Ep. 68 | Using Tech to Drive Change: Google.org and Brigitte Hoyer Gosselink
Release Date: 06/15/2021
There’s no Eighth Continent to Farm: Mike Grunwald on Feeding Ourselves without Frying the Planet
Business for Good Podcast
In this episode, I’m joined by one of America’s most thoughtful national journalists: Mike Grunwald. You may know him from his work at Time, Politico, or The Washington Post, or from his critically acclaimed books about the Obama administration and the history of the Everglades. He’s also now a contributing columnist at the New York Times. But for the purpose of this episode, Mike is here to discuss his third book, . In this sweeping and deeply reported work, Mike tackles one of the most uncomfortable truths of our time: our global food system, especially animal farming, is a...
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Trash into Treasure: ChainCraft Is Converting Food Waste into Sustainable Chemicals
Business for Good Podcast
What if we could turn the mountains of food waste we generate every day into high-value chemicals that replace fossil fuels and palm oil—two of the most environmentally destructive inputs in our economy? That’s exactly what this episode’s guest is doing. is the CEO of , a Dutch biotechnology company using fermentation to convert agricultural waste into medium-chain fatty acids—essential building blocks for everything from fats for foods to lubricants to bioplastics and fragrances. Founded as a spin-off from , ChainCraft is pioneering open-culture fermentation process that offers a...
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Unstoppable Entrepreneurs: Lori Rosenkopf on the Many Paths to Startup Success
Business for Good Podcast
This episode’s guest is someone who’s spent her career studying—and championing—entrepreneurs who don’t always fit the Silicon Valley mold. Dr. Lori Rosenkopf is the Vice Dean of Entrepreneurship at the Wharton School and the author of the new book . In this short guide, Lori explores how success doesn’t have to mean dropping out of college to start a venture-backed unicorn in your garage. Instead, she highlights seven distinct paths that entrepreneurs can take to build impactful ventures, whether they’re bootstrapped, mission-driven, or even working within larger companies....
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The Crazy Rock Lady: How Eion is Turning Crushed Rocks into Climate Gold
Business for Good Podcast
You’ve heard of carbon capture machines, but what if one of the most powerful tools for removing CO₂ from the atmosphere isn’t high-tech at all—just crushed rock and rain? Meet Ana Pavlovic, CEO of and the self-described “Crazy Rock Lady.” Her company is pioneering a process called enhanced rock weathering, which uses the natural properties of a green volcanic mineral called olivine to pull carbon dioxide out of the air and lock it away—permanently. The best part? They do it on farmland, replacing conventional agricultural lime with olivine. The result is a two-for-one win:...
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Vedge of Glory: How Two Plant-Based Restaurateurs Have Survived for Decades
Business for Good Podcast
In the restaurant world, infant mortality is the norm. Nearly two-thirds of new eateries shut down in their first year. Only one in five lives to see its fifth birthday. So when a restaurant—not just any restaurant, but a plant-based fine-dining spot—thrives for decades, it’s not just impressive. It’s almost mythic. Enter Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby, the married duo behind , the acclaimed Philadelphia restaurant that’s helped redefine what plant-based food can be. With nods from Bon Appétit, GQ, Food & Wine, and the James Beard Foundation, Rich and Kate have built more than a...
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The Venture Capitalist Who Wants You to Donate More to Charity
Business for Good Podcast
Nick Cooney is one of the most prolific investors in food and ag tech. As the founder of , he’s helped deploy nearly $80 million from his first fund and has now toward his second $100 million fund. He’s backed companies across the spectrum of sustainable protein—plant-based meat, cultivated meat, fermentation-derived proteins (including, in full disclosure, my own company, ), and more. But despite his deep roots in venture capital, Nick’s latest project is about something very different: giving money away with no expectation of any financial return. In his new book, , from Simon &...
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No Palm, No Problem: Fermenting the Future of Fat
Business for Good Podcast
Palm oil is everywhere—from food to cosmetics to biofuels—but its production is a leading cause of deforestation, habitat destruction, and greenhouse gas emissions. What if we could have all the benefits of palm oil without the downsides? Enter , a Dutch biotech startup using fermentation to produce a sustainable alternative to palm oil—without the need for palm trees. Instead of chopping down rainforests, they’re upcycling agricultural waste, feeding it to their specialty yeast, and brewing a fat with the same characteristics as high-end palm oil in the process. The company’s...
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Turning Air Into Butter: Savor’s Revolutionary Approach to Alternative Fats
Business for Good Podcast
What if the fat in your butter, cheese, or even burger could be made without animals, without plants, without fermentation, and without agriculture at all? That’s exactly what is doing. Using a groundbreaking process that transforms compounds like CO₂ and elements like hydrogen into rich, animal-free fats that can mimic what animal fat does, this California-based startup is rethinking how we produce and consume one of the most essential ingredients in food. In this episode, I sit down with Kathleen Alexander, cofounder and CEO of Savor, to dive into the science behind their...
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Cleaner Air from Better Plants: The Neoplants Story
Business for Good Podcast
We spend about 90 percent of our lives indoors, yet the air inside our homes and offices is often far more polluted than the air outside. Volatile organic compounds—better known as VOCs—are constantly emitted by furniture, cleaning products, and even the very walls around us. Formaldehyde, benzene, toluene—these chemicals sound like something you’d find in an industrial park, but they’re actually in the places where we eat, sleep, and work. Well, what if nature could give us a hand here? What if plants, and even microbes, could be supercharged to clean our air at a level that...
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Helping Alt-Protein Startups Survive the Winter: Ahimsa’s Consolidation Approach
Business for Good Podcast
It’s no secret that the alternative protein startups are struggling these days. A combination of lower revenue, intense competition, and less available venture capital is leading to a contraction in the sector, with countless alt-meat and dairy companies conducting layoffs, declaring bankruptcy, and even folding altogether. Enter , a newly formed investment group acquiring promising but distressed plant-based brands. This isn’t charity, though. Ahimsa's belief is that, with their consolidation strategy and pooled resources, these brands that are built on a strong underlying product...
info_outlineHow often do you use Google’s services? If you’re like me, it’s many times per hour. So you may think you know all about Google.com. But how much do you know about Google.org?
In short, Google.org is the company’s foundation that gives away $200M a year in grants both to social enterprise startups and to nonprofit organizations seeking to use technology to advance their missions. For all you startup founders out there, note that these are dilution-free non-equity grants, or essentially free money as opposed to investments, so listen up.
And in this episode, we’ve got Google.org’s director of product impact, Brigitte Hoyer Gosselink. In it, she tells us about what kinds of companies and charities they support and why, and she discusses what kinds of grant applications she wishes they saw more of.
For example, we hear about Google.org’s work to collect emissions data and make it public, to put up eco-acoustic sensors in rainforests to help catch those who are poaching or deforesting, and even just to give money to those in developing countries who need it the most.
So take a listen and just maybe you’ll be working with Brigitte and Google.org yourself in the near future.
Discussed in this episode
- WattTime: Tech solutions to automate emissions reduction.
- Carbon Tracker: Aligning markets to shift investment away from fossil fuels.
- Climate Trace: Publicizing the sources of greenhouse gas emissions.
- Rainforest Connection: Using eco-acoustics to prevent poaching and deforestation.
- Give Directly: Giving money directly to those who need it.
- Brigitte recommends reading both Just Mercy and Chasing the Flame.
- Google.org's climate podcast, which you can find here.
More about Brigitte Hoyer Gosselink
Brigitte Hoyer Gosselink is Head of Product Impact at Google.org, where she leads initiatives that leverage emerging technologies and Google’s expertise to address global challenges. She is currently focused on how AI can be used for social impact through efforts like the $25M Google AI Impact Challenge.
She previously led programs focused on how technology can improve global education, innovation for people with disabilities, and crisis response.
Prior to Google.org, Brigitte was a strategy consultant for nonprofits and foundations at The Bridgespan Group and worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development and International Relief and Development, focusing on innovative approaches in post-conflict transitions. She has an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a BS in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia.