Podcasts about Opportunity International

Episode #166 with Dr William Derban, Head of Programs and Partnerships at the Digital Innovations Group for Opportunity International, defining technical standards, developing business strategy, and negotiating collaborations across mobile money, mobile/cell-phone banking, and agent banking.Opportunity International is at the forefront of leveraging AI to bridge the gap between technology and smallholder farmers in Africa. Through initiatives like UlangiziAI in Malawi and the recent FarmerAI pilots in Kenya and Ghana, the organisation is redefining how underserved communities access crucial agricultural knowledge. By integrating AI-driven solutions with a human-centred approach, they empower farmers to combat climate change, boost productivity, and build resilience.In this episode, we explore how AI is being used to democratise agricultural knowledge, the challenges of last-mile implementation, and the ethical considerations of deploying AI in vulnerable communities.What We Discuss With WilliamThe impact of digital initiatives on smallholder farmers in Africa, improving productivity, market access, and financial inclusion.Strategies to make AI-driven solutions like UlangiziAI accessible to farmers with limited digital literacy, ensuring inclusivity and ease of use.The challenges of integrating AI into smallholder farming and the solutions implemented to overcome them.How AI can help underserved communities and make sure its benefits reach everyone, not just wealthier nations.The main challenges in expanding AI-powered farming solutions across Africa and how they can be overcome.Like this show? Please leave us a review here -- even one sentence helps!Connect with Terser:LinkedIn - Terser AdamuInstagram - unlockingafricaTwitter (X) - @TerserAdamuConnect with William:LinkedIn - Dr William DerbanTwitter (X) - @OpportunityIntlDo you want to do business in Africa? Explore the vast business opportunities in African markets and increase your success with ETK Group. Connect with us at www.etkgroup.co.uk or reach out via email at info@etkgroup.co.ukSubscribe to our newsletter for exclusive content, behind-the-scenes insights, and bonus material - Unlocking Africa Newsletter

In this episode of the Faith Driven Entrepreneur podcast, Justin Forman sits down with Dave Blanchard to explore the evolution of faith-driven entrepreneurship and its growing influence in both the church and broader culture.Key Discussion Points:The origin story of Praxis and how the name came to be through prayer and divine inspirationThe transformation of entrepreneurship from a "starving artist" narrative to a celebrated career pathThe role of programs like Y Combinator, Techstars, and shows like Shark Tank in normalizing entrepreneurshipHow childhood experiences and early business ventures shaped Blanchard's perspective on ethical entrepreneurshipThe impact of Chris Crane and Opportunity International in revealing the redemptive possibilities of entrepreneurshipThe challenge of moving beyond "God cares about your work" to practical implementation in various industriesThe need for churches to become creative centers and reimagine their approach to supporting entrepreneursThe importance of telling authentic stories that include both triumph and struggleDiscussion of the "unnamed villains" and real challenges facing Christian entrepreneursThe future of faith-driven entrepreneurship and the need for local heroes and mentors

Nile Harris, a seasoned leader with two decades of experience in the MedTech industry, is the founder and CEO of HVG Executive Solutions and currently serves as a director in the life sciences practice at Alvarez & Marsal. Nile shares her diverse career journey from financial services to MedTech, including roles at Medtronic and Abbott, and her current work in management consulting. Emphasizing the value of lifelong learning, Nile discusses her philosophy on leadership, blending strategy with tactical execution, and the importance of adapting rapidly. She also reflects on pivotal moments, like nearly quitting due to the emotional challenges in medtech sales, and her passion for closing healthcare disparity gaps.  Guest links: https://gapdemystified.com | https://hvg.llc Charity supported: Opportunity International Interested in being a guest on the show or have feedback to share? Email us at podcast@velentium.com.  PRODUCTION CREDITS Host: Lindsey Dinneen Editing: Marketing Wise Producer: Velentium   EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Episode 043 - Nile Harris [00:00:00] Lindsey Dinneen: Hi, I'm Lindsey and I'm talking with MedTech industry leaders on how they change lives for a better world. [00:00:09] Diane Bouis: The inventions and technologies are fascinating and so are the people who work with them. [00:00:15] Frank Jaskulke: There was a period of time where I realized, fundamentally, my job was to go hang out with really smart people that are saving lives and then do work that would help them save more lives. [00:00:28] Diane Bouis: I got into the business to save lives and it is incredibly motivating to work with people who are in that same business, saving or improving lives. [00:00:38] Duane Mancini: What better industry than where I get to wake up every day and just save people's lives. [00:00:42] Lindsey Dinneen: These are extraordinary people doing extraordinary work, and this is The Leading Difference. Hello, and welcome back to another episode of The Leading Difference podcast. I'm your host, Lindsey, and I'm so excited to introduce you to my guest today, Nile Harris. Nile is a highly skilled and versatile leader who has made significant impact in the medtech industry for two decades from the C suite to the operating room and companies such as Medtronic and Abbott. Her agility was forged through a successful cross functional career, spanning corporate strategy and development, product marketing, field sales and marketing, strategic market insights, commercialization, market access, and executive coaching. Nile is an expert advisor and mentor for Life Science Tennessee and the Nashville Entrepreneur Center focused on early stage startups. She is the CEO and Founder of HVG Executive Solutions and currently serves as Director in the life sciences practice at Alvarez and Marsal. All right. Well, thank you so much for being here, Nile. I'm so excited to speak with you today. [00:01:48] Nile Harris: Thank you. I'm happy and excited to be here as well. [00:01:53] Lindsey Dinneen: Awesome. Well, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind starting off by telling us a little bit about yourself and your background and what led you to MedTech. [00:02:03] Nile Harris: Yeah. Interesting story. Happy to share my journey to MedTech. I tripped into it and loved it. I began my career out of undergrad in financial services, actually interned all through undergrad and financial services. And I loved being on a trading floor-- I was actually a licensed broker at one point-- loved working on trading floors. I'm originally from Chicago, worked at the Board of Trade, Chicago Board of Options Exchange, but it wasn't a cultural fit. And I felt like I wanted to give more or put more out into the world other than making more money, essentially. And I went to business school at the University of Michigan and did my internship at Lily in Indianapolis and absolutely loved healthcare. And it had never occurred to me that healthcare was an option. And I spent my summer there as IT Project Manager supporting clinical trials. And I was like, I thought this was just amazing. And so I was recruited to Medtronic coming out of Michigan and they had an IT rotation, leadership rotation program. They're sort of a internal consulting group. And I was in that program for two years. And when I came out of that program, I went to the strategy and corporate development group within Medtronic. And that's when I really saw what we did as a company there. I really have more exposure to the products, the lives that we were saving, and the impact that we were having. And I had really no idea what it took to get a product from bench to bedside. Like, what does it take to get a product designed and into a patient? And I decided to go from corporate strategy and development to field sales and marketing. So I was like, I thought that there was no better way to learn it than just to roll up my sleeves and get into it. And so I went from making PowerPoints and Excel spreadsheets to being out in the field. So I went from being in Minneapolis to Nashville, where I was doing Therapy Development Specialist. So it was a hybrid between sales and marketing. And I spent a lot of time in hospitals. And the part of my job was essentially to grow the pie for thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysm stent grafts, and then grow our piece of the pie. So I was in surgeries, but I was also doing strategy and sort of marketing and attracting customers and refer referral patterns. And it was great. This was like, this was magical to me. And I had no idea before I got into Medtronic that this was a world that was even open to me. And so I just got deeper into it. I did product management, did value based healthcare and pricing. I did a stop for a couple of years in K 12 education. I'm very passionate about closing the health, wealth, and education disparity gap in America. And so I was a Broad Resident for the system management of school systems. And so I led strategy for a charter school system in Nashville, but went back into working with, with life science companies at a small consulting firm, and then was doing some independent consulting, started doing executive coaching, specifically within medtech for those people who are trying to get to that next level of leadership and trying to figure out how do you run multi generational teams? And then I was at Abbott for a little bit as a Global Director there and built a team there. And now I do management consultant. And so I've been in medtech now for 20 years. And what I love about being a consultant is that I get to take all of those experiences and how companies bring innovations to life. [00:06:20] Lindsey Dinneen: Wow. Yeah. Well, first of all, thank you for sharing about your background. What an amazing breadth of experience you have. And also I love the thread of your lifelong learning and curiosity. And, oh my gosh. I mean, so I looked at your, LinkedIn profile and I was like, okay, so you have a BA, a BS, an MEd, and an MBA. So clearly education. [00:06:50] Nile Harris: I do I believe education is important and so the BS in finance and the BA in communications happened because at the University of Illinois, you can get a BA in Finance or a BS in Finance. And so I went the BS route, but it was very technical. We had these highly technical economic classes, statistical modeling, all these things. There weren't a lot of soft skill classes, and I wanted to incorporate that into my experience. And then I realized, well, if I earned a certain number of hours, I could be a dual degree versus dual major. And my junior year, I had no idea, but my junior year, I got this letter from the university saying that all of my advanced placement classes from high school transferred and I had a semester's worth of additional hours. So I spent an additional summer after I finished one degree and then I was able to finish the second degree. So I did both in four years. [00:07:52] Lindsey Dinneen: Wow. Holy cannoli. Okay. [00:07:54] Nile Harris: I'm a lifelong learner. I believe you need to always be learning. And the curiosity is, I think a lot of times I've gotten the feedback of, "Well, you're kind of all over the place." But not really. I am curious about what people do and how they do their jobs. And I would, when I was in strategy and development, my role was to lead the strategic planning process, and I had access to all of the business leaders, all of the presidents, all of the leaders that they worked with. And that was just awesome. That in itself was just a college education. I had ready access to ask them about their businesses. But I also asked him, "Well, how can I be a better partner for you? If I'm in corporate, how can I be a better partner for you?" And one of the things that came up over and over again was, "Understand my business better. I understand that you have to run the process and you're focused on getting all of the parts and pieces together. But what would help me is if more people in corporate understood my business." And I was like, "Okay, I'm going to go into sales." [00:09:04] Lindsey Dinneen: Yes. Wow, that is so incredible. And, leadership and management, and now with your executive coaching, obviously that's a been a running theme and will continue to be. And I'm really curious what is maybe your top couple pieces of advice for those who are looking to either become better leaders or to even start being a leader? [00:09:32] Nile Harris: That is a great question. I think, first of all, I counsel people to develop your personal leadership philosophy. What type of leader do you want to be? What is the legacy that you want to leave with people? What is it that you want them to remember you for? For me, it was being a servant leader. I see myself as, "People don't work for me. I work for them." My job is to remove obstacles, build them up, set a vision, set the container in which they work and then support them in that. Set the example, model the example and and I always say, you know, the book "Leaders Eat Last." Well, I say, "Leaders eat last and they're the first to the fire." And so you develop that philosophy and talk to people. Like I said, I had access to some amazing leaders and I watched them and I talked to them and I asked them and so, interview people, talk to people who you think are great leaders. The second thing I would say is learn from people who you think are not great leaders. Let them teach you about what you don't want to be as a leader. Right? And the third thing is talk to people. I had one mentor who used to say his version of a quote from Abraham Lincoln, which was, "You can't lead without the consent of the followers. Find out what the followers need and give them that." And leadership is for the people who are following you. Promotions or accolades or rewards are for you as an effective leader, right, for getting results. The leadership is what you are providing to others. [00:11:19] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, that's great advice. Thank you for sharing that. I think especially your middle point about learning from leaders that you don't look up to, but that have actually a lot to teach you is such a good point too, because, in general, we look up to the people that we go, "Oh my goodness, I love the way that this person leads. I really admire what they bring to the table." And then, that's great, but it is also such an experience to learn from somebody that doesn't have maybe the leadership qualities that you aspire to have. And so you're able to go, "Okay, so this is what doesn't work. Let me figure out what does." [00:11:58] Nile Harris: Exactly. And even the leadership style, even if it doesn't work for you, even if it doesn't work for 95 percent of the organization that person has been put in charge of, that there's something that they do that you might like. So don't necessarily throw the baby out with the bathwater and just say, "Oh, they're a terrible leader." What they're doing something, they did something to be able to get in that, into that position. Learn from that as well. [00:12:25] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Ooh, taking it a step further. I love it. You know, one thing I really enjoy-- oh, I very much enjoyed reading your LinkedIn profile, by the way-- but one thing that really stood out to me, and I would love if you could talk a little bit about was somebody at some point told you that you have an amazing ability to "seamlessly switch between strategy and tactical execution." Could you speak a little bit to that? That is so cool. [00:12:51] Nile Harris: So this is funny. This is a very funny thing. So that was a manager who I did not get along with. We did not see eye to eye. And we had a facilitator come into our team meeting one day and help us to figure out how do we work together and collaborate as a team. Like, how do we pull out the gifts right in each other? And so the facilitator went person to person and asked, "What's your gift? What's your gift? What's your gift?" And so when he got to me, I said, "Oh, my gift is my organizational skills. I'm very organized and I can connect all these dots." And so my manager, who I did not get along with, says, "Your gift is effortlessly going from strategy to tactical execution. You can be in the clouds and then on the ground. And it is a clear stream and it is effortless." And everybody in the room was like, "Yeah, well, where did you get organization from?" I was like, "Wait, where'd you get that from?" I didn't see that in myself. It didn't, it didn't occur to me that's what I was doing. When they pointed it out, I didn't realize it was a gift. Because I just do it. And then they were like, "Not everybody can do that." And I thought it was so odd that this person who I had sort of like this ongoing strife with was the one to point it out. [00:14:27] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, that's irony for you, but what a gift though, because then yeah, to understand, "Oh, this isn't something..." I think that happens a lot where you get to it's really helpful to have somebody who's outside perspective who can say, "Actually, this is your superpower because most people can't do what you think just comes naturally to everyone." If only. [00:14:51] Nile Harris: Yes. And 'cause a lot of times I actually got this question, somebody else was going through my LinkedIn profile and they were like, "Well, how did you develop that skillset?" And I told him, "You know, I didn't do it intentionally. I didn't set out to say,' I'm going to go from strategy to execution effortlessly.'" I think it was the act of doing it. So being able to say, "Well, I don't want to be in financial services, but now I have that financial skill and acumen. I'm going to leverage it to change industries." And then being in this tactical position of putting together models and PowerPoints. And I was putting together PowerPoints for like our executive committee. So I'm this very, I'm doing something very tactical, but at a strategic level. And then to go from that to say, "Well, I want to really understand how these things connect together." All right. And so I go to sales. And so I think it was just the, I followed the trail of the curiosity and I learned something along the way by doing that. And so it ultimately, it just sort of naturally, I think cultivated what I do know that I'm really good at is seeing patterns and connecting dots. And I think it just sort of came from that. [00:16:11] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, I think that makes a lot of sense. And I think, to your point of you having demonstrated your willingness to continue to learn and to step into different roles, so that you were able to continue to expand your knowledge and your skill sets, I mean, you know, it's funny. And I know a lot of people talk about the idea of generalist versus specialist. And being a generalist does have a lot of advantages in terms of, when you have this crazy diverse skillset and even experience in multiple industries, then all of a sudden you can draw from, "Oh, you know what? I remember this really random thing back in when I was doing financial services that actually would really apply here. I don't, I wonder if anyone has ever thought about that!" And then you keep connecting those dots, like you said, so. [00:17:03] Nile Harris: Exactly. And that's exactly how it happens in my brain. Right? Like my brain will reach back to, "Remember when you worked on this project and you did this really random thing." And I'm like, "Yeah!" My brain's like, "It applies here." I'm like, "Okay." But I did Strength Finders and one of the strengths, it was described as, I didn't necessarily agree with the word that they use, but when I read the description, in the description, it said, "I am a collector of information." And I'm like, yes! I have every notebook that I used to take notes for work. I have every notebook going back to my first job out of college. And I use Evernote to collect, literally collect articles across the internet. If I'm like, "Oh, this is interesting," I'll clip it into Evernote. And so now I've got sort of this encyclopedia of information. And so if I want to, think about, "Oh, I read this article about this medtech company that was doing this thing," I can search my little encyclopedia and find out. So that also is the whole connecting the dots. And Steve Jobs had a, and I'm going to butcher the quote, but he had a quote about "being innovative and being creative is about having enough experiences that you can connect." [00:18:32] Lindsey Dinneen: Oh, I love that. Oh my goodness. Yes. I cannot agree more, and I think the ability to be creative does often come from being able to draw from lots and lots of different sources and then putting them together in a new way. So, oh my gosh, I love this So, you know another thing that stood out in your profile was, you have a wonderful ability to "plan meticulously and then adapt rapidly," and obviously your career path has really demonstrated that but I'm wondering is that in particular a skill set that you developed over time, or have you always had a tendency towards very careful planning, but at the same time holding those plans loosely enough that you can adapt quickly? [00:19:21] Nile Harris: Yeah, there's a little bit of both. It's inherent in me to want to plan, want to know where things are. That just gives me a sense of comfort. I did not always adapt rapidly. That was working in the strategy and corporate development, working with a bunch of C suite, the CEO, the COO, the presidents of all the businesses, adapting rapidly was a requirement. And things would change super fast. The meeting might start off about one topic and then it ends on a totally different topic. So having to pivot, having to go. But then that also helped me with, "Okay, I'm going to have a plan a and plan B and a plan C," because then I started to learn how to anticipate and I would know, "Okay, if we're going to go through this particular presentation, which is about this piece of the strategic plan, it could go one of three ways. And I want to be prepared for all three ways." And so over time, I became known for my ability to pivot real quick or have something in my back pocket. So people would always then be like, "Oh, Nile, we know that you have a plan B. We know that." And we were doing a sales meeting. I worked under the president of the cardiovascular business, and we were doing a sales meeting and his video or presentation clip, whatever was on this sort of --this was a long time ago. So it wasn't transferred digitally. It had to physically be burned onto a tape or a CD or some medium. And I had to physically transport it with me from Minneapolis to Las Vegas, where the meeting was. And I said, " Could you make another one so I have a backup?" And the guy was like, "Come on." And I was like, "Nope." So I gave the first copy to the person I was supposed to hand it off to. Get to Las Vegas, and they called me over to the hall for rehearsal. And they're like, "Hey, we can't find the first copy." And I was like, "No worries." I pull out the second copy out of my little bag. And the president of the business was like, "Yep, that's Nile." And they were sitting there and they said, "Yeah, the president, he wasn't worried at all. Like we were freaking out and he was like, 'Nah, just call Nile.'" [00:21:36] Lindsey Dinneen: Oh. [00:21:37] Nile Harris: And they were like, "Wow." And he was like, "I told you." And so then being in sales is nothing but adapting rapidly. That is what, that is all day, every day. So that adapting rapidly was, it was taught. But I think being planful was my natural inclination. [00:21:57] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Well, what a great reputation, too, to have. "Just call Nile. It'll be great. It'll be fine." [00:22:03] Nile Harris: "It'll be fine. Nile's got covered." [00:22:05] Lindsey Dinneen: I love that. Yeah. So what are you really looking forward to maybe both personally and professionally in the next couple of years? [00:22:15] Nile Harris: Now that I'm in a bigger management consulting firm not doing the independent piece, but I'm part of this bigger entity, there is so much happening in medtech and medical device and life science in general, with generative AI, health care equities, just so much happening. And I think that we are reaching a really a big pivot point also with like digital health care and collecting data and on patient care, predictive medicine. We are at this next evolution of care, and I'm really excited to help usher that in by working with other, with companies, with innovators in this space. The AI with imaging and streamlining workflows and helping to close healthcare disparity gaps, to be able to contribute to that in a much deeper way that you can't when you are a independent consultant. The other piece is, I really love helping to build those high performing teams. And I, there's like with coaching, I love that aha moment, that moment when somebody is like, "Oh, wow." That moment I had when my manager said my gift is going from strategy to execution. I love helping other people have that moment. So I'm looking to help build that next level of leaders that will be better leaders than I am, better leaders than I had. And then that the next stage for me is how do I again, take everything I've learned and pay that forward. , leave a legacy. That's, and I might be talking about like, it might seem like I feel like I'm old because in two years I'm still going to be working. I'm still going to be doing things, but that's when I feel you start to get into the part of your career where you're leaving that mark, you're leaving that legacy. That's the thing that we want to know Nile for in the medtech space. And then really also outside of work, more personally is, I feel very strongly about the health, wealth and education disparity gap and America and being able to contribute to health and equity where we have two demographics of people who get a disease at the same, same rate, but they don't have the same outcomes, the same treatment outcomes. Like, why is that? So how can I contribute to that? [00:24:57] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Those are all wonderful things to be thinking about and working towards. So yeah, I really appreciate just-- you talked about how you are a servant leader, but you just have such a beautiful heart of service. And I mean, I could see that throughout even your volunteering and your mentorship and things that you do. So, gosh, yeah. Thank you for sharing about that. [00:25:21] Nile Harris: Yeah. [00:25:21] Lindsey Dinneen: So I'm curious. Along this journey, especially in medtech, have there been any moments that stand out to you as really clarifying to you, "Wow, I am in the right place, at the right time, in the right industry?" [00:25:36] Nile Harris: Oh, oh. There is a moment where I almost quit and it was when I was in sales. And again, it was a hybrid sales marketing role, but I was, it was doing my field training and I'm so excited to be out there. And I, you know, completely committed to the mission and we help people in these devices. They go in people and they restore health and they do all of these things and these things are great. And I was, In the hospital one day with one of my training reps, and we got a call to the E. R. There was a patient in there with a ruptured aneurysm, aortic aneurysm, and he was, I don't know, in his eighties, mid eighties. And we looked at the film to see if the device, the stent graft, it's minimally invasive. The other way you repair an aortic aneurysm is to open somebody all of the way up and take out their aorta and put in a different type of graft. And when we looked at the film, this was a ruptured something like a 10 centimeter aneurysm. And this patient was actively bleeding out. And the rep asked me, " What do you see?" And that's what I said I saw. And she said, "Well, okay, so what are we going to do?" And I'm like going through my training, flipping through my training and everything in my training said, "There's nothing that we can do for this patient." And so I say it to her and she was like, "Correct." And so essentially once you've ruptured to this point, they were just making him comfortable at this point and he was going to expire. And I conceptually understood that people pass away. We can't save everybody, but to have to sit there in that moment and look at looking at this film and you are dealing with a human, is a human being on the table and you are saying it's "Wow. This is the moment where you can't do anything." So we left there and I just went back to my hotel and I was like, " This is stupid. Like, why am I doing this?" And my manager called me and I told him, I was like, "You know what? I don't think I'm cut out for this. I can't do this. I can't not save people. I got into this to save people." And he said, "If you had any other reaction, I would be worried about you." He's like, " Give it 48 hours and call me back." So I gave it 48 hours. I called him back and I was like, " No, I'm supposed to be here. I'm in the right place. I love this work. I love what I do. I would not have been so upset if I didn't. If I didn't love what I do, if I wasn't in the right place, I would not have been so upset. So that was to me was a defining moment of that's why I love this work." [00:28:41] Lindsey Dinneen: Wow. Oh my goodness. What a powerful story. Thank you for sharing that. [00:28:46] Nile Harris: Yeah. You're welcome. [00:28:47] Lindsey Dinneen: You know, I really appreciate-- that's such a human moment to have. And of course we all have them, but we don't always talk about them because it doesn't always feel good, but that is so powerful that you were able to take what, it was such a difficult moment but use it as a little bit of motivation for your why as well. Wow. Yeah, that is amazing. Thank you. [00:29:09] Nile Harris: Yeah. And yeah, you're welcome. And I had two primary trainers in Tennessee. They were like in different parts of Tennessee, and the primary trainer told me when I, first day of training, he said, "If you always do what's right for the patient, everything else will come. [00:29:24] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, there you go. That's "great. [00:29:27] Nile Harris: Yep. [00:29:28] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, well, pivoting the conversation just for fun, imagine that you were to be offered a million dollars to teach a masterclass on anything you want. It can be in your industry, but it doesn't have to be. What would you choose to teach and why? [00:29:44] Nile Harris: Oh, this is such a great question. I don't know how I would do it. But I would teach people how to, how do I put this? I would teach people how to go from like strategy to execution but in a, I think maybe in a broader way, I would teach people like how to connect thoughts or how to be curious or how to always be learning. I don't know exactly how I would do it, but I would teach people to be explorers their life. [00:30:13] Lindsey Dinneen: Yes. Oh, I love that so much. Yes, amazing. Yeah, well, whenever you put that together, let me know because that sounds incredible. [00:30:24] Nile Harris: Yeah. I mean, I just wrote it, like I wrote it down, right? Like, I like, that's what I would do. I would teach people to be explorers, because then if you teach people to be explorers of their own life and curious about their own life, they're going to end up where they're supposed to end up eventually, right? So whether it's medtech or whether it's this or that, like you're going to end up where you should be because you've been curious about your life. And, yeah, that's what I teach. [00:30:52] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, I love it. And also, I think the benefit of the explorer mindset is that you are, because you are choosing to view life as an adventure and you're constantly learning and growing, there really isn't such a thing as failure. You're exploring. So if something doesn't go the way that you hoped it would or planned it would or whatever, you go, "Okay, that exploration didn't go as planned. What did I learn from it though?" And then let's move forward. [00:31:21] Nile Harris: Yeah, that's exactly how I look at it. Somebody asked me If I have a fear of failure, and I said, "I don't." And they're like, "That's crazy. Everybody has a fear of failure." And I was like, "No, because I tried something didn't work out. And now I know." Right? Or, "I didn't do it the right way. Now I know the right way, you know?" So I was like, "I don't have a fear of failure. I have a fear of doing things badly, not performing well." But failure? No, it's all exploration, it's all learning." [00:31:46] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Ah, perfect mindset. I love it. So, and then you touched a little bit on this, but just to dive a little bit more into it, how do you wish to be remembered after you leave this world? [00:32:01] Nile Harris: As a servant. Yeah, I, that's a, yeah, I don't think there's more... I want people to remember that I contributed, that I gave more than I got, that I helped others, and I'll be happy with that. [00:32:22] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, and then final question. What is one thing that makes you smile every time you see or think about it? [00:32:32] Nile Harris: Dogs! Dogs! [00:32:36] Lindsey Dinneen: The end. [00:32:37] Nile Harris: The end! See him on the street? Smile. Go to the dog park? Smile. Look at my own dog? Smile. Dogs are our partners in life. They are like four legged dopamine molecules. They are just amazing. And, they're always such a good energy boost, mood boost. Somebody asked me this, " If you quit MedTech tomorrow, what would you go do?" And I'm like, "I would open a doggy daycare." [00:33:06] Lindsey Dinneen: Amazing. I love it. Yeah, they're just little bundles of joy. I mean, how can you not just be so excited to see... Well, I view it that way. How could you just not fall in love? I fall in love all the time with dogs. [00:33:17] Nile Harris: Yeah, the dogs are amazing, I always feel like they make a family complete. I love, and you specifically said "see," so when I see dogs, but I think what gives me energy, I'm kind of, I'm kind of adding a part B to this. I think what personally gives me energy is being around my family. I come from a really big family. And so being able to share that family energy is energizing. But when I see a dog, I'm insta happy. [00:33:46] Lindsey Dinneen: I love it. And I love your part B too. That's a really compelling secondary answer too. So yeah. Thank you for that. So, yeah. Well, Nile, this conversation has been amazing. You are amazing. You're such a powerhouse, and it's, it's such a joy to get to talk with you today and learn from you. So thank you so, so, so much for your time. And we are so honored to be making a donation on your behalf as a thank you for your time today to Opportunity International, which works to end global poverty by creating and sustaining jobs while also providing small business loans, savings, insurance, and training to more than 14 million people in the developing world. So thank you so much for choosing that organization to support. And we just wish you the most continued success as you work to change lives for a better world. [00:34:40] Nile Harris: Thank you so much. I enjoyed our conversation. This was so much fun. Thank you for the invitation. [00:34:46] Lindsey Dinneen: Absolutely. Yes. And thank you so much to our listeners for tuning in. And if you're feeling as inspired as I am right now, I'd love it if you'd share this episode with a colleague or two, and we will catch you next time. [00:35:01] Ben Trombold: The Leading Difference is brought to you by Velentium. Velentium is a full-service CDMO with 100% in-house capability to design, develop, and manufacture medical devices from class two wearables to class three active implantable medical devices. Velentium specializes in active implantables, leads, programmers, and accessories across a wide range of indications, such as neuromodulation, deep brain stimulation, cardiac management, and diabetes management. Velentium's core competencies include electrical, firmware, and mechanical design, mobile apps, embedded cybersecurity, human factors and usability, automated test systems, systems engineering, and contract manufacturing. Velentium works with clients worldwide, from startups seeking funding to established Fortune 100 companies. Visit velentium.com to explore your next step in medical device development.

Well this week we're kicking on with our second message in a series called Wisdom that Works - looking at some of God's mighty wisdom through the Book of Proverbs. And we're going to be chatting this time around, about trust, truth … and temptation.   Trust and Honour God Welcome to the programme again this week and yes, we are continuing in a series that I have called, "Wisdom that Works". Now wisdom is an amazing thing – a seductive concept. I mean, who doesn't want to have more wisdom; who doesn't want to be wise? That's ridiculous isn't it? Of course we all want wisdom; of course we all want to be wise, but wisdom ... well, it's a double edged sword. Sure, it's about having the knowledge that comes from experience but theory is aren't enough. Someone who knows that treating other people well and loving them and sacrificing for them; someone who knows that but spends most of their lives not doing it, well, we wouldn't call them wise would we? In order for someone to be wise, they need to know it and do it. That's wisdom! And the sort of wisdom that God shares with us is the sort of wisdom that actually works. So we are spending some time again this week ransacking the Book of Proverbs in the Old Testament, written by King Solomon – one of the wisest men that ever walked the earth. And my encouragement to you is that we take this wisdom from God and actually apply it to our lives. Why? Because it works! Bottom line is that if we will take God's wisdom to heart; if we will take God's Word to heart it will make a real difference in our lives. God will make that difference in our lives through His Spirit and through His Word. And if we don't take it to heart, He won't! Can I say that again? If we don't, He won't! So let's get back into this great Book of wisdom; the Book of Proverbs and see what wisdom Solomon has for us about trusting and honouring God. Proverbs chapter 3, beginning at verse 1. He says: My child, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments; for length of days and years of life and abundant welfare they will give you. Do not let loyalty and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favour and good repute in the sight of God and of people. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be a healing for your flesh and a refreshment for your body. Honour the Lord with your substance and with the first fruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. My child, do not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves the one whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights. So we're chugging along through live, stuff happens and we get impatient and we want to head off our own way and here's Solomon with the wisdom of age telling his sons, "Guys, this is just going to happen. You'll want to drift away from God – you just will – but don't do that. Don't forget what I told you: be loyal, be faithful. I know it won't always make sense to you but listen to me, write these words on your hearts." So, stuff is happening and life is not going the way we planned it and it's not making sense and so we have a wisdom decision point here in that place. We can flap around, we can carry on, we can head off our own way – most people do – or we can say, "Hang on a minute; hang on! Remember what God told me through Solomon?" That was wisdom that works: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own understanding. In all you ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight. You see how we have a decision to make? Either we can believe this stuff and take God at His Word or we treat it like some useless theory lesson. Here's the promise: trust in God – don't try and figure it all out because you can't – just acknowledge God in how we live our lives. And listen, here's the promise; here's the dividend; here's the return on investment: if you do that God will straighten it all out. Listen to me, if we just honour God through the difficult times in what we say and what we think and what we do, God will straighten it all out. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Don't rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths. Now, let me ask you: which bit of that don't we get? Why do we have to make everything so complicated? Are we going to be like those people I was telling you about the other week? Are we going to spend hours and hours and hours studying the Bible for studying's sake, as though it was some intellectual exercise, without ever really believing that it is meant to be true in our lives or are we going to take God at His Word? Are we going to take God's wisdom to heart? See, he goes on to tell us what it means to honour God: Trust the Lord with all your heart, don't rely on your own understanding, acknowledge him in all your ways and he will make straight all your paths. Don't be wise in your own eyes – instead fear God and turn away from evil. It will be a healing to your flesh and refreshment to your body. How often do people pierce themselves with many pains by turning away from God– by going and doing it their own way; by being proud; by being greedy; by being selfish? Honour the Lord with your substance and with the first fruits of all your produce. In other words, put in first with all that you are and all that you have: ... and then your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will be bursting with wine. My child, don't despise God's discipline and get weary of his reproof? He loves you! He reproves the one whom He loves as the father does the son in whom he delights. See, this is such simple wisdom ... it is so simple. We want to go off and do it on our own and flap around and carry on and wander away from God and then we wonder why it is all falling apart. This is about trusting God and honouring Him – and the two go hand in hand. I absolutely love how practical God's truth actually is! And when we just simply put this into practice in the everyday things that happen in life – in the tense relationships, in just forgiving people, in moving on, in honouring God, in blessing other people when they curse us, in the simple things of life – they might be simple but often they are difficult – if we will just put this into action in our lives; when we choose to stop mucking around, flapping around, complaining, doing the "woe is me" bit and just sit down and decide, "God, come hell or high water, I am going to trust in You. I am just going to do the best I know how, I am going to honour You the best I can with what I have and who I am", do you know what happens? God honour that; God springs into action; He starts sorting out the mess. My friend, this is not – let me say this in capital letters – N-O-T ... this is NOT a theory lesson. God's wisdom is imparted into our lives when we take His truth into our hearts and live it out. Don't forget His teaching, let your heart keep His commandments because there is a blessing at the end of that – for length of days and years of live and abundant welfare they will give you. Do not let loyalty and faithfulness forsake you. Bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart so you will find favour and good repute in the sight of God. As you sow so shall you reap. Do it God's way and you reap the blessing – do it your own way and you reap the pain. This is not complex; this is not rocket science.   True Wealth Now the next thing that Solomon talks about in the Book of Proverbs is money and wealth. Now a man that I have come to have a lot of respect for is a guy by the name of David Bussau. For a good many years we have attended the same church as David and his wife Carol. He is the founder of a ministry called Opportunity International; an organisation that now creates a new job in the developing world, something like every twenty second, or something outrageous like that. I heard David one day talking about the "economics of enough". Now he lives in a comfortable home and they constantly have people staying who are visiting for ministry reasons. He drives an ordinary car, dresses in ordinary everyday clothes. And he said he came to the conclusion many years ago that he had more than enough "stuff" – he just didn't need any more. It was the "economics of enough". Remember we are talking this week and the next few weeks about God's wisdom; wisdom that works. And we are doing that by taking a step through some of the powerful wisdom that we discover in the Old Testament Book of Proverbs which was written by King Solomon to capture the wisdom that he was handing down to his sons. And not surprisingly, fairly early on in the piece he talks about money – not so much money but wealth. Have a listen to what he says – Proverbs chapter 3, beginning at verse 13. He says: Happy are those who find wisdom, and those who get understanding, for her income is better than silver, and her revenue better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called happy. Now, there was a time in my life, in fact, for much of my life where I would have scoffed at this suggestion. "Aw, give me a break please. How can wisdom possibly be better than silver or gold and precious jewels? How can wisdom be better than anything that my little heart desires? No, I'll just have the cash thanks – show me the money." And for all that to make sense there are two things we need to know about Solomon. Not only was he blessed with great wisdom – he was one of the wisest men that ever lived – but he was also one of the richest men in all of history. And it all comes to Solomon when he prays to God – have a listen – as a young man. It comes from First Kings chapter 3, verse 5 right through to verse 13, so grab your Bible. First Kings chapter 3, beginning at verse 5: At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask what I should give you.” And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you; and you have kept for him this great and steadfast love, and have given him a son to sit on his throne today. And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David, although I am only a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a great people, so numerous they cannot be numbered or counted.  Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?” It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you. I give you also what you have not asked for, both riches and honour all the days of your life; no other king shall compare with you. Right from the beginning, as a young man, Solomon had preferred wisdom over riches so he asked God for wisdom. What a brilliant thing to ask for! I wonder what you and I would have asked for if God had said to us, “Ask what I should give you?” So, all of his adult life, Solomon had both great wisdom and great riches. And having lived his life with both, out of his experience he was able to say to his sons: wisdom is so much better than anything else that you can imagine. Why? Why did he say that? Because the dividend; the return that this wisdom gave him was huge. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called happy. You know, that's a dividend statement that Solomon makes after a life of wisdom. As much as we try and kid ourselves, we know – we know through experience, we know deep in our hearts – that riches can never deliver that sort of dividend. We chase after money alone and it's a lonely, unhappy life. Believe you me, I've been there, done that, got the T-shirt and I can tell you ABSOLUTELY that wealth simply doesn't deliver that sort of dividend – a dividend of riches and peace and pleasantness and joy and happiness. Wisdom ... wisdom means that we learn God's truth and we put it into action in our lives. Even though sometimes; in fact, most times it involves sacrifice up front, like any other investment. We live out God's truth in our lives – that's what wisdom is – and we reap the rewards – peace, life, joy. Why? Because we know how to avoid the dumb things we used to do that caused us so much pain; because we know how to make good choices that bear good fruit. True wealth is living a life of abundance in Christ. True wealth is having the wisdom to build strong relationships and enjoy serving others and getting over our pride and our stupid tantrums. Wisdom is about ultimately enjoying life – whatever life throws our way. Friend, this is such great advice! But it only becomes true wisdom in our lives when we put it into action and the thing to put into action here is to seek after wisdom above and before riches, because nothing ... NOTHING compares to the dividends paid by wisdom; God's wisdom. The sort of wisdom that works!   Impurity and Infidelity I remember back in college one of our lecturers in a subject about, I guess, the foundational issues of Christian living – said to each one of us who were training for some form of ministry or another - he said: there are three things that can bring you unstuck: girls, gold and glory (or in the case of women, guys, gold and glory.) In other words, people whom God calls to serve Him, often stumble in infidelity or because they start loving wealth too much. We spoke about that last week. Or because they seek the glory and they fall to pride. It's not a bad executive summary, is it? Girls or guys, as the case may be, gold and glory. Well as we roll on to the next piece of wisdom from Solomon in the Book of Proverbs, we are going to chat a bit about the girls, guys thing, or impurity and infidelity, because it's huge. Statistically, almost half of all marriages fall apart – and in fact, of those that remain, only fraction are what you would call happy marriages – the sorts of marriages where people really thrive. The facts about marital infidelity – sexual unfaithfulness to a spouse are astounding. Polls in the U.S. show that, although ninety percent of married people disapprove of extramarital affairs, fifteen percent of wives and twenty five percent of husbands have experienced extramarital sex. Now those numbers increase a further twenty percent when emotional affairs and sexual relationships without intercourse are included - so thirty five percent of women and forty five percent of men have been unfaithful to their spouse. That's frightening, isn't it? Marriage is supposed to be the most wonderful relationship - fulfilling, lifelong soul mates and yet, almost half of all men and over a third of all women have some sort of extramarital affair. That blows me away! But it's nothing new! Almost three thousand years ago Solomon, when instructing his young sons with the wisdom of his years, spends a whole chapter, in fact, a couple of chapters – the 5th chapter and another chapter in the Book of Proverbs, on this very subject. It's one of the first subjects he deals with comprehensively – maybe the stats were pretty much the same back then as they are today. Let's have a listen to what he had to say to his sons about infidelity. Proverbs chapter 5, beginning at verse 1: My child, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding, so that you may hold on to prudence, and your lips may guard knowledge. For the lips of a loose woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her steps follow the path to Sheol. She does not keep straight to the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it. In other words, the grass may well appear greener on the other side, guys, but this seduction that promises so much is going to kill you. Even though the thought of an affair may be oh so seductive, oh so tempting, it leads only to bitterness, pain and destruction. I remember a man I used to work with back in my days in the I.T. industry and he had two affairs outside his marriage – two that I know of anyway. I knew the husband and the wife quite well. He was lured into this trap; he followed his desires and his emotions and it almost destroyed both of them. By God's grace his wife was a godly woman and strong and with great faith and their marriage weathered the storm. But the pain and of course, as much as all may be forgiven, the memory never, ever, ever, goes away. And the crazy thing was, they had everything. And here's the advice that Solomon has for his sons – here's the wisdom that really works – Proverbs 5, beginning at verse 7: And now, my child, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth. Keep your ways far from her, and do not go near the door of her house; or you will give your honour to others, and your years to the merciless, and strangers will take their fill of your wealth, and your labours will go to the house of another; and at the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are consumed, and you say, “Oh, how I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof! I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors. Now I am at the point of utter ruin in the public assembly. The advice - the wisdom that works? Keep away from relationships that can lead to infidelity. “My child, listen to me, keep away from her door.” Don't go there! Don't put yourself in a position of temptation. Don't spend time alone with members of the opposite sex. Don't form close bonds and relationships that could head in the wrong direction. Keep yourself to yourself – just don't go there or it will ruin you and you will spend the rest of your life regretting it. And the alternative? Well, it's pretty obvious – Proverbs chapter 5, verse 15: Drink water from your own cistern; flowing water from your own well. Should your springs be scattered abroad, streams of water in the streets? Let them be for yourself alone, and not for sharing with strangers. Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely deer, a graceful doe. May her breasts satisfy you at all times; may you be intoxicated always by her love. Why should you be intoxicated, my son, by another woman and embrace the bosom of an adulteress? For human ways are under the eyes of the Lord, and he examines all their paths. The iniquities of the wicked ensnare them, and they are caught in the toils of their sin. They die for lack of discipline, and because of their great folly they are lost. My friend, if you have a wife, enjoy her – if you are a woman with a husband, enjoy him. Do not be enticed into an extramarital affair, like almost half of all men and over a third of all women who are married are. Enjoy each other – God has given the wife to the husband and the husband to the wife so that they may truly enjoy each other, emotionally and physically and spiritually and be the best of friends and live their lives together for one another. Find fulfilment husbands, in arms of your wives; wives find fulfilment in the arms of your husbands. Sure, they are not perfect! Let's get a revelation here today – they never will be, ever – but they are the lifelong soul mate that God has given you and that ... that is the right place, the only place in God's eyes, to discover and to experience and to enjoy and to revel in the beauty of intimacy. Remember, forty five percent of men and thirty five percent of women – now you may think this is an odd subject for us to be discussing today but judging from the statistics, Solomon was right to make this one a high priority. My prayer is that you will never; never know the pain and the bitter regret of adultery. Please listen to God's Word today; please heed His warning! This is God's wisdom - it is wisdom that works.

How does financial inclusion transform lives? And what is the role of listening and agility in the success of inclusive financial products and services? Meet Social Impact Pioneer – Atul Tandon. Atul is the visionary CEO of Opportunity International. Opportunity International is a pioneer in developing microfinance products that empower the underprivileged. They are proof of the significant impact of sustainable banking on global poverty alleviation. Atul's journey from his humble beginnings in India to becoming a global leader in microfinance via MBA and CitiBank financier propels him to lean in, use his financial skills and help others. Listen in to learn about Atul's journey and how his conviction to deeply listen to and understand the people he serves allows Opportunity International to pivot and progress their financial products – so that they really do improve lives. We'll discuss the organisation's latest innovations, such as digital tools for farmers and educational initiatives that bypass traditional barriers, offering new paradigms for social improvement. In 2023, under Atul's leadership, Opportunity International and its partners disbursed over $1.85 billion (released in loans), impacting 50 million lives across 31 countries. These funds have catalysed growth for smallholder farms and informal businesses, helping families educate their children and improve their living standards. The organisation's approach combines financial assistance with educational programs, further exemplifying its holistic strategy to combat poverty. During this conversation Atul shares just some of what he has learnt as a leader for social impact – from motivating teams for impact over income to starting with the end in mind and knowing when to leave. This podcast conversation is a trove of useful and actionable insights. Links: • Bloomberg – The AI Revolution Comes for Farmers Growing a Third of Our Food - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-14/ai-is-helping-the-world-s-poorest-farmers-improve-yields • Devex - https://www.devex.com • Opportunity International; Atul Tandon - https://opportunity.org/who-we-are/people/atul-tandon • Opportunity International, Kenya school study: Three-year quasi-experimental study finds children gain as much as half a year equivalent of additional schooling | Opportunity International Edufinance - https://edufinance.org/publications/research-and-learning/endline-findings-kenya/ • Opportunity International | CoLab - https://opportunity.org/colab/ • Our World in Data (Aug 2023); Extreme poverty: How far have we come, and how far do we still have to go? - https://ourworldindata.org/extreme-poverty-in-brief • Our World in Data (2023); Poverty Data Explorer - Our World in Data - https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/poverty-explorer • US News and World Report (Sept 2024); In a World Facing Climate and Equity Crises, Impact Investing Is Gaining Momentum - https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2024-09-10/in-a-world-facing-climate-and-equity-crises-impact-investing-is-gaining-momentum And if you liked this, take a listen to: Gender-Smart Climate Finance with Sana Kapadia - https://businessfightspoverty.org/gender-smart-climate-finance-with-sana-kapadia/

In this episode of Inspired Nonprofit Leadership, host Sarah Olivieri welcomes Brady Josephson, VP of Marketing and Growth at Charity Water, to discuss innovative strategies in nonprofit marketing. Brady shares insights on creating future demand, the importance of monthly giving, and how to prioritize donor retention. Learn about the concept of 'future demand' and how it can help build a long-term, sustainable donor base. Brady also emphasizes the value of always testing and experimenting, creating a culture of curiosity and continuous learning. Tune in for valuable tips on nonprofit growth and donor engagement. HBrady is VP of Marketing & Growth at charity: water — a nonprofit bringing clean and safe water to people around the world — where he leads a team of storytellers, creatives, and marketers responsible for growing, supporting, and celebrating the charity: water community and their impact. Brady joined charity: water from the NextAfter where he led marketing and helped launch the Institute for Online Fundraising which uses experiments, data, and original research to develop evidence-based tools and training to help nonprofits raise more money online. Previously, he had his own agency providing digital services to charities in Canada and the US, worked for Charitable Impact — an online giving platform and Canada's fastest-growing Donor Advised Fund — and led marketing for Opportunity International in Canada — a global nonprofit that creates opportunities for entrepreneurs to help end the cycle of generational poverty. He started his career as the 1st full-time employee for a startup nonprofit, Spark Ventures, doing development and impact investing work in Zambia. A self-described charity nerd, Brady received a Master's degree in Nonprofit Administration from North Park University where he has also been an adjunct professor. Outside of the classroom, Brady has shared his learnings and failings throughout his career as an international speaker, writer, podcaster, and advisor. You can connect with him on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter. He lives just outside Nashville, Tennessee with his wife Liz, son Hendrix, and dog Melly. Here's what to expect during the episode: The Importance of Future Demand in Nonprofit Marketing Strategies for Building Future Demand The Role of Monthly Giving in Sustainable Fundraising Testing and Optimization in Nonprofit Marketing Donor Retention: Challenges and Insights Connect with Brady: >>Website >>LinkedIn >>Twitter >>Email Sponsored Resource Join the PivotGround newsletter for weekly tips and inspiration for leading your nonprofit! Access it here >> Be sure to subscribe to Inspired Nonprofit Leadership so that you don't miss a single episode, and while you're at it, won't you take a moment to write a short review and rate our show? It would be greatly appreciated! Let us know the topics or questions you would like to hear about in a future episode. You can do that and follow us on LinkedIn. Connect with Sarah: On LinkedIn>> On Facebook>> Subscribe on YouTube>>

Winning Through Platforms: How to Succeed When Every Competitor Has One (American Marketing Association) by Ted Moser, Charlotte Bloom, Omar Akhtar https://amzn.to/4atbvZh Winning through Platforms is your new go-to guide for modern competitive advantage. Digital platforms are no longer for just the tech elite. They're spreading to every company and industry, powered by the growth of customer sensors, streaming data, and artificial intelligence―lighting the valuable customer Use journey that was formerly dark. How will you succeed when your markets get platform-crowded? Three senior advisers to the world's leading technology companies reveal how to win through platforms when every competitor has one. Winning through Platforms decodes growth moves from a decade of platform competition, communicates them through a platform playbook. It's a treasure trove of 24 proven platform strategies―such as customer coalition design, in-use enrichment, AI branding, and much more. These playbook strategies are delivered through engaging stories of over 50 companies, plus proprietary frameworks and workshop-style questions that lead you to act. This game-changing playbook will teach you how to: Revitalize your business through strategic use of platforms Design platforms that are compelling to customers and hard for competitors to match Accelerate in-market growth through brand-and-demand excellence that spans your customer's entire platform journey Innovate in high-impact benefit areas to differentiate your platform Elevate your customer's personal platform experience Transform your enterprise and operations to drive superior performance Every CEO, innovator, go-to-market leader, and aspiring professional will gain valuable insight through this book. Whether your company is just starting on its first platform journey or is a born platform disruptor, this book will transform your ability to win. Learn the platform playbook. Find and apply your plays. This book forms part of the American Marketing Association (AMA) leadership series. About the author Ted Moser is a Senior Partner at Prophet, a growth and transformation consultancy. He helps leading technology-based companies to anticipate customer and market evolution, craft distinctive value growth strategies, and realizetheir ambitions. He holds an MBA with highest honors in marketing and strategy from the Wharton Business School, following a BS in Political Science from Wheaton College. Based in San Francisco, he has lived and worked extensively in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. His published thought leadership focuses on pattern recognition that helps companies thrive in the face of change. He previously co-authored Profit Patterns to identify how profit pools would shiftwith Internet business model innovation. In recent years, his extensive consulting work with global platform leaders and with companies transforming to platforms inspired him to write Winning Through Platforms. Ted supports global microfinance development as a lifelong avocation. He has helped to scale the Opportunity International microfinance network, which has served over 250 million of the world's poor and is developing innovative platforms to better serve poor farmers, schools, and microentrepreneurs. He served on program boards of CGAP, the World Bank-affiliated multilateral research group, to help extend the boundaries of global digital financial inclusion.

Tim Strong is the head of agriculture finance for Opportunity International, a global nonprofit organization that uses financial services, training, and support to address some of the most pressing challenges facing those living in poverty around the world.  He joined host Andrew Kaufmann and the Bush Institute's Natalie Gonnella-Platts to discuss Opportunity International's mission and the incredible impact they are making in sub-Saharan Africa.Hear more from Tim on this episode of The Strategerist, presented by the George W. Bush Presidential Center.Related content: Opportunity International

Running water. Sanitation systems. Electricity. A car to drive to the store. Enough food to feed your family. These are all things that we've likely taken for granted at one time or another — and they're things that so many in the world live without every day. As part of our Holiday Giving Back Episode series, we talk with the VP of a charitable organization whose mission is to eliminate that level of extreme poverty worldwide.    Mark Lutz is the Senior Vice President of Global Philanthropy at Opportunity International. He joined the organization in 1986 and grew private annual revenue from $1 million to more than $40 million. Mark grew up in South Africa with his missionary parents. Living for 20 years under apartheid shaped him to become an advocate for justice. He's also the author of “UnPoverty: Rich Lessons from the Working Poor.”   Tune into the full conversation for more on Opportunity International's unique method of making a difference in impoverished people's lives, personal stories from Mark's book that display the valuable lessons he's learned from those living in poverty, success stories from the entrepreneurs Mark's organization has worked with, and a lot more.   Here's a Glimpse of What You'll Learn:    How growing up in apartheid South Africa was the “germ” that later became Mark's career in the nonprofit world  More about the lightbulb moment Mark had in which he realized he could leverage other people's money to fight for justice and an end to poverty The definition of a “micro-loan”, how Opportunity International recipients typically use that kind of loan, and how those small loans snowball into bigger chances at breaking out of poverty Mark shares a story from his book involving a group of women from India and the valuable lessons that they taught him How much Opportunity International money has been loaned out to people in need — and how many individuals have been helped by those What one woman in the Philippines did with a $50 loan and what Mark learned from that story More info about what happens with donations to Opportunity International and how bank partnerships help 10x the impact of those donations Why today's level of poverty can be the next “Berlin Wall” The power of a simple $30 donation The important distinction between giving money and giving a loan, and why that's related to increasing people's dignity   Resources Mentioned in This Episode:  Opportunity International website UnPoverty.org (Mark's website) “UnPoverty: Rich Lessons from the Working Poor” by Mark Lutz Buy a copy of “Lost at CEO: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Strategy” by Carl J. Cox  40 Strategy Contact 40 Strategy Carl J. Cox on LinkedIn  

Rebecca Whitney is the Spine Global President for ZimVie. The episode explores Rebecca's journey into MedTech, her leadership philosophy centered around trust and mutual respect, and the profound impact of innovative spinal solutions, such as the Tether device for pediatric scoliosis. Rebecca also shares personal insights, including her love for travel and the daily ritual of morning lattes with her husband, emphasizing the importance of finding joy in everyday moments. Guest links: https://www.zimvie.com/en  Charity supported: Opportunity International  Interested in being a guest on the show or have feedback to share? Email us at podcast@velentium.com.  PRODUCTION CREDITS Host: Lindsey Dinneen Editor: Tim Oliphant Producer: Velentium   EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Episode 018 - Rebecca Whitney Lindsey Dinneen: Hi, I'm Lindsey with Velentium and I'm talking with MedTech industry leaders on how they change lives for a better world. Diane Bouis: The inventions and technologies are fascinating and so are the people who work with them. Frank Jaskulke: There was a period of time where I realized, fundamentally, my job was to go hang out with really smart people that are saving lives and then do work that would help them save more lives. Diane Bouis: I got into the business to save lives and it is incredibly motivating to work with people who are in that same business, saving or improving lives. Duane Mancini: What better industry than where I get to wake up every day and just save people's lives. Lindsey Dinneen: These are extraordinary people doing extraordinary work, and this is The Leading Difference. Hello and welcome to the Leading Difference podcast. I'm your host Lindsey, and I am excited to introduce you to my guest today, Rebecca Whitney. Rebecca is a tenacious and passionate business leader with over 20 years of experience leading both large and small organizations in the MedTech space. As ZimVie Spine Global President, Rebecca leads a team that designs, develops, and commercializes spinal implants to treat patients with spine related disabilities. ZimVie is the market leader in motion preserving solutions for the spine, and Rebecca and her team are passionate about expanding patient access to these innovative technologies. Hello. Welcome to the show, Rebecca. I'm so glad to have you here. Rebecca Whitney: Thank you, Lindsey. I'm really looking forward to this. Lindsey Dinneen: Absolutely. I would love, if you don't mind starting off by telling us just a little bit about yourself and your background and how you got into MedTech. Rebecca Whitney: Sure. So I grew up in a suburb of Salt Lake City, Utah. I'm the oldest of three children and have always been kind of inherently pretty driven. And so what happened is, just because of my age and a bunch of AP credits, I was done with college at the University of Utah at age 20 and realized that was too young for me to jump into the workforce. And so I went straight into grad school to get an MBA. And while I was there, I took a summer internship with BD Medical that turned into a full year opportunity and it was really great. I learned a ton about product management, the medical device industry, and when I was in the final spring of my MBA, they actually offered me a full-time position. And so, I jumped right into it and didn't realize at the time just how fortunate I was to launch this career into medtech. But I've always felt very fortunate to have found a career in an industry that I enjoy so much. It's been love at first sight, and I've never left the medtech space since. So, professionally it's been just a great run. And then personally, I live in Boulder, Colorado with my husband James, and we definitely embrace a work hard, play hard approach. We love the outdoors, we love adventure travel, and are always looking to find ways to optimize our life to the fullest. So, we actually met a guy on a backpacking, hiking trip about three or four years ago in Escalante National Park. And this has always stuck with me because he said to us "Every day, do something that makes you feel more alive." And that resonated with me because we've always tried to live our life that way. And so, it's been really great. So my job is a huge part of who I am. But also I like to have as much fun as possible, as many adventures as possible when I'm not working. Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Oh, I love that. Yeah. Feel more alive. That's such a great way of capturing it. I've heard variations on that. One of my favorites is " do something every day that inspires your soul." I love that too, of the feel alive, because there are some days too where you might not be feeling super inspired by whatever your circumstances happened to be at the time, but the "feeling more alive" seems very attainable because you could just go out into nature if that's something you very much enjoy, or maybe you put on some of your favorite music and you just let that absorb. Okay, I'm getting carried away. But I love that. Rebecca Whitney: No, I agree. And to your point, it can be five minutes, it can be, you know, a huge adventure. But I think just that mentality, and it stuck with me, I think about it every day. So anyway, it's just a nice reminder that life is short and take advantage while we can. Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. So looking back at growing up-- and obviously I love the fact that you dove kind of straight into the medtech world and that sounds like a happy coincidence, so to speak. But looking back, would you have ever anticipated that's a field you might end up in, or was it kind of a surprise? Rebecca Whitney: No, it was totally a surprise, a very happy, lucky one. I have always said my life and my career has followed a series of happy accidents, if you will. And so this was one of those where I was getting my MBA, I actually thought I was going to go into finance and I had interned at Merrill Lynch and so had full intentions of going down the finance path. And when I took this internship in marketing, I realized that, okay, there are a couple things about this that are really clicking for me. One, marketing brought that data and analytical elements together with the commercial and strategic elements that I love. And so I kind of found a sweet spot in product marketing at a very early age. And in the medtech space, I remember the boss that hired me, he said medical devices are recession proof. And while that's not always the case-- especially when it comes to elective surgeries in times of COVID-- for the most part, that's been true. And so, I kind of fell into the industry, but feel so very fortunate that I hopefully am helping to impact patient lives at the other end of all this. So, I never looked back and never, ever even thought about making a switch. Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Yeah. So what exactly does your role entail these days? How are you combining some of those interests and your passion for this particular industry? Rebecca Whitney: So what I'm doing now is I lead our global spine organization and we make and manufacture, produce spinal implants. And so we help people with back pain or related pain to any type of back or spinal cord injury. And I love the global responsibility. I can get into that a little later. But international travel has always been a passion of mine, and so being able to work internationally is just fantastic because I think it brings just a whole different perspective to healthcare and patient needs and some of those variable aspects as you work throughout the globe. And I also love leading teams, and so having this cross-functional responsibility to, to set the strategy and then mobilize the various functions and team members to get behind the strategy and execute is just really great. I've been in all different parts of medtech throughout my career. I will say that working in the spine space has been one of the most rewarding, just because you are able to see firsthand that the impact that these products are having on patients' lives and whether it's alleviating pain or getting their lifestyle back. It's just very rewarding when we hear from patients who benefits from the products and the solutions that we've been able to bring to market. Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, I can only imagine. Are there any particular moments that stand out to you as clearly confirming that this was the right choice of industry for you? I know you're so passionate about the space and the spinal aspect in general. So I'm curious what kind of moments have you had where you thought, oh my word, I know why I'm here. Rebecca Whitney: Yeah, it's a great question and I will tell you that in this particular job, in this industry, there is a product that, that we have brought to market that is unique and it treats pediatric scoliosis. So these kids that are coming in and are needing basically to be addressed because they've got a curve in their back, the traditional standard of care is to put a bunch of rods and screws up and down their back and then fuse their spine into alignment. And while that clinically solves the problem in most instances, we have developed, an innovative way to, to basically provide the same procedure for these patients that are properly indicated. But we do it without fusing their back. And so we have this product called The Tether that we brought to market in 2019. And leading up to 2019, we partnered with thought leading surgeons, the FDA, parent advocates, and a whole slew of others to advocate to bring this technology to market. And when we hear from these kids who have had the surgery and they're back to gymnastics and cheerleading and horseback riding, skiing, snowboarding, when we hear from these kids and their parents, it is such a wonderful endorsement. And, I can't take the credit for the innovation. Those are our very talented engineers and researchers. But to know I've had a small hand and our company has had a hand in helping change the trajectory of these kids' lives, it is truly inspiring. And we bring in patients all the time to speak to our internal team members. And it just really kind of puts the context behind all the hard work, whether it's the engineers or the shipping and operations teams who are making sure the product gets to the right spot, the salespeople who are out selling it. It's just really impactful. So I would say that's probably the clearest example of every time I hear from a patient, it is just another reinforcement that I made the right choice and that there's something really special about this medical device industry when you can see how it helps patients. Lindsey Dinneen: Oh my goodness. Yes. As an adult, I'm sure that kind of an operation or procedure would be just as impactful. But I got a little choked up thinking about a child who has this condition that maybe is inhibiting their dreams of becoming a gymnast or even just as a hobby, but something that they love. And then to have that hope restored again, that's that's, immeasurable. That impact is immeasurable. Rebecca Whitney: You know, it, it really is, and I say this all the time, this is a true passion project for so many of us. And internally we have a team saying, and kind of a mantra, if you will. It's "having the courage to do things that haven't been done before." And we all kind of got behind this starting several years ago to say this is the right thing to do and we're gonna keep advocating to, to get this technology to market because no one's done it before. We were the very first. And to be able to actually see this materialize in the lives of these kids-- yeah, to your point, it's just, it's very inspiring for all of us that have worked on it and we're not gonna stop. We really are very passionate about continuing to develop this space. Lindsey Dinneen: That is wonderful. Well, I know that you are also really passionate about leadership and leading teams. I know that's an aspect of your job that is enjoyable to you. And I wonder if you wouldn't mind sharing a little bit about how you got into that leadership role and a little bit about your philosophy towards leading and managing teams. Rebecca Whitney: Yeah, so I'll start with my philosophy. I think everyone has a slightly different take on what does leadership mean to them, and to me, first of all, I've always felt very humbled and honored to be in a leadership role and I take that responsibility very seriously. As I've worked throughout my career and observed leaders, I have found that the most effective and the most admirable leaders are those that take a true interest in the individual. Because at the end of the day, we're all people, and I personally believe that the basic principles of healthy and strong relationships are the same, whether it's a sibling, a spouse, a friend, a colleague, a boss, or an employee. And so I think that you've got to start with two basic principles. For me, trust and mutual respect. And it's very important to me that I build and establish and maintain trust with the teams I lead, as well as my colleagues and my leaders. And so that's kind of number one. Those are table stakes for me. I think too, I have learned over the years that leadership does not necessarily mean being liked all the time. And early on when I was starting out, that was difficult for me to learn. And it was hard. And I remember it was about six months into my career and at Becton Dickinson, BD Medical, we'd just gone through a pretty major layoff and I was eating lunch in the cafeteria and the division president came and joined my colleague and me, which was intimidating 'cause I was fresh into the role. And he was just making conversation with us and asked how we were feeling about these layoffs that had just happened. And I said to him, "Yeah, I dunno how you do it. I can't imagine having to lay off all these people." And I'll never forget this. He looked at me and he said, "You know, you really can't call yourself a leader until you've hired and fired. You have to be able to make the tough decisions." and as a young 22 year old product manager, I remember sitting there thinking, "Wow. I can't imagine what that must feel like." But he wasn't wrong. And I think what I've learned over the years is, if you can operate with those principles of mutual trust and mutual respect, it builds up that bank account with these individual relationships that you have as a leader. And so when you have to make the tough calls and you have to make the unpopular decisions, hopefully, if you can at least help people understand the "why" behind some of these decisions. I've seen people do this really well and I've seen people do it very poorly. And I am by no means perfect at it, but I'm constantly striving to be as transparent as possible. So that people at least understand the "why." And then finally I would say, leadership is so much about creating the right environment for healthy teamwork. And so for me, I always love it when I start to see my various leaders on a team click and start to build those connection points without me in the middle of it. Because to me, that is an indicator that this team is starting to really work together in a high performing, high trust fashion. And that is the secret sauce behind every team I've ever led is creating that environment, getting the right chemistry between the various team members in the group, and then watching those connection points really take hold. To me that's where the magic happens, and I think that's what makes it all worth it. Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Yeah. So you've obviously had a really lovely career so far, and I'm sure will just continue. But you know, one interesting element is it sounds like you had opportunities to lead fairly young into your career, and I'm wondering how you approached perhaps teams that had a diversity in terms of ages. And was that ever intimidating to you if maybe you were coming in as a younger leader than some of your followers? Was that ever a challenge or how did you handle that? Rebecca Whitney: You know, it was, and that absolutely happened. I was probably 26 years old when I started managing people that were older than I was. And the whole team was, it wasn't just one or two. And initially I was extremely intimidated because I felt I had that imposter syndrome, you know, what right do I have? And it did take me a little bit to, to feel comfortable. I think for me, I just told myself, "Look, somebody had confidence in me and somebody put me in this role for a reason. I have to trust myself and I'm going to prove to my team through my actions and earn their trust and show that they're in good hands with me." And luckily I had a team that was very receptive, and I think when they saw how I approached it and what I brought to the table, they were very supportive. But yeah, initially I had to get over my own internal talk track that said, "You know, this doesn't make any sense. Why in the role would somebody take direction from me when I'm 10, 20, 30 years younger than they are?" But it was a great learning opportunity and frankly, it continued for, not so much now 'cause I'm a little further on in my career, but that was the case for at least the first decade of my leadership opportunities and so it was important for me to learn that early on. Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, absolutely. As a woman leader in a field that isn't predominantly women led usually, what are some of the pros and cons you've seen? What are some of the exciting elements about that? And then what are some of the opportunities for growth as the industry continues to evolve and change over time? Rebecca Whitney: That is a great question, especially in the orthopedic spine world. It's extremely male dominated, at least historically it has been. And just like managing team members that were older than I was, I had to learn very early on that, especially when I started out, I was likely going to be one of, if not the only females in the room. And I had a boss fairly early on that, that gave me some great advice because, by default, I remember-- first of all, I have horrible handwriting. I'm probably the worst scribe you could ever pick out of a group. I've just never, ever had good penmanship and I was constantly being asked to take notes on flip charts. And I was doing it, and my male boss pulled me aside and he said, "You know, we teach people how to treat us." And he said, "I know that you're just being collaborative and helpful, but you've been taking notes for the last six times we've been in a group." He said, "The next time you're asked to take notes, say no." And that seems like a little thing, but I did, and not because I was refusing to take notes, but I just was making sure I was a little more balanced of an approach. That's a silly example. But I think that for me, I had to learn early on that there was nothing wrong with me being one of, or the only woman in a room, just like there was nothing wrong with me being on the younger side of people in the room. And again, there's that imposter syndrome. But I think having confidence in my abilities and recognizing that the more I could be comfortable in my own skin, that was what would enable me to bring probably a different and unique perspective. I was told in my twenties that I should dress in subtle tones and black and gray and navy blue suits. This was from kinda a leadership coach, and I remember thinking about that, and I thought, "I don't want to wear black and gray and navy blue suits." And so I've always tried to keep my own brand and my own authenticity while at the same time recognizing that it is difficult to kind of be the one outlier of a group. I will say that as time has gone on, I'm very pleased that the workforce is starting to better reflect our society. And I think that, that gender diversity certainly is expanding, which is nice. But my advice for anybody out there, regardless of gender or ethnicity or even just diversity of thought, is recognize that we are put into these roles because of what people see in us, our abilities and our potential. And if we stifle that in any way, shape, or form, the company and our teams and our customers are not getting what we have to offer. And I think the more comfortable I got with that, the more effective I've been able to be. Lindsey Dinneen: Oh my goodness. That is excellent advice. Really, thank you for sharing that, that really hit home. I appreciate that perspective that you've had. You've had such an opportunity to really grow in your role and I just love seeing that progression. So yeah, thank you for that advice. That was really good. I'm curious, how do you, these days, continue prioritizing your own learning and growth as a leader? Are there still things that you keep doing in order to sharpen those skills? What does it look like now for you? Rebecca Whitney: Yeah, so I'll start with something that probably is an obvious answer that most people give you. But podcasts are amazing and I'm probably a little late to the party on this because I didn't start listening to podcasts until Covid. But I have found that is a fantastic way-- I mentioned-- I live in Colorado. I will spend Saturdays and Sundays out on very long walks, either around Boulder where I live, or even up in the mountains. And I will just binge listen to podcasts on all different types of topics: leadership, business, life skills, you name it. And they're not all work oriented, but I have found that to be a really good way to just get a sampling of advice, opinion, and learnings from a wide variety of people. So that's one. And I think for me, being able to do that on the weekend, disconnect a little bit and really dig into these podcasts that I compile and save up. It, it's just it's a major reset for me in a very good way. I'm sure I drive my team crazy 'cause I'm constantly sending them these podcasts over the weekend as I listen to them as well as my family. But that's been really great for me. I would say the second major thing is, I love to travel. My husband and I look to enhance our lives any way we can, and I have found that one way that helps me learn is looking for those connection points between my personal life and my professional life. And what I mean by that is I try to be very authentic and consistent. So whether I'm in the workplace or at home with my family or on my own, the more consistent I can be is a healthier place for me, because you're not having to put on one persona versus the next. And so the more I can find those connection points, meaning if I learn something in my personal life, I can apply it into my professional life. And to me, that's where I get a lot of my continuous growth and development. So if it's tackling a big aggressive hike I haven't done before, I find myself, while I'm training for that and doing the hike, I find myself thinking about ways I can push the team at work or push myself. So strangely, as I've continued to grow in these roles and in my personal life, that balance between work and life has blurred, but I think that's been to my benefit, both personally and professionally. So I'm always looking for opportunities to enrich my personal life, because I do think that transfers back into the workforce as well. Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. So what are you looking forward to next in terms of maybe both personally, professionally, and as your company continues to innovate and develop new things, what are you excited about these days? Rebecca Whitney: So our company, ZimVie, is relatively new. We were spun out from Zimmer Biomed, our former parent company, not even 18 months ago, and it's been really fun to help shape this new identity and this new culture. And talking about this tethering device I mentioned earlier, we have another device that allows us to treat cervical neck issues with a disc replacement which, long story short, means we're able to preserve motion for these adults who are looking to have their pain addressed. And so, what we're trying to do, and we do have a mission: we've got a number of patients that we're trying to treat in 2023 for both this cervical disc replacement device, which we call Mobi-C, as well as this tethering device for pediatric scoliosis patients. And so, what's next for us is continuing to develop these markets and make sure that we bring these amazing solutions to every patient who is indicated to receive it. And so, that's gonna keep us busy for quite some time. I'm sure we have work to do beyond that, but we're just also passionate about it. That's definitely what's next for us, at least professionally, is continuing to carry that forward. And then personally, it's always about the next adventure to, to push ourselves. So, we're actually headed to the Grand Canyon in December, my husband and I are, with my sister and brother and their spouses, and we're going to do a multi-day hike backpacking trip. So really looking forward to that and just looking forward to being outdoors with my favorite people, doing something that challenges us physically and spending a lot of good quality time together as well. Lindsey Dinneen: Oh, that sounds so exciting. Both the company's trajectory and then your upcoming adventure, that all sounds really fun. So I'm sure that will be a lot to look forward to. Rebecca Whitney: It's busy, but that's the way we like it. Lindsey Dinneen: Absolutely. Oh, I would always rather be busy than bored. Well, pivoting just for fun, imagine someone were to offer you a million dollars to teach a masterclass on anything you want. It doesn't have to be in your industry, but it could be. What would you choose to teach and why? Rebecca Whitney: So, I will say that my dream job, if I weren't doing my current dream job has always been to be a travel writer. I would love to travel the world and then write about my experiences. And so if I could do that and then teach a masterclass on it, to me that would just be the most amazing opportunity. I am driven by two things. One is influence or language and ideas. I love to communicate and I love to inspire others by speaking and sharing, whether that's talking or writing. And so to me, to share that know-how and knowledge and passion about travel-- and not just the regular beaten path, but having these adventures that are off the beaten path and the food and the culture and the people and the adventures-- I would love to, to master that and then teach people how to go tackle that so that others can share in that passion and see what the world has to offer. So, that to me just sounds like a dream come true. I would love to do that. Lindsey Dinneen: Yes. Yes. That sounds like an amazing masterclass and yes another dream job for sure. I'm just curious because I completely agree with you that in traveling internationally is such such a gift and it is so important if you can do it in terms of broadening your horizons. But I'm curious, what do you think are the main one or two things that, that you find are the most important elements of traveling abroad? Rebecca Whitney: So I would say the first thing is don't be afraid to say yes. My oldest nephew just graduated from high school and in my letter that I wrote him, as part of his graduation gift, I said, " Bias yourself towards saying yes when you're out on these trips and these adventures." And I think that when you're on an international trip, it can be really easy to just stay in your comfort zone. I'll give you an example. My brother and I were traveling in Africa several years ago and we had a driver pick us up when we landed in, where were we? It was off the coast of Tanzania. And it just happened to be the last day of Ramadan and he invited us back to his home-- we never met this man before-- to break fast after 30 days of Ramadan. And I think if we had been less open to trying new experiences, we both would've said "no way." But we said yes, and we had the most incredible experience that enriched our whole time. It was Zanzibar, that's where we were, and it was just one of the most incredible travel days of our lives. And so I think the first thing is being open to the experiences and biasing yourself towards saying yes, whether it's a dish or a food that looks terrifying to, to try. Or seeking something out that enriches the experience. I think that's one. And then two is staying flexible because travel these days, especially international, it's going to be fraught with setbacks, whether it's a train strike or a ferry schedule. So just being very flexible to kind of roll with it. Because I've seen, myself included, too many instances where some of those glitches can unfortunately ruin the experience. And so, being open to the new experiences and saying yes-- and then staying flexible to just roll with it, and take the trip as it comes, and let it go down whatever path presents itself-- I think are two really important ingredients for maximizing a global travel experience. Lindsey Dinneen: Could not agree more. Yes. Okay. What is one thing you wish to be remembered for after you leave this world? Rebecca Whitney: So this is probably a very cliche answer, but it's really true. I, I've thought about this and I do want to be remembered for the way I make people feel. And I say that because speaking about the job first, I feel like people have a choice. And any job that we take has the day-to-day tasks and requirements. But when I look back on my career, by far the most rewarding and the most challenging elements have involved people. And so I think whether it's a tough situation or a very successful celebratory situation, I want to be remembered for how I made people feel, and hopefully that's a positive thing. And that translates outside of work too: my nephews, for example, and my nieces. I want to be remembered for enriching their lives and giving them new experiences, but I also want them to know that I was there for them and the people that matter most to me. I think it's just very important. It's that old cliche saying, "people won't remember what you said, but they will remember how you made them feel." So, to me, if I'm doing my job right, inside and outside of work, hopefully people's impression after I'm gone is net positive in terms of how I made them feel. Lindsey Dinneen: Yes. And that ties right into your discussion earlier about leadership and having that bank, right? And putting in those credits and and so when things do get a little difficult sometimes you have had a net positive in the end. Rebecca Whitney: Yes. Yeah, that's right. Yes, exactly. Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. And then final question, what is one thing that makes you smile every time you see or think about it? Rebecca Whitney: So I am a big believer that yes, we all have these milestone events and these big trips and things that come up, but I really look for the little things that bring joy on a daily basis. And when I took this role about two and a half years ago, my husband and I said, "Okay, we, we've got to find a way to stay connected because my days get busy." Even evenings are not that predictable. And so we've started getting up very early, which isn't as awful as I thought it would be. So we're typically up by about 4:30 in the morning. And one of the reasons we do this is because we have this daily ritual now where my husband makes the lattes, he's much better than I am. And we just sit together for about 30 minutes every morning. And if I'm on the road, we do it through FaceTime and it's just this dedicated little moment of time before the day gets crazy and busy where we connect, we have our coffee, we watch the sunrise and we talk. And I look forward to it when I open my eyes in the morning and throughout a busy, stressful day or trip, knowing that we have that daily touchpoint to kind of anchor with both always puts a smile on my face and it just starts the day off on the perfect tone. And I look forward to it all the time and it definitely makes me smile. Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Oh my goodness. That sounds like such a lovely time set aside to prioritize your relationship and get that special connection time. And of course a good latte never hurts. Rebecca Whitney: That's right. Lindsey Dinneen: That's amazing. Well, Rebecca, thank you so very much for joining us today. I really appreciate your perspective and your advice, especially for those who might be younger in leadership roles, maybe women who are coming into the medtech world, so thank you for that. And we are honored to be making a donation on your behalf as a thank you for your time today to Opportunity International, which designs, delivers and scales innovative financial solutions that helps families living in extreme poverty, build sustainable livelihoods, and access quality education for their children. So thank you for choosing that as the organization, and we just wish you the most continued success as you work to change lives for a better world. Rebecca Whitney: Thank you so much, Lindsey. I so appreciate the opportunity. Lindsey Dinneen: Yes, my absolute pleasure, and thank you also to our listeners for tuning in. And if you're feeling as inspired as I am right now, I'd love it if you'd share this episode with a friend or two and we will catch you next time.  The Leading Difference podcast is brought to you by Velentium. Velentium is a contract design and manufacturing firm specializing in the development, production and post-market support of diagnostic and therapeutic active medical devices, including implantables and wearables for neuromodulation and other class three indications. Velentium's core competencies include electrical design, mechanical design, embedded software, mobile apps, contract manufacturing, embedded cybersecurity, OT cybersecurity, systems engineering, human factors and usability, and automated test systems. Velentium works with clients worldwide from startups seeking seed funding to established Fortune 100 companies. Visit velentium.com to explore your next step in medical device development.

Dale is an award-winning writer, editor, business owner, and foundation president who has served on the boards of several international development organizations, including World Vision, Opportunity International, International Justice Mission, and MAP International.She recently published, Strong Girls, Strong WorldA Practical Guide to Helping Them Soar—and Creating a Better Future for Us AllIn a world interconnected by our shared humanity, our collective responsibility extends to every girl living in circumstances that hinder her growth and flourishing. When we invest in a girl's life, we ignite a ripple effect of global change. It's easy to view the world through the lens of our own experiences and overlook the immense injustices and suffering girls endure globally. The harsh reality is that many face barriers such as lack of education, limited access to clean water, disease, and malnutrition, all of which severely impact their lives and future.But here's the empowering truth: these daunting statistics are not set in stone; they can be transformed for the better. Within the pages of Dale's new book, "Strong Girls, Strong World," you'll discover a treasure trove of inspiring stories filled with hope and healing. These stories will not only captivate your heart but also equip you with practical strategies to be an integral part of the solution, to create an environment where girls can thrive.This isn't about feeling stuck or overwhelmed, resigned to doing nothing. Instead, by the time you close this book, you'll be inspired and equipped with a toolbox of actionable ways to make a genuine difference. It's a call to action that transcends borders and cultures, a global community that sees, cares, and takes action. So, join us on this transformative journey, because when we uplift one girl, we uplift the entire world. It's time to be part of the change we wish to see.

Dale is an award-winning writer, editor, business owner, and foundation president who has served on the boards of several international development organizations, including World Vision, Opportunity International, International Justice Mission, and MAP International. She recently published, Strong Girls, Strong WorldA Practical Guide to Helping Them Soar—and Creating a Better Future for Us All In a world interconnected by our shared humanity, our collective responsibility extends to every girl living in circumstances that hinder her growth and flourishing. When we invest in a girl's life, we ignite a ripple effect of global change. It's easy to view the world through the lens of our own experiences and overlook the immense injustices and suffering girls endure globally. The harsh reality is that many face barriers such as lack of education, limited access to clean water, disease, and malnutrition, all of which severely impact their lives and future. But here's the empowering truth: these daunting statistics are not set in stone; they can be transformed for the better. Within the pages of Dale's new book, "Strong Girls, Strong World," you'll discover a treasure trove of inspiring stories filled with hope and healing. These stories will not only captivate your heart but also equip you with practical strategies to be an integral part of the solution, to create an environment where girls can thrive. This isn't about feeling stuck or overwhelmed, resigned to doing nothing. Instead, by the time you close this book, you'll be inspired and equipped with a toolbox of actionable ways to make a genuine difference. It's a call to action that transcends borders and cultures, a global community that sees, cares, and takes action. So, join us on this transformative journey, because when we uplift one girl, we uplift the entire world. It's time to be part of the change we wish to see.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alex Condon is the COO and co-founder of Galen Data. In this episode, he discusses how his background working with small businesses prepared him to grow and scale Galen Data, why he occasionally looks outside of the medtech industry to gain inspiration and insight, and how showing up and being a good person will write your legacy for you. Guest links: http://www.galendata.com Charity supported: Opportunity International  Interested in being a guest on the show or have feedback to share? Email us at podcast@velentium.com.  PRODUCTION CREDITS Host: Lindsey Dinneen Editor: Tim Oliphant Producer: Velentium   SHOW TRANSCRIPT Episode 014 - Alex Condon Lindsey Dinneen: Hi, I'm Lindsey with Velentium and I'm talking with MedTech industry leaders on how they change lives for a better world. Diane Bouis: The inventions and technologies are fascinating and so are the people who work with them. Frank Jaskulke: There was a period of time where I realized, fundamentally, my job was to go hang out with really smart people that are saving lives and then do work that would help them save more lives. Diane Bouis: I got into the business to save lives and it is incredibly motivating to work with people who are in that same business, saving or improving lives. Duane Mancini: What better industry than where I get to wake up every day and just save people's lives. Lindsey Dinneen: These are extraordinary people doing extraordinary work, and this is The Leading Difference. Hello and welcome to The Leading Difference podcast. I'm your host Lindsey, and I'm excited to introduce you to my guest today, Alex Condon. Alex is the COO and co-founder of Galen Data, a medical device cloud data platform. Prior to starting Galen, Alex was the Chief Strategy Officer at Tietronix Software, a longtime NASA contractor. Alex is originally from Scottsdale, Arizona, having attended Arizona State University, but now calls Houston home. Thank you so much for being here today, Alex. I am so excited that you're here and talking with me and welcome! Alex Condon: No, thank you for the opportunity, Lindsey. Sincerely appreciate it. Lindsey Dinneen: Absolutely. Well, if you don't mind starting off by just telling us a little bit about yourself and your background and maybe how you got into the medtech industry, I'd love to start there. Alex Condon: Sure. So I'm originally from Scottsdale, Arizona. That's where I grew up. I went to school at the WP Carey School of Business at Arizona State University for finance. So something way outside of MedTech. When I was 19, I got hired at a private investment management firm that was there in Phoenix and worked there until I was about 27. And then parted ways and took a job at NASA, Johnson Space Center, working for a NASA contractor, Tietronix software. They've been around for a long time. I usually focused on advanced technology across a wide spectrum of use cases. Things from system modeling and system engineering, all the way to augmented reality and blockchain applications and things like this. And one of the things that a lot of NASA related kind of space flight software companies do down in Houston where offices is, is they moonlight doing medical device software because the compliance rigor of NASA space flight software is very close to class three medical device. So, the NASA contractor was splitting maybe 50% NASA related work and 50% custom medical software. And from that we saw a pattern merge of companies that needed cloud connectivity as part of their medical device offering. And typically if you're going to engage in that kind of work, it tends to be very costly and take a lot of time to develop. But the requirements from project to project are very similar. Everyone needs a way of seeing their device data, showing it to stakeholders, whether that be patients or clinicians or maybe someone else in the value chain. They needed a way to run algorithms, create notifications against the data. And from there we saw the opportunity to create a product and that's where Galen Data got started. So, went from finance to working with a NASA contractor and now in MedTech. Lindsey Dinneen: Wow. Oh my goodness. Yeah. So you have had quite the exciting background. When you first started, could you have imagined that you would be now a COO of a company that you helped get off the ground from the very beginning? I mean, was that ever an idea of yours or was this just a complete surprise? Alex Condon: I've always worked for small companies. When I worked for the investment management firm, I was the first employee, it was a team of three. And then when I left, I wanna say we were somewhere north of about 30. I think that number sounds right. When I started working for the NASA contractor, they'd always been small by design, liking to take on projects that they could really dedicate a lot of time and focus to. And it was about, I wanna say 75 people. And when I entered, I was in a Director of Strategic Initiatives role, and then moved up into Director of Strategy role. So, always worked for small companies. When the opportunity to create Galen rolled around, it felt very comfortable. So, no real surprises. But the journey itself was the surprise. Lindsey Dinneen: Right. Getting from point A to point B was the surprise. Very nice. Is there a particular moment that stands out to you that this was the right career for you specifically? It could be Galen Data specific, but just in general working within the medtech industry, are there any moments or a series of moments that stand out to you as just, "Yes, I'm in the right place?" Alex Condon: I think that the product was launched out of a need that we saw out in the world. So I think that being able to analyze the gap and seeing that these medtech companies were having to take on a large burden when it came to their cloud software. So those companies would have to, like I said, put up a lot of money, a lot of time, but there's an operation side of kind of owning cloud infrastructure and medical device that a lot of them might not be able to wrap their heads around. So when you have the software, that can connect your device to the cloud, you're responsible for all the data that ingests, so you're responsible for all of the privacy concerns, the regulatory concerns. On the IT side, you're responsible for things like cybersecurity. You're responsible for things like disaster recovery. And in all of those landscapes, things change all the time. There's new regulations. There's new cybersecurity threats and all of those things can tend to morph a medtech company into an IT company. And that seemed like kind of a growing risk concentration, especially as more medical devices started leveraging the cloud for whatever they needed. So, seeing that gap and seeing that the team we put together the CEO, Chris DuPont, the CTO of Abbas Dhilawala, both of 'em have very deep industry experience and by the work we'd done together, working at the NASA contractor, we all came out of the same place. I believe the team had the ability to execute. So if you marry that idea of product that has a need could seriously help people get their device to market in a safe and de-risked way, and then also have the team to execute on it, that to me solidified this is something that I wanna do and I think that it benefits the greater good. Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, absolutely. So could you tell me a little bit about the history of starting the company and where you are now and where you're looking to be? I'm always curious of the evolution of a small business and how you can go from that very first idea to reality and beyond. Alex Condon: So, Abbas Dhilawala, our CTO, had the idea of creating this platform. Chris DuPont, our CEO, he has always had an entrepreneurial bent, and so they both latched on this idea of this is something that they want to do. But there was no kind of execution arm to get it done. And that's when I entered in. So, far before we became an actual company. But this idea of, well, Alex has this background in helping companies grow and seeing how a company should come together at an early stage. So putting some kind of, some meat on the bones. From then, we registered the company. The name, Galen Data, it doesn't really mean anything and it was by design. We knew that it was going to be in medical device or healthcare. So we picked an ancient Greek physician, Galen, to tack onto the name and then data, because we knew we were gonna have big data in some respect. Took those ideas, made the name, and then when the product came around it seemed to fit fairly seamlessly: a medical device cloud product for kind of cloud data management. So Abbas had the idea and then a lot of it existed in his head. So from the time that we started the company in terms of kind of filing all the documents, we raised some funding and then Abbas just hunkered down and it went radio silent for a long time pouring his evenings into making an MVP for us. And from then it was okay, now we have this product, now it's time to try to scale it a bit. So we brought in a VP of IT Ops and started trying to attract some kind of initial clients. And when you have a company like ours that's housing a lot of this medical device data and the medical device companies who are our clients are reliant on our ability to execute, our ability to persist as a company, you have to knock on a lot of doors to find early adopters. As a small company that's being entrusted with a huge piece of operational infrastructure for a medical device that might have raised tens of millions of dollars and employ dozens of people, it requires a tremendous amount of trust. And one of the things that's not lost on me is the amount of trust that those early clients put in us. The idea was relatively new to the space. Connectivity as a platform idea was something relatively new. Prior to that, everything was like what we were doing, kind of built the spoke. So, I look back and I love all of our initial clients, do anything for them. But awed by the amount of risk they took on working with a startup. And actually, one of the greatest days of Galen's existence was when we finally looked at the books and realized that we could persist through time. And that you were making enough money to pay all the bills and it was a huge sigh of relief across the company. And that is a, a great day that I'll always remember. Lindsey Dinneen: That is a great day. Oh I love hearing those stories because I know how hard it is to get a company up and running and to be profitable and actually viable. So, so kudos to you because that is no small feat. So I am curious, you come from a finance background and found your way into the medtech space, which I think is fantastic. Do you have advice for others who might be in a similar situation, come from a background that is different, maybe not engineering, but that might be interested in being a part of the industry? Do you have any advice for those kinds of folks who might wanna make that leap? Alex Condon: I think that this is a small industry that is very welcoming. And they put a lot of emphasis on knowledge. And so I think that if you are looking at becoming a leader in the medtech space, understand where your niche is, right? Go deep in that area. Network. People will respect you for the depth of knowledge you have and whatever it is you choose to pursue. And I think that's an easy way of integrating into the greater ecosystem. I think that the medtech in general, it spans so many different facets, right? From the people who are going out there and creating the product or the scientists behind the reason for the products to exist all the way through things like quality, regulatory, in our case, software supply chain, all of these different things. And I think that as long as you can show that you know your stuff in where you fit in the greater big picture, that people will naturally gravitate towards you. And I think that if people naturally gravitate towards you, it's also a good sign of trust and I think that, you know, if you have trust and you have people who believe in you, that's what kind of takes you places in this industry. Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. That is really a great perspective, and I think that you're completely right in terms of, when you know your own area of expertise, it doesn't have to be the same as anyone else's. In fact, it's helpful to have a bunch of complementary skillsets. And you're right, I think this is a very welcoming, it's very respectful industry and sort of allowing each person to have their own area and own it and people are really friendly here. Alex Condon: Agreed. And I think that it's one of those-- the kind of the beauty of the space is that, everybody is aligned towards inevitably the goal of helping people. Even if you work in some aspect of supply chain and you're far removed from maybe the doctor with an idea, everyone is moving in that same direction. And I think that when you have all of those people paddling the same direction, not only do you rely on each other, but you can also create a lot of momentum. And I think that momentum has a pervasive way of working into people and bringing people together. Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, absolutely. And you mentioned at the very beginning of answering that question, that knowledge is such an important component, and I couldn't agree with you more. And I'm curious how you as a leader in this space, and as somebody who has had a couple different iterations of your career so far, how do you prioritize your own learning and growing as a leader, as a individual, as a contributor to this field? Alex Condon: So I think that again, kind of knowledge in the space being important. I always try to focus on, be the best that I can be in the space that I'm in, right? So we probably work right now with 20% of large companies, 80% kind of startup companies, and so understanding the value that we add in both places. Always trying to stay on top of new happenings that would affect either our company or kind of the state of the industry, both from the big company kind of perspective and also from the small company perspective. And always trying to take time to also study things on the periphery, right? How we can improve as a company. How I can be a better part of the greater team. And really keep the focus there. And I think that a lot of my job also is going out and talking to different folks in both places, the small companies, the big companies, and trying to be an active listener. And understand what their pain points are. Pain points can evolve over time. And they're usually unique to each individual conversation, right? And then try to take those things and formulate them in a way that I can then better my own learning by turning actionable, right? Where are my gaps by listening to the outside world and trying to chase after that information or that answer, or try to seek out that key opinion leader or something like that who might be able to add more to to the story that I can ingest and then put into practice. Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Great answer. I also think, sometimes it's helpful to look beyond your own industry's standards when it comes to any aspect of the business and to sometimes look at other industries and see how they're being successful in various ways and see if you can't grab some of those ideas and make them your own. And I'm curious if that's ever happened for you too, where you can get stuck in, "Oh, this is how everyone in the industry does it." But there's a lot of great resources outside too that can sometimes apply. Alex Condon: Sure. Absolutely. I think that we are a SaaS product, right? Software as a service. And there isn't a lot of that in the medtech space, right? You have some quality management system companies that are doing things, maybe you have some supply chain platforms and things like this. But medical device in general has been a laggard when it comes to adopting new technology on the operational level. So when we first entered, you had to look around and see other areas where connectivity was more widespread. So, when I was looking at how my piece of Galen would form itself, I looked at the Internet of Things space. So looking at how companies had been successful in connecting devices in energy or in consumer devices in the home and things like that. And seeing how we could turn those ideas and those success stories and try to make them a part of our narrative with a MedTech flavor. And it's been interesting. The perspective that you get today is based off a lot of success stories, right? So right now, when you look at how other people were successful, you have to remember that it's winners biased, right? You don't hear about the mistakes that companies made that no longer exist, right? And in our case, we were bringing a product that was new to the market. This idea of cloud data management for medical devices, a very compliance heavy industry, wasn't something that a lot of people had kinda pursued wholeheartedly. There might have been some fleeting attempts but not enough documentation to make something useful. So, looked in those areas and tried specifically to find why people failed. And why is it that some of these companies that were hot in the connected device industry didn't make a mark? And then also I think that goes back to your question about kind of understanding your industry. Why, if at all, is MedTech different, right? And it is. The product life cycle is so long. The funding cycles for the startup companies, the decision cycles for the large companies. In both instances, the slightest hiccup can throw you off for months. So being able to appreciate the buying cycle, work it into kind of a greater business plan. And then making sure that we had realistic expectations heading into it was something that I think was critical that we learned as a result of both knowing our space, but also looking out and seeing where other people had success in aligned areas like IoT. Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Yeah. That's great perspective and I really appreciate you sharing about that because, just in terms of what you were saying regarding winner's bias and things like that, where we have a tendency, even from an outside perspective, to only look at the wins or to only hear about the wins, right? And so I think it's really helpful to also be able to have those honest and transparent conversations, when appropriate, to say, "Yeah, we tried this and it flopped, and here's why. And that's okay cuz we learn from it." Alex Condon: Absolutely. And I think that to your point about transparency, that's probably one of the most core pieces about Galen Data everywhere that I've ever worked has been a very transparent and flat kind of organization. And that's very much the culture that we have with Galen Data. Try to value everybody's opinion, always make them feel like they're a part of the team. Always allow ourselves to be open to criticism, even if it's from the lowest person on the org chart all the way up. And always think about the feedback that we get. And like you said, approaching problems with kind of introspection and brutal honesty. Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, that's just been a reoccurring theme that I, I keep hearing from folks that I've been talking to is that idea of curiosity being such an important component to not only your own personal learning and growth and whatnot, but also as an organization. And if you can stay curious, then you can stay teachable and you can stay humble too, actually, which is not a bad thing. Alex Condon: No, I think that I kind of find myself to be a naturally curious person. And I think that everything amazes me. I'm one of those people. I have a million interests. Everything amazes me. And I think that if you can bring that to a job or to a company, whatever, that it'll really take you places because you get out of your own kind of mental trench, right? It's important to pop up and look around every once in a while. And I think just being a naturally curious person creates that naturally. If that makes sense. Lindsey Dinneen: Absolutely. I will say, when you were talking about popping up and looking around for a minute, I had this instant vision of this meerkat, so we can have our meerkat moment, you know, where we pop up and look around... Alex Condon: That is a perfect example. I'm a huge outdoorsy person and one of my favorite things to do is just go out and look at Prairie Dog Towns. And so, sometimes you're digging and you're digging and digging in the dark, and every once in a while it's important to pop up and see what's going on around you. Lindsey Dinneen: I love it. Oh my gosh, that's amazing. Well, okay, pivoting just for fun. Imagine someone were to offer you a million dollars to teach a masterclass on anything you want. It can be about something in your industry, but it doesn't have to be. What would you choose to teach and why? Alex Condon: So I grew up-- my family, me, mom, my dad, and my sister-- we did road trips a lot to the national parks. And I've always been, like I mentioned, a huge fan of the outdoors. And so I think that if I were to teach a masterclass on anything, it would probably be maybe national parks and kind of conservation in general. And this is not just something that's talking about here domestically in the US, but you know, national parks exist everywhere and every national park has a narrative around it. And I think that also, the outdoors kind of needs to fit inside of that work-life balance. And so for me, one of the things that I'm passionate about, and I try to do as often as I can, is go see the national parks, get some fresh air, take in the beauty that's around us and try to exist in that moment. Try to kind of take things in for the wonder that they are before you go back to work or family life and things like that. So, I love telling or reading about the narratives behind some of the big national parks here, hearing stories about the ones that are overseas, and I think that if I can share that passion with other people and get them more outdoors and enjoying that side of life, that's something that I would do if I had my druthers. Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Oh, I love that. And that would be a great masterclass because it seems like not a lot of people necessarily prioritize as much, but when you've had the privilege to grow up and visit those places and experience what it's like to be in nature, and like you said, just take a moment and slow down and just be present. That is so important. So yeah, I would attend that masterclass. Alex Condon: Sure. No, absolutely. Knowing a bit about your travels, I'm sure that you feel the same. It's, it's an important part of of our short time here. And so, make the most out of it. See all the things, do all the cool stuff. Try to soak in as much as you can and at the same time, if you're passionate about something like I am about Galen Data, you can have your cake and eat it too. Lindsey Dinneen: Yes. Amen to that. Well, what's one thing you wish to be remembered for after you leave this world? Alex Condon: So this is not something that I think about too often. I think that, it would be great to be remembered by friends and family as just a good person. Again, I have a lot of interests and when you extrapolate out, if I could take my experience in the business world, or maybe socially, and apply them to all these various interests that you have, there's probably a narrative that gets left as a residual if you're able to pursue those paths, right? And so I think that if you show up and treat people well, the legacy will write itself. And in our case, one thing that's not lost on me is our product, it's a great accelerant when it comes to medical devices coming to market. And when I think of medical devices-- we'll take a startup perspective-- there's a lot of education, a lot of late night working, investor money, time spent, creating these medical device products. And if we can help those companies get to where they need to go in a de-risked way, maybe they come to market far faster, that means that their impact can be by more people, right? More people sooner who need these kinds of products. So in that vein, we're a small piece of the puzzle. But our kind of legacy I guess would probably live on through the devices that we service, right? So that's one thing that's extremely gratifying about the role, right? We have many devices, devices on four continents, dozens and dozens and dozens of companies that are using us. Being a piece of that narrative, even if the champion is the inventor, happy to carry them on our shoulders as best we can. And at the end of the day, we'll never really have an idea of the number of people that we help. But it's satisfying to know that we've been a piece of the process for so many device companies. Lindsey Dinneen: Yes. Absolutely. Couldn't agree more. That's fantastic. And final question, what is one thing that makes you smile every time you see or think about it? Alex Condon: I laugh as I say it because a lot of it has been talking through it with you is, how we end up where we are, right? So, from working in Phoenix, Arizona, and essentially a basement with two founders of a investment management firm, and grinding my teeth there for years. And then, working with astronauts as part of this NASA contractor and getting to meet a whole lot of interesting people. And now being surrounded by some of the brightest people in the medtech space. I'm always happy to be the dumbest guy in the room. And looking at that play out in your own life is something that I smile about. And then, outside of that, for me again, hearing positive feedback from the companies that we help, where they tell me something that was tangible to them: "we were able to save this much time, money or whatever we were able to launch our product this much quicker," or something like that. Going back to the last answer, hearing the results of your work. Again, being able to pop up from being that prairie dog digging in the ground and looking around and hearing people have liked what you've put a lot of sweat equity into and hearing how it really helped 'em, that always brings a smile to face a hundred percent of the time. Lindsey Dinneen: Yes. Oh yeah. That's a great answer. Well, thank you so very much for joining us, Alex. We are honored to be making a donation on your behalf as a thank you for your time today to Opportunity International, which designs, delivers, and skills innovative financial solutions that help families living in extreme poverty build sustainable livelihoods and access quality education for their children. So, we appreciate you picking that organization to support and thank you again so very much for your time today and we just wish you continued success as you and Galen Data work to change lives for a better world. Alex Condon: Thank you so much for having me. Yeah, I sincerely appreciated it. Lindsey Dinneen: Oh, absolutely. Thank you also to our listeners for tuning in and if you're feeling as inspired as I am right now, I'd love it if you share this episode with a colleague or two and we will catch you next time.  The Leading Difference podcast is brought to you by Velentium. Velentium is a contract design and manufacturing firm specializing in the development, production and post-market support of diagnostic and therapeutic active medical devices, including implantables and wearables for neuromodulation and other class three indications. Velentium's core competencies include electrical design, mechanical design, embedded software, mobile apps, contract manufacturing, embedded cybersecurity, OT cybersecurity, systems engineering, human factors and usability, and automated test systems. Velentium works with clients worldwide from startups seeking seed funding to established Fortune 100 companies. Visit velentium.com to explore your next step in medical device development.

Lindsey Jardine is a Senior Clinical Research Associate at FARAPULSE, Inc. In this episode, she discusses her love of designing and organizing clinical trials, her zest for life and continual learning, and the very human moment in her career when she realized she had to make a major change from academia to industry.  Guest links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsey-jardine-5a0985103/ Charity supported: Opportunity International  Interested in being a guest on the show or have feedback to share? Email us at podcast@velentium.com.  PRODUCTION CREDITS Host: Lindsey Dinneen Editor: Tim Oliphant Producer: Velentium   SHOW TRANSCRIPT Episode 012 - Lindsey Jardine Lindsey Dinneen: Hi, I'm Lindsey with Velentium and I'm talking with MedTech industry leaders on how they change lives for a better world. Diane Bouis: The inventions and technologies are fascinating and so are the people who work with them. Frank Jaskulke: There was a period of time where I realized, fundamentally, my job was to go hang out with really smart people that are saving lives and then do work that would help them save more lives. Diane Bouis: I got into the business to save lives and it is incredibly motivating to work with people who are in that same business, saving or improving lives. Duane Mancini: What better industry than where I get to wake up every day and just save people's lives. Lindsey Dinneen: These are extraordinary people doing extraordinary work, and this is The Leading Difference. Hello and welcome to The Leading Difference podcast. I'm your host Lindsey, and I am so excited to introduce you to my guest today, Lindsey Jardine. Lindsey is a clinical trial manager renowned for her exceptional leadership and groundbreaking achievements in the healthcare industry. With a passion for advancing medical technologies, Lindsey has successfully managed two breakthrough innovations: one at Farapulse Inc. which was acquired by Boston Scientific in 2022, and another at Shockwave Medical that went public in 2021. Her entrepreneurial spirit has also led her to contribute to the success of Cala Health, now commercially available. Lindsey has earned a reputation for excellence in leadership throughout her career in clinical research. Lindsey, thank you so very much for being here. I am so excited to have you as my guest and welcome. Lindsey Jardine: Yeah, super excited to be here. Thank you so much for having me. Lindsey Dinneen: Yes, absolutely. I would love if you don't mind starting out by telling us just a little bit about yourself and your background and how you got to where you are. Lindsey Jardine: Oh yeah. I work in medical device. I work in clinical research. So the story of me, it's a long and twisty one, but I'm currently the Clinical Trial Manager at Boston Scientific in the electrophysiology division. So in electrophysiology, you kinda split in between cardio and neuro. So I've worked in both cardio and neuro. But yeah, just closed out my study for a atherectomyectomy device. Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, that's great. I'd love to hear how you either intentionally explored the medical device industry or whether you meandered in, either way I just love hearing the background of what got you to where you are. Lindsey Jardine: Yeah. So my background was originally in biochemistry. So I went to school to get a degree in biochemistry, and in biochem there's only basically two ways that you can go in any kind of industry. So you can go into academia and do a PhD, or you can go into medicine. So in a PhD you'd usually go into genetics, which is a fascinating topic. Genetics is super fun. So I did work in a genetics lab after I graduated college, but with the intention of going into medicine, so while I was working in the lab doing a lot of like really interesting genetics work at UCSD, I was also studying for my MCAT, which did well, got into med school. While I was filling out the financial paperwork, I looked around and I was like, "everyone in medicine is miserable." And then I had this moment where I was just like, "you know what? I don't know if this is what I want." Because in medicine you have this grind and it's like the glory is in the grind. And you sacrifice, and then eventually maybe you'll save some lives and your time on this earth will be worth it. But that seemed like a really bad idea because I love being outside. I love my family. I love my friends. I wanted to love life in a very profound way, so I decided that sacrificing everything for maybe some kind of hope that I'm going to further the human race was probably not best served in a hospital. So I got very lost for a long time. Continued working in the lab doing genetics. I was like, "okay, maybe I can help figure out some cures. Maybe I can figure out some other way to help humanity at not costing me my life." So started working in research, decided that I was not a lab person, not because I don't love the problem solving of the lab, it's just more of a very isolated not as personal. So, I was at lunch one day and somebody who works in clinical research at UCSD, she's "oh, why don't you come into our office and our clinic and figure out what clinical research is all about?" I was like, "Oh. That's a thing. Clinical research, I don't even know what that means." That's not really a degree that you can have in undergrad. It's not really something that you really hear about. At least when I was in college or immediately after post college, that's not really something that was, I'd never even heard of before. So, I started working at the Chelie Eye Institute, which was also like, not to get into too many too much detail, but a lot of genetic abnormalities present in the eye. So there was like a really strong genetic component. But also I got to work with patients in clinic, which was really fun. So on the hospital side, you get to implement a lot of other people's research and you get to interact with people and you get to see the benefits of research on a daily basis. So I fell in love with clinical research. Then eventually I was recruited to work on a project at Stanford. So then I moved from San Diego up to the Bay area, started working on the baseline project at Stanford, which was a collaboration with Google and Duke University. So, that was a lot of fun. That was a lot of logistics that project was logistically super complicated, which was fun. I love that. That one was trying to figure out how all the puzzle pieces fit together and then also getting a really good deep dive into like data science. So that was my first like foray into like data science which was really fun. And then also I got to see what industry is like. So from up until that point, my entire career was in academia. And I did like academia, but it was definitely still that grind that no matter what you do, it's never really gonna matter. You might serve somebody at some point in some time and then your life's gonna be worth it. It's like this noble sacrifice basically. But so then I got to see what industry is like and how innovative it can be, and like that really tickled my creative process and that was something that I really fell in love with was being able to move really fast, help a whole lot of people, and be creative in the process. And you get to put together all these like logistics puzzle pieces and understanding the science and really deep diving into something that gets noticed and that helps people in the immediate. So that's that juxtaposition with academia and industry is-- academia you grind forever and then maybe someday you'll get a card saying, "You saved my life 10 years ago and my grandkids are now amazing people and it never would've been possible without you." But in industry you get that immediate kind of reward, like you see it come to market and you see your project. All that sacrifice, all that immediate hard work that you put into something, you see it come to market. And it's really fun and it's really great and you get to see it from not that 10,000 foot view where we're all contributing in the greater scheme of things. It's-- you get to see it, like you run a study of 20 people and you see the immediate effect of those 20 people. So that's why I chose MedTech specifically. But yeah, so, after Stanford, I moved into the startup space. I started working at Cala Health which was neuro. So, that was my first transition into the electrophysiology, neuro cardio kind of space. For anybody listening who doesn't understand what electrophysiology is, it's basically understanding the way electricity governs your body, which is a really fascinating topic to me 'cause I'm a physics nerd. I love physics. So, being able to take all of my physics information, all my physics, like chemistry background, and then getting to split that time between the brain and the nervous system and, and the heart was really interesting. So that's when I fell in love with the heart and the brain. But yeah, so Cala Health is doing really great. They're commercialized. I was part of the team that put together some of their early feasibility trials and also their pivotal trial, which was a lot of fun to work with them. And then almost immediately after that they got commercialization and being able to understand and talk through or hear the leadership team strategize for something like that was really interesting. And that was a whole new thing that I had never even seen before. Like, how do you bring a product to market and what capacity, who are we gonna reach? Who is this best suited for? So listening to all that strategy was really fun. And then after that I worked for a company called Shockwave Medical, which is an atherectomyectomy device. So that's a cardio. So electrophysiology in the heart space. And that was a super fun, that was a breakthrough IDE/PMA trial. So it was huge. It was global. It was a lot of moving pieces that, all those logistics that I loved with the electrophysiology portion of it and I got to work with great leaders, and that's one thing that I find like really consistent about when I'm choosing my next job or my next project. I look at the leadership team and I get to see how they approach problems and that is how I make my decision of who I wanna work for, is if you approach problems in a methodical and innovative way, I love seeing that. I love being inspired by that. Those are the kind of leaders that I look up to is how well they approach problems in their thought process and their ability to innovate in a space that's either new or has been done a thousand times, either one. But yeah, so worked at Shockwave, we were able to go IPO, the company went public and then we closed our trial. We started moving into the post-market trials, and I just still have that adrenaline high from the breakthrough study. We can get into this a little bit later, but those breakthrough PMA/ IDE trials are huge and they are a lot of logistics. It's very intense. It's a lot. It's a lot. And it's a grind, but in a fun way. For me, I love this. I love. So yeah, the thing that attracted me to medicine also attracted me to the breakthrough kinda trials, those breakthrough pivotal trials. And so after that I was like, " I need another one." So I started looking. I got approached by a recruiter and this recruiter sent me a bunch of stuff and then I saw the Farapulse offer come across saying that they were looking for a clinical trial manager for their pivotal breakthrough trial. And I was like "That company looks like it's gonna change the game." Same thing with Shockwave, also changed the game. So I got on board with Farapulse which is another cardio EP, electrophysiology technology. And it was magic from the very beginning. And we just closed our trial-- which that trial had its own complications. It was a blinded trial and all the sites and like trying to figure out how to do all that through Covid, through all the things. So that's how I got to where I am now. Eventually, last year we were acquired by Boston Scientific. So, yeah, that's the very short background of how I got here, and now moving on to my next adventure, which is gonna be back in the neuro space. Lindsey Dinneen: Nice. Oh, that's so exciting. That is something that kept resonating with me as you were talking, was just your enthusiasm and passion for this particular industry and for your role within it. And it's just so much fun to hear how all of your different interests and passions are coming together in a way that, it sounds like just keeps you constantly engaged with the process, and you know that you're making a difference as you get to see it right in front of you. It sounds fabulous. Lindsey Jardine: Yeah, it is. It is. I really do enjoy my job, even like the daily logistics, and not every day is magic. Some days are just the grind, but then two days later or a week later, you're back inspired. So I do love what I do and I love the pace in which the trials that I do sign up for go and it's really fun. Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. So, in your role as manager for someone who doesn't know what a typical clinical trial might look like. How does it work? Is there like a typical process or it, I'm sure it varies per trial, but I'd just love to hear a little bit more about how you go about even organizing it to start with. Lindsey Jardine: Yeah. Oh man. Oh, that's a good question. So there is, the FDA does have a reasonably prescribed way to put together a trial. So, when you're working in the startup space, what happens is you have somebody with a great idea. That person usually doesn't know how to build it. They usually don't know how to commercialize it. They usually don't know how to run a trial with it. So they have this great idea and then they go about trying to build this leadership team. So you'll try and find a CEO, you're gonna find funding, you're gonna start like prototyping some stuff. And then once you get to a point where you think that what you're building is viable, you bring on some engineers that work in the space, that are professional, they work in the startup space, kind of the same way I work in clinical trials. There's definitely people who work specifically in startups to engineer and build stuff like this. So you bring on an engineering team, they build it, they test it, and then once they've gotten it to a point where, It's a viable product in a lab they usually bring on somebody like me, clinical trial manager, preclinical trial expert to start testing it in larger animals before we go into humans. So then you start putting together your preclinical data. And a lot of the times that's where somebody like me would jump in as a clinical trial manager or a clinical trial expert in some way. So it's usually not necessarily a clinical trial manager, but a clinical trial expert. In the service space, it's a fluid term. You could call 'em clinical trial specialist, whatever you want, but again, it's just somebody who has the expertise of bringing something from an engineering perspective all the way through market. So, in that process, I get to build the protocols. I get to ask the questions. I get to set up the preclinical work so I can inform my clinical work, if that makes sense. So when we're putting together the preclinical work, you're putting together the studies, you're understanding the device, you're understanding the product, you're understanding the demographic that you're going after. So, the disease space basically. So that's one thing about clinical research, as somebody who specializes in clinical research, is the disease space changes with the technology. So I've worked in electrophysiology and neurology, so, atherectomy, ablation, therapy, neuromodulation. So the disease space changes, the technologies change, but how you think about your job and how you approach things should be consistent, so it's that innovation. I think that's really what the difference is when you go into academia is you focus on as a very specific disease space and you focus on one very specific and you get into the minutiae of one specific thing. So if you're going into medicine you specialize, you subspecialize, and then you really understand that one protein of that one gene. So, coming back to where I am now, I don't necessarily understand one specific disease, I have the opportunity and the privilege to work with a lot of different disease spaces. There's a lot of different products and I get to understand and innovate and build my knowledge as I move through my career. So I've worked in a lot of different types of medical devices and it's really fun being able to learn from the engineers and learn from the physicians, and learn from all of my colleagues as I go through my career. So I'm building my knowledge as I go along. So my specialty is building clinical trials. So to answer your question, there is a reasonably prescribed way to do it, but that prescribed way is driven a lot by your logic. The FDA is your partner in all of this. So they have regulations that you have to follow. So as you're going through and you're building this process, as you're building these clinical trials, you have to make sure that you're adhering to all of the regulations that the FDA has set forward. So that's everything from building your internal standard operating procedures at your company to making sure that all of your regulatory documentation is above board and your operations, all of that stuff. So the FDA's your partner through all of this and making sure you're putting together a clinical plan and/ or protocol that is safe, effective, gets at the correct end points, targets the right demographic of people, disease state, and making sure it's safe and effective as you go through all of these steps from preclinical all the way through clinical. Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. And that actually brings up a question that I had, and that is, have there been any moments that have been scary in clinical trials because part of it from my understanding, please correct me if I'm wrong, is that you are trying to establish, not only does this product work as intended, but is it safe? And of course you hope you've done enough pre-work with that to have a solid idea. But are there moments where you've just been like, whew, that did not go as planned? Lindsey Jardine: We have a term for that. It's unexpected adverse events or unexpected device malfunctions, but that's a good question. So it's yes and no. To be clear: one, you want to make sure that you study your device in the preclinical setting as thoroughly as possible. So that's your engineers. And your engineers are also going to the FDA for pre-submission and the FDA's double checking everything. But with that being said, that's why we do so much diligent testing before we put it in humans in order to make sure that once we get into clinical trials, it is absolutely safe. So, protocols, they test out for years after a procedure. But to make sure that we have all of our ducks in a row, all of our T's crossed and I's dotted, we're not gonna hurt anybody. I've never been a part of a product that I was ever afraid was going to hurt somebody. That being said, there are definitely times in lab where just " Oh, that happened." So there's definitely times where you're just like, "Oh my God, how did that happen?" In a lab setting, but never in a clinical setting to be very clear, I've never been a part of that. So in a startup, you'll have like your engineering on one side of the building and your operations or something on the other side. But when you're going through user testing or trying to design user interface, the engineering department will bring somebody in you're like, "Hey. I'm gonna teach you how to use this. Let me know if this makes sense to somebody who doesn't build it." So, I've definitely been in a few situations where I was using something and something unexpected happened. I was like, "What was that?" They're like, "Oh, we found a bug!" So, stuff like that definitely happens, but I've never been clinically in fear of any of the devices that I've worked with. But I also work with really amazing engineers and really amazing physicians. So that's another really great part about what I get to do is I get to collaborate with physicians who do this for a living, who do that very specific, very granular work in one very specific disease state. So they also inform and help, and it's ultimately their responsibility to make sure that whatever they're using on their patients is safe and effective. So that's why we work really closely with all of our physician surgeon collaborators to make sure that we aren't doing anything that could hurt anybody, cuz that's obviously, that's the opposite of what we wanna do. So yeah, that's another thing that I love about my job is the collaboration. Lindsey Dinneen: Yes, it does seem the more that you've talked, the more I can sense how much you enjoy working with people and having that collaboration, that problem solving, we're in this together trying to make a difference. That's really cool. Another thing that you brought up that I really liked and something that I tend to ask my guests is about how you as a leader in the industry continue to prioritize your own learning and growing. And it sounds, because you get to work on so many different devices and with so many different indications, you really have this opportunity. It's almost built into your job. And then it just sounds like you as an individual are just a really curious person. So you're probably getting to learn and grow all the time. There's no stopping it. Lindsey Jardine: Yeah, that's true. It's true. There is no stopping it. Honestly, that's why I chose the space that I'm in is I love learning. It's one of my favorite things in life is just expanding my knowledge base, learning fun new things. And even in my personal life, I'm always going out exploring, doing new things like learning and absorbing the world that we live in. And that's one consistent theme of my life is I just want to love the life that we have right now. And so learning and exploring and doing and driving yourself to, to a point of excellence is something that I truly enjoy doing. But yes, that learning is my job. And if I ever stop learning, I think that I would stop being good at my job. And hopefully by that time I can retire and learn something new, learn something that I haven't learned or even attempted to learn before. So, to answer your question, learning is definitively what I get paid to do. Lindsey Dinneen: I love it. I love that. That is fantastic. Yeah. So is there a particular moment during your career that stands out to you as kind of a defining moment of "Yes, this is the right industry for me." Just confirmation that you really chose and that it was fulfilling some of those deep desires that you've had. Lindsey Jardine: Yeah. That's a really good question. I can't say that there was ever one like lightning moment that told me that I was on the right path, but I do recall one specific moment where I knew I was on the wrong one. I think that the consistent feedback that I get throughout my career now is a continuing affirmation that I've chosen the right path and the fact that my personal happiness gets more-- like I, I gain more and more happiness with every passing day of my job. Not to say that you have to be happy every single day. I think that there is definitely something to be said with the highs and the lows in a moderated way, not the extreme highs and lows. But I consistently reaffirmed that I made the right decision. But I remember probably the lowest point of my career that I had to take a step back and say, "This is not okay for me." I was working at that, the baseline project, and a lot of my mentors would call me probably more of a racehorse kind of personality, where I want to do stuff, I wanna improve, I wanna run it at full speed. And working on a project that was that logistically complicated with that many people and that many things, it was really fun. But, in the academic space, slow and the hierarchy, and it was definitely not my my favorite place because I remember there was this one instance where we had this intern and I was helping him and he and I were collaborating on a project and I was like, "Okay, this is how I'm gonna put all this stuff together." And I have, like I'm known for my spreadsheets. I have this 80 tab spreadsheet and we're putting all together and we're putting all these formulas together. And he was helping me and it got to a point where I was like, "Man, I am super proud of this." I was really excited that I got to learn something about putting all of this stuff together. And I got to teach it as I was learning it. And I did it and then I got to teach it and then I got to see him like do some stuff and he felt very rewarded by it. And I felt very rewarded by that too. So that particular project had lots of different principal investigators. So we had four different principal investigators that I can remember. And so we're in a room of 30 people. All of them are my superiors and obviously his superiors. But I'd found out that he had taken my work and he had presented it to my boss's boss as his own. And I had no idea that this was happening. And so I'm sitting in this meeting and he's presenting my work and you can't really stand up and be like, "Hey, get outta here, that's mine. I taught you that." And I was just fuming in this meeting. And there's just so much bureaucracy in that context that even if I were to say something, it would've fallen on deaf ears. And I did say something to my supervisor and they're like "Sorry, it's for the greater good." So, oh no, and I was just furious. And so I talked to him after and I was like, "Hey, you just put your name on my work." And he's, " I've changed the color scheme." And I was like, "Did you now? That's so cute." But there was like, there was no repercussion. There was no anything. So I probably did an immature thing and just stopped talking to him. And he didn't take that very, he was an intern. It's fine, but so I'm just like, I'm not working with you anymore. I can't trust you. So he brought me flowers and he put them on my desk and I threw them. And that was brought like, but I remember like taking these flowers and throwing 'em at a wall and I was like, "This is a bad spot. I should not be here. I'm setting myself up for failure." So, that's when I decided that I needed to leave. So I moved into the private industry, which was much more intimate. Everybody saw everybody else's work. Everybody knew, everyone was all striving towards the same thing, and it was never an ego trip for anybody, if that makes sense. And there's always that greater good feeling like we're all trying towards the greater good, but you personally are not sacrificing for somebody else's glory. And that's the thing that really got me about academia and that kind of " grind until you die" space. I was like, but. I did that. I feel good about that. Not that person gets to present my work and they get to feel good about it. So, to answer your not question. That was the moment where I knew I was in the wrong place. Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. But those moments are just as important cuz they're teaching you what doesn't work and what does not align with who you want to be or, or how you wanna show up in the world. So I think actually, I really appreciate you sharing that story in that very just sort of human moment because I think it's so important to be honest about those kinds of moments that also are exactly what you said, " this is not the right path for me." And then it sounds because of that experience, you were able to go, okay. It's not like I have to get rid of the entire industry or anything like that. It was just, this isn't the right place for me and I'll find the right place for me. And I think that's really important too. So. Yeah. Lindsey Jardine: Yeah. And I do get reaffirmed by my job every day, and I love that. So it wasn't some shock, like lightning bolt moment, like this is the one. It was a slow burn that keeps burning brighter over time for me. Lindsey Dinneen: And I love that too, because how wonderful is that? It's not just this one flash of inspiration, which could be the catalyst to continue on the path and do something great and whatnot. But I love that you're in a position now where you can just be constantly, maybe in very tiny little ways, but just constantly reaffirming this is right. And that's special. That's really cool. Lindsey Jardine: Yeah. That is special. It is. And being invited on a podcast like this, I'm like, "When did this happen? When did I become the leader?" Like yesterday I was throwing flowers at people in a violent way. And all of a sudden I've been getting interviewed for a leadership podcast. Yeah, there's definitely been some significant changes that, all of a sudden, you turn around and you're like, I am the person that I wanna be. I did get here. This is amazing. Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, absolutely. I worked hard for this and it is paying off. And yeah, I can change and grow. That's great. That's fantastic. Lindsey Jardine: Yeah, it is. Yeah, it is very special. Yeah. Lindsey Dinneen: Just for fun, I'm gonna take the interview in a slightly different direction, but imagine someone were to offer you a million dollars to teach a masterclass on anything you want. It can be in your industry, but it doesn't have to be. What would you choose to teach and why? Lindsey Jardine: Oh man, that is another really good question. You're making me think. I like it. I would say if I could teach a masterclass in anything, it would be confidence. When I was sitting there watching my work that I've been, the project that I've been working on for months, being presented by somebody else, and then my reaction to it, that was a deep feeling of insecurity. And I think building confidence is a very important thing and building the appropriate confidence is another very important thing. I mean, for many years I was a "fake it till you make it" person. But having all of that insecurity being presented and then having somebody else take credit for my work, and then everybody else saying " So what, who are you?" If I had more confidence in myself, I would've reacted differently. And if I would've had more confidence in my ability to figure out problems, I would have not put myself in that position. I would have figured out how to get out earlier or figured out that "grind until you die" was not the right path. So if I could build a masterclass, if I could help people understand, knowing their own personalities and finding that confidence in themselves. And I think that is an invaluable skill in any industry is not that you don't have to be the person up on stage presenting the project. You can have your own confidence in building something and saying " that's mine" and owning it as opposed to having that insecurity and exploding all over everybody. So I would say that, yeah, I think that is definitely something that we are facing in a society that is troubling to me is the we're gonna go meta completely away from my specific story, but I see so many people with anxiety, I see so many people with imposter syndrome. So many people that even like Instagram, all these like social media feeds, it feels like a very deep-seated insecurity. And I dislike that. I dislike how we have to look a certain way or have to act a certain way or like all of these different movements to make people be seen and understood. And if we could collaborate and if we could speak with confidence, if we could speak with understanding that everyone here has some issues and if we could speak confidently about what we know, if we could be confident about who we are, then I think we could solve a lot of problems and not erupt into this, this really controversial space. So I know that having confidence also means having compassion and having that ability to reach out and say, "these are my flaws, but that doesn't mean I'm incompetent. I'm confident in myself. I'm confident that I know that this is the space that I don't know anything about and I need somebody to teach me, and that has so much confidence." And that's another thing that I've learned over my years of working in clinical research is there is no space, there's no time to fake information. You have to learn information and you have to have the confidence to say that, "I don't know this. I need to learn it." No matter how stupid that question is. "I need to learn that piece of information so I can do my job confidently and I can be confident in the product that I'm putting forward." So, if I was going to teach a masterclass, I choose confidence. Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. I love that. That was really insightful too. I appreciate your perspective on confidence and, like you alluded to, appropriate confidence too with empathy, with compassion, with collaboration. Lindsey Jardine: You can't possibly know everything. But somebody else knows something. And if they don't know it, you have to have the confidence to be able to figure it out. Lindsey Dinneen: Right. And that curiosity is a strength. Because you don't know everything. Like you are highly specialized in, in many different ways, and you have this fantastic capacity to learn, but it doesn't mean that you're necessarily an expert in every single thing you come across and so having the confidence to be curious and to say "I, I didn't know this. Tell me more." That's fantastic. Lindsey Jardine: That's truly it. That really is the curiosity and the confidence . You said it really beautifully. Just tell me more. Teach me everything and then we can change the world together and we can be better people to each other. Lindsey Dinneen: Yes. I love it. What is one thing that you wish to be remembered for after you leave this world? Lindsey Jardine: Oh my goodness. That's a really good one. The one thing that I wanna be remembered for I would say, my confidence. Yeah, I would say my confidence. And that's my all-encompassing confidence, compassion, and curiosity, because I roll all of those things up into confidence, if that makes sense. So my confidence doesn't come from perceived understanding of myself, but it comes from the feedback that I get on a daily basis from my family, my friends. My confidence is something that I hope inspires and I hope that people remember me for the type of confidence that I have. How about that? The type of confidence. Lindsey Dinneen: Yes. I like it. Awesome. Okay, final question. What is one thing that makes you smile every time you see or think about it? Lindsey Jardine: Oh, man. Okay. The one thing that makes me smile. I would say, life. That's not too tacky. Yeah. Life makes me smile. I am continuously impressed by the world around me. And that comes with all of the changes that life brings, and it's not always pretty. It's not always great. I've definitely had some times where I didn't wanna do it anymore, and I want to encourage anybody who's listening, who does not have that passion for life to just wait cuz it does get better. Because I, I threw flowers at people, and not in a fun way, in a very violent way. There's definitely times where I was not happy or impressed with life and I didn't wanna do it anymore, and I just I didn't think the next thing was gonna be any better than the last. But I can honestly say right now, life makes me happy, not on a daily basis because I think it's a misconception that you have to be happy every single day because you don't really understand happiness and you don't really understand what life has a capacity for until you know what the bad looks like. So having bad times is just as important as having good times and understanding that the next piece of your life has the potential to be the best, has potential to be better than anything you've been through so far. But it makes me smile every day knowing that I get to keep doing this in this space and time that we're in right now. And in the world right now, there's turmoil everywhere, but I am very encouraged about life and it makes me happy because I get to see how hard everybody works. I get to see that we are going through something very profound and I'm very confident in the future. And life makes me smile. Lindsey Dinneen: Oh, I love that. That's the first time anyone has said that, so I love it. Beautiful answer. Lindsey Jardine: Thanks. It's kinda meta, but that's the one thing, yeah I don't know. Boyfriends, girlfriends, family, the sunshine. All of it's nice. All of it's good. Life makes me smile even when it's making me cry. It's the pain and the struggle and the future that, that just inspires me. And I love that and that makes me happy. Lindsey Dinneen: Absolutely. Lindsey, it has been an absolute pleasure to have you on the podcast. I just really appreciate you taking the time to join me today. We are really honored to be making a donation on your behalf as a thank you for your time to Opportunity International, which designs, delivers and scales innovative financial solutions that helps families living in extreme poverty build sustainable livelihoods and access quality education for their children. So thank you for choosing that organization to support, and seriously, thanks again for your time. I just wish you the most continued success as you work to change lives for a better world. I love the fact that you have such a passion for life and for your work, and I know what you're doing makes a difference, so thank you. Lindsey Jardine: Thank you. I really appreciate you having me on. This was a lot of fun. All your questions were so good. I loved it. Lindsey Dinneen: Good. Glad to hear that. Lindsey Jardine: Thank you for doing this, for doing you. It's very inspiring. Lindsey Dinneen: Appreciate that. I appreciate that. And thank you also to our listeners for tuning in, and if you're feeling as inspired as I am right now, I'd love it if you'd share this episode with a colleague or two and we will catch you next time.  The Leading Difference podcast is brought to you by Velentium. Velentium is a contract design and manufacturing firm specializing in the development, production and post-market support of diagnostic and therapeutic active medical devices, including implantables and wearables for neuromodulation and other class three indications. Velentium's core competencies include electrical design, mechanical design, embedded software, mobile apps, contract manufacturing, embedded cybersecurity, OT cybersecurity, systems engineering, human factors and usability, and automated test systems. Velentium works with clients worldwide from startups seeking seed funding to established Fortune 100 companies. Visit velentium.com to explore your next step in medical device development. B5IkdlvEu8YlwXbE9H3a

In this episode of Building the Future, Dan is joined by Tim Strong and Mark Castellino of Opportunity International who share insights into agricultural financing in the developing world.

In this episode, Jeff and Herve discuss: Building on a new foundation of faith as an adult. Balancing business, personal life, and faith. Generosity beyond the financial balance sheet. Developing your business skills to better be used for God's stewardship.   Key Takeaways: God will shape things in a way that makes sense for you. If you put boundaries around what is yours and leave space open for God to direct, that is where you will find success and achieve the goals you want to reach. Utilizing your time and talents generously will allow you to be the prayer answer that others need when guided by God. The only valid answer to the end of a series of why questions is to glorify God.   "Being generous is a form of worship - you should be worshiping with your entire balance sheet, both literally and figuratively." —  Herve Sarteau About Herve Sarteau: Herve is a former Founding Senior Partner of CarVal Investors, a private equity firm where he ran a global portfolio and held multiple roles, including on its investment committee. Prior to his time at CarVal, he managed M&A and strategy projects for both Cargill and HP Europe. He is a board member of several start-ups, and for many years served on the global and US boards of Opportunity International, as well as its affiliate banks in Ghana and Mozambique. Herve serves on the advisory board and chairs the Investment Committee of Talanton llc, an Impact Investment fund focused on creating jobs through SME financing in developing countries. He was raised in France and holds both a MSEE and an MBA from INSEAD. His wife, Jennifer, and he currently lives in Minneapolis, MN. Connect with Herve Sarteau:Website: https://www.talantonllc.com/about LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/herve-sarteau-5b1a2355/  Connect with Jeff Thomas: Website: https://www.arkosglobal.com/Book: https://www.arkosglobal.com/trading-upEmail: jeff.thomas@arkosglobal.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/ArkosGlobalAdv Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arkosglobal/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/arkosglobaladvisorsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/arkosglobaladvisors/

In today's episode, Ron Haik speaks with Dan Murray, CEO of Opportunity International Canada. Dan shares his inspiring journey to Opportunity International, an organization deeply committed to combatting poverty. Together, they explore the daunting challenges faced by individuals living in poverty and how Opportunity International tackles them, emphasizing the delicate balance between organizational needs and the needs of the people they serve. Dan sheds light on the power of Opportunity International's innovative microfinance solutions, sharing stories of the profound impact they have on the lives of those they support. He also reveals the key metrics used to measure success and track progress towards their ambitious goals, providing valuable insights for non-profit leaders striving to make a meaningful and lasting difference.

Rosa Wang is an author, strategist, and public communicator on transformative technologies. As Global Director for Digital Financial Services for Opportunity International, a global network dedicated to microfinance, she led programs that subsequently opened over 6 million digital bank accounts for very low-income individuals around the world. The program also gained widespread recognition for providing services for persons of low literacy and for innovations in closing the digital gender gap. Prior to her work with OI, Rosa incubated social entrepreneurs in technology and social investment through the organization Ashoka.   In her debut book, Strong Connections: Stories of Resilience from the Far Reaches of the Mobile Phone Revolution, Rosa explores how mobile phone technology impacts lives of the global poor through the arc of her own journey, that of an Asian American woman from Mississippi.  A life-long learner and explorer of big ideas, Rosa leverages a background in investment banking, portfolio management, and public policy to focus on ways that technology can be harnessed for humanity. After living on three continents, she currently resides in Oxford, England.www.rosawang.com

In this episode, Jeff and Dave discuss: Dave's career rollercoaster. The curse of the Harvard Business School. Building a generous life, even when you are in secular spaces.  Finding your passion and your engagement.   Key Takeaways: Going through hard things allows you to have a better perspective when things may be going sideways in the future. Do things the right way to take care of your family and your people and things will work out. It is not too late to start making a difference, no matter what your age is. When you are asking God how you can best serve Him, you need to set your ego aside first. In our humble states, God can best use us.   "Start small. You don't have to start big. Whether it's serving on a board, whether it's volunteering, or getting involved in school, it can be something that helps your community, it certainly doesn't have to be international, but to where you can start and get engaged, and you can feel the benefits of giving to others so that is not just something you should do, but it's something that you get a reward from as you move along." —  Dave Tolmie About Dave Tolmie: Dave Tolmie is a Senior Partner with The Edgewater Funds, a private equity firm based in Chicago, IL. Dave co-founded Edgewater in 2001 and has helped grow the firm into a prominent private equity firm with $3 billion in committed capital. Prior to Edgewater, Dave was CEO of Yesmail, Inc., a marketing services provider, which he led through a successful IPO and subsequent sale. He previously was a consultant with McKinsey and spent a number of years in the health club industry, including as SVP Operations for Bally.Dave commits a significant amount of time to non-profit leadership including as a past board member and chair of Opportunity International, board member and investment committee member of Talanton, a social impact investment fund, and a founding board member of 1871/Chicago Entrepreneurial Center. Dave is also the Chairman of the Faraja Foundation Fund which supports the Faraja Primary School for children with physical disabilities in Tanzania, Africa. He is a former Vice Chair and Life Trustee of the Field Museum of Natural History and a founding member of the Illinois Venture Capital Association.Dave and his wife Tracy live in Lake Forest, IL, and are active members of First Presbyterian Church. They have three adult children, and two grandchildren, who share the family's commitment to mission. Dave is a graduate of the University of Virginia and received an MBA from Harvard Business School. Connect with Dave Tolmie:Website: https://edgewaterfunds.com/Faraja School: https://www.farajaschool.org/ Faraja Forward: https://www.farajaschool.org/faraja-forward/  Opportunity International: https://opportunity.org/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-tolmie-b3339889/   Connect with Jeff Thomas: Website: https://www.arkosglobal.com/Book: https://www.arkosglobal.com/trading-upEmail: jeff.thomas@arkosglobal.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/ArkosGlobalAdv Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arkosglobal/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/arkosglobaladvisorsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/arkosglobaladvisors/

Last time on WISE On Air we were joined by three 2022 WISE Awards Winning Project holders, Janhvi Kanoria, Susan Mtana, and Tyler Samstag. We brought these innovators on the show because we're looking to decipher what does it take to unlock the potential of great ideas to transform education. In a rapidly evolving world, it can be argued that traditional education models are being constantly disrupted with the advent of new technological breakthroughs. In 2023 alone we're seeing massive strides with A.I. and machine learning for example. In fact, according to a report by HolonIQ, the global education market is estimated to reach $10 trillion by 2030, with a growing number of startups and investors seeking to revolutionize the sector. As we navigate these changes, it's important to understand what sets successful education initiatives apart. What can we learn from the ones that have made a real impact? In this second part episode, we'll dive into some of the groundbreaking solutions that are reshaping education in different contexts around the world. Following our conversation last time with Janhvi, Susan and Tyler, joining us are the other three 2022 WISE Awards Winning innovators Daniela Labra of Mexico-based project Educating for Wellbeing by AtentaMente, Andrew McCusker of Chicago-based project Opportunity EduFinance by Opportunity International, and Kuldeep Dantewadia of India-based project Climate Change Problem Solvers by Reap Benefit. Together with WISE Awards program manager, Niamh Whelan, we discussed: - The 'eureka' moment when creating their projects - Balancing important stakeholders from beneficiaries to partnerships - Key challenges they faced and how they overcame them - And key lessons for other innovators looking to make change in the education space. ------ Relevant links: Reap Benefit: https://www.instagram.com/reapbenefit/?hl=en AtentaMente: http://bit.ly/3miroNJ Opportunity International: https://opportunity.org/ The WISE Awards: bit.ly/3IYvVOe ------ If you enjoyed this episode, would you consider leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It really helps out the show and we would greatly appreciate it. Website: wise-qatar.org Twitter: twitter.com/WISE_Tweets Instagram: @wiseqatar Facebook: facebook.com/wiseqatar/ Linkedin: bit.ly/2JKThYf

Show Notes 1:30 – Ted Grossnickle share his first nonprofit Board experience 5:00 – Rebecca Bassinger shares her first nonprofit Board experience 6:30 – Dr. Ben Sells – President of Ouachita Baptist University shares reflections on the purpose of the nonprofit Board 8:00 – Dr. Sells continues on Board meeting improvement 14:00 – Dr. Rebecca Bassinger shares her thoughts the ideal nonprofit Board Chair the  CEO / Board Chair working relationship 18:30 – Atul Tandon – CEO for Opportunity International talks about how the Opportunity International Board works on being a highly functioning Board 23:00 – Barry Rowan on nonprofit Board term limits   Links and Resources JobfitMatters Website Next Gen Nonprofit Leadership with Tommy Thomas David Williams: Leadership at Habitat, Make a Wish and more... Dr. Ben Sells - Insights Into Nonprofit Board Service Rebekah Basinger: How Someone with Aspirations of Becoming a College Professor Became a Renowned Authority in Nonprofit Board Governance Ted Grossnickle - The Effective Nonprofit Board Atul Tandon - Principles of Effective Board Service Barry Rowan - Reflections from Attending at Least One Board Meeting Every Quarter for the Past 40 Years - Part 1 Barry Rowan - Reflections from Attending at Least One Board Meeting Every Quarter for the Past 40 Years - Part 2   Connect Tommy Thomas - tthomas@jobfitmatters.com Tommy's LinkedIn Profile Tommy's Twitter Profile  

In this episode of Building the Future, Dan is joined by Atul Tandon, CEO of the non-profit Opportunity International. In this podcast, Dan and Atul discuss Atul's career path, the purpose of Opportunity International, the theory of change, and how loans can change lives. 

Show Notes 2:24 – The CEO / Board Chair working relationship / Dr. William Ryan's workshop 5:18 – Who sets the agenda for the Board Meeting 6:23 – Board Composition 7:35 – Recruiting new Board Members at Opportunity International 9:25 – What keeps a nonprofit Board from functioning effectively? 13:55 – What are you doing to strengthen the Opportunity International Board? 19:00 – What's the best thing a Board can do for a new CEO? 20:00 – Succession Planning 24:00 – Atul's counsel to someone asking for advice on whether to become a Board Chair   Links and Resources JobfitMatters Website Next Gen Nonprofit Leadership with Tommy Thomas Opportunity International Website   Connect Tommy Thomas - tthomas@jobfitmatters.com Tommy's LinkedIn Profile Tommy's Twitter Profile Atul Tandon's LinkedIn Profile  

Time Stamps 4:00 – Atul shares about his transition from Citibank to World Vision 5:04 – Atul shares about growing up in India in a family of very little means 6:35 – Lessons that are transferrable from the private sector to the nonprofit sector 8:31 – Unleashing the strengths of those around you and celebrating the wins 9:49 – Early days at World Vision 12:36 – What Atul must have in any leadership role he accepts 15:00 – Lessons learned in hard times 23:00 – Common traits of all effective leaders 25:00 – Most common issue that can derail the career of a leader 26:16 – The nonprofit and risk management   Links and Resources JobfitMatters Website Next Gen Nonprofit Leadership with Tommy Thomas Opportunity International Website   Connect Tommy Thomas - tthomas@jobfitmatters.com Tommy's LinkedIn Profile Tommy's Twitter Profile Atul Tandon's LinkedIn Profile  

Sepiso (Seppy) Mwamelo is a Tanzanian researcher currently working for Opportunity International, where she leads agricultural finance projects across Uganda and East Africa. She completed her MSc in Africa & International Development at the University of Edinburgh, where she studied the nature of transformational leadership and burdens facing African scholarship recipients attending UK universities. In this episode, Seppy discusses the responsibility of leadership; community transformation; making peace with our limitations as researchers; bearing witness to others' pain;  and the perils of being an 'insider' or local researcher.Note: since this episode was recorded, Seppy has left Opportunity International.Subscribe to BeDo's quarterly newsletter for exclusive updates about upcoming episodes and events.

Finding out about prices, checking the balance on your bank account and sending money to others – mobile phones can make all this a lot easier. But what are the challenges and risks of getting those on low-incomes to use digital technology? In this episode, we speak with Rosa Wang, author of 'Strong Connections. Stories of resilience from the far reaches of the mobile phone revolution' and previously Global Director for Digital Financial Services at Opportunity International. You can find more information about this episode and our podcast on https://poverty-unpacked.org

In this episode James Kirby is joined by Scott Walters the CEO of Opportunity International, topics in discussion include the private investor charity tax shelter you never heard of, what is Microfinance and how does it work? amnd how to read the annual report from your favourite charity.     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Barbara K. Lupient is the retired CEO and current Board Chair of The Lupient Companies, a household name in Minneapolis, Minnesota, known for their quality products and commitment to customer service. Barbara Lupient built on the reputation her husband helped create, and following his death, she carried on the business and assisted her children to assume greater responsibility and ownership roles. Today, the second and third generation of Lupient family members continue the business while Barbara "retires to" the next stage of her career -- serving as Board Chair and as a philanthropist, her primary current focus on Opportunity International, an organization dedicated to helping (primarily) women in developing countries create and successfully manage their businesses, working to liK their families out of poverty.   Barbara joins the Wow Factor podcast to share her experience and insight with leaders facing external complications or pressure in their business or industry and gives her advice on how to move forward as a leader in challenging times. She discusses some of the issues that are unique to leading a family business and her strategy for having a positive professional relationship with your children when they join the family company. Barbara also highlights the difference we can make as leaders when we lead with authenticity and integrity and aren't afraid to be honest and transparent with our people.                                                                                                                                             “There's just something in you, that God has put there, that gives you a skill set that allows you to be successful when you're a leader and allows you to be successful when you're managing people.” - Barbara Lupient   “As a giver, you receive far more than you ever give. You receive it in joy, you receive it in relationships, you receive it in so many ways.” - Barbara Lupient   “It seems to be the nature of life that we make mistakes — but if we can learn from them, I think that's a good thing.” - Barbara Lupient                                                                                              This Week on The Wow Factor: Growing up as the oldest daughter of six children in North Dakota and how that informed Barbara's leadership skills and work ethic When it became apparent that the industries of real estate and automotive had a strong family focus When Barbara's husband, Jim, founded the first dealership and some of the twists and turns in the first few years of business Some of the reverses that Barbara has endured in business and in life and how she and the company got through those challenging times What Bart o do as a leader for her team when Gens pulled the rug from under the business Jim's Parkinson's diagnosis and it's impact on Barbara, her family, and the company The importance of being authentic, being true to yourself, and being true to your moral compass in all that you do What drew Barbara to Opportunity International and why she felt connected to their purpose of supporting women in business   Barbara Lupient's Words of Wisdom: If people lead from their own True North and make choices that align with their authentic purpose, then we would not have all this contention in the world today. Leaders need to be looking outward to the greater good rather than focus on their own needs.   Connect with Barbara Lupient: Lupient Automotive Group Website Lupient Automotive Group on Instagram Lupient Automotive Group on Facebook Lupient Automotive Group on Twitter   Connect with The WOW Factor: I Like Giving: The Transforming Power of a Generous Life by Brad Formsma Words of Wisdom Website Brad Formsma on LinkedIn Brad Formsma on Instagram Brad Formsma on Facebook Brad Formsma on Twitter    

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away Atul Tandon was making it on Wall Street. At 39, Tandon was running one of the world's largest international banking efforts on Wall Street when he was faced with a serious health crisis. Questioning his purpose, Tandon walked away from a life of wealth and turned to the very poorest in the world, vowing to serve those he left behind. Tandon has made good on that promise by expanding Opportunity International's microfinance and digital banking services – and at the height of the pandemic, serving more than 19 million people in 30 countries, developing a partner network of 100+ microfinance institutions in some of the most remote corners of the world - dubbed one of the “best kept nonprofit secrets” by Freakonomics' Steven Levitt. Atul Tandon is a global leader known for building, growing, and turning around some of the world's best-known for-profit and non-profit enterprises. Tandon currently serves as CEO of Opportunity International, a non-profit organization that designs, delivers, and scales innovative financial solutions to help families living in poverty build sustainable livelihoods and access quality education for their children. Prior to Opportunity International, Tandon founded and served as CEO of the Tandon Institute, which provides strategy, solutions, and staffing to enable social sector enterprises. Before that, Tandon served as the leader of United Way Worldwide's 41-country International Network, helping build and shape the world's largest network of community-based charities. Additionally, he oversaw the network's worldwide corporate relationships and fundraising functions. Check out Opportunity International: https://opportunity.org Follow Dr. Bob on Twitter: @ProfessorHuish

Rosa Wang, social impact pioneer, examines how mobile technology frontiers are providing financial access, connectivity, identity and empowerment for people across the world – from Kenya to India. Rosa is the Senior Advisor and former Global Director for Digital Financial Services at Opportunity International. She joins us to share stories from her global journey. Where she has collating first hand insights of resilience from the far reaches of the mobile phone revolution. From bank voice messages in rural dialects to the challenges for women in accessing mobile phones. Rosa unpacks the uncomfortable question of what being poor really means... both the fundamental realities of living on less than $2 a day, and the positive connections these circumstances can forge. Rosa shares why she is championing human stories and making the voices of those less heard – loader. The result… Rosa has compiled the stories she has collected on mobile technology frontiers into her book – Strong Connections: Stories of Resilience from the Far Reaches of the Mobile Phone Revolution. Rosa says: “I wrote this because one day, hopefully soon, I believe that every person on the planet will have their own mobile phone, and when that day arrives, and historians document this remarkable revolution, I want the untold stories of the women in this book to be part of the written record. I want there to be an account of innovative village practices, the rich tapestry of their successes and failures, tales of their resilience and of their dogged hard work.” Listen in to hear more. Links: Website: https://rosawang.com/ LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosa-wang-9206b Links to Rosa's book on Amazon: US link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1632994828/ UK link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1632994828/ Digital Finance Services at Opportunity International: here: https://opportunity.org/what-we-do/innovative-programs/digital-financial-services

How do the best non-profits tell stories? What are the biggest mistakes you can make when trying to raise money for a cause? Why do sob stories don't work? 96. Increase Your Impact and Do More Good with Allison Kooser Welcome to The Storypowers Podcast, the show about the power of stories, the people who tell them and why you should be doing it too. I'm your host, keynote speaker and storytelling coach, Francisco Mahfuz. If you want to learn how to find, craft and tell stories that work, check out the Storypowers Bootcamp at https://storypowers.thinkific.com/courses/storypowers-online-bootcamp My guest today is Allison Kooser. As the Chief Storyteller at Swell+Good, Allison helps non-profit organisations share their stories, reach more people, and raise more support. She has previously led donor acquisition and outreach for Opportunity International and served as the lead copywriter and marketing strategist for the Chicago Sun-Times. You can find her at https://swellandgood.com/ If you like the show, please leave us a rating on Apple podcasts, share it and SUBSCRIBE! The support is very much appreciated. And please send me your comments on what you'd like to hear on future episodes. You can connect with me on LinkedIn, and on https://storypowers.com.

On this episode of Coogee Voice, we sit down with Emily Kate Symes, founder of EKOLUV.Emily talks about the huge amount of clothing and textile waste that ends up in landfills and what role fast fashion plays in it.Emily also shares the story of her boutique EKOLUV which is a conscious, sustainable, compassionate, zero waste living boutique that gives back with each purchase through Opportunity International, helping to empower women through opportunity.Emily aims to change people's perception that luxury has to mean ‘new', offering customers the opportunity to buy vintage and second-hand, as well as to rent clothing.

Be sure to sign up to receive podcast host John Dembeck's weekly newsletter at workandfaithmatters.orgDavid Kone serves in the country of Nicaragua as the director of a non-profit Opportunity International.   Opportunity's work in Nicaragua targets rural communities where poverty is greatest. Opportunity empowers the poor to use their own talents, skills and abilities to develop long–term, innovative solutions to alleviate poverty.  David calls it "Asset based community development." Website: http://opportunitynicaragua.org/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-kone-0591bb6/Email: Info@opportunitynicaragua.org

Your purpose is to make a difference. Randy Kurtz is Executive Vice President at Opportunity International where he is focused on improvements to agriculture and education for those living in poverty around the world. In today's show, Randy shares how he pivoted from a successful career in the restaurant industry to investment banking to founding his organization that is focused on ending extreme poverty for good. Key Takeaways: 0:00 Intro 1:09 Randy gives a brief overview of Opportunity International and his position in the company 2:21 Randy talks about growing up on a dairy farm and his first job working at IHOP and how his career grew from there 5:45 Randy talks about the route he took that was so different than many and how he went straight to business school without an undergrad degree 8:38 Randy talks about his financial background and the various companies and industries he worked for and in.  11:18 Randy talks about the examples in the world he was seeing that really made him think about what he was doing and how he could find his true purpose 12:49 Randy talks a bit about his Christian faith and the reason he turned down meaningful jobs to pursue his dreams 16:28 Randy goes in depth on what Opportunity International does as a company and every aspect of agriculture and education that they strive to help build upon  20:40 Randy talks about the challenges they face in the various countries they work in and how they overcome them 24:21 Randy explains why 90% of their clients are women and how much it helps in efforts to grow each sector Resources Mentioned: University of Chicago - The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1890, its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is ranked among the best universities in the world, and it is among the most selective in the United States. IHOP - IHOP is an American multinational pancake house restaurant chain that specializes in breakfast foods. It is owned by Dine Brands Global—a company formed after IHOP's purchase of Applebee's, with 99% of the restaurants run by independent franchisees. Citigroup - Citigroup Inc. or Citi is an American multinational investment bank and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City. The company was formed by the merger of banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomerate Travelers Group in 1998; Travelers was subsequently spun off from the company in 2002. The Wall Street Journal - The Wall Street Journal, also known as The Journal, is an American business-focused, English-language international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. Goldman Sachs - The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in New York City. It offers services in investment management, securities, asset management, prime brokerage, and securities underwriting. Salomon Brothers - Salomon Brothers, Inc., was an American multinational bulge bracket investment bank headquartered in New York. It was one of the five largest investment banking enterprises in the United States and the most profitable firm on Wall Street during the 1980s and 1990s. Quotes Mentioned: "I was reading The Wall Street Journal every day and I was talking with other people in my community at my church, and I felt like I had other types of work that would be more appealing to me, something that was a little bit more white collar, if you will, or, you know, strategic." "I saw some examples out there in the world and I began to think about is what I'm doing now my my full purpose. And so my calling really became to find a role where I could have the kind of impact I was having in investment banking. But to have it in a way that helped people who really needed the help, to help those in poverty in difficult situations." "In many of these developing countries, the borrower is a woman who is more responsible, more able to pay back, and that's the nature of microfinance. And so our gender story is very strong. In education, one of the things that we find is as schools get bigger, they can then have more girl students. When family incomes are stretched, it's the girls that don't get to go to school." #GlobalDevelopment #Microfinance Guests Social Media Links:  Website: https://opportunity.org/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randykurtz/

Scott Walters is the CEO of Opportunity International Australia, a charity that offers microfinance to people living in poverty. Having enjoyed a long and diverse career in the not-for-profit sector, including educational support for disadvantaged children, poverty relief, women's health, and early childhood intervention, Scott has led and managed the strategic development and growth in fundraising for a number of charities. Scott was most recently the Chief Fundraising Officer for Bible Society Australia, and previously, he was Head of Strategic Partnerships for The Smith Family. With an extensive background in financial planning, stockbroking and marketing before his move to the for-purpose sector, Scott brings the depth of business and fundraising experience needed for the role, as well as a passion for alleviating poverty. Scott shares about his faith journey & how Opportunity International is helping people in poverty all over the world. https://opportunity.org.au Support the show: http://historymakersradio.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Scott Walters is the CEO of Opportunity International Australia, a charity that offers microfinance to people living in poverty. Having enjoyed a long and diverse career in the not-for-profit sector, including educational support for disadvantaged children, poverty relief, women's health, and early childhood intervention, Scott has led and managed the strategic development and growth in fundraising for a number of charities. Scott was most recently the Chief Fundraising Officer for Bible Society Australia, and previously, he was Head of Strategic Partnerships for The Smith Family. With an extensive background in financial planning, stockbroking and marketing before his move to the for-purpose sector, Scott brings the depth of business and fundraising experience needed for the role, as well as a passion for alleviating poverty. Scott shares about his faith journey and how Opportunity International is helping people in poverty all over the world.

Find the balance between confidence and humility through the lessons shared by Vicki Escarra, Sr. Advisor, Boston Consulting Group, former EVP/CMO of Delta Air Lines, CEO, Feeding America, and Global CEO, Opportunity International, during this podcast. She provides practical advice to women aspiring to senior leadership positions and gives us insight to how and why she turned her focus from corporate leadership toward leading two of the largest non-profit organizations in the U.S. It's an important discussion about aligning one's life's work with a core set of values. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tlg-barrier-busters/message

Hello beautiful people On today's podcast we have the talented and kind-hearted Matthew Smeal. Matthew is a writer, videographer, fine art photographer, and for the last 15 years has been a humanitarian and NGO photojournalist. He has worked in countries such as Uganda, Kenya and Cambodia, for organisations such as Médecins Sans Frontières, also known as Doctors Without Borders, UNICEF, The Fred Hollows Foundation and Opportunity International. I first met Matthew in an interview at Médecins Sans Frontières to be their Communications Intern, and immediately we hit it off. You know those people that come into your life, and you are like, this person is going to be a friend for life; that is how I felt and still feel with him. He is a heart on his sleeve kind of guy and so deeply passionate about making the world a better place. What I personally love about this podcast is the raw vulnerability; he showed up in this podcast in all of his authenticity, from sharing the challenges that can come with being a writer, and how the experience of flow state can lead you in a promising direction in your creativity. He shares about his relationship with the ocean and how it helps in his healing process from things that he has both seen and experienced in his humanitarian work. And, towards the end we speak of a specific project he did with maternal and child health in Nigeria. I will preface this with a trigger warning as we do speak about death and the trauma that can be found in witnessing this up close and first hand. Matthew is quite emotive about this subject and I ask that we have compassion and hold space for those who dedicate their lives to seeing things most of us do not, in the peaceful fight for increased awareness about the imbalance that we have around the world regarding access to health.Please rate, review, subscribe, share with friends and family, become part of the To Be Human Collective and enjoy this touching conversation with Matthew Smeal.Connect with Jennah-LouiseMindset Coaching | https://www.jennahlouise.com.auInstagram Personal | https://www.instagram.com/jennah_louiseConnect with MatthewInstagram | https://www.instagram.com/matthewsmeal Website | https://www.matthewsmeal.com.au

Basti und Alex diskutieren über das Thema #Mikrofinanz. Im Mittepunkt stehen Kleinstkredite als entwicklungspolitische Maßnahme, um Menschen in Schwellen- und Entwicklungsländern Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe zu geben. Was ist von diesem Ansatz zu halten, für den Muhammad Yunus, der Gründer der Grameen Bank, sogar mit dem Friedensnobelpreis ausgezeichnet wurde? Nach einer theoretischen Einführung berichtet Alex von praktischen Erfahrungen und Einblicken, die er auf einer Reise nach Afrika in Projekte der sozialen Mikrofinanz von Opportunity International gewinnen durfte. Wenn Dir die Folge gefallen hat, abonniere gerne unseren Podcast und (sofern Dein Podcast-Anbieter das zulässt) gib uns "5 Sterne" oder einen "Daumen hoch" als Bewertung! Wie jede Woche freuen wir uns über Deine Kommentare, Rückfragen und Anregungen (z.B. auf Instagram unter https://www.instagram.com/bibelfinanz oder per Mail). Auch über Vorschläge für neue Finanzthemen, die Dich aus Sicht der Bibel interessieren, danken wir Dir schon jetzt! Sei mächtig gesegnet! Dein Team von Bibel-Finanz

Wir sind die New Work Moms, ein Netzwerk für Mütter der neuen Arbeitswelt.Möchtest auch du selbstbestimmt und frei arbeiten?Bist du auch auf der Suche nach Gleichgesinnten?Suchst du nach mehr Inspiration für deine Arbeit?Dann abonniere den New Work Moms Podcast – damit du nur das machst, was du wirklich, wirklich willst!Mit Eva Stiekema und Jenny Winkler.Diesmal sprechen wir über das Thema Zeitmanagement. Hol dir deine Zeit zurück!Der Podcast zum E-Book: 7 Zeitmanagement-Hacks für New Work Moms.​ Jenny und Eva sprechen über Zeitmanagement im Kontext des Mutterseins und der Selbständigkeit.Wie holen wir uns unsere Zeit zurück?Was sind die 7 Zeitmanagement Hacks?Welche Zeitmanagement-Techniken gibt es?Wie können wir Deep-Work-Phasen schaffen?Warum sollte man den Frosch immer zuerst essen?Welche Tools eignen sich fürs Zeitmanagement?Unser Good Deed of the Week ist Opportunity International. https://www.oid.org/ Wir möchten Frauen in Entwicklungsländern helfen, sich selbständig zu machen und damit ihren Lebensunterhalt für ihre Familien zu verdienen. Weiterlesen

In the new episode of the Building Competitive Advantage in a Sustainable World podcast, David Young — BCG Henderson Institute Fellow researching Sustainable Business Model Innovation — interviews Vicki Escarra, Former Global CEO, Opportunity International; Former President & CEO, Feeding America; and Former CMO, Delta Airlines. Vicki shares her inspiring journey across the private and social sectors. She reflects on the importance of cross-sector collaboration to drive meaningful, societal impact at scale while generating benefits for all organizations involved, including corporations. She shares her lessons learned on what it takes to build effective strategic partnerships for collective impact. Organizations involved need to: Set a common agenda, clarify the mutual benefits, match skilled resources to execute on both sides, measure and share progress frequently, and communicate. Trust, shared purpose, focus on impact, clarity of objectives, and accountability are the critical enablers for success. Applying these principles, organizations across sectors have a massive opportunity to create social impact, business benefits, and lay the foundation for a great legacy. *** About the BCG Henderson Institute The BCG Henderson Institute is the Boston Consulting Group's think tank, dedicated to exploring and developing valuable new insights from business, technology, economics, and science by embracing the powerful technology of ideas. The Institute engages leaders in provocative discussion and experimentation to expand the boundaries of business theory and practice and to translate innovative ideas from within and beyond business. For more ideas and inspiration, sign up to receive BHI INSIGHTS, our monthly newsletter, and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Brady is the Managing Director of the NextAfter Institute where he performs original research, develops evidence-based resources, and provides data-driven training to help organizations raise more money online to fund their life-changing work. A charity nerd, adjunct professor, and international speaker, his thoughts have been featured in The Huffington Post, NPR, and The Chronicle of Philanthropy among others. He was the lead researcher and author of The Canadian Online Fundraising Scorecard, The State of Nonprofit Donation Pages, and The State of Nonprofit Email Cultivation. Brady is also a host of The Generosity Freakshow — a podcast discussing how we can improve, optimize, and grow giving and an adjunct professor at North Park University’s School of Business and Nonprofit Management. Before coming to NextAfter, Brady worked for the company he started, The Josephson Group, which founded Shift, a digital agency, and Nonprofit Supply Co., a Google Ad Grant advertising service. Brady began his career at Spark Ventures, a start-up non-profit doing development work in Zambia, after receiving his Masters in Nonprofit Administration. He oversaw fundraising and marketing there before moving to Opportunity International, the world’s largest Christian microfinance organization, where he worked in digital fundraising and then served as National Marketing Director in Canada. He lives just outside Dallas, Texas with his wife, Liz, son, Hendrix, and dog, Melly. You can connect with him on LinkedIn, follow him on Twitter, @bradyjosephson, and learn more about his speaking here.

About Speaker: With over 25 years of transformative work in education, Dr Amrita Vohra is a passionate learner and educator currently serving in a dual role as Director Education for GEMS Education, India and Executive Principal for GEMS International School, Gurgaon. A PhD in English Literature and a certified Program Leader for Cambridge Professional Development Qualifications for teachers and school leaders, she has been a faculty for under-graduate and post-graduate programs in Women's Studies, Literature, Feminist Literary Criticism, Women and Child Psychology and Business Communication. She has contributed various articles and research papers to a wide variety of professional publications and her personal blog www.pindropsilence.in is widely appreciated by educators and mothers. She is also a Bharat Natyam Dancer and has always had a keen interest in Theatre, dramatic arts and TiE. Her key research interests are women and child psychology, pedagogy, assessment, inclusive education, teacher professional development, curriculum design, school improvement, quality assurance, early childhood and theatre in education. She has helped setup and led various schools as a Principal, school improvement advisor as Head of Academic Research and Training and later as the Head of Professional Development and Quality Assurance and also as an active member of the GEMS Global Education team working with institutions like Educomp Solutions, Global Classroom and GEMS Education. She has been the proud recipient of various awards and recognitions over the years including, Woman of Excellence Award by Indian Achiever's Forum, Best Principal Award by the All India Swacchha Bharat Art Forum, Education and Human Resource Development Organisation, Inspire School Award for Best Skill-development School, Education World Grand Jury Award for Best Reading Culture at the school, Top Tech-savvy School in India by WhizJuniors. She has also been chosen among the 10 most Influential women in Education 2020 by Insignt, and among 25 Leaders re-inventing Education by Education World. She also led holistic school development planning as the Head of Education Quality Programme with Chicago-based global non-profit organization, Opportunity International, to support budget / affordable private schools. Her experience as an educator cuts across various aspects of K-12 and Higher Education from curriculum design to quality assurance, from very affordable to niche progressive schools, from green-field and at-risk to premium schools. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/future-school-leaders/message

Spain is a serial entrepreneur who has founded or co-founded four Web-enabled companies that transformed their industries. Presently he is the CEO of First Stop Health an online and on-call telemedicine and advocacy service used by employers and their employees. Co-founder and long-time chairman and CEO of Hoover's, Inc., Spain led the company from a small book publisher in 1992 to a profitable, publicly traded online business information services company with $31 million in revenue in 2001 with a sale to D&B in 2003 for $119 million. Spain was also the founder, chairman and CEO of HighBeam Research, which he started in 2002 and sold to Cengage Learning in December, 2008. He also co-founded and is CEO of Newser, a news curation and summarization service with an audience of seven million readers each month. Spain serves as a board member of Owler a Silicon Valley-based company information service that is using crowd sourcing to revolutionize data collection, quality and delivery. He is also on the Board of a Chicago-based Occasion, an event scheduling platform for smaller merchants. Spain also serves on the Board of Community Health, the largest free clinic in the U.S. Chicago. He is also a member of the Board of Governors of Opportunity International, the largest and best capitalized micro-lender in the world. Spain serves on the advisory boards of several technology startup companies. Past board positions include service at Televerde a rapidly growing, socially responsible marketing services company, SmartAnalyst, a research company that serves the pharma industry and GuideStar, the largest and most trusted database of information on the not-for-profit sector. Spain has worked in the technology industry since 1979 and has a bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago and a law degree from Boston University. He splits his time between the Chicago and Austin, TX areas. Patrick Spain, Serial Entrepreneur | Making It Real Podcast with Jan Brinckmann | Episode #13 00:00 When did you decide to co-found a company? 02:04 How did you approach starting your first business? 02:58 Leaving behind a nice salary for your startup 05:14 Democratizing information as a business model 07:40 How could you get into volume distribution? 09:34 How important was market timing for Hoovers.com? 10:38 What would have been your plan B if Hoovers.com didn't work out? 12:25 Is there a common scheme you're looking for when founding a company? 15:19 Intuition vs validation before making large purchases for your business 16:22 After selling two companies, how did you decide on your new venture? 19:10 Core lessons learned in a declining market 21:02 Would you advise founders to only go into high-growth markets? 24:04 How do get started when trying to fix fundamental market issues 26:58 How important is it to have at least one co-founder with deep domain knowledge? 28:28 Starting First Stop Health 30:18 Putting components together instead of building everything from scratch 32:18 Building a sales team as a company who made it to the INC 500 list twice in a row 36:10 Is there a guiding concept to decide things as an entrepreneur? 38:51 Being a very active business angel, what are the common mistakes you're seeing? 42:40 First Stop Health is your fourth venture - what keeps you going?

1 PM SESSION COVID-19’s Impact on Education and Creative Responses Atul Tandon, CEO, Opportunity International

In this inaugural episode of the “Finance for resilience brought to you by CDKN” we unpack the topic of microfinance and how the mechanism of microfinance enables the building of climate resilience. Host, Kamleshan Pillay, welcomes distinguished guests Tineyi Mawocha - CEO of Opportunity Bank Uganda, Lydia Baffour Awuah - Senior Programme Manager at Opportunity International and Puneet Chopra - partner at Microsave Consulting in India, to a panel discussion. The panel discussion revolves around the concept and impact of microfinancing as well as the very real possibilities that microfinancing affords in the betterment of the social well-being of some of the most vulnerable communities. How has micro-financing been used in terms of supporting climate initiatives? What have been some of the positive impacts of this? How can micro-finance enable gender equality in the household of lesser developed countries? What safeguards need to be in place against gender-based violence while avoiding reinforcing gender stereotypes? If you'd like to find out more please visit: https://cdkn.org/?loclang=en_gb. Here you will find an email address for the team in your region. You can also follow us on Twitter at @cdknetwork or @SouthSouthNorth. The links you need to know about: www.southsouthnorth.org https://www.unepfi.org/fileadmin/events/2007/nairobi/aleke.pdf https://fsdkenya.org/tag/microfinance/ https://www.theafricareport.com/34465/kenya-microfinance-needs-to-be-regulated-says-ceo-of-kba/ www.unepfi.org · fsdkenya.org · www.theafricareport.com · Finance for Climate Resilience brought to you by CDKN-Transcript.pdf — PDF (137.4 KB)

Meredith Scott is the CEO of Opportunity International Australia. In early 2018 following a 32-year career at Ernst & Young, including 19 years as an audit partner, she took on the role of CEO. Opportunity International helps lift people out of the poverty cycle, in 4 key areas: microfinance, health, education, and safety. Listen in to her faith journey & about the impact of this amazing charity! https://opportunity.org.au Support the show: http://historymakersradio.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Meredith Scott is the CEO of Opportunity International Australia. In early 2018 following a 32-year career at Ernst and Young, including 19 years as an audit partner, she took on the role of CEO. Opportunity International helps lift people out of the poverty cycle, in 4 key areas: microfinance, health, education, and safety. Listen in to her faith journey and about the impact of this amazing charity!

In this episode of Nonprofit Architect, Travis discusses with Brady Josephson, an entrepreneur working with "Next After". They focus on core precepts of online fundraising, noting results from studies that show the wrong approaches of many nonprofit organizations to raising funds online. Listen in now and be informed Conversation Highlights [00:41] Brady explains that the concept behind "Next After" is basically to collect data, run experiments to essentially figure out what works in fundraising, and make that information accessible to nonprofit organizations [02:20] Donors lie [09:20] Takeaway #1: The Value Proposition Question; why should I give to you, as opposed to another organization, or not at all? [09:34] Takeaway #2: four perspectives from which a nonprofit organization should answer the value proposition question (Appeal, Credibility, Clarity, and Exclusivity) [13:02] Every different organization has strengths and weaknesses [13:16] Takeaway #3: As an NPO, having something more quantifiable or tangible encourages generosity [15:45] When building a scalable fundraising infrastructure, of which email is one of the strategies, you always need to start work much sooner than you think [16:47] Takeaway #4: Offline donors are worth 90% more if they get emails [17:34] Mystery Shopper Studies conducted involved signing up to receive emails from non-profit organizations over some time, to have an idea of the E-mail methods used by a majority of them. [20:22]Brady reveals that based on the results of their studies, most non-profits are not thanking their donors [21:31] Takeaway #5: The first 30-45-day window is one of the most critical times to continue engagement with a new donor, if not they may not make a second gift in 6-14 months, at which point they're gone. [24:58] Brady's advice to startup NPAs: The Culture of Fund-raising & Being proactive [29:48] He discusses the three metrics of online fundraising (Traffic, Conversation Rate, and Average gift), with the results of some studies relating these metrics to NPAs. [31:03] Google Ad grant gives up to 10,000$ worth of free advertising, with terms. This was discussed in detail in a previous episode (Interview with Preston Cone; Facebook Ads, email copy and secrets behind the Google Ad Grant) Remarkable Quotes: [13:21] "Tangibility leads to generosity" [22:07] "The lifecycle of a donor" [26:39] "Bold is definitely better."   Contact Brady Website: www.nextafter.com LinkedIn: Brady Josephson Twitter: @bradyjosephson Brady Josephson is a charity nerd, entrepreneur, digital marketer, professor, and writer. He's on a mission to see more people giving and more causes thriving. At NextAfter, Brady focuses on business development and partnerships, content creation, and marketing. Before coming to NextAfter, Brady worked for the company he started, The Josephson Group, which founded Shift, a digital agency, and Nonprofit Supply Co., a Google Ad Grant advertising service. His work and writing have been featured in CBC, Christianity Today, NPR, and The Chronicle of Philanthropy among others. He has also been a speaker and presenter at conferences in Canada, the US, and Europe including Social Media for Nonprofits, AFP Congress, CyberGrants Conference, RaiseNow Inspire, and BBCON. Learn more about Brady's speaking here. He is also an adjunct professor at North Park University's School of Business and Nonprofit Management, contributes to The Huffington Post, is the creator of The Good Journey Pod podcast, and is founding editor of re: charity — a top nonprofit and fundraising blog. Brady began his career at Spark Ventures, a start-up non-profit doing development work in Zambia, after receiving his Masters in Nonprofit Administration. He oversaw fundraising and marketing there before moving to Opportunity International, the world's largest Christian microfinance organization, where he worked in digital fundraising and then served as National Marketing Director in Canada. Brady then helped start a digital agency working with nonprofits that eventually merged with Chimp, a technology company offering an online platform for charitable giving, where Brady worked in business development and client strategy before launching out on his own. Brady Josephson brady@nextafter.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradyjosephson/ Twitter @bradyjosephson https://www.nextafter.com/ https://www.facebook.com/NextAfterInc https://twitter.com/NextAfter_ https://www.linkedin.com/company/next-after/

In this episode of Nonprofit Architect, Travis discusses with Brady Josephson, an entrepreneur working with "Next After". They focus on core precepts of online fundraising, noting results from studies that show the wrong approaches of many nonprofit organizations to raising funds online. Listen in now and be informed Conversation Highlights [00:41] Brady explains that the concept behind "Next After" is basically to collect data, run experiments to essentially figure out what works in fundraising, and make that information accessible to nonprofit organizations [02:20] Donors lie [09:20] Takeaway #1: The Value Proposition Question; why should I give to you, as opposed to another organization, or not at all? [09:34] Takeaway #2: four perspectives from which a nonprofit organization should answer the value proposition question (Appeal, Credibility, Clarity, and Exclusivity) [13:02] Every different organization has strengths and weaknesses [13:16] Takeaway #3: As an NPO, having something more quantifiable or tangible encourages generosity [15:45] When building a scalable fundraising infrastructure, of which email is one of the strategies, you always need to start work much sooner than you think [16:47] Takeaway #4: Offline donors are worth 90% more if they get emails [17:34] Mystery Shopper Studies conducted involved signing up to receive emails from non-profit organizations over some time, to have an idea of the E-mail methods used by a majority of them. [20:22]Brady reveals that based on the results of their studies, most non-profits are not thanking their donors [21:31] Takeaway #5: The first 30-45-day window is one of the most critical times to continue engagement with a new donor, if not they may not make a second gift in 6-14 months, at which point they're gone. [24:58] Brady's advice to startup NPAs: The Culture of Fund-raising & Being proactive [29:48] He discusses the three metrics of online fundraising (Traffic, Conversation Rate, and Average gift), with the results of some studies relating these metrics to NPAs. [31:03] Google Ad grant gives up to 10,000$ worth of free advertising, with terms. This was discussed in detail in a previous episode (Interview with Preston Cone; Facebook Ads, email copy and secrets behind the Google Ad Grant) Remarkable Quotes: [13:21] "Tangibility leads to generosity" [22:07] "The lifecycle of a donor" [26:39] "Bold is definitely better."   Contact Brady Website: www.nextafter.com LinkedIn: Brady Josephson Twitter: @bradyjosephson Brady Josephson is a charity nerd, entrepreneur, digital marketer, professor, and writer. He’s on a mission to see more people giving and more causes thriving. At NextAfter, Brady focuses on business development and partnerships, content creation, and marketing. Before coming to NextAfter, Brady worked for the company he started, The Josephson Group, which founded Shift, a digital agency, and Nonprofit Supply Co., a Google Ad Grant advertising service. His work and writing have been featured in CBC, Christianity Today, NPR, and The Chronicle of Philanthropy among others. He has also been a speaker and presenter at conferences in Canada, the US, and Europe including Social Media for Nonprofits, AFP Congress, CyberGrants Conference, RaiseNow Inspire, and BBCON. Learn more about Brady’s speaking here. He is also an adjunct professor at North Park University’s School of Business and Nonprofit Management, contributes to The Huffington Post, is the creator of The Good Journey Pod podcast, and is founding editor of re: charity — a top nonprofit and fundraising blog. Brady began his career at Spark Ventures, a start-up non-profit doing development work in Zambia, after receiving his Masters in Nonprofit Administration. He oversaw fundraising and marketing there before moving to Opportunity International, the world’s largest Christian microfinance organization, where he worked in digital fundraising and then served as National Marketing Director in Canada. Brady then helped start a digital agency working with nonprofits that eventually merged with Chimp, a technology company offering an online platform for charitable giving, where Brady worked in business development and client strategy before launching out on his own. Brady Josephson brady@nextafter.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradyjosephson/ Twitter @bradyjosephson https://www.nextafter.com/ https://www.facebook.com/NextAfterInc https://twitter.com/NextAfter_ https://www.linkedin.com/company/next-after/

staerkenradar.de/gruenderlift

In this week's episode, we speak with Dennis Barsema, a founding Investor at Impact Engine and the Chairman of Northern Illinois University. He is a former Fortune 500 CEO, having led several companies in the telecommunications and technology space. He has also been a Director at many nonprofits and organizations, including Carpenter's Place, Opportunity International, Collaborative Group, and several microfinance organizations. We also recently interviewed his son, Jason Barsema. "I don't think any business can survive right now without having some kind of social purpose," says Dennis. "I think big business has an absolute ability to move the needle on social issues."For more on the podcast, see the Beyond Capital Podcast website. 

Opportunity International CEO Atul Tandon’s career has been marked by successfully conceptualizing, building, scaling and turning around some of the world’s largest, best known, and most impactful for-profit and non-profit enterprises and networks. His work spans several industries including, consumer banking, e-Commerce, consumer insights, health, and humanitarian relief and development, among others. Opportunity International designs, delivers, and scales innovative financial solutions to empower families living in extreme poverty to transform their lives and communities via sustainable livelihoods and quality education.

She is a passionate, articulate advocate for problem-solving, innovation, and effective leadership. Her mission is to inspire, equip and connect individuals and teams to seize opportunities, face challenges, and accelerate impact in their communities and places of work. She knows that everyone has more potential than they realize, that those closest to the problem understand the problem best, and that leading to unlock the potential in others and actually solve problems can result in both progress and joy. Carly shares her leadership experience and approach to problem-solving in a variety of ways. In addition to her regular speeches to students, businesses and non-profits, she is the founder and Chairman of Carly Fiorina Enterprises, and of Unlocking Potential, a non-profit organization that invests in human potential by supporting local leaders who are solving problems in their communities and places of work; equipping them with the behaviors, characteristics, disciplines and tools to increase their leadership and problem-solving capacity. Carly and her team use the experiences, stories and lessons from innovators and problem-solvers to teach practical, real-world solutions to challenges many listeners face. Carly’s experience spans from secretary to CEO, from public to private, and from for-profit to non-profit. She started out as a secretary for a nine-person real-estate business and eventually became the first woman ever to lead a Fortune 50 company. When Carly was recruited to lead Hewlett Packard (HP) in 1999, the industry was facing the worst technology recession in 25 years. Under Carly’s leadership, revenue grew, innovation tripled, growth quadrupled, and HP became the 11th largest company in the U.S. During her tenure at HP, the company received numerous civic recognitions, including being named one of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens by Business Ethics Magazine, one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers by Working Mother Magazine, receiving a 100% rating by The Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index, and being named one of the World’s Most Respected Companies by The Financial Times and PricewaterhouseCoopers. After leaving HP, Carly focused her efforts on giving back. Prior to Unlocking Potential, she served as the Chairman of Good360, the world’s largest product philanthropy organization, and as Chairman of Opportunity International, a Christian-based organization that lifts millions out of poverty around the globe through micro-finance. She also founded the One Woman Initiative in partnership with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, to engage and empower women in Pakistan, Egypt, India and the Philippines through increased access to economic opportunity. Carly was appointed by President Bush and CIA Director Michael Hayden to serve as the Chairman of the External Advisory Board of the CIA after 9/11. In this capacity, she held the highest clearances available to a civilian, and focused her efforts on CIA recruitment policies, information technology capabilities and organizational integration. In 2015, Carly launched a campaign for President. Running as a political outsider, Carly spoke about empowering and engaging citizens to take back government from a political ruling class that has failed to deliver results. There, many more Americans came to know her as a clear-eyed, direct leader capable of actually solving problems. Carly is also a best-selling author. Her titles include Tough Choices and Rising to the Challenge. Her third book Find Your Way is out now. In February 2019, Carly and The Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America began an academic partnership. Carly was appointed the Distinguished Clinical Professor in Leadership and together they are integrating Carly’s leadership and problem-solving curriculum into the business student experience.

#blackouttuesday - am 02.06.20 war die Social Media Landschaft über alle Plattformen hinweg voller schwarzer Vierecke. Ein Symbol der Solidarität mit der „Black Lives Matter“ Bewegung. Die ist zwar schon länger aktiv, hat aber durch den enormen Social Media Buzz nach dem Tod von George Floyd eine bis her nie dagewesene Anteilnahme im digitalen Raum erzeugt. Schnell hagelte es Kritik: Ein schwarzer Instagram-Feed könne doch nichts bewirken und Influencer würden hier eindeutig einem „Hype“ im Netz folgen - sich aber wenig mit dem eigentlichen Thema Rassismus auseinandersetzten. Stimmt das? Darüber habe ich mit Amaliny, einer deutschen Tech-Unternehmerin aus dem Silicon Valley gesprochen. Sie engagiert sich seit vielen Jahren sozial bei Amnesty International, Opportunity International, uvm., hat selbst 25k Follower und einen Migrationshintergrund. Wir haben über den gravierenden Unterscheid zwischen Nicht-Rassismus und Anti-Rassismus gesprochen, was on- sowie offline in den nächsten Jahren passieren muss und was wir alle außerhalb von Social Media aktiv gegen Rassismus tun können. Die Quellen habe ich alle in eine Insta Story hochgeladen. https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3ODcyMjIzNjI2NzMxMzgz?igshid=a6fh025bqsdv&story_media_id=2325387081719168633 Bei Hilfe für Influencer of Color schreib mir an jobs@babygotbusiness.com Viel Spaß beim Hören! __________ Hier findest du wertvollen Content zum Thema dieser Sendung https://www.meandwhitesupremacybook.com/ https://www.amazon.com/White-Fragility-People-About-Racism/dp/0807047414/ref=nodl_ https://www.netflix.com/title/80091741 __________ Hier findest du mehr über mich: - Website: www.akschmitz.com - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/himbeersahnetorte/?hl=de - Instagram - Baby got Business: https://www.instagram.com/babygotbusiness/?hl=de - Twitter: https://twitter.com/ak_schmitz?lang=de - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anni.cherie.3 - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ann-katrin-schmitz/?originalSubdomain=de _____ Hier findest du mehr Infos über Amaliny: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thatboheme/?hl=de

Anne deBruin Sample is an experienced business and HR leader, and the CEO and owner of Navigate Forward. Anne has an enviable track record of leading business-building transformation and developing top talent. Anne has engaged her passion for helping leaders find new destinations during times of transition. As both a Corporate client and an individual client of Navigate Forward, she is a strong believer in the power and impact of transition coaching and leadership development. In her early career Anne worked in a variety of HR and strategy roles for Whirlpool, PepsiCo, Walker Digital and Citibank. She has served as the Chief HR Officer for PepsiAmericas, SVP of Management and People Solutions at Thrivent Financial, and the Chief of People at Caribou Coffee and Bagels. Anne is a natural connector who is recognized for her ability to reframe problems, identify new solutions, manage through change and share her candid perspective. An engaging speaker, Anne is often asked to present at conferences, universities and professional events. She currently serves on Board of Directors of MyMeds, a MN-based startup that provides individuals with the digital health tools and real time data. Giving back is a top priority for Anne, as it was for the Founders. As a firm, Navigate Forward has and will continue to contribute at least 4% of corporate revenue to charitable causes in our community. When our clients land at their destination they designate the charity of their choice so that we can celebrate by making a donation in their name. Anne is personally active in several local charities including the Light of Hope Home and School for Girls in Kenya, Opportunity International, and she has been a mentor for ACES. Outside of work, you’re likely to find Anne on Lake Minnetonka or in the mountains of Colorado with her family, friends and dogs. She loves to be outside and is an avid skier, boater and hiker. She enjoys travel, entertaining and making connections. Connecting with people and helping them navigate towards a new destination inspires and motivates Anne. She shares her passion with clients, consultants and peers – always with the goal of helping people lead more fulfilling lives.

Meredith Scott is a business leader and board member with over 30 years of extensive experience at one of the world’s leading Professional Services firms, Ernst & Young. She left the company in April 2018 and became the CEO of Opportunity International.Opportunity International has one simple goal – to end poverty. And they do this by supporting microfinance organizations in developing countries such as in Indonesia, India, and The Philippines.In this episode, Meredith shares to us some inspiring stories of how microfinancing has empowered underprivileged individuals in developing countries, and how it has helped bring families and communities out of poverty.Check out the full episode!SHOW NOTES[0:01:32.6] Rapid-fire questions: reading list, who inspires you, childhood aspirations, motto you live by[0:05:28.5] Meredith’s journey from being a pre-school teacher to becoming the CEO of Opportunity International[0:12:01.5] Meredith’s long experience in working with non-profit organizations[0:13:33.1] About Opportunity International and what they do[0:18:24.6] Why offer microfinance loans to women in developing countries?[0:21:56.9] Why Opportunity International choose to support local microfinance organizations[0:28:31.9] The reason why Opportunity gives microfinance loans instead of just giving people money[0:33:02.4] Inspirational stories[0:38:11.3] Know more about Opportunity International and how you can take part in the work that they doMENTIONSThe Mother and Child Project (book)CONNECT WITH MEREDITHOpportunity International (website)LinkedIn If you like this episode of the Grow My Clinic podcast, please don't forget to like, share, comment, and give us your ratings on iTunes and Stitcher.We appreciate your support and feedback!

Marketing and Communications SpecialistsOpportunity International, Breakthrough Urban MinistriesPam Gifford graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in English and Literature from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In 1996, Gifford worked for three years at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, where she founded and edited Capital Ideas. In 1999, Gifford joined Hill and Knowlton Inc., and held the position of vice president for five years. She then worked for Hewlett-Packard for a year and a half as the Communications Director for Emerging Market Solutions. In 2006, Gifford found her way to International Justice Mission. She worked there for six years, holding the positions of Vice President of Communications, and Vice President of Corporate and Strategic Partners. Gifford is currently a Chicago Chapter founder and team member for 4word. She is also a board member of development for Glen Ellyn Infant Welfare Society. Last but not least, Pam Gifford is a strategic communications consultant at Opportunity International, Breakthrough Urban Ministries, and Pui Tak Christian School.

Carly Fiorina was the first woman to lead a Fortune 50 business when she was hired at Hewlett Packard. In her six years as Chairman and CEO, she doubled its revenues to $90 billion and quadrupled its growth to 9%. She currently serves as the Chairman of the American Conservative Union Foundation, which annually hosts CPAC, the Chairman of Good360, and the Chairman of Opportunity International. On May 4, 2015 she announced her candidacy for the 2016 Presidential Elections.

Katherine Haley is the senior director of K-12 education programs for The Philanthropy Roundtable.Prior to joining the Roundtable, Katherine spent 13 years working for members of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. Most recently, she served for seven years as the chief policy adviser for education, workforce, antipoverty, global health, and other social issues for former Speaker of the House John Boehner. Motivated by the belief that all students deserve access to a great education, Katherine was instrumental in the successful reauthorization of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. She previously served as a policy adviser and legislative assistant for Representative Pete Hoekstra, and a legislative aide for Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison.A native of Arizona, Katherine received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Duke University and her master’s degree in government from Johns Hopkins University. She serves on several boards in the Washington, D.C. area, and is actively involved with Opportunity International.Support the show (http://www.faithandlaw.org/donate)

Craig is back with another Security Thing. Today, he talks about the dangers of using Box, Dropbox, and other cloud storage services. These and more tech tips, news, and updates visit - CraigPeterson.com --- Related Articles  --- Below is a rush transcript of this segment, it might contain errors. Airing date: 04/11/2019 Dangers Of Using Box Dropbox Craig Peterson 0:05 Hey, good morning, everybody, Craig Peterson here. And of course, it's time for our It's Security Thing. Man, I have been so busy the last few weeks delivering on my cyber security course. I have to apologize because I was looking in the logs and it's been like two or three weeks since I got a security thing podcast out. So sorry about that, everybody. But today, we are going to be talking about a real danger that many businesses are facing when it comes to using software as a service. You know, it has been kind of build as a panacea for everybody that, hey, listen, you don't have to worry about your servers, your file servers, your employees, etc. Just use this cloud service. That's what software as a service is. Instead of buying some software and having to run it yourself, all you have to do is stick it up in the cloud. And once it's up in the cloud, my goodness, then you got professionals who know what they're doing that are going to keep all of your data safe, and hopefully keep your data backed up and keep the software up to date. Right? It's just wonderful. In reality, that's not the case. And there's a great article that I put up on my website this week, that's talking about security professionals, IT professionals saying the biggest threat that they have is, drumroll please, internal users. And the reason they're saying its own user basis and biggest threat is because they just are not educated enough. And you know, they're not IT professionals. Well, even if you are an IT professional, what we're going to talk about right now is a problem that dozens, probably hundreds of companies. But now this researcher found dozens, it's called Adversus is the cybersecurity firm, found dozens of companies that had misconfigured their Box account. Now Box is used by many companies, we use it ourselves, we use it for communicating with clients, we haven't set up for other clients. Now, we've kind of switched from Box to Dropbox because I like the integration better. But still, some of our clients are using Box. And these security researchers found that many people who are part of these corporate accounts on Box, Box calls them their enterprise accounts, have been sharing files. Well, you know, isn't that part of the purpose of using Dropbox or Box to be able to share files with other people within the organization and outside of the organization? That I do it all of the time? And the answer is yes. Obviously, that's one of the purposes of using Box. Craig 2:58 But by default. What are your settings when you create this link to share? Because once you've created this link, if you use default settings, that link can be used by anyone inside or outside your company to be able to access the information. So what you have to do and this is true in Google Docs, have you noticed this before? If you have a Google document or a file in Google Drive, and you share it, you do have the option to change the default. So by default, it's anyone with the link can view for instance, in Google Docs, and you can change it to they can they can edit it. I think that there's a third option to remember what it is right now. But you can change those settings. But by default, it's view. Well, in the case of Box here, and they may be changing this, but they have found that the default in Box allows anyone to be able to view the data that is shared with the link, which is not terrible, right. But here's your problem. We've got now Singapore Airlines that we found online a link to their Box account, and you're able to get in there change reservations that were booked with Amadeus. Apple, with several folders exposed containing what appeared to be non sensitive internal data such as logs and regional price lists. Craig 4:33 Oh that's not sensitive right? Craig 4:35 Reading from the article here that you can find on my website down on TechCrunch where it originated. Discovery Network had more than a dozen folders, Edelman. I've worked with them many times it booked many guests on my radio show hundreds. That's a big public relations firm had an entire project proposal for working with New York City mass transit divisions, including all of their detailed proposal plans more than a dozen resumes, a potential staff for the project, including their names, email address, phone numbers, etc. Herbalife left several folders exposed continuing files and spreadsheets on about 100,000 customers, including names email addresses, phone numbers. Opportunity International, this is a nonprofit, exposed a massive spreadsheet list of donor names, addresses and account information amount given. Schneider Electric Pointe Claire, United Tissue Network, I'm not going to go through all of these will just kind of stop there. But my goodness gracious. Craig 5:38 So how do you stop this from happening because you do want to be able to share, that's part of the purpose of these things like Box and Dropbox? Well, there is a default setting for your business. When you're in there. Make sure the default setting is to share with internal company users by default. So that someone if they want to share it outside of the company has to purposely change the setting to share that file or that folder with someone outside of your company's account, your Box account or Dropbox account. Now this actually now reveals another potential security problem and that is that you could have someone for instance, I've seen this before. A sales guy, I hate to keep picking on sales guys, but sales guy who shared a whole folder of all of the company's customers, all of their contact information, all of their purchases, payment records, everything, he shared it with his personal email address, and then ended up leaving the company within about I think was a week. Isn't that surprising. Well, isn't that special. And so now he had all of the company's information, of course, he ended up getting sued over this whole thing, that company figured out what it happened. Which means, again, if you're an IT professional, make sure these sharing sites are configured to only share by default internally. Make sure also you audit what's being shared and with whom, because the enterprise additions from Box and Dropbox both give you that option. You might even want to tie it in with an API into an internal database where you record the logs, you save them and you analyze them. And then make sure you educate your internal user base about some of the risks of sharing these files. And for everyone out there, remember that just because it's software as a service, and it's a cloud service, whether it's Microsoft, Google, or in this case Box, remember that they are maybe professionals, but their number one concern and priority is not your data. And if you don't get in high enough level of service with them, you might be completely out of luck. And this is something I see all of the time. You know, we'll put a proposal and say okay, here's what we're going to do for you going to provide you because you want to move to the cloud, we can provide you with Microsoft email and, and the Office 365. So you can run all the Office apps on all your devices and link it together. And they come back and they said no, thanks. We're all set. And then we find out later on, they just went and bought a regular subscription to Office 365. And it wasn't doing backups. And it didn't have data locked down. It didn't have restrictions on it. And it didn't have the right kind of filters and they ended up getting compromised because they didn't know what they were doing. And Microsoft just doesn't care about you, frankly, they just don't. You are a number to them. And you think when they're billing you 20 bucks a month, they're going to pay me much attention to you. The answer is No. Of course not. Craig 9:04 So anyhow, keep an eye out. Be careful out there. Software as a Service, Cloud Services is not a panacea. And most IT department surveyed in this country say that it is right now their number one concern. So take care, pay attention. Craig 9:24 You know, It's a Security Thing. And I'll probably be back tomorrow I think I'm going to be able to carve out a little time to do recording for you for Friday, because every day there's another security breach. This is another recent one by the way, eighth of March this came out. So about a month old. Craig 9:40 Take care everybody. Bye Bye. Thanks for listening. --- More stories and tech updates at: www.craigpeterson.com Don't miss an episode from Craig. Subscribe and give us a rating: www.craigpeterson.com/itunes Message Input: Message #techtalk Follow me on Twitter for the latest in tech at: www.twitter.com/craigpeterson For questions, call or text: 855-385-5553

Eric Thurman is the author of Thrive in Retirement, a book about how to age gracefully and have a meaningful life after retirement. In the past, Eric was a journalist with CBS, owned a television production company, planted churches and other ministry organizations, and led efforts to fight poverty as CEO of Hope International and Opportunity International. In his own retirement, Eric Thurman has now focused his attention on helping adults over 50 who are looking for direction.

“The definition of leadership is credibility plus vision” - Dennis Barsema Dennis Barsema was previously the President and CEO of Redback Networks, where he led the company through rapid growth and one of the most successful IPOs in Wall Street history. Dennis has more than 30 years of executive experience in telecommunications, software, and optical networking. Dennis is the current Chairman of the Northern Illinois University Foundation and he has been a director on numerous non-profit boards, including Oportunidad Microfinanzas of Mexico, Se Mas (a microfinance institution) of Mexico, NEST (St. Louis), Collaboration Group, and Carpenters Place of Rockford, Illinois. He is also an advisor to the non-profit, microfinance organization, Opportunity International in Oak Brook, Illinois, Panzanzee, and the School of Business at Northern Illinois University, and is a past advisor to the School of Business at Santa Clara University in San Jose, California. 7:22 Overcoming a stutter 9:20 How Dennis got into the tech space 12:00 Most important mentors + role models. 14:32 Lessons learned from Dennis's upbringing 15:00 Definition of leadership is credibility plus vision 19:11 Dennis's first entrepreneurial experience 36:00 Keeping bridges unburned. 40:00 How to keep fear from making your decisions. 48:00 5th most successful IPO in the history of US companies 56:00 Biggest unfair advantages 1:02:00 Next opportunity after Redback - Blue Lane 1:09:00 The folly of pride 1:10:00 Live where your purpose is 1:17:43 How do you get people to like you? 1:18:50 How do you build your reputation? 1:23:00 What makes a great salesperson? 1:26:00 What do you want your legacy to be? 1:27:30 Quinton's True Takeaways

Atul Tandon joins Lisa to share how his story intersects with Opportunity International and how a spice grinder and small loan changed the world.

Weand're talking to Christian charity Opportunity International about their upcoming Great Australian Curry Campaign drawing attention to breaking the poverty cycle in nations like India. Help Vision to keep 'Connecting Faith to Life': https://vision.org.au/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Deyl Kearin returns to the Runified Podcast (previously on episode 16) after completing the Grand to Grand Ultra, a six-stage, 170-mile race, starting at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona and finishing at the Grand Staircase in Utah. Deyl talks about this amazing running experience and how he uses his ability to run to improve the lives of others through Run4Poverty and Opportunity International. Opportunity International helps people in third world countries by providing significant microfinance loans. Deyl talks about how his family, friends, donors, training partners, and a random stranger Jonathan, all made his race possible. He also talks about how running ultra marathons for others enables him to connect with and help people around the world through the money he raises. Deyl would love to have others join him with Run4Poverty, so please, reach out to Deyl if you have any interest in using your running for something bigger than yourself. You can reach Deyl at dkearin@gmail.com.

We are joined by Deyl Kearin who tells us about how he went from being a one-and-done marathoner to literally running across the Sahara desert. Deyl will also tell us why he runs and let us know about his next race, Grand to Grand, which he’ll be running when this episode is released. For Deyl, from running a marathon to running ultra marathons, he has really learned to enjoy the experience and run for something bigger than himself. Deyl has used his ability to run to raise money for an amazing charity called Opportunity International through an effort he started called Run4Poverty. We’ll talk with Deyl about this and let you know how you can get involved and help people in 3rd world countries by providing significant microfinance loans through Opportunity International. Please consider heading over to Run4Poverty.org to learn more about Deyl’s endeavours and to donate.   This episode is hosted by Matt Sorenson and is sponsored by goodr. Use code “runified2016” at playgoodr.com for a special Runified discount and to help support Runified and our running podcast!   Runified’s Website, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter Opportunity International, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter

Latitude is a for-profit creative agency, powered by purpose. In November, 2009, Krista and her husband were in their 30s and, as she told me, “chasing the American dream really hard.” They were being financially successful, but lacked a level of meaning and purpose. It was during a trip to Haiti that they witnessed extreme poverty for the first time. In response to this life-changing experience, they decided to form a social enterprise. In order to avoid debt, Krista, her husband and two small children moved into her parents’ basement. Their company, Latitude is a for-profit, full service creative agency. They do amazingly great work in brand design and experience design. What makes Latitude unique is that they donate 50% of their profits to help women and children in the developing world. They work primarily with three nonprofit partners in 18 countries. They have been able to direct $2.7 million to trusted nonprofits. Through International Justice Mission, they have rescued over 2,600 people from sex trafficking and slavery. They have partnered with Healing Haiti to build a medical and dental clinic. They have built homes and an orphanage. Through their work, over 13 million gallons of clean water has been delivered. They have partnered with Opportunity International to fund several thousand microloans for women entrepreneurs. They also partnered with Opportunity International on an entrepreneurial High School in Nicaragua. Several hundred students have attended. They have provided food through Feed My Starving Children. They partnered with Matter on equipping clinics in Honduras and Mongolia. They have provided desks and supplies to schools for girls in Afghanistan. Quotes from Krista Carroll on Being Powered by Purpose “You need to know how to set people up for success.” “We looked at these children who were so similar to our own children. The only difference was that they were born in a different latitude and longitude in which opportunity was scarce.” “We have to win our business on being excellent providers.” “We have had virtually zero turnover with our clients.” “There’s no room for anything less than excellence and sustainability.” “The partnership between a for-profit and a nonprofit challenges each of us to think holistically.” “It’s a constant process of poking holes in your own plans.” “As a CEO, I’ve come to terms with being misunderstood at times.” “One unexpected benefit of being a company that is powered by purpose has been the incredible talent that we have attracted.” “Limit your debt and limit the complexity.” “Use the gifts you’ve been given to empower those who have not been given as much.” Social Entrepreneurship Resources: Latitude: http://latitudeelevates.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/latitudeforgood Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/workwithlatitude

In this week’s episode hear how men and women can work together to achieve liberation, what the Brexit is doing to world markets and how Trading Game is raising micro-finance loans to lift families out of poverty in the developing world.   Market Wrap - Pete Armstrong It is all about the Brexit.  Will Britain leave the European Union? As the referendum captivates the world, how does this affect world markets?     A Warning For Female Traders – Mindpower ‘She who makes the gold makes the rules.’ Louise Bedford’s Grandmother. Louise’s parents were poor, her mother didn’t have a winter coat, they ate potatoes to save money. Louise knew she wanted to earn her own money and be in control. And she is, but how far have women really pushed through? A study in Australia the US and Holland has uncovered that a woman’s success at a task negatively affects the self-esteem of her male partner. It seems that although women have achieved liberation they have not achieved equality… yet. Ladies: keep pushing forward and help your men adjust for you for now and for the next generation.   Opportunity International CEO Robert Dunn Traders are a funny bunch… often they feel that they are not contributing something concrete to society.  The best traders are those who have achieved balance in their lives and giving to charity is a great way to achieve equilibrium. Since 2002 Louise Bedford, Chris Tate and members of their Mentor Program have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Opportunity International and in this interview you hear why it is important. Hear about Lorna in the Philippines. She started a dress making business and now employs three other people.  Hear how ‘The Egg Lady’ in the slums of Delhi makes a fantastic profit on hard-boiling eggs. Trading Game Mentorees have a goal to raise $10,000 for micro finance loans and they are only $1,300 away from that goal. June is the best time of year to get a tax deduction for giving. Get on board. Change the world. Leave a legacy. Make a difference. Click here to donate: https://au.opportunity.org/fundraisers/thetradinggame2016

Opportunity International a microfinance group likes to go where others don't to start banks when ”nobody in their right mind was thinking you could ” says David Simms former head of the U.S. unit. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Click Here for the resources from our interview with Brian Watson The More You Give The More You Will Receive Brain Watson grew up in the Western Slopes of Colorado loving anything to do with the outdoors. He came from a family of entrepreneurs and real estate construction was a part of that. When going to college, he chose real estate as his career path and after 7 years as a nationwide broker, he started his own company, North Star Commercial Partners. He has always wanted to make an impact and communicate with individuals that may not normally know about faith, and that is what North Star has allowed him to do. “When I was young, my parents told me that, “You’re a blessed person if you can have an impact in one life. And you might be fortunate to have an impact in many lives, thousands of lives, but focus on the one.”” –Brian Watson With North Star he is able to buy vacant real estate and create jobs and opportunities for people. He has always had the philosophy that the more you give across the table, the more you will receive. He is a part of many non-profits and has started his own foundation in order to do just that. “I think giving, like anything in life, is a learned trait.” -Brian Watson You Will Learn How to make a positive impact in the community you are in, in the lives you are touching right now How to have a life well lived How to apply your business skills to give your time and treasure to non-profits How to equip the current and next generation of leaders How to give from a cheerful place The process of giving How to bring your faith and your heart into day to day interactions Resources www.brianwatson.us Opportunity Coalition Podcast Bio Brian Watson is the Founder and CEO of the privately held commercial real estate investment organization, Northstar Commercial Partners. After graduating from Olathe High School on the Western Slope of Colorado, Mr. Watson received a Bachelor of Science degree in Real Estate from the University of Colorado at Boulder.  Mr. Watson then joined Cushman & Wakefield of Colorado, Inc. (C&W), an international commercial real estate firm. During his seven-year tenure at this firm, Mr. Watson had the distinction of being the youngest broker in company history to qualify for a Directorship title, which was a direct result of his consistent high production and comprehensive understanding of commercial real estate. Though Mr. Watson performed tenant representation, he primarily focused on landlord representation for the majority of his career at C&W. He represented clients such as Lend Lease Real Estate, CarrAmerica Realty LP, P&O Investments/Denver Technological Center, Mission Viejo Companies, Shea Properties, Terrabrook, ERE/Yarmouth and acted as agent for two major Colorado office parks, Highlands Ranch and Stonegate. Mr. Watson also received C&W's prestigious Service Excellence Award for his superior ability to handle complex, high value transactions. Mr. Watson's extensive education and experience in the real estate industry has been instrumental to the success of Northstar Commercial Partners. Mr. Watson has positioned Northstar as one of the primary acquirers of vacant and/or value-add properties in markets throughout the United States.  The company focuses on buying these assets from lenders, corporations, and other owners, improving these assets and placing them back into productivity to create jobs and opportunities in their local communities. Mr. Watson currently serves as the President of the Leadership Program of the Rockies 2015 Class; a Board Member of the Colorado Commission on Family Medicine for the 6th Congressional District of Colorado appointed by the Governor of Colorado; a Leadership Council Member for the Colorado NFIB (National Federation of Independent Business); a member of The Leadership Program of the Rockies Class of 2015; a member of The Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry (CACI), which is the Colorado State Chamber of Commerce; and a member of the Chairman’s Roundtable while serving on the Energy and Environment Council and the Governmental Affairs Council; an A-List Member of CXO (a private collaborative executive organization of influence that connects C-level executives and owners of companies throughout the world); and is Founder and CEO of the Opportunity Coalition, which promotes collaboration among the people of Colorado and new business startups to create quality jobs throughout Colorado. Mr. Watson has also served as a Board Member and active supporter of TAPS (the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors) for those who have lost loved ones in U.S. Military Service; the Chairman of the Finance Committee for the Colorado Republican Party; a Member of the Board of Governors and President's Council for Opportunity International (one of the world's largest microfinance lenders providing loans to individual entrepreneurs in the developing world); an Executive Committee Member of the International Board of Directors for Mercy Ships (the world's largest non-profit medical hospital on a traveling ship, which performs over 60,000 annual life changing surgeries for free in Africa); a Republican delegate for his County, Congressional, and State political assemblies; a Board Member and President of Brokers Benefiting Kids (a Denver based non-profit that raises financial support for multiple children's charities in Colorado); a Member of the Metro Denver Executive Club; a Member of the Legacy Political organization; a Member of the Citywide Banks Advisory Board; a Member of the Republican Business Advisory Council; Chairman of the Advisory Board for the Alliance for Choice in Education (ACE Scholarships - a Denver based non-profit that provides educational scholarships and school choice programs for low-income kids grades K-12); Chairman of The Board of Directors and a mentor for Save Our Youth (a Denver-based inner city youth mentoring program); and a Member and President of the Downtowner's Toastmasters Club. Mr. Watson is a supporter of his local Christian church, resides in Greenwood Village, Colorado with his wife and two children, and has another child in college. He is passionate about creating opportunity for all citizens of Colorado and the United States, and works to enhance the business, political, and educational environments in each.

Bill Henderson and Brian Tramontana talk about documentary photography in Rwanda and Uganda. Brian was on assignment for Opportunity International in both countries. 

Market Wrap - WITH CHRIS TATE Get the expert wrap on why the Aussie market is stuck in a sideways band but at the same time the US market is performing. What has caused the lull in our markets and what do we need to swoop us higher? Hear what Chris is trading and his advice for traders this week.   Adrienne Toghraie Internationally renown trading coach and best selling author Adrienne Toghraie shares The Ugly Truth of Trading Mindset Crimes and how to cultivate a winner’s state of mind. With over 24 years of experience training elite professionals, Adrienne explains why taking losses in the markets is so damn hard and how you can beat the cesspool of self-sabotage. Find out what elite performers do to achieve the results they desire. I know you want to find out more about Adrienne. Go to her website: http://www.tradingontarget.com/ right now to see how she can give you fantastic free trading resources so you can perform at your peak. Adrienne's coaching is world acclaimed. To register for Adrienne's free newsletter, click here: http://www.tradingontarget.com/newsletter.html For the first 5 Talking Trading listeners who register for that newsletter, you'll receive a free copy of Adrienne's e-book. Get in quick and you'll be a winner!   Louise Bedford - Mindpower Start with the end in mind and make decisions not from where you are now but from where you want to be. Success is a combination of thinking the right way and doing the right things.     Trivia and Opportunity International Also hear about the highest paid share of stock in history in Trading Trivia and get the news of our target success with Opportunity International (our favourite charity).     To download the mp3 file to your computer, right-click on the ‘Download’ link and choose ‘Save target as…’ or ‘Save link as…’ and save the podcast to a suitable location on your local drive.   Additional Music by Kevin MacLeod http://www.incompetech.com

Hear the inspiring story of Amina Mendez and how a small loan of $123- transformed her life, her family, and unleashed her dreams.

Host Phalana Tiller talks with a wide variety of participants at the 2013 Omidyar Network Executive Forum. Guests include: Premal Shah of Kiva.org, Bob Pilon of One.org, South African poet G.O., Chris and David Mikkelsen of Refugees United, Kiva Borrower June Hardin, David Wachtel of Endeavor Global, David Simms of Opportunity International and Adam Rifkin of PandaWhale. And Forbes online columnist Rick Wartzman delivers a piece on Google Glass.

Janet Yeo is an ambassador for Opportunity International, a ministry that offers micro-finance loans to the poor. She shares her story of her conversion to Christ mainly through the Alpha course, and  being set-free from addictions and the launch of her new ministry, New Hope Care.

Peter Thorrington has donated his time, talent and treasure to Opportunity International since 1990. He joined the Opportunity International-US Board in 2004 and is now Chairman of the Board of Directors. Peter’s interest in Africa has added value to Opportunity’s operations in Mozam-bique and South Africa. He serves on the board of Banco Oportunidade de Mozambique and Opportunity Finance in South Africa, and is a member of the Opportunity International President’s Council. Prior to working with Opportunity International, Peter served as Presi-dent and Chief Operating Officer at UTi Worldwide Inc (UTIW) where he had been a director since its formation. The company went public on NASDAQ in 2000. He has held previously many other positions includ-ing joint chief executive of BAX Global Inc, president of WTC Interna-tional Inc, co founder and managing director of Rand Freight Ltd in South Africa. Peter received a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Cape Town and a Bachelor’s of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Natal, both in South Africa. Peter is a member of Life Covenant Church and serves as a Trustee of Westmont College.

Peter Thorrington has donated his time, talent and treasure to Opportunity International since 1990. He joined the Opportunity International-US Board in 2004 and is now Chairman of the Board of Directors. Peter’s interest in Africa has added value to Opportunity’s operations in Mozam-bique and South Africa. He serves on the board of Banco Oportunidade de Mozambique and Opportunity Finance in South Africa, and is a member of the Opportunity International President’s Council. Prior to working with Opportunity International, Peter served as Presi-dent and Chief Operating Officer at UTi Worldwide Inc (UTIW) where he had been a director since its formation. The company went public on NASDAQ in 2000. He has held previously many other positions includ-ing joint chief executive of BAX Global Inc, president of WTC Interna-tional Inc, co founder and managing director of Rand Freight Ltd in South Africa. Peter received a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Cape Town and a Bachelor’s of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Natal, both in South Africa. Peter is a member of Life Covenant Church and serves as a Trustee of Westmont College.

Roger Voorhies, Founder and Former CEO, OIBM talks about the bank’s institution building, the bank’s experience with technology - cards, m-banking, ATMs, and whether the OIBM experience can be replicated in other regions.

Roger Voorhies talks about the biggest challenges and natural advantages of doing microfinance in Africa. He also introduces the history of OIBM, one of the leading microfinance banks on the continent. 

Interview with John Kamperschroer Vice President of Marketing Opportunity International on international partnerships

Interview with John Kamperschroer Vice President of Marketing Opportunity International on microfinancing & technology