainly women), have committed to a natural farming model, which has led to higher yields, lower water usage, lower on-farm and off-farm disease and positively impacted climate, soil benefits and various other components.

As we approach COP26, Ruth notes that we need countries to step up and recognise the importance of food systems to the climate agenda, in order to make the connections between food, climate, nature, equality etc — there is currently a disconnect.

Pavan notes that many SDGs are influenced by food systems. It’s not just SDG2 and sustainable food but also SDG3 (health), and SDG1 (poverty), SDG5 (gender equity), SDG4 (education), SDG6 (water) and SDG13 (climate) etc. 

If we don’t see the whole picture and properly account for the hidden negatives and positives, we are simply not going to get to the solutions that are so desperately needed.

Thank you for downloading this episode of The Do One Better Podcast. Please subscribe and leave a review and rating if you enjoy the show. Visit Lidji.org for information on nearly 150 other interviews with remarkable thought leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship.

 

Dr Sanford “Sandy” Greenberg shares his philanthropic ambition to end blindness. Sandy is blind, highly accomplished and talks with passion about adversity, hope and driving medical breakthroughs

Sandy lost his eyesight in 1961 from glaucoma while he was a student at Columbia. At that point, he promised God that he’d do everything he could for the rest of his life to make sure no one else should go blind — he has led a successful life full of purpose.

Just days ago, Johns Hopkins Medicine’s Wilmer Eye Institute established the Sanford and Susan Greenberg Center to End Blindness. 

Sandy sheds light on the Center’s drive to support the next generation of researchers who have high risk, high reward ideas but lack funding and mentorship.  The Center aims to raise $100 million and they have already secured half that amount.

Sandy also shares fascinating anecdotes, including how his college roommate (music legend) Art Garfunkel would read to him when he lost his sight; his emotions as he wrote his book ‘Hello Darkness My Old Friend”; and his relentless pursuit of education at Columbia, Harvard and Oxford.

If you want to hear a touching, personal story where optimism overcomes adversity and where purpose tackles blindness, this episode is for you. 

Thank you for listening to The Do One Better Podcast. Please subscribe, follow and share with others. For information on nearly 150 episodes, please visit our website at Lidji.org

 

Charmaine Griffiths, CEO of the British Heart Foundation, joins Alberto Lidji to talk about the challenges posed by the pandemic, the immense value of partnerships and why a sense of urgency matters

 

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is at the forefront of funding cardiovascular research, with £447m in active research commitments across the UK, powered by 4,000 staff and 20,000 volunteers. They are celebrating their 60th birthday in 2021.

Every year the BHF funds around £100m in new research, backing the best talent and a wide range of projects, from data science and new AI technology to genetics and regenerative medicine.

They embrace a strong sense of urgency in support of the 7.6m people who have cardiovascular disease in the UK and we hear of the pressing need to tackle patient waiting lists, which pose a real threat to many people in serious medical need.

The BHF relies on strong, diverse partnerships with key stakeholders from the private sector, government, academia, other charities and many other sectors — both nationally and locally. Partnerships are crucial to the BHF and we explore some specific partnerships during this episode.

Charmaine also provides much insight into the challenges she faced while managing the BHF during the COVID-19 pandemic. She joined as CEO in February 2020, just as the pandemic was taking off and had to close their offices shortly thereafter — facing a steep learning curve as she and her colleagues learned to operate in a digital environment. A real challenge when you need to engage with 20,000 volunteers.

The pandemic impacted every aspect of the BHF’s operations, including its 730 shops and stores, which are scattered across the whole of the UK.

During the worst moments of the pandemic, BHF was losing £10m monthly.  Last summer, they reduced the operating size of the core organisation by 25% to ensure they maximised and protected their revenues from charitable work, with the aim of ensuring they didn’t have to reduce any of their research activities.

Fortunately, their stores have now reopened and their offices have embraced a hybrid working model — a new way of working they are looking to maintain for the long-term. We hear about their Flexibly Connected programme that redesigned their office environment and ensures people have what they need when they work from home and aims to encourage office use as convening spaces for collaboration.

This is a fascinating and inspiring chat with an energetic CEO who cares deeply about the British Heart Foundation and the millions of people it supports.

Visit The Do One Better Podcast website at Lidji.org for information on nearly 150 other interviews with remarkable thought leaders. Please subscribe, follow and leave a review if you enjoy the show. Thank you!

 

Caroline Anstey, President & CEO of Pact, explores how the NGO sector is accounting for its own carbon emissions and argues the sector isn’t always practising what it preaches

Caroline had an 18-year career at the World Bank, where she worked as Managing Director in charge of Operational Policy; Chief of Staff; and Vice President for External Affairs. 

She subsequently joined UBS as Group Managing Director to spearhead the firm’s sustainability policy and investment products.

Today, despite being part of the NGO sector herself, she expresses her views candidly and notes that NGOs can improve how they manage their carbon emissions, report on their carbon footprint and provide visibility on their path to net zero.

She is cautious not to generalise and, indeed, mentions that NGOs directly working on environmental issues tend to be ahead of the curve in having robust climate commitments; but many others in the NGO sector are behind the curve.

Caroline references the United Kingdom's FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office) and their recent mandate requesting to know the carbon footprint of organisations that are implementing their projects. In her view, NGOs will be under increased pressure from governments, donors and employees to present more robust commitments to net zero and provide visibility on the path they will take to get there. 

Visit The Do One Better Podcast website at Lidji.org for information on nearly 150 interviews with remarkable thought leaders. Please subscribe, follow and share widely. Thank you!

 

Shami Nissan, Head of Responsible Investment at Actis, joins Alberto Lidji to discuss ESG investing from a practitioner’s perspective — exploring key questions and highlighting the latest trends

 

We start off by delving into the differences in approach and expectations between traditional investing, ESG investing and impact investing. Today, the broad view is that it is perfectly viable to seek competitive, risk-adjusted returns, while pursuing best practice in ESG (environmental, social and governance). While, on the more philanthropic side of the spectrum, there are those who are happy to accept concessionary rates of return, trading off some financial return in favour of an improvement in social good.

We look at the Net Zero movement and decarbonisation. And, we explore some areas of contention among those who seek a net zero world. For instance, should one divest from fossil fuels immediately or could one have more leverage by staying engaged?

By divesting immediately, some argue that you lose your voice as an investor to help those firms transition into net zero.  Within public equity companies, if one divests it simply means that someone else is buying these stocks, and you are arguably not making a real world impact, in the sense that the CO2 is still being emitted.  Therefore, by engaging actively as an investor across all sectors (i.e. not just renewables) you continue to wield influence to try to change the strategic direction of firms, such that companies do the transitioning to net zero themselves. 

In this episode we also look at the different tools and approaches available for ESG-minded investors in public and private equity markets. We explore how Actis works with their portfolio companies to help them improve on ESG and how they aim to unlock value during the time of ownership.  

This episode explores a wide range of areas from an investment professional’s perspective. Please note you may also wish to listen to our previous interviews with Bob Moritz, Global Chairman of PwC, and Carmine Di Sibio, Global Chairman and CEO of EY, where we explore ESG and the move to standardising reporting frameworks globally.

Follow and subscribe to The Do One Better Podcast and please leave us a review if you enjoy the show.  Visit our website at Lidji.org for information on nearly 150 other interviews with remarkable thought leaders. Thank you!

 

Philanthropists Laurence Lien, Kathlyn Tan and Dominic Scriven are all collaborating on the launch of Asia Philanthropy Circle’s new Climate Collective, which is launching now!

 

Asia Philanthropy Circle’s (APC) new climate collective is launching now and we hear from three philanthropists who have very different experiences and expertise — from long track-records to NextGen perspectives — who share a passion for tackling the climate crisis.

APC is about learning, exchanging ideas and collaborating. It’s about taking joint action to do more and to do better. Climate is one of their key philanthropic areas of interest; others include education, healthcare, the ageing population and mental health.  By working together they can drive philanthropy on climate and have more impact.  Only 2% of global philanthropy goes towards climate. 

Kathlyn Tan is a next generation philanthropist and leads the environmental portfolio of her family’s philanthropy, the Rumah Foundation, in Singapore. They do impact investing, philanthropy and are also looking at how best to integrate ESG in their business interests. Kathlyn’s passion stems from the ocean and her love of diving and marine life. She’s very excited about the climate collective and it is inspiring to see more philanthropists tackling this vital issue.

Laurence Lien launched APC six years ago and is also Chairman of Lien Foundation, a family foundation established in 1980. He notes that climate is a problem too big for any single one of us to tackle alone. Importantly, we need to dispel the notion that there’s not much that philanthropy can do about the climate crisis. Laurence is keen on this partnership because the scale of the problem is just so big. The new APC Climate Collective is just a starting point — this is not just about collaboration with each other but also about collaboration with other global funders.

Dominic Scriven has been living in Vietnam for 30 years; he’s originally from the UK. He has been running Dragon Capital, a financial institution with a focus in Vietnam, for most of that time. Dominic cares deeply about the broader climate crisis and he notes that Vietnam is a victim of climate change. He’s keen to see how developing countries can deal with the climate crisis and this is very much front and centre in his thinking, both personally and in his business. Dominic is particularly interested in biodiversity economics and is focusing much of his philanthropic efforts on creating metrics to measure biodiversity improvement and degradation.

There are eight APC members joining together initially to launch this new climate collective, along with a full-time member of staff from APC to help co-ordinate this initiative. They’re approaching this with an open mind and appreciation of the many opportunities for working together and collaborating. 

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John Rendel of the Peter Cundill Foundation joins Alberto Lidji to talk about trust-based philanthropy and the value of long-term, unrestricted funding provided by grant-makers

 

A strong case is made by John Rendel in support of unrestricted funding, encouraging grant-makers to embrace this approach to giving and calling on recipient organisations to fight for the cause of unrestricted funding as well.

John’s advice is that if you, as a grant-maker, don’t trust the organisation you’re supporting, then don’t trust a restricted grant to that organisation. And, if you do trust them, then give them unrestricted funding.

We need to build the understanding of how restricted grants undermine impact and reduce the efficacy of the organisations grant-makers are trying to empower. 

While the philanthropy sector has seen a move towards more unrestricted funding during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Peter Cundill Foundation has been arguing for this approach since before the pandemic was a fact of life.

The Peter Cundill Foundation grants out around USD $9 million annually. They are based in Bermuda and operate internationally, including in the UK, Canada and Sub-Saharan Africa. They do much of their funding in support of charities that are improving the lives of children around the world. 

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Stefan Flothmann, Global Director of Mindworks — the cognitive science lab of Greenpeace — joins Alberto Lidji to discuss the use of neuroscience + behavioural science to make campaigns more effective

Learn what one of the world’s great campaigning organisations is doing to engage with its audiences more effectively, in a manner that is inclusive and empowering. 

Stefan has been with Greenpeace since 1993 and has been driving Mindworks over the past few years. He describes Mindworks as a bit of a garage project within Greenpeace, with freedom to innovate and create new ways of working. 

At Mindworks, they dig into the latest cognitive science and social psychology to develop new ways and tools to engage people, to do audience research and to shift mindsets that, in turn, help to transform systems.

Their latest project is called ‘The Disrupted Mind’, which they started in response to COVID-19 and it aims to find out what opportunities can arise from a crisis; looking at how to change mindsets and explore how a given crisis can be used to drive positive change. 

Insight coming out of this research shows that crises are actually a good time to change mindsets. In normal life, most people have quite a fixed world view; people don’t like surprises and don’t much like to go outside old habits. 

When a crisis hits, however, most people are thrown into a state of disorientation and their world view can crumble. It is at this point where one can intervene and say to those who have been impacted: What about changing this or doing that? There is an opportunity to leverage crisis moments for the better.  

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Mary Abdo, Managing Director at the Centre for Evidence and Implementation, joins Alberto Lidji to discuss evidence-based philanthropy

 

The Centre for Evidence and Implementation (CEI) is a global not-for-profit advisory organisation set up in Australia in 2016 with offices in Singapore, the UK and Australia.  They are a social enterprise subsidiary of Save the Children.  

CEI is a mission-driven organisation dedicated to seeing the best evidence implemented in policy and practice to improve the lives of vulnerable people. They work with a range of clients, including governments, foundations and social sector agencies by supporting them to use evidence well and to implement it well.

In order to help organisations accelerate the use of evidence on what works to improve the lives of vulnerable people, the folks at CEI do three things: (1) they support organisations to make sense of the evidence; (2) they work with them to trial, test and evaluate approaches; and (3) they work in ‘Implementation Science’ — if we think of evidence-based interventions as the ‘what’, then Implementation Science is the ‘how’.

During the conversation, we look at what it actually means to be evidence-informed in one’s philanthropy, both from a perspective of outlook and from a perspective of approach.

What is evidence and why is it important? There is a need to move away from what simply ‘sounds good’ to what is actually based on good science and research.  Moreover, there is a need to embrace a learning mindset — shifting the emphasis from trying to get it right all the time to a focus on learning and sharing what one has learned.  Innovation is also key and, counterintuitive as it may sound, being innovative also means simply doing what works, now.

Research, methodologies and frameworks have changed over the last 20 years and the potential for big data and artificial intelligence (AI) to transform the field in the coming years is tremendous.

This episode is for anyone who is keen to understand research and evidence, how it is implemented to improve the lives of vulnerable people, why it is important and how its insight can be viewed as a public good on a global level.

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Ricardo Lagos, former President of Chile, joins Alberto Lidji to discuss Chile’s transition to democracy, his vocal stance against Augusto Pinochet, the climate crisis and the work of his foundation

 

A warm conversation with Ricardo Lagos, a towering figure of Latin American politics who played a highly consequential role during Chile’s transition to democracy in the 1980s and later on as President of Chile in the 2000s.

Ricardo Lagos was President of Chile from 2000 to 2006.  He left office with a remarkably high approval rating of c. 70%.   He served for the centre-left Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia coalition, championing reforms to the healthcare system, enacting free-trade agreements whilst reducing economic inequality.

We hear of his — now famous — live TV interview in 1988 where he pointed an accusatory finger directly at the camera challenging General Pinochet’s attempt to extend his rule by plebiscite.  

This was a key moment in Chile’s transition to democracy and, at the time, led many viewers to fear Ricardo Lagos was unlikely to see another day. Interestingly, he didn’t quite realise the impact of what he said during that TV interview until afterwards when people started coming up to him to tell him just how remarkable it had been.

We also hear about Ricardo Lagos' passion for tackling the climate crisis and his time as UN Special Envoy on Climate Change between 2007 and 2010. He is candid about some of the challenging conversations he had with other leaders, such as President Lula of Brazil on the harm of deforestation in the Amazon.

He remarks that in the past, the key question was ‘what’s your country’s National Income?’ These days, the key question should be ‘what’s your country’s per capital carbon emissions?’ Times have changed considerably over the past decade and must continue to change as we strive for the Sustainability Agenda.

We also get insight into the work of the Fundación Democracia y Desarrollo, which he founded after stepping down as President of Chile, and the importance of civic engagement and the power of the digital age to foster transparency in government.

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Naina Batra, Chairperson and CEO of AVPN (Asian Venture Philanthropy Network), joins Alberto Lidji to discuss donor collaboration in Asia and increasing the flow of capital into the social sector

 

AVPN is a platform and network of investors and social funders who deploy capital for impact across Asia. Members deploy resources across a wide continuum of capital, from grant-making to impact investing, ESG and other variations. Members are both based in Asia and, also, some are global but have an interest in Asia.  AVPN is based in Singapore.

 

We hear of the drive for scale and the importance of working with governments. AVPN started the Policy Forum, bringing private sector capital to work together with public sector money, collaborating around social issues. Much wealth in Asia comes from business and, traditionally, we hear how there is some trepidation about working with government. But, in the social space these unlikely collaborations are key.

 

Thematically speaking, Gender, COVID-19, Climate Action and Health have been very pronounced within AVPN. Also, about 60% of AVPN’s members fund Education and about 50% are interested in Health. 

 

Naina mentions how in matters pertaining to Gender Equity and SDG 5 (UN Sustainable Development Goal 5) Asia has gone backwards in recent years. Therefore, gender has been of importance to AVPN.  Last year, AVPN launched the Asia Gender Network, which is a collaboration between HNW (high-net-worth) Asian women who came together to foster a movement that aims for a more gender equal society that is also in tune with Asian values. 

 

While they deeply care about gender equity, many Asian foundations are weary of terms like ‘feminism’ or approaches that embrace a more militant edge to the debate. There is much consideration to how one frames the debate and the discourse is more about soft power and getting the point across through more subtle ways — while there is a recognition that achieving SDG 5 is non-negotiable.

 

Knowledge sharing is a key aspect of AVPN’s work. AVPN has a Knowledge Centre that curates existing research for its members and aggregates practitioners’ insight. Their Academy aims to share this knowledge actively with a broad range of stakeholders. These initiatives are useful both for nascent philanthropists and experienced practitioners alike.

 

AVPN membership is at the organisation level — not individuals. Usually, it is the CEO of an organisation who represents that organisation at AVPN and, indeed, often many others from member organisations participate as well. 

 

AVPN also has funds focused on specific thematic areas. For instance, they have a Healthcare Fund involving key organisations such as the Gates Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, Macquarie Bank and Sequoia — all coming together to pool their money to support healthcare organisations across south east Asia. In another fund, they’re collaborating with interesting organisations such as KKR, and Naina notes that many organisations are much more keen on taking on risk when they’re active in a pooled fund than when they’re doing grant-making individually. 

 

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Carmine Di Sibio, Global Chairman and CEO of EY, joins Alberto Lidji to discuss ESG, diversity & inclusion and how being a child immigrant to the US influenced his sense of belonging and world view

 

In many ways, Carmine is part of the American dream. He was born in Italy and when he was just three years old his family moved to the US. With no prior family history of higher education, Carmine completed his MBA at NYU, joined EY in 1985 and rose through the ranks to lead one of the world’s largest professional services organisations that employs around 300,000 people and operates in more than 150 countries. 

This conversation ranges from the personal to the professional. We hear a remarkable childhood story that led to great success and a desire to make a positive difference.

We focus on ESG factors (environmental, social, governance) and explore what EY is doing on this front, and what they’re encouraging their clients and suppliers to do as well. There is a need for standardisation in ESG accounting, a recognition that sustainability needs to be front and centre in corporate strategy and an appreciation that the time is now.

Visit The Do One Better Podcast website at Lidji.org for a full transcript of this episode.