Knowledge at Wharton

After a trek in the Himalayas brought him face-to-face with extreme poverty and illiteracy John Wood left his position as a director of business development at Microsoft to found Room to Read an award-winning international education organization. Under his leadership more than 1.7 million children in the developing world now have access to enhanced educational opportunities. Room to Read to date has opened 725 schools and 7 000 bilingual libraries and funded more than 7 000 scholarships for girls. Wood talked with Knowledge at Wharton about the launch of Room to Read the book he wrote called Leaving Microsoft to Change the World and his personal definition of success. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1998 social entrepreneur Seth Goldman founded Honest Tea the nation’s best-selling and fastest-growing organic bottled tea company with a business professor from the Yale School of Management. Honest Tea sources from organic and fair trade tea estates and has partnered with community development groups ranging from the Crow Reservation in Montana to organizations in South Africa and Guatemala. Goldman talked with Knowlege@Wharton about carving out space in the competitive beverage market helping consumers embrace organics and how tea became the catalyst for following his life’s passion. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kate Roberts is the founder and director of YouthAIDS and Five & Alive two marketing programs implemented by Population Services International (PSI) where she is a vice president. Founded in 2001 YouthAIDS is a global education and prevention initiative that uses pop culture music theater movies and sports to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. The program reaches 600 million young people in more than 60 countries with life-saving products and services. In 2002 YouthAIDS partnered with MTV to produce the ”Staying Alive” concert a $3 million event broadcast worldwide and featured on all major news channels. Roberts spoke with Knowledge at Wharton about cause-related marketing the Indian film industry and an event in Africa that changed her life among other topics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From a childhood spent exploring the woods near his home to a career spent protecting habitats in the far corners of the earth Carter Roberts -- president and CEO of the non-profit World Wildlife Fund -- has fostered a connection to the natural world. His job is as diverse as the ecosystems he visits. One day he may be negotiating with the president of a corporation and the next he is sitting on a dirt floor talking with villagers about the importance of saving tigers.He spoke with Knowledge at Wharton about his passion for nature why companies should care about preserving natural resources and the value of story-telling. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Octavio Lopes senior partner of private equity firm GP Investments is in the middle of raising what might be the largest private equity fund ever for Latin America. In a podcast recorded in Sao Paulo Lopes discusses the prospects for investing in Brazil and Latin America where he thinks commodity prices are headed and how the discovery of oil in places like Brazil Colombia and Mexico will affect the local and regional economy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alberto Duran founder and CEO of Mundivox Communications of Brazil has seen the world of telecommunications from various perspectives. He worked in the telecom sector for J.P. Morgan in New York and Bain & Company and Monitor Company in Boston and London. He specialized in the development of strategies for major industry players worldwide including privatizations and M&A in North America Europe and Asia. In 1999 Duran founded Mundivox Communications in Brazil. In an interview with Knowledge at Wharton he talks about the troubled environment in the wake of the slowdown and the key issues in managing a company that is growing at an astonishing 100% a year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Arminio Fraga was president of the Central Bank of Brazil from 1999 to 2002. He has sometimes been called the Alan Greenspan of Latin America though that comparison may not sit well these days as Greenspan comes in for his share of the blame for the global financial crisis. In 2001 Fraga founded the Rio de Janeiro-based Gávea Investimentos an independent asset management company. It operates principally in the areas of hedge funds wealth management and illiquid investment strategies. In an interview with Knowledge at Wharton Fraga draws upon his wide experience and understanding to talk about the financial crisis its causes and future concerns. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

These are volatile times for Brazilian real estate which mirrors the situation in most countries. But according to Elie Horn chairman and CEO of Cyrela Brazil Realty Brazil’s largest developer of residential properties Brazil doesn’t have the deep-rooted problems of the U.S. market. It’s just a matter of lying low for some time until confidence returns he suggests in an interview with Knowledge at Wharton. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brazil’s petrochemicals industry has been going through active consolidation a phase that is almost at an end. That process however has seen the creation and growth of Braskem a giant of a firm that is the largest petrochemicals producer not just in Brazil but in all of Latin America. Bernardo Gradin who has been part of Braskem since the company’s formation in 2002 took over in July as its CEO. In an interview with Knowledge at Wharton conducted at the company’s Sao Paulo headquarters Gradin discussed Braskem’s goal of becoming one of the world’s top 10 petrochemical companies as measured by shareholder value. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Economic crises around the globe have often hit Brazilian banks hard with capital flight hammering the country’s currency the real. But Brazil’s financial institutions seem better positioned to weather the current worldwide credit crunch although lending there is just as frozen as it is elsewhere according to Candido Bracher president and chief executive officer of the São Paulo-based Banco Itaú BBA one of the country’s largest private banks. In an interview with Knowledge at Wharton Bracher discusses how the international market turmoil has affected Brazil and how this differs from the financial crises of the 1990s. He also speaks about what a commodity-price ”hangover” could mean for the country’s economy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.