Moving the Needle: Recent Episodes
Christopher Gergen & Johnathan Holifield
We highlight people who do the real needle moving sh!t.
Communities worldwide are at an inflection point. In the devastating wake of COVID, there are unparalleled opportunities to move the needle on realizing truly inclusive prosperity, fueled by dynamic economic growth. In this moment, communities can make bold, strategic, and equitable investments. Needle moving investments not only generate catalytic and sustained community impact, but also provide meaningful financial returns for the impact investors behind them.
Moving the Needle is a podcast series featuring conversations with a globally curated mix of policymakers, philanthropists, private investors, and social innovators who are driving break-through investments that move the needle. Hosted by Christopher Gergen and Johnathan Holifield, an uncommon pairing who arrived at the common need for “doing needle moving sh#t” from very different lived experiences. Through the podcast, Gergen and Holifield invite guests to share their own lived experiences and what led them to their transformative investment theses. Designed to be highly interactive, energetic, and personal, the conversation will leave listeners with a deeper understanding of how investment can be channeled for the greater good, inspired by the stories behind the innovation, and excited to learn more about each guest.
Today we explore how a transformed food system can pave the way for generational wealth creation, equity, and a sustainable future for communities.
4P Foods is working to revolutionize the food industry by connecting smallholder farmers with local consumers, and CEO Tom McDougall joins us to talk about the need to improve food ecosystems, considering their impact on local economies, the environment, and healthcare. Tom shares his firsthand experiences with the externalities and true costs of the industrial food system, shedding light on the importance of creating alternative strategies.
Moving the Needle is hosted by Christopher Gergen & Johnathan Holifield, and is produced by Earfluence.
Thank you to our sponsors:
- Live Oak Bank is on a mission to be America's small business bank and has the privilege of helping thousands of passionate, driven entrepreneurs turn their dreams into reality. These small business owners aren’t in it for the fortune or the fame. They’re in it to make a difference, just like Live Oak.
- SHRM has created better workplaces by supporting diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the world of work and society. It’s why they developed the Together Forward@ Work initiative to drive racial inequity out of the workplace. It’s why SHRM made a capital commitment to support minority-owned business enterprises.
If you like our podcast, you'll also like our books:
- The Future Economy and Inclusive Competitiveness: How Demographic Trends and Innovation Can Create Economic Prosperity for All Americans, by Johnathan Holifield
- Life Entrepreneurs: Ordinary People Creating Extraordinary Lives, by Christopher Gergen and Gregg Vanourek
Christopher Gergen and Johnathan Holifield come from completely different backgrounds. One was born into power and privilege in a political family in DC. One grew up in blue collar Detroit where you had to work hard to survive. Through their careers and personal growth, they've ended up with the same goals - to raise awareness that we're not all on an equal playing field - and ultimately move the needle in closing the generational wealth gap among races in the United States.
Moving the Needle is hosted by Christopher Gergen & Johnathan Holifield, and is produced by Earfluence.
Thank you to our sponsors:
- Live Oak Bank is on a mission to be America's small business bank and has the privilege of helping thousands of passionate, driven entrepreneurs turn their dreams into reality. These small business owners aren’t in it for the fortune or the fame. They’re in it to make a difference, just like Live Oak.
- SHRM has created better workplaces by supporting diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the world of work and society. It’s why they developed the Together Forward@ Work initiative to drive racial inequity out of the workplace. It’s why SHRM made a capital commitment to support minority-owned business enterprises.
If you like our podcast, you'll also like our books:
- The Future Economy and Inclusive Competitiveness: How Demographic Trends and Innovation Can Create Economic Prosperity for All Americans, by Johnathan Holifield
- Life Entrepreneurs: Ordinary People Creating Extraordinary Lives, by Christopher Gergen and Gregg Vanourek
Today we're sharing an episode of a podcast that shares our mission to move the needle - WorkforceRX with Futuro Health.
Johnathan Holifield spent many years deeply involved in neighborhood and community development work without really moving the needle until he discovered the game-changing nature of the innovation economy. “The stuff we were doing was good work, but we were focused on largely inelastic career opportunities versus what you find in the tech sector and innovation economy, which are elastic opportunities that really give you social and economic mobility.” As senior vice president of New Economies at Bitwise Industries, he’s now in a position to help what he calls disconnected populations gain access to the best options for economic advancement, and do so on an increasingly national scale. Bitwise, which started in Fresno, California in 2013, helps marginalized communities obtain the skills and resources necessary to access opportunities in the tech industry. Apprenticeships are key to its model and Bitwise is now the largest tech apprenticeship provider in the United States. Check out this illuminating episode of WorkforceRx as Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan explores how Bitwise is bringing its successful formula of workforce development, technology consulting and creating great community spaces to seven states and counting.
Thank you to our sponsors:
- Live Oak Bank is on a mission to be America's small business bank and has the privilege of helping thousands of passionate, driven entrepreneurs turn their dreams into reality. These small business owners aren’t in it for the fortune or the fame. They’re in it to make a difference, just like Live Oak.
- SHRM has created better workplaces by supporting diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the world of work and society. It’s why they developed the Together Forward@ Work initiative to drive racial inequity out of the workplace. It’s why SHRM made a capital commitment to support minority-owned business enterprises.
If you like our podcast, you'll also like our books:
- The Future Economy and Inclusive Competitiveness: How Demographic Trends and Innovation Can Create Economic Prosperity for All Americans, by Johnathan Holifield
- Life Entrepreneurs: Ordinary People Creating Extraordinary Lives, by Christopher Gergen and Gregg Vanourek
Today we're sharing an episode of a podcast that shares our mission to move the needle - Inside Impact with Alisa Herr.
Christopher Gergen's first entrepreneurial venture—a coffee shop bar in Santiago, Chile—was impactful, but more impactful was the man who walked in and introduced himself as a "cultural entrepreneur." In this episode, hear how that first project inspired him to support founders and transform entrepreneurship in the Triangle as a Founding Partner of Forward Impact Solutions.
Inside Impact is hosted by Unity Web Agency CEO Alisa Herr and is produced by Earfluence.
Thank you to our sponsors:
- Live Oak Bank is on a mission to be America's small business bank and has the privilege of helping thousands of passionate, driven entrepreneurs turn their dreams into reality. These small business owners aren’t in it for the fortune or the fame. They’re in it to make a difference, just like Live Oak.
- SHRM has created better workplaces by supporting diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the world of work and society. It’s why they developed the Together Forward@ Work initiative to drive racial inequity out of the workplace. It’s why SHRM made a capital commitment to support minority-owned business enterprises.
If you like our podcast, you'll also like our books:
- The Future Economy and Inclusive Competitiveness: How Demographic Trends and Innovation Can Create Economic Prosperity for All Americans, by Johnathan Holifield
- Life Entrepreneurs: Ordinary People Creating Extraordinary Lives, by Christopher Gergen and Gregg Vanourek
When you’re running a small business, you’ll take all the resources you can get, especially access to capital. But many founders have no idea where to begin to look for funding and wouldn’t even think to look at the federal government. But America’s Seed Fund, the small business innovation research program, now distributes over $200 million a year to 400 startups across the United States.
Jennifer Shieh is the Director of Ecosystem Development at the United States Small Business Administration.
Moving the Needle is hosted by Christopher Gergen & Johnathan Holifield, and is produced by Earfluence.
Thank you to our sponsors:
- Live Oak Bank is on a mission to be America's small business bank and has the privilege of helping thousands of passionate, driven entrepreneurs turn their dreams into reality. These small business owners aren’t in it for the fortune or the fame. They’re in it to make a difference, just like Live Oak.
- SHRM has created better workplaces by supporting diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the world of work and society. It’s why they developed the Together Forward@ Work initiative to drive racial inequity out of the workplace. It’s why SHRM made a capital commitment to support minority-owned business enterprises.
If you like our podcast, you'll also like our books:
- The Future Economy and Inclusive Competitiveness: How Demographic Trends and Innovation Can Create Economic Prosperity for All Americans, by Johnathan Holifield
- Life Entrepreneurs: Ordinary People Creating Extraordinary Lives, by Christopher Gergen and Gregg Vanourek
Tracy Palandjian is moving the needle. She's the CEO of Social Finance, a national impact finance and advisory nonprofit that has mobilized $350 million in new investments designed to help 45,000 people realize improved outcomes in education, economic mobility, health, and housing.
Earlier this year, Social Finance partnered with Google on $100M innovative investment program that will upskill and place 20,000 Americans in good jobs and drive $1 billion in wage gains over the next 10 years.
Moving the Needle is hosted by Christopher Gergen & Johnathan Holifield, and is produced by Earfluence.
Thank you to our sponsors:
- Live Oak Bank is on a mission to be America's small business bank and has the privilege of helping thousands of passionate, driven entrepreneurs turn their dreams into reality. These small business owners aren’t in it for the fortune or the fame. They’re in it to make a difference, just like Live Oak.
- SHRM has created better workplaces by supporting diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the world of work and society. It’s why they developed the Together Forward@ Work initiative to drive racial inequity out of the workplace. It’s why SHRM made a capital commitment to support minority-owned business enterprises.
If you like our podcast, you'll also like our books:
- The Future Economy and Inclusive Competitiveness: How Demographic Trends and Innovation Can Create Economic Prosperity for All Americans, by Johnathan Holifield
- Life Entrepreneurs: Ordinary People Creating Extraordinary Lives, by Christopher Gergen and Gregg Vanourek
On the first episode of Moving the Needle, we are thrilled to bring you Harold Martin, the esteemed Chancellor of North Carolina A&T State University.
One of the greatest opportunities to improve economic mobility and generate wealth is quality education. Today, we talk about why Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in general - and NC A&T specifically - are national assets worthy of investment, providing returns to our nation that cannot be replicated or replaced.
Moving the Needle is hosted by Christopher Gergen & Johnathan Holifield, and is produced by Earfluence.
Thank you to our sponsors:
- Live Oak Bank is on a mission to be America's small business bank and has the privilege of helping thousands of passionate, driven entrepreneurs turn their dreams into reality. These small business owners aren’t in it for the fortune or the fame. They’re in it to make a difference, just like Live Oak.
- SHRM has created better workplaces by supporting diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the world of work and society. It’s why they developed the Together Forward@ Work initiative to drive racial inequity out of the workplace. It’s why SHRM made a capital commitment to support minority-owned business enterprises.
If you like our podcast, you'll also like our books:
- The Future Economy and Inclusive Competitiveness: How Demographic Trends and Innovation Can Create Economic Prosperity for All Americans, by Johnathan Holifield
- Life Entrepreneurs: Ordinary People Creating Extraordinary Lives, by Christopher Gergen and Gregg Vanourek
As we talk about the racial wealth gap it’s critical to highlight the importance of owning assets. At the end of 2020, 44% of Black Americans owned their homes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, compared with almost 75% of White Americans. That’s an unconscionable difference. One of the ways to build generational wealth is through owning assets like land, a home, or even retail property.
Today we talk to someone who’s making it happen. As CEO of Chicago Trend, Lyneir Richardson is creating new ownership opportunities within majority communities of color.
Moving the Needle is hosted by Christopher Gergen & Johnathan Holifield, and is produced by Earfluence.
Median Black wealth is 12 times less than median White wealth, and it is estimated that median Black wealth by 2053 will be zero.
Our guest today is Aaron Walker, CEO of Camelback Ventures based in New Orleans. Camelback’s mission is to increase access to opportunity for entrepreneurs of color and women by investing in their ventures and leadership while advocating for fairness in their funding.
Moving the Needle is hosted by Christopher Gergen & Johnathan Holifield. Trailer and episode 1 edited and produced by The Aspen Institute.
A podcast about needle moving sh!t.
Moving the Needle is hosted by Christopher Gergen & Johnathan Holifield. Trailer and episode 1 edited and produced by The Aspen Institute.