The Voice of Retail Impact: Reshaping Capitalism with venture capitalist Sir Ronald Cohen
Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.
My very special guest on this episode is Sir Ronald Cohen, a pioneering philanthropist, venture capitalist, private equity investor and social innovator and now with his new book, Impact: Reshaping Capitalism to Drive Real Change, a best selling author.
In a fascinating and wide-ranging conversation commensurate with the scope, scale and well, the impact of Impact Capitalism, Sir Ronald takes us through a vivid career launched from Oxford and Harvard into essentially creating the private equity industry in the U.K. He then lays out the principals of investing with impact, and how consumer and retailers can participate in one of the biggest movements in modern society to reform our value system
Let’s listen in.
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I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!
Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!
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Sir Ronald Cohen is a preeminent international investor, entrepreneur, philanthropist, social finance innovator, and impact pioneer, who is driving forward the global Impact Revolution.
https://sirronaldcohen.org/
He is the author of 'IMPACT: Reshaping capitalism to drive real change' - a Sunday Times Bestseller. His previous book 'The Second Bounce of the Ball' was described by the Financial Times as “One of the best books written on entrepreneurship in recent years.”
He serves as Chairman of the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment and The Portland Trust. He is a co-founder of Social Finance UK, USA and Israel; and co-founder Chair of Bridges Fund Management and Big Society Capital. He chaired the G8 Social Impact Investment Taskforce (2013-15), the UK Social Investment Task Force (2000-10) and the UK's Commission on Unclaimed Assets (2005-2007). In 2012 he received the Rockefeller Foundation's Innovation Award for Social Finance.
He was the co-founder and Executive Chairman of Apax Partners Worldwide LLP (1972-2005), a global venture capital and private equity firm, and co-founder of the British and European venture capital associations.
Oxford and Harvard educated, Sir Ronald was born in Egypt and left as a refugee at the age of 11, when his family came to the UK. He is based in Tel Aviv, London and New York.
Follow on twitter @SirRonnieCohen.
Michael LeBlanc is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience, and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael is the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. You can learn more about Michael here or on LinkedIn.
Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.
Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.
Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.
Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.