Impact Journey with Julia – Details, episodes & analysis

I recently completed a 3-day training with Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project, where 1000 people came together to train and mobilize toward a net zero future. I didn’t quite know what to expect, but two things stand out: 1) being faced with all the facts is intense and overwhelming, there’s no shortage of data on the challenges or on the solutions; 2) to process the intense overwhelm, we need spaces and tools to make sense of the pain and the possibility. So I was thankful that the project leaders put me in touch with Liliane, a climate-aware consultant and trauma-informed facilitator.

THE IMPACT. Liliane Mavridara:

-is a Climate Reality Leader, a Climate Cafe Facilitators trainer with CPA-NA, a Climate For Health Ambassador

-synthesizes an eclectic cultural, educational and interdisciplinary background with hands-on professional expertise in transpersonal psychology, personal and spiritual development, women’s empowerment, mind-body health, and planetary health

-consults and educates on the impact of the climate emergency on community holistic health and wellbeing, and leads peer support circles that nurture relational and social capacity for sense making and purposeful co-transformation of our complex polycrisis

THE JOURNEY. In our conversation, we explore:

-Climate overwhelm: "We don’t have a solution problem; we have a nervous system coregulation challenge"

-Community connection: "Connecting back to our cultural roots, creating spaces where people can come together, is the most healing thing we can offer as a service to humanity"

-Reconnecting to what matters: "We don't want to live on a miserable planet. We are here to enjoy life, our environment, our friends, our families."

I’ve noticed that activism is having a moment in places I was not used to seeing it - inside companies. Back in my corporate days, I kept your head down and did my activism at home. Serial rebel Tessa Wernink has been shaking things up since co-founding Fairphone. I met her in her new role at The Undercover Activist. We get deep into employee activism: the dissonance about staying in a job and staying true to values, the role of power, and activism as a spiritual practice.

THE IMPACT. Tessa Wernink:

-leads The Undercover Activist, an education and research platform that coaches and emboldens young professionals to take constructive action to change their organisations from within

-was part of the founding team of Fairphone, turning a campaign for fairer electronics into an impact-driven business model

-is co-founder and host of the podcast series, What If We Get It Right?

-studied English Literature and International Development, Journalism, Deep Democracy, Non-Violent Resistance and Communications

-grew up in Hong Kong, and now lives in Amsterdam with her partner and their three boys

THE JOURNEY. In our conversation, we explore:

-Tessa’s international upbringing: “there is more than one truth”

-Starting Fairphone: a rebel questioning systems

-Roots of The Undercover Activist: action research, a learning hub

-Befriending conflict: “resistance is the energy, not the enemy”

-The dissonance: “Should I stay in this job and try to kind of be that person I want to be”

-A learning journey: knowing our rights, safe spaces to be uncomfortable, making it personal

-Activism and power: the “power shadow” of leaders, “do we need power to have influence?”

-Activism as a spiritual practice: “how we get there is where we’ll arrive”

From teen magazines to fashion to sustainability, Jessica Marati Radparvar brings her diverse background to make the emotional case to sustainability.

THE IMPACT. Jessica:

• Is the founder of Reconsidered, a boutique social impact consultancy that publishes a curated sustainable business newsletter and jobs board
  
• Led content for the Fashion for Good Experience; managed corporate responsibility at PVH
  
• Founded a social enterprise selling artisan goods made in Cambodia
  
• Worked as a freelance consultant and travel writer across nearly 60 countries
  
• Has a degree in History from Princeton and an MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business
  

THE JOURNEY. In our conversation, we explore:

• The origins of three paths that came together: media, fashion, sustainability
  
• Learning from media: the power of artful and vulnerable storytelling
  
• Learning from fashion: the potential for positive impact with small artisans and corporate scale
  
• Learning from sustainability: making the business case AND the emotional case
  
• Creating Reconsidered: filling gaps for people working in the impact space
  

We often hear about tradeoffs in impact investing - impact or profit, people or planet. Cecile’s journey to lead impact at Israel's largest VC shows that it’s not either or. It's interconnected.

THE IMPACT. Cecile:

• Is Head of Impact and Sustainability at Pitango Venture Capital, Israel’s largest VC fund, where she merges technology, profit and social impact
  
• Co-founded GITA, the Global Impact Tech Alliance, a new organization to empower tech innovations to achieve the SDGs
  
• Previously founded Impact First Investments, Israel’s first impact investing company; managed the Noaber Foundation’s Israeli investments for over 14 years, and held executive positions at several companies
  

THE JOURNEY. In our conversation, we explore:

• Early influences - martial arts, entrepreneurship, rebalancing capital and values
  
• Impact investing, from 20 years ago to now - from its own asset class to a mindset shift
  
• False tradeoffs in impact investing - profit vs. impact, people vs. planet, incremental vs. systemic
  
• Two types of companies - impact natives and impact migrants
  
• A surprise on the people side - you don’t need to convince companies or investors
  

In business, how much is beauty in your life? What about art, music, science, activism? Tim Leberecht co-founded the House of Beautiful Business as a space for this unexpected mix, to challenge us to be more human.

THE IMPACT. Tim Leberecht:

• Is co-founder and co-CEO of the House of Beautiful Business, a global think tank and community bringing together leaders and changemakers to make humans more human and business more beautiful
  
• Was chief marketing officer of NBBJ, a global design and architecture firm; and chief marketing officer of product design and innovation consultancy Frog Design
  
• Has several popular TED Talks, including “3 Ways to (Usefully) Lose Control of Your Brand” and most recently “4 Ways to Build a Human Company in the Age of Machines”
  
• Is the author of the book The Business Romantic, and most recently, The End of Winning
  

THE JOURNEY. In our conversation, we explore:

• Early influences - art, creativity, curation, creating spaces and experiences
  
• Creating the House - a secret society, an experiment to put beauty at the center of business
  
• A challenge to bridge - words / ideas and action / specificity
  
• Thinking about our role - a thought leader vs. a critic and challenger
  
• Adapting - creating experiences and intimacy from a physical space to a metaphorical space
  

From being a changemaker at a very early age, through 17 years at Greenpeace, Femke walks through the modern day tensions of leadership, and makes the case for this new type of leadership - a creative, complex, and collective leadership.

THE IMPACT. Femke Bartels:

• Is Managing Director of THNK School for Creative Leadership, a purpose-driven social enterprise with transformative programs to develop leaders to solve the world’s greatest challenges
  
• Worked for Greenpeace for 17 years in many roles, including Campaign Director, Global Forest Network Director, Global Director of Strategy and Planning, and Executive Director of Greenpeace Mexico
  
• Served as a policy advisor to the European Parliament and the Dutch Ministry of Environment
  
• Studied Political Sciences and International Relations at the University of Amsterdam, and has a Master of Public Administration at the University of Twente
  

THE JOURNEY. In our conversation, we explore:

• Origins as a changemaker: “chicken is chicken?”
  
• Joining Greenpeace as a campaigner: “they were looking for me”
  
• Societal change: “what are your motivators?”
  
• Collective leadership: “ordinary people doing extraordinary things”, “connection over polarization”
  
• Complex leadership: “comfortable not knowing”, “courage is not the absence of fear”
  

In this second episode in a Synergos series, Tarlin Saye takes us from Liberia to the US, from traveler and writer to event organizer, as she creates spaces and shares stories with a long term view on uncomfortable topics like racial equity.

THE IMPACT. Tarlin:

• Leads Global Programs and Experiences at Synergos for the Global Philanthropists Circle (GPC), a network of leading philanthropic families committed to becoming more effective social investors
  
• Has led Synergos’ series on Dismantling Systemic Racism (first and second sessions, and videos one two and three)
  
• Spearheaded leadership roles in youth organizations on issues like income inequality, racial divides, and societal stigmas against the homeless and/or terminally ill
  
• Has spent time on 6 continents, exposed to many cultural backgrounds and schools of thought
  
• Holds a B.A. in Theology from the University of St. Thomas
  

THE JOURNEY. In our conversation, we explore:

• Early influences - storytelling and travel, from theology to events to philanthropy
  
• Racial equity - creating a space to challenge assumptions and share stories
  
• How to hold a strong space - allowing for discomfort while bringing in positive touchstones
  
• A long-term view on systemic racism - making a commitment and acknowledging privilege
  

In a beautiful personal story, Swati Chaudhary of Synergos shares insights on the power of listening, from her ancestors in Bihar India to fighting injustice today.

THE IMPACT. Swati:

• Is Managing Director of Synergos Advisory, where she advises foundations, philanthropists, and companies around the world. Synergos is a global non-profit that brings people together to solve complex problems of poverty.
  
• Was a Manager at PwC Advisory, where she advised clients on topics like payments and banking, financial inclusion, and anti-corruption
  
• Worked with the UN Global Compact on developing Compass, a guide for companies to align their strategies with the Sustainable Development Goals and assess their contributions
  
• Brings experience in investing from Acumen Fund, and growth equity at General Atlantic
  
• Receive a BA from Franklin and Marshall College, and a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University
  

THE JOURNEY. In our conversation, we explore:

• Early influences - a story of ancestors in Bihar, India
  
• Seeing injustice - in childhood, in being an immigrant, in the private sector, in COVID
  
• Listening to the most vulnerable - a key ingredient for moral leadership and systemic change
  
• Investing in people - the radical potential for philanthropy to create a more just world
  

What are your savings doing for the climate? Duncan Grierson, founder and CEO of Clim8 Invest, brings together his two lives as an investor and cleantech entrepreneur to help us all invest in the climate.

THE IMPACT. Duncan:

• Is a cleantech and sustainability entrepreneur and venture investor
  
• Is founder and CEO of Clim8, a digital platform for sustainable investment, focused on themes including clean energy, clean technology, electric mobility, sustainable food and clean water
  
• As Founder CEO raised over $100m as he built cleantech companies in biofuels, plastics recycling, batteries, smart composites
  
• Started in venture capital with top tier venture fund TCVC in London, Silicon Valley and Paris
  
• Has a Master of Laws degree from Cambridge University, and an MBA from INSEAD
  

THE JOURNEY. In our conversation, we explore:

• Bringing two lives together -- investing and sustainable cleantech
  
• Good business sense -- investing in sustainability and starting environmental businesses
  
• Putting our savings to work -- how we can all make a difference on climate with our money
  
• The awareness challenge -- starting with savings and pensions to influence trillions
  

How can we better connect with each other, now that we need it most? Veronica Marquez of Dinner Confidential shares what she’s learned about having confident AND compassionate conversations.

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THE IMPACT. Veronica:

• Is co-founder of Dinner Confidential, a brave space in over 25 cities worldwide, from NYC to Berlin to Tokyo, for women to talk confidentially about topics like fear and control. They recently launched their approach as a course on confident and compassionate conversations.
  
• Is a Certified Professional Coach with Guided and with her own practice, Neuro-Linguistics Programming (NLP) Practitioner, and Reiki Practitioner.
  
• Has traveled the world as a researcher at ?What If! Innovation, Flamingo, and The Wellbeing Project.
  
• Is from Venezuela, has a BS in business from Universidad Metropolitana, and a MA from Emerson College.
  

THE JOURNEY. In our conversation, we explore:

• Curiosity about people - growing up in Venezuela, seeing different religions and cultures
  
• Seeking intimacy and belonging - creating Dinner Confidential in a moment of seeking connection
  
• Ingredients for connection - a safe structured space, stories not opinions, no judgment or advice
  
• What we need now - harder conversations and lighter joy, expressing and listening, confident and compassionate conversations