Onwrd
47 episodes - English - Latest episode: 7 months ago - ★★★★★ - 10 ratingsExploring the social innovations and innovators moving society forward.
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Episodes
Ep. 46: On Revolutionizing Philanthropy
November 29, 2023 22:31 - 36 minutes - 33.3 MBIn this episode we delve into an exciting convergence of technology and philanthropy with Endaoment, an innovative platform harnessing the power of Web 3.0 tools to redefine charitable giving. Discover a world where blockchain technology transcends being a mere digital ledger to become a catalyst for democratizing access, enhancing transparency, and reshaping the landscape of nonprofit initiatives. Our conversation unveils how this cutting-edge, user-friendly platform is not just part of the...
Ep. 45: On The Pulse of Heart Leadership
November 10, 2023 18:59 - 41 minutes - 75.8 MBIn a rush of Q4 madness, we’re stepping back and taking a deep dive into something a little different, something that pulses with life itself – the Heart Economy. This movement isn’t just a whisper in the cacophony of leadership strategies; it’s a call to action, beckoning leaders to sync with a rhythm that’s been overlooked by many—a rhythm that thrums in the chests of each of us. In this episode, we’re connecting with the visionary behind this movement, Arnaud Saint-Paul. We're peeling b...
Ep. 44 - On Securing Our Virtual Lives with Shira Stember of Snickerdoodle Labs
December 29, 2021 16:00 - 24 minutes - 33.6 MBThe world is moving at breakneck speed, and as you’ve probably become aware….our lives are more and more relying on our data. We rely on this data, but have little ability to utilize them in the manner we use our physical possessions (loaning, renting, upgrading, etc.) Digital ownership is an important field to understand as more and more of our lives go online. In this episode, we talk with Shira Stember, the Chief Operating Officer of Snickerdoodle Labs. Snickerdoodle is developing core in...
Ep. 43 - On Transitioning To A Green Economy with Hitesh Juneja of Beyond Oil
May 17, 2021 13:00 - 31 minutes - 43.6 MBGiven the pace of development over the last century, and the amount of investment in carbon-based economy, flipping the switch to renewables over night is, unfortunately, not realistic. In this episode, we connect with Hitesh Juneja, a globally recognized innovator who is applying his business acumen, and activating his network to evolve antiquated energy technologies while simultaneously increasing access to who can participate in and benefit from energy creation and distribution operatio...
Ep. 42: On The Health Of Democracies with InfoVote's Myron Ragsdale & Lynn Roosevelt Wiggins
May 10, 2021 19:07 - 28 minutes - 39.4 MBOur governance structures and processes are stuck in the 1960s. If we don’t act in short order to upgrade our operating systems, we are going to find ourselves in the dustbin of history. Innovators like Myron Ragsdale & Lynn Roosevelt Wiggins join us today to share the tools and their creativity applied to improving our democratic processes. ** Around the 3min mark, Lynn revised the stat, he revises his fact: African American turnout fell by 765k votes in 2016--not the 1.2 M voters mentioned...
Ep. 41 - On Emerging Practices In Philanthropic Giving with Susan Hairston
March 28, 2021 19:42 - 41 minutes - 75.9 MBIn recent years, we have seen an influx of innovative and bold experiments in redistributing the wealth accumulated by various institutions, organizations and entrepreneurs. These experiments fly under different flags - universal basic income, corporate social responsibility - social impact bonds, unrestricted granting, stimulus checks, gifts, social impact, etc. Some of these are making big impacts, some of these are perpetuating existing problems, some of these might be inviting new problem...
Onwrd Ep. 40 - Scaling Renewable Energy with Aviv Shalgi of SolarSimplified
March 16, 2021 18:35 - 43 minutes - 80.2 MBIn this conversation, we connect with Aviv Shalgi, founder of Solar Simplified, an exciting example of win-win-win thinking applied to the energy industry. By matching renters, homeowners, and small businesses who care about the environment and want to save money on their electricity bill with local solar farms through an easy and transparent signup process, Solar Simplified is making renewable energy accessible to all. It’s entrepreneurs like Aviv who are creating the “new normal” we’ve al...
Onwrd Ep.39 - On Currency & Governance Design with Grace Rachmany
May 25, 2020 15:02 - 42 minutes - 78.1 MBAs we race into the greater recession, or depression, and the rules and tools we have taken as constant disintegrate, we are presented with an amazing opportunity - to invent systems that are stronger, more just - to shift our understanding of what value is and how it is transferred and to reimagine what governance means in a global, and digital context. Today’s guest lives on the vanguard of community, currency and governance. Through her work and life, she forwards possibilities of a more...
Onwrd Ep.37 - On Incentivizing Healthy Financial Habits with Leighton CusackPoolTogether
May 13, 2020 13:51 - 24 minutes - 44.4 MBBy intentionally designing our processes and systems to reward the behaviors we want, we can more quickly create the outcomes we seek. Times are changing, and the time is ripe to re-establish, reinvent and rejigger the processes we rely on to move the world forward. Today we connect with Pool Together, a decentralized finance protocol that is creating healthy savings habits, and breaking bad fiscal management by providing upfront incentives and removing psychological and technological barrie...
Onwrd Ep.37 - On Incentivizing Healthy Financial Habits with Leighton Cusack, PoolTogether
May 13, 2020 13:51 - 24 minutes - 44.4 MBBy intentionally designing our processes and systems to reward the behaviors we want, we can more quickly create the outcomes we seek. Times are changing, and the time is ripe to re-establish, reinvent and rejigger the processes we rely on to move the world forward. Today we connect with Pool Together, a decentralized finance protocol that is creating healthy savings habits, and breaking bad fiscal management by providing upfront incentives and removing psychological and technological barrie...
Onwrd Ep.38 - On Improving The Housing Supply Chain with Amy Appleton of SHARE California
May 07, 2020 17:29 - 39 minutes - 73.2 MBWhen it comes to housing, the challenge we face is not an imbalance of housing supply and demand, but a gross misallocation of our housing resources. How many homes do you have? How many empty rooms are in your home(s)? On your street? In your city? Map this fact on top of a growing elderly population, with low to high needs for support - everything from grocery shopping, to companionship, to homecare sertvices. Many times, our seniors find themselves land rich and cash poor. Between the ab...
Onwrd Ep. 36 - On Hip-Hop For Mental Health with Jonah Scott & Max Kline of Rhythmic Mind
April 09, 2020 10:41 - 1 hour - 111 MBBefore we were mandated to stay isolated, many of us struggled with a lack a connection - to self, our culture, our families, our friends, our purpose and environments. This lack of connection is at the root of many of our mental health challenges, that present as anxiety, cutting, bullying, school shootings, depression, obsession, addiction, suicide and the myriad of other mental health challenges me, you and our neighbors battle daily. As the mental health conversation becomes more importa...
Onwrd Ep.34 - On Peer-to-Peer Lending with Sidney Powell of Maple.Finance
March 23, 2020 21:26 - 28 minutes - 51.5 MBAt the root of many social problems communities face the world over, at any scale, lay finances. Our financial services are inefficient, obfuscated and inaccessible. To respond to the pains and constraints we face regarding accessing and using money, a growing cohort of social innovators are building more accessible, fair and transparent financial services. Today, we learn about a completely decentralized capital market, built on the Ethereum blockchain, called "Maple Finance." Maple lays t...
Onwrd Ep.35 - On Digital Ownership with Devin Finzer of OpenSea.io
March 20, 2020 20:30 - 39 minutes - 72.7 MBWhat does ownership mean in a digital age? As our lives move more virtual, answering this question becomes very important. Questions of authenticity, of history, and of piracy. Blockchain technologies inherent transparency, veracity, and decentralized, baked into the infrastructure, make it uniquely applicable to the facilitation of managing, transferring and interacting with your digital possessions. And, of course, you guessed it, someone is out there making that possible right now. These...
Onwrd Ep. 28 - On How We Work with John Gieryn of Enspiral Network
March 18, 2020 18:32 - 44 minutes - 81.1 MBGreat work places inspire hope, foment change and are fertile grounds for creative thinking. Great work places and organizations are too far and few in between. Enspiral is changing that by ensuring their clients and partners are practicing effective patterns of collaboration. As we start this next decade, societies around the world seem to be at an inflection point, and new solutions are needed to the new challenges we face. Old tools and tricks are no longer sufficient. That is why Enspir...
Onwrd Ep. 33 - On Spendless Giving with Victor Rortvedt of rTrees
March 18, 2020 15:22 - 33 minutes - 61.4 MBThere is a rising suit of tools that allow people the world over to begin doing things with their money that has previously been impossible. As blockchain tools begin to grow up, we are seeing a creative explosion of possibilities as people begin to program money. One tools that we have mentioned a few times in recent episodes is DAI. D.A.I. DAI is a tool from the company, Maker. DAI is a dollar backed token that lets holders of this token make steady and passive gains. rDAI, an offshoot of...
Onwrd Ep.32 - On Real-time Payments for Work with Paul Berg of Sablier.Finance
March 17, 2020 21:37 - 27 minutes - 50.5 MBThe economy is rapidly evolving - we just had the highest highs, followed by unprecedented volatility. This combined with the fact that we enjoy a global workforce, interconnected by interdependent central banking systems, makes all of us vulnerable to the ebbs and flows of economic whims, worries and wonders. In this new economy, workers are more mobile, transitory, have more options and incur more risk than we have become accustomed to. this means we need new tools to support the workers, c...
Onwrd Ep. 31 - On Making Web3 Accessible with Jonny Zerah of Status
March 12, 2020 23:12 - 29 minutes - 53.8 MBMarshall McLuhan once wrote, "We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us.” Consider how the internet has shaped reality in less than a quarter century. While human’s are great at creating tools, we have a shockingly poor ability to understand the implication of our tools when the world takes hold of them. I share all this as context as we enter the unknown and race to build tools to solve today’s problems. I continue to find hope and inspiration in the burgeoning blockchain space...
Onwrd Ep. 30 - Improving Charitable Giving with Lucas Kohorst
March 11, 2020 22:48 - 29 minutes - 40.8 MBSustaining the important work of non-profits is vital to solving the challenges society faces that the "free market" is not incentivized to solve. Innovative solutions that lower the threshold for who can be a philanthropist, and that provide a dependable source of funding for our non-profit partners can fundamentally change how non-profits operate and help them focus on impact, increase their risk tolerance and avoid spending so much damn time throwing fundraisers and justifying their overhe...
Onwrd Ep.29 - Decentralizing Financial Services With Zer0 Collateral
March 11, 2020 19:14 - 36 minutes - 49.7 MBIn the face of this, a new bread of entrepreneur is emerging with the aims of decentralizing financial services and increasing the transparency, autonomy and validity of economic systems. The movement goes by the name, DeFi (as in decentralized finance). To realize this vision of decentralizing central banks and their bevvy of obfuscated services, a new relationship with data is required. The new relationship with data finds its foundation in blockchains, and it is now time to begin taking t...
Onwrd Ep. 27 - Elevating The Voice Of The Vulnerable with Law at the Margins
February 28, 2020 16:12 - 39 minutes - 15.5 MBMedia has always played a pivotal role in shifting the patterns we seek to change. New stories help cultures shift behaviors, patterns and potentially bring about long-sought-after changes. So how can we shift the narratives around some of our most entrenched social ills? Two innovators are working on that. In this episode, we meet Eric Ortiz, a journalist, and Chaumtoli Huq, a lawyer and much more. These two have created a newsroom unlike any other and are striving to elevate the stories of...
Onwrd Ep.26 - Home As Health with Dr. Bamberger of UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative
February 20, 2020 22:33 - 31 minutes - 42.9 MBOver 80% of our health outcomes are determined by things doctors can't fix. In this episode, we meet a doctor has dedicated his life to to addressing the health needs of some of our most in need and vulnerable by taking a unique approach to healthcare. Through his journey, this doctor has improved health outcomes for his patients, and many more, by securing funding and implemented much of SF’s housing for the homeless. In this episode, we learn Dr. Bamberger's holistic approach to serving his...
Onwrd Ep.25 - Community Land Trusts with Cassandra Ferrera of CommonSpace
November 27, 2019 21:15 - 44 minutes - 60.9 MBCommunities around the globe are experiencing unprecedented challenges in housing their residents, and social innovators are applying their creativity to solving the challenge. In this episode, we explore one potential solution that is elegant and complex: community land trusts. Helping us unpack CLT's is Cassandra Ferrera, a radical real estate professional who is applying her passion and prowess to implementing housing equity solutions in Northern California. She is a board member of the C...
Onwrd Ep. 24 - With John McAfee
November 07, 2019 17:41 - 30 minutes - 42.1 MBJohn McAfee is a visionary, mogul, fugitive, presidential candidate, entrepreneur, a true one of a kind. In this episode John and I discuss why he is running for President of the USA in 2020, love, literature, arrest records and more. Twitter: https://twitter.com/officialmcafee
Onwrd Ep.23 - On Device Addiction with Alex Simmons of Yondr
April 16, 2019 16:01 - 40 minutes - 55.7 MBCell phone ubiquity is inhibiting us all from communicating and connecting in the ways we strive to be with one another. It has reached a fever pitch and I am more aware of their negative effects now more than ever. Leaving aside the impact of these devices on our youth (e.g. cyber bullying), our cultural addiction to these devices is getting in the way of our ability to have our basic needs met - feeling acknowledged by others and being connected to something larger than ourselves. Luckily,...
Onwrd Ep.21 - Building A Better Monetary System with Ryan of PirateChain
April 08, 2019 19:58 - 44 minutes - 61.6 MBIn a world of increasing decentralization (think Social Media, WikiPedia, AirBnB, Lyft, #MeToo) one arena has not yet been decentralized - finance. That being said, citizens the world over are all too aware of the negative impact of the current financial system, driven by centralize banks. Thus, social innovators the world over are working furiously to build a better built financial system - one imbued with transparency, security and opportunity for all to access. In this episode I sit do...
Onwrd Ep. 22 - Industrial Scale 3D Printing with Samantha Snabes, Co-founder of re:3D
April 08, 2019 15:05 - 40 minutes - 55.1 MBCreativity, autonomy, localism, and customization are just a few of the dominant trends of the 21st Century, so it is no surprise that we are seeing the rise of 3D printing. As more maker spaces, teen centers, science clubs and libraries getting a hold of these relatively inexpensive home-based custom manufacturing machines, we are seeing more and more creative and impactful applications of these small devices. But these small tools, trinkets, and toys being printed have their limitations du...
Onwrd Ep.20 - The Future of Governance with Paola Santana of Social Glass
March 09, 2019 17:48 - 1 hour - 119 MBAcross the globe, liberal democracies are facing grave challenges. And should some of these nations fall, what will replace their democratic institutions? If we are not actively creating what comes next, we are likely to revert to one of the governing systems the 20th Century has already proven faulty (e.g. Socialism and Authoritarianism). This is the problem Paola Santana and her team at Social Glass are attacking in an extremely innovative and realistic way. Social Glass is building the t...
Onwrd Ep. 19 - Improving Online Communication with Anthony Law, Founder of Gaugr
February 27, 2019 01:09 - 25 minutes - 34.5 MBWe have more communication tools than ever before, yet our ability to communicate with one another seems to be deteriorating. Is it the medium or the message that is becoming harder to navigate? Communication is the most powerful tool we have to solve and resolve our problems. But look around, there is a pandemic of toxic communication, inhibiting productive communication. In the eye of this worrisome storm, I sit down with Anthony Law, the founder of Gaugr. Anthony and his team are workin...
Onwrd Ep. 18 - Water with Ryan Pedrotti of Sonoma Water & Tyler Judson of Weeks Drilling & Pump
February 25, 2019 18:05 - 44 minutes - 60.7 MB“Water is fluid, soft and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong.” – Lau Tzu No doubt, water is a powerful force...but, Mr. Tzu, how do we ensure we continue to have good water?! Globally and locally, water issues are on the rise. Whether our community faces issues related to drought, pollution, or conservation, we all r...
Onwrd Ep. 17 - Sustainable Disaster Relief with Will Heegaard of The Footprint Project
February 14, 2019 17:58 - 35 minutes - 48.4 MBAs natural disasters and their impacts grow by the year, the rebuild efforts become more complex and important. Many times, natural disasters set the stage for opportunists to come in and perpetuate the unsavory aspect of capitalism. Luckily, many social innovators are dedicated to changing the disaster aide paradigm to one that leverages the opportunities presented in post-disaster contexts to increase community resiliency. In this episode, I talk to Will Heegaard, Founder and Director of ...
Onwrd Ep.16 Food Is Medicine with Cathryn Couch of Ceres Community Project
February 04, 2019 17:05 - 35 minutes - 49.2 MBOur health system tends to focus on drugs, diseases, doctors, and disorders, yet it is our daily habits and community that have a far greater impact on our health outcomes than the healthcare conversation tends to acknowledge. In this episode, I sit down with a revolutionary non-profit who is changing how health and community can connect to create better outcomes for all - insurers, individuals, those battling illnesses and those interested in food. We discuss inspiring trends, developments,...
Onwrd Ep.15 - Entrepreneurship with Elizabeth Gore of Alice
January 28, 2019 21:56 - 32 minutes - 44.4 MBEntrepreneurship is at an all-time high. More creative risk-takers are bucking traditional employment and creating their own jobs, pursuing their passions and solving major problems at every scale, on every continent. But, becoming an entrepreneur is tough, and even tougher for those who the economy has historically left behind. Luckily, there are business savvy leaders with giants hearts, big visions, and enormous commitments leading efforts to ensure everyone has the opportunity to change ...
Onwrd Ep.14 - Education with Give.si & Jen Klose
December 19, 2018 17:10 - 46 minutes - 63.6 MBOur educational systems are out of date and in dire need of an upgrade. Luckily, there are many people working hard to shift the educational paradigm. In this episode, we meet two innovators who are changing the how education is delivered now, and for years to come. We discuss inspiring trends, barriers to shifting educational outcomes and the existing initiatives and models that are improving educational outcomes globally and locally. Learn more about these two and support their work by cl...
Onwrd Ep.13 - Beauty & Fashion with Style By Malia & Kreyol Essence
November 27, 2018 15:36 - 41 minutes - 56.8 MBIn this episode, I sit down with two entrepreneurs who are changing the fashion and beauty space business model - shifting from a culture that monetizes exploitation to one that is capitalizing off empowering. We discuss the state of the industry, inspiring trends, barriers to shifting culture and the existing products and business models that Malia and Stephane are forwarding. Learn more about these two and support their work by clicking the links below: > Style By Malia: http://stylebyma...
Onwrd Ep.12 - Housing The Homeless with Akash Kalia of The Palms Inn
September 05, 2018 18:54 - 43 minutes - 59.6 MBPoverty in the USA has been stuck at 12% for the last 40 years. In recent years, cities have been dedicating more and more resource to fighting homelessness, yet the problem is only getting worse. While there are a lot of mysteries about homelessness, one things is clear, it is on the rise. And this flies in the face of the dramatic increase in money being spent in the private, public and social sectors trying to solve this problem. In this episode, I sit down with Akash Kalia, a social inno...
Onwrd Ep.9 - Impact Investing with Casey Johnson of RSF Social Finance
August 30, 2018 16:30 - 43 minutes - 59.7 MBWhile the social sector and private sector operate on different playing fields, they impact our shared reality. So how can we bridge this divide to ensure the great work of social innovators has the same opportunities to scale as the next Pepsi, Facebook or GoPro? A breed of financial services firms have risen to the challenge. Through their innovative approaches, they are forwarding the future of sustainable capitalism. Join Casey Johnson of rsfsocialfinance.org and I as we explore the stat...
Onwrd Ep.11 - On Diversity, Equity & Inclusion with Juan Lopez of Amistad Associates
August 27, 2018 21:52 - 57 minutes - 78.4 MBDiversity is innovation. Innovation requires creativity, and creativity is bore from the alchemy of blending of multiple perspectives, possibilities and individual people. While individuality is powerful, it is even more impactful when mixed with the individualities of others. But how can we learn to embrace our differences? DE&I (diversity, equity and inclusion) initiatives are being conducted at organizations of all sizes around the world to address just this. In this episode, I talk with...
Onwrd Ep.10 - Secure Elections with Jeffrey Stern of Votem
August 26, 2018 04:11 - 38 minutes - 35.9 MBDemocracy could use a reboot. A systems upgrade. We are in the middle of the 21st Century, and many basic democratic structures are way out of date. Voting is one of the most obvious examples. In today’s episode, I talk to Jeffrey Stern of Votem, a mobile voting platform designed to securely cast votes in elections across the globe. Votem is one of many social innovators helping shift our democratic institutions into the digital age by improving the accessibility and security of the sacred ...
Onwrd Ep.8 - On Workforce Development with Letitia Hanke of ARS Roofing
August 14, 2018 17:48 - 42 minutes - 58.2 MBWhen was the last time you fixed a leaky sink? Built a fence? Rewired your lighting? If you are like me, the answer is “Never!” We rely on skilled tradesmen and women to fix-it, and make our cars, homes, offices and vital infrastructure all better. But it’s becoming more difficult to find this skilled labor. Letitia Hanke, CEO of www.arsroofing.com, was struggling to find talent to service her clients until she found an innovative solution to solving her labor-shortage problem. Listen to Leti...
Onwrd Ep.7 - On Realtime Payments with Euros Evans of Etch
August 13, 2018 22:15 - 35 minutes - 48.5 MBWhat if you didn't have to wait two weeks, or in some countries, a month to receive your paycheck? What if you could show up to work on Monday morning without a dime, and have enough money to buy lunch by 12pm? Payday advances/loans have been a long-time scourage on wage workers, but in the age of digital money, ubiquitous tracking and a rapidly evolving workforce, why are we still stuck in the payment paradigm from the Industrial Ages? Euros Evans, CEO of www.Etch.Work discusses his audaciou...
Onwrd Ep.6 - On Philanthropy with Dolores Estrada of CalEndow
August 05, 2018 16:16 - 44 minutes - 60.9 MBMany problems our communities face are massive in scale, and the organizations fighting them are tiny in comparison. That being true, there are some behemoths out there. Large Philanthropic foundations who give millions upon millions of dollars away every year to remedy social issues. In this episode, I sit down with Dolores Estrada, the Director of Grants Management at the www.CalEndow.org, and discuss where and how this enormous foundation is funding social innovation and reaping a big ROI.
Onwrd Ep.5 - On Distributed Ledger Technology with Piers Ridyard of Radix
July 28, 2018 14:01 - 36 minutes - 49.9 MBThe largest hotel company owns no real estate. The largest taxi companies own no taxis. The trend of decentralizing systems is creating a more resilient and flexible world. In this episode, I sit down with Piers Ridyard, CEO of www.RadixDLT.com, who is creating a platform for anyone to build decentralized tools to solve big problems and provide better services as we race towards an ever-shifting future.
Onwrd Ep.4 - On Law & Power with Vinay Gupta of Mattereum
July 27, 2018 23:14 - 44 minutes - 60.7 MBThe scope of our rigid regulations and the diverse constituents occupying dynamic, radically changing societies are currently in painful juxtaposition. Luckily, Vinay Gupta, founder of Mattereum, Hexayurt Capital, and Ethereum, is working on making legal structures more flexible, enforceable and scalable to the VUCA times we live in. Learn more about Vinay at https://medium.com/@leashless.
Onwrd Ep.3 - On Global Health with Dr. Alex Cahana
July 27, 2018 19:32 - 39 minutes - 54.9 MBAI, E-health records, telemedicine, the list goes on. So much innovation in the health space, so many exciting developments...but what is the problem health innovators are trying to solve? Dr. Cahana is a global health expert and practitioner with a systemic solution to the fissures of our global health systems.
Onwrd Ep.2 - On Personal Data with David Siegel of The Pillar Project
July 27, 2018 18:45 - 32 minutes - 44.4 MBData breach after data breach, hack after hack, our personal data is all over the internet, and is at risk of being compromised. What can we do to change how our digital identities and information is accessed, used and abused by organizations who rely on our data to provide services? David Siegel, a web pioneer, futurist, writer, thought leader and CEO of The Pillar Project (www.pillarproject.io), is working tirelessly to change the personal data paradigm.
Onward Ep.1 - On Social Innovation with Daniel Weinzveg
July 23, 2018 06:14 - 11 minutes - 16.2 MBThe "why" and "what" of the Onwrd podcast. I am your host, Daniel Weinzveg. Please join me on an inspiring journey as we talk to the humans working hard on the innovative projects and that are improving our global community.