Evelyn Acham asks: “Who’s willing to stand in the gap?”

In this season 3 episode 12 of Katy Hansell: The Impact Whisperer® podcast, Host Katy Hansell speaks with Guest Evelyn Acham, a climate justice and climate finance activist from Kampala, Uganda, about how communities on the front lines of climate change are responding with practical solutions and political pressure.

Evelyn Acham is the Founder of the Plus One Tree Project, Co-Founder of the Agape Earth Coalition, and a national leader of the Rise Up Movement. Her work focuses on climate education, grassroots organizing, food security, environmental restoration, youth leadership, and climate adaptation finance for communities in Africa and the Global South.

We discuss how climate justice, local knowledge, and accountability to promised climate finance all connect—especially for African and Global South communities that contribute least to emissions but face the greatest harm.

Evelyn Acham explains how Climate finance includes: adaptation finance to promote climate resilience; reparations from the Global North; loss and damage finance. She also shares a valuable blueprint for how to create a local movement and transform it to become a national and then international movement, giving voice to the cause at COP globally.

Climate justice requires more than promises from international institutions. It requires education, accountability, investment in adaptation, and meaningful leadership from the communities most affected by the crisis. Evelyn’s work demonstrates how one local idea can grow into a broader movement for environmental restoration, food security, and global equity.

Creator/ Host Katy Hansell, aka The Impact Whisperer®, is a globally recognized (Top 10), award-winning expert impact coach, strategic advisor to founders, and Board Director, known for guiding 500+ clients across 3 continents to make the impact they care about.

Our podcast, Katy Hansell, aka The Impact Whisperer® podcast, features top global voices, established and emerging Gen-Z leaders, who share how they advocate and activate for the people, causes, and communities that have captured their hearts. Please subscribe and check out Evelyn Acham's full episode! Thank you. Chapters:(00:00) Introduction to Evelyn Acham(02:39) Evelyn’s Moment of Impact(05:28) How Fruit Trees Can Create Jobs, Food Security and Climate Resilience(09:12) Why Climate Change Is a Justice Issue for Africa(13:09) Climate Disinformation and the Fight Over Fossil Fuels(14:54) What Indigenous Communities Can Teach Us About Climate Adaptation(18:02) From Her Grandfather’s Trees to the One Tree Project(21:54) Why Africa Needs Adaptation Finance, Not Just Mitigation(23:39) Is the Green Transition Creating a New Era of Colonialism?(30:48) What Effective Climate Adaptation Looks Like on the Ground(34:17) Why Africa’s Climate Plans Aren’t Getting the Funding They Need(38:00) Taking Grassroots Stories to Global Leaders(42:04) Bringing African Climate Stories to Europe(46:04) Building International Solidarity Before COP29(47:53) “We Are Not Giving Up”: Evelyn’s Climate Advocacy Strategy(50:48) Climate Resilience in Action: Water, Food and Agriculture(01:00:04) How Evelyn’s Faith Sustains Her

What happens when one of America's most efficient agencies, US AID, dedicated to providing foreign assistance and international development to countries around the world, is dismantled by a set of political appointees, DOGE, Elon Musk, and the second Trump Administration?

The answer is that 750K people die in the year since Inauguration Day, January 20 2025, when President Trump took office and issued a series of Executive Orders, including EO 14169 which issued a freeze on all foreign assistance.

In his compelling and NY Times best-selling book, "Into The Wood Chipper: A Whistleblower's Account of How the Trump Administration Shredded USAID", author Nicholas Enrich provides a day-by-day timeline of what unfolded in a critical 42 day period from January 20 2025 to March 2 2025.

In this season 3 episode 11 of Katy Hansell: The Impact Whisperer® podcast, Nicholas Enrich shares the chaos and cruelty that led to the effective end of US AID by a set of a few people who had no idea what lifesaving work US AID actually did until they had actively begun gutting it. It leads up to why Nicholas Enrich felt he had no choice but to release a series of memos documenting what the administration had done to US AID and the projected impacts for people around the world that had relied on US AID, an agency that had saved 92 Million Lives over two decades.

Prior to being put on leave on March 2 2025, Nicholas Enrich served as Acting Assistant Administrator of Global Health at US AID and had served under 4 presidential administrations.

Creator/ Host Katy Hansell, aka The Impact Whisperer®, is a globally recognized (Top 10), award-winning expert impact coach, strategic advisor to founders, and Board Director, known for guiding 500+ clients over 3 continents to make the impact they care about.

Our podcast features top global voices, established and emerging Gen-Z leaders, who share how they advocate and activate for the people, causes, and communities that have captured their hearts.

Chapters:

(00:00) Introduction to Nicholas Enrich(03:24) Nicholas’s Moment of Impact(07:27) From Kenya to USAID: Finding a Career in Global Health(10:18) Debunking Myths About USAID & Foreign Aid(14:45) What USAID Actually Does Around the World(17:51) How Foreign Aid Shapes America's Global Reputation(19:03) Project 2025 & the Push to Dismantle USAID(21:58) How DOGE Took Aim at USAID(26:36) Day One: Trump's Executive Order Freezes Foreign Aid(31:27) Why USAID Staff Were Silenced(37:55) What Happened On Day Nine(40:52) Inside the Fight to Restart Life-Saving Programs(46:39) The Emotional Final Days at USAID(51:27) Why Nicholas Enrich Became a Whistleblower(54:49) The Memos That Documented the Destruction of USAID(58:43) Why Nicholas's Book Resonated With Americans(01:05:37) What Remains of U.S. Foreign Aid?(01:09:05) The Human Cost of Dismantling USAID(01:11:05) What Gives Nicholas Enrich Hope?(01:12:29) Closing Thoughts

Have you ever thought about living or working abroad? Considered joining an early stage start-up? Wondered if it makes sense to pursue graduate education in the age of AI?

If so, we have a great podcast conversation for you that covers all these topics and more! In this season 3 episode 10 of Katy Hansell: The Impact Whisperer® podcast, High Growth Start-Up Builder & Operator, Everett Cedarholm shares the through line behind his career: a lifelong love of building things, from mechanical engineering and tinkering as a kid to consulting, startup operations, and assuming leadership roles at hyper-growth start-up Shipper in Indonesia.

This podcast conversation follows how he moved from advising to doing, why he chose an emerging markets startup, what he learned about scaling teams, processes, and profitability, and why he is now seeking roles in Industrial tech companies leveraging AI.We also discuss why MBA programs need to treat AI as a core skill rather than an elective, what it means to become a power user, and why the current moment is especially exciting for builders.

Everett holds an MBA from INSEAD and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Duke University. He has professional experience with Accenture, was an Alter Fellow, and held several leadership roles at Shipper, based in Jakarta.

Creator/ Host Katy Hansell aka The Impact Whisperer®, is a globally recognized (Top 10), award-winning expert impact coach, strategic advisor to founders, and Board Director, known for guiding 500+ clients across 3 continents to make the impact they care about.

Check out our podcast up on all the pod platforms and well into season 3, Katy Hansell: The Impact Whisperer® podcast! We feature top global voices, established and emerging Gen-Z leaders who share how they advocate and activate for the people, causes, and communities that have captured their hearts!

Chapters:

(00:00) Introduction to Everett Cedarholm

(02:45) Everett’s Moment of Impact

(05:45) From Consulting to Building: Finding Work That Feels Meaningful

(08:12) How Mechanical Engineering Shaped Everett's Career

(11:17) Why Everett Wanted to Work Abroad

(13:10) What Is the Alter Global Fellowship?

(15:30) Landing in Jakarta: What Happened on Day One?

(18:10) Adjusting to Life in Jakarta & Indonesia's Startup Scene

(20:06) Shipper: Building a Logistics Startup in Indonesia

(25:07) What Is Third-Party Logistics?

(27:17) Scaling Shipper: Creating Structure From Chaos

(29:37) From Six Months to a Startup Career

(35:27) Making a Fast-Growing Startup Profitable

(36:36) Lessons From Working Abroad & Scaling a Startup (40:56) The Motorcycle Trip Across Indonesia

(43:42) Is an MBA Worth It in the Age of AI?

(45:36) Why Is AI Still an Elective in Business School?

(48:44) How to Actually Learn & Build With AI

(50:05) What Gives Everett Hope?

(51:27) Closing Remarks