Your Mark On The World

March 5, 2015 - Read the full GoodCrowdinfo article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1CvwB5L. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Josef Holm is one of the leading minds in the crowdfunding world. He launched the crowdfunding site TubeStart for YouTube creators to monetize their content. He also founded Crowdfunding.biz, a networking and news site for the crowdfunding community. Josef’s latest project is Krowdster, a tool to help crowdfunders build networks, followers and ultimately backers. Josef explains, “Big data can help optimize a campaign page based on real success metrics and it can help crowdfunders connect with targeted, engaged supporters.” Please consider whether a friend or colleague might benefit from this piece and, if so, share it.

From the Archives - Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1hWGbAK. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. The Tech Museum in Silicon Valley recognizes innovators who are making an impact in the world at its annual , now in its 14th year. For 2014, YouNoodle is helping to drive the program to get more nominations. YouNoodle is mentoring a pool of early applicants already, but it’s not too late to apply. Applications are now open through May 6, 2014. Please consider whether a friend or colleague might benefit from this piece and, if so, share it.

From the archives - Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1ikK8RE. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Brands for the Heart is a branding agency for social entrepreneurs launched by branding expert Andrea Shillington. Please consider whether a friend or colleague might benefit from this piece and, if so, share it.

From the archives: Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1ppNe9R. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Sam Renick’s, founder of It’s a Habit, is striving to teach young people to save money by using catchy tunes that are fun to sing. The remarkable thing is, according to Sam, it’s really working! Please consider whether a friend or colleague might benefit from this piece and, if so, share it.

February 25, 2015 - Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://onforb.es/1GsagF8. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. James Lee Sorenson, whose late father was listed among Forbes’ billionaires and left his fortune to charity, has focused his significant personal wealth accumulated through his own entrepreneurship on driving impact around the world, by “building a comprehensive impact ecosystem that has the appropriate tools whether that is a philanthropic grant, a social impact bond, or an equity investment to address different societal challenges and create sustainable scalable impact.” At present, Sorenson, via the Sorenson Impact Foundation, is working on three separate but closely related projects, including the Sorenson Global Impact Investment Center (commonly known as the SGII Center), pay for success financing and an impact investing fund. Of the SGII Center, he says, “

February 19, 2015 - Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://onforb.es/1A7lfmA. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. “There’s nothing more fundamental than the need for safe water and sanitation,” says Gary White, who partnered with Matt Damon to create Water.org. White notes that “a staggering number of people lack access to these things. Many die as a result. Communities and countries stay trapped in poverty. About 750 million people – one in nine-lack access to safe water. More than twice that many, 2.5 billion people, do not have access to a toilet.” “In just one day, women spend 200 million hours collecting water for their families. That is equivalent to the amount of time it would take to build 28 Empire State Buildings—in one day. Imagine the wealth these women will create when they can use these 200 million hours in productive employment, rather than foraging for water,

February 19, 2015 - Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://onforb.es/1ESAe3i. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Dr. Sudip Bose received a Bronze Star and was recognized as a “CNN Hero” for his role in treating Saddam Hussein following his capture from the spider hole and for serving one of the longest tours of duty for a medical doctor since World War II. Dr. Bose’s experiences in the military served to catalyze a desire to serve veterans. Still a respected, practicing emergency room physician, he founded The Battle Continues, a nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of veterans–and all Americans. Please consider whether a friend or colleague might benefit from this piece and, if so, share it.

February 11, 2015 - Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://onforb.es/16Q5iFm. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Documentary filmmaker Scott Christopherson and his directorial partner Brad Barber have been invited to premier their film at the SXSW Film Festival. The riveting film, Peace Officer, was inspired by the case of a former County Sheriff whose son-in-law was killed by the SWAT team he formed decades earlier. [Note, Christopherson is my wife's niece's husband.] Christopherson shared an early version of the completed film with me to review. It is an extraordinary documentary, as compelling as any feature film I’ve seen, outshining masters of the genre like Morgan Spurlock and Michael Moore. The film is aided by a dynamic true-life character, former Sheriff William Lawrence. Commenting on the film’s controversial topic, Christopherson said, “The militarization of poli

February 5, 2015 - Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://onforb.es/16Qi5rp. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Richard Branson’s Carbon War Room recently partnered with Rocky Mountain Institute to accelerate a global shift to a low carbon future. Jules Kortenhorst, CEO of Rocky Mountain Institute noted, “The energy revolution is accelerating; the implications for businesses around the world are enormous. Now is the time to be part of this change.” “Climate change is the challenge of our generation. The good news is that increasingly the technologies are there, and are rapidly becoming commercially viable to shift our economy to low carbon,” he concluded. Please consider whether a friend or colleague might benefit from this piece and, if so, share it.

February 5, 2015 - Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://onforb.es/1EHDsKc. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Unitus, one of the early entrants in microlending in the developing world and, as a result, in impact investing, is continuing to innovate. The Unitus Seed Fund provides venture capital for people near the base of the pyramid in India. Yesterday, Unitus announced a partnership with Pfizer PFE +0.44%, PATH , Manipal Hospitals and Narayana Health to provide up to $85,000 each to healthcare entrepreneurs in India in the form of “non-dilutive” capital. Dave Richards, Managing Director of Unitus Seed Fund, said, “There is a massive seed funding gap in most emerging markets due to a lack of a local culture for high-risk ‘angel’ investing by those with wealth. This is particularly true for high demand/low supply emerging sectors such as education, healthcare, retail, agr

February 5, 2015 - Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://onforb.es/1EHPcwq. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. As more and more people, including investors, increasingly focus on performance measures that aren’t captured in the financial statements, it is important to have some objective standards by which to measure social and environmental impacts and ethical corporate governance. Enter the SASB. Dr. Jean Rogers, CEO of the SASB, explains, “The information investors need to make decisions has changed. In today’s world, how effectively a company addresses sustainability issues can impact its financial position and future prospects. But investors lack access to standardized information on these increasingly significant factors.” “SASB standards are created for the markets, by the markets. SASB is a response to investor demand for comparable, decision-useful information on

February 5, 2015 - Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://onforb.es/1EHMkQa. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Mark Horvath has found an unusual calling in life. He’s taken to creating videos of people experiencing homelessness. His organization, Invisible People, produces videos of Horvath’s visits with people living on the streets, in shelters and otherwise down on their luck. The videos, posted on YouTube, are shared across social media. By humanizing and personalizing homelessness, Horvath hopes to move society closer to ending the scourge of homelessness. Please consider whether a friend or colleague might benefit from this piece and, if so, share it.

January 29, 2015 - Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1KqlvOP. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. George Lewis is an octogenarian who has no plans to slow down. So what’s he doing that keeps him going? He’s changing the world one glass of water at a time. George is better known as the Water Man. He’s using his membership in Rotary to really make a difference in the world. He explains, “6,000 children die every day from water born diseases.” image By leveraging his Rotary Club, his Rotary District and Rotary International’s Rotary Foundation, he’s learned how to turn one dollar into $3.5 of impact for water. Over his lifetime, George reports helping over 1.5 million people gain access to clean water. Please consider whether a friend or colleague might benefit from this piece and, if so, share it.

January 29, 2015 - Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://onforb.es/1EHGtKu. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. DreamFund.com is taking crowdfunding to a whole new level, by putting the donated funds into an FDIC insured savings account, allowing people to raise money through giving circles for their biggest dreams. CEO Kent Plunkett says, “DreamFund started with two important beliefs: that people of all ages struggle to save for the things they strive for, whether that’s a great cause, an experience of a lifetime or an awesome purchase. The second part is that people are inherently generous, both in spirit and in money. Bringing those people together in an easy, affordable, and inspiring way to make dreams come true is the aim of DreamFund.” CMO Peter Crosby adds, “Just this month alone, our site helped a teen pay for a trip to dance championships in Scotland, a charity g

January 29, 2015 - Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://onforb.es/15PK1uU. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitc her by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. When disaster strikes, one of the first victims is often the communications system. With cell towers down, power out and phone lines down, even areas within the developed world can become completely isolated, as we saw with Hurricane Sandy. A novel technology addresses this problem in ways you can’t imagine. Anthony Sutera of nCap has developed a revolutionary technology that allows users to literally spray on an antenna so that the side of a building or a tree can instantly become part of a pop up network to facilitate communications. Of course, the technology still requires a connection to the outside world, but once established that connection can be shared immediately in a neighborhood that has been devastated by a storm or earthquake, allowing emergency respo

January 29, 2015 - Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1uDD1bh. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. The Social Enterprise Greenhouse in Rhode Island is working to help social entrepreneurs succeed. Kelly Ramirez, CEO of the SEG as it is commonly known, says, “Our model is unique: comprehensive set of services to support social entrepreneurs from idea to funding.” She notes, “We mainly work with RI based entrepreneurs but are doing increasingly regional work.” She adds, “Our secret sauce is our amazing network of 150+ business and community leaders who really drive our work.” Kelly reports that entrepreneurs have created hundreds of jobs in Rhode Island and has helped 250,000 around the world. Please consider whether a friend or colleague might benefit from this piece and, if so, share it.

January 29, 2015 - Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://onforb.es/1zAopkk. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Field Innovation Team or FIT is bringing hi-tech into the disaster recovery arena by training responders to use it and developing strategic relationships with technology partners to bring their best to bear when it’s needed most. FIT, a nonprofit, has been in the game since 2010 and has responded to hurricane Sandy, the Boston Marathon Bombing and the 2014 mudslide in Oso, Washington. By deploying drones over the mudslide, FIT was able to get a better read on the dangerous topography than would have been possible with manned aircraft and was able to do it without putting any humans at risk. FIT will be taking its robot petting zoo to SXSW. The collection of robots of all sorts that can be used for one purpose or another in disaster recovery. The petting zoo was f

January 29, 2015 - Read the full GoodCrowdinfo article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1zAAOVh. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Patrick O’Neill is completely changing the game in crowdfunding. By seeking to crowdsource goods rather money–with the ease of giving cash–Amp Your Good seeks to help nonprofits have more successful drives for goods like food, blankets and building materials. Patrick explains, “Each year people donate somewhere between $50B to $100B worth of goods to various kinds of physical collection charity drives (food drives, blanket drives, etc.). More than 33% of donated goods are never used by the non-profit organization that receives them. That’s a lot of wasted good intentions.” In contrast, Patrick says, “100% of the goods raised through our platform are used by the non-profit that receives them.” Patrick describes the difference this way, “Our platform eliminates

January 29, 2015 - Read the full GoodCrowdinfo article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/15QgGRl. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Danae Ringelmann, co-founder of Indiegogo, is one of the leading names in crowdfunding and she’ll be joining us live to discuss last month’s launch of Indiegogo Life. Danae explained to me in advance, “Last month, we introduced Indiegogo Life, a new service that brings the power of Indiegogo to anyone running a fundraiser for emergencies, medical expenses, celebrations or other life events.” “With Indiegogo Life, we are delivering the necessary tools for families, friends, and even strangers around the world to connect and support one another . We are committed to providing a personal and authentic service for our customers to help themselves or a loved one – both financially and emotionally,” she continued. Danae says, the site is already getting traction an

January 30, 2015 - Read the full Forbes article and watch the interview here: http://onforb.es/1uDLmeV. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Last month, impact investing and crowdfunding platform Gate Global Impact was acquired by Investview, Inc. Vince Molinari, CEO of Gate Global Impact and Dr. Joseph Louro, CEO of Investview, will be joining me for a live discussion about the deal and its impact. In a statement describing the transaction, Louro said, “There are three significant components of this monumental acquisition, first is the impact of the GATEWAY technology platform which provides in the electronic investing regulatory compliant marketplace. Secondarily the leadership of Vincent Molinari and Joseph Latona Jr. as demonstrated from congressional testimony on the Jobs act to developing technology which I believe is the ultimate compromise in the democratization of public and private capital fo