Big Vision Podcast

Secret Agent L (Laura Miller), and her affiliated agents perform anonymous acts of kindess missions across the globe, and share them on Laura's blog, www.secretagentl.com.  Laura was anonymous for a year, until she held a reveal party and fundraiser in July of 2010.  Since then, her project has been featured on CNN, Glamour.com, and The Huffington Post, and the city of Pittsburgh, where she lives, proclaimed September 14th, Secret Agent L Day.  A big thanks to the Big Vision Podcast listener who suggested I interview her for the show! A transcript of the interview is available on my blog, Have Fun, Do Good. Listen/Subscribe on iTunes. Music: "Mango Delight," by Kenya Masala.

Jensine Larsen is the Founder and CEO of World Pulse. World Pulse is a global media and communcation network devoted to bringing women a global voice. They broadcast and unite women's voices from around the world into a powerful voice for change.  They produce a print and web magazine as well as host an interactive community newswire, called PulseWire, where women can speak for themselves to the world, and connect to solve global problems. A transcript of the interview is available on Have Fun, Do Good. Listen/Subscribe on iTunes. Music: "Mango Delight," by Kenya Masala.

Marsha Wallace is the founder of Dining for Women.  Dining for Women is a network of dinner giving circles.  The donations collected from the circles goes towards a different program each month that supports and empowers self-sufficiency for women and girls who live in extreme poverty in developing coutnries. Dining for Women's vision is to create a new paradigm for giving - collective giving on an immense scale while maintaining the intimacy of small groups with a focus on education and enaged giving. A transcript of this show is available on my blog, Have Fun, Do Good. Listen/subscribe with iTunes. Music: "Mango Delight," by Kenya Masala.

Temra Costa is a nationally recognized sustainable food and farming advocate.  Her recent book, Farmer Jane: Women Changing the Way We Eat is the product of the past seven years she has spent working to promote a more vibrant local food economy in California, and beyond.  Farmer Jane features the stories of over 30 women and how they are changing our food systems for the better as farmers, educators, mothers, chefs, businesswomen, and policy wonks.  The book also explains how eaters, farms and businesses can get more involved in changing how our country eats and farms. Temra works, cooks, gardens and writes in the East Bay of California.  She is a radio show co-host on Green 960 with her show the Queens of Green (which you can also download as a podcast). To learn more about Temra's work, go to: www.farmerjane.org. A transcript of this interview is available on my blog, Have Fun, Do Good. Listen/subscribe on iTunes.  Intro and outro music by Kenya Masala.

Jessica Prentice is co-owner of Three Stone Hearth, a Community Supported Kitchen in Berkeley, California that uses local, sustainable ingredients to prepare nutrient-dense, traditional foods on a community scale.  She is a professional chef, passionate home cook, local foods activist, and author of Full Moon Feast: Food and the Hunger for Connection.  She is also the co-creator of the Local Foods Wheel, and coined the word, locavore. A transcript of this interview is available on my blog, Have Fun, Do Good. Listen/subscribe on iTunes.  Intro and outro music by Kenya Masala.

This month's show is a specai Father's Day edition featuring an interview with my, Dad, Tom Aageson, the co-Founder of the Global Center for Cultural Entrepreneurship.  In addition to being the co-Founder of the Global Center, he is also the Executive Director of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation. Since coming to Santa Fe, he has developed New Mexico Creates, an economic development initiative that creates market links for New Mexico artists and artisans.  He is also the co-Founder of the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market. Before moving to Santa Fe, he was the Director of Aid to Artisans, an international artisan enterprise development NGO.  Previous to that, he was at the Mystic Seaport Museum where he created the Mystic Maritime Gallery, which led to the opening of new markets for martime artists, and eventually spawned six for-profit gallery enterprises across the US. A transcript is available on my blog, Have Fun, Do Good. Music: "Mango Delight," by Kenya Masala, and "Bricks" by Crowsong. Listen/su

Author,  Anna Lappe, talks about her new book, Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It.  Anna is also the co-author of Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet, and Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen. In Diet for a Hot Planet, Anna explains the link between today's global food system and climate change, and offers ideas and inspiration for making sustainable food choices that can provide a catalyst for transforming the enviornment.  For more information about the book, go to  www.takeabite.cc You can read a transcript of this interview on my blog, Have Fun, Do Good. Music by Kenya Masala and Tift Merritt

Melinda Kramer and Amira Diamond are the Co-Directors of Women's Earth Alliance.  Women's Earth Alliance, or WEA, unites women on the frontlines of environmental justice causes by coordinating training, technology, and financial support for thriving communities and the Earth. When I sat down to talk with Amira and Melinda, they had just returned from the West African Women and Water Training in Ghana.  They talked about their experience there, WEA's work, and the paths that brought them to working together.  You'll also hear some singing from the participants of the training as well as the song, "Oshun," by Hamsa Lila. A transcript of this interview will be up in about a week on my blog, Have Fun Do Good. Listen and subscribe to the Big Vision Podcast with iTunes.

Ashley Rowe and Carolynn Webb are the owners of the Fat Bottom Bakery and co-creators of the East Bay Vegan Bakesale.  In January, they raised $2200 at the first East Bay Vegan Bakesale for a school gardening program and Bad Rap Pit Bull Rescue.  The next East Bay Vegan Bakesale is in Oakland, CA on March 20, 2010.  You can find a vegan bakesale near you at www.veganbakesale.org You can read a transcript on my blog, Have Fun Do Good. Music by Kenya Masala and Mary Mulliken. Listen and subscribe to the Big Vision Podcast in the iTunes Music Store.

Rebecca Kousky is the Executive Director and Founder of Nest, a nonprofit organization that empowers female artists around the world using a unique combination of interest-free microfinance loans, mentoring from established designers, as well as a market in which to sell their crafts.  You can learn more about Nest at http://www.buildanest.com A transcript is available on my blog, Have Fun Do Good. Music credits: "Mango Delight," by Kenya Masala.  "In the Quiet," by Olivia Greer on 4 Songs.

Patricia Loya is the Executive Director of La Cocina, a San Francisco Incubator Kitchen for Women.  The mission of La Cocina is to cultivate food entrepreneurs as they formalize and grow their businesses by providing affordable commercial kitchen space, industry-specific technical assistance and access to market opportunities.  They focus primarily on women from culturally diverse and immigrant communities.  Patricia earned her undergraduate degree from the University of California at Irvine and went on to earn a Masters of Education degree from Harvard University.  In 2001, Patricia was a fellow with the Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders through the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.  In 2003, she participated in the Hispanics in Philanthropy Leadership Institute at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.Upon receiving her undergraduate degree, Patricia joined La Raza Centro Legal in San Francisco.  She later co-founded Ujima Unidos, a Saturday school for African A

Kimberly Wilson is a teacher, writer, do-gooder, entrepreneur, and eco-fashion designer who is currently obsessed with Paris, potbelly pigs, and all things sparkly.  She is the creative director and founder of Tranquil Space, which was named among the top 25 yoga studios in the world by Travel + Leisure.  She is also the author of two books: Hip Tranquil Chick and Tranquilista: Mastering the Art of Enlightened Work and Mindful Play.With a passion for do-gooding, Kimberly launched Tranquil Space Foundation to bring yoga, creativity, and leadership to women and girls, and is currently pursuing a Masters in Social Work.  You can learn more about Kimberly at www.kimberlywilson.comA transcript of this interview is available on my blog, Have Fun Do Good.

Lisa Witter is the Chief Operating Officer of Fenton Communications, the largest public interest communications firm in the country. She heads the firm's practice in women's issues and global affairs for clients including Women for Women International, Nobel Peace Prize Winner Wangari Maathai, MoveOn.org, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the Global Fund for Women, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, David and Lucille Packard Foundation and many others. She is a co-founder of the award-winning SheSource.org, an online brain trust of women experts to help close the gender gap among commentators in the news media. She was honored as an outstanding activist and expert on women’s issues by Oxygen.com for her work on a national campaign against privatizing Social Security during the 2000 presidential election. Lisa is a frequent public speaker, blogger and political commentator appearing as an expert on NPR, MSNBC, FOX News, CBS Early Show, O, the Oprah Magazine and has been published in Newsday,

Jose has worked in business and community development for over ten years. Currently, as the Executive Director of Inner City Advisors, Jose provides strategic leadership, management and direction to the organization.  He is passionate about entrepreneurship, having been raised by his father - a successful farming entrepreneur - who taught him how businesses have the power to transform communities.  Jose was recently recognized for his commitment and track record in supporting entrepreneurs by receiving the 2009 Young Professional of the Year Award by the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce.Prior to Inner City Advisors, Jose served as Development Director for five years at Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA), a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization that provides microenterprise business technical assistance and neighborhood planning services to small businesses.  Before working in the nonprofit sector, Jose also worked in Corporate Retail Operations and Human Resources at Macy's West, Inc.Jose

Interview from July 9, 2009 with David Cohn, the Founder of Spot.us.  Spot.Us is a nonprofit project pioneering “community funded reporting.”  Through Spot.Us, the public can commission journalists to do investigations on important, and perhaps overlooked stories. David is a journalist turned entrepreneur who has written for Wired, Seed, Columbia Journalism Review and The New York Times. While working toward his master’s degree at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, Cohn worked as an Editor at newassignment.net, which focused on citizen journalism and ways news organizations could explore the social web. He recently became a contributing editor at NewsTrust.net, a non-profit media literacy tool and news filter, and is the editor-in-chief at Broowaha, an expanding citizen journalism network.You can read a transcript of the interview on my blog, Have Fun * Do Good.

Kjerstin Erickson, the founder and Executive Director of FORGE.  FORGE is a US-based nonprofit organization that facilitates African refugees’ developing and running projects in their communities that range from libraries to health centers to microlending programs to preschools.Erickson founded FORGE in 2003, when she was a 20 year-old junior studying Public Policy at Stanford University. Now 26, Kjerstin continues to manage FORGE's operations, growth and development. FORGE serves 60,000 refugees in 3 different refugee camps in Southern Africa, and is an official Operating Partner of the United Nations’ refugee agency (UNHCR).  She has been named a Haas Public Service Fellow at Stanford, a "Top 10 College Woman" by Glamour Magazine, and a "Person You Should Know" by CNN.A transcript of this interview is available on my blog, Have Fun * Do Good.

Zainab Salbi is the Founder and CEO of Women for Women International, an organization that helps women survivors of war rebuild their lives. She is also the author of two books, Between Two Worlds: Escape from Tyranny: Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam, and The Other Side of War: Women’s Stories of Survival & Hope.In 1995, President Clinton honored Zainab at a White House ceremony for her humanitarian work.  In 2005, Forbes gave her its Trailblazer Award.  In 2006, Women for Women International received the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, and in 2007, Zainab was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.You can read a transcript of this interview on my blog, Have Fun * Do Good.

Yoga instructor, Seane Corn, has been featured in commercials and appeared on the cover of Yoga Journal, Fit Yoga, and many other magazines.  She utilizes her national platform to bring awareness to the HIV/AIDS crisis, and is the National Yoga Ambassador for YouthAIDS.  Seane is also the co-founder of Off the Mat, Into the World an educational, experiential and motivational process for people interested in conscious activism and service.  You can learn more about Seane's work at www.seanecorn.com and experience her teaching on her DVDs Vinyasa Flow Yoga and Seane Corn: Yoga From the Heart.A transcript of this interview is available on my blog, Have Fun * Do Good.

Interview from February 11, 2009 with Bryant Terry, eco-chef, food justice activist, and author of Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, and Creative African-American Cuisine.Bryant is currently a Fellow in the Food and Society Policy Fellows Program, a national project of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.  His first book, Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen, which he co-authored with Anna Lappé, won a 2007 Nautilus Award for Social Change.  He was also a co-host of the PBS series, Endless Feast.You can read a transcript on this interview on my blog, Have Fun Do Good.

Jennifer Lee is the Founder of Artizen Coaching.  She is a certified coach, artist and yogini based in Oakland, California.  Jennifer is the author of The Right-Brain Business Plan e-Book and the creator of the Unfolding Your Life Vision Kit. She was also featured in the book, The Girl's Guide to Kicking Your Career Into Gear and her art visioning work is showcased in The Vision Board: The Secret to an Extraordinary Life.You can read an edited transcript of this interview on my blog, Have Fun * Do Good.