Seeds

Growing up in an international family that spanned the globe, working as a lawyer before starting to work for a variety of charities particularly in the health sector and then becoming the CEO of the…

Traveling the country at 11 as a boy soprano, studying acting and working as a professional actor and then working internationally as an opera singer before becoming an activist with Greenpeace, work…

On falling in love at first sight, the impact of a friend passing in your 20s, a lifelong love of skiing and travel, co-founding a marketing agency, deciding to retire but then getting a prognosis yo…

Growing up in the Philippines with dreams of Space and interplanetary travel, how a scholarship to the International Space University in France has led to a unique career as an international space co…

Growing up on a Yorkshire Dales hill farm, living in South East Asia during the Vietnam War era, pursuing an academic career, founding the Hawthorn Press, developing 'Stroud Common Wealth' and establ…

Growing up in Rotorua, being involved in the fishing industry and co-founding the New Zealand Salmon Company in the mid 1980s, working as Chief Executive at the Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Comme…

Ambitions to be a superhero as a child and how that affected the decision to become a policeman and then work for many years as an anti-human trafficker, the highs and lows, including burn-out and de…

Growing up in Italy, working as a researcher of economic models at the Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo, joining the finance world as an investment banker before co-founding OPES Impact Fund which fo…

Joining the Peace Corps in 1964, studying at Harvard Business School and then joining the faculty before being involved in co-founding the Social Enterprise Initiative there.

Dr James Austin is Emeri…

What the Eden Project is, the concept of weaving together entertainment with education, operating as a global social enterprise with expanding operations in China, Australia, America and a proposal f…

Growing up in Kenya and what life is like in the city of Nairobi, what impresses about Western culture when viewed from an African perspective, how community is different, the opportunities people ma…

On what makes coming home from overseas so special, working with entrepreneurs as 'Start-Up Activator' at Ministry of Awesome, the scary/exciting moment you decide to launch out on your own and findi…

Co-founding the Australian Social Enterprise Thankyou at 19, being transparent about the ups and downs of the journey, what keeps you going on an entrepreneurial marathon, the importance of purpose a…

Building a network of urban farms as a social enterprise, their potential to help the young people involved find their purpose and the chance to participate in the next stage of Cultivate Christchurc…

Working in Silicon Valley in the 1970s, what resilience is in an organisational context, how theory was turned into a living labratory when the earthquakes hit Christchurch and what organisations can…

What it feels like to turn 10, what kids can teach adults and what they wish we knew, the keys to developing a growth mindset, some innovative transport ideas, how to reduce pollution and what it mea…

The one where we learn about a childhood without TV but plenty of imagination, becoming a Member of Parliament, how the earthquakes sparked the decision to become Mayor, the future for social enterpr…

The one where we talk about when a national identity forms if you are a child of immigrants, starting your first charity at 15, empowering others as a Social Enterprise lawyer in post Earthquake Chr…

The one where we talk about what it takes to leave working in the corporate world behind, what B Corps actually are and the process to become one, what changes are needed to have more purpose driven…

The one where we learn about a childhood in Mexico, introducing the BlackBerry to Europe with Vodafone, being involved in IT startups in England and how all these unique experiences combined to provi…