Line of Sight Podcast

From Bombs to Bracelets — Disrupting Violence in El Salvador

Growing up in the midst of the Salvadoran Civil War, Ariela Suster lived through car bombs in her neighborhood, shootings in her home, and the harrowing kidnapping of her brother. Early in her career, Ariela worked in high fashion in New York City, before founding Sequence Collection, an urban lifestyle brand that employs young men and women at risk of gang recruitment, to change the sequence of events that have led to violence and destruction in her country. Ariela shares her journey of buil...

Galen Welsch - JIBU

While working in Morocco with the Peace Corps, Galen Welsh observed the disconnect between what communities need and what donors want to fund. With investment from his dad, Galen piloted his original Jibu model in Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda. All three failed, but Galen learned quickly and adapted. From those early failures to a harrowing experience defending his brand, Galen recounts his journey to launch 160 franchises with 10,000 retail points in 8 African countries and provide opportunities...

Creating Value From Waste with Sistema.Bio

In this episode, Brigit and Don talk with Madrin Maina and Alex Eaton about working with smallholder farmers around the world to address the challenges of poverty, food security, and climate change. Alex is the cofounder and CEO, and Madrin is the East Africa director of Sistema.bio, a social enterprise that provides access to innovative biodigester technology, training, and financing to enable farmers to convert waste into clean, renewable energy and organic fertilizer. Founded in 2010 in Me...

Charlot Magayi - Mukuru Clean Stoves

Welcome to "Founders of Impact," our Line of Sight spin-off series that delves into the remarkable journeys of founders who are redefining success by combining business innovation with a commitment to positive societal change. In each episode, host Karen Runde, Miller Center's Director of Alumni Programs, engages in candid and insightful conversations with visionaries who have dared to challenge the status quo. Discover the origins of their enterprise, strategies, challenges, and triumphs th...

A Look Behind the Catalyst Fund with Malika Anand

Brigit and Don welcome Malika Anand to discuss the mission behind Catalyst Fund, the transition in its business model and its impact thus far, her role as Head of Impact, core values that guide the Catalyst Fund in their transition to VC, key barriers to having the greatest impact, and how the Catalyst Fund incorporates ESG frameworks into its work.

Environmental, Social, and Governance with Alison Taylor

Alison Taylor joins us as we break down the essence and implications of ESG from a critical lens through dialogue regarding common misunderstandings about ESG, the impact of the Larry Fink letters, polarization in business culture, and how her upcoming book addresses the dilemma of being an ethical business in a turbulent world.

Unique Approaches to Trust-based philanthropy with Allie Ottoboni

In today’s episode, Brigit and Don seek out the expertise of Allie Ottoboni as they dive into trust-based philanthropy and its unique approach, eBay Foundation’s strategic planning focus on equitable entrepreneurship and what this entails, her career journey that led to earning the Woman of Influence award from the Silicon Valley Business Journal, and her outlook on the future of philanthropy.

Child's Rights Activist and Climate Campaigner Faatiha Aayat

Brigit and Don embrace the youthful, yet tenured perspective of the 10-year old Child's Rights Activist and Climate Campaigner, Faatiha Aayat, as they discuss Faatiha’s first experiences working for climate change, why she values this cause so deeply, the connection between climate change and ethics, the target audience for her speeches, how others can support the mitigation of climate change, and her hopes for the future of the climate issue.

Exploring the foundation of Miller Center with Jim Koch and Eric Carlson

Brigit and Don connect with Jim Koch and Eric Carlson to discuss the unique value proposition of Miller Center's Accelerator, formerly the Global Social Benefit Incubator (GSBI), the motivation to launch the accelerator, Eric’s decision to get involved and his passion for this work, why the accelerator program fits so well within Santa Clara University, its impact, and why mentorship is essential for the social entrepreneurship program.

Creating a More Just, Ethical, and Sustainable world with Gloria Duffy

In this episode, Brigit and Don call on Gloria Duffy as they think through pre-eminent challenges to creating a more just, ethical, and sustainable world, the importance of balanced public information and dialogue about challenging societal issues, the Commonwealth Club’s approach towards addressing equity, justice, ethics, and sustainability, the homelessness crisis and its implications on San Francisco, the common thread between organizations Gloria has advocated for, and how social entrepr...

Data-Driven with Kristi Bowers

In this episode, Brigit and Don chat with Kristi Bowers as they explore the mission, ingenuity, and journey of her data-driven agriculture company, Grape.ag; the implications of climate change on farmers across the globe, how Grape.ag ensures its ethicality and ESG duty as a startup, the value of working cross-culturally, ways that companies can leverage the Markkula Center and Miller Center to support their mission, and what success looks like for her company.

Keys to Leadership with Lisa Kloppenberg

In today’s episode, Brigit and Don request Lisa Kloppenberg to discuss her book, The Best Beloved Thing Is Justice: The Life of Dorothy Wright Nelson, hone in on the significance of drawing leadership from mentors, highlight her proudest accomplishments as SCU’s acting President, provide advice that she may have for aspiring leaders on how to deal with adversity, and reveal her next ventures as she completes her time as the acting President.

Resilience with Shá Duncan Smith

Sha Duncan Smith joins Brigit and Don as they discuss what drew her to the role as the VP of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at SCU, what it takes to be an anti-racist institution, how to build empathy and craft a culture of listening, differences she’s noticed between social norms in Silicon Valley v.s. the MidWest, taking accountability on properly recruiting diverse talent, and how she stays resilient in her work in light of obstacles.

Supporting Early Stage Female Founders with Allison Kopf

The Investing Landscape in Africa for Women with Dalia Cohen

Brigit and Don invite Dalia Cohen to indulge in the complexities of her upcoming fund, the investing landscape in Africa for women, exploring ESG companies and what this investment sector entails, the colonization of funding, social and societal impact of mobile money in Africa, and growing up in Zimbabwe.

The Complexity and Urgency of COP26 with Joyita Mukherjee

In today’s discussion, Brigit and Don welcome Joyita Mukherjee to decipher the complexity and urgency of COP26, the imbalance of geographical carbon emissions, industrial animal husbandry practices and the environment, the discouraging nature of climate change and ways to cope, mitigation and adaptation, and social entrepreneurship’s role in combating climate change.

There's Nothing Micro about a Billion Women with Mary Ellen Iskenderian

Brigit and Don welcome Mary Ellen Iskenderian to tackle the core themes within her upcoming book, There Is Nothing Micro About a Billion Women, such as the field of financial inclusion, the complexity of an untapped market, clearing the roadblocks and making a business case for financial inclusion, gaining support for this business case at scale, the ethical responsibility of policymakers to address financial inclusion, and the implications of data privacy and predatory lending practices in m...

Funding Disparities and Inclusivity with Sharon Vosmek

In this episode, Brigit and Don welcome Sharon Vosmek to explore the ongoing issue of funding for diverse female founders, the entry point for changing the system that enables funding disparities, why inclusive teams perform better, eliminating “unconscious bias” from the investment process, adapting to language barriers in global opportunities, and how her career path led to where she is today.

Women in Leadership with Mohini Malhotra

Mohini Malhotra sits down with Brigit and Don to delve into her focus on women’s economic empowerment, the correlation between leadership and international development, implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts into her leadership course, her interest in working with female artists, and the advice she would give to her younger self and students at Georgetown.

60 Decibels with Lindsay Smalling

Lindsay Smalling joins Brigit and Don to discuss the meaning behind the name “60 Decibels” and its mission, making sense of qualitative research data, Lindsay’s passion and motivation, 60 Decibels’ significant impact working with NGOs and social enterprises, ethical issues that arise in this field, and her outlook for this work in the future.

LEAD with Ronnie Lott and Will Smith

Brigit and Don welcome Ronnie Lott and Will Smith as they explore their work with LEAD (a social enterprise focused on Leadership, Education, Athletics, and Development), what they hope to accomplish, and plans to expand LEAD into the US to further its vision and impact. They also discuss the beginning of Ronnie and Will’s friendship, the dichotomy of pursuing an ethical initiative and abstaining from falling into the white savior trope, and Ronnie’s experience with NFL leaders and how these...

Radical Generosity with Vicki Saunders

Vicki Saunders is an entrepreneur, award-winning mentor, advisor to the next generation of change-makers and leading advocate for entrepreneurship as a way of creating positive transformation in the world. Vicki is Founder of #radical generosity and SheEO, a global community of radically generous women supporting women-led Ventures working on the World’s To-Do List. Vicki has co-founded and run ventures in Europe, Toronto and Silicon Valley and taken a company public on the Toronto Stock Exch...

Accessing the Potential of Social Enterprises with Dr. Edward Mungai

Dr Edward Mungai is a global thought leader in sustainability. An author, researcher, advisor, entrepreneur, and authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development, he is acclaimed for championing environmental excellence, sustainable consumerism and production, and the triple bottom line. Currently, Edward is CEO of Kenya Climate Innovation Centre (KCIC) Group, a transformation agency working at the intersection of sustainability, entrepreneurship, and innovation. He is co-fou...

BRAC's Mission and Approach to Global Expansion with Donella Rapier

Donella Rapier is the President and CEO of BRAC USA, the North American affiliate of BRAC, one of the largest humanitarian and development organizations in the world. Founded in Bangladesh, BRAC now touches the lives of more than 100 million people throughout Sub Saharan Africa and South Asia. Donella brings more than 30 years of leadership experience in finance, fundraising, and strengthening and scaling nonprofit organizations. Before joining BRAC USA, Donella served as the Chief Developme...

Solidarity Journalism with Anita Varma

Anita Varma, PhD leads the Solidarity Journalism Initiative at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, where she is the assistant director of Journalism & Media Ethics as well as Social Sector Ethics. Her research, teaching, and public engagement all focus on how marginalized communities are represented in public discourse, and how these representations can improve. Varma serves on the board of the Society of Professional Journalists (Northern California Chapter) and she is the research chair...

Gender Lens Investing with Lisa Willems

Lisa Willems joined AlphaMundi Group in 2013 and is currently a Managing Director at the impact investment firm. She established AlphaMundi Foundation in 2016, a nonprofit sister organization to the group that supports social entrepreneurs with technical assistance, business first gender-smart interventions, and impact measurement. Beyond her investing experience, she spent four years working as a management consultant in New York, predominantly at Oliver Wyman. Lisa has traveled extensivel...

The Significance of Social Justice with Joanna Thompson

Joanna Thompson was born in Alexandria, Virginia and raised in Rockville, Maryland - always staying true to her East Coast roots. She is a criminologist, receiving her B.A. in Criminology & Investigations from West Virginia University and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Criminology, Law, and Justice from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Before joining us here at SCU, Joanna lived in Chicago for 8 years where she taught criminology courses at UIC for 6 years and worked at Center on Halsted--an LGB...

The New Builders with Elizabeth MacBride

Elizabeth MacBride is an award-winning journalist and an entrepreneur with deep expertise in finance, technology and international business. She has talked her way into Gaza for a story, reported on business in refugee camps and written stories about entrepreneurs everywhere from Northern Idaho to Helena, Arkansas, to Cambodia. She is the co-author of The New Builders and founder of Times of Entrepreneurship, a weekly web publication covering entrepreneurs beyond Silicon Valley, launched in ...

Building a Better World with Janine Firpo

About Janine: Janine Firpo is an author and speaker who spent more than 20 years in executive roles at Hewlett-Packard, the World Bank, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and more. She is a values-aligned investor in companies that make the world a better place and is passionate about teaching women to learn how to invest their own money. Embodying these principles, Janine is releasing her first book, Activate Your Money - Invest to Grow Your Wealth and Build a Better World in April of 20...

Addressing Homelessness in California with Elizabeth Collet Funk

Elizabeth serves as the Senior General Partner at Dev Equity, a venture capital fund investing in B-Corps in low income housing, urban revitalization, and sustainable agriculture in Latin America (Nicaragua, Honduras, Panama, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Peru). She works closely with her portfolio companies to take their businesses to the next level while also making positive social changes in their countries. Elizabeth started her career in rapidly growing, innovative technology companies. S...

The Rise of Synthetic Drugs with Mary and Ed Ternan (Song4Charlie)

In an effort to raise awareness about the rise of synthetic drugs such as fentanyl that unfortunately ended the life of their youngest child, Charlie Ternan, Mary and Ed Ternan join Brigit and Don to discuss the urgency of this problem that is infiltrating the lives of young men and women. Throughout the episode they elaborate on what happened to Charlie, the magnitude of which synthetic drugs are harming the youth, why synthetic drugs are on the rise, the dangerous chemical properties of fen...

Innovation in Africa with Anzetse Were

Anzetse Were is a development economist with over ten years of experience working in Africa on Economic Research, Analysis and Strategy Development with a focus on Macroeconomics, Manufacturing, Private Sector Development, Financial Sector Development, and Trade and Investment. She has a Masters in Economics from the University of Sydney (Australia) and a Bachelor’s degree from Brown University (USA). Over her career, Anzetse has worked with African governments, private sector, development fi...

The Impact of the Better Than Cash Alliance with Dr. Ruth Goodwin-Groen

Brigit and Don welcome Dr. Ruth Goodwin Groen to discuss the impact of the Better Than Cash Alliance, addressing the challenges of cultivating responsible digital payment methods, G20’s Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion, how Dr. Ruth Goodwin-Groen began advocating for women’s financial equality, how digitization can relieve systemic corruption, Covid-19’s heightened impact on women, and the ethical issues and implications of the lack of international access to identification. Dr. Ru...

Inclusive Innovation with Maggie Dugan

Maggie Dugan is an international business and innovation facilitator. With over fifteen years of experience in broadcasting as a journalist, a marketer and a manager, Maggie has an incredible grasp on the industry and innovation in corporate settings at large. She was Director of Marketing, Advertising and Promotion for WAAF-FM, President of the American Comedy Network, and Vice President of its parent company, NewCity Communications. Maggie has been a leader/presenter at creativity confere...

Dr. Maya Ackerman

Professor and entrepreneur Dr. Maya Ackerman is an award-winning Artificial Intelligence expert, named “Woman of influence” by the Silicon Valley Business Journal. Ackerman is an Assistant Professor at the Computer Science and Engineering department at Santa Clara University, and CEO/Co-founder of WaveAI, today’s most advanced musical AI startup. Interviews with Dr. Ackerman appear on NBC News, New Scientist, Grammy.com, and international television stations across the globe. A sought-after s...

WaveAI with Dr. Maya Ackerman

Professor and entrepreneur Dr. Maya Ackerman is an award-winning Artificial Intelligence expert, named “Woman of influence” by the Silicon Valley Business Journal. Ackerman is an Assistant Professor at the Computer Science and Engineering department at Santa Clara University, and CEO/Co-founder of WaveAI, today’s most advanced musical AI startup. Interviews with Dr. Ackerman appear on NBC News, New Scientist, Grammy.com, and international television stations across the globe. A sought-after s...

Vinnee Tong

Vinnee Tong is the managing editor of news at KQED. She was the founding editor of The Bay, a storytelling news podcast from KQED. Previously, she was a producer on the Bay Curious podcast. Before KQED, Vinnee was a print reporter at the Associated Press and newspapers where she covered local news from City Hall as well as business news from New York, like the financial meltdown of 2008. She has won awards for her reporting including an RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Award, as well as awards from the...

Women Innovators & Leaders Development Network with Fiona Macaulay

Fiona Macaulay is a serial social entrepreneur that is committed to helping individuals achieve their potential. Through multiple leadership roles such as a keynote speaker for global conferences, a professor at Georgetown University for the McDonough School of Business, an avid leadership writer, and the founder of the Women Innovators & Leaders Development network (WILD), Fiona has actively worked to support women in their pursuit of professionally flourishing professional (fulfillment or a...

Introducing Brigit Helms, PhD. Miller Center's New Executive Director and new co-host of Line of Sight.

Thane and Don introduce Miller Center's new Executive Director, Brigit Helms. With over 30 years of experience in global development and economic inclusion Brigit brings insight on the big trends in social entrepreneurship, ethical issues in impact investing, the significance of mobile money, cultivating sustainability, and using social entrepreneurship to fight pandemics.

Social Responsibility with Victor Som

Victor Som is the founder and CEO of SCM – The Break Station and has traveled to over 52 countries advocating for sustainability and social responsibility. Thane and Don sit down with Victor to discuss consumer responsibility, conflict minerals, Victor’s personal transformation journey, and how companies can operate with greater social responsibility.

Impacts of Mining with Jean Nyembo

Jean Nyembo is a Jesuit priest and the head of CARF (Arrupe Center for research and training), in Lubumbashi, DR Congo. CARF promotes sustainable development through research and education. In this conversation, Thane and Don explore the issue of mining for minerals used in electronics, which often deplete the natural environment and involve unethical labor practices. Jean discusses how the mining ecosystem impacts the community, how his vocation as a priest influences his work and how corpor...

Ethics of New Technology with Dan'l Lewin

Dan’l Lewin is the CEO of the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. He has 30-plus years of leadership experience in Silicon Valley with Microsoft, NeXT, Apple, Go Corporation, and Sony. Don and Thane discuss the ethics of new technologies, the Computer History Museum’s role in Silicon Valley, which innovations will make the biggest social impact, and how leaders can evaluate new technologies.

Exploring Gender Equity with Katica Roy

Katica Roy is a gender economist and the CEO and founder of Denver-based Pipeline, an award-winning SaaS company that leverages artificial intelligence to identify and drive economic gains through gender equity. Katica is driven by a passion to eradicate economic inequality and champions the rights of refugees, women, and children. Thane and Don talk with Katica about how to achieve gender equity, how performance reviews can help close the gender pay gap, female representation on boards, and...

Accelerating Conservation with Alex Dehgan

Alex Dehgan is the CEO of Conservation X Labs, an innovation and technology startup focused on ending human-induced extinction. Alex recently served as the Chief Scientist at the U.S. Agency for International Development and helped launch the Global Development Lab there. In this wide-ranging conversation, Alex, Thane, and Don discuss how to prevent future pandemics, Alex’s recent book “The Snow Leopard Project: And Other Adventures in Warzone Conservation,” the media’s role in conservation,...

Becoming a Global Ambassador with Sammi Bennett

Sammi Bennett is a 2019 Santa Clara graduate '19 and recently completed a Fulbright Fellowship in Bangalore, India with Pollinate Group. Thane and Don chat with Sammi about female entrepreneurship, clean energy, vocational discernment, local and global citizenship, and stories of creativity and resilience from around the world.

Transformative Tech for Good

Betsy Beaumon is the CEO of Benetech, a nonprofit that empowers communities with software for good. In this episode, Betsy talks with Don and Thane about transformative technologies, the ethics of data, misconceptions around new technologies, and how technology is impacting vulnerable communities.

Eradicating Modern Slavery with Sarah Carpenter

Supply chain human rights expert Sarah Carpenter joins Thane and Don to share her experience on how to eradicate modern slavery, improve worker safety, and use innovative technology to make supply chains more ethical. Sarah has architected Assent Compliance's human trafficking and slavery solution, and consults with Fortune 500 companies on human rights due diligence.

Enterprising Sisters in Africa with Sister Juunza

Sister Juunza of the Religious Sisters of the Holy Spirit in Zambia brings shares her perspective on how principles of social entrepreneurship can improve life for Zambians. Thane, Don and Sister Juunza discuss the farming and education initiatives of her sisters, the prospects for young people in Zambia, and her vision for the next 10 years for her school.

Managing Dominant Visionaries with Rob Shelton

Rob Shelton is co-author of the recent book “The Brilliant Jerk Conundrum: Thriving with and Governing a Dominant Visionary.” In this episode, Thane and Don sit down with Rob to discuss how to spot and manage dominant visionaries, and how innovation and ethics can co-exist within organizations.

Solar Minigrids with Erika Francks

Erika was a Global Social Benefit Fellow in 2016 with ONergy Solar in Kolkata, India. She graduated from Santa Clara in 2017 as Valedictorian of her class and joined Accenture as a management consulting analyst focused on marketing and data analytics. She then went on a Fulbright to the country of Lesotho where she conducted research on productive uses of energy for OnePower, a solar minigrid company.