Cassie Betts is the founder of District2.Co, a technology company that connects brands/designers with factories to streamline the manufacturing process, and Made In South LA (MISLA), a DevShop Academy. Hear how Cassie went from being homeless to being called “The Woman Turning South LA into Startup Land” by Forbes. You'll hear How she went from coding her first computer game at 9 to being homeless at 19, and how she turned that all around. How do you help protect the poor from being...

Paul Tasner, Co-founder and CEO of PulpWorks and more recently, Co-founder of Sort, has more than 40 years of operations experience. He has held leadership positions in ventures ranging from start-up to Fortune 100. For the past decade, his focus has been on sustainability. Paul’s corporate affiliations include The Clorox Company, Clif Bar, Method Products, and Hepagen Vaccines. He has authored numerous papers and presentations on supply chain sustainability and currently lectures on this...

Jimmy Chen is the Founder and CEO of Propel, a software company that aims to fight poverty through technology. They are the creators of the Fresh EBT mobile app, which enables EBT cardholders to manage their benefits, save money through grocery coupons, and find jobs. Fresh EBT is used by over 2 million low-income Americans across the country. In this episode of Innovation For All Podcast, Sheana learns why Jimmy decided to start Propel and use the tools of Silicon Valley to address social...

Dr. Marcia Chatelain, author of Franchise: The Golden Arches In Black America discusses the complex history of McDonald’s in black America with Sheana. She explains how the civil rights movement impacted black business ownership and how franchises, like McDonald’s, can be both an economic win and financially limiting for low-income communities. Note: This was recorded during the early days of the COVID pandemic.

Amplio Recruiting is a company that helps companies hire people from the refugee and immigrant communities. How does the CEO help refute and calm the fears of potential employers? How does he ensure that vulnerable people aren’t being taken advantage of? And what has made his business so successful? Find out with Sheana in this episode of Innovation for All Podcast. Note: This episode was recorded before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two years after her revenge porn nightmare began, Darieth Chisolm won the case against her ex-boyfriend. Should tech companies make it harder to weaponize their platforms against women? Note: This was recorded before the COVID pandemic.

Can AI really change the world? Or are its developing algorithms formalizing social injustice? When these highly-technical systems derive patterns from existing datasets, their models can perpetuate past mistakes. In this episode of the Innovation For All Podcast, Sheana Ahlqvist discusses with David Robinson the threats of social bias and discrimination becoming embedded in Artificial Intelligence. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: What is the role of technological advances in shaping...

"Set the market and work when and how you like. You have complete control." At least that is what gig economy companies like Uber would have you believe. In this episode of the Innovation For All podcast, Sheana speaks with Marshall Steinbaum, Assistant Professor of Economics at University of Utah, to talk about the pitfalls of the gig economy. Find out how employers can have control over the workforce without being a monopoly and how gig workers may be getting the short end of the...

Mary Gray, Senior Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research and co-author of Ghost Work: How to Stop Silicon Valley from Building a New Global Underclass, discusses the work of the often invisible contract employees who bring an essential human element to tec. The COVID-19 pandemic is bringing their undeniable value to light. Note: This was originally recorded in early 2020.

Host Sheana Ahlqvist speaks with Hans Jørgen Wiberg, founder of Be My Eyes, a free mobile app that connects blind and visually impaired individuals with sighted volunteers through live video calls. Wiberg explains how Be My Eyes works, how he monetized an app while keeping it free for both sides of the marketplace, and how important it is to consider how blind people interact with the world around them when designing products and services. You’ll learn: What is microvolunteering? What...

Sally Hubbard is Director of Enforcement Strategy at Open Markets Institute. Learn whether giant tech companies are building monopolies (spoiler alert: they are) and why that unfair advantage matters. In this episode, you’ll learn: What is Antitrust law? Is fake news an antitrust problem? How monopolies amplify inequality What would it look like to unmonopolize big tech companies? Get shownotes for this and every episode at innovationforallcast.com or find us on Twitter...

Chris Chancey is the founder of Amplio Recruiting, a company that helps companies hire people from the refugee and immigrant communities. How does Chris help refute and calm the fears potential employers? How does he ensure that vulnerable people aren’t being taken advantage of? And what has made his business so successful? Find out with Sheana in this episode of Innovation for All Podcast. Note: This episode was recorded before the COVID-19 pandemic.

While self-driving cars are touted as a solution for many with physical disabilities, that is not a given. Henry Claypool is a policy expert affiliated with UCSF and AAPD, and a former director of the U.S. Health and Human Services Office on Disability. In this episode, we discuss how advocates are fighting for inclusivity in the transportation industry, particularly with the development of autonomous vehicles and popular ride-sharing services.

Older workers, women, and minorities face unique challenges in the world of "gig work." Julia Ticona is a sociologist who researches technologies of work, emotions, and inequality.

Two years after her revenge porn nightmare began, Darieth Chisolm won the case against her ex-boyfriend. Should tech companies make it harder to weaponize their platforms against women?

Mary Gray, Senior Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research and co-author of Ghost Work: How to Stop Silicon Valley from Building a New Global Underclass, discusses the work of the often invisible contract employees who bring an essential human element to tec. The COVID-19 pandemic is bringing their undeniable value to light.

Season 3 premiere! Dr. Marcia Chatelain, author of Franchise: The Golden Arches In Black America discusses the complex history of McDonald’s in black America with Sheana. She explains how the civil rights movement impacted black business ownership and how franchises, like McDonald’s, can be both an economic win and financially limiting for low-income communities. In this episode you will learn: How the civil rights movement impacted the growth of McDonald’s in black America How...

Caroline Criado Perez is a writer, journalist and feminist campaigner. She has written two books: Do It Like A Woman and Invisible Women. In her most recent book Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men she describes how very old data bias can affect women today. In this episode, Sheana learns about the different ways data bias is affecting women today, from trivial things such as phone size to not so trivial things such as seat belt safety. Caroline tells all this and...

"Set the market and work when and how you like. You have complete control." At least that is what gig economy companies like Uber would have you believe. In this episode of the Innovation For All podcast, Sheana speaks with Marshall Steinbaum, Assistant Professor of Economics at University of Utah, to talk about the pitfalls of the gig economy. Find out how employers can have control over the workforce without being a monopoly and how gig workers may be getting the short end of the...

Host Sheana Ahlqvist speaks with Hans Jørgen Wiberg, founder of Be My Eyes, a free mobile app that connects blind and visually impaired individuals with sighted volunteers through live video calls. Wiberg explains how Be My Eyes works, how he monetized an app while keeping it free for both sides of the marketplace, and how important it is to consider how blind people interact with the world around them when designing products and services.  You’ll learn:  What is microvolunteering?  What...

Sally Hubbard is Director of Enforcement Strategy at Open Markets Institute. Learn whether giant tech companies are building monopolies (spoiler alert: they are) and why that unfair advantage matters. In this episode, you’ll learn:  What is Antitrust law?  Is fake news an antitrust problem?  How monopolies amplify inequality What would it look like to unmonopolize big tech companies?  Get shownotes for this and every episode at innovationforallcast.com or find us on Twitter...

Chris Chancey is the founder of Amplio Recruiting, a company that helps companies hire people from the refugee and immigrant communities. How does Chris help refute and calm the fears potential employers? How does he ensure that vulnerable people aren’t being taken advantage of? And what has made his business so successful? Find out with Sheana in this episode of Innovation for All Podcast. In this episode you will learn: How Chris started Amplio Recruiting and why? What were some of the...

In the season finale of Innovation for All, Maggie Delano tells us how period-tracking apps exclude people who are not straight, cis-gendered women without medical conditions. She explains how user design could be more inclusive and introduces us to the benefits of Quantified Self. You'll learn: The issues surrounding period-tracking apps How period-tracking apps can be more inclusive of people with medical conditions How user research can think about cases that fall outside of the set...

Imagine a workplace where people of all colors and races are able to climb every rung of the corporate ladder -- and where the lessons we learn about diversity at work actually transform the things we do, think, and say outside the office. How do we get there? Janet Stovall, head speechwriter for the CEO of UPS, tells us about her history fighting for inclusion since she was a student at Davidson College through present day. She discusses the complexities of being a woman of color in the...