#14 – Sabeen Ali – Hackathons creating Social Impact & Technology for Good
Doing Good Podcast by Amra Naidoo
Release Date: 02/05/2017
Sumitra Pasupathy, Global Partnerships Director, Ashoka
Doing Good Podcast by Amra Naidoo
In this episode we meet Sumitra Pasupathy, who is the Global Partnerships Director at Ashoka. Ashoka is absolutely legendary in the world of social entrepreneurship. And it's based on the idea that the most powerful force for good in the world is a social entrepreneur.
info_outline
Cynthia Cheung, Incubation Program Lead at UNDP and Citi Foundation's Youth Co:Lab
Doing Good Podcast by Amra Naidoo
In this episode we meet Cynthia Cheung, who leads the incubation programs for young entrepreneurs in over 24 countries at the Youth Co:Lab, an initiative co-led by the UNDP Asia-Pacific and Citi Foundation to economically empower the next generation in the region, through youth entrepreneurship and government innovation.
info_outline
Kevin Moon, Head of Impact Investments at Lonsdale Capital on Finding and Scaling Startups that Change the World
Doing Good Podcast by Amra Naidoo
Now you might have heard about impact investing before, but for many people this is quite a new and up and coming area of investing. So, we’re going to find out more about what exactly it’s all about.
info_outline
Bernhard Kowatsch, Head of the United Nations World Food Program Innovation Accelerator; Accelerating Solutions to End World Hunger
Doing Good Podcast by Amra Naidoo
On this episode we meet Bernhard Kowatsch who is the founder and head of the Innovation Accelerator at the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). The WFP Innovation Accelerator was named by Fast Company as one of the 10 Most Innovative Companies of 2017 in Food for its work in identifying, nurturing and scaling disruptive start-ups that accelerate innovations to address global hunger. Innovations include blockchain, agri-tech, supply chain and new businesses to end hunger.
info_outline
Catherine Chen, Founder of AvantFaire Investment Management on Impact Investing
Doing Good Podcast by Amra Naidoo
The impact investing space has boomed in popularity over the past decade, with many institutions adapting the idea that you can invest & generate financial returns from assets, ideas and businesses that also generate positive impact. Founded in 2017 by Catherine Chen, Avantfaire is one of the very few signatories of the United Nationals supported Principles of Responsible Investment, are a member of the Global Impact Investing Network, and are a certified B-Corporation.
info_outline
John 'Bob' Ranck, CEO of Orbis International; Home of the Flying Eye Hospital
Doing Good Podcast by Amra Naidoo
Imagine living without sight. A shocking 75% of all visual impairment can be prevented or treated. Orbis International is an international non-profit that trains medical professionals around the world, rallying world class experts to train local eye care teams. They partner with local hospital and clinics to improve and strengthen services and, though their most iconic tool – the Flying Eye Hospital – they deliver most of their program work in country, on the ground alongside local communities and partn
info_outline
Susan Bissell: Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children
Doing Good Podcast by Amra Naidoo
In this interview I chat with Susan Bissell who is the Director at the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children at UNICEF. Although this episode was recorded a few years ago (I know, I’m sorry I’m slow at editing), Susan’s insights on the work to eliminate violence against children is still highly relevant with 1 in 2 children experiencing violence every year.
info_outline
Pete Yao; Chief Impact Officer at Thankyou
Doing Good Podcast by Amra Naidoo
In this interview I chat with Pete Yao who is the Chief Impact Officer of Thankyou. I love Thankyou because they’ve flipped the whole FMCG model on its head and as a result are doing incredible work and creating huge impact. In this episode we go into detail about how they track impact with a custom-made system that they’ve built. We chat about how they’ve managed to effectively combine the business and social elements into a thriving social enterprise that has impacted over 750,000 people in 20 count
info_outline
Andy Last: Leveraging Authentic Communications for Social Impact
Doing Good Podcast by Amra Naidoo
In this episode I had a chat with Andy Last who is the co-founder of Salt. Recently acquired by MullenLowe, and now known as MullenLowe Salt, the company is a strategic communications agency. As one of the first companies in the UK to be accredited as a B-Corporation, MullenLowe Salt advises organisations on they can use social issues to drive growth, and how communications can effect change to bring about better business results and social progress.
info_outline
Tharani Jegatheeswaran: Intrapraneurship, Career Changes and Social Impact Consulting at Deloitte
Doing Good Podcast by Amra Naidoo
Why does a Big Four accounting firm like Deloitte do social impact consulting? Is this for CSR purposes? is this for publicity because being involved in impact is 'cool'? Are there business reasons behind this decision and if so, what were they? Do they charge clients for the consulting they do or is this pro bono? In this episode we hear from Tharani how she made a successful career change into social impact and built Deloitte's social impact consultancy from nothing.
info_outlineAbout the episode
On the show today we have Sabeen Ali, founder and CEO of San Francisco-based Angelhack - the world’s largest and most diverse hacker community. AngelHack, a female-owned, female-majority company helps drive open innovation of tech products, platforms and brands with extraordinary smarts, scale and speed via tech education, marketing and hackathons. Prior to AngelHack, Sabeen founded (and then sold) her own leadership training and organizational development company, Team Building ROI. She has also consulted for companies like Yahoo!, and Cisco. Sabeen is someone who i very much personally admire. I especially love how she is working to bridge the gap between the tech world and the social world, which have up until quite recently been very seperate. Even today, the social world can be very slow to adapt new technology, much to the sectors disadvantage. Sabeen is also someone who is very much a role model for getting more women in to technology and is also a champion of making this happen quicker. Angelhack is actually one of the case studies that I use quite often when people tell me that it is too difficult to have more women at a tech event or in their organisation. Anyway, I think it’s best we get in to the show so that Sabeen can tell you more about her work!
Favorite quote from episode:
“Everything has the potential to change the world and create positive momentum” – Sabeen [21:55]
People/ items mentioned in this episode:
Angelhack & World Bank Hackathon
Hacking The Hashtag – Taking Back #LadyProblems
Get in contact with Sabeen on Twitter or at her Website
Show notes
- “The average hackathon’s female participation rate is 4%” [03:25]
- Sabeen chats about what Angelhack does and how hackathons are a platform for innovation
- “We’ve been focusing on expanding the skillset of the people in our community and broadening their own understanding of what technology can do and what it can accomplish, and that’s brought us to a lot of inclusivity and social good events” [05:45]
- What is a hackathon and how does it work? [06:20]
- How does Angelhack use hackathons to create social impact? [09:45]
- Sabeen chats about four barriers for female entrepreneurs [14:25]
- Do Good Ventures & Hackcelerator Program [20:00]
- How does Angelhack measure impact? [22:20]
- “If you can do more, then do it” [26:10]
- Sabeen takes us through the journey of starting up Angelhack [30:55]
- The future of hackathons for the public sector [35:15]
- What Angelhack is working on now [38:30]
- Sabeen, what do you love about what you do? [40:00]
- How to get started in tech for good? [41:40]
- What’s next for Sabeen and for Angelhack? [46:20]
- Three Things [50:00]
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode?
Head to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or doinggoodpodcast.com to get involved in the conversation