Essential Ingredients Podcast 062: Profits with Purpose: How Giving Back Grows Your Impact with Alex Amouyel
"The core difference is, instead of, once you've paid your employees and your expenses, what's left, instead of it just enriching the investors, it's given away to good causes." —Alex Amouyel
What if doing good didn’t mean giving up your paycheck or your dreams? Maybe you’re tired of hearing that business and kindness can’t mix, or you wonder if your small actions really matter. Here’s a fresh look at how purpose and profit can work together—and why your impact might be bigger than you think.
Alex Amouyel has spent her career making a difference, from global nonprofits to leading Newman's Own Foundation. Her journey proves you don’t have to choose between success and giving back. She brings bold, practical ideas for anyone who wants to build a business—or a life—that does real good.
Hit play to get inspired and get real. You’ll hear about profit-for-purpose models, honest truths about salaries and growth, the power of small actions, and how anyone can join the movement to make business a force for good.
Meet Alex:
Alex Amouyel is the President and CEO of Newman’s Own Foundation, a private grantmaking foundation whose mission is to nourish and transform the lives of children who face adversity. She leads the Foundation’s efforts to utilize 100% of the profits and royalties from the sale of Newman’s Own products in service of this mission. Under Alex’s leadership, Newman’s Own Foundation co-founded the 100% for Purpose Club, a community of impact-driven business leaders and companies working to support and inspire the next generation of organizations to donate 100% of their profits for purpose. Her recent TED Talk, Can Salad Dressing Transform Capitalism?, explores the “100% for Purpose” movement and what it can teach us about doing business, philanthropy, and capitalism differently.
Prior to her role at Newman’s Own Foundation, Alex led MIT Solve as its Founding Executive Director with a mission to drive innovation to solve world challenges. She steered MIT Solve’s growth to support over 268 Solver teams and Indigenous Communities Fellows, catalyzed over $60 million in commitments, and brokered more than 600 transformational partnerships. She also navigated the organization’s response to the global pandemic, launched a Health Security & Pandemics Challenge, and expanded Solve’s work on racial equity in the United States, including launching Solve’s Indigenous Communities Fellowship and the Black & Brown Innovators Program.
Over the course of her career, Alex has also served as the Director of Program for the Clinton Global Initiative and held roles at Save the Children International and the Boston Consulting Group.
Alex earned a dual master’s degree in International Affairs from Sciences Po, Paris, and the London School of Economics, along with a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Natural Sciences from Trinity College, Cambridge, UK. Alex is the author of The Answer Is You: A Guidebook to Creating a Life Full of Impact.
Connect with NextGen Purpose:
Episode Highlights:
02:07 How Giving Back Became a Business Model
07:37 Can You Really Do Good and Pay the Bills?
10:21 Profit, Growth, and Giving— The Real Balancing Act
17:11 Myths About Purpose-Driven Business
22:17 The Consumer’s Role: Choices and Challenges
28:51 How to Join the 100% for Purpose Movement
31:02 Finding Your Own Way to Make a Difference
Resources
Organizations
Join the 100% for Purpose Club