About this episode

Marla Blow discusses her journey in finance and her role at the Skoll Foundation, focusing on social entrepreneurship and innovation.

In this episode of Capital for Good we speak with Marla Blow, the president and CEO of the Skoll Foundation, the leading philanthropy focused on social entrepreneurship and innovation around the world. Over the course of this conversation, we learn how Blow's career in finance and financial inclusion, across the private and public sectors, would prepare her to lead a dynamic institution and community of innovators in this era of extraordinary change — and resilience. We begin with important elements of Blow's origin story, including her childhood outside of Atlanta, a city (then) on the precipice of rapid growth, where she was drawn to the idea of helping people translate opportunity into long-term financial security. "I thought I could help people make better decisions," she said. That instinct would carry her to Wharton, Wall Street, an MBA at Stanford, and to Capital One, where she learned the discipline of applied behavioral economics and consumer lending. In the Obama Administration, Blow joined the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where she began to see more clearly the full landscape of American consumers — including those who were not well served by the traditional…

People in this episode

Guest: Marla Blow

Topics covered

• social entrepreneurship
• financial inclusion
• philanthropy
• innovation
• consumer protection
• capital markets

Keywords

• Marla Blow
• Skoll Foundation
• financial inclusion
• entrepreneurship
• consumer protection
• capital markets
• behavioral economics

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Skoll Foundation, Wharton, Wall Street, Stanford, Capital One, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, FS Card Inc, Mast

Places: Atlanta

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