Pushing for Equity & Opportunity in the “Invisible Economy” with Ai-jen Poo

For Episode 14 of the Next Normal Podcast, Amit Bouri is joined by Solomé Lemma, executive director of Thousand Currents, to discuss how to build long-lasting, community-led initiatives to improve and “shift” the current socioeconomic system.Drawing on experiences with partners, Solomé illustrates how trusting leaders who are doing the work and trusting their communities are key to building an enabling environment that leads to transformational change. By moving focus from the result to the process, funders and investors allow organizations to think and build with an eye to the long-term. 

In Episode 13 of the Next Normal podcast, Amit Bouri welcomes Dr. Gunhild Stordalen, Founder & Executive Chair of the EAT Foundation, to discuss a vision for our food system that prioritizes health, sustainability, and nutrition for all people by default. By applying her experience as a doctor and scientist, Gunhild breaks down siloes by bringing global leaders together to co-create solutions that transform our relationship with food and lead to healthy diets, healthy people, and a healthy planet. She asserts that systemic change in the way we produce and consume food requires a “bottoms-up” approach, which begins locally but scales globally. 

This groundbreaking episode represents a first for the Next Normal podcast! In Episode 12, Amit is joined by Jo Swinson, Director of “Partners for a New Economy” and the former leader of the Liberal Democrats in the United Kingdom – making her the first Next Normal guest with a background in elected public service. In their captivating discussion, Jo paints a vivid picture of life in a re-imagined “well-being economy:” from the way our food would be produced to the way we would spend our time and make money. Leveraging her government background, Jo offers Amit her perspective on the path towards systemic change. She describes the hurdles ahead as we optimize for a more holistic purpose in our global economy.

For our newest episode of Next Normal, Amit welcomes one of the world’s leading authorities on an increasingly popular concept: regeneration. Paul Hawken, author of the brand-new book Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation, is an activist, advisor, and advocate for systemic transformation by putting regenerative principles at the center of everything we do, including in business and investment. In this episode, Paul underscores the need to “reconnect the broken strands that are an artifact of our economic system” in order to address the climate crisis. To stop stealing the future from ourselves, Paul argues that we must take action to stop harming the planet and, instead, pursue a path that aligns society and business with nature and life.

In this tenth episode of Next Normal, Amit is joined by the guest most frequently recommended by other Next Normal guests, Ai-jen Poo. Ai-jen is the co-founder and Executive Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, a leading non-profit dedicated to bringing dignity to workers in the “care economy.” In this episode, Ai-jen reflects on experiences in her own life that inspire her work to ensure “every worker in care economy earns a living wage with real economic security and opportunity.” She discusses the “invisible economy” that has served as a lifeline during the pandemic and connects care workers’ challenges to obstacles faced by other largely unseen and under-appreciated workers globally. As we strive to re-imagine the future of our economic system, Ai-jen suggests that the world turn its attention to the “original gig economy workers”— domestic workers.

This inspiring, must-listen new episode of Next Normal highlights the visionary thinking of South African leader, Kumi Naidoo. Naidoo is a life-long campaigner for human rights, social justice, and our environment – all issues that intersect with our global economic system. In his conversation with Amit, Kumi paints a compelling portrait of his early work as an anti-apartheid activist and describes how that activism still guides his work today. He tells Amit why he thinks the worst disease the world presently faces is not COVID-19 but “affluenza,” and he offers an urgent call-to-action for systemic change as we enter “the most consequential decade in humanity’s history.”

In this newest edition of Next Normal, Hans Stegeman offers Amit captivating insight into his vision of a global economic system that centers the well-being of people and planet. As Chief Investment Strategist at Triodos Investment Management, Stegeman guards the central role of positive impact and sustainability in everything his firm does. In this conversation, he highlights his prediction about “the biggest investment conversation” in the coming years and reveals to Amit the specific areas where he sees the greatest global traction for re-imagined capitalism. Stegeman is convinced that an economic system better aligned with the natural world will also be a happier, healthier system for all people: “One part of a sustainable future is also a more relaxed society.”

In this compelling seventh episode, we explore an increasingly vital pathway toward our “next normal”: narrative change. Amit is joined by Holly Gordon, the Chief Impact Officer at Participant Media. Participant is the leading media company dedicated to creating entertainment that inspires audiences to engage in positive social change, known for films like Spotlight, An Inconvenient Truth, and Judas and the Black Messiah. Holly discusses the way that journalism first opened her eyes to the idea that she could “tell stories to close gaps of understanding.” In this episode, she describes the “dandelion effect” of powerful storytelling and the way that new narratives can unlock a sense of purpose among would-be change-makers. “Great stories can transform people from someone who is in their seat to someone who is in the street,” she says.

For our first episode of 2021, Amit welcomes one of the leading corporate pioneers charting the path toward the “next normal” in our global economic system. Marcelo Behar is Vice President of Sustainability and Group Affairs for the Brazilian cosmetics giant, Natura & Co. In this episode, Marcelo recounts the early origins of Natura & Co.’s environmental focus, describes the company’s new “Commitment to Life” sustainability vision, and offers a basic blueprint for other global corporations seeking to make an impact. Decisive action and new approaches put Marcelo and his team right at the center of the “next normal” conversation.

In this riveting new episode of Next Normal, Amit and his guest, Carol Anne Hilton, explore the ways that an indigenous worldview can inform a re-imagined and re-designed economic system. Carol Anne is a recognized First Nations business leader and the founder of the Indigenomics Institute. In this conversation, she explains how indigenous people and global minorities have been excluded from shaping society’s dominant understanding of “money, meaning, and metrics.” Carol Anne describes how an indigenous perspective guides her five fundamental directives for a new economy, and she recounts a powerful fable – the tale of the Thunderbird and the two-headed serpent – to reveal a fresh way of seeing the most vexing challenges of our time.