Why's Words

Today Rupert talks to education powerhouse, Ed Fidoe, about what is possible when you treat education as a blank piece of paper. 

Having set up a production company and spent time at Mckinsey, Ed helped cofound School 21, a new type of school for 4-18 years olds designed to rebalance the role of student, teacher and community to allow students to provide real value to the world today. Having successfully set up School 21, Ed has ratcheted up the ambition is decided to set up the London Interdisciplinary School (LIS), a new University designed around teaching an interdisciplinary curricula, taking the very best of each to help solve some of the worlds fundamental problems including malaria, childhood obesity, palm oil supply chains and knife crime.

There is other stuff of course – he has advised leaders at Cambridge University, the London School of Economics and worked with organisations specialised in working directly with disadvantaged students such as ARK Schools and Teach First.

He has also set up Voice 21 which is a speaking curriculum design to influence 21% of the teachers in this country to create speaking skills schools and make sure that speaking has the same status as reading and writing in schools.

In this episode Rupert talks to Chris Turner, Executive Director of B Lab, a non-profit that serves a global movement of people using business as a force for good.

Chris has been a change-maker for most of his working career. He has been the Managing Director of Springwise, creating innovative products and ideas to drive positive and sustainable change; part of the Nike Foundation team addressing the needs and rights of adolescent girls; Head of Innovation at c Space, helping to companies build better relationships with customers; and for the last 18 months has been Executive Director of B Lab UK.

B Lab UK is a UK registered charity, which exists to support a community of UK-based B Corp certified businesses.  By supporting them as they join and contribute to this global movement, B Lab leverage the power of business to address social and environmental problems.

It’s probably no coincidence that the last 12 months have been record breaking for B Lab. Record subscriptions, record certifications, record exposure and marketing. At the B Inspired conference in October 600 people filled the Bridge Theatre on Tower Bridge to explore the future of business in society.

At a time when the problems and disunity we face as society have never been greater, the work of Chris and his team at B Lab have never been more exciting.

In this episode Rupert talks to Rob Wilson, Chief Toaster at Toast Ale, a planet saving beer designed to tackle food waste by using fresh surplus bread that would otherwise go to waste.

Rob is a serial social entrepreneur, author and award winner. And for good reason. Rob has founded multiple social change organisations including a charity called Read International, supporting education in East Africa, Generation Change, supporting youth social action in the UK,  NoPC providing affordable, low power and low maintenance computer technology to schools across the developing world and Undivided – a campaign designed to get the best possible deal for young people.

Rob wrote the book, 'On The Up' documenting the amazing social entrepreneurs he encountered with his wife Nikki on their journey from Cape Town to Cairo and how they were transforming Africa.

Rob then ran the UK arm of Ashoka, a global community building, cultivating and supporting social entrepreneurs and their mission to change systems for the better. At Ashoka Rob met Ashoka fellow Tristram Stuart who had an idea to tackle waste - through beer…

After a period spent advising Tristram, Rob couldn’t resist the lure better brewing and became a full time change-maker co-founding Toast Ale, where he is now Chief Toaster. All profits go to charity principally to fight food waste. As he says, Toast is the best thing since well, you know what, and the mission statement is to change the world by throwing a better party than those destroying it.

In our launch podcast, Rupert speaks to award-winning activist Sarah Corbett, founder of The Craftivist Collective, in front of a live studio audience (recorded in October).

We are very proud and privileged to have Sarah Corbett as one of x+why's founding members.  Not only is she an an award-winning activist, and founder of the global Craftivist Collective, but she has also written two books, ‘A Little Book of Craftivism’  and, more recently, ‘How To Be A Craftivist: the art of gentle protest’.

Sarah is an Ashoka Fellow, economic justice award winner, and consultant on her unique ‘gentle protest’ methodology.  She has helped change government laws, business policies as well as hearts and minds through her kind and creative form of activism she calls ‘gentle protest’.  Sarah has delivered talks, workshops, and events to over 50,000 people around the world, and her Ted Talk, 'Activism needs introverts' has amassed over one million views.  

Listen to Rupert and Sarah discuss her personal journey to Craftivism, what she hopes to achieve with the Collective, and the powerful role that gentle protest plays in stirring positive change for today's biggest issues. Full of anecdotes, struggles, and impressive stories of success, this episode will leave you truly inspired, and desperate to dig out your needle and thread, whoever you are.