Ep. 13: Technology as a Force for Good

Today’s guest is Shelley Osborne, Vice President of Learning at Udemy, an online learning and teaching marketplace with over 130,000 courses and 35 million students. Shelley leads the company’s learning strategy and continuous upskilling of employees globally. In her work, she often leverages innovative technologies and fresh approaches like virtual reality and gamification to drive lasting engagement. Before Udemy, Shelley was the Vice President of Learning & Development at Farside HR Solutions, where she advised early- and late-stage companies on learning and talent strategy, skill development and leadership programs. Before moving into the professional learning and development space, Shelley had a successful career as a classroom teacher in Canada for almost a decade.

Today’s guest is Ravin Jesuthasan, a global thought leader and author on the future of work and human capital. Ravin is the Global leader of Willis Towers Watson’s Future of Work practice, and a member of World Economic Forum’s Steering Committee on Work and Employment, having led numerous research projects for the WEF on the global workforce, the emerging digital economy, the rise of artificial intelligence and the transformation of work. Ravin has published three books on the Future of Work, and joins us today from Chicago where he lives with his wife.

Today’s guest is Suzanne Gibbs Howard, Partner at IDEO and the founder and Dean of IDEO U. IDEO U is a learning platform where anyone can learn to solve anything creatively. Suzanne’s work focuses on transforming individuals and organizations through teaching and sharing thought leadership. Obsessed with understanding culture and human motivation, Suzanne arrived at IDEO via a crooked path involving anthropology, teaching English, museum-exhibit design and working in tech start-ups. Suzanne has a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University and a master’s from the University of Chicago. She is a passionate traveler, educator, research geek, climber, sailor, and mom.

Today’s guest is Chris Fussell, President of McChrystal Group, a consultancy that helps organizations tap into the potential of their people to better compete in a complex and interconnected business environment. Chris is the author of the 2015 New York Times bestseller, Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World as well as 2017 Wall Street Journal bestseller, One Mission: How Leaders Build a Team of Teams. He joined McChrystal Group as a Partner in 2012. Prior to that, Chris served 15 years in the Navy on US Navy SEAL Teams leading SEAL elements in combat zones around the globe. Chris lives with his family in the DC area - Welcome to the show Chris!

Today's guest is Lisa Kay Solomon. She's a designer in residence at Stanford's D school and Founding Chair of the Transformational Practices and Leadership at Singularity University. Lisa is a passionate speaker, author, and educator and thought leader focused on helping leaders learn how to be more creative, flexible, and resilient in the face of increasing complexity and change. Lisa's work focuses on developing teachers and amplifying skills, mindsets, and behaviors required to lead positive change. She's co-author of The Wall Street Journal bestseller, Moments of Impact, how design strategic conversations accelerate change, and most recently, design a better business: new tools, skills and mindset for strategy and innovation. Lisa lives with her family in Menlo Park, California.

Today's guest is Sheila Warren, Head of Blockchain and Data Policy, and member of the Executive Committee at the World Economic Forum. Sheila began her career as a Wall Street attorney before turning to philanthropy and nonprofit tech over a decade ago. Sheila designed and launched NGO Source, a service focused on international brand-making and most recently served as Vice President of Strategic Alliances and General Counsel for TechSoup, the global social enterprise that has connected civil society organizations around the world with over $9 billion in donated tech-based resources. 

Today’s guest is Chike Aguh, Head of Economic Mobility Pathways at the Education Design Lab. Chike leads the Community College Growth Engine Fund, an innovative, tri-sector and multimillion dollar effort turning community colleges into bridges to dignified work for every American learner and worker. Chike is also a Technology and Human Rights Fellow at the Harvard Carr Center for Human Rights Policy where he is writing a book on the future of work and racial equity, and a faculty member at Columbia University. Chike has spent his career working across sectors to create a future of work for all.

This marks the 11th episode of The Way Work Should Work, our new podcast, brought to you by Braintrust. A big thanks to all of you who've been listening every week and if this is your first episode, welcome. We're so glad you're here. On today's show we're gonna do something a little different, we're going to take a minute or maybe like 49 to 55 minutes as we usually do to reflect on our first 10 episodes, share some key learnings, takeaways insights we've collected so far.

Today’s guest is Vanessa Colella, Chief Innovation Officer of Citi. Vanessa is tasked with incubating and accelerating innovations that give Citi, a 200-year-old financial institution, a competitive edge. Before becoming Chief Innovation Officer, Vanessa led venture investing and previously ran marketing for Citi’s North American Consumer Bank. Prior to joining Citibank 10 years ago, Vanessa was an entrepreneur-in-residence at U.S. Venture Partners, SVP of insights at Yahoo!, and a Partner at McKinsey & Company.

On today's show, we are joined by Jesse Walden, Founder of Variant, an early-stage venture firm investing in crypto networks & platforms building the ownership economy. Prior to founding Variant, Jesse worked as an investor on a crypto education program at Andreessen Horowitz. Prior to that, Jesse co-founded an early blockchain startup called Mediachain Labs, which was acquired by Spotify.