Welcome to the final episode of Purpose and Profit with Kathy Varol. Over the past four years and 100 episodes, this podcast has been a space to celebrate, uplift, and learn from business leaders who are ushering in a new era of conscious capitalism. These remarkable individuals are redefining what it means to succeed in business by bringing heart,…

Marilyn Waite leads the Climate Finance Fund. She has worked across four continents in renewable and nuclear energy, climate modeling, and investment. Author of Sustainability at Work: Careers That Make a Difference, Marilyn’s writing has been featured in the Financial Times, the Boston Globe, and Trellis (formerly GreenBiz), where she served as ed…

Dr. Anastasia Volkova is the CEO and Co-founder of Regrow Ag, a software company specializing in scalable decarbonization solutions for agriculture, using satellite imagery and proprietary biogeochemical modeling to measure and reduce scope 3 emissions on farms. Operating globally with over 100 customers—including General Mills, Nestle, Kellogg and…

Chris Kanik is the CEO and Founder of Smart Cups, a sustainability-driven technology company that achieved global recognition with its flagship product—a printed energy drink. All of the flavors and ingredients are printed on the button of a cup, just add water. The Smart Cups printed technology eliminates the need to bottle and ship liquids, signi…

Dimitry Gershenson is the CEO and co-founder of Enduring Planet, a fintech platform that offers founder-friendly working capital and financial advisory services to climate startups and SMEs. Prior to Enduring Planet, Dimitry led M&A and served as COO for Rango Wireless, an Enduring Ventures portfolio company. Before that, Dimitry built Meta’s Energ…

Eugene Kirpichov runs Work On Climate, a non-profit building the workforce needed to solve climate change equitably and justly, which he started after leaving his big tech career in 2020 to focus on solving climate change. Work on Climate has helped thousands of people land climate jobs and advance their companies, and is now focusing on creating s…

Zimri T. Hinshaw, Founder and CEO of Rheom Materials, Inc., is a graduate of Temple University's Economics program and SOSV's IndieBio Program. Zimri started the company from his Temple University dorm room with initial ambitions to design leather jackets and pivoted to creating the materials themselves after realizing a gap in the market. Rheom Ma…

Eric Rubenstein is the Managing Partner at New Climate Ventures (NCV). NCV launched in October 2021, holistically tackling climate change by investing in innovative early-stage startups that target carbon removal, reduction, and avoidance ecosystems. NCV has invested in companies across climate tech, recycling, alternative materials, food tech, and…

Chad Park is the Vice President, Sustainability & Citizenship for Co-operators, a leading Canadian insurance and financial services co-operative with more than $62 billion in assets under administration. Co-operators is a holding company for a number of entities with one common goal: creating financial security for Canadians and their communities. …

This is the #1 listened-to episode from the Purpose and Profit podcast. We’re doing a rerun, so if you’re new to the podcast, you don’t miss this great conversation. Professor Mark Kramer is a senior fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and a former senior lecturer at Harvard Business School and visiting lecturer at the Haas School of B…

Katherine Neebe serves as senior vice president of national engagement and strategy, and chief sustainability and philanthropy officer for Duke Energy. She leads Duke Energy’s stakeholder engagement efforts to develop solutions to meet customer needs for continued reliable and affordable energy—while simultaneously working to achieve the company’s …

Breene Murphy is the president of Carbon Collective, a climate investment advisor. They create low-fee investment portfolios for employer 401k plans and individuals that divest from fossil fuels and reinvest in climate solutions. They have launched two Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs): a climate solutions equity ETF (ticker: CCSO), and a green bond fun…

Julia Marsh is the CEO and co-founder of Sway, a clean tech startup scaling seaweed-based, home-compostable packaging. Sway’s patented products match the vital performance attributes of conventional plastics and are designed to plug into existing infrastructure, enabling scale and massive impact. Julia’s work is driven by a deep passion for regener…

Dalila Wilson-Scott serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer of Comcast Corporation, and President of the Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation. Dalila oversees all Diversity, Equity & Inclusion initiatives and philanthropic strategy with a focus on advancing digital equity and economic mobility through Project UP, which is supporte…

Dr. Stafford (Staff) Sheehan is an American scientist, inventor, and entrepreneur at the forefront of the carbon capture and utilization industry. Staff is the Co-founder and CTO of AIR COMPANY, a business converting captured carbon dioxide, water, and electricity into the fuels and chemicals that we get from fossil fuels today. He is the inventor …

Alex Lauver has been in the Outdoor Industry his entire career. Alex is currently Sr Director Materials, Innovation, & Sustainability at Outdoor Research (OR) where he specializes in advanced materials, sustainability, and high-performance apparel. Since 1981, Outdoor Research has created outdoor apparel, accessories, and equipment for outdoor enth…

Rob Acton is the Founder & CEO of Cause Strategy Partners. Through his firm’s signature program BoardLead, Cause Strategy Partners has placed nearly 3,000 professionals in the United States and the United Kingdom on nonprofit boards, while training tens-of-thousands more in high-impact nonprofit board service. Rob is a recognized expert on nonprofi…

Anna Hammond is the Founder and CEO of Matriark Foods, a social impact business on a mission to scale access to healthy food for the benefit of people and the environment. Each year in the USA, roughly 33 million tons of perfectly healthy vegetables never make it to the table. That’s a waste of food, water, and greenhouse gasses. It’s bad for farme…

Shawn Seipler is the founder and CEO of Clean The World, a social enterprise that offers sustainable, socially responsible programs to the hospitality and meetings industry. Their mission is to prevent millions of deaths caused by acute respiratory infection and diarrheal disease. Clean The World started in Shawn’s garage in 2009, recycling leftove…

Hannes Schoenegger is the co-founder and CEO of Swiss bag brand QWSTION and its “spin-off” company Bananatex®. QWSTION has been making bags from plants since 2008, combining functionality and timeless design with the smallest ecological footprint and biggest social footprint possible. Their efforts have been honored with several international award…

Kimberly Shenk is the co-founder & CEO of Novi Connect, a company that was inspired out of transparency pain points Kimberly experienced firsthand launching an indie clean beauty company. Novi Connect is the first data-driven marketplace for personal care product development. Novi helps brands create clean and sustainable products by working with s…

Glen Delaney is a project director at the nonprofit Earth Economics. Earth Economics quantifies and values the benefits nature provides, driving effective decisions and systemic change through a combination of education, natural capital analysis, and policy recommendations. As businesses begin to explore their impact and dependency on nature, valua…

Senan Ebrahim is a physician-scientist and entrepreneur dedicated to creating technology to improve global and maternal health. Senan is the founder and CEO of Delfina. He developed Delfina to create lifesaving AI-powered pregnancy care after personally witnessing the challenges faced by pregnant patients and their care teams. Senan previously foun…

Shola Richards’ life’s mission is an ambitious one: To end generations of professional suffering, simply by changing how we treat each other at work. An advocate for positive change, Shola addresses the often-ignored issue of workplace bullying by highlighting its impact on trust, communication, and company resources. With a focus on unveiling the …

Dr. Cassandra Zentner is the Vice President of Technology and Sustainability at actnano, the global leader in PFAS-free nanocoatings used to protect circuit boards across industries. Actano was created after the CEO, while working at a different company, saw factory workers getting sick from handling traditional coatings. Actnano’s technology is cu…

Sam Shiroff is the Senior Director of Global Sustainability for EnerSys. A multibillion-dollar business serving over 10,000 customers in 100 countries, EnerSys is an industrial technology leader offering stored energy solutions that meet the growing need for energy efficiency, reliability, and sustainability. The company’s purpose is “Powering the …

Amelia Nickerson is the CEO of First Step Staffing, an organization that connects people experiencing homelessness, veterans, and recently incarcerated individuals to sustainable employment and income. The First Step team has created an ecosystem for success, coordinating closely with other nonprofits to help provide clients with resources and serv…

Ken Cook is the president and co-founder of Environmental Working Group (EWG), whose mission is to empower individuals with breakthrough research to make informed choices and live a healthy life in a healthy environment. EWG lives its mission by empowering American families with easy-to-use, data-driven tools to help reduce their exposure to potent…

Marissa Fayer is the founder and CEO of HERhealthEQ, a global non-profit with the mission to improve women’s health in developing countries by providing access to medical devices & equipment, creating an equitable standard of care. Here are two 2020 statistics from the World Health Organization that highlight the inequitable standard of care for wo…

Carrie Freeman is the Chair of the SecondMuse Group, which includes SecondMuse, the SecondMuse Foundation, and SecondMuse Capital. Carrie is also the Interim Executive Director for the SecondMuse Foundation, a non-profit focusing on advocating for building relational wealth as an approach to building inclusive and resilient economies. SecondMuse fo…

Since 2023, Rukaiyah Adams has served as CEO of the 1803 Fund, an innovative firm that seeks to grow shared prosperity through the alignment of financial investments and investments in community-based organizations. It is not a conventional investment firm, and it is not traditional philanthropy—its work includes aspects of both and is ultimately a…

Mary Harvey is an accomplished sports governance and sustainability executive with 15+ years of leading worldwide initiatives to achieve societal change and gender equity through sports. As Chief Executive of the Centre for Sport and Human Rights, Mary oversees the Centre’s vision, including facilitating the deliberations of the Centre’s multi-stak…

Maximilian Winter is the Founder and General Partner at Harmonix Fund as well as a fourth-generation entrepreneur. Having successfully deployed two funds, Maximilian has invested in over 40 early-stage companies, resulting in an enterprise valuation of $5 billion. Maximilian invests in scalable technological breakthroughs to advance human health an…

Walden Lam is the co-founder and CEO of unspun, whose mission is to reduce global human carbon emissions by 1%. To get there, unspun is focused on zero-waste production and circular reuse for clothing. In their aim to remake the fashion industry, unspun had to remake how clothes are made. They started with digital fit jeans, and then created VEGA, …

Nick Stone is a Lead Director and Board Member for Wilderness. Known for its once-in-a-lifetime safari experiences, Wilderness was founded in Botswana in 1983 with the goal of introducing visitors to the country’s natural beauty while protecting the environment and providing local jobs. Today, the company has more than six million acres of land und…

Fawn Bergen leads Intel Corporation’s Corporate Sustainability Group. In her role, Fawn directs the implementation of Intel’s sustainability goals across their manufacturing operations and office facilities around the world, including Intel’s commitments to reach net zero GHG emissions by 2040, 100% renewable electricity by 2030, net positive water…

Lata Reddy is Senior Vice President of Inclusive Solutions at Prudential, and chair of The Prudential Foundation. In these roles, Lata harnesses the power of capital markets to drive financial and social mobility. By combining diversity strategies, impact investments, philanthropy, corporate contributions, and employee engagement with Prudential’s …

Amy Terpeluk leads the CSR & Social Impact Practice at FINN Partners, a values-based marketing and communications agency. FINN Partners helps brands share their stories in ways that drive business value and make a positive impact in the world. Amy has created initiatives in education, DEI, public health, economic inequality, sustainability, climate…

Chuck Templeton is a Senior Managing Director at S2G Ventures, the direct investment team at Builders Vision—an impact platform providing philanthropy, investment, and advocacy tools to organizations that are building a more humane and healthy planet. S2G Ventures has 4 focus areas for investment: Clean Energy, Food & Agriculture, Oceans & Seafood,…

Stephanie Benedetto is the Co-Founder and CEO of Queen of Raw. This award-winning company is turning deadstock pollution into profit through two major channels: 1) its proprietary inventory management software Materia MX, and 2) an integrated deadstock marketplace. Queen of Raw enables fashion companies to sell their excess inventory, while at the …

Lindsey Hoell is co-founder and CEO of Dispatch Goods, a women-founded reverse logistics company building the infrastructure for circular packaging. Dispatch Goods enables direct-to-consumer brands to offer their customers’ meals and groceries in completely reusable packaging, again and again. Their mission is to make single-use waste a thing of th…

Buddy is President & CEO at Soles4Souls, a not-for-profit social enterprise creating opportunity through the collection and distribution of shoes and clothing around the world. Teaster’s experience at Soles4Souls, along with the organization’s global economic impact, is chronicled in his book, shoestrings: how your donated shoes and clothes help pe…

Neda Nia is the Chief Product Officer at Stibo Systems, a master data management company whose purpose is to deliver better data, better business, and a better world. As part of their data management suite of solutions, Stibo Systems has innovated tools that help clients track and achieve their sustainability and ESG goals. These tools enable clien…

Carbon Market Watch works to ensure that carbon pricing and other climate policies cut pollution and drive a just transition towards zero-carbon societies. The NGO utilizes evidence-based advocacy to improve climate action through market-based solutions working in concert with sound regulatory policy. Gilles Dufrasne leads Carbon Market Watch's wor…

Melissa C. Potter honed her expertise in the topics of Race, Identity, Culture, and Equity working in both the social justice and entertainment worlds. Today she is the Vice President of Strategy and Impact at Paramount, upholding the company’s commitment to the long-term social impact of cultural shifts in society as driven across a diverse collec…

Mike Salguero is the founder of ButcherBox, the leading high-quality, direct-to-consumer meats brand. Since its launch in 2015, the company has grown to become a $600 million business, all while putting an emphasis on animal welfare, the environment, and supporting farmers and fishermen. ButcherBox is a certified B Corporation, signaling the brand’…

Andrew Winston is one of the most widely read and respected writers on sustainability. The author of four books and hundreds of articles, his work has been published in many outlets including the Harvard Business Review and the MIT Sloan Management Review. In 2021 Andrew was named a top 50 management thinker in the Thinkers50 list. Andrew's latest …

Today’s episode is extra special. On the Purpose and Profit podcast, I interview business leaders that are innovating new approaches to business. These changemakers are marching to the beat of their own drum, paving new paths that others will follow. To be a changemaker requires having the courage to do things differently. Yesterday, my husband Oza…

Brad Liski is a social entrepreneur and the CEO of British Columbia-based Tru Earth, a global household cleaning product company focused on biodegradability and the elimination of single-use plastic waste. In 2022, Tru Earth partnered with Ocean Wise to launch the American Shoreline Clean-up Program. Brad was recently named a Sustainability Leader …

After 2 years of speaking with some of the most innovative leaders in the ESG space today, this week’s Purpose and Profit is extra special. It’s my very first solocast! In this episode I take you behind the scenes, sharing part of my journey in creating the global purpose strategy for adidas, a $22 billion company. My experiences shaping how adidas…