Green Shoots & Big Shifts

Aid usually arrives from the top down, with outsiders naming the problem and the fix. Amit Varshneya, Executive Director of The Goonj Foundation, describes a model that flips that script. Goonj collects around fifteen million pounds of urban surplus each year in India, sorts it into family kits, and matches those kits to rural communities who first identify and solve their own infrastructure needs. Amit spent 26 years in marketing and startups across enterprise and the Bay Area before a one year sabbatical turned into six and a half years of this work. He connects circularity, human dignity, and climate adaptation in concrete terms. Chapters: 00:00 Welcome to Green Shoots & Big Shifts 00:44 Meet Amit Varshneya 01:02 From Uttar Pradesh to a US marketing career 03:19 Startups journey 04:42 A sabbatical that became six and a half years 06:08 Meeting Goonj's founder and joining the mission 07:29 What Goonj is and how the model works 09:04 Urban waste, surplus textiles, and collection drives 11:14 Building and matching kits to rural communities 13:16 Activating community agency, never charity 15:26 Circularity and changing mindsets 17:34 Post-colonial aid and indigenous knowledge 20:20 Making alternative economic models work 21:10 The numbers: 28,000 projects, 20 million lives 22:55 The wrestling ring in Jammu and Kashmir 27:52 Climate disasters as a clear and present reality 30:33 Dignity in disaster response 33:03 Assam floods and ecological repair first 34:59 Different currencies and interconnectedness 35:36 Community and rethinking wealth 40:11 How to get involved with Goonj 42:49 A closing word: Responsibility Learn more about The Goonj Foundation: Website - https://goonjfoundation.org Learn more about Goonj: https://goonj.org/ Follow the Green Shoots & Big Shifts Podcast here: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/green-shoots-big-shifts/

Four years ago only 4% of US adults knew what regenerative agriculture meant. Kiss The Ground (https://kisstheground.com) decided the fix was to stop talking over people and start meeting them where they are. Evan Harrison, CEO of Kiss The Ground walks through the strategy that moved that number to 13%, from mini documentaries, 5 with a Farmer series, and 25 shopping guides to a $500,000 grant program that put electric fences, cover crops and hogs on more than 200+ farms and set 73K acres on the path to transition to regenerative farming. Evan's background is music and digital media, and he brings a builder's eye to how consumer demand rewires supply chains. Chapters: 00:00 Welcome to Green Shoots & Big Shifts 01:04 Meet Evan Harrison and Kiss The Ground 01:38 From a Venice nonprofit to the Netflix film 02:54 Only 4% understood regenerative agriculture 04:06 Simplifying the message and the tipping point strategy 06:16 Growing awareness from 4% to 7% to 13% 07:13 Content formats: mini docs, reels and shopping guides 10:55 The $500,000 farmer grant program 12:16 73,000 acres and stories from the field 12:50 Consumer demand versus policy and supply chains 13:24 Shopping guides, the farm map and certification 15:08 The milk carton moment and earning credibility 15:57 Helping partner companies avoid overstating claims 17:57 What farmers say about the real hurdles 20:40 Farmer Relations Board 23:04 Partner companies and how the partnerships work 27:24 What is next for Kiss The Ground 29:03 How listeners can help 31:25 A serial optimist on why change comes fast then slow 34:04 What keeps Evan going 35:39 One word for the audience: hope You can follow Evan Harrison here: LinkedIn - https://linkedin.com/in/evanharrison Learn more about Kiss The Ground: Website - https://kisstheground.com Follow the Green Shoots & Big Shifts Podcast here: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/green-shoots-big-shifts/ Green Shoots & Big Shifts: https://thepod.fm/listen/green-shoots-big-shifts

Wildlife populations have dropped 70% over the last 50 years, and most organizations still can't say what nature exists on the land they manage. Dan White, CEO & Founder of Gentian, measures biodiversity using satellite imagery and AI that detects plant species and habitats from space, then hands that data to property developers, farmers, oil and gas firms, and First Nations communities so they can act on nature/ ecological risk. His path runs from childhood bird watching through behavioral economics work that cut aviation fuel use, and he connects both to the value we fail to count. Chapters: 00:03 Welcome to Green Shoots and Big Shifts 00:55 Dan's early love of nature and bird watching 01:45 A career arc from music to CEO 02:32 Serendipity, doors, and following your values 04:25 What Gentian measures with satellites and AI 05:14 Why habitats matter and the extinction crisis 06:48 Who uses biodiversity data and why 08:20 Regulation, TNFD, and nature on the bottom line 11:19 Nature based solutions and climate resilience 12:56 Losing one drug every two years to plant extinction 14:32 Behavioral economics and changing decisions 15:24 District heating data and meeting Rob Metcalfe 17:45 The Virgin Atlantic fuel efficiency trial 18:31 Signal: feedback for pilots and ships captains 20:01 Why personalized goals beat leaderboards 23:08 Advice for people starting out in this work 25:18 What's next for Dan and Gentian 27:36 A word for the audience: chicken Learn more about Gentian: Website - https://gentian.team Follow the Green Shoots & Big Shifts Podcast here: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/green-shoots-big-shifts/

Less than 1% of philanthropic capital goes to ocean causes, and the funding gap for a healthy ocean runs at least $150 billion. Laura Francis, Founder of Sea Forward Fund, is closing that gap with a collaborative multi donor fund now invested in 12 ocean health funds that span roughly 200 companies across 53 countries. After 27 years at NOAA and a career as a kelp forest ecologist, she built a model where a $250 donation and a $2 million donation both matter, returns cycle back through a donor advised fund, and everyday people learn how ocean impact investing works. Chapters: 00:03 Welcome to Green Shoots and Big Shifts 00:53 Falling in love with the ocean at 11 years olf 02:26 From UC Santa Barbara to 27 years at NOAA 03:53 Move into impact investing 06:12 The ocean funding gap and SDG 14 08:41 Inside Sea Forward Fund: 12 funds, 200 companies, 53 countries 09:26 Choosing science based fund managers and measuring impact 11:40 Why a $250 donation matters as much as $2 million 13:12 Impact Investing without a donor advised fund through CataCap 14:46 The living laboratory and the Ever Blue model 16:22 Ripple: community, webinars and newsletters 17:53 California Ocean Summit in Santa Barbara, December 2026 19:27 Lessons on mobilizing small donors for big impact 21:44 The ocean as a financial ecosystem 22:28 What's next: new platforms, field trips and growing to 15 funds 24:43 A science to finance pathway for students 25:35 Closing on resilience and hope You can follow Laura Francis here: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauraannfrancis/ Learn more about Sea Forward Fund: - Sea Forward Fund Website - https://seaforwardfund.org - Sea Forward Fund on Catacap: https://catacap.org/investments/seaforward - California Ocean Summit: https://calocean.org/ DAF Commons: https://www.dafcommons.com/ Follow the Green Shoots & Big Shifts Podcast here: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/green-shoots-big-shifts/

Coffee manufacturers pay millions to dispose of waste that still holds most of its value. Helen Zhang built a company on that gap. She is CEO and Founder of Coffee Elf Inc., which pulls oil from commercial coffee grounds to make a premium emollient for hair care and skincare, and presses grounds with cork and peanut shell into vegan leather for promotional merchandise. Helen traces the path from a kitchen project at Columbia that nearly set off her neighbors' smoke complaints to early commercial partners, and to donating profit back to nonprofits serving women coffee farmers in Kenya, Ethiopia and Colombia. Chapters: 00:00 Welcome to Green Shoots and Big Shifts 00:54 Meet Helen Zhang and what Coffee Elf does 01:43 The kitchen project that nearly burned down an apartment 03:16 Discovering coffee's hidden chemical value 03:47 Coffee waste as a commercial problem 04:54 Growing up in an entrepreneurial family 07:16 The bigger vision: a waste to value engine 09:37 Inside the product line: emollient and vegan leather 12:08 Replacing palm oil with coffee oil 13:16 Giving back to women coffee farmers 17:00 Material innovation beyond plastic 18:38 Safety, silicones and clean beauty 20:35 Milestones ahead: hair care and the ASI supply chain 22:00 How to partner with Coffee Elf 24:24 Sustainability and profitability together 28:22 Advice for founders building in this field 30:46 One word to leave listeners with Learn more about Coffee Elf Inc.: Website - https://thecoffeeelf.com Follow the Green Shoots & Big Shifts Podcast here: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/green-shoots-big-shifts/