Purpose, Inc.

I am thrilled and honored to have Alice Korngold back on the podcast. Alice is a consultant, advisor, trainer, educator, author. She's a noted global expert on the issues of sustainability, diversity, inclusion, board governance, and E S G. We are here to talk about Alice's new book, A Better World, Inc, Corporate governance for an Inclusive, sustainable and prosperous future.  Alice is a good friend and a returning guest to the Purposing Podcast.

Stacey Kline, CEO of Otto Intelligence, joins the podcast to discuss the future of purpose-focused finance. Noting the accelerating shift in aligning values with investment priorities, she unpacks how wealth advisors can employ ESG metrics and clients' environmental and social impact preferences to inform investment strategies.

Heather Clancy, vice president and editorial director at GreenBiz Group, joins the podcast for a wide-ranging discussion about the role of technology in climate action. Heather discusses the need for an intersection of corporate sustainability with social justice and environmental justice; the role of technology in enabling corporate climate action, matched with skepticism that technology cannot deliver on its promises without corporate ethics and systemic social change; and the recognition by corporations that they can no longer speak in terms of aspirations and estimates regarding climate commitments.

Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, joins the podcast to discuss the power of using shareholder advocacy to drive change at large corporations. Andrew walks us through “a day in the life,” specifically May 25, 2022, when his team presented resolutions at five corporate annual meetings on issues ranging from climate change to racial justice; Andrew talks about the SEC's new draft rule that addresses the ESG naming problem within mutual funds; and the paradox of employees unknowingly investing in companies that are destroying the Amazon through company retirement plans.

In a special episode, host Michael Young, founder and CEO of Actual Agency, and Noah Miller, founder and CEO of Calibrate Partners, discuss changing expectations and heightened tension between corporations and stakeholders around ESG and sustainability. We discuss how ESG serves as a litmus test of leadership in 2022 and beyond, we highlight a few exemplars of corporate purpose, and examine what happens when there is a breakdown between the numbers and the narrative - including in the PR industry.

Kwasi Mitchell, Chief Purpose Officer of Deloitte, joins the podcast to discuss the findings from the company's C-Suite Insight Report. Companies are integrating Purpose into their business strategies but less than 15% of companies are collecting data that lead to quantifiable metrics. We discuss the key insights of the report, how accountability mechanisms are falling into place, and ways companies have innovated to implement their Purpose strategies.

Elliot Roth, Founder of Spira Inc, and Balaji Ganapathy, Chief Social Responsibility Officer of TCS, join the podcast to discuss how Spira is using algae to create new products that will improve the foods we eat and the products we use while sequestering carbon dioxide. Spira's innovative solution earned Elliot recognition as winner of the TCS 2021 Pitch for Purpose, a competition designed to elevate social entrepreneurs and the solutions that will change the world.

Work Wider co-founder Michele Lanza and Glenn E. Singleton, founder of Courageous Conversations, join the podcast for a conversation about how companies must change to make diverse teams a reality. We discuss why companies cannot recruit their way out of the diversity challenge; how performative DEI statements must be replaced if organizations want to connect and reflect a world that is already diverse; and why companies must eschew the notion of “cultural fit” and focus on a journey of cultural evolution.

Kevin Tubbs, Vice President and Chief Ethics Compliance and Sustainability Officer at Oshkosh Corporation, joins the podcast to talk about the values that have guided Oshkosh's success for the past 100 years. Tubbs discusses Oshkosh Corporation's four core values in detail and explains how values guide the company's people-first culture, industry-leading sustainability efforts and non-stop innovation.

Laura Zizzo, Co-founder and CEO of Manifest Climate, joins the podcast to discuss why organizations must incorporate climate disruption into decision making and governance. Laura discusses how organizations can understand and manage climate risk in a time where incentives, regulations and investor expectations are shifting rapidly.

Bob Langert, author of The Battle to Do Good: Inside McDonald's Sustainability Journey, joins the podcast to discuss his 25-year career as head of CSR and Sustainability for McDonald's. Bob shares the strategy he used to partner with McDonald's critics at major environmental and sustainability organizations, and how he worked with these groups to find common ground and solutions.

Alison Taylor, executive director of NYU-based research collaborative Ethical Systems, returns to the podcast to broaden our understanding of the ethical, moral and conceptual boundaries around ESG, purpose and DEI. Alison makes the case that an organization cannot be everything to everyone, setting out a framework for how companies can prioritize issues to address divergent stakeholder interests. We also discuss the difference between reporting DEI metrics and actually closing the widening racial and gender gaps.  

Bruce B. Simpson, Senior Advisor to McKinsey & Company, joins the podcast to deliver thought provoking analysis and critique of the state of corporate purpose and ESG. Bruce argues that “longtermism” is where shareholder and stakeholder interests actually converge; how employees, investors and consumers are taking to social media to voice their opinions and challenge management to embrace change; why embedding ESG “into the muscle” of the organization is the key to driving change, creating business value, and delivering new sustainable business models that will outperform competitors.  

Anthony Goodman, Senior Client Partner & Head of the Board Effectiveness Practice at Korn Ferry, rejoins the podcast to discuss how Engine No. 1, a purpose-driven investment firm with a small stake in ExxonMobil, won 3 executive board seats by identifying the company's failure to evolve and pushing for a move towards renewables. We also break down how climate has come roaring back to the forefront of corporate governance agenda, why inclusion is just as important as diversity in the boardroom and within the organization, and the future of ESG.

Caitlin Leibert, Director of Sustainability for Chipotle Mexican Grill, joins the podcast to talk about Chipotle's sustainability mission surrounding food & animals, people, and the environment. From the farm,  to the kitchen, the boardroom and the customer experience, Caitlin takes us on a journey that shows how Chipotle integrates sustainability, ESG and DEI initiatives in every aspect of the business.

On today's episode of Purpose, Inc., Michael Young speaks with Kim Worsham, Founder and Principal of FLUSH, about the social, economic, racial and gender issues surrounding sanitation in communities from Africa, India, and the United States. Kim works with organizations and their stakeholders to implement greater access to clean water and sanitation in rural communities and major cities.

In our latest podcast, Michael Young speaks with Pamela Rucker, a renowned speaker and trainer on innovation, digital transformation and corporate strategy. Pamela discusses the crisis in corporate identity, critiques corporate culture practices, and highlights the importance of cognitive diversity within organizations especially during this year’s battles with the pandemic and for social justice. 

Today on the podcast I speak with social entrepreneur Ahva Sadeghi, CEO and co-founder of Symba about how she and her team are removing barriers and leveling the playing field in corporate internships. Post-COVID, many internships were cancelled and all have gone remote— and 71% of internships still go to white candidates. Symba has built the industry standard tech stack to help organizations find talent the best talent from anywhere and give interns broader access to the new world of remote work.

We can’t meet a global health crisis, a climate crisis, an economic crisis or any future crisis as a divided nation. We’re not enemies. We’re a family with differences to work through. Polarization is our real enemy. Today on the podcast, Bill Shireman and Trammell S. Crow who have spent their lives and careers bringing sworn enemies to the table to find common ground and develop win-win solutions. Bill and Trammell launched a cross-partisan campaign and co-authored a book called IN THIS TOGETHER. We talk about the problems of amplified divisions in our political and civic life, the lack of respectful dialogue, thoughtful deliberation, evidence-based problem-solving—and what to do about it.

Welcome to Season 2 of the Purpose, Inc. In this episode Michael recaps the key takeaways from the 22 thoughtful and provocative conversations he had with his guests in Season 1. Michael also outlines the issues, ideas and topics he wants to focus on in Season 2 around corporate purpose, sustainability, ESG, racial justice and stakeholder capitalism.

On today’s episode, Meg Parker Young of Thomson Reuters talks about trusted information as the core idea of UN SDG 16; why trusted information is critical to every aspect of a free society. Meg talks about how SDG 16 informs corporate responsibly, ESG, CSR through transparency across supply chains, eliminating human trafficking, corruption, and ensuring compliance and reporting.

William LaBar, Vice President of CGI joins the podcast to talk about CGI’s network of Delivery Centers that employ over 1,800 IT professionals in small cities in the U.S. Will shares how CGI recruits and trains staff through programs that develop talent through its STEM@CGI training programs in K-12/community colleges and universities. Will talks about the impact CGI is having on economic development, jobs, and education in local communities.

Melissa Anderson, the Co-founder and President of Public Good Software, joins the podcast to discuss the consumer-brand-media-social action dynamic. Public Good is America's leading AI for good technology which makes news and content actionable; working with the nation’s leading publishers including CNN, Tribune Media, HuffPost, Vice, and brands such as Microsoft, Unilever and Danone.

Brandon Peele, VP People Science at ion Learning joins the podcast to talk about the corporate purpose journey; the steps and changes an organization must take toward defining its purpose; and how to create a purpose-led culture. We talk a lot about where purpose manifests in the organizations. Not in signs, symbols and slogans, but in actions and outcomes. We spend a lot of time talking about the risks of shallow purpose, elitism and lack of commitment.

Each year $270BN worth of clothes are thrown away.Today on the podcast Geri Cupi, CEO and co-founder of MonoChain, joins the podcast to discuss MonoChain's blockchain re-commerce platform that gives brands and retailers access to circular economy practices. Geri lays out the case for why re-commerce is the key to transforming fashion and retail through sustainability, waste reduction while reducing counterfeiting, and forging deeper connections to GenZ consumers.

Chris Coulter the CEO of GlobeScan joins the podcast to discuss why ambitious and authentic leadership is the key to the sustainability agenda and vital to improving stakeholder engagement across – customers, investors, regulators, non-governmental organizations, communities, suppliers and employees. Chris unpacks a global research study GlobeScan conducted with Oxford University on risks, opportunities and priorities in corporate affairs around sustainability, ESG and corporate purpose.

Today on the podcast, Michael welcomes Erik Wohlgemuth, Chief Operating Officer of Future 500. Erik talks about the Future500 Force For Good Forecast which is an authoritative and compelling body of research and analysis on the top issues, trends, topics and potential flashpoints in ESG that will shape engagement between corporations and their stakeholders for the coming years. Erik talks about how employees and activists are joining forces (especially during COVID); the implications in the rise of GenZ; why passive investors are the “new regulators”; how companies are calling customers to action; and much more.

Today on the podcast, Michael welcomes Alison Taylor, Executive Director of Ethical Systems, a research collaboration housed at NY University’s Stern School of Business. Alison talks about companies making claims to be responsible citizens while committing abuses of corporate power, such as the pervasive non-accounting for negative externalities, creative tax avoidance, systemic racism and gender inequality, and regulatory capture. We discuss how COVID and Black Lives Matter have forced a reckoning between espoused corporate values and values in action. 

What does it mean for a company to have values as its guiding light? For more 80 years HP has stood atop the industry as a leader based on its foundational commitment to values and integrity. Today on the podcast, I welcome Lesley Slaton Brown the Chief Diversity Officer of HP to talk about her role in leading HP’s global diversity and inclusion efforts. We talk about systemic racism, Black Lives Matter, and why none no person or corporation is a bystander in the fight to end racial injustice. Leslie's vision, her passion and her faultless clarity on creating a values-based workplace lights the path for all of us to follow.

In 2020 the intersection between corporations and society has never been more sharply defined. First with COVID and workers’ health and safety, and now with the long overdue reckoning our society is having about racial inequity and injustice in the immediate aftermath of the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Amhad Aubry. Grady Crosby, Vice President of Public Affairs and Chief Diversity Officer at Johnson Controls comes on the podcast to talk about the role of corporate citizens in racial justice, equality, diversity and inclusion. Grady talks about the many commitments Johnson Controls undertakes toward building a more inclusive and equitable society and in particular its role as a large employer and corporate citizen in the City of Milwaukee.

Ellen Jackowski, the Global Head of Sustainability, Strategy and Innovation at HP joins the podcast to talk about how HP puts sustainability at the core of everything that HP does. Ellen shares about HP's plastics strategy and how it is reducing the amount of plastics in its products, how HP substituting plastics, and significantly, how HP is taking ocean-bound plastics out of the waste stream and recycling those plastics into its products.  

What do you think of when you think of technology employers? Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon come to mind. What about Walmart? Every company is a tech company and every company needs a STEM talent development and acquisition strategy. Michael talks with Ashley Szofer, Senior Director at STEM Connector about how her organization connects leaders who have a passion for and a vested interest in collectively reenvisioning the STEM workforce.  Follow us on Twitter: @mbyCheck out our website: www.actual.agency

Investment in renewable energy, climate-smart agriculture, and urbanization in the emerging world is a vast area of importance and urgency. And the combination of private capital, public financing, governments and global institutions is vital to ending extreme poverty, boosting shared prosperity, and stemming climate change. Michael talks to Alzbeta Klein is the Director & Global Head of Climate Business at the International Finance Corporation about IFC’s role as the largest global development institution focused on private sector investment in emerging markets. They talk about the role that IFC plays in providing capital and as a convenor in bringing expertise and influence to investors into the developing world.  Follow us on Twitter: @mbyCheck out our website: www.actual.agency

Companies doing the right things to support all their stakeholders – front-line workers - are posting better performance and market returns than their peers. On this episode, Michael talks with Alison Omens, Chief Strategy Officer at JUST Capital about the connection between corporate America and the values of the American people. Alison shares how JUST Capital connects consumer sentiment to help companies improve performance and investors gauge and measure corporate risk; the importance of the S in ESG; integrating non-financial metrics with decision-making processes; and how consumers and investors are responding to corporate action during COVID-19. Follow us on Twitter: @mbyCheck out our website: www.actual.agencyCheck out JUST Capital’s research here:  https://justcapital.com/data/Sign up for JUST Capital’s weekly COVID updates here:  https://signup.e2ma.net/signup/1883669/1892435/

According to the UN, by 2050 we will need to produce 70 percent more food as the global population grows by 2.3 billion. Globally more than 500 million smallholder farmers provide 80% of food for communities across the world. To discuss this, Michael welcomes Gabriela Burian, Senior Director Sustainable Food Systems at Bayer Crop Science. Michael and Gabriela talk Bayer’s emphasis on transparency, importance of connecting agriculture to sustainability and environmental health, and Gabriela shares what Bayer is doing to support stakeholders during the COVID-19 crisis

Today on the podcast, a Special Report on Creating Safer and More Supportive Workplaces in the Age of COVID-19 with Linda Seabrook of Futures Without Violence. I talk to Linda about the opportunity for intervention and realization that the workplace can be a safe place for those experiencing Intimate Partner Violence; the grim calculus a low-wage working woman must confront – between safety and a paycheck; what responsibilities do we have to each other as colleagues; what responsibilities do employers have; and how corporations should move to policies based on listening to vulnerable workers. Follow us on Twitter: @mbyCheck out our website: www.actual.agency

On this episode of Purpose, Inc, host Michael Young welcomes Tom Szaky to discuss sustainable capitalism, circular economy and the future of packaging. Tom is the Founder and CEO of Terracycle, a business devoted to eliminating the idea of waste through recycling - including traditionally difficult items to recycle. Tom has written extensively about recycling, re-commerce and the reducing waste from consumer goods packaging. Tom discusses the need for new approaches to capitalism, why consumer values and decisions about recycling and sustainability don’t always align. Tom shares about the circular economy, and the business model for Loop, and the power of nature being demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Follow us on Twitter: @mbyCheck out our website: www.actual.agency

On this episode of Purpose, Inc, host Michael Young discusses the intersection between business and human rights with Caroline Rees, the President and Co-Founder of Shift. Shift is the leading center of expertise on the UN Guiding Principles on Human Rights. Caroline is a leading voice and expert about the role of business in respecting human rights. They discuss the ways in which companies need to think about human rights and why there is often confusion surrounding them; why sustainability reports don’t always tell the full story; the disconnect between business models and sustainability and why they need to be reconnected; and how beginning with the most vulnerable populations is a necessity when planning for the interactions between people and businesses.Follow us on Twitter: @mbyCheck out our website: www.actual.agency

Are profitable and sustainable business models the way to solve the world’s problems? Author and expert, Alice Korngold, President & CEO of Korngold Consulting joins the podcast to talk about the role of corporations in developing unique solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. Michael talks with Alice about her book A Better World, Inc., and whether corporations can be trusted to be stewards of stakeholders’ interests. Alice explains her work matching corporate executives with not-for-profit boards and the valuable benefits both entities receive; and how COVID-19 will forever change how we view corporations.Follow us on Twitter: @mbyCheck out our website: www.actual.agency/podcast Contact Alice: alice@korngoldconsulting.comAlice’s Twitter: @alicekorngoldYou can download the studies she mentioned on the podcast for free here: www.betterworldleadership.comPlease consider learning more about Alice and her work:A Better World, Inc.: How Companies Profit by Solving Global Problems…Where Governments CannotLeveraging Good Will: Strengthening Nonprofits by Engaging Businesses The Board Vector: tools & resources for business employees to join nonprofit boards.https://www.pyxeraglobal.org/pyxera-global-korngold-consulting-partner-provide-board-training-matching-tools-companies/Here’s an article from the Wall Street Journal on Alice’s work with the Drucker Institute to measure Fortune 250 companies based on their alignment with Peter Drucker’s Social Responsibility principles:https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-guru-behind-the-management-top-250-rankings-1512482700

Globally 4 billion people are locked out of the formal economy because they don’t have a credit history. On this episode of Purpose, Inc, host Michael Young welcomes Josh Gosliner of Juvo. Juvo has pioneered the creation of financial identities for the unbanked and underbanked using mobile phone usage and payments data to build a credit bureau from scratch. Josh discusses how the lack of information about credit worthiness places a heavy burden on the poor; the impact Juvo is having in developing economies in Latin America and South East Asia; and why market-based solutions are the way forward.Follow us on Twitter: @mbyCheck out our website: www.actual.agency

On this episode of Purpose, Inc, host Michael Young welcomes Balaji Ganapathy, the global head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). TCS is a $22 Billion dollar global technology services provider with 450,000 employees in 46 countries. Balaji shares his views on corporate purpose; the programs TCS provides that focus on education for women and marginalized communities; and how TCS’s focus on social impact has helped the company respond globally to COVID-19. He shares his view that “purpose is the new tech” and what that means for businesses today and in the future.Follow us on Twitter: @mbyCheck out our website: www.actual.agency

On this episode of Purpose, Inc, host Michael Young welcomes board advisory expert Anthony Goodman to the show. Anthony is Managing Director at Russell Reynolds Associates’ Board Advisory Partners where he advises boards and CEOs on a wide range of issues, challenges and opportunities across the corporate landscape. Anthony shares why he believes boards play a critical role in supporting management’s efforts toward a more inclusive form of stakeholder capitalism. Anthony also shares the findings and key takeaways from Russell Reynolds’ report, 2020 Global and Regional Governance Trends. Follow us on Twitter: @mbyCheck out our website: www.actual.agencyFind Anthony on Twitter: @AnthonyGoodman

The Purpose Inc. podcast hosted by Michael Young is a conversation about corporate purpose and stakeholder capitalism. The world is changing. Not entirely for the better. There is a growing belief that businesses should better serve all stakeholders – customers, employees, communities, as well as shareholders. In other words, business should have a Purpose. We talk to business leaders, writers, thinkers, analysts and critics of the evolving role of corporations in creating good in society.