The Global Founders Podcast

Meet Rado Rakotosamimanana, a 2017 Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumnus, who recently completed a Reciprocal Exchange to benefit Women Lead Movement's work in Madagascar. In this conversation, Rado reflects on the Exchange with Jillian Randolph of Chaski Global. Established in 2015, the Reciprocal Exchange component of the Mandela Washington Fellowship provides U.S. professionals with the opportunity to engage in collaborative projects with Fellowship Alumni in Sub-Saharan Africa, building upon strategic partnerships and professional connections developed during the Fellowship. Learn more on the Fellowship website. Introductory music titled “Supernova” by Presidential Precinct Alumnus David Hofisi Listen to more episodes of the Global Founders Podcast here.

Episode Notes Racheal Inegbedion and Sarah Cohen are reducing the barriers to employment for persons with disabilities in Nigeria. Listen in to hear more about their recent Reciprocal Exchange - a component of the Mandela Washington Fellowship that provides funds for U.S. professionals to travel to sub-Saharan African countries or implement hybrid or virtual projects. This collaboration resulted in a disability employment manual for Nigerian Employers of Labour and a 7-minute documentary film that shares the experiences of three young adults with barriers that hinder their participation in inclusive workplaces. Racheal & Sarah hope that the film will shift attitudes from a "culture of compliance" to an increase in truly inclusive workspaces. Watch the documentary here: https://youtu.be/Ct1RzX8v5LQ

Episode Notes Lala Touray is a 2021 Alumna of the Mandela Washington Fellowship's Civic Engagement Institute at the Presidential Precinct. She is an award-winning poet, activist, and mentor to young girls and women in the Gambia. Lala is also the recipient of the 2022 Youth Excellence Award by She Awards Gambia. In this episode, Lala shares her vision for increasing women's participation in Gambian politics and a call to #BreakTheBias for the benefit of all people.

Episode Notes Melene Rossouw, 2019 Alumna of the Mandela Washington Fellowship at the Presidential Precinct, is the External Leader of Siyabuya, a national advocacy campaign and movement to #makeSAbetter in the wake lives and livelihoods that have been destroyed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In conversation with Presidential Precinct Board member Francois Baird, a South African himself, learn about Melene's work to encourage South Africans to get vaccinated and give back to the benefit of their communities and country.

Episode Notes His Excellency Onkokame Kitso Mokaila, Ambassador for Botswana to the United States, joins Neal Piper at the Presidential Precinct for a conversation around Botswana's role in the future of global democracy. Learn more about Botswana's history and longstanding multi-party democracy, while considering how all countries must work to maintain their democratic processes day-by-day.

Episode Notes Twenty-five years ago in Beijing, China the UN Fourth World Conference on Women set forth a powerful global agenda to achieve women’s equality. While much progress has been made, millions of women and girls around the world still face discrimination, violence, and unequal access to resources. The gender gap in the economic sphere is particularly striking. The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2020 reveals stubbornly low levels of women in managerial or leadership positions, and women’s wage stagnation, low formal labor force participation, and lower incomes. This conversation will highlight ways that men can serve as visible, vocal champions for women’s advancement in the workforce, with a focus on concrete actions that major global companies can take to achieve gender equality. This Campfire Conversation was presented by the Presidential Precinct Network. Learn more at presidentialprecinctnetwork.org and presidentialprecinct.org/covid/. Introductory music titled "Supernova" by Presidential Precinct Alumnus David Hofisi

Episode Notes Twenty-five years ago in Beijing, China the UN Fourth World Conference on Women set forth a powerful global agenda to achieve women’s equality. While much progress has been made, millions of women and girls around the world still face discrimination, violence, and unequal access to resources. One major obstacle to women’s empowerment is societal norms that dictate who has power and privilege. It is therefore critical to enlist men and boys in changing these norms and acting as visible allies for gender equality. This discussion will explore creative effective ways to engage men and boys in understanding how gender equality is good for society as a whole and the role they can play in promoting equal rights and opportunities for women and girls. This Campfire Conversation was presented by the Presidential Precinct Network. Learn more at presidentialprecinctnetwork.org and presidentialprecinct.org/covid/. Introductory music titled "Supernova" by Presidential Precinct Alumnus David Hofisi

Episode Notes This 20/20 Talk features Gordon Wong, Regional Advocacy Manager for the ONE Campaign. For 16 years the ONE Campaign has led innovative and highly successful global campaigns to eradicate poverty and preventable disease. But what are the factors that led to these wins? ONE’s Regional Organizing Manager Gordon Wong will share the kind-of, sort-of “secret sauce” to ONE’s global advocacy work and how you can apply them to your work. This 20/20 Talk was presented by the Presidential Precinct Network. Learn more at presidentialprecinctnetwork.org and presidentialprecinct.org/covid/. Introductory music titled "Supernova" by Presidential Precinct Alumnus David Hofisi

Aziz Ullah, 2018 Alumnus of the Presidential Precinct, shares key concepts, insights, frameworks, and strategies to help entrepreneurs sustain and grow their startups in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. This 20/20 Talk was presented by the Presidential Precinct Network. Learn more at presidentialprecinctnetwork.org and presidentialprecinct.org/covid/. Introductory music titled "Supernova" by Presidential Precinct Alumnus David Hofisi

Former White House Director of Global Engagement and Georgetown Professor of crisis communications Brett Bruen shares some of the latest skills and strategies companies need to adopt in order to survive and thrive. This 20/20 Talk was presented by the Presidential Precinct Network in partnership with Brett Bruen and Global Situation Room. Learn more at presidentialprecinctnetwork.org and presidentialprecinct.org/covid/. Introductory music titled "Supernova" by Presidential Precinct Alumnus David Hofisi

A conversation between two individuals championing the fight for transparency and reconciliation in the face of egregious historical injustices. Ebrima Sonko, 2019 Mandela Fellow, is a leader in the Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission that investigates human rights abuses committed by the country’s former government. He joins Dr. Jody Allen, Director of the Lemon Project, which is an organization dedicated to investigating the history of race and slavery at our partner university - William & Mary. Join them in their powerful discussion on global histories and the possible paths towards reconciliation. Episode Notes For more information on Ebrima Sonko, check out this link. For more information on Jody Allen and the Lemon Project, check out this link.

Reem Ahmed, 2019 Mandela Fellow, works as a national consultant for the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality. She joins Louis Nelson, Vice Provost for Academic Outreach at the University of Virginia, to discuss the importance and challenges of community partnerships and the role of NGOs and nonprofits in activism and peacebuilding. Episode Notes Learn more about Reem. Learn more about Louis.

Hear from Elinor Steele, the Vice President of Global Communications and Women's Initiatives at Tupperware Brands Corporation. Elinor joins us in the studio on the week of the 2017 Global Leadership Forum, presented in partnership with Tupperware. In this episode, Elinor tells the story of Tupperware, giving context to the alignment of the Precinct's and Tupperware's commitment to empowering women all over the world. Global Founders is a monthly podcast produced by The Presidential Precinct and hosted by Neal Piper. This podcast is recored at the Potter Studio at Montpelier, the home to President James Madison, the Father of the Constitution and Architect of the Bill of Rights.