A beautiful discussion with two very fine people. Denis Opio and Harriet Atim, a wonderful husband and wife team, have devoted themselves to helping the most disadvantaged and vulnerable in their community in Gulu, northern Uganda.

You'll hear how Harriet and Denis support young women, often single mums who didn't finish school and who too often are victims of domestic violence, with vocational training so that they can earn a living and provide for their families. They support farming groups too.

I was visiting Uganda for another project but as my Foundation - Pond Foundation - supports Anyim Wa and the work that Denis and Harriet do, I took the opportunity to visit them to see their work first hand. I wasn't disappointed. It was super inspiring to see how they empower the young women and the farmers to move beyond despair into meaningful action.

I also learned how Harriet and Denis met, fell in love and started their own family. I learned how challenges in their own lives inspires what they do at Anyim Wa.

Like I said, two great people.

If their story inspires you and you'd like to support their work, you can donate to Pond Foundation's Hilary's Kids initiative through this link. All donations from this time on will go to Anyim Wa and we send 90% of all donated funds to their programs.

The world would be a better place if there were more people like Harriet and Denis.

I was recently in northern Ghana setting up biochar research trials with smallholder farmers. It was a great experience where one day I found myself alone, apart from some chickens and a confused young woman Shea nut picker, in a field. In this podcast I share the rationale behind why biochar could help revolutionise African smallholder farming and the livelihoods of millions of families.

A calm, humble man of the Bahá'í faith, Hugh Locke has devoted his already long but very much unfinished life to making the world a better place through gentle diplomacy and serious action. In this beautiful podcast, Hugh shares stories about his spiritual journey and his many decades of service in support of sustainability leaders such as Richard St Barbe Baker, the Man of the Trees; Mikhail Gorbachev; Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh; the Dalai Lama; and Prince (now King) Charles. Hugh has spent decades supporting smallholder farmers to implement regenerative agroforestry projects, particularly in Haiti, as well as tree planting projects the world over. A kind, gentle, calm, spiritual warrior for the planet.

Hank Lynch is the CEO of One Tree Planted, a US-based non-profit that recently celebrated its first decade. With kind donations from millions of caring individuals and some inspired corporates, One Tree Planted partners with local organisations and communities all around the world to plant trees and restore forest landscapes. Hank talks about One Tree Planted's achievements and shares its vision for the future as the world heats up, placing forests, communities and biodiversity in ever increasing peril. Now is our time to not only protect but to heal and restore. Hank shares something of his own journey and introduces us to the great One Tree Planted team that works tirelessly to restore Nature.

Nadene Canning is a facilitator, learning designer, coach, mentor and a very fine human being. She cares about others and has deep experience supporting people to travel their journeys. I had the privilege of meeting Nadene online in January 2024 and in person a month or so later. We got along like a house on fire.

We're both fascinated by this notion of regeneration; yes, of soils and Nature, but in our case, most particularly the regeneration of the human spirit. We have committed to exploring the topic in a series of short (around 10 min) podcasts.

This is our first episode and we look forward to diving deeper into this exploration with you. If you have comments or questions, do post them and we'll aim to explore as many as we can in future episodes.

Gretha Oost is inspiring. An inventor, an entrepreneur, a community member and a true believer that together, we can make the world a better place. Gretha has built a beautiful initiative called "1million mini missions" to help people to come together to do what they each can do. All on their own, these mini missions are beautiful, but together, they represent a catalyst to inspire social change from the ground up, by focusing on what's possible, that which binds us together, not what divides us. https://www.1mmm.org/

Mark Bjornsgaard is the Founder and CEO of Deep Green which decarbonises commercial and domestic heating. He invests in projects that help make the world a better place. Mark shares some of the lessons he's learned along the way to help new impact entrepreneurs make their impact.

Andrew Reeves is Commercial Director of WhatIF Foods. WhatIF Foods is a 'planet-based' food company and a Pond Foundation member. Andrew discusses the development of WhatIF Foods as a company, centred around solving the world's 'Nutritional Paradox', where global food systems are far too reliant on very few crops, and food inequality is extremely widespread.