Innovate Podcast

From the launch of the very first CaringBridge site in 1997, they’ve been working toward a single vision: a world where no one goes through a health journey alone. In order to turn this vision into reality, they’ve made it their mission to build bridges of care and communication, providing love and support on a health journey.

Planet Word is the world’s first voice-activated museum, with interactive galleries and exhibits that bring words and language to life in all sorts of fun ways… inspiring and renewing a love of language and reading in people of all ages. Through unique, immersive learning experiences, they provide a dynamic space to explore words, grounded in a solid understanding of language arts and science.

Part case studies, part meditation on the past, present and future of the disease, The Problem of Alzheimer's traces its beginnings to its recognition as a crisis. An unambiguous account of decades of missed opportunities and our healthcare systems’ failures to take action, it also tells the story of the biomedical breakthroughs that may allow Alzheimer’s to finally be prevented and treated by medicine, and indicates how we can live with dementia: the ways patients can reclaim their autonomy and redefine their sense of self, how families can support their loved ones, and the innovative reforms we can make as a society that would give caregivers and patients a better quality of life.

Physicians for Social Responsibility, known as PSR, is a physician-led and membership organization of health professionals in the United States working to protect the public from the global threats posed by nuclear weapons proliferation, climate change and environmental destruction. It produces and disseminates publications, provides specialized training, offers written and oral testimony to Congress, conducts media interviews, and delivers professional and public education.

Jeffrey Rosen is the president & CEO of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization whose mission is to educate the public about the U.S. Constitution. Located steps from Independence Hall in historic Philadelphia, the Center engages millions of citizens as an interactive museum, national town hall and provider of nonpartisan resources for civic education.

Habitat partners with people in your community, and all over the world, to help them build or improve a place they can call home. Habitat homeowners build their own homes alongside volunteers, and pay an affordable mortgage. With your support, Habitat homeowners achieve the strength, stability and independence they need to build a better life for themselves and their families. With their 2020 Strategic Plan, Habitat for Humanity will serve more people than ever before through decent and affordable housing.

Eleanor Allen is CEO of Water for People. A compassionate truth-teller and advocate of empowered equality for people across the globe, Eleanor is a world-leading water expert dedicated to helping billions of people access safe and sustainable water and sanitation services needed to save lives, stay healthy, find jobs, and thrive.

For 34 years, Arts Commons has been one of Canada’s largest and most vibrant arts centers. Located in the heart of Calgary’s Cultural District in the downtown core, the center occupies a full city block and is home to five theatres and the world-class Jack Singer Concert Hall. Each year, Arts Commons hosts over 1,800 performances and events, including live theatre, concerts, dance productions, readings, public forums, art exhibits and much more—all open to the public. The resident companies of Arts Commons—including Alberta Theatre Projects, Arts Commons Presents, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Downstage, One Yellow Rabbit and Theatre Calgary—create, perform and present a wide range of award-winning and highly acclaimed theatre and concerts each season.

Managing Editor Robert Rimm talks with Opera Philadelphia’s General Director and President David Devan. Their mission is to deliver outstanding productions of traditional and new repertoire that engage the public and propel the genre forward. By presenting innovative programming that speaks to the multicultural Philadelphia region, they broaden and diversify the opera audience. They also identify extraordinary artists, both established and emerging, and provide opportunities for them to create their most imaginative and inspired work.

Host Robert Rimm talks with Afa Dworkin, president and artistic director of The Sphinx Organization, the social-justice organization dedicated to transforming lives through the power of diversity in the arts. Sphinx’s four program areas—Education & Access, Artist Development, Performing Artists and Arts Leadership—form a pipeline that develops and supports diversity and inclusion in classical music at every level: music education, artists performing on stage, the repertoire and programming being performed, communities represented in audiences, and artistic and administrative leadership within the field.

Arch Street Press Managing Editor and host of the Innovate Podcast, Robert Rimm, talks with Frank Leto, president and CEO of Bryn Mawr Trust. For 130 years, its professionals have focused on being collaborative partners with individuals, families, businesses and organizations. Their culture is based on uncovering clients’ needs, not just for today but tomorrow, and being a responsible supporter of the communities they serve, both within the Philadelphia region and internationally.

For most of us, these victims are faceless as we struggle to understand who they are and how they came to be victims. Elena Timofeeva and the organization she cofounded, Safe House Foundation, have been on the front line fighting against human trafficking.

Serving at one of the country’s largest art institutions, Timothy Rub provides an outstanding model for advocating for the power of art to grow communities, to educate and engage the public, and to enhance the vital role of art in our society.

Natwar Gandhi began life in a dusty Indian village that had no paved streets, no electricity, no telephone and no running water. Through countless long days of work, relentless determination and good luck he was able to take a plane to New York at the age of 25, where he landed with $7 in his pocket. Still the Promised Land is the fascinating and deeply personal story of how an impoverished immigrant made his way to the new world, remade his life and ultimately became the chief financial officer of Washington, D.C., playing a key role in transforming the nation’s capital from a near-bankrupt municipality into a financially healthy major American city. 

Kelly Lee is the chief cultural officer for the City of Philadelphia, appointed by Mayor Jim Kenney. She leads Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, which closes the gap in access to quality cultural experiences and creative expression through the support and promotion of arts, culture and the creative industries. The Office connects Philadelphians to enriching arts-infused experiences, links local artists and cultural organizations to resources and opportunities, and preserves Philadelphia's public art assets.

Michael Brune, the Sierra Club’s executive director since 2010, is one of today’s most inspiring and effective environmental leaders. Prior to joining the Sierra Club, he led Rainforest Action Network. Under his leadership, the Sierra Club has grown to more than three million supporters and is at the forefront of the drive to move beyond fossil fuels to 100% clean, renewable energy, while also protecting America’s remaining wild places.

Meet some of Philadelphia’s fiercest black women leaders in the new book, "They Carried Us: The Social Impact of Philadelphia's Black Women Leaders". They range from the first black woman known to be born in Philadelphia (1694)—who ran a ferry business during colonial times—to the woman whose childhood experiences led her to become a surgeon and medical advisor to celebrities. All of the women “bring it” as activists— in community and movement work, business and civic institutions, education, churches, medicine, government, journalism, sports and the arts.

As the executive director of the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia’s regional CEO Council for Growth, Claire Greenwood leads the work of nearly 60 business, higher-education and civic leaders who commit their time and efforts to enhancing economic growth and prosperity in the tri-state area. Through Claire’s direction these leaders actively work to foster regional cooperation, enhance mobility, advance innovation, and develop and retain talent in the community, with a focus on growing the energy, manufacturing and healthcare innovation sectors.

Madeline Bell is the president and CEO of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), one of the top-ranked children’s hospitals in the United States. A bold and visionary leader, she champions change with empathy and integrity, inspiring the nearly 20,000 employees in the hospital’s $3-billion-a-year health system and research institute to create breakthroughs that have worldwide impact.

Shortly after being incarcerated in an Arizona state penitentiary, Ward discovered A Course in Miracles. For the past 25 years, he’s been an avid student and practitioner of that classic spiritual work, and is a prison-based facilitator and teacher of topics related to spiritual psychotherapy and metaphysics. ...and Purpose in Life is a memoir about the events that led to his incarceration and subsequent spiritual transformation. In renowned educator, speaker and author Marianne Williamson’s words: “We can easily focus on the tragedies in Yont’s story, but there is no need to dwell there. For this is a story of resurrection and love—of darkness turned into light, and the transformation of the human heart. Yont is not a victim, but a teacher. He has lived his own story and now he illumines ours.”

Water.org is a global nonprofit organization working to bring water and sanitation to the world. They want to make it safe, accessible, and cost-effective. They help people get access to safe water and sanitation through affordable financing, such as small loans. They work every day to empower people in need with these life-changing resources – giving women hope, children health and families a bright future.

Disability Rights Pennsylvania, known as DRP, is part of a national network of disability rights non-profit organizations that protect and advocate for the rights of children and adults with disabilities so that they may live the lives they choose, free from abuse, neglect, discrimination, and segregation.

Glenn Bergman is the executive director of Philabundance, the region’s largest hunger-relief organization, acquiring, rescuing and distributing food to help feed those in need, and advocating for policies that increase food access. Philabundance's mission is to drive hunger from our communities today and end hunger forever.