Do One Better with Alberto Lidji in Philanthropy, Sustainability and Social Entrepreneurship

In this episode of the Do One Better Podcast, Alberto Lidji speaks with Emily Teitsworth, Executive Director of the Honnold Foundation, about a powerful and often overlooked approach to climate philanthropy.

Founded by professional climber Alex Honnold, the Honnold Foundation focuses on expanding access to solar energy in underserved communities around the world. But its impact goes far beyond clean energy. The organization identifies and supports grassroots leaders who are frequently invisible to larger funders, helping them develop, grow, and ultimately access greater resources.

Emily shares how the foundation operates as both a funder and an intermediary, providing not only grants but also hands-on capacity building. This includes support with strategy, financial management, communications, and storytelling. By strengthening organizational foundations, these small, locally led groups become better positioned to scale and engage with larger institutional funders.

A central theme of the conversation is trust-based philanthropy. Rather than imposing rigid frameworks, the Honnold Foundation meets partners where they are, offering flexible funding and long-term support. This approach allows unexpected and transformative outcomes to emerge. From solar-powered internet access in remote Brazilian communities to solar boat fleets in the Ecuadorian Amazon, the ripple effects extend far beyond energy access.

Emily also discusses the importance of patience in philanthropy, especially when working with grassroots organizations navigating complex regulatory and operational environments. She highlights the foundation’s role in bridging the gap between early-stage innovation and large-scale funding, helping surface high-potential projects that might otherwise go unnoticed.

The episode explores the broader funding landscape, where billions flow into large-scale energy infrastructure while relatively little reaches community-led initiatives. The Honnold Foundation accounts for a meaningful share of global community solar funding, underscoring both the scale of need and the opportunity for more funders to engage.

Ultimately, this conversation challenges traditional notions of scale and impact. It makes a compelling case for investing in small, locally rooted solutions as a pathway to meaningful, lasting change.

Key topics include:

Expanding solar energy access as both a climate and development solution

Identifying and supporting overlooked grassroots organizations

Trust-based philanthropy and unrestricted funding

Capacity building as a pathway to scale

Bridging grassroots innovation with institutional capital

The concept of emergent impact in climate work

Visit our Knowledge Hub at Lidji.org for information on 350+ case studies and interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship.

In this episode of the Do One Better Podcast, host Alberto Lidji speaks with Irene Pritzker, Chair and Co-Founder of the IDP Foundation and author of The School in the Market. The conversation explores how innovative financing models can expand access to quality education in underserved communities, with a focus on Ghana and Kenya.

Pritzker shares the origin story behind the foundation’s work, which began with a visit to Ghana and a revealing encounter with informal, low-cost private schools serving families who lacked viable public education options. These schools, often founded by local entrepreneurs, operate in challenging conditions yet meet a critical need. Despite strong demand from parents, they were largely excluded from traditional financial systems due to perceived risk, lack of collateral, and limited formal business training.

What followed was the creation of a new model: combining microfinance with targeted training in financial literacy and school management. By partnering with local financial institutions, the IDP Foundation developed a system of small, structured loans paired with capacity-building support. The results were striking. Schools improved their infrastructure incrementally, repayment rates reached approximately 98 percent, and student outcomes began to improve.

The model has since scaled significantly, reaching hundreds of thousands of students and expanding beyond Ghana into Kenya. Importantly, it has also shifted perceptions within the financial sector. Institutions that once dismissed these schools as too risky are now beginning to recognize them as viable clients and a meaningful opportunity for both impact and return.

The conversation highlights the importance of collaboration between the public and private sectors. Rather than viewing low-cost private schools as competitors to government systems, Pritzker argues they should be seen as complementary, particularly in regions where public provision falls short. Governments, she notes, are increasingly engaging with the model, intrigued by both the data and the potential for improved learning outcomes.

Finally, Pritzker shares insights from her broader philanthropic philosophy. She underscores the value of staying nimble, keeping governance structures lean, and focusing on interventions that can unlock larger systems change. Above all, she encourages funders and practitioners to identify overlooked opportunities where relatively small, strategic investments can catalyze significant and lasting impact.

This episode offers a compelling look at how finance, entrepreneurship, and education can intersect to create scalable solutions for one of the world’s most pressing challenges.

Visit our Knowledge Hub at Lidji.org for information on 350+ case studies and interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship.

Partnership is often spoken about as an ideal. Much more rarely is it treated as a discipline.

In this episode Alberto Lidji speaks with Darian Stibbe, Executive Director of The Partnering Initiative, about what it takes to build collaborations that are not only well intentioned, but genuinely effective.

At a time when the world’s most pressing challenges demand coordinated action across sectors, Darian makes the case that collaboration is no longer optional. Governments, businesses, philanthropies, civil society organisations and communities each bring different forms of value, but bringing those contributions together in a meaningful way requires far more than goodwill.

This conversation explores the deeper architecture of effective partnership: trust, incentives, governance, mindset, shared accountability and the ability to work productively through ambiguity. Darian argues that partnering should be understood as a professional capability, one that can be developed, strengthened and embedded within institutions.

The discussion also examines why so many partnerships struggle in practice. Often, the problem is not a lack of commitment, but a lack of structure, clarity and organisational readiness. From relationship-building and co-creation to institutional culture and leadership, this episode offers a thoughtful exploration of what makes collaboration succeed or fail.

A rich and practical conversation for those working across philanthropy, sustainability, international development, business and systems change.

Visit our Knowledge Hub at Lidji.org for information on 350+ case studies and interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship.

What does it take to develop resilient nonprofit leaders, and why does that matter so much today?

In this episode of the Do One Better Podcast, Alberto Lidji speaks with Madge Thomas, President of the American Express Foundation, about how the Foundation is investing in people, communities, and institutions to drive meaningful, long-term social impact.

With a legacy spanning more than 50 years, the Foundation has remained rooted in a simple but powerful idea: strong local communities are the foundation for broader societal progress. From disaster response and recovery to small business support and nonprofit leadership development, its work reflects a deep commitment to helping communities thrive, especially in moments of need.

At the centre of this conversation is the American Express Leadership Academy, a flagship initiative designed to equip emerging and mid-to-senior-level nonprofit leaders with the tools, confidence, and networks they need to lead effectively in a rapidly changing and often resource-constrained environment.

Madge shares how the Academy has evolved to reflect the realities nonprofit leaders face today, including growing financial pressures, increasing complexity, and the need for resilience, adaptability, and stronger connection across the sector.

This is a thoughtful conversation about leadership, philanthropy, capacity building, and the importance of investing in the people closest to the work.

Visit our Knowledge Hub at Lidji.org for information on 350+ case studies and interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship.

Dementia has long been viewed as an inevitable part of ageing. That perception is now being challenged at its core. This conversation with Hilary Evans-Newton CBE, Chief Executive of Alzheimer’s Research UK, explores a pivotal shift in how we understand, diagnose and ultimately treat the diseases that cause dementia.

At the centre of this transformation is Alzheimer’s Research UK, the leading dementia research funder in Europe. The organisation exists to find a cure by advancing three critical areas: understanding the biology of disease, improving diagnosis, and developing effective treatments. By investing over £60 million annually and acting as a catalyst for collaboration, it brings together scientists, clinicians and partners to accelerate progress from laboratory discovery to real-world impact.

A major theme is the move away from vague, late-stage diagnoses towards precise identification of underlying diseases such as Alzheimer’s, which accounts for the majority of dementia cases. This shift mirrors the evolution seen in cancer care. Where once there was stigma, limited understanding and few treatment options, there is now a pathway towards early detection, targeted therapies and improved survival. Dementia research is approaching a similar turning point.

Recent breakthroughs are beginning to validate this progress. The first disease-modifying treatments for early Alzheimer’s have emerged, marking a significant milestone after years of unsuccessful trials. While access remains limited, these developments are reshaping global investment and signalling that effective intervention is possible.

Equally transformative is the promise of early diagnosis. Advances in blood-based biomarkers could enable detection decades before symptoms appear. This opens the door to earlier intervention, when treatments are most likely to be effective, and reframes dementia as a condition that can be managed proactively rather than reacted to late.

The conversation also highlights the importance of participation in research. Clinical trials remain vastly under-subscribed in dementia compared to other disease areas, slowing the pace of discovery. Increasing participation is essential to turning scientific promise into practical treatments.

Alongside scientific progress, there is a growing understanding of how individuals can reduce their risk. Many of the most impactful actions are familiar: maintaining cardiovascular health, staying physically active, eating well and avoiding smoking. Additional factors such as treating hearing loss, staying socially connected and keeping the brain engaged also play a meaningful role. Brain health is increasingly recognised as part of whole-body health.

Looking ahead, personalised medicine is set to redefine treatment. Rather than a single solution, future therapies are likely to combine approaches tailored to an individual’s biology, genetics and stage of disease. Emerging fields such as gene therapy offer particular promise for certain inherited forms of dementia.

Artificial intelligence is accelerating this progress further. From analysing complex datasets to identifying early digital signals of cognitive change through everyday device use, AI is helping researchers detect patterns and develop interventions at unprecedented speed.

Despite the scale of the challenge, the outlook is increasingly hopeful. The science is advancing, the roadmap is clearer, and momentum is building. What was once seen as an unavoidable decline is now understood as a set of diseases that can be studied, treated and, ultimately, prevented.

Key takeaways:

Dementia is not an inevitable part of ageing but a set of diseases that can be understood and targeted

Early diagnosis, including future blood tests, will be critical to effective treatment

New therapies are emerging, signalling real scientific progress

Lifestyle choices can meaningfully reduce risk and support brain health

Collaboration, funding and research participation are essential to accelerating a cure

This episode offers a grounded yet optimistic view of a field on the cusp of transformation, and a clearer understanding of how research today is shaping a future where dementia can be detected earlier, treated more effectively and, ultimately, defeated.

Visit our Knowledge Hub at Lidji.org for information on 350+ case studies and interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship.