How to Change the World (For the Better): Recent Episodes
Mikaela Brewer
Changing the world begins with the passion to do so, not always the drive to make financial headway. This is a unique collection of such strides, compiled of fireside chats at Stanford University's School of Medicine with faculty member Bryant Lin. Featuring incredible, accomplished individuals who have made a worldwide impact through their work in the sciences, arts, business, engineering, and humanities, this inspirational series is something you won't want to miss! We can all change the world (for the better).
Halida Hanum Akhter, MCPS, MPH, DrPH - Dr. Akhter is the Chief of Party on the USAID-DFID NGO Health Service Delivery Project, a Senior Country Director with Pathfinder International, and a Senior Associate in the Department of International Health, Division of Human Nutrition at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Akhter is a reproductive health epidemiologist with over 30 years of national and international experience. She is a medical graduate and obtained Membership of College of Physician and Surgeon (MCPS) in OB/GYN, MPH and Dr.PH from Johns Hopkins University following which, as a Rockefeller Fellow, she served as Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer (EIS) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Atlanta, GA. Dr. Halida has served over 20 years on many committees of WHO Geneva, International Medical Advisory Panel of IPPF London, steering committee on Alternate Business Model of Packard Foundation and several others. She served in the Board of Directors of Family Health International and PATH and has participated in evaluations of large reproductive health programs of WHO/HRP, UNFPA, USAID, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation/IPPF, and the Ford Foundation.
Sam Klepper is the Senior Vice President, Marketing and Product Strategy at ShotSpotter. ShotSpotter (NASDAQ: SSTI) provides precision-policing solutions for law enforcement to help deter gun violence and make cities, campuses and facilities safer. The company’s flagship product, ShotSpotter® Flex™, is the leading gunshot detection, location and forensic analysis system, and is trusted by more than 90 cities. ShotSpotter® Missions™ (formerly HunchLab) uses artificial intelligence-driven analysis to help strategically plan patrol missions and tactics for maximum crime deterrence. Sam has 25 years of leadership, marketing, and product experience working for innovative, fast-growing technology companies. He was most recently VP of Sales and Marketing at EnerAllies, a SaaS-centric IoT energy management platform, where he led new initiatives that resulted in significant revenue, pipeline and customer satisfaction increases. Previously, Sam was President and CEO of Lavante, a leader in SaaS supplier management solutions. As CMO for Redwood Systems, a lighting controls and IoT provider, he helped the company grow revenues 15x over two years. As CMO at eMeter, a smart grid enterprise software company, Sam led the creation of a new product line and transformed company positioning prior to a successful acquisition by Siemens. Prior to eMeter, Sam was a GM at Microsoft responsible for a $500M portfolio of online subscription businesses. He was also part of the team that grew WebTV Networks recurring revenues from $0 to $200M. At Intuit, Sam developed the strategy and led product teams to enter the SMB accounting (QuickBooks) and payroll markets that today generate over $2B in revenues. Sam began his career with Bain & Company. Sam has a bachelor’s degree in History and Science magna cum laude from Harvard University and a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School. In this episode, hear from Sam about how ShotSpotter is a unique blend of business, medical and technology culture.
Glenn Kramon grew up just outside of New York City, and started his journalism career in 1975 at The Kansas City Star after graduating from Stanford University. In 1977, he joined The San Francisco Examiner where he held various positions including business editor, Sunday news editor and reporter. In 1987, Kramon joined The Times as a copy editor and health care reporter. Soon after, he held the positions of assignment editor, technology editor, enterprise editor, Sunday business editor and deputy business editor. He went on to become the paper's Business editor, overseeing the paper's financial news staff, from 1997 to 2003. In 2003, UCLA's Gerald Loeb Award honored Kramon by bestowing upon him the Lawrence Minard Editor Award, recognizing an outstanding editor who does not receive a byline. In his current role as an assistant managing editor, he oversees long-form projects "with a mandate to stimulate and manage original New York Times reporting ventures across the newsroom." In this episode, follow Glenn’s incredible path from an article on his family cat growing up, to the 3am breakfast runs with The Stanford Daily staff, to the New York Times.
Andrew Ogilvie grew up in New Zealand, and is a former Nike executive who led Nike’s global sustainable manufacturing teams, global community investment program that reached over 3 million youth from underserved communities, and led the transformation of Nike’s Disaster Relief program into a globally recognized toolkit that uses sport to help normalize the lives of youth affected by natural disasters. He also managed Nike’s European footwear recycling program. Andrew led Nike’s overall labor strategy and policy development, health and safety standards, and LEAN manufacturing teams globally in support of the company’s commitment to a sustainable manufacturing and sourcing business. He served in multiple leadership roles at Nike from 2004 to 2018, most recently as the Senior Director of Strategic Sourcing, Global Apparel at Nike and Senior Director of Labor Excellence and Innovation in the Sustainable Manufacturing and Sourcing team at Nike and was responsible for the broader Nike labor strategy for contract factories including labor policy, external stakeholder engagement and LEAN manufacturing. In this episode, you’ll learn about Andrew’s passionate take on sport as the fabric of community, as well as his inspiring journey through his many experiences along the way to accomplishments that have changed the world.
Sam Yam is the co-founder and CTO of Patreon. Patreon is a “membership platform that provides business tools for creators to run a subscription content service, with ways for artists to build relationships and provide exclusive experiences to their subscribers, or ‘patrons’." In addition to Patreon, he also works with Y Combinator as a YC-Expert. In 2009, he co-founded AdWhirl, a mobile ad platform that optimized revenues for publishers. In the course of less than a year, AdWhirl grew to over 3 billion monthly ad impressions and was acquired by AdMob. Prior to AdWhirl, Sam was the "Analytics Czar" at Loopt, where he helped develop their local business and iPhone initiatives. Sam has also held positions at Yahoo! and Ning. Sam graduated from Stanford University in 2006 with a BS in Computer Science. In this episode, follow along as he discusses his journey through start-ups, various companies and ultimately Patreon.
Dr. Henry Safrit grew up in a small town in North Carolina, completed his undergraduate degree and medical school at Duke University, came to California in 1970 and headed into CPMC. He and his friends recognized that talented local youth lacked the means and often the moral support to attend and complete degrees at four-year colleges. To help these students gain access to higher education, a fund – propelled by grassroots engagement – was established to provide scholarships - The Meritus College Fund. At the same time, the groundwork was laid for a model emphasizing personal guidance as a means to success. Meritus has significantly expanded its reach and scope since its first Scholar in 1996. As a result our direct experience with over 300 graduates and 200 current students on their way to college completion, our approach to persistence and success is multidimensional. The program’s impact excels by weaving consistent financial support with supportive interventions to empower students to avert derailment, identify opportunities that enrich the college experience, and leverage community resources for success post-graduation. Meritus has shepherded nearly 750 students since its inception and provided close to $9.5 million in scholarships, ongoing advising, and countless volunteer mentoring hours to enable 88% of its Scholars to graduate from college. These achievements far exceed the 1 in 4 completion rates of students from comparable backgrounds nationally. Dr. Safrit also founded San Francisco Achievers in 2008 to help in reducing the opportunity and social gaps of young Black men in San Francisco high schools. Studies show that Black men make up about 5.5% of all college students with only one in six graduating with a college degree. San Francisco Achievers helps to address some of these inequalities by providing the college scholarships and individual support. In this episode, listen to Dr. Safrit discuss his journey through practicing medicine for 32 years, and his motivation behind The Meritus College Fund, which he pursued after retirement in 2002.
Professor S.V. Mahadevan, MD (“Maha”) is a Professor of Emergency Medicine at Stanford University and the Director of the Global Affairs and Strategy. Dr. Mahadevan was born in Oakland, grew up in Orange County and moved to the Stanford area in 1996. His family is primarily from India. Dr. Mahadevan led Stanford’s efforts working with the Emergency Management and Research Institute in India to help build their emergency medical response system. Prior to 2001, “just 12 percent of institutions in the trauma care sector had access to ambulances, and about half of the ambulance services were able to keep victims alive during transport…After just 12 years, the Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI), has deployed more than 10,000 ambulances and 45,000 skilled personnel to respond to 56.1 million emergencies, save 2.3 million lives, serve 18.9 million pregnant women, and assist in 480 thousand births (Forbes online 2019).” In this episode, listen to Dr. Mahadevan speak about his inspiring journey to a passion in emergency medicine, and his work with the EMRI and global health!
Dr. Julieta Gabiola is a Clinical Professor of Medicine in Primary Care and Population Health. She was born and raised in a small community in the Philippines, as the 9th youngest in a family of ten, and came to the United States at 19. In this episode, listen to Dr. Gabiola speak about her story, empowering journey, and ABC's for Global Health - a non profit organization that she founded to search for better health care solutions in disadvantaged communities.