Meet the Leader

The founder using 'pocket forests' to transform cities and protect biodiversity

Apr 19, 2024

 • 20 minutes

SUGI is a unique global organization that brings pocket forests -- ultra-dense, biodiverse forests leveraging the proven Japanese Miyawaki Method -- to cities all over the world. The group has built more than 200 pocket forests in 42 cities so far, with each providing a key form of "urban acupuncture" that can protect biodiversity, restore ecosystems, and even better reconnect people to nature. Founder and CEO Elise Van Middelem shares more about SUGi and how it got started - and the unique ways these projects are reviving ecosystems from England to Cameroon. This interview was recorded at the Urban Transformation Summit in Detroit, Michigan in October 2023.

SUGI is a unique global organization that brings pocket forests -- ultra-dense, biodiverse forests leveraging the proven Japanese Miyawaki Method -- to cities all over the world. The group has built more than 200 pocket forests in 42 cities so far, with each providing a key form of "urban acupuncture" that can protect biodiversity, restore ecosystems, and even better reconnect people to nature. Founder and CEO Elise Van Middelem shares more about SUGi and how it got started - and the unique ways these projects are reviving ecosystems from England to Cameroon. This interview was recorded at the Urban Transformation Summit in Detroit, Michigan in October 2023.

Workers have changed - How leaders must adapt: Randstad's Sander Van't Noordende

Apr 12, 2024

 • 18 Minutes

What workers want - and what keeps them motivated - has changed drastically in recent years. And with big technological and demographic shifts driving labor shortages, knowing how to both retrain and retain your workforce will be more important than ever. Randstad CEO Sander Van't Noordende will share insights from the talent firm's annual Workmonitor survey, giving a one-of-a-kind snapshot on how workers are thinking about everything from ambition, to purpose, to flexibility and pay. He'll also share what new habits leaders will need to adopt (including the value of microfeedback) and how leaders should be approaching everything from how they connect with workers to how they future proof their talent pipelines. 

What workers want - and what keeps them motivated - has changed drastically in recent years. And with big technological and demographic shifts driving labor shortages, knowing how to both retrain and retain your workforce will be more important than ever. Randstad CEO Sander Van't Noordende will share insights from the talent firm's annual Workmonitor survey, giving a one-of-a-kind snapshot on how workers are thinking about everything from ambition, to purpose, to flexibility and pay. He'll also share what new habits leaders will need to adopt (including the value of microfeedback) and how leaders should be approaching everything from how they connect with workers to how they future proof their talent pipelines. 

This pivot helped a mom-turned-founder scale student transit - and transform lives for moms and kids

Mar 29, 2024

 • 19 minutes

As a busy mom working in tech, Ritu Narayan understood the chaos school logistics can bring to kids and parents. Her personal experience inspired her to found Zum, a startup providing an end-to-end solution for districts with optimized routes, bus fleets to match different-sized schools, and an approach that makes school transit transparent and efficient for the first time in a century. The startup was launched originally as an on-demand service and she shares the key questions that helped her pivot the company for scale -- questions that can help any founder make a big shift happen. She also discusses the unexpected impact family logistics can have on parents (the unpredictability can nudge some moms out of the workforce altogether) and how tackling that can boost opportunity for parents and kids alike.

As a busy mom working in tech, Ritu Narayan understood the chaos school logistics can bring to kids and parents. Her personal experience inspired her to found Zum, a startup providing an end-to-end solution for districts with optimized routes, bus fleets to match different-sized schools, and an approach that makes school transit transparent and efficient for the first time in a century. The startup was launched originally as an on-demand service and she shares the key questions that helped her pivot the company for scale -- questions that can help any founder make a big shift happen. She also discusses the unexpected impact family logistics can have on parents (the unpredictability can nudge some moms out of the workforce altogether) and how tackling that can boost opportunity for parents and kids alike.

The surprising lessons adventure taught this eco-entrepreneur about reflection and effective leadership

Mar 20, 2024

 • 25 minutes

Kat Bruce is an eco-entrepreneur who founded NatureMetrics, one of the world's leading nature technology companies measuring the very tiny traces of DNA that organisms leave in the air, water and soil. She’s also a former jungle explorer who has led expeditions in the Amazon, riding on balsa rafts she’s made herself and rowing trips in roiling seas with near strangers. She shares how those experiences  have helped her to be a better leader: to be reflective, to understand different people’s unique roles in a team, and to make difficult choices quickly. She also shares the potential environmental DNA provides, and why more leaders than ever are understanding the need to leverage data to tackle their environmental impacts.

Kat Bruce is an eco-entrepreneur who founded NatureMetrics, one of the world's leading nature technology companies measuring the very tiny traces of DNA that organisms leave in the air, water and soil. She’s also a former jungle explorer who has led expeditions in the Amazon, riding on balsa rafts she’s made herself and rowing trips in roiling seas with near strangers. She shares how those experiences  have helped her to be a better leader: to be reflective, to understand different people’s unique roles in a team, and to make difficult choices quickly. She also shares the potential environmental DNA provides, and why more leaders than ever are understanding the need to leverage data to tackle their environmental impacts.

What workers really want - and how it can bridge the gender gap: Reshma Saujani, Moms First

Mar 7, 2024

 • 26 minutes

Forget snacks and gym memberships. Today's worker wants to know you value their family. When Reshma Saujani founded Moms First -- a movement to drive paid leave for families -- she already had a successful non-profit under her belt in Girls Who Code. But she quickly learned that advocating for moms and parents uncovers a host of structural barriers that hold back both women and families -- ones leaders can help overcome. In a special conversation recorded at the 2024 Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, she shared how leaders will need to focus on their teams' families to stay competitive and to bridge a host of gaps -- including gender pay gaps and labor shortages coming down the pike. She also shared how a special AI-powered tool her organization built -- PaidLeave.AI -- is connecting thousands to benefits in New York State and showing how new technologies can expand opportunity in surprising ways. 

Forget snacks and gym memberships. Today's worker wants to know you value their family. When Reshma Saujani founded Moms First -- a movement to drive paid leave for families -- she already had a successful non-profit under her belt in Girls Who Code. But she quickly learned that advocating for moms and parents uncovers a host of structural barriers that hold back both women and families -- ones leaders can help overcome. In a special conversation recorded at the 2024 Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, she shared how leaders will need to focus on their teams' families to stay competitive and to bridge a host of gaps -- including gender pay gaps and labor shortages coming down the pike. She also shared how a special AI-powered tool her organization built -- PaidLeave.AI -- is connecting thousands to benefits in New York State and showing how new technologies can expand opportunity in surprising ways.