Rethinking How Corporate Foundations Drive Impact

In this episode, I speak with Cynthia Hansen, Managing Director of the Innovation Foundation, about rethinking the traditional model of corporate philanthropy. Rather than simply funding existing organizations and programs, Cynthia and her team are building the foundation as a social innovation lab — identifying gaps in the ecosystem, developing new solutions with partners, testing them in different markets, and ultimately spinning them out into nonprofits, businesses, or even government systems where they can scale independently. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Mission Driven Podcast, I speak with Kasia Zellmann about why we can't afford to wait any longer to solve the challenges our economies, communities, and environments face— and the urgency that has driven her to build and scale multiple businesses tackling challenges in the circular economy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Renato Silva, Further Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Mission Driven Podcast, I speak with Rahat Hossain about the importance of choosing the right co-founder, building founder alignment, and the lessons learned through navigating one of the most difficult parts of entrepreneurship: evolving partnerships. The conversation explores the realities of building a mission-driven business in an underdeveloped market, learning the sector from scratch, and candidly speaks to the dynamics of co-founders that have divergent experience, resources, and expectations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Mission Driven Podcast, Rich Brubaker sits down with Apols Garmay to explore her journey building Hidden Manna Farms and her mission of Empowering rural farmers through inclusive agriculture.Key Takeaway:1. Entrepreneurship Often Begins With Proximity to the Problem2. Trust Is Infrastructure3. Scale Is About Predictability, Not Just Volume4. Mission-Driven Entrepreneurship Requires Patience and Practicality Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Mission Driven Podcast, I speak with Rogerine Miguel-Irvine, former Chief for Strategic Policy and Innovations at the National Economic and Development Authority , about her work to build a national framework for innovation and entrepreneurship.Rogerine shares her journey from building a social enterprise supporting indigenous weaving communities to helping shape national innovation policy in the Philippines. We explore why governments often struggle to support entrepreneurs, the barriers startups face navigating bureaucracy, and why innovation policy frequently fails at the implementation stage.We also discuss the role of procurement in supporting startups, the challenge of fragmented systems, why human capital and R&D investment matter, and what it was like bringing an entrepreneurial mindset into government itself.This conversation is a candid look at the realities of building innovation ecosystems — and why governments must evolve if they want entrepreneurs to help solve the major economic and social challenges ahead.Key Takeaways:1. Governments should support innovation ecosystems — not control them.2. The Philippines has strong talent and innovation output, but struggles with implementation and commercialization.3. Bureaucracy and outdated procurement systems remain major barriers for startups and innovators.4. Policy making improves when entrepreneurs and private-sector voices are directly involved in the process.5. Procurement reform could become one of the most powerful tools governments use to support startups and innovation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Mission Driven Podcast, Rich speaks with David Lynn, co-founder and CEO of Mission Driven Finance, about the ambitious vision to move trillions of dollars into communities and build a financial system designed around impact. Inspired by the rise of firms like Blackstone and Brookfield, David shares why he believes the next trillion-dollar investment platform could — and should — be built around community outcomes, access to capital, and long-term social value.The conversation explores the challenges of financing mission-driven businesses, the gap between small community lending and large institutional capital, how impact is measured and managed, and why Mission Driven Finance is now moving into care economy real estate — including child care facilities — as a way to build long-term community assets.Key Takeaways- The problem isn’t lack of capital — it’s lack of infrastructure.- Mission-driven finance needs scale to move institutional money.- Impact must be intentional and built into the business model.- The biggest financing gap is now in the lower middle market.- Care economy real estate is a major untapped opportunity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Mission Driven Podcast, I speak with Uli Grabenwarter, Deputy Chief Investment Officer and Director of Equity Investments at the European Investment Fund, about one of the most uncomfortable questions in impact finance: Why impact investing does not work.Uli brings a rare perspective to this conversation. Over the course of his career, he has moved from derivatives and traditional finance into venture capital, responsible investing, and impact investing, and today helps oversee one of Europe’s largest fund-of-funds investment platforms.Our conversation explores the core contradiction at the heart of impact investing: the belief that investors can always generate market-rate returns while also solving society’s most urgent environmental and social challenges. Uli challenges the “no trade-off” narrative, arguing that while some business models can align impact and return, society as a whole still faces a massive trade-off — and until we are honest about who pays for it, progress will remain limited.We discuss why capital has flowed into impact investing without delivering the level of progress promised by the SDGs, how fiduciary duty limits what investors are willing or able to do, and why the next generation of impact finance needs to become more focused, impact-centric, and grounded in the real problems it claims to solve. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Mission Driven Podcast, Damien Masselis reflects on one of the most important lessons behind building Pai Seedlings Foundation: that solving complex social and environmental problems is not just about having the right technical solutions — it’s about trust, listening, and understanding the fears that prevent change from happening.After years of trying to help farming communities transition away from chemical agriculture, Damien realized that pushing harder wasn’t working. The breakthrough came when his team slowed down, stopped trying to convince people, and focused instead on what he calls “radical listening” — creating the time and trust necessary for communities to define what a better future meant for themselves.The conversation explores Damien’s unconventional path from MBA graduate to regenerative agriculture leader in Northern Thailand, the realities of rebuilding degraded farmland, why “small is beautiful,” the challenge of scaling human-centered work, and how long-term, values-aligned partnerships have allowed Pai Seedlings to grow without compromising its mission.Key Takeaways- Trust matters more than technical solutions- Regeneration must work within real economic constraints- Human-centered work is difficult to scale- Values-aligned funding creates different possibilities- Entrepreneurship is more sustainable when rooted in service Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Mission Driven Podcast, I speak with Aarti Kapoor, founder of Embode, about what it really takes to protect human rights inside complex global supply chains—and why good intentions, good laws, and good reports are often not enough.Aarti shares how early experiences with injustice led her to study law before unexpectedly finding herself in Cambodia working on issues of child exploitation and trafficking. What began as a one-year experience evolved into a decades-long journey across NGOs, government, international development, and responsible business.Drawing from more than 20 years of experience, Aarti explains why systemic social challenges cannot be solved by any one actor alone, why organizations often fail to collaborate effectively, and why she ultimately founded Embode to help businesses move beyond compliance and superficial fixes toward deeper systems-based approaches. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.