Interviews with 56 Changemakers: 5th Anniversary of the Big Vision Podcast

For the past five years I've had the amazing opportunity to interview 56 changemakers for the Big Vision Podcast who I think have big visions for a better world.  It really has been one of the highlights of my work.  I come away from each interview energized and inspired

You can view all of the interviews, and subscribe to the show, on iTunes, or on the Big Vision Podcast's landing page. You can also listen to them on the player below. After you click the triangle to start listening, click on the blue box in the bottom left hand corner of the player that says, Menu.  Then, click on Episodes. You'll be able to scroll through, and play the shows that peak your interest. 
I've also listed all of the interviewees with photos and links below.

Please note that because the conversations take place over five years, some people's work and lives have changed. They have new job titles, work someplace else, and in some cases, have new names! The way they're titled below is how they were listed at the time of the interview.

If you have suggestions for people I should interview in 2011, please let me know in the comments. 

2011

Aneesha Raghunathan, Owner, Hope Line Fashions
Coming soon!

Robert Wolfe, Co-Founder, Crowdrise
listen

Gabriela Masala, Founder, One Love Alliance
listen










2010

Rebecca Kousky, Founder, Nest
listen
read

Ashley Rowe and Carolynn Webb, Owners, Fat Bottom Bakery
listen
read

Melinda Kramer and Amira Diamond, Co-Directors, Women's Earth Alliance
listen
read

Anna Lappe, Author, Diet for a Hot Planet
listen
read

Tom Aageson, Co-Founder, Global Center for Cultural Entreprenership (and my dad!)
listen
read

Jessica Prentice, Co-Owner, Three Stone Hearth: A Community Supported Kitchen. Author, Full Moon Feast: Food and Hunger for Connection
listen
read

Temra Costa, Author, Farmer Jane: Women Changing the Way We Eat
listen
read

Marsha Wallace, Founder, Dining for Women
listen
read




 

Jensine Larsen, Founder, World Pulse
listen
read

Laura Miller, Founder, Secret Agent L Project
listen
read









2009

Jennifer Lee, Owner, Artizen Coaching
Listen
Read




Bryant Terry, Author, Vegan Soul Kitchen
Listen
Read





Seane Corn, Co-Founder, Off the Mat, Into the World
Listen
Read







Zainab Salbi, Founder and CEO, Women for Women International
Listen
Read







Kjerstin Erickson, Founder and Executive Director, FORGE
Listen
Read






David Cohn, Founder, Spot.us
Listen
Read






Jose Corona, Executive Director, Inner City Advisors
Listen
Read








Lisa Witter, Co-Author, The She Spot
Listen
Read




Kimberly Wilson, Founder, Tranquil Space Foundation, author, Tranquilista
Listen
Read







Patricia Loya, Executive Director, La Cocina
Listen
Read




2008

Christina Arnold, Founder, Prevent Human Trafficking
Listen
Read


Cristi Hegranes, Executive Director and Founder, Press Institute for Women
Listen
Read




Kavita Ramdas, President and CEO, Global Fund for Women
Listen
Read





Anisha Desai, Executive Director, Women of Color Resource Center
Listen
Read




Janessa Goldbeck, Director of Membership, Genocide Intervention Network
Listen
Read


Ari Derfel, Creator, Save Your Trash Project
Listen
Read



Martin Fisher, Co-founder and CEO, KickStart
Listen
Read



Marisa Handler, Author, Loyal to the Sky: Notes from an Activist
Listen
Read





Cami Walker, Founder, 29-Day Giving Challenge
Listen
Read








Marianne Manilov, National Team Leader, The Engage Network
Listen
Read





Favianna Rodriguez, Political Digital Artist and Printmaker. Co-Editor, Reproduce and Revolt!
Listen
Read



2007

Reem Rahim, Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer, Numi Tea
Listen
Read


Jodie van Horn, Campaigner for Rainforest Action Network's Freedom From Oil campaign, and Coordinator for Plug-In Bay Area
Listen
Read

Priya Haji, CEO and Co-founder, World of Good.
Listen
Read



Paul Rice, Founding President and CEO, TransFair USA
Listen
Read


Van Jones, Co-Founder and President, Ella Baker Center
Listen
Read



Chris Messina of Citizen Agency and Ivan Storck of SustainableMarketing.com and SustainableWebsites.com talk about how to start a green coworking space based on their experience with Citizen Space in San Francisco, CA.
Listen / Read


Elizabeth Pomada Co-Founder, Writing for Change Conference
Listen
Read





Marsha Wallace, Founder, Dining for Women
Listen
Read




Shalini Kantayya, Filmmaker, A Drop of Life.
Listen
Read




Paola Gianturco, photojournalist, Author, Women Who Light the Dark
Listen
Read



Andre Carothers, Co-founder and Executive Director, Rockwood Leadership Program
Listen
Read

2006

Alli Chagi-Starr, Co-Founder, Art in Action / Art and Media Director, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights’ Reclaim the Future Program
Listen
Read


Eric Fenster and Ari Derfel, Co-owners, Back to Earth
Listen
Read


Brahm Ahmadi, Executive Director, People's Grocery
Listen
Read


Mei-ying Ho, Co-Director, SOUL
Listen
Read

Abby Rosenheck, Founder and Executive Director, Urban Sprouts
Listen
Read



Ilyse Hogue, Global Finance Campaign Director, Rainforest Action Network
Listen
Read



Steve Williams, Co-founder and Executive Director, POWER (People Organized to Win Employment Rights)
Listen
Read

Anna Lappé, Co-Author of Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen and Co-Founder of the Small Planet Fund.
Listen
Read


Nola Brantley, Parenting and Youth Enrichment Director, and the Coordinator of the Sexually Abused and Commercially Exploited Youth Program at the George P. Scotland Youth Program in West Oakland
Listen
Read

Lisa Russ, Associate Director, Movement Strategy Center
Listen
Read


Jonah Sachs, Principal, Free Range Studios
Listen
Read



Jessica Jackley Flannery, Co-Founder and Board Member, Kiva.org
Listen
Read


Ingrid Severson, Lead Organizer of the Rooftop Resources Project, a project of Bay Localize
Listen
Read



Melinda Kramer, Founder & Director, Women's Global Green Action Network
Listen
Read

Kevin Danaher, Co-founder of Global Exchange and Executive Director of the Global Citizen Center
Listen
Read

Tina Seelig's 9 Ways to Unlock Your Creativity Quotient

Kindergarten is fun by woodley wonderworks

If I ask:

5 + 5 = ?

You know the answer, right?

But if I ask:

? + ? = 10

The answers are infinite.

How we ask questions, enhances our creativity.

This was one of numerous examples and stories Tina Seelig shared during her fantastic talk last night, Unlocking Your Creativity Quotient, hosted by UpStart Bay Area. Seelig is the Executive Director for the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), the entrepreneurship center at Stanford University's School of Engineering. She is also the author of What I Wish I Knew When I Was Twenty:  On Making Your Place in the World.  You can follow her on Twitter at @tseelig.

Seelig shared 9 things she believes can increase your creativity:

1. Observation

Pay attention.  The answers you're looking for may be right in front of you.


2. Connect and combine things in unusual ways

Example: She gave her students an assignment to combine two household items and create something with a new function. They came up with all kinds of amazing things.

3. Challenge Assumptions

 The first answer is often not the best answer.  She recommends going past the first answer, and the second answer, to the third answer, and beyond.


4. Reframe the Problem

Example: If you were asked to design a new version of a name tag (like the ones you wear at conferences) you'd probably get versions that were different, but ultimately similar.  But if you asked, "Why do we use name tags?" and answered, "To introduce ourselves/break the ice," you could then ask people to design new "introduction/ice breaking devices" and would get completely new ideas.


5. Space matters


Example: Kindergarten classrooms where you can sit on the floor, move things around, be messy, work with others easily, and have space to move, encourage creativity. Desks in rows during the rest of our schooling do not : (


6. Time


Too much pressure can inhibit creativity, but a little, like when you're trying to reach a goal, can stimulate it.


7. Rules


Example: She gave her class 5 Scrabble boards.  While they were playing, she changed the rules every 10 minutes so that they were either looser (e.g. you can use proper nouns), or tighter (e.g. your word has to build on the word that was laid down before it). The tighter she made the rules, the more creative the students became, and the more they collaborated with each other. It reminded me of a NYT article I read years ago, Route to Creativity: Following Bliss or Dots?


8. Experimentation

Try lots of things.  Keep what works.  Be willing to share ideas in their early stages and get feedback before you invest a lot in completion.  Be willing to fail fast.

9. Attitude

If you don't have the attitude that you can solve a problem creatively, you never will.  Think of every problem as an opportunity.

Example: One of her students needed to move a couch from one side of town to the other quickly, but she didn't have a car, or anyone who could give her a ride in a large enough vehicle.  She did an exercise Seelig teaches to her students: Pick a random object in your space and figure out how it can help you solve your problem.  She noticed a case of wine in the room, and decide to post a listing on Craigslist offering to trade a case of wine for a ride.  Her couch was moved in 2 hours.

Seelig is working on a book around these 9 ideas and asked us to tell her which ones resonated with us the most.  #6 (Space Matters), #7 (Reframe the Problem) and #9 (Attitude) were my favs.  Which ones make you go, "Yes!"

A big thanks to Tara Sophia Mohr for letting me know about the event!

Share

Open Your Gift

You have a gift
Most likely more than one.
The thing you love to do
When time flies by; you're in the flow.
Don't save it.
Open your gift. Share it.
More are coming.
Promise.

Share

Fun Friday Staycation in Oakland and Berkeley (Photos)

One of the homework assignments this week for the Juicy Blogging e-course I'm teaching is to write an image-rich post.  I figure I should practice what I preach, so here are some photos from my fun Friday in Berkeley and Oakland with a Move, Play, Reflect, Connect twist.

Connect

It's rare that the hubs and I have a whole day off together, but everything fell into place yesterday for us to take a one-day staycation.  Hooray!  Unfortunately, our cat, Dora, couldn't come with us on our adventures.

 

Play

Our day started out at the always yummy Remedy Cafe where I had a decaf soy latte and a chocolate cherry vegan scone.  I made some progress in the next book we're reading for my virtual social change book club: Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture.

After breakfast, we browsed and shopped at the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse, where they have all kinds of fun stuff.

I got some interesting architecture photos on mat board, a pile of gold foil squares, a few pieces of colored mat board, and 3 rubber stamps.

Afterwards, we headed over to Artist and Craftsman and Supply where I got a blank jigsaw puzzle, watercolor postcards, and a couple bottles of acrylic paint to use in my visual journal. I didn't buy any of this paper (below), but isn't it pretty?

Move

After a yummy lunch at La Note, we took a walk in the beautiful Mountain View Cemetery.  I know some people get freaked out by cemeteries, but I've always liked them.

 Reflect

After we got home, we sorted through our arts and craft supplies, and I used my new Valentine-colored acrylics to paint pages in my visual journal in the style Lisa Sonora Beam showed us at her visual journaling workshop last spring.

A super fun Friday! I'm grateful that the hubs and I were able to spend it together (:

Thanks Instagram for making my photos looks super cool!

Share

Funny and Fun Fundraising with Crowdrise, a Big Vision Podcast Interview

"I believe Moosejaw is relatively successful because we made it fun, in the same way we're making giving back fun with Crowdrise.  It was not born out of a marketing plan, it's just a reflection of what we wanted to be." - Robert Wolfe

This month's Big Vision Podcast guest is Robert Wolfe, the co-founder of Crowdrise, an online fundraising website that's all about, "raising money for charity and having the most fun in the world while doing it."

Robert co-founded Crowdrise with his brother, Jeffrey Wolfe. Before creating Crowdrise, they started and built Moosejaw, a multi-channel retailer that combined humor, crowdsourcing, social commerce and creative marketing.

Crowdrise's two other co-founders are Shauna Robertson and Edward Norton.  Robertson has produced comedies like Suberbad, Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and Anchorman.  You're probably most familiar with Norton (pictured left with Robert) from his roles in films like Fight Club, American History X and 25th Hour, but he's also a committed social and environmental activist.

You can listen and subscribe to the Big Vision Podcast via iTunes, its landing page, or on the player above.  If you have suggestions for people I should interview, please email me at britt AT brittbravo DOT com.

Show notes

• My Juicy Blogging e-course starts tomorrow, February 2nd.  For more info, go to http://brittbravo.com/speaking
• The Koh Scholar Computer Drive campaign on Crowdrise that Robert mentioned:
• Will Ferrell's campaign on Crowdrise that Robert mentioned:
  
• Article about Crowdrise from The New York Times, "Online Giving Meets Social Networking"

Connect with Crowdrise

• Website: http://www.crowdrise.com
• Twitter: @crowdrise
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/crowdrise

Connect with me

• Website: http://brittbravo.com 
• Blog: http://havefundogood.blogspot.com 
• Twitter: @Bbravo 
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/britt.bravo

If you liked this interview, you might also like:

• Girls' Night Out with a Twist: Dining for Women and the Power of Giving Circles (September 30, 2010) 
• 29 Day Giving Challenge: An Interview with Cami Walker (October 15, 2008)
  

Share