What does the word “refugee” mean to you? Poverty? hardship? Misfortune? What about entrepreneurship, innovation and opportunity?Patricia Letayf is the Executive Director at Five One Labs, a groundbreaking organization that empowers refugees to become entrepreneurs in places like Kurdistan, Iraq and Barranquilla, Colombia. Starting with $15,000 in seed money won in a pitch competition in graduate school, it’s become a global force for entrepreneurship. Through incubators, accelerators and a global network of mentors and experts, the organization has supported over 130 startups and awarded nearly $1 million in seed funding to founders since 2017. On this episode, Patricia shares her inspiring story and how she and her co-founders turned an idea into an engine for economic growth, and why investing in refugees isn’t just an act of goodwill—it’s an investment in the future of the communities and countries that welcome them.Five One Labs website:  https://fiveonelabs.org/Five One Labs LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fiveonelabsFive One Labs Annual Report: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/64b8d2eaacd68b3c353279d7/t/65cc6a078281c75008d6ee06/1734738647141/Annual+Report+2023.pdf Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jeff Softley, Head of Experian's consumer division, transformed a struggling business into a $1.5 billion powerhouse. He discusses the challenge of competing against free services offered by fintech startups and the necessity of creating new value. Jeff emphasizes the importance of consumer empowerment in finance, sharing how they shifted to a consumer-centric model. By fostering innovation and collaboration, they've been able to redefine organizational identity and enhance credit access, making a significant impact on millions.

Bob Sutton, a Stanford Business School professor and bestselling author, shares his insights on cultivating positive work environments while avoiding toxic behaviors. He recounts his unique journey from a pizza shop to academia, emphasizing the impact of personal relationships and randomness in his career. Sutton discusses the importance of evidence-based management and the effects of leadership styles on employee morale. He also highlights the founding of Stanford's D School, where creativity thrives within constraints, and the vital role of humility in academic success.

One of the most basic responsibilities of a government is to keep its people safe. In a city, that first line of defense is the police. They are trained to investigate crimes, handle violent criminals and put them in jail.Yet police departments also spend a lot of time on repeat nonviolent incidents. They manage domestic disputes, mental health episodes and sometimes just people who are down on their luck.This realization led to the creation of Endmonton’s HELP program, which has been highly successful in reducing police calls and overall crime rates. Perhaps most importantly, it’s improving the lives of Edmonton's most vulnerable citizens. Enyinnah Okere, Edmonton Police Service’s Chief Operations Officer Joins us to tell us the story of how it all developed as well as his own incredible journey. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whitney Johnson was one of the top analysts on Wall Street. Yet when she met Clayton Christensen, she realized her fate path would lead somewhere else. As she would later write in a landmark in Harvard Business Review, she would disrupt herself and leave her top job at a Wall Street firm.Today, Whitney is regularly ranked as one of the top 50 business thinkers in the world and is one of the most widely sought after executive coaches. Where she once climbed the ladder as a woman in the male-dominated world of Wall Street, now she focuses on empowering others to climb their own s-curve from novice to mastery. Yet she also learned something else along the way: To truly embrace disruption, you must first find safety. It is only from a sense of security and well being that you can embrace the risks you need to reach your full potential!Whitney’s Website: https://thedisruptionadvisors.com/Whitney’s “Disrupt Yourself” article in Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2012/07/disrupt-yourself-3Whitney’s “Thinkers 50” profile: https://thinkers50.com/biographies/whitney-johnson/Whitney’s latest book: https://www.amazon.com/Smart-Growth-Grow-People-Company/dp/1647821150/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We are in the midst of an upskilling crisis. Rapid industrial changes and an increasingly competitive global environment, with countries like China and India emerging as technology superpowers, mean millions of workers need to upskill to remain economically viable.Community colleges play a crucial role in this transformation. Aspen Award winner Russell Lowery-Hart, Chancellor of the 50,000-student Aspen Community College system, believes educators must move beyond being mere gatekeepers. He believes that educators need to love their students to success.If this sounds idealistic or naive, consider Russell’s impressive track record. As President of Amarillo College, he boosted completion rates from 19% to 62% in just five years. Now at Austin, he faces an even greater challenge: preparing the workforce to meet the skill demands of one of the world’s leading technology hubs. Russell’s Biography: https://offices.austincc.edu/chancellor/biography/About the AustinCommunity College system: https://www.austincc.edu/about-acc/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As a professional rugby player for Europe’s top team, Aidan McCullen knew the value of showing up. He wasn’t born with the most talent, but he made sure he had the most discipline. Yet his biggest challenge was to overcome the disruption of ending his career, to shed his rugby identity and become something else.Today, Aidan helps some of the world’s top organisations to do the same—overcome disruption by shedding old identities to allow them to do something new and different, increasing their competitiveness and tackling new challenges. Aidan McCullen’s website: https://aidanmccullen.com/The Innovation Show: https://theinnovationshow.io/Aidan’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Undisruptable-Permanent-Reinvention-Individuals-Organisations/dp/1119770483 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yassmin Abdel-Magied, a prominent engineer, author, and TV personality, shares her incredible journey of resilience after facing severe backlash and public shaming. She discusses her experience of being vilified after a controversial televised statement, navigating dual identities as a Sudanese-Australian, and the impact of social media on cancel culture. With humor and heartfelt anecdotes, Yassmin emphasizes the importance of community, mentorship, and authenticity in overcoming adversity, inspiring others to turn challenges into transformative opportunities.

Every successful changemaker thrives on connection. It is their ability to connect to different people, places and institutions that makes it that much more likely that they will come across that seemingly random piece of information or insight that helps to crack a really tough problem.Nobody personifies that more than Robert C. Wolcott. As Co-Founder & Chairman of The World Innovation Network (TWIN), he leads a global community of 4,000 innovation and growth leaders from over 30 countries that meet and connect to tackle some of the world’s toughest problems. It is through these connections that Rob formed the vision that became his new book, Proximity.Rob is one of the most talented and engaging people you can imagine and we learned a lot from our conversation with him. We know you will too.Links:Robs biography: https://www.twinglobal.org/twin-global/speakers/robert-c-wolcottRob’s LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-c-wolcott-4a624a/The World Innovation Network (TWIN): https://www.twinglobal.org/Proximity: How Coming Breakthroughs in Just-in-Time Transform Business, Society, and Daily Life: Www.proximitybook.net  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alister Martin's Journey To Make The World Just A Little Bit More Fair When human potential is wasted, we all lose something. Most people who look at Alister Martin’s resume would assume he’s led a charmed life. A medical doctor as well as a White House fellow, he holds dual appointments on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and Harvard Medical School, he excels in just about every way you can imagine. He even has a mean tennis serve.Yet his life has not been charmed, at least not in the ways most people would imagine. He grew up rough, he had struggles and his life very nearly went sideways. He also had some luck, had some good mentors, was able to push through and make it. Many of those he grew up with did not. Struggle and hardship can make people feel bitter. Some, once they make it to the top, want to pull the ladder up behind them. But Alister feels a sense of gratitude and responsibility to those who got left behind and works to help the ones that still have a chance at a better life. So he established his organization, A Healthier Democracy, to leverage the healthcare system to deliver crucial services to people in marginalized communities. One of these, Vote-ER, has helped almost 100,000 people to register to vote at over 700 facilities. See the impact that Alister is making at the websites below:A Healthier Democracy: https://ahealthierdemocracy.org/Vot-ER: https://vot-er.org/His LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alister-martin-41b1369a/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.