Podcasts about Aga Khan Foundation

In this episode of the Changemaker series, we sit down with Andrew Jenkins, a digital strategist with over two decades of experience in social media and content marketing. As the founder of Volterra, Andrew has helped countless businesses maximize their ROI and enhance user engagement through innovative strategies. We dive into Andrew's expert insights on crafting content that resonates, building lasting relationships with audiences, and using the latest tools and metrics to measure success. Whether you're a seasoned marketer or just starting out, this episode will provide you with practical tips and actionable strategies to elevate your content marketing game and make a meaningful impact. Tune in to learn how to turn engagement into real results!Key Insights:Strategies for content that drives results.Practical tips for enhancing audience engagementPerfect for ChangeMakers, marketers and business leaders looking to optimize their content strategies.Tune in for actionable insights from Andrew's vast experience in the digital marketing landscape.Author BiographyAndrew Jenkins is CEO of Volterra, a professional services firm specializing in social media and social selling strategies. Based in Toronto, Canada, he was formerly the Head of Social Media Strategy for the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and has worked with a diverse list of companies in North America and Europe, including CIBC, NESTA, Campbells, Sirius XM Canada, World Vision and The Aga Khan Foundation. A regular international speaker and panellist at numerous industry conferences and events, he has taught Social Media Strategies for the Enterprise at the University of Toronto's School of Continuing Studies for the past ten years. He is also the author of Social Media Marketing for Business: Scaling an Integrated Social Media Strategy Across Your Organization.Connect on Twitter @jenkinsandrew and at http://volterradigital.com/Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/empowerhourforchangemakers/exclusive-content

Gender and Health Systems in Fragile SettingsIn the second episode of a six-part mini-series by ReBUILD for Resilience, we explore the intersection of gender and health systems in fragile settings. Hosted by Kim and co-hosted by Abriti Arjyal from HERD International, the episode features insights from Dr. Rouham Yamout from the American University of Beirut and Dr. Val Percival from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA) at Carleton University. The discussion covers the impact of gender dynamics on health systems during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic and armed conflicts, emphasising community-led, participatory approaches to promote gender equality and resilience in health systems.Chapters00:00 Welcome to Connecting Citizens to Science00:29 Exploring Gender and Health Systems Resilience01:17 Introducing Our Experts and Their Perspectives02:30 The Impact of Gender on Health Systems and Resilience03:22 Global Insights on Gender, Health, and Resilience10:05 Participatory Approaches to Addressing Gender Norms18:21 Concluding Thoughts and Advice on Gender in Health Systems21:05 Farewell and Invitation to Explore More In this episodeIn this episode:Abriti Arjyal -Research Manager, HERD InternationalAbriti is leading on HERD International's qualitative and participatory approaches in ReBUILD for Resilience. She has a focus on gender and intersectionality. She has experience in public health, health systems, service delivery research, social science and gender and equity. She has led formative and operational field studies, evaluation studies, and literature reviews, developing expertise in design, implementation and analysis of qualitative research, rapid ethnography and various community and participatory based approaches. Most of Abriti's work has focused on gender and resilience, including maternal and child health, antibiotic resistance, disaster risk reduction and resilience, nutrition, diabetes and violence against women.Dr. Rouham Yamout – Project Coordinator, American University of BeirutRouham works at the American University of Beirut. She was a medical doctor for 20 years before moving into public health where she now focuses on health system research and strengthening access to quality healthcare. She has extensive research experience with projects involving internally displaced people's mental health, the ethics of research in war time and waterpipe smoking among adolescents. Rouham has worked for International Red Cross where she was a trainer in the clinical management of rape and sexual assault, Lebanese University as an instructor in research design for nursing students and in UN organisations looking at immunisation, nutrition and refugees' health.Dr. Valerie Percival - Associate Professor, Norman Paterson School of International AffairsVal's research focuses on the impact of violent conflict on the health of civilians, backlash against gender equality, as well as gender norms and health care delivery. She is a Commissioner for The Lancet Commission on Peaceful Societies through Health and Gender Equality and led the research and writing of the Commission Report published in September 2023. In partnership with the Aga Khan Foundation of Canada, she is the Principal Investigator for GenLab – a Community of Practice in Mozambique - that works to understand how gender norms influence access to and delivery of healthcare services. She held at fellowship at the Wilson Center in Washington DC. She has worked with the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, the International Crisis Group directing their Kosovo office, the UNHCR, and PRIO. Want to hear more podcasts like this?Follow Connecting Citizens to Science on your usual podcast platform or YouTube to hear more about the...

This episode of the Amazing Cities and Towns Podcast sponsored by Bearing Advisors, Jim Hunt interviews Dr. Seth Kaplan, the author of Fragile Neighborhoods.    ·       A candid conversation about rebuilding cities one neighborhood at a time. ·       And, much more   7 Steps to an Amazing City:   Attitude Motivation Attention to Detail Zing Inclusiveness Neighborhood Empowerment Green Awareness  Thanks for listening and look forward to having you join us for the next episode.   Links Mentions During Show:  https://sethkaplan.org/ ·       www.AmazingCities.org ·       www.AmazingCities.org/podcast to be a guest on the podcast   About Dr. Seth Kaplan:     Dr. Seth Kaplan is a leading expert on fragile states, political transitions, conflict prevention, political risk assessment, political-economic analysis, state-building, governance, and human rights. He is a Professorial Lecturer in the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University, Senior Adviser for the Institute for Integrated Transitions (IFIT), and consultant to multilateral organizations such as the World Bank, U.S. State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development, and OECD as well as bilateral donors, developing country governments, think tanks, and NGOs. He is the author of the U.S. State Department's Political Transitions Analysis Framework (2020) and co-author of the United Nations – World Bank flagship report Pathways for Peace: Inclusive Approaches to Preventing Violent Conflict and USAID's Fragility Assessment Framework (2018). He was the lead author, coordinator, and managing editor of both an eight country comparative study for the United States Institute of Peace on social contract formation in fragile states and a 100-page flagship publication for IFIT articulating a new approach to regime transitions in post-conflict and post-authoritarian countries. Dr. Kaplan is the author of two books on fragile states—Fixing Fragile States: A New Paradigm for Development (Praeger Security International, 2008); and Betrayed: Promoting Inclusive Development in Fragile States (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013)—and one book on human rights and culture, Human Rights in Thick and Thin Societies: Universality Without Uniformity (Cambridge University Press, 2018). He is working on a book on reversing social breakdown. Dr. Kaplan has published widely on development issues in publications such as The Washington Quarterly, The American Interest, Orbis, Policy Review, National Affairs, Journal of Democracy, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. He has spoken on development issues in major forums around the world, including the Global Economic Symposium (GES) in Kiel, the World Bank in Washington, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, the Overseas Development Institute in London, and the Aga Khan Foundation in Ottawa. He serves on the Board of Directors of three non-governmental organizations in the United States and abroad. Dr. Kaplan has 20 years of on-the-ground experience managing projects in developing countries, and he has worked for several large multinationals, including Procter & Gamble, Compaq Computers, and Komatsu. During his seven years in Shanghai, Dr. Kaplan founded four companies. Dr. Kaplan has visited over 70 countries and done research in countries as disparate as Somalia, Yemen, Bolivia, Pakistan, Brazil, Sri Lanka, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Syria. He speaks Mandarin Chinese and Japanese. He has a Ph.D. from the University of Utrecht and a Master in Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a Palmer Scholar.   About Your Host, Jim Hunt: Welcome to the “Building Amazing Cities and Towns Podcast” … The podcast for Mayors, Council Members, Managers, Staff and anyone who is interested in building an Amazing City.   Your host is Jim Hunt, the author of “Bottom Line Green, How American Cities are Saving the Planet and Money Too” and his latest book, “The Amazing City - 7 Steps to Creating an Amazing City”   Jim is also the former President of the National League of Cities, 27 year Mayor, Council Member and 2006 Municipal Leader of the Year by American City and County Magazine.   Today, Jim speaks to 1000's of local government officials each year in the US and abroad.   Jim also consults with businesses that are bringing technology and innovation to local government.   Amazing City Resources:   Buy Jim's Popular Books: ·       The Amazing City: 7 Steps to Creating an Amazing City:   https://www.amazingcities.org/product-page/the-amazing-city-7-steps-to-creating-an-amazing-city   ·       Bottom Line Green: How America's Cities and Saving the Planet (And Money Too)  https://www.amazingcities.org/product-page/bottom-line-green-how-america-s-cities-are-saving-the-planet-and-money-too   FREE White Paper: ·       “10 Steps to Revitalize Your Downtown”  www.AmazingCities.org/10-Steps   Hire Jim to Speak at Your Next Event: ·       Tell us about your event and see if dates are available at www.AmazingCities.org/Speaking   Hire Jim to Consult with Your City or Town: ·       Discover more details at https://www.amazingcities.org/consulting   Discuss Your Business Opportunity/Product to Help Amazing Cities: ·       Complete the form at https://www.amazingcities.org/business-development   A Special Thanks to Bearing Advisors for the support of this podcast:  www.BearingAdvisors.Net  

This week on Finding Your Bliss, Life Coach and Bliss Expert Judy Librach is joined by award-winning journalist and anchor, Farah Nasser! Farah Nasser brings extensive experience to her role as Anchor of Global National, Global

Taufiq Rahim is one of Canada's global citizens. He is an investor and an international problem solver. Over the last two decades and in over 20 countries, Taufiq has driven investment, convened conversations and brought together public and private partnerships addressing the most pertinent global issues - from disruptive technology to economic development to geopolitics to global health. His current focus is on shifts in the global order and how individuals and institutions can capture opportunity in a time of rising challenge. He is also building 2040 Ventures, a global platform with a strong belief in the transformative power of the technology of decentralization. This was inspired by the venture syndicate he founded with two partners, YVRDXB to help put a global spotlight on Vancouver's tech start-ups.   Taufiq is a senior fellow in the International Security Program at New America and a fellow at the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government. He has previously worked with McKinsey & Company, the Aga Khan Foundation, and the United Nations, and was the founder of Globesight, a global development firm. 

This week's guest is the Weekend Anchor for Global National, Farah Nasser. She is an award-winning journalist and before her time anchoring Global National, she was the anchor for Global News Toronto at 5:30 & 6. Providing viewers across the GTA much needed clarity for nearly two decades, she was on the ground reporting during major events such as the Toronto van attack, the London, Ont., terror attack which killed a Muslim family and was in Washington for the election of Joe Biden. She was the first journalist to be granted a one-on-one with PM Justin Trudeau after the country reopened after the pandemic lockdown in 2020. Nasser's status as a trusted journalist with a strong interest in politics has earned her the opportunity to moderate key political debates, including the main 2018 Ontario provincial election debate, and the only broadcast 2018 Toronto mayoral debate. Nasser has been praised for furthering public discourse with her thought-provoking reporting and motivational public speaking. She created notable buzz on social media as the force behind #FirstTimeIWasCalled and #LivingInColour, two digital series' exploring the experiences of marginalized peoples; she similarly received plaudits for her TEDx talk titled “The Power of Intellectual Humility.” She received an Edward R. Murrow award for Excellence in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for her special Living in Colour: Being Black in Canada and is a back-to-back winner of the RTNDA Sam Ross Award for her viral commentaries 93 Killed a Day at the Barrel of a Gun (2018) and What if the fighting in Aleppo was happening in Toronto? (2017); the latter story was viewed 3.5 million times and used as a teaching aid in schools to explain the Syrian conflict. Nasser began her career with Rogers TV before accepting a position with Newstalk 1010 where she worked her way up to a reporting role. After landing this first major reporting gig, Nasser went on to hold various roles with Toronto 1, A-Channel News, Citytv, and CP24 before joining Global News. A graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University's Radio and Television Arts program, she also attended the University of Westminster in London, England and later interned for CNN in New Delhi, India. When not reporting on the day's headlines, Nasser spends her time volunteering in the community. She is a member of the board of directors of the Canadian Journalism Foundation and serves as a mentor for the Canadian Association of Journalists and for CivicAction, a non-profit that brings together senior and emerging leaders from diverse backgrounds. Nasser regularly speaks at community events and has worked with organizations such as Journalists for Human Rights, the Aga Khan Foundation and the Economic Club of Canada. Nasser lives in Toronto with her husband and two young kids. She has a passion for travelling and has instilled that in her children taking her young family to several regions in Canada and through Asia and Europe. Find out more about Farah: https://globalnews.ca/author/farah-nasser/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mentoring can change your life and your career if done right. One of my standard guest questions asks who their #1 mentor has been and their impact. Most of my formal mentors have been local, as in the same city or at least country ad global mentorship has been limited perhaps by staid ideas of commonality, access and relevance in decades gone by. Today I chat to Sahera Sumar, the Founder of a social enterprise (profit for purpose) called Worldwide SHEroes or WWS. It focuses on leadership capacity building, by empowering women of diversity and disadvantage to rise to their leadership potential. Their global mission is to support women to achieve economic equity and inclusive leadership and to measure our impact using the UN Sustainable Developmental Goals. In Sahera's words, this is not your mainstream women's mentorship program.  They provide mentorship through global mentors within 10 Industry categories, connecting women in the developed world, with women who are from emerging economies.  These Mentors are senior women in C-suite, or senior mgt roles who are passionately working with aspiring / emerging leaders from countries such as Egypt, Syria. Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Malawi, Kenya, South Africa, Tajikistan and many more. Their mentees come from international developmental agencies such as Aga Khan Foundation, HOST International and Migrant Resource Centers. The global vision is for WWS to grow, establish meaningful and aligned partnerships so they can fully digitize our platform; strengthen our learning and development programs and build a greater awareness. She is drawing upon her own many years of global corporate experience in talent and leadership development to strengthen leadership capability for international development projects and capacity building projects. She Sahera utilises neuro-leadership, positive psychology, and values-based leadership to develop emotionally intelligent leaders and a well-being culture. Inclusive mentorship and a global vision is what has resulted. We discuss: What are the main ways the way we access leadership development changed in your experience? How exactly does global mentorship work best at a practical and impact level from your experience? What led you to form SHEroes and why focus on female leaders only? SHEroes recently celebrated its first birthday, and you now have 550+hours of mentoring under your belt, 60+ mentors and working in 35 countries. How do you plan to expand your reach into new geographies, industries and to begin working with First Nations Women globally. Take away: What is your final takeaway message for us on The Politics of Global Mentors?   CONTACT INFO: LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/saherasumar W: https://www.worldwidesheroes.com

Ethan Frisch is the co-founder of Burlap & Barrel. He's a native New Yorker, entrepreneur and activist around food systems and social justice. Ethan has worked in kitchens as a line cook and pastry chef in New York and London, and as the chef behind Guerrilla Ice Cream. He left kitchens to become a humanitarian aid worker, and worked with NGOs including the Aga Khan Foundation in Afghanistan, Maries Stopes in Sierra Leone, and Doctors Without Borders on the Syrian/Jordanian border.--Deeply savory and bursting with flavor, Köfte Baharat is a traditional Turkish spice blend for meat from Burlap & Barrel---Ethan's Grub Street Diet--Call Zak with your minute advice at 844-935-BEST---bestadvice.showIG: @bestadviceshowZak's twitter: @muzachary

In today's podcast Dr Almina Pardhan speaks with Ms. Beverly Bicaldo, ECD Regional Advisor for Asia at Aga Khan Foundation. Beverly shares her rich insights about temperament in the early years and suggests ideas for parents and caregivers to understand children's temperament to be able to approach parenting that best supports their child.

Host - Sveta and Ben Banerjee Topic: Women Empowerment in Impact Investing (September 10, 2021) Special Guests: Jaydeep Mandal, Founder of Aakar Innovation & Aakar Social Ventures The weekly show on how Impactful investments and businesses are helping to implement the 17 UN SDG's worldwide to preserve the world for future generation. Banerjis have enlightening and in-depth conversations with newsmakers, celebrities, thought leaders, entrepreneurs, project owners, investors, politicians and business leaders and encourage them to act now. Aakar Innovation & Aakar Social Ventures founder Jaydeep Mandal is a leading figure in the Menstrual Hygiene & Health sector globally having innovated and created the first ~100% compostable sanitary napkin certified by the highest lab of the Govt of India. Jaydeep is protege of the National Innovation Foundation of the Department of Science & Technology of the Govt of India. He is an important contributor and Advisory member of the Bureau of Indian Standards Committee for new standards for Sanitary pads published in Oct 2019. He features in the select group of PMO & Niti-Aayog's "Champions of Change". Jaydeep has won Bio-based materials of the year award 2019-Germany, Global Bioplastics Award 2018-Germany for Compostable Anandi pads which are treated as Oscars of Bio-Industry. Jaydeep is an Engineer and MBA in Innovations and Entrepreneurship with a Global Innovation Program certificate from GSB-Stanford University-USA. He has 12+ years of experience in menstrual hygiene, rural innovation and micro-enterprise development as an entrepreneur, consultant/advisor. His work is acclaimed by several governments, World Bank, UN organizations, UKAID, USAID & International NGOs like Aga Khan Foundation, President of India, CII, FICCI, UN, Miss World Organisation and Miss India Organization for innovation and entrepreneurship in the menstrual hygiene sector.

Almira Bardai is a woman of accomplishments. She is one of North America's leading experts in brand building and communications. In addition to being a Brand Builder, Almira is a serial Entrepreneur and hailed as one of the BIV (Business In Vancouver) Top 40 Under 40. She is an advocate for leadership in business, a thought leader on issues affecting the PR industry, and the co-founder and Co-CEO of Jive PR & Digital. She has spent the last two decades creating powerful narratives for both domestic and global brands like Flight Centre, Granville Island Brewing, Nike, Best Buy, Future Shop, Molson, and TELUS. She is an actively-sought out speaker, on both PR and entrepreneurial topicsAlmira consults and mentors local and global organizations, including the Aga Khan Foundation, Brands for Better, SFU Beedie School of Business, and Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (FWE). She is a past board member of Entrepreneurs Organization (EO) and currently sits on the Board of Directors of Habitat for Humanity Greater Vancouver.Almira is driven by a passionate desire to see women rise up, both personally and professionally, and to eradicate inequality at all levels.In this episode, she shares the most important things: from building and manifesting a business to determining when to let it go. Tune in on how Almira Bardai who came from refugee immigrant roots built her International business at the age of 24 and climbed up to the pinnacle of success.To find out more about Almira, check out the following platforms:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/almirab/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/almirabardai/Website: https://almirabardai.com/Catch more of The Underdog Show's episodes on:Apple iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/underdog/id1534385651Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6FbSDu0aNtuxAEiderUAfBWebsite: https://theunderdogshow.com/

  A New Year's special episode featuring key takeaways from some of the fascinating guests who joined us on The Do One Better! Podcast during 2020, including: • Fran Perrin - Chair of 360Giving • Sir David King - Former UK Government's permanent Special Representative for Climate Change • Per Heggenes - CEO of the IKEA Foundation • John Goodwin - CEO of the LEGO Foundation • Ben Davies - Executive Director of the Johnson & Johnson Foundation • Tony Nader - CEO of Transcendental Meditation organisations • Craig Silverstein & Mary Obelnicki - Co-founders of Echidna Giving and signatories of the Giving Pledge. Craig was Google's first-ever employee • Tariq Al Gurg - CEO of Dubai Cares • Sandro Giuliani - Board Trustee of the Roger Federer Foundation • Brian Gallagher - President & CEO of United Way Worldwide • Howard Taylor - Executive Director of the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children • Anurag Banerjee - Co-Founder of Quilt.AI • Matt Reed and Tinni Sawhney - CEOs of Aga Khan Foundation in UK and India • Jeffrey Abramson - Co-founder of the Rona and Jeffrey Abramson Foundation • Edwin Macharia - Global Managing Partner of Dalberg Advisors • Mabel van Oranje - Founder of Girls Not Brides Visit The Do One Better! Podcast website to listen to the full episodes with the above guests and nearly 100 episodes with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship. Thank you for making The Do One Better! Podcast such a success in 2020. Happy New Year!  

Today's conversation centers around Aga Khan Foundation, a private, not-for-profit international development agency, with the purpose of bringing together human, financial, and technical resources to address the challenges faced by the poorest and most marginalized communities in the world. The foundation is part of the Aga Khan Development Network under His Highness Aga Khan and was established in 1967. For over 50 years now, the Aga Khan Foundation has worked tirelessly to improve hard-to-reach communities in Asia and Africa. Believing that meaningful change takes time, it partners with communities to build better futures together. In this episode, we are honored to feature Dr. Eizabeth Wala, a Global Advisor of Health and Nutrition at Aga Khan Foundation. Dr. Wala has a wealth of experience to share, so please tune in! For the full transcript, and show notes visit us at reachtl.org --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fran-ayalasomayajula/support

Dilafruz Khonikboyeva is a conflict practitioner focused on the role of stories and language in conflict, identity, and change. She is currently a Global Lead with the Aga Khan Foundation. She previously worked with the US Agency for International Development (USAID), CNN Pentagon, and the Atlanta-based 48 Hour Film Project. In this episode, Dilafruz explains how conflict can be transformational if we are willing to sit in the anxiety of perceived differences. She also provides practical advice for rules of engagement, so that we don't let our feelings beat out reason and logic, which is critical for healthy conflict. Finally, Dilafruz sheds light on how we can better engage in uncomfortable conversations around race and social injustice vital to healing our communities.   ------------------   ABOUT THE BLUEPRINT PODCAST:    Dr. Erik Korem's podcast “The BluePrint" focuses on High Performance - a science-based, holistic process of achieving excellence in every field. He explores the methods and mindsets that build and sustain High-Performing humans through his experience as a sports scientist working with the NFL, Olympians and other elite athletes. In The BluePrint, he invites athletic champions, entertainers, entrepreneurs, and other exceptional people to discuss their resilience through struggles and triumphs while educating and motivating listeners about their High-Performance Journey.    Dr. Erik Korem is a High-Performance pioneer on a mission to help The BluePrint listeners learn how to use stress to perform at their best across a number of fields. He has implemented sports science and athlete tracking technologies with collegiate and professional football teams, working with the NFL, Power-5 NCAA programs, gold medal Olympians, Nike, and the United States Department of Defense. Dr. Erik Korem is also an expert in sleep and stress resilience and the Founder and CEO of AIM7.    ------------------   If you find this podcast to be valuable, please subscribe and leave us a review at ratethispodcast.com/blueprint. Follow Erik Korem on social media:   Twitter Instagram Facebook   Hot Pie Media is an on-demand digital audio/video entertainment network with interests primarily in the creation of original, relevant and entertaining podcasts.   ------------------   QUOTES: John Danaher on high performance mindset and resilience:  “Whenever you are sparring, your mind will have a given direction of focus. The most basic division is between self focus and focus on the opponent.” - John Danaher on high performance mindset and resilience   Blue Print host Dr. Erik Korem on high performance mindset and resilience:  “In sport, our goal is to develop the most adaptable athletes with the most resilience who can consistently obtain their high performance mindset and potential.” - Dr. Erik Korem on high performance mindset and resilience, host of The Blue Print   John Danaher on high performance mindset and resilience:  “Philosophy was crucial because it is among the best means of developing a problem solving mindset.” - John Danaher on high performance mindset and resilience   Blue Print host Dr. Erik Korem on high performance, performance mindset, and resilience:  “The key is using that stress and being able to adapt to it to improve. That's what high performance to me is: the ability to adapt rapidly so you can achieve your potential.”  - Dr. Erik Korem on high performance, performance mindset, and resilience, host of The Blue Print   John Danaher on high performance mindset and resilience:  “The greatest determinant of the outcome of your matches over time by a landslide is your training and lifestyle mentality. This is the high performance mindset you carry every day as you train and progress.” - John Danaher on high performance mindset and resilience See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Moral Future: Halal Businesses in Central Asia” with Aisalkyn Botoeva of the George Washington University LECTURE DESCRIPTION: How do people in Central Asia understand the Islamic Economy and enact its principles in their day-to-day lives? In her 18-month research in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, she explored a wide range of sites within the burgeoning Islamic Business sector, from high-visibility financial firms to small and medium-sized businesses, and all the way down to bazaars and street stalls. In this talk, she focuses on one of the key arguments of her work – that the halal business is a space of ethical inquiry, exploration, experimentation, and debate for those who decide to adopt this form of business practice. When it comes to food, for example, there is a strong belief that the consumption of halal food can lead to physical and psychological cleansing and spiritual nourishment. Along with discussions of how people understand halal, she also presents contentious cases such as the one involving kymys [fermented mare’s milk], and whether it is halal (permissible)or haram (forbidden). Moreover, ideals of what constitutes halal have spilled over to various areas of business activities that go beyond entrepreneurs’ concern with the technical aspect of food production. Some of the key debates involve questions around bribes and corruption. Entrepreneurs voice their aspirations to earn their money through adal ish (here literally halal work, but in Kyrgyz generally means work based on good intentions) and ak söz (literally white words, but connotes words of wisdom and propriety). Exploring emic ethical vocabulary and repertoires among those involved in the halal business sheds light on broader processes through which halal economy is embedded in local cultures of doing business as well as being a pious Muslim. The talk aims to give a snapshot from an ethnographic study that aims to contribute to more “top-down” accounts of Islam and the economy in the region. SPEAKER BIO: Aisalkyn Botoeva currently serves as a Visiting Scholar at the Institute for European, Russian & Eurasian Studies (IERES) of the George Washington University. She is a sociologist with broader research interests in socio-economic development, economic decision-making, and resilience in the face of uncertainty. Her past and current research experience is in topics of industrial revival in resource-poor contexts of Central Asia, entrepreneurship in the post-Soviet region, as well as the varying strategies and economic repertoires of action that entrepreneurs employ in this context. In addition to research, she taught a wide range of courses from Social Research Methods, to Globalization & Social Conflict, Leadership & Global Development both in Kyrgyzstan and the U.S. Her individual research has been funded by the Aga-Khan Foundation, Open Society Foundations as well as Hazeltine Fellowship of the Business, Organizations and Entrepreneurship Program at Brown University. The results of her individual and collaborative projects have been published in Politics & Society, Theory & Society, Families, Relationships and Societies, Post-Soviet Affairs, and Central Asian Survey among other journals.

The Aga Khan Foundation and Aga Khan Education Services’ educational response to uncertainty. Due to COVID-19 and the accompanying lockdown measures, children around the world have been unable to go to school, in some countries for as long as six months. The Aga Khan Foundation and the Aga Khan Education Services have been at the forefront of responding to this educational crisis by co-designing new solutions with communities, educators, and learners worldwide and adapting their education programming to ensure children can continue to learn, develop and grow during these uncertain times. Join AKF’s Dr. Andrew Cunningham and Nafisa Shekhova and AKES’s Margery Evans to learn about some of the innovative new approaches they are taking to respond to COVID-19, the medium and long-term impact on education globally and how the education sector might respond to these evolving challenges. This webinar moderated by Ronan Ferguson, Manager, Accenture Development Partnerships, Growth Markets.

  This episode follows from an earlier episode of The Do One Better! Podcast featuring Matt Reed, which aired in October 2019. It is worth listening to that episode in conjunction with this one. This conversation sheds light on the Aga Khan Foundation and the Aga Khan Development Network at a global level and provides tangible insight to their work in India. Matt Reed is CEO of the Aga Khan Foundation in the UK (and was formerly CEO in India between 2013 and 2016) and Tinni Sawhney is the current CEO of the Aga Khan Foundation in India.  Together, they provide a multifaceted account of how they’re helping the most marginalised communities and individuals. The Aga Khan Foundation is one of 10 development agencies that together form the Aga Khan Development Network, founded by His Highness the Aga Khan.  They work across all 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and aim to:  Improve the quality of life, in all its dimensions, in all the communities where they are active Promote pluralism Enhance self-reliance and civil society   They’re active in approximately 20 countries across central and south Asia, east and west Africa, and the Middle East. They focus on the poorest of the poor, in some of the most remote regions of the countries where they’re active.  Across the Network, they employ between 80,000 and 90,000 people – excluding the communities and volunteers they work with – and the Foundation itself works with approximately 40,000 civil society organisations annually.  Annual operations across all 10 agencies is roughly $5.5bn. Tinni Sawhney sheds light on the work of the Aga Khan Foundation in India.  Their interventions span many sectors, including girls’ rights, women’s economic empowerment, gender equality, early childhood development and agriculture.  Prioritising the needs of women is central to all their work.  On the issue of society’s attitudes in India towards women being active in the labour market; girls staying in school for as many years as boys do etc:  Tinni notes that oftentimes, women’s work is unseen and unheard. At the Aga Khan Foundation, they want to make sure women realise just how important women's work is both to the communities in which they reside and also in their own households. It is also important to help men realise that the work of women is so fundamental to the economic development of their work and, therefore, they need to allow women to step out of their home. Tinni talks with passion about an intervention that helps schoolgirls and young women have a voice.  She sheds light into one programme that had identified that many girls were dropping out of school to stay at home and manage the house. But these girls definitely had aspirations.  So, they launched learning centres that provided a welcoming environment and enabled participants to gain some qualifications and vocational life skills - also making them aware of their rights and entitlements. This life skills education led girls to realise they could have a different life. In the eyes of their immediate household these were now women who were contributing to the running of the household economy, so that increased their status within the household and, importantly, within the community there was also a greater acceptance of women working.   Many girls who complete this vocational training end up becoming role models to other girls in their communities. And, ultimately, that’s how change across the whole of society happens. The Aga Khan Foundation is very much a facilitator and their interventions are sustainable, whereby they continue to yield benefit to local communities even after the Foundation is no longer directly involved, and whereby many of the benefits and ideas that result from their interventions actually originate within the local communities themselves. Tinni goes on to shed light on her own professional trajectory and how she ended up becoming the CEO of the Aga Khan Foundation in India.  She notes that while growing up she didn’t feel she was going to be active in the development field. But that changed when she joined the Institute of Rural Management in Gujarat .  As part of her training she had to live two months in a village that had no running water and the only house that had a toilet was the house where Tinni was sent to live by her institute. That’s when she realised that if we are really going to make a change then perhaps this is the setting where one starts.  She was very enthused by Mahatma Gandhi’s sayings that India resides in its villages. That’s where Tinni found her calling.  Tinni’s key takeaway for listeners: Sometimes we find the greatest stories of courage and empowerment among those we would think of as poor.  She has found some of the greatest stories of empowerment among the women she works with. She feels the potential to overcome great odds is present in everyone. With a little bit of support, people can take this potential so much further – one cannot even imagine. With a little support that potential can really become an agent of change. This is very inspiring! Visit Lidji.org for guest bios, episode notes and useful links. Please subscribe and share widely with others – thank you!  

A conversation with Graham Wood, CEO of Aga Khan Foundation in Eastern Africa about the psychological impact of the lockdowns on persons who are vulnerable and living from paycheck to paycheck.

David Bonbright, co-founder and Chief Executive of Keystone Accountability, an international charity dedicated to bringing constituent feedback to social change practice. In this interview, David addresses the following questions and topics: What is Constituent Voice? And why is it so important if an NGO wants to be more outcome-focused? How is it different, and more than ‘downward accountability'?  Easier said than done: NGO leaders need to balance many competing values and priorities. How should they balance the voice of their primary constituents/clients/stakeholders/customers with those of other stakeholders, like boards, donors, staff members, and peer organizations?  And why is it that many NGO people rhetorically embrace the concept of Constituent Voice but quite lag behind in practice? Bio: Keystone seeks to maximize the social impacts of organizations -- nonprofit, business and governmental -- through the Constituent Voice™ methodology of planning, doing, measuring and communicating that fosters learning and responsiveness among all constituents. Keystone supports NGOs when they listen and respond to those meant to benefit from their activities.  David also worked with Aga Khan Foundation, Ashoka -- the entity that supported social entrepreneurs well before it became fashionable -- and with the Oak and Ford Foundations Resources: Website: https://keystoneaccountability.org/ LinkedIn profile of David Bonbright Click here to subscribe to be alerted when new podcast episodes come out or when Tosca produces other thought leadership pieces. Or email Tosca at tosca@5oaksconsulting.org if you want to talk about your social sector organization's needs, challenges, and opportunities. You can find Tosca's content by following her on her social media channels:  Twitter LinkedIn Facebook  

Many of us appreciate the role that terroir has on the unique flavor and aroma of our foods, whether your enjoying coffee, tea or even chocolate. Just like these commodity crops, other botanical ingredients can feature unique chemistries and flavors when grown and harvested in different environments. Moreover, the means of processing these ingredients and the travel time from farm to your kitchen cabinet really matter when it comes to the flavor of the final product. In this episode of Foodie Pharmacology, I speak with Ethan Frisch, who works to bring unique spices from around the world to the dinner table. About Burlap and Barrel Burlap & Barrel is a Public Benefit Corporation building new international food supply chains that are equitable, transparent and traceable. Their public benefit is to promote the reduction of inequality and exploitation in food systems by connecting farmers to high-value markets, helping them access a larger share of the product value chain, and establishing long-term, mutually-beneficial trade relationships. They measure social impact both at origin in our sourcing practices and at home in our support for organizations doing great work related to food, culture, identity, and community. To date, they’ve paid their partner farmers more than $150,000 at rates significantly higher than commodity prices. About Ethan Frisch Ethan is a native New Yorker, entrepreneur and activist around food systems and social justice. Ethan has worked in kitchens as a line cook and pastry chef in New York and London, and as the chef behind Guerrilla Ice Cream. He left kitchens to become a humanitarian aid worker, and worked with NGOs including the Aga Khan Foundation in Afghanistan, Maries Stopes in Sierra Leone, and Doctors Without Borders on the Syrian/Jordanian border. Ethan co-founded Burlap and Barrel with Ori Zohar and he leads Burlap & Barrel's sourcing, importing and international logistics, as well as supply relationships with restaurants and manufacturers across North America. He is also an adjunct Chef Instructor at the Institute for Culinary Education in New York City. He is honored to serve on the Boards of Directors of the Bond Street Theatre, which uses theater to teach conflict resolution and resilience in areas of instability around the world, Restaurant After Hours, addressing the mental health crisis in the restaurant industry, and the student-led racial literacy and justice organization CHOOSE, as well as on the Advisory Board of Fragments Theater, a youth theater company in Palestine. He is also on the Organizing Committee of the Queens International Night Market, and has been an adjunct lecturer at the City College of New York and an instructor with the Experiment in International Living's Leadership Institute. He holds a dual Bachelor’s Degree in Conflict Studies and Education and Social Change from the City University of New York, and a Master’s Degree in Violence, Conflict and Development from the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies. Be sure to also check out his podcast entitled WhyFood, which dives into stories of people who’ve made career changes to pursue work with food. Website: www.burlapandbarrel.com   Twitter/Instagram: @burlapandbarrel

In November 2019, Professor Stephen Howes sat down with Michael Kocher and Matt Reed of the Aga Khan Foundation to discuss the work of the Foundation, one of the ten development arms of the Aga Khan Development Network. Professor Stephen Howes is the Director of the Development Policy Centre at the Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University Michael Kocher is the global General Manager of the Aga Khan Foundation Matt Reed is Chief Executive Officer of the Aga Khan Foundation in the United Kingdom Photo credit: AKDN/Danial Shah

David Bonbright is a systems thinker and passionate systems changer dedicated to social change as a social entrepreneur and professional grantmaker. He is founder and chief executive of an initiative that aims to transform the fields of social investing and sustainable development. Previously, as a grantmaker and manager with Aga Khan Foundation (1997-2004), Ford Foundation (1983-1987), Oak Foundation (1988-1990), and Ashoka: Innovators for the Public (1990-1997), David sought to evolve and test innovative approaches to strengthening citizen self-organization for social justice and sustainable development as an alternative to prevailing bureaucratic, top-down models. While with the Ford Foundation, David was declared persona non grata by the apartheid government in South Africa for helping fund the liberation struggle. In 1990, during the final years of that decade-long struggle, he returned to South Africa and entrepreneured the development of key building blocks for civil society, including the first nonprofit internet service provider (SANGONeT), the national association of NGOs (SANGOCO), the national association of grantmakers (the Southern Africa Grantmakers Association), and enabling reforms to the regulatory and tax framework for not-for-profit organizations that were among the first laws passed by the newly elected Mandela government.  He also founded and led a South African citizen sector resource center in Johannesburg relating to organizational development (the Development Resources Centre), and led the first Africa program of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public.  As a social entrepreneur, David co-founded in 2004 and serves as chief executive of Keystone Accountability (formerly ACCESS), an international nonprofit dedicated to bringing constituent feedback to social change practice. Keystone Accountability "helps organizations understand and improve their social performance by harnessing feedback, especially from the people they serve”. Keystone seeks to improve the effectiveness of organizations working in the human development field by developing new ways of planning, measuring and communicating social change that are practical and include the voices of their beneficiaries and other constituents. These include the introduction of systems for performance management and giving/social investing that realize accountability for learning in social change processes.  Keystone’s original Constituent Voice™ method is now being taken up across the world.  After founding Keystone, David got an unexpected invitation to speak about his work with Nelson Mandela. He recalls sitting across from the charismatic freedom leader and talking about how much of development aid and philanthropic work runs aground because those on the receiving end have no say in it. Mandela politely listened to him for a moment and then generously shared his own experience. Mandela’s comment about the "lack of accountability by donors and NGOs to the people who are meant to benefit from the programs” serves David as a reminder ever since that "in social change, as in our personal and social lives, it is relationships that determine outcomes." As David writes of that meeting with Mandela, "The juxtaposition that is most helpful in getting to more successful development or social change practice is doing-to versus doing-with. As President Mandela saw, powerful actors adorned in resources like money, education, technology, and access, rarely break out of their privilege to value relationships." The most effective philanthropic organizations "will demonstrate how they work to get high-trust relationships. They will measure and manage those relationships with continuous, light-touch feedback loops. They will invest heavily in the soft skills of doing-with for their frontline staff – things like coaching and appreciative inquiry." David strongly believes in building partnerships with program beneficiaries based on equality, accountability and mutual understanding. In the field of development aid this might be a slow story because, as he believes, it requires patient observation, deep listening, and the forging of strong relational ties. About the relationship between giver and receiver he writes in one of his essays:  “To be an effective giver, you need to be a good collaborator. To be an effective implementer, you need to earn the trust of those you mean to help. (…) Invest in your own learning. Your highest and best role as a philanthropist is as a steward of learning – yours and those you work with, separately and together.” Trained as a lawyer, David has authored and co-authored a number of reports and books on the subject of philanthropy in Pakistan, indigenous philanthropy and public entrepreneurship. He sits on the boards, advisory councils and knowledge networks of The Constant Gardener Trust, AccountAbility Forum, Alliance magazine, Allavida, Goldman Foundation Environmental Awards, the Johns Hopkins University Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project, and the CIVICUS Civil Society Index. A relentless systems changer, David‘s impact can be seen in organizations, communities, and in at least two countries at the national level, with influence traceable across the world. Join us in conversation with this innovative thinker and changemaker!

CEO of Aga Khan Foundation UK, Matt Reed, joins Alberto Lidji to talk about the Aga Khan Development Network, its $5.5bn of annual operations, relationships with 40,000 civil society organisations and much more.   The Aga Khan Foundation is one of 10 development agencies that together form the Aga Khan Development Network, founded by His Highness the Aga Khan.  They work across all 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and aim to:   Improve the quality of life, in all its dimensions, in all the communities where they are active Promote pluralism Enhance self-reliance and civil society   They’re active in approximately 20 countries across central and south Asia, east and west Africa, and the Middle East. They focus on the poorest of the poor, in some of the most remote regions of the countries where they’re active.   Across the Network, they employ between 80,000 and 90,000 people – excluding the communities and volunteers they work with – and the Foundation itself works with approximately 40,000 civil society organisations annually.  Annual operations across all 10 agencies is roughly $5.5bn.   When the Foundation started 50 years ago, the idea was to understand the communities where they were going to and to ask them what matters most to them in terms of development priorities (as opposed simply to taking a top down approach to solutions and strategies).  Matt notes the importance they place on ensuring their development work is truly long-lasting – they believe that people themselves need to be the agents of change and that it is important to create local ownership.    They form representative groups at the local, village level, composed of men and women from all faiths and backgrounds; they facilitate conversations with them to help develop an understanding of what works, and what doesn’t, and to gain insight into local communities’ most pressing priorities.   Matt explains that his role in the UK is to represent not only the Foundation’s work but also the work of all 10 development agencies across their Network to European development partners and, to a lesser extent, to development partners in Asia and the Middle East – always in consultation with their people on the ground, in the field, who are doing work across their various countries of operations.   They have two universities: the first is the Aga Khan University, which was founded approximately 35 years ago and is primarily based in Pakistan, with some operations in Afghanistan; and with a network of campuses in east Africa – in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Its initial focus was teacher training and nursing.   The second university is the University of Central Asia, which was established in 2000. It is a four-way, public-private partnership between the Aga Khan and the governments of Tajikistan, Kirgizstan and Kazakhstan. It was established within a post-Cold War context following the fall of the Soviet Union, and was designed to address the human capacity needs of central Asia and aims to create regional exchanges and a regional knowledge base.   Matt’s key takeaway:  he wishes for listeners to keep in mind the long-term nature of the work being undertaken by the Aga Khan Development Network in improving the quality of life in all its dimensions and in promoting pluralism. They want to work, and do work, with everyone – and in today’s world this message is as important now as it has ever been.   Visit Lidji.org for guest bios, episode notes and useful links. Please subscribe and share if you enjoy this episode -- thank you!  

Susan and Will interrupt regularly scheduled programming for a special Canadian federal election episode of The 4am Report.   This week they invite one of their favourite guests, Andrew Jenkins, back to the table to talk about the role of digital media when it comes to the election cycle. People get their news on social media. We know this. We read headlines and have the attention span of about 150 characters. We keep up on pop culture via memes and gifs. So what does this mean for political parties? Let's dig in, shall we? Andrew kicks things off with a 101 on the rise of rich media and its impact on how we consume messaging. He talks about how we're image and video obsessed. And how everyone with a smartphone is a creator of content.   Will explains a simple formula that illustrates how social media is king when it comes to getting your message out. People aren't watching the evening news. But they are sitting on their couch on their phone scrolling through Tweets and Insta stories. Of course political parties are stepping up. But social media is beast and it won't be tamed. Case in point - Will refers to how Elections Canada royally messed up an influencer campaign that had a price tag of 650K.  Basically they didn't properly vet the influencers they chose to work with. Andrew talks some of the benefits of social media when it comes to the election. Politicians can't get away with bending the truth as easily. (Well, at least that's true here in Canada. We won't mention another country where misinformation via Twitter seems to be working quite well for someone). Andrew points to how people are literally fact checked by social media in real time as they speak. Will wonders if politics needs to whole-heartedly embrace memes as a way of communicating with their audience. It seems the only things getting shared these days are memes. Susan states that memes are the 2019 version of the political cartoon. So true! Andrew warns politicians to be careful with trying to create and control memes involving themselves. According to him, just keep your fingers crossed that you end up on the good side of the meme. Trying to control memes could blow up in your face. Susan and Andrew bring it back to some takeaways for our listeners. If we are getting our news about politics via social media, how can we do this responsibly? According to Andrew, it's up to us to make sure we're fact checking and following a diverse group of authorities.   The episode ends with Andrew highlighting what he feels is a great benefit of social media when it comes to politics. Back in the day, you'd have to write a letter to your local MP's constituency office. Today, you add the right level of sass to a tweet, and hit post. You have a very direct line of communication to them. About Andrew Andrew Jenkins has provided social media strategy and social selling services to numerous mid to large enterprises such as CIBC, Royal Bank of Canada, BMO Nesbitt Burns, National Bank, Sirius XM Canada, the Globe and Mail, World Vision Canada, and the Aga Khan Foundation. He has spent the last twenty years working in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) spanning social media, wireless, and e-business. He holds a BA in Economics from Laurentian University, a BFA in Film Production from York University, and an MBA from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. He also taught entrepreneurship at OCAD University and currently teaches Digital Strategy at the University of Toronto's School of Continuing Studies. Andrew speaks internationally about the social and digital landscape. His entrepreneurial efforts have been featured in the Toronto Star and by LinkedIn Canada as one of their success stories. *** Still can't sleep? We would also love to know what's keeping you up at night! Email us your problems - your issue might be featured in our next episode! Any of these problems *speak* to you? Click here to subscribe in iTunes to hear about more things that haunt us or to keep an eye out for any of your problems. We might find a solution for you (or at least share your pain too!) We have more episodes with great tips, jokes and conversations - don't miss it!  If you get a chance, leave a review on iTunes so that others can find this podcast too! Just click here to review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” We'd love to hear what your favourite part of this episode is in the comments below. Thank you!  

Sam Burton is the Director, of Insights at the Mozilla Foundation. Her team leads projects, such as the Internet Health Report, that help us better understand and shape our relationships with technology. Sam has worked at the intersection of technology, culture, and human rights for over a decade. She’s worked with diverse organizations including Engineers Without Borders Canada, the Aga Khan Foundation, and the International Freedom of Expression eXchange.

How important is culture to the long-term success of an organization? What role does being vulnerable play in leadership? How does story help weave and even make up our everyday experience? And what can putting ourselves out there with travel teach us about our own inner storyteller and context in the world? Ben is in Ottawa to chat with Jana Dybinski, consummate traveler, thinker, innovator and VP for Marketing and Culture at Rebel.com. About the Guest Jana's bio on her website is just too good, so instead of any tinkering, we've copied it here. Stories shape us. My Irish dad was an astrophysicist. He told me about worlds beyond our universe. He launched rockets, and once took a road trip from France to Iran, where it was so hot that his steering wheel melted. My German mom was a teacher - the kind that inspires a deep and profound love of learning. She moved to California before doing her Master's degree and traveled around in a Westfalia. One time she charmed a stunt pilot to take her flying and barrel-roll his plane. As kids, my brother and sister and I spent hours passing our old globe back and forth, creating stories of the infinite possibilities the world held for us. No one was surprised when I saved all my spares to spend the last two months of high school exploring New Zealand alone, or when I came back to study journalism. After graduating I received a fellowship from the Aga Khan Foundation to work in Zanzibar, Tanzania. The stories in East Africa were intoxicating. The women I worked with were changing the face of education in their communities by training teachers and building vibrant classrooms out of recycled scraps. They laughed infectiously at each other's jokes, and at my frequent state of bewilderment. Like the time in central Tanzania, when a baby was passed onto my bus, alone, with a note of his destination tied around his wrist. For reals. While I panicked, the other women on the bus took turns bouncing a stranger's baby, until hours later when he was unceremoniously released into the arms of someone waiting at the specified stop. I was friends with a Massai warrior. One night we tried to figure out how long it would take to walk to the moon. I called my dad. The answer is 9 years. In Kenya I camped among hippos and drank gin with a British expat who lived in a house with only two walls. In Ethiopia I fed wild hyenas from a stick and a 7-year-old boy showed me a cave with a floor made of human skulls. A chance encounter with some fellow Canadians while stuck in an Ethiopia sandstorm landed me a job managing comms for the international organization CODE. I worked to travel. While hiking to Machu Picchu I learned about e coli and Peruvian hospital care. One time while smoking shisha in Istanbul with my childhood best friend I looked up and knew the Canadian guy walking past. The world’s like that. Small. Magical. When a boyfriend broke up with me I decided to leave my coms job to go explore India. My mom thought I was being irresponsible, but I went anyway. A month later that boyfriend showed up and proposed to me on a train leaving Varanasi. We were travelling in third class and sharing a tiny space with an Indian family of 6, all staring and loudly eating papadum. It was romantic anyway. We got married a year later. Our vows were taken from pages of the journals we wrote for each other during those crazy colorful months in India. I took a job at a digital marketing agency and learned new platforms for storytelling. It wasn't as purposeful as the international work, but it was fun and creative and I liked the psychology behind it all. I loved studying what motivated and inspired people. ​By then my dad had lost his rocket scientist job. Consumed by darker stories, he’d become a no-longer-functioning alcoholic. He was always talking about how Bill Gates ruined his life, and also that he invented the internet, neither are true. He’s never even met Bill. It was hard to witness his suffering. Addiction's like that. I got lucky with an incredible mom that made up for it, and enough world experience to fully understand that all we ever really control is how we show up. My husband and I road tripped around California with paper maps. We watched a van speed right off a winding road and over a cliff near Death Valley. In Thailand we snorkelled at night in blue plankton. It was like a dream. I got knocked up and we bought a little 1.5 story house from a man who hoarded antiques and kept three intact bullmastiffs in the basement. It was a fixer upper. Our daughter was born on Christmas Eve in our living room. I’ve never felt so alive - so completely unleashed. She’s a wildly quirky and curious kid. At 6 years old she already has a daily ritual of creating art before sunrise. I wake up to her nudging me, the latest piece in her hands. Mornings are the best. My digital agency job had warped into leading the marketing at Rebel.com. I worked with a talented leadership team to evolve Rebel’s outdated brand, vision and negative workplace into something to be proud of. Changing corporate culture is hard but purposeful work. We won awards for the transformation we created, and I geeked out over the philosophical side of inciting change within teams and organizations. I wrote articles and took stages to share our story of turning a bad culture into something really special. All that learning around how to transform organizations and teams gave me a heightened awareness around the power of transforming individual leaders too. I got introspective. I loved my life and at the same time felt unsettled inside. My untethered traveler identity was diluted by all the other things I’d become - a female leader in a tech company, a corporate culture junkie, a speaker, a marketer, a wife, a mom. My family and friends told stories about my success, but I could feel something was still missing. It was like my intuition was yelling at me but I couldn't make out a word. I felt stuck and guilty for wanting more out of my easy, privileged life. I worried that if I didn't figure it out I'd have big regrets. I was deeply uncomfortable with my own pain, which I labelled as trivial. I decided to patiently follow the whispers of intuition that I could hear. They led me to pour thousands of hours (and dollars) into the study of change at a personal level - into mastering the principals behind positive psychology, personal development, self connection, and the delicate art of balance. I hired a talented coach who supported me to reconnect with myself. ​ I learned that we're not just shaped by stories, we're made of them. The stories we believe. The stories we let others write about us. The stories we write for ourselves. My story is about discovering how to connect with the evolution of yourself, and how to live audaciously in all your identities. My story is about a travelling explorer who's also a proud female leader in a tech company, a wife, a mom, a speaker, and a leadership coach. Because my intuition wasn't yelling at me at all, it was calling me - to share my story and support other leaders that are passionate about transforming themselves and their organizations, but stuck where I've been stuck. To do this, I co-founded a fun consulting company with a couple of my favorite humans, called We Human. Learn more about Jana or follow her (@janowhatimsayin) on Twitter and Instagram. Mentioned in this Episode Thank You For Being Late by Thomas Friedman (check out Episode 60 about the book) The Aga Khan Foundation Canada Sapiens, a book by Yuval Noah Harari The Future of Education, video of a conversation with Yuval Noah Harari and Russell Brand 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, a book by Yuval Noah Harari The Quote of the Week "Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change." - Brené Brown

In this episode of the 4 AM Report, we're staying up with Andrew Jenkins, principal at Volterra Digital and social media management guru. Tune in as we talk about why and how data is a dream come true for marketers and why ignoring it is such a nightmare. We ALL use data Regardless of what industry you're in, we all use data. Let's say you're a miner and you need to drill a hole somewhere. You can't just pick any spot to drill, you need to evaluate the area for the right spot and appeal to investors to justify why you should drill a hole in this specific spot. No matter what you do, our decisions are data-driven and CANNOT be ignored! Don't miss out on potential opportunities (or disasters) for your company - look at your data! Don't get lost in translation Today, collecting data is easier than ever. We all know that when it comes to data, using Google Analytics, and monitoring Facebook impressions and engagement are great ways to collect it. The hard part is presenting and explaining it. What is the “so what?” Andrew suggests placing a summary in the beginning of your presentation - whether it's a PowerPoint deck or a report, you need to explain to them why your data matters. Ask yourself, “what is noteworthy about this chart?” and how it can affect their business and stakeholders. This way, your audience gets the information they need upfront and can deep-dive into it at their own pace. Let's be honest, no one likes or is interested in getting a huge package with thousands of excel spreadsheets. Get to the point and provide an insight - your audience will appreciate this and will be more likely to listen to your ideas. The three tiers of metrics Before you look into your metrics, think about what you're trying to accomplish with your business in the first place. Ask yourself, “Where do I see my digital marketing efforts playing a role?” You need to first strategize how your social media efforts can support your business objectives and can meet the needs of your audience. When you identify the needs and how you can meet them, you can start with your baseline. The first tier of metrics is Vanity Metrics. This includes every like and share on Facebook and Instagram, every retweet on Twitter and how many followers you have. Andrew urges you to have a base community and to continually grow it.  The next tier is engagement, where the growth happens. You can track its growth and the performance of your efforts to see whether or not the content you're sharing is resonating well with your audience by looking at your metrics and reviewing what has been shared. Finally, the last tier is evaluating what has happened and its relationship to your business objectives. Did your audience sign up for your email list or make a donation? Have you gained more visitors to your website? Once you have this information, you need to translate it into something that your audience can understand. Andrew suggests using charts and maps along with important insights and suggestions for the future. Regardless of what you do, data is key to your business. Be sure to put extra effort into how you collect your data and how you interpret it for others. Don't do anymore guesswork - look at the numbers. You'll be more certain of your decisions and you'll get a good night's sleep.    About Andrew Andrew Jenkins has provided social media strategy and social selling services to numerous mid to large enterprises such as CIBC, Royal Bank of Canada, BMO Nesbitt Burns, National Bank, Sirius XM Canada, the Globe and Mail, World Vision Canada, and the Aga Khan Foundation. He has spent the last twenty years working in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) spanning social media, wireless, and e-business. He holds a BA in Economics from Laurentian University, a BFA in Film Production from York University, and an MBA from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. He also taught entrepreneurship at OCAD University and currently teaches Digital Strategy at the University of Toronto's School of Continuing Studies. Andrew speaks internationally about the social and digital landscape. His entrepreneurial efforts have been featured in the Toronto Star and by LinkedIn Canada as one of their success stories. Still can't sleep? We would also love to know what's keeping you up at night! Email us your problems at team@cp.digital - your issue might be featured in our next episode! Any of these problems *speak* to you? Click here to subscribe in iTunes to hear about more things that haunt us or to keep an eye out for any of your problems. We might find a solution for you (or at least share your pain too!) We have more episodes with great tips, jokes and conversations - don't miss it!  If you get a chance, leave a review on iTunes so that others can find this podcast too! Just click here to review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” We'd love to hear what your favourite part of this episode is in the comments below. Thank you!  

Matt Reed (CEO of the Aga Khan Foundation UK) in conversation with Lakshya Datta (Founder of Launchora). AKF has been supporting JLF since 2015. As CEO, Matt’s focus is on expanding AKF’s partnerships in the UK and Europe and building greater public awareness about the work of the broader Aga Khan Development Network. #ZEEJLFatBL2019

More than half of the world’s 25.4 million refugees are children. They often spend years, if not their entire childhoods, displaced. What does this mean for early childhood development? How are they affected by lack of access to education or psychological help? And how does toxic stress impact the rest of their lives? Joining this discussion are Lynne Jones, writer, aid worker and visiting scientist at FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University, and Sweta Shah, global lead of early child development for the Aga Khan Foundation.

In Oct 2018 the International Baccalaureate will release the long-awaited Primary Years Programme (PYP) Principles into Practice. Elements of this new curriculum framework have slowly been released over the last year and it has ignited a buzz of critical conversations across the PYP community. In anticipation of the release of these Enhancements, a number of leading PYP educators from around the world have been interviewed about their thoughts, hopes, expectations and developing understanding of the upcoming enhancements. In this episode, Angeline Aow interview Suzanne Tomlinson about assessment.   Suzanne has been an IBEN member since 2005 and has gone on to lead a huge range of in-school and regional workshops for the IB, Taaleem, the Aga Khan Foundation and IBSCA in the UK as well as being involved in school evaluation for the PYP. Suzanne was recently invited to be part of the PYP review and her experience as a teacher and leader has taken her to all parts of the world including Germany, Malaysia, Uzbekistan, Serbia, Oman and now as a Director in Albania. Professional Learning International would like to note that these podcasts have been developed independently from the IB and were created with the intent to promote understanding, implementation and in support of educators around the globe. All content are the individuals’ perspectives and are interpretations of programme documentation that these IB Educators have access to through their IB schools and IB Educator Network roles. 

Creative, entrepreneurial, family oriented, philanthropic, ambitious and grounded. These are words I’d use to describe Aly Valiani. In 2006, Aly left the corporate world to found New Horizons Hospitality and has since successfully developed five properties, bringing the total portfolio to eight properties owned, and managed by New Horizons. Aly has a Bachelor’s of Business Administration from The University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Management. Since the formation of New Horizons, Aly's main focus has been expanding the portfolio through development and enhancing the guest experience across all New Horizons’ brands and properties. Today, many of New Horizons’ hotels are top RevPAR producing, brand award winners in customer service, and leaders in their respective markets. Aly is currently leading the development team on New Horizon’s eighth property, a 125 all-suite Homewood Suites by Hilton, due to open in summer of 2018. He’s the Vice Chairman of The Aga Khan Foundation a proud husband and father. Enjoy Aly Valiani on this episode of The Midlife Male Podcast.

On today’s podcast, I have the opportunity to speak with Riana Topan, who is a communications fellow at the Aga Khan Foundation in Uganda. We discuss the benefits of setting career goals at the start of a new year and how to turn these goals into action. Riana graduated with an arts degree, which she later spun into a career in communications. She uses her expertise as someone who successfully changed her career path to offer great insight into how to set short and long-term career goals. Topics: Why we set goals in the New Year How to evaluate your current job status Envisioning your ideal future Making plans to achieve your career goals Putting plans into action Evaluating your progress Long-term vs. short-term planning What is a “medium-term” goals and why are they so important Building a timeline for each set of goals This podcast is courtesy of Pitch Graphic Design, a Toronto based firm, whose goal is to provide quality graphic designs for Public Relations. If you would like to get in touch with Pitch, please fill out the contact form. Links and Resources: Riana on LinkedIn Pitching PR Mainpage Pitch Graphic Design on Instagram   Quotes: “Though the holidays are inevitably busy, this season is a great time to pause and reflect on all you’ve done in the past twelve months.” –Riana Topan “More often than not, setting a career plan like this will extend well beyond the next calendar year.” –Riana Topan “You’ll be much better off if you’re able to adapt to challenges as they arise and take advantage of new opportunities that come your way…” –Riana Topan  

David is founder and Chief Executive of Keystone. Over the past three decades, as a grantmaker and manager with Aga Khan Foundation, Ford Foundation, Oak Foundation, and Ashoka, David has sought to evolve and test innovative approaches to strengthening citizen self-organization for sustainable development as an alternative to prevailing bureaucratic, top-down models of social service delivery and social value creation. While with the Ford Foundation, he was declared persona non grata by the apartheid government in South Africa. In 1990 he returned to South Africa and entrepreneured the development of key building blocks for civil society, including the first nonprofit internet service provider, the national association of NGOs, the national association of grantmakers, and enabling reforms to the regulatory and tax framework for not-for-profit organisations that were among the first laws passed by the newly elected Mandela government. Keystone's mission is to improve the effectiveness of social purpose organizations. They work with them to develop better ways of planning, measuring and reporting social change. Their analysis provides an in-depth description of the difficulties social organizations face in measuring and reporting their impact. Keystones website is www.keystoneaccountability.org/

It may surprise you to know that the world's tallest hotel is in Makkah. The Clock Tower which is part of the same complex is the world's largest clock tower. None of this would be all that important were it not for the fact that these building are metres away from the Grand Mosque which, for Muslims, is the world's holiest place. In order to create the space for this expansion, large residential districts have been demolished and the residents evicted; many examples of traditional urban architecture have been destroyed. What is behind this programme? Is it cultural vandalism? Or rampant capitalism? Or does it reflect a legitimate theological concern on the part of the Saudi authorities to prevent idolatry? Joining Ernie Rea to discuss the potential destruction of some of Islam's Holy Sites are Yaqub Zaki, Visiting Professor at the Aga Khan Foundation at Harvard University; Mona Siddiqui, Professor of Islamic and Religious Studies at the University of Glasgow; and Irfan Al Alawi, Executive Director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation. Producer: Rosie Dawson.

It may surprise you to know that the world's tallest hotel is in Makkah. The Clock Tower which is part of the same complex is the world's largest clock tower. None of this would be all that important were it not for the fact that these building are metres away from the Grand Mosque which, for Muslims, is the world's holiest place. In order to create the space for this expansion, large residential districts have been demolished and the residents evicted; many examples of traditional urban architecture have been destroyed. What is behind this programme? Is it cultural vandalism? Or rampant capitalism? Or does it reflect a legitimate theological concern on the part of the Saudi authorities to prevent idolatry? Joining Ernie Rea to discuss the potential destruction of some of Islam's Holy Sites are Yaqub Zaki, Visiting Professor at the Aga Khan Foundation at Harvard University; Mona Siddiqui, Professor of Islamic and Religious Studies at the University of Glasgow; and Irfan Al Alawi, Executive Director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation. Producer: Rosie Dawson.

Please join host Elizabeth for a very special hour with guest Jacqueline Muller. Jacqueline Muller is a world renowned Transformational Coach, specializing in awakening personal freedom, motivation and contentment for business success and extraordinary results in every area of your life. As a Swiss national who grew up in Thailand,was  educated in Switzerland, Germany, Denmark and USA, Jacqueline brings together a unique coaching and healing style based on unlocking your full potential. Her wide ranging experiences around the world have brought together a message that is sure to change the life of anyone who encounters it. Jacqueline's high energy and passion for human potential has taken her all around the world.Her early career started with His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan's Industrial Promotion Services Ltd, in Geneva, Switzerland. This also led her to working with the Aga Khan Foundation. Both were involved with projects in Africa and Pakistan. She then became a part of Swiss Multi National, Cosa Liebermann where she became Deputy General Manager, openingthe China marketand being responsible for suppliers in Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and many other countries.

David Bonbright What International Philanthropy Can and Cannot Do David Bonbright has been an international grantmaker with the Ford Foundation in Africa during the end of apartheid and with the Aga Khan Development Network in pre- to post-911 Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan. Originally from Ross, California, David is based in London with his talented South African filmmaker wife, Elaine Proctor. Join Michael Lerner in a conversation with David about his project he calls Keystone Accountability, creating a better way for foundations, non-governmental organizations, philanthropists, and other civil society actors to evaluate the actual effectiveness of third-sector projects. David Bonbright David is founder and chief executive of Keystone. Over the past three decades, as a grantmaker and manager with Aga Khan Foundation, Ford Foundation, Oak Foundation, and Ashoka, David has sought to evolve and test innovative approaches to strengthening citizen self-organization for sustainable development as an alternative to prevailing bureaucratic, top-down models of social service delivery and social value creation. While with the Ford Foundation, he was declared persona non grata by the apartheid government in South Africa. In 1990 he returned to South Africa and entrepreneured the development of key building blocks for civil society, including the first nonprofit internet service provider, the national association of NGOs, the national association of grantmakers, and enabling reforms to the regulatory and tax framework for not-for-profit organisations that were among the first laws passed by the newly elected Mandela government. Find out more about The New School at tns.commonweal.org.