Podcasts about triplepundit

I'm not a financial advisor; Superpowers for Good should not be considered investment advice. Seek counsel before making investment decisions.Watch the show on television by downloading the e360tv channel app to your Roku, AppleTV or AmazonFireTV. You can also see it on YouTube.When you purchase an item, launch a campaign or create an investment account after clicking a link here, we may earn a fee. Engage to support our work.Has your business been impacted by the recent fires? Apply now for a chance to receive one of 10 free tickets to SuperCrowdLA on May 2nd and 3rd and gain the tools to rebuild and grow!Devin: What is your superpower?Craig: I think my superpower is empathic awareness and the ability to kind of perceive what others are thinking.Investing has long been a game reserved for the elite, but Craig Jonas is working to change that. As the founder and CEO of CoPeace Capital, he's on a mission to use investing as a force for good, ensuring that more people—especially those historically excluded from wealth-building opportunities—can participate in equity investing.“Many communities have not had the access to growing their wealth through equity investing,” Craig explained. “And the crowdfunding platforms allow that to happen.”CoPeace, a Certified B Corporation and Public Benefit Corporation, has been actively raising capital from the crowd, successfully leveraging Regulation Crowdfunding to fuel its impact-driven investments. By embracing this approach, CoPeace is not only funding its own growth but also identifying promising companies that align with its mission. The company has already invested in businesses focused on sustainable infrastructure and social impact, proving that financial returns and positive change can coexist.Craig emphasized that success in impact crowdfunding isn't automatic—it requires effort, strategy, and community engagement. “The number one learning is that it's not magic. It takes work to develop the crowd that might want to invest in what you're doing.”A common misconception about impact investing is that it requires sacrificing returns. Craig challenges that notion, pointing out that market-based returns are not only possible but often stronger when companies prioritize sustainability and long-term value creation. “Not only are we seeing kind of market-based returns, but the data is showing that it is a good business decision to care about the future of our world,” he said.With plans to launch a larger fund, CoPeace Capital is expanding its ability to invest in high-impact businesses while continuing to make equity investing more accessible. Craig's leadership in this space demonstrates that with the right approach, anyone can leverage capital to drive meaningful change.For those looking to align their investments with their values, CoPeace offers a compelling example of how financial success and social impact can go hand in hand.tl;dr:* Craig Jonas, CEO of CoPeace Capital, discusses using impact investing to democratize access to wealth-building opportunities.* He shares insights from CoPeace's successful Regulation Crowdfunding campaign and how it supports mission-aligned businesses.* Craig challenges the misconception that impact investing requires sacrificing financial returns, highlighting data that supports market-based gains.* He explains his superpower, empathic awareness, and how it shapes his leadership and investment strategies.* Craig offers practical advice for developing empathic awareness, emphasizing active listening, reflection, and immersing oneself in diverse environments.How to Develop Empathic Awareness As a SuperpowerCraig's superpower is empathic awareness—the ability to perceive and deeply understand the emotions and perspectives of others.Craig describes this skill as an essential part of navigating the impact investing space. "I think my superpower is empathic awareness and the ability to kind of perceive what others are thinking," he shared. By listening intently to stakeholders, investors, and the communities CoPeace serves, Craig ensures that their needs and concerns shape the company's mission and strategy.One powerful example of Craig's empathic awareness took place during his time as a basketball coach in post-apartheid South Africa. Selected as the first American coach to work in the townships, he recalls sensing the fear and hesitation in the eyes of young players as he entered their community. By being present, acknowledging their lived experiences, and creating a space of mutual trust, he fostered a meaningful connection that made the basketball clinic not only a success but also a transformational moment for everyone involved.Craig believes that developing empathic awareness requires intentional effort. His tips include:* Pause and Reflect: Before reacting, take an extra moment to consider the perspectives of others.* Engage in New Environments: Step outside your comfort zone by immersing yourself in different cultures and communities.* Observe Role Models: Identify and learn from individuals who demonstrate deep empathy in their interactions.* Listen Actively: Focus on understanding rather than responding—allow people to share their experiences fully.By following Craig's example and advice, you can make empathic awareness a skill. With practice and effort, you could make it a superpower that enables you to do more good in the world.Remember, however, that research into success suggests that building on your own superpowers is more important than creating new ones or overcoming weaknesses. You do you!Guest ProfileCraig Jonas (he/him):CEO, CoPeace CapitalAbout CoPeace Capital: Our mission is to drive measurable and sustainable impact on our world and the people who live in it by funding and fostering growth-stage ventures in Healthcare and Sport: Investing as a force for good.Website: copeace.comX/Twitter Handle: @CoPeaceLinkTree: linktr.ee/CoPeaceOther URL: invest.svx.us/offering/copcop2/Biographical Information: Craig Jonas is a seasoned entrepreneur with over 30 years of leadership experience across business, academics, and athletics. As the founder of CoPeace, he built a mission-driven holding company focused on sustainable investments and democratizing access to equity. Previously, he served as COO of Basketball Travelers and BTI Events, managing global sports events, and held leadership roles at Sportvision and Coach's Edge. Craig holds a doctorate in conflict management from the University of Kansas and has been featured in Forbes, Worth, and Triple Pundit. He lives in Colorado with his wife, Seanna, and their dog, Fergus.BluSky Handle: @jonascopeace.bsky.socialPersonal Facebook Profile: fb.com/craig.jonas.77Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/craigjonas/Instagram Handle: @CoPeacePBCSupport Our SponsorsOur generous sponsors make our work possible, serving impact investors, social entrepreneurs, community builders and diverse founders. Today's advertisers include FundingHope, Imotobank Dealership, Crowdfunding Made Simple and SuperCrowdLA. Learn more about advertising with us here.Max-Impact MembersThe following Max-Impact Members provide valuable financial support:Carol Fineagan, Independent Consultant | Lory Moore, Lory Moore Law | Marcia Brinton, High Desert Gear | Paul Lovejoy, Stakeholder Enterprise | Pearl Wright, Global Changemaker | Ralf Mandt, Next Pitch | Scott Thorpe, Philanthropist | Add Your Name HereUpcoming SuperCrowd Event CalendarIf a location is not noted, the events below are virtual.* Superpowers for Good Live Pitch – Where Innovation Meets Impact! Join us on March 12, 2025, for the Q1-25 live pitch event, streaming on e360tv, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. Watch impact-driven startups pitch their bold ideas, connect with investors, and drive positive change. Don't miss this chance to witness innovation in action!* Impact Cherub Club Meeting hosted by The Super Crowd, Inc., a public benefit corporation, on March 18, 2024, at 1:00 PM Eastern. Each month, the Club meets to review new offerings for investment consideration and to conduct due diligence on previously screened deals. To join the Impact Cherub Club, become an Impact Member of the SuperCrowd.* SuperCrowdHour, March 19, 2025, at 1:00 PM Eastern. Devin Thorpe will be leading a session on "How to Build a VC-Style Impact Crowdfunding Portfolio," sharing expert insights on diversifying investments, identifying high-potential impact ventures, and leveraging crowdfunding for both financial and social returns. Whether you're an experienced investor or just getting started, this is a must-attend! Don't miss it!* SuperCrowdLA: we're going to be live in Santa Monica, California, May 1-3. Plan to join us for a major, in-person event focused on scaling impact. Sponsored by Digital Niche Agency, ProActive Real Estate and others. This will be a can't-miss event. Has your business been impacted by the recent fires? Apply now for a chance to receive one of 10 free tickets to SuperCrowdLA on May 2nd and 3rd and gain the tools to rebuild and grow!Community Event Calendar* Successful Funding with Karl Dakin, Tuesdays at 10:00 AM ET - Click on Events* Capital Raise Strategies for Purpose Driven Enterprises, hosted by PathLight Law, February 25 at 1:00 PM ET.* Kingscrowd Meet UP in San Francisco, CA - February 27th at 5:30 PM PT* Igniting Community Capital to Build Outdoor Recreation Communities, Crowdfund Better, Thursdays, March 20 & 27, April 3 & 10, 2025, at 1:00 PM ET.* NC3 Changing the Paradigm: Mobilizing Community Investment Funds, March 7, 2025* Asheville Neighborhood Economics, April 1-2, 2-25.* Regulated Investment Crowdfunding Summit 2025, Crowdfunding Professional Association, Washington DC, October 21-22, 2025.Call for community action:* Please show your support for a tax credit for investments made via Regulation Crowdfunding, benefitting both the investors and the small businesses that receive the investments. Learn more here.If you would like to submit an event for us to share with the 9,000+ changemakers, investors and entrepreneurs who are members of the SuperCrowd, click here.We use AI to help us write compelling recaps of each episode. Get full access to Superpowers for Good at www.superpowers4good.com/subscribe

Erik Distler is responsible for overseeing AEG Sustainability, the organization's corporate sustainability program. In this capacity, he focuses on global strategies and tactics that address operational impacts and capture and measure data across key environmental metrics, such as greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, and waste reduction. He also supports AEG's global business units in the implementation and execution of sustainability initiatives, manages external partnerships related to sustainability, facilitates the sharing of best practices, and ensures that sustainability is a source of value across the company. Distler has worked at the intersection of environmental and social responsibility in sports and entertainment for more than ten years. Before joining AEG, he built and led the sports-focused sustainability strategy and program at Nike. Prior to Nike, he was with the Green Sports Alliance where he oversaw relationships with corporate partners, live entertainment events, professional sports leagues and clubs, sports governing bodies, and collegiate schools and conferences, as well as working extensively with ESPN. He also spent time as a sustainability consultant with PwC. Distler began his career in accounting and finance, where he worked for Deloitte and The Siegfried Group LLP for the first seven years of his career. He received his Master of Public Administration (MPA) in Sustainable Management from Presidio Graduate School and his Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Finance from Iowa State University, graduating with Honors and High Distinction.. Erik Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: How AEG manages sustainability at large events like music festivals Piloting initiatives at smaller events to apply learnings and replicate at larger events Incorporating reusable materials at events in partnership with Our World Advice and recommendations for sustainability professionals Erik's Final Five Questions Responses: What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? I would say have as many conversations as you can. Sustainability departments are often departments and functions that are in service to the business. We tend to operate as internal consultants. So how can we be everywhere at the same time? How can we ensure that every part of the business has the opportunity to build sustainability into their work? How do we consult to provide subject matter expertise to the business? The work we do within the department is measurement and data and setting sustainability targets and all that kind of exists within our function. But it all starts with having conversations. I wouldn't be afraid to sit down with someone and ask them more questions than provide statements on how they feel, how they perceive sustainability, where they feel as though it's working, where it's not working, what can we do more of that really helped build out our sustainability strategy. Do a little bit of a needs assessment on what stakeholders and partners value. The only other thing I'd say too secondary is, don't be afraid to start somewhere. I think we often feel as though the challenges we're up against are audacious and global and all encompassing, and they are. It can sometimes feel like we're out at sea against a massive challenge on our own  when we think of climate issues. That can freeze one up. It can stifle movement. You can feel like, "well, what can I do? I can't possibly make a difference." It's amazing what just taking one small step can lead to. There's been this kind of backlash against incrementalism in the space, like we need big changes, not incremental changes, but I don't know that I agree with that. I think an incremental quick change that you can grow on and iterate from can turn into something very big. So don't be afraid to start somewhere. Start with something that you can measure, for sure. But have those conversations and turn those small steps into big steps. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? There's a lot to be excited about. When realizing the gravity of the issue that we're facing, I think it's important to find sources of encouragement and hopefulness. There's really no other way. There's a line by Walt Kelly from his pogo comic strip many years ago that says, “we are confronted with insurmountable opportunities.” I use that and refer to that a lot. Try to figure out what is the opportunity in front of us and be optimistic about it. I think there's an excitement around the external forces. They're becoming louder and more influential, and that's encouraging. Our fans, our partners, our sponsors, our artists and entertainers. There's more of a voice and more influence that is being laid upon us and expected from us. I think collaboration is increasing cross-sector research companies that are competitive coming together in a pre-competitive way. Higher education institutions are pulling us in to do research that will help us in our business. We're seeing a lot of that. There's also a healthy kind of push, pull and engagement among our partners and sponsors. There's that untapped space with partnerships and sponsorships where it's determining inventory and the assets and how sustainability can be valued and monetized, but the conversations that we're having with partners or potential partners around shared goals, targets, aspirations, and what we can do together to help achieve our individual sustainability goals, kind of matches up. There's a lot of energy and excitement around that. What is one book you would recommend sustainability leaders read? One is Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows. It's a book that'll retrain your brain to consider the interconnectedness of literally everything around you. And then Natural Capitalism by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins and L. Hunter Lovins. It's that seminal book on environmental economics. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? I read Green Bizz, 3BL and Triple Pundit. We get a lot of resources from our longtime partner, Schneider Electric. We've worked with them for many years and they have webinars and lots of sessions and thought leadership that we use a lot. I also keep up on the guidance from the GHG protocol, the EPA, the UN. In our space in particular, there are two organizations that are co- holding up the movement, Green Sports Alliance on the sports side and a more newly formed music sustainability alliance on the music side. We look to these two entities to hold and convene us, and there's a lot of good research and thinking coming out of those orgs as well. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the work being done at AEG? Our website, aegworldwide.com. There's an About Us dropdown at the top, and we have a somewhat newly revamped sustainability page and more changes coming. We're building out a microsite off that page when we have our next generation sustainability goals finalized. We'll have all that good stuff up there. We also have case studies or what we call sustainability stories up on that page. Also under About Us, you can read about our social impact and DEI functions as well. We have a Twitter account, we recently rebranded it from AEG One Earth to the handle, @AEGSustain or the account name, AEG sustainability. We're trying to get information up there. And of course, LinkedIn is a great place to reach out to myself or anyone from our sustainability team.

Devin: What do you see as your superpower?Craig: I played college basketball, and then I really didn't know what I was going to do when I grew up. So I became a college basketball coach, and I was a very young head college basketball coach. I think my superpower is the ability to lead and motivate teams. I think that the ability to coach translated into business. As I look at my superpower, I think it is the ability to lead in an authentic way that that people can believe in and get behind.Craig Jonas is the founder and CEO of an innovative impact investment vehicle open to ordinary investors. He set up CoPeace as a holding company rather than a venture fund, enabling him to sell shares via Regulation Crowdfunding. The company's current round is now available on Wefunder.Regulation Crowdfunding specifically bars venture funds or blind pools from using this exemption from full registration, but the holding company structure is allowed.An independent selection committee approved CoPeace to pitch at the SuperCrowd23 NC3 Impact Crowdfunding Live pitch session. The live pitch sessions will be a highlight of the virtual conference. The final deadline for applications to pitch remains open until April 30.Superpowers for Good readers are eligible for half-price tickets. Early bird pricing also ends April 30. Register now!AI Summary* Craig Jonas is the founder and CEO of CoPeace, a company that invests in impactful businesses.* CoPeace offers equity investing and services such as finance and marketing to help companies grow.* The company is currently running a Wefunder campaign to raise capital.* CoPeace has eight holdings, including Uncharted Power.* Jonas believes his superpower is leading and motivating teams, influenced by his experience as a college basketball coach.* He has helped start companies, including the team that invented the virtual yellow line in American football.* Jonas emphasizes the importance of empathy and being an authentic leader as a changemaker.* CoPeace.com is the company's website for more information and social media links.Craig explains the CoPeace business model as a “miniature Berkshire Hathaway.”“As a holding company, we have a little bit of an asset allocation dictated by the SEC,” he says. “So, like Berkshire Hathaway, 40 percent of our assets can be deployed in companies that are not majority holders, and 60 percent or more have to be in companies that we have 50 percent or more voting shares.”The structure is essential for allowing the company to achieve one of its core objectives: allowing ordinary investors to participate in a professionally managed impact investing business.Craig points out an irony that is prevalent in the impact investing world. “Impact investing, which is intended to invest in things that are more inclusive, has not been inclusive on the opportunity to be participating.”For the offering currently underway, Craig explains that they are conducting parallel offerings as allowed under SEC rules, raising both on WeFunder for ordinary investors and via a Regulation D 506 c offering that can be announced publicly but only allows wealthy or “accredited” investors to participate.Craig explained the company's decision to use a $100 minimum investment for this crowdfunding round:We have like 425 people now on our cap table, and we're in a platform that charges us every year to have these people in our cap table. So there's a balance there between making sure it's accessible and weighing the costs. But for us, we just wanted more people involved. So, we thought that the benefit of that outweighed the fact that there were going to be some costs down the road. Then, that community can be our champions, and they can cheer us on and help spread the word.Over his career, Craig has developed team leadership as a superpower.How to Develop Team Leadership As a SuperpowerCraig has been leveraging the leadership skills he developed as an athlete and a basketball coach throughout his business career. He shared an example of how that has led to some significant success:Several things that we've done have been deemed impossible. I mean, when we created the glowing blue puck in hockey, for example, nobody thought that technology would be possible. It was a very difficult challenge. Our engineering team and the rest of our group were able to generate this technology for broadcast television, and then that became the virtual yellow line.If you're like me, you find it difficult to imagine watching a football game without the virtual lines indicating the line of scrimmage and the line to gain for a first down. That was a massive win in my book.Craig suggests that the key to leadership for changemakers is empathy, noting, however, that it is harder to do than to say.One key, he suggests, is to intentionally make time to “understand yourself, your team, your ecosystem and how they are interrelated and affect one another.”By following Craig's example and counsel, you can increase your empathy, improving your leadership skills, potentially enabling them to become a superpower that empowers you to do more good in the world.Superpowers for Good is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber.Guest-Provided ProfileCraig Jonas (he/him):Founder and CEO, CoPeace PBCAbout CoPeace PBC: CoPeace helps impactful companies grow. As an impact-driven holding company, CoPeace is building a portfolio of carefully selected businesses with measurable social and environmental impact. Additionally, CoPeace provides a variety of consulting services to organizations demonstrating positive social or environmental impact.As a fully certified B Corp and public-benefit corporation (PBC), CoPeace is committed to acting morally, ethically, and responsibly in regard to society and the environment. Equity, inclusion, and justice are not just valued at CoPeace – they are pillars supporting our mission.Website: copeace.comTwitter Handle: twitter.com/copeaceCompany Facebook Page: fb.com/CoPeacePBCBiographical Information: Craig is a lifelong entrepreneur with a history of success across the fields of business, academics, and athletics. He has over 30 years of experience in management with a passion for team-building and drawing individuals with big ideas together. Craig founded CoPeace in 2018, put together a highly-talented team and board, and quickly helped CoPeace achieve Certified B Corp. and Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) status. He launched CoPeace's holding company with strong initial investments in sustainable infrastructure and impact-related services. In order to democratize access to the equity game, Craig spurred the creation of a successful crowdfunding investment vehicle. He has been featured in Forbes, Worth, Triple Pundit and numerous other publications and outlets and is a frequent guest on investing-related podcasts.Prior to CoPeace, Craig served as COO of Basketball Travelers and BTI Events, an elite sports event management and media conglomerate. In this role, he supervised international sporting events and tours worldwide. He served as the head or deputy head of the American delegation for the Summer and Winter World University Games from 2007-17. Previously, Craig served as vice president for business development for the broadcast media technology firm, Sportvision, best known for bringing revolutionary visual enhancements to live sports broadcasts, including American football's yellow first-down line and baseball's strike zone. Prior to Sportvision, Craig served as the executive vice president of Coach's Edge and helped initiate its $100-million merger with Sportvision. Craig earned his doctorate in conflict management from the University of Kansas, where he also taught leadership, marketing, and management courses. Craig earned a bachelor's degree from Carleton College in Minnesota and completed a master's degree at Colorado State University. He is the father of two sons and lives with his wife, Seanna, and dog, Fergus, in Colorado.Twitter Handle: twitter.com/DocJay45Personal Facebook Profile: fb.com/craig.jonas.77Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/craigjonas/Instagram Handle: instagram.com/copeacepbc/Other URL: wefunder.com/copeace Get full access to Superpowers for Good at devinthorpe.substack.com/subscribe

Ahh…so it begins. The barrage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday emails and now SMS appears to be the hallmark of the Holiday season. In the 2000s national chains such as Walmart, Target, and Best Buy found a way to take advantage of this timing as a marketing moment to kick off holiday shopping–setting record sales numbers year after year by focusing deals in small time windows or "events."But times are changing. Glossy reports “Brands are saying goodbye to Black Friday,” due to a shift in customer values. Yes, Black Friday has continued to wane from its heyday but let's not kid ourselves, the trend has more to do with shifts in the retail landscape than customer values. Black Friday is a marketing event that no longer holds the value it once did for retailers. What has changed is the growth in e-commerce and constant access to deals, making this once-limited event, less effective as a marketing event. Make no mistake, we are shopping MORE every year, regardless of changing values. 92 million tonnes of textile waste are produced globally every year, according to Punch. But very few people think about where all these textiles go.The answer: West Africa. The majority of the US and European excess textiles and unwanted clothing is “donated” to African countries and the volume of these imports is mounting to unimaginable levels as stated in Vogue. Today, less than 12% of all fashion waste is recycled with the majority being burned and buried overseas where it is sold, out of sight out of mind. This reality is getting worse with fashion waste increasing by 50% at the end of this decade.While there are no silver bullets to eliminate the real cost of overproduction, as Impakter points out this week “people purchasing brand new items for every occasion are perpetuating this system – secondhand shopping slows this cycle.” An item sold for the second time most often replaces the sale of a newly made item, hence lessening production as nobody wants to make items that don't sell. Triple Pundit supported this trend in their coverage of Secondhand Sunday as the latest in retail holidays. In a recent Deloitte study, 48% of retail executives plan to offer resale directly to their customers. While I'm not sure if Secondhand Sunday will become the next Black Friday for retail, every brand should be looking to sell their brand items as many times as possible.So, given this, should Vestiaire ban fast fashion? This is the question Vogue raised in their article, “Should resale sites ban fast fashion? It's complicated”. On one hand, the more items we can get additional use out of the better, and on the other hand, fast fashion resale may continue to perpetuate the model. My take… good on Vestiaire for creating a 3-year sustainability strategy, good publicity, and good economics which I respect. However, their ultimate decision won't matter at all in the world of growing fast fashion–this part is just smart marketing.Where I really appreciate Vestiaire's stance is in legislation. As the sustainability crisis escalates, at some point legislation will pass some "tax" on end-of-use. Brands with resale programs will be best equipped to take advantage of this new landscape; the ones yet to address this important area will fall further behind.The So What+Brands will inevitably be asked to address production growth as part of their sustainability strategy as legislation intervenes in pervasive fashion waste.+There is a real cost of fashion and there is no farm where items go on to live a happy life.Resources:Brands are saying goodbye to Black FridayGlossyBlack Friday is falling out of fashion, based on consumer values and behavior. The discounting holiday that was once consolidated into Black Friday has grown for many brands to be an event spanning at least two weeks. The discounts themselves, therefore, tend to be less compelling. What's more, the whole idea of the holiday conflicts with the emerging conscious consumers' values.Should resale sites ban fast fashion? It's complicatedVogue BusinessVestiaire Collective bans fast fashion items from being sold on its peer-to-peer resale platform. Documenting a trip to Ghana, the Vestiarie team witnessed the magnitude of unwanted textiles and “donated” clothes consuming west Africa. The ban presented as a sustainability play to crack down on waste raises questions on how circular business models should handle pervasive fast fashion.What If Buying Used Clothes Was as Easy as Buying New?BloombergFinding exactly the type of clothing you want or need secondhand can be a slog. A new company called Beni aims to make the process easier by suggesting used items while a customer is shopping online for new ones. The goal, says Beni Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Sarah Pinner, is to make buying resale “as easy as buying new, so buying new isn't just the default.”Secondhand Sunday is Fashion's Latest Initiative in the Rise of ResaleTriple PunditFirst came Black Friday. Eventually Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday arrived. But what about the Sunday after Thanksgiving? Online marketplace Poshmark has the answer: Secondhand Sunday, a new holiday dedicated to “supporting secondhand sellers, circular fashion, and the planet.” Poshmark is calling on people to buy used instead of new on Nov. 27 and to share their finds on social media with the hashtag #SecondhandSunday. Second-hand clothes from the West pose environmental challenges in Africa – ExpertsPunchPlastic waste and oil are not the only contributors to the worrying global waste problem. Clothes are too. Several data undisputedly allude to the fact that developing countries in Africa are large importers of used clothes and face the problem of clothing waste. An international trade data organization, The Observatory of Economic Complexity, pegged Nigeria as one of the top five importers of used clothing with an annual fee of $124M. Earth.org reports that 92 million tonnes of textiles waste are produced globally, every year. This implies that a truck full of unwanted clothing ends up on landfill sites every day. As the trend of fast fashion continues, textile waste is expected to soar by 50 percent by 2030.The Pros and Cons of Vintage ShoppingImpakterVintage and consignment shops support sustainability by promoting the resale and reuse of long-lasting items instead of alternatively throwing them away. Secondhand shopping and thrifting are keys to Earth's future. We've reached the point where new production is unnecessary. Our planet is riddled with goods we don't even use. Many items are overproduced and end up in landfills as quickly as they were assembled. People purchasing brand-new items for every occasion are perpetuating this system – secondhand shopping slows this cycle.The Stretched Scope of Secondhand: Clothing and MoreImpakterThere was a time when yard sales were our main vessel of resale but luckily, technological advancements have obliterated previous limitations. The internet alone has stretched the scope of the secondhand industry. We now have the technology to sell our trash and buy another person's treasure from the comfort of our own homes. Cell phone apps, reselling websites, and social media have increased secondhand transactions and clothing isn't the only thing people are buying.LVMH Launches Curated Archive Platform HeristoriaWWDPARIS — LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton has launched Heristoria, a platform of archival and historical pieces. The platform aims to find treasures within the company's maisons and launch special sales of unique items, each paired with experiences and services. “Heristoria reflects our passion for beautiful stories. Only a group like LVMH has the capacity to bring such a diversity of iconic heritage items under one umbrella; objects that are the ongoing expression of our maisons' know-how,” said LVMH group managing director Toni Belloni.

About the Podcast The Stevens Group has been presenting the PR Masters Series Podcast for more than two years now.  This series is part of the ongoing partnership between The Stevens Group and CommPRO to bring to PR, digital/interactive and marketing communications agencies the wisdom of those who have reached the top of the PR profession.  Today's special guest is Helen C.  Shelton, Global Chief Diversity Officer at Finn Partners.     About Our Guest Helen C. Shelton is the Global Chief Diversity Officer at Finn Partners. She created the firm's award-winning Actions Speak Louder program in service to its 1,300 employees and strategic partners around the world to advance DEI at Finn Partners and for its clients across multiple business sectors. At FINN, Helen leads a 100-person DEI Committee, managing four strategic pillars: Inclusion and Employee Engagement; Volunteerism and Civic Engagement; Recruitment and Higher Education; and Thought Leadership. In addition, Helen is head of multicultural marketing and is responsible for consumer engaging programs for a variety of sectors, with a particular expertise in health, technology and consumer goods.  Helen is a passionate and dedicated DEI strategist, serving as a trusted point of counsel for corporations and brands facing DEI challenges and crises both internally and externally. She works tirelessly in the industry not only to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in both the corporate and non-profit sectors, but also to advance important causes, ranging from health and education disparities, domestic violence, voter education and access to the arts and culture for underserved communities. , disparate unemployment, health disparities and disease awareness initiatives.  Named one of the 25 Most Influential Black Women in Business by The Network Journal magazine, Helen is a 2021 inductee into the PR Week Hall of Femme, Trustee of the PRSA Foundation and a Director of the New York Urban League.  She is a member of the social service women's organization, The Links, and a Charter Member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. Helen is a graduate of Dartmouth College and holds an M.S. degree from Boston University. She is featured in the seminal book, Diverse Voices and regularly writes about DEI in industry trades, most recently PR News and Triple Pundit. Helen is a native New Yorker, and in her spare time enjoys Italian cinema, museums, reading and cooking.

About the Podcast The Stevens Group has been presenting the PR Masters Series Podcast for more than two years now.  This series is part of the ongoing partnership between The Stevens Group and CommPRO to bring to PR, digital/interactive and marketing communications agencies the wisdom of those who have reached the top of the PR profession.  Today's special guest is Helen C.  Shelton, Global Chief Diversity Officer at Finn Partners.     About Our Guest Helen C. Shelton is the Global Chief Diversity Officer at Finn Partners. She created the firm's award-winning Actions Speak Louder program in service to its 1,300 employees and strategic partners around the world to advance DEI at Finn Partners and for its clients across multiple business sectors. At FINN, Helen leads a 100-person DEI Committee, managing four strategic pillars: Inclusion and Employee Engagement; Volunteerism and Civic Engagement; Recruitment and Higher Education; and Thought Leadership. In addition, Helen is head of multicultural marketing and is responsible for consumer engaging programs for a variety of sectors, with a particular expertise in health, technology and consumer goods.  Helen is a passionate and dedicated DEI strategist, serving as a trusted point of counsel for corporations and brands facing DEI challenges and crises both internally and externally. She works tirelessly in the industry not only to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in both the corporate and non-profit sectors, but also to advance important causes, ranging from health and education disparities, domestic violence, voter education and access to the arts and culture for underserved communities. , disparate unemployment, health disparities and disease awareness initiatives.  Named one of the 25 Most Influential Black Women in Business by The Network Journal magazine, Helen is a 2021 inductee into the PR Week Hall of Femme, Trustee of the PRSA Foundation and a Director of the New York Urban League.  She is a member of the social service women's organization, The Links, and a Charter Member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. Helen is a graduate of Dartmouth College and holds an M.S. degree from Boston University. She is featured in the seminal book, Diverse Voices and regularly writes about DEI in industry trades, most recently PR News and Triple Pundit. Helen is a native New Yorker, and in her spare time enjoys Italian cinema, museums, reading and cooking.

Are your clothes made where you live? Where does the cloth come from? Shannon and I dive into some of the sustainability questions that you should ask when starting a clothing business. As the founder and CEO of Factory45, Shannon has worked with Idea-stage entrepreneurs to launch clothing companies that are ethically and sustainably made across the globe. Shannon got her start in 2010 when she co-founded {r}evolution apparel, a sustainable clothing company for female travelers and minimalists that was featured in The New York Times, Forbes.com, and Yahoo! News. To date, Shannon has worked with over 150 entrepreneurs in the sustainable fashion space, many of whom have launched some of the most transparent supply chains in the fashion industry. https://factory45.co/ Shannon has worked as a consultant for crowdfunding projects that have surpassed their goal amounts by as much as 300% and has worked closely with startup apparel companies from all over the world to create ethically-made products with a focus on environmentally-friendly materials and transparent supply chains. Shannon is a strong advocate for increasing supply chain transparency through sourcing, localization, and storytelling. She's been named a thought leader for the future of fashion by Ecouterre and Triple Pundit, and she frequently writes about conscious consumerism and the intersection of fashion and environmentalism.

In this episode, you'll hear about:  Free Little Libraries — take a book, leave a book initiative to improve kids reading.Read in Color — a program to promote diversity in children's books.The importance of local projects.Craig Jonas' background.The current status of the infrastructure bill.What will it do for sustainability and equity?What opportunities will be opened for investors and entrepreneurs?CoPeace's mission of bringing impact investing to all people.Related Article:  Racial Equity in Infrastructure, a U.S. Goal, Is Left to StatesRelated Article:  New opportunities for infrastructure investorsRelated Video:  Infrastructure plan would significantly impact energy sectorLittleFreeLibrary.orgRead in ColorBooks by and/or about Black, Indigenous and People of ColorGuest Bio: Craig Jonas is a lifelong entrepreneur with a history of success across the fields of business, academics and athletics. He has over 30 years of experience in management with a passion for team-building and drawing individuals with big ideas together. Craig founded CoPeace in 2018, put together a highly-talented team and board, and quickly helped CoPeace achieve Certified B Corp. and Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) status. He launched CoPeace's holding company with strong initial investments in sustainable infrastructure and impact-related services. In order to democratize access to the equity game, Craig spurred the creation of a successful crowdfunding investment vehicle. He has been featured in Forbes, Worth, Triple Pundit and numerous other publications and outlets and is a frequent guest on investing-related podcasts.Prior to CoPeace, Craig served as COO of Basketball Travelers and BTI Events, an elite sports event management and media conglomerate. In this role, he supervised international sporting events and tours worldwide. He served as the head or deputy head of the American delegation for the Summer and Winter World University Games from 2007-17.

Hey you wild women! As the founder and CEO of FACTORY45, Shannon Lohr works with idea-stage entrepreneurs to launch clothing companies that are ethically and sustainably made.  She got her start in 2010 when she co-founded {r}evolution apparel, a sustainable clothing company for female travelers and minimalists that was featured in The New York Times, Forbes.com and Yahoo! News. To date, Shannon has worked with over 250 entrepreneurs in the sustainable fashion space, many of whom have gone on to launch some of the most transparent supply chains in the fashion industry. Shannon has worked as a consultant for crowdfunding projects that have surpassed their goal amounts by as much as 300%, and has worked closely with startup apparel companies from all over the world to create ethically-made products with a focus on environmentally-friendly materials and transparent supply chains. Shannon is a strong advocate for increasing supply chain transparency through sourcing, localization and storytelling. She's been named a thought leader for the future of fashion by Triple Pundit, and she writes to thousands of subscribers weekly about conscious consumerism and the intersection of fashion and environmentalism. In this episode you will learn about: Why sustainable fashion is so important today The role fashion plays in climate change What constitutes ‘sustainable fashion' How ‘fast fashion' is contributing negatively to our environment The role Gen Z plays in supporting sustainable fashion practices Common myths about starting a fashion brand (hint: you can launch a fashion brand without a ton of money) The first steps to starting a sustainable fashion brand Who is Factory 45's ideal customer? The #1 mistake new fashion brands make when launching The importance of the validation process and building your audience How to build an audience before launch Relationship building and the time investment required Why you must focus on building an email list The importance of providing value prior to ‘the ask' The role Instagram plays for fashion brands How to decide the volume of content you should be creating Your content mix and the type of content that resonates with audiences How to balance creative time with administrative tasks The best technique to spark creativity   What it means to be a wild woman:The ability to be unapologetically free to be yourself. Who I am is going to resonate with some people and not with others. And that's ok.  Resources: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/factory45co Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/factory45co/ The Factory45 accelerator program: http://factory45.co Other digital products: http://factory45.co/shop Free resources: http://factory45.co/blog Podcast: http://cleanlivingpodcast.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Renée Warren is an award-winning entrepreneur, a 7-figure business starter, and the founder of We Wild Women, a business dedicated to helping women launch their dream business. She previously founded an industry-recognized PR agency that worked with funded technology startups from South Africa to San Diego. She's a mom to Irish Twins (not planned), a published author, and a drummer. Rate, review, and subscribe on Apple Podcast "I love Into The Wild, and think it's the best thing since sliced bread."

We interview John Friedman about sustainability, trends for 2021, and why we need to be aware of the Batman / Bruce Wayne paradox in our lives and what we do. With an international career spanning 3 decades, John Friedman is an award-winning communications professional and recognized sustainability expert who has helped some of the leading global companies to integrate their operational, financial, and cultural aspirations into sustainable and responsible business practices. He has been instrumental in helping three companies, Lafarge, Sodexo and WGL Holdings rise to the top of the sustainability rankings (DJSI/RobecoSAM and MSCI) for their respective sectors; building materials, food service/facilities management and energy. He has helped define long-range (including science-based) targets, developed and tracked annual goals in support of those targets as well as managed programs relating to environmental stewardship, social progress and sound governance practices A frequent speaker at conferences and business classes, Friedman helps organizations to integrate practices including environmental stewardship, social progress and sound governance into their corporate cultures and everyday actions, helping enhance business reputation and drive results. On digital media he is recognized as a thought leader; on Triple Pundit's List of the Top 30 Sustainability Bloggers on Twitter, #3 on GreenBiz list of most influential 'twitterati', #14 on Guardian Business' 30 most influential sustainability voices in America, was voted #4 of the "100 leading voices in CSR" by Global CEO Magazine readers, and has regularly been included among the top voices in CSR by Forbes' Brandfog. An Albany State (New York) communications graduate, Friedman earned a management certificate as part of the Lafarge/Duke Management Training program at the Fuqua School of Business in 2000.

This podcast and video is an interview with Marc de Sousa Shields. Like myself, Marc is an advocate for getting more people involved in Sustainable Responsible Impact investing. He is a co-founder of the Social Investment Organization (SIO) in Canada, a former adviser to the UN and the World Bank, and contributor to corporate sustainability magazines including Triple Pundit and Sustainable Brands. Marc (as I do) believes that sustainable investing is important to moving us to a better future. He works to move investment advisors and investors towards investing in line with their values. His podcast and blog cover trends in sustainable investing, how to make your portfolio more sustainable, fossil fuel avoidance, supply chain, social value criteria. In the podcast and video interview covers: Marc's background, including why he is living in central Mexico, what motivates him and how is he trying to make an impact. Marc can be reached by email at mdess@esglobal.com, on Twitter at @csrcounts and his blog and book can be found at his web site: thesustainablecentury.net

In this episode, we talk to Leon Kaye, the executive editor of Triple Pundit, and a writer who has been covering business sustainability for over a decade.Connect with Leon on Twitter, @leonkaye, or on Instagram, @greengopost---The Social Shift Podcast is a production of Third Shift Creative.Say hello and follow us on Instagram and Twitter

To B or Not to B: A Nature Lover Turns Businesses into Benefit-Driven Brands About this episode: "[They've got some stuff] that makes good headlines on sustainability, but it is not moving many at all on the speed of urgency." - Jen Boyton, regarding her decision to "break up" with Amazon.com As a young child growing up in rustic New Hampshire, Jen Boynton discovered the joys of nature. Play for her and her siblings was dirty, lots of sticks and stones...and mud. In 2007, she helped to launch and scale Triple Pundit which grew to become one of largest sources of news and information in the sustainability and social responsibility sectors. Then in 2018, after exiting Triple Pundit, she founded BTargetedMarketing, a marketing services company based in San Diego that maximizes the localistic impacts of for-profit and non-profit brands and the people who work for them. In this podcast episode, you will discover her: Early childhood work dreams [starts at 3:00] Unconventional schooling experience [starts at 5:44] Pivot into the business world [starts at 18:49] Business philosophy for BTargetedMarketing [starts at 23:54] Breakup with Amazon [starts at 30:04] About our Guest From early on, Jen Boynton's life path aligned with nature and community. And family dinner table conversations revolved around current events and politics. Jen's passion for the natural world and social responsibility continues to this day through her innovative business, BTargetedMarketing. Jen received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Pitzer College and an MBA in Sustainable Management from the Presidio School of Management. She and her family live in San Diego, California. EPISODE DATE: November 1, 2019 Published work: Why I'm Breaking Up with Amazon Social media: Website Twitter Page Photo credits: Green Cityscape, iStock Photo; Photographic Portrait, Jen Boynton

My podcasts are planned every two weeks beginning March 16, 2019. This edition -- actually published February 26 -- is to test and obtain feedback from listeners on all aspects of its content and production. However, this podcast also contains great content! Included is a full transcript and links to all news covered and more! Podcast notes November 23, 2018 For links to all the news I’m covering today, go to my Investing for the Soul homepage. If any terms are unfamiliar to you, a good source for their definition is INVESTOPEDIA and scroll down to the very bottom to see their A-Z dictionary News 1) Green finance: a contrarian take, by Thomas Hale, November 15, 2018, FT Advisor, UK. "Renaissance’s argument thereafter is that, even if emerging markets have far lower ESG scores, directing capital their way allows for the highest overall rate of improvement, and so the greatest ethical utility. This is, unsurprisingly, an argument for more investment in EM." Points: 1) The argument presented here by Renaissance Capital, a Russian investment bank, is equivalent to the idea of investing in companies who are just beginning to engage in ESG seriously so as to take advantage of their possible rapid stock price as they're identified as a potential 'high' ESG company. As it's recognized by many investors that high ESG scoring companies also now have a premium to their stock prices. 2) Renaissance produces a wonderful graph showing how high GDP per capita is highly correlated to high ESG country scores. 3) Another quote, “As a side note, the report finds ‘virtually zero correlation’ between ESG scores and sovereign bond pricing after adjusting for per capita GDP.) Again, the argument here is that going for up and coming ESG performers in emerging countries could be a great bet for stock or bond outperformance. ------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From upstream to mainstream: ESG at a tipping point, November 15, 2018, by IN Research and Calvert, Investment News, USA. "In a year's time, the percentage of Millennials expressing a high level of interest in ESG investing jumped from 26% to 35%, advisers say, while the percentage of Gen Xers embracing ESG spiked from 16% to 25%. This is more than a generational story, however... Twenty-six percent of ultra-high-net-worth investors now show a high level of interest in ESG investing, advisers say, up from only 10% in 2017. Similarly, interest among very-high net worth investors shot from 13% to 19% in a year's time." Points: 1) These results are from a US survey of 300 advisors. The jump in numbers over just one-year is impressive. Demonstrates just how fast ESG is being accepted. 2) Somewhat interesting is that its regular advisors reporting the rapid growth. Generally, advisors have been ‘behind the curve’ regarding their positivity concerning sustainable, ESG and ethical investing. Now many are hurrying to get familiar with it! 3) Calvert, a well-known and respected ethical investing mutual fund manager was involved too. Not sure if this fact had a relevance to the conduct and results of the survey. Knowing Calvert, probably not. 4) You can download the full report here. ------------------------------------------------------------- 3) Are ESG Ratings the New Credit Rating for Stock Prices? By Ginger Szala, November 19, 2018, ThinkAdvisor, USA. "A new MSCI study of ESG ratings finds they have a similar impact on share prices as do credit ratings." Points: 1) Though to me the findings are unsurprising, it is the first study to demonstrate that ESG ratings have a similar impact to credit ratings on a company's stock price. This finding will no doubt be challenged, but comes at a time when investors everywhere are looking at the inclusion of ESG criteria in their investment research. It bodes well for the mainstreaming of ESG! 2) Many credit ratings’ agencies such as S&P, Moody’s and Fitch have long been criticized for potential significant conflicts of interest and bias. They take clients’ funds to provide new issue ratings and have historically slow to act to in changing their ratings, particularly negatively, to new circumstances! So, since ESG ratings’ companies like Sustainalytics, MSCI, RobecoSAM, etc., don’t take funds for their corporate ratings—as far as I know—they may well be even a greater indicator of corporate ‘safety’ than the credit ratings’ agencies! 3) You can download the MSCI study here. ------------------------------------------------------------- 4) Companies Leading on Disability Inclusion Outperform Peers, by Megan Amrich, November 20, 2018, TriplePundit, USA. "Accenture, in partnership with Disability:IN and the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), has released 'Getting to Equal: The Disability Inclusion Advantage.' This report looks at both the disability practices and financial performance of 140 companies over the past four years... Companies that 'embrace best practices for employing and supporting more people with disabilities in their workforces' are several times more likely to outperform their peers financially." Points: 1) This is a pioneering and worthy study. It might also be true that employees with disabilities feel they have to prove themselves and so are more productive. Hence, forward-looking companies know this and so increasingly employ individuals with disabilities? Thus, such employment is not always out of charity. 2) One has to wonder too, however, is that highly profitable companies feel they are able to hire more persons with disability because of the high profits? 3) Are such companies also aiming to create even higher reputation in the communities they serve? Subject:  What are the best ESG-Sustainable-Ethical indices? The range of indices is immense today. When I began to follow these around 2001, there were a handful globally, and mostly unknown. Today, it’s extraordinary the number of them and what they cover. The idea of these indices are that they can act as benchmarks for you to assess your own performance. Furthermore, there are numerous mutual funds and ETFs that you can be purchased that are based on them. For a good listing of them go to my page, Ethical Investing Stock and Bond Indices. Here are my favourites though. Equities Dow Jones Sustainability Index One of the oldest index families and an ethical investor’s favourite. “The family was launched in 1999 as the first global sustainability benchmark and tracks the stock performance of the world's leading companies in terms of economic, environmental and social criteria.” The DJSI data is compiled and analyzed by the Swiss organization RobecoSAM. They review some 10,000 companies!” Fossil Free Indexes(Global) "The Fossil Free Indexes are a suite of benchmarks designed for investable products that provide broad market exposure to index investors who wish to divest from fossil fuel companies. These investors are typically motivated either by a concern about unacceptable levels of climate change or by a concern about overvaluation and risk in the sector." These indices are capitalization weighted, meaning that larger companies have a bigger influence in the index; smaller companies a smaller weight. FTSE4Good Index Series and FTSE Smart Sustainability Index Series(Global) "The FTSE4Good Index Series is designed to measure the performance of companies demonstrating strong Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices. Transparent management and clearly-defined ESG criteria make FTSE4Good indices suitable tools to be used by a wide variety of market participants when creating or assessing responsible investment products." FTSE Russell Green Revenues Index Series(Global) "FTSE Russell’s Green Revenues (LCE) data model and Green Revenues Index Series track companies that generate green revenues – a critical component missing from current sustainability models. Now, investors can accurately identify and support their investment in companies that stand to benefit from the world’s transition to a green economy with consistent, transparent data and indexes." I really like the concept of this index with it’s scoring based on green revenues! That means industries such as tobacco, won’t score highly, whereas in other ESG-sustainable-ethical indices, they could! MSCI ESG Indices(Global) "With 40 years of expertise in index construction and maintenance, MSCI aims to set new standards for ESG indices – allowing clients to more effectively benchmark ESG investment performance, issue index-based ESG investment products, as well as to manage, measure and report on their compliance with ESG mandates." NASDAQ Green Economy Indices What I like about these are that there’re separate indices for various types of alternative energy sectors, such as solar and wind plus indices focusing on water services and products. (Global) "NASDAQ OMX offers a complete family of indexes tracking the growing environmental and clean-energy sector, also known as the 'Green Economy.' Green Economy is the shift of economic development towards sustainable practices in business and infrastructure..." S&P Dow Jones ESG Indices They truly offer something for almost any sustainable-ethically oriented investor! Canada—Equities Jantzi Social Index(JSI) I’ve known Michael Jantzi, whose firm established this index, since the 1990s. He is head of and founded, Sustainalytics, one of the world’s leading ESG ratings’ agencies. (Canada) "In January 2000, Jantzi Research launched the Jantzi Social Index®, partnered with Dow Jones Indexes. The JSI, a socially screened, market capitalization-weighted common stock index modeled on the S&P/TSX 60 consists of 60 Canadian companies that pass a set of broadly based environmental, social, and governance rating criteria. The JSI has begun to generate the first definitive data on the effects of social screening on financial performance in Canada." Bonds S&P ESG Sovereign Bond index family “The S&P ESG Sovereign Bond Index family offers investors exposure to the same sovereign bonds as standard cap-weighted sovereign bond indices but tilts the country weights towards more sustainable countries, based on RobecoSAM’s” © 2019 Ron Robins, Investing for the Soul. All rights reserved.

In this episode, we explore the role of CEO activism in the social enterprise. Today, CEOs are taking a public stand—not just for shareholders but also for employees, customers, the environment, and the communities they serve. Our guest, Nick Aster, founder of TriplePundit, discusses why it’s more important than ever for CEOs to take a stand on social responsibility. How can CEOs effectively navigate the often blurry line between saying enough and saying too much? And what are the risks and rewards they face? Join us as we dig in to the many facets of CEO activism.

Erik Distler is the Director of Partnerships for the Green Sports Alliance. In his role, Erik has internal and external facing responsibilities, including organizational management and strategy, business development, and oversight of members and partnerships, in addition to leading the organization's strategic partnerships and collaborations, most significantly with ESPN and various professional sports leagues.   Prior to joining the Green Sports Alliance, Erik was most recently with PwC as a consultant within the firm's Sustainable Business Solutions advisory practice. Erik's experience prior to PwC includes business development, management, accounting & finance consulting and public accounting.   Erik Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: The sustainability movement in professional sports Getting athletes to become sustainability advocates 2026 World Cup North America and sustainability Advice and recommendations for sustainability leaders Erik's Final Five Responses: What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? The advice I would give is to remain flexible and strategic around how you embrace or create opportunities for yourself. So, we are building the plane as we fly it in this space of sustainability. It's often that the jobs individuals have in sustainability were created by someone being inside of an organization who saw an opportunity to establish this new focus for their organization, and many who have roles that touch sustainability in some way, shape or form, probably contributed to establishing the job description or the role or title. So, just consider where and how you can get creative in developing and advancing in this space and creating opportunities, not only for yourself, but for others who are coming out of school or have passion in doing a career change and ultimately want to contribute to effecting change in the space. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? I'm just so thankful and appreciative of the ability to do the work we do and get to connect on a daily basis with the sports industry and all of those who are in the stadiums, at the venues, at the league level in colleges and universities that are doing the hard work, rolling up their sleeves and doing the work. We get the pleasure of being able to tell the stories and inspire others to do the work as well, but I'm always humbled by how hard and how dedicated the people are that are in this space. So, I feel a great sense of gratitude to all those who are out there on the front line, so to speak, leading this work. From an excitement standpoint, the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup, obviously the united bid across the three countries and the LA 2028 Olympics. Having the eyes of the world on this continent and on this country is a great opportunity for us to advance and drive and affect change in this space. What is one book you would recommend sustainability leaders read? I have to go back to my graduate school days. Thinking In Systems by Donella Meadows. It was one of the foundational reads for our program and it really addresses a core tenant of sustainability, that systems thinking model. I reference the book consistently in my work today. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in the work that you do? I try to keep up on sustainability news as much as I can. So GreenBiz, Triple Pundit, Sports Business Journal. Really using some of the thought leadership and the insight that's coming out of what is happening in and around this plane as we're building it. So it's all sort of happening in front of us on a daily basis and there's various partners of ours, such as associations and groups we work with, that are constantly putting out new ways of thinking and new ways of advancing the focus that we have in this space. So I try to keep myself well read in my free time. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the work that you're leading at the Green Sports Alliance. Check out our website, greensportsalliance.org. We also have active social media presence across Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, Instagram. We are constantly pushing out stories of the work our members and partners are doing, and that's part of our focus on amplifying and spreading the word of this great sports greening movement that we get to work in.

Similar to the vision for The School For Humanity, the “triple bottom line” of sustainability as a foundation for Triple Pundit strive to be an example of how business can be used to make the world a better place.  Founder and CEO, Nick Aster shares more about the 3P philosophy of creating one of the web's leading sources of news and ideas to further the conversation about People, Planet and Profit. With over 6 million unique annual page views, they cover topics ranging from global water and energy challenges to social justice and economic equality, sustainable food to corporate social responsibility, and much more! Get a taste of these kind of conversations with Nick Aster, here on episode #42 of The School For Humanity. - - - - - For more information on Triple Pundit, visit: www.triplepundit.com    

Similar to the vision for The School For Humanity, the “triple bottom line” of sustainability as a foundation for Triple Pundit strive to be an example of how business can be used to make the world a better place.  Founder and CEO, Nick Aster shares more about the 3P philosophy of creating one of the web's leading sources of news and ideas to further the conversation about People, Planet and Profit. With over 6 million unique annual page views, they cover topics ranging from global water and energy challenges to social justice and economic equality, sustainable food to corporate social responsibility, and much more! Get a taste of these kind of conversations with Nick Aster, here on episode #42 of The School For Humanity. - - - - - For more information on Triple Pundit, visit: www.triplepundit.com    

Henk Campher Challenge conventional thinking – with 20 years of global experience, Henk is known as a disruptive and creative expert in the communications, brand, social impact and sustainability space. He’s had the pleasure of working on some of the coolest award-winning corporate campaigns and developing strategic solutions with companies such Starbucks, Levi’s, Best Buy, Timberland, Tiffany’s, REI, Abbott Labs, Samsung, Kellogg's, The North Face, SC Johnson, J&J, Unilever and Nestlé.  He has been bridging the world of nerds (social impact, purpose & sustainability experts) and flirts (brand & communication whizzes) thanks to being part of team Fenton, leading social impact and purpose work at Allison + Partners and Edelman, his time in the UK as an Oxfam campaigner, and his South African roots as an African development worker, trade unionist and creator of the Nelson Mandela initiated Proudly South African campaign.  He was named as one of the Top 30 CSR Pros to Follow in 2015 by Triple Pundit, Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior (he is now a judge for the award) and The Guardian’s Top 15 Sustainable Business Executives on Twitter.  Henk is a regular writer for the Huffington Post, Triple Pundit and CSRWire, a frequent speaker at conferences, and a Twitter junkie: @AngryAfrican. He is a member of Team Net Impact for Super Bowl 50. His Dō Sustainability book Creating a Sustainable Brand: A Guide to Growing the Sustainability Top Line was published in April 2014. In this episode, the following topics are discussed: Product impact vs. CSR — the crossroads Supply chain measured, but overlooking the impact of the product itself Three product buckets: makes the world better, makes world worse, or blah bucket Most products are not essential Ranking is overlooking impact The right measurement tools Measurement has made us oblivious to how consumers react to products — creative and instinct A challenge to corporations is embracing human nature Why is Disney ranked 100, and a cigarette company ranked 6? The important of honesty, or speaking about the white elephant in the room Methodology problem about indexes The vision of sustainability at SalesForce — at the heart is reinvention The launch of philanthropy cloud — helping employees contribute  to the causes Equality related to gender pay Attention on Inequality Best place to work — as a B2B company You can’t have innovation if people don’t love working for a company NOTES and RESOURCES Henk Campher Salesforce Sustainability 2018 100 Best Corporate Citizens David Grayson — Everybody’s Business @salesforce ABOUT PHILIP BEERE Philip is host of Corporate Sustainability; the podcast that explores companies and people who inspire innovation, improvement, and sustainable business practices through purpose-driven missions and initiatives. Philip is a longtime marketer, who consults companies on how to use stories and narrative to help build their brands.  He says sustainability stories are one of the most powerful ways companies can manage their reputations. Connect with him by clicking here.  

Marc de Sousa-Shields is an international sustainable development and investment consultant. He co-founded and was first Executive Director of the Social Investment Organization (SIO) of Canada. He has been an advisor to the United Nations and was a Member of the US Social Investment Forum International Committee. He wrote Sustainable and Responsible Investment in Emerging Markets for the World Bank-International Finance Corporation and led a USAID project on Transitions to Private Capital. He has written for leading online corporate sustainability magazines including Triple Pundit and Sustainable Brands and is author of The Sustainable Century by Design or Disaster (forthcoming), TheSustainableCentury.net blog, and the Sustainable Century Podcast. The hardest things he has done are convincing his mother-in-law to make social investments and organic urban gardening in a semi-tropical climate. He has worked and traveled in over 80 countries and when not on the road, Marc lives in Mexico. Show notes by show producer/podcastologist: Danielle Taylor     Connect with Marc de Sousa-Shields Twitter: @csrcounts Book: Invest Like You Give a Damn Blog: http://www.thesustainablecentury.net/ Email: mdess@esglobal.com   Reach The Nice Guys Here: Doug- @DJDoug Strickland- @NiceGuyonBiz     Nice Guys Sponsor: Interview Valet is the  best podcast booking service. They are the leader in Podcast Interview Marketing to help you easily turn listeners into leads.   Nice Guys Links Support the podcast at www.Patreon.com/NiceGuys Subscribe to the Podcast Niceguysonbusiness.com TurnkeyPodcast.com - You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. Podcast Production, Concept to Launch Book Doug and/or Strick as a speaker at your upcoming event. Amazon #1 Best selling book Nice Guys Finish First. Doug's Business Building Bootcamp (10 Module Course) Survey: Take our short survey so The Nice Guys know what you like.   Partner Links: Amazon.com: Click before buying anything. Help support the podcast. Interview Valet:  Get interviewed on top podcasts and share your message. Acuity Scheduling: Stop wasting time going back and forth scheduling appointments Social Quant - Boost your Twitter following the right way. Targeted reach   Promise Statement: To provide an experience that is entertaining and adds value to your life. Never underestimate the Power of Nice.

Bob Willard is a leading expert on quantifying the business value of sustainability strategies. He has given over a thousand presentations, has authored six books, and provides extensive resources for sustainability champions. He serves on the boards of Forum for the Future U.S. and the Future-Fit Foundation.  Bob joins Sustainable Nation to discuss: Selling the business case for sustainability Communicating sustainability benefits The B Corp movement Learning from decades of experience in corporate sustainability Tips and advice for sustainability professionals What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? Find an issue that you really care about and find an organization that you can partner with to have a lot of leverage on doing something about that issue but start with something that you really care about. It could be a social issue, it could be an environmental issue. You've got to have some energy around that at a personal level or you'll just get worn down and you need to be able to recharge your batteries by recommitting to something that you really care about for whatever reason. And then don't try to do it yourself. Partner with other people and increase your ability to make things happen. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability and regenerative development? The point that gives me hope is amazingly simple. It's the dramatic plummet in the cost of renewable energy where it's in many jurisdictions on a par with fossil fuels. So that's fantastic. It makes this transition off fossil fuels much more attractive than it was five or 10 years ago. And combined with that is the requirement for companies to be more transparent about their carbon footprint, led by investors and bankers who say that they need to know that in order to make a more informed decision about whether they want to put their money into a company, and it's not only the companies footprint, but it's supply chain or value chain footprint as well. So it's those two things, the drop in renewable energy and the demand for more transparency from investors and bankers, and they have a lot of influence on the mindset of businesses. What is one book you would recommend sustainability professionals read? I need to pick one that's not mine. Andrew Winston is an incredible author on the subject of the business relevance of sustainability. His original book, Green to Gold that he coauthored. I'd put at the top of my list. There are a couple that are a bit older, the Ecology of Commerce, that Paul Hawken wrote many years ago. His prose is as close to poetry as you can imagine. And he's just so good at expressing the obvious in terms of trying to get your attention. So those two books, Natural Capitalism is a bible for me. The one that Amory Lovins and Hunter Lovins and Paul Hawken wrote there. I've got a library surrounding me right now that are just phenomenal books. So, I'll stop there, but there's no lack of really, really good stuff in it there. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in the work that you do? I subscribed to a bunch of news clip services, Triple Pundit and Green Bizz, whole bunch of those. And that to me is a daily window into what's moving and shaking out there on the sustainability and business front. So, I use them as a lens as to what reports I want to drill down into what a book I want to take another look at what websites I want to track down. So, to me it's that window that's the most important resource. It's the news clips that gives you a nice little soundbite as to what's going on and then you can decide which of those are most relevant to the projects that you're working on at the time, Sustainable Brands, Environmental Leader, all excellent resources that give daily emails and all that great information on what's happening. I think there were about a dozen, I should probably check this out before this call, but there's a better, doesn't that I subscribed to and it doesn't take long. Just take a quick look at them, see which ones are of interest to you and it's a great reminder of how much is going on out there. It's very energizing. Yeah. And finally, where can our listeners go to learn more about you and your work? That's pretty straight forward the website to help people do that. So sustainabilityadvantage.com is my website. That gives a brief overview of the six books that I've written gives you a sense of some of the other resources that are available, some of the spreadsheets, some of the dashboards, some of the videos, most of which are free, uh, cause I really do think we need to be able to make it easier for people to access tools that are going to hopefully be useful to them. and, um, uh, yeah, that's a, that's a pretty good window into who I am, what I do, um, and resources that may be useful to people in, uh, in the work that they're doing.  

Engaging, enlightening and entertaining interviews with innovators and leaders in energy, clean tech and sustainability – featuring mostly women. Green Connections Radio helps you “live green, work green, earn green.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jennifer Boynton, Editor in Chief, TriplePundit, Editorial Director, 3BLmedia speaks out on the gender gap and why it's important that business make a concerted effort to close it.  Also we she shares how the gap differs across the globe.  This program is a production of KBMF 102.5 Butte America Radio and underwritten by Purse for the People

In episode 67 of Conscious Chatter, Kestrel welcomes the founder of Luna Zorro, Molly Berry, to the show. As you may have heard, the below quote from Molly has come up in past episodes, when discussing the balance between working with artisans and sharing that story: It seems to me that the word 'empower' has become a marketing buzz word for many companies to pull the heart strings of the consumer, sometimes to the point of exploitation, manipulating images or stories and convincing people that their single purchase is "changing a life". I work directly with indigenous, Mayan weavers everyday. I need them as much as they need me to make this business work. We stand in a global marketplace together. This is not a charity case and I am not simply "doing them a favor". We are partners. We are creating and designing things by hand and maintaining an ancient tradition that has been all but entirely replaced by machines. Molly shares her wild and crazy adventures that eventually led her to founding Luna Zorro. Kestrel and Molly also discuss the differences / potential overlaps between artisan made and ethical manufacturing, inspired by a question Harper Poe of Proud Mary asked Kestrel in the past. Here's a big-time WOW number that came up in the conversation: According to Triple Pundit, the global artisan market is estimated to be worth $34 billion, and it’s just continuing to grow more. So, it’s probably a good idea that larger companies continue to take note of the global talent in this sector. Another element that wove its way into the conversation was the importance of aesthetics, photography, and style in the marketing and selling of artisan made goods. For Molly, this is hugely important and it 100% shows through as you scroll through the Luna Zorro Instagram feed.

Subscribe to America Adapts on Itunes In this traveling episode, Doug Parsons takes America Adapts on the road to sunny Ft. Lauderdale, Florida! Doug was invited as press to cover the inaugural Companies vs Climate Change (CvCC) conference.   The purpose of the event was:  to serve as a global forum for companies of all sizes to share best practices for solving climate change with wholly justifiable business value. CvCC strives to serve as a conduit that will bring companies together to create business driven solutions to the climate crisis. This conference  was about three things: 1.Climate change; 2.How can companies address climate change? 3. How can companies collaborate to address climate change?  As you can see, it covered a lot. The city of Ft. Lauderdale was an excellent setting, embedded in the South Florida culture of adaptation.  The plenary speaker was Republican Mayor of Ft. Lauderdale, Jack Seiler.  The Mayor stressed the role businesses must play in meeting the challenges of climate change, and he noted, his city is dealing with the impacts of sea level rise first hand.  Although still a hot potato issue in other parts of the country, it was refreshing to see South Florida embrace the need to address what is happening in their own backyard (or beach).   Doug listened in to a number of interesting presentation topics:  the major airlines addressed carbon mitigation in the airline industry; resilience in the supply chain process; the role of renewable energy;  dealing with climate change under a new political administration; and developing public/private partnerships. Generally, Doug has participated in more adaptation themed conferences, but this one was a mix of mitigation and adaptation.  It was interesting to see many of the businesses try to incorporate adaptation into their already existing sustainability efforts. Terms like “triple bottom lined” were used frequently (social, economic and environmental);  terminology Doug was not accustomed to hearing in conservation oriented meetings!   Doug wandered the hallways, interviewing scientists, business people and non governmental representatives. A sampling of some of the ‘mini-podcasts’ below: Chandler Van Voorhis of Green Trees discussed: Carbon markets and tree plantings. Markets moving ahead independent of government action. Launch of new app to help offset carbon. Michael Green of the Climate Action Business Association His groups helps businesses understand the risks and opportunities with climate change. Discussed what small business leaders have already done. We discuss if adaptation/risk officers will follow the same, underappreciated path of sustainability officers. Greg Hamra of Hamra Center for Climate Solutions Discussed the Citizens Climate Lobby and its role in mitigation policy. Their efforts to engage with businesses. Doug also talked with Dr. Tiffany Troxler and Dr. Shimon Wdowinski of Florida International University, both sea level rise experts,  and conference organizer, Nick Aster, from Triple Pundit.  Listen in to the micro-podcasts to hear their perspectives on the role of ‘companies versus climate change.’ Finally, yes, most of your favorite podcasts are supported by listeners just like you! Please consider supporting this podcast by subscribing via PayPal! For more information on this podcast, visit the website at http://www.americaadapts.org and don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on Itunes.   America Adapts on Facebook!   Join the America Adapts Facebook Community Group. Check us out, we’re also on YouTube! On Twitter: @usaadapts Subscribe to America Adapts on Itunes   Doug can be contacted at americaadapts @ g mail . com .

Environmental journalism is about way more than drawing ornate landscapes in your diary (although we're sure they're beautiful!). The field covers everything from John Muir's prolific writing of the American West to the stories we hear about climate change on the news. Nick Aster of TriplePundit joins us on the second episode of our Net Impact National Conference series to explain trends in environmental journalism and how he got his start with his renowned blog. ----------------------------- SustainabilityDefined is the podcast that seeks to define sustainability, one concept (and bad joke) at a time. Hosted by Jay Siegel and Scott Breen. Each episode focuses on a single topic that helps push sustainability forward. We explain each topic with the help of an experienced pro, place it within our organizational tree, and help our listeners define what exactly sustainability is, episode by episode. We have divided our organizational tree into the following seven sectors: Energy Cities Natural Environment Transportation Business Policy Social Each episode is categorized under one of our sectors and visually depicted within our organizational tree. The more episodes we complete, the more the tree will visually define what exactly sustainability means. www.sustainabilitydefined.com

Support from TriplePundit.com, Produced and Narrated by Chuck Woodford. Written by Sonia Koetting.

Produced and narrated by Chuck Woodford. Written by Sonia Koetting. Support from TriplePundit.com

Produced and narrated by Chuck Woodford. Written by Sonia Koetting. Support from TriplePundit.com

In this episode of You University, I interview Nick Aster. Nick is a new media architect and the founder of TriplePundit.com TriplePundit.com has since grown to become one of the web's leading sources of news and ideas on how business can be used to make the world a better place. Prior to TriplePundit Nick worked for Mother Jones magazine, TreeHugger.com and earned his stripes working for Gawker Media and Moreover Technologies in the early days of blogging. Nick holds an MBA in sustainable management from the Presidio School of Management and graduated with a BA in History from Washington University in St. Louis. Ready to build your brand? Get your 15 Free Videos RIGHT NOW http://goo.gl/oDCqdL

Bring on the Business Sustainability   Introducing Nick Aster For too long sustainability was a niche topic discussed mostly by activists.  However, now there seems to be a shift in the tides where business is coming to the table to make a real impact.  One of the reasons for this is due to the hard work of people like our guest this week on the Boiling Point, Nick Aster. Nick is the founder of TriplePundit.com, which is an online business sustainability publication he started as a passion project around 10 years ago.  After completing on of the first MBA programs in the subject of business sustainability, Nick wanted to get the word out on all he had learned and on some exciting people.  Five years later, Nick was able to quit his former job and work TriplePundit.com full time.  Nick has seen the evolution of business sustainability from a niche topic to a cautious optimism as large corporations are starting to buy in and make their own impacts.  No longer does it seem that business sees activists as agitators, but now collaborators toward a better world and increased profitability.  Sure, for some of these companies it might be just great PR or lip service, but more often then not these companies are taking the issue seriously.   In this episode Greg tells us about his visit to the Sustainable Brands conference in San Diego (where he met Nick). Nick tells us why he believes there has been a change in mindset from big companies toward participating in sustainability. He tells his motivation to make an online publication like he has and about its growth to 500,000 readers a month. Nick and Greg talk about being mission based media companies. Nick also talks about an interesting conversation he had with a massive corporation at Sustainable Brands that had him greatly encouraged. Nick tells us the greatest starting places for your business to start its path toward sustainability. He also tells it why it is important to make practical impacts that are not abstract and are directly connected to you and your business. Dave appreciates how the track to sustainability could be so practical and useful to business. Greg joins the cautious celebration that businesses are really starting to jump on board with this concept.   Links - Nick's Twitter - Triple Pundit's Twitter - Triple Pundit's Website - Sign up for Triple Pundit's Newsletter  - Sustainable Brands Conference Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices