In this episode of the Mission Driven Podcast, I speak with Rogerine Miguel-Irvine, former Chief for Strategic Policy and Innovations at the National Economic and Development Authority , about her work to build a national framework for innovation and entrepreneurship.

Rogerine shares her journey from building a social enterprise supporting indigenous weaving communities to helping shape national innovation policy in the Philippines. We explore why governments often struggle to support entrepreneurs, the barriers startups face navigating bureaucracy, and why innovation policy frequently fails at the implementation stage.

We also discuss the role of procurement in supporting startups, the challenge of fragmented systems, why human capital and R&D investment matter, and what it was like bringing an entrepreneurial mindset into government itself.

This conversation is a candid look at the realities of building innovation ecosystems — and why governments must evolve if they want entrepreneurs to help solve the major economic and social challenges ahead.

Key Takeaways:

1. Governments should support innovation ecosystems — not control them.

2. The Philippines has strong talent and innovation output, but struggles with implementation and commercialization.

3. Bureaucracy and outdated procurement systems remain major barriers for startups and innovators.

4. Policy making improves when entrepreneurs and private-sector voices are directly involved in the process.

5. Procurement reform could become one of the most powerful tools governments use to support startups and innovation

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In this episode of the Mission Driven Podcast, Rich speaks with David Lynn, co-founder and CEO of Mission Driven Finance, about the ambitious vision to move trillions of dollars into communities and build a financial system designed around impact.

Inspired by the rise of firms like Blackstone and Brookfield, David shares why he believes the next trillion-dollar investment platform could — and should — be built around community outcomes, access to capital, and long-term social value.

The conversation explores the challenges of financing mission-driven businesses, the gap between small community lending and large institutional capital, how impact is measured and managed, and why Mission Driven Finance is now moving into care economy real estate — including child care facilities — as a way to build long-term community assets.

Key Takeaways

- The problem isn’t lack of capital — it’s lack of infrastructure.

- Mission-driven finance needs scale to move institutional money.

- Impact must be intentional and built into the business model.

- The biggest financing gap is now in the lower middle market.

- Care economy real estate is a major untapped opportunity.

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In this episode of the Mission Driven Podcast, I speak with Uli Grabenwarter, Deputy Chief Investment Officer and Director of Equity Investments at the European Investment Fund, about one of the most uncomfortable questions in impact finance: Why impact investing does not work.

Uli brings a rare perspective to this conversation. Over the course of his career, he has moved from derivatives and traditional finance into venture capital, responsible investing, and impact investing, and today helps oversee one of Europe’s largest fund-of-funds investment platforms.

Our conversation explores the core contradiction at the heart of impact investing: the belief that investors can always generate market-rate returns while also solving society’s most urgent environmental and social challenges. Uli challenges the “no trade-off” narrative, arguing that while some business models can align impact and return, society as a whole still faces a massive trade-off — and until we are honest about who pays for it, progress will remain limited.

We discuss why capital has flowed into impact investing without delivering the level of progress promised by the SDGs, how fiduciary duty limits what investors are willing or able to do, and why the next generation of impact finance needs to become more focused, impact-centric, and grounded in the real problems it claims to solve.

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In this episode of the Mission Driven Podcast, Damien Masselis reflects on one of the most important lessons behind building Pai Seedlings Foundation: that solving complex social and environmental problems is not just about having the right technical solutions — it’s about trust, listening, and understanding the fears that prevent change from happening.

After years of trying to help farming communities transition away from chemical agriculture, Damien realized that pushing harder wasn’t working. The breakthrough came when his team slowed down, stopped trying to convince people, and focused instead on what he calls “radical listening” — creating the time and trust necessary for communities to define what a better future meant for themselves.

The conversation explores Damien’s unconventional path from MBA graduate to regenerative agriculture leader in Northern Thailand, the realities of rebuilding degraded farmland, why “small is beautiful,” the challenge of scaling human-centered work, and how long-term, values-aligned partnerships have allowed Pai Seedlings to grow without compromising its mission.

Key Takeaways

- Trust matters more than technical solutions

- Regeneration must work within real economic constraints

- Human-centered work is difficult to scale

- Values-aligned funding creates different possibilities

- Entrepreneurship is more sustainable when rooted in service

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In this episode of the Mission Driven Podcast, I speak with Aarti Kapoor, founder of Embode, about what it really takes to protect human rights inside complex global supply chains—and why good intentions, good laws, and good reports are often not enough.

Aarti shares how early experiences with injustice led her to study law before unexpectedly finding herself in Cambodia working on issues of child exploitation and trafficking. What began as a one-year experience evolved into a decades-long journey across NGOs, government, international development, and responsible business.

Drawing from more than 20 years of experience, Aarti explains why systemic social challenges cannot be solved by any one actor alone, why organizations often fail to collaborate effectively, and why she ultimately founded Embode to help businesses move beyond compliance and superficial fixes toward deeper systems-based approaches.

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In this episode of the Mission Driven Podcast, I speak with Pinky Poe about Bringing Business Rigor to Social Enterprise — and why compassion and creativity alone are not enough to build lasting impact.

After a successful global corporate career, Pinky returned home to the Philippines and was struck by the immense talent, resilience, and heart she saw in underserved communities. But she also recognized something missing: the discipline, structure, and operational rigor required to turn that energy into enterprises that could truly scale and sustain themselves.

We explore what happens when mission-driven founders neglect the “enterprise” side of social enterprise, why so many ventures struggle in the messy middle, and what Pinky learned after launching 50 community enterprises in five years — only to realize that without systems and structure, impact fades.

We also discuss her decision to build an outsourcing firm focused on accounting, compliance, and financial literacy — the overlooked foundations that allow founders to make better decisions, extend their runway, and build organizations that outlast their passion.

This conversation is a candid look at what it really takes to move from compassion to capability — and why bringing business rigor to social enterprise may be the most mission-aligned decision a founder can make.

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In this episode of the Mission Driven Podcast, I speak with Cheryl Jacob, Founder and Chief of Growth and Impact at Resonate & Co, about her work helping mission-driven entrepreneurs scale.

We begin with a direct challenge to investors: their responsibility isn’t to personally deliver every layer of support, but to find and fund the people who know how to provide it—whether that’s operational expertise, systems support, coaching, or even mental wellbeing resources—based on what founders are actually struggling with.

From there, we explore the realities facing social entrepreneurs today: navigating the "valley of death" between startup and scale, building hybrid nonprofit/for-profit models as global aid tightens, and ensuring founders themselves don’t burn out before their organizations mature.

This is a candid conversation about ecosystems, responsibility, leadership growth, and designing organizations that can endure long enough to deliver lasting impact.

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In this episode of the Mission Driven Podcast, I speak with Dr. Legena Henry, Founder and CEO of Rum and Sargassum about when an unexpected result sparked the innovation that lead to the development of a local biofuel.

It was a moment that came during student-led summer research project in Barbados, and it was “lucky mistake” became the foundation for a venture working to transform a regional environmental crisis into a renewable transportation solution.

It is a great conversation that also dives into the process for commercialization inside a university system, negotiating IP and royalties (as part of a spin-out), and navigating entrepreneurship as a family.

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