Ever feel helpless about the state of the world? Investigative journalist Roberta Baskin discusses her shift to finding hopeful stories about businesses creating positive social and environmental impact. She details her program, Aim2Flourish, where students discover these companies, and shares inspiring examples like the iron fish fighting iron deficiency. Roberta emphasizes the importance of B Corporations and consumer choices, while offering practical tips for reducing your carbon footprint and leaving the world a better place. Tune in and discover how businesses can be a force for good, and what you can do to be part of the solution.
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Aim To Flourish With Roberta Baskin
In this episode, we have Roberta Baskin, who is a renowned journalist and nonprofit director. She spent many years as an award-winning investigative reporter exposing injustice and corporate misconduct stories at ABC News, CBS News, and PBS. Roberta’s storied career garnered more than 75 journalism awards, including the prestigious duPont-Columbia Awards, Peabody Awards, and multiple Emmys. Her investigations reformed injustices and improved dozens of health and safety products and practices.
Years ago, Roberta shifted to the mission of finding companies and telling stories about exemplary businesses and companies helping to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. She cofounded and launched AIM2Flourish.com at Case Western Reserve University, which showcases more than 3,000 Global Goals stories written by business school students in more than 100 countries.
At the heart of the Global Goals is Goal #13: Climate Action, which led to Roberta’s current Board of Directors positions for One Earth and The Carbon Underground. Roberta also serves on the founding board of The Peace Studio, reporting strengths-based media-making in the arts and journalism, as well as the Magnolia Moonshot 2030, a platform that supports women’s leadership. She’s also a founding board member of the FoolProof Foundation, a free platform teaching financial literacy used by more than 12,000 teachers nationwide. She’s traveled the world as a guest lecturer from Baku to Budapest, and from Bilbao to Borneo.
Welcome, Roberta. I am so glad you’re with us because you’re one of my favorite people in the world.
Right back at you, Ina.
When I want to get something done, I think of you because of your persistence, fearlessness, and playfulness. The work that you’re doing in the world is pretty important work when we talk about issues of climate and democracy. You do it always with an open heart and lightness.
I love the fact that you added playful to my tenacity.
It is always. I’ve had many experiences with you and it always shows your commitment but also joy. You’ve been an investigative journalist for a good amount of time in your life. You spent a lot of your time telling stories that located injustices and the business community. You told those stories and those stories made a huge impact on consumers.
I couldn’t wait to tell you about a company doing a bad thing.
It was in a way. Maybe it didn’t feel joyful in the way you told the story but I’m sure it made a difference and brought joy into somebody’s life knowing that the consequences mattered.
Joyful, not always. There are some horrific things that I was exposed to over the years but doing that for 30 years, I came around as a slow learner to think more deeply about, “Who’s doing it right? How do we tell those stories about solutions and companies? People want to know about that. Where should I spend my money instead of where should I avoid doing business?”
Businesses Doing Good
Let’s talk a little bit about that shift because once you left the more formal journalism career, you stepped into, “I want to tell the stories where these businesses are doing good and are making a difference.” Share a little bit about that and the steps and the things that you’re doing.
It is where the joy sprang up. How do you find those companies? Where are they in the world? I worked at Case Western Reserve University in the Fowler Center for Business as an agent of world benefit. It was 2015 before the United Nations even voted unanimously to approve the sustainable development goals. We looked at these Global Goals and said, “This is what needs to happen by 2030.”
We created this platform even before the UN voted on them to how we can teach students in business schools around the planet about these Global Goals. We started with a small handful of business school professors who were excited about it. We created all these resources for students to go out and have an exercise where they had to find a company, a social innovator, a CEO, or an entrepreneur, who in some for-profit way was helping to achieve one of the sustainable development goals like climate action, peace, taking care of hunger, or gender discrimination. It’s all of those beautiful goals.
All these years later, I checked and there are 4,732 stories written by business school students in more than 100 different countries about these companies that are profitable and positive and in some way, helping to achieve a Global Goal. The stories were so awesome that we wanted to elevate one for each one of the seventeen sustainable goals and give out a flourish prize. We give out seventeen flourish prizes every year.
It’s been a real joy to hear the feedback from students also who are the next business leaders on the planet. They have this experience of interviewing an entrepreneur that they admire. In many cases, that person becomes a mentor for them. Some students have been offered opportunities to be on a company’s advisory board or have been hired. Students are influenced when it comes time for them to think about, “What kind of business do I want to work in or create?”
I’m sure there are 4,000-plus stories. Is there a particular story or one story that stands out for you or that you could share?
There are so many. In that first year, I thought about the stories that surfaced from students. One of my favorite ones was a little iron fish that was for Cambodia. I’ve been to Cambodia a couple of times and I had no idea that 1/3 of Cambodians suffer from iron deficiency. You can take medicine for it or iron pills but a much simpler solution was this little iconic iron fish that you could put in your rice pot or soup. They tested it in the lab. It would provide iron for the family. It’s such a simple solution. That fell under goal number three in terms of health.
For our audience, I want to describe what that looks like. The first image I had when you were describing this was that it was going to be like a Flintstone vitamin but it’s not. It’s an actual iron fish, a metal fish that’s about the size of the palm of the hand. You put that in there and it leeches out the iron. Is that right?
Yes. They do lab studies on it to show that the family gets 92% of their iron. People in Cambodia eat rice every day. You put it in your rice pot. They help us put a fish in every pot.
My doctor said, “You might want to take some iron because it feels like you’ve got some iron deficiency.” That’s why I’m connecting this. I’ve been sitting with it for a few days because I don’t feel I need to get a pill but I know I need to get this iron. You’re telling me I had a hole. My body felt connected to it. That must be it.
Lucky iron fish got it. Let me add one other very cool thing about this particular story. It’s a certified B corporation also. This is a whole movement that I admire so much where companies are not just being beholden to their shareholders but are beholden to the very serious metrics that they must follow in terms of how they treat the environment and their employees, and also their transparency.
You can be, for instance, good to the environment but if you’re not good to your employees in terms of the metrics, then you don’t get to be a certified B Corp. That’s another thing that I love to talk about because I want to get people to look for these B corporations. When we designed AIM2Flourish, when we were just dreaming it up before it even had a name, one of the co-founders of the B corp movement was in the room helping us think about it. Bart Houlahan’s input was important.
Aim2Flourish
That is so necessary for consumers because I know so many people, self-included, who feel like, “It takes so much research to know where to put my money.” To have that kind of label, and I live in France, it’s like they put a little label on eggs, what kind of egg you’re getting, and that kind of thing. I have a question for you, Roberta. In this amazing program that you’re talking about here, you mentioned twice that the companies are making profits. That’s important because they have to stay solvent. I wonder if the students who are going through this, shift their ideas or image of what business is even about. If you could talk to that for a minute.
I don’t have more than anecdotal evidence about it in terms of having parachuted by Zoom into various classrooms around the world and talking to students about the SDGs. Even in this school that ended up, they were the ones who came up with a lucky iron fish. I’m pretty sure it was the University of Guelph. I remember a classroom back in 2015 or 2016, whatever it was, asking 300 students, “Raise your hands if you’ve heard of the sustainable development goals,” and only three hands went up. When we started talking about it, it was not something that students were aware of.
Exposing them to this aspiration universally, we’re all of the nations in the world. This is what has to happen by 2030 so students have this opportunity to research who is doing it right. Who is trying to achieve these DSGs and make a profit doing it? Experientially, we know from the feedback that we get that it does make a shift for students. This program doesn’t cost money. It operates mostly on love because professors around the world have the various resources that they need to send out their army of students to find and surface these companies.
Most of them are small and medium-sized. In some cases, there are bigger companies where it’s a little program of a bigger company or even experimental. I have no doubt that it does have an impact on a lot of students in terms of they’re in business school because they want to go into business and the shift can take place. They’re also doing an appreciative inquiry kind of interview.
It’s not the kind of interview that I used to do as an investigative reporter, where I had all of this evidence from my research of companies doing something fraudulent, unfair, or unjust. These are interviews that the students are doing that spark inspiration. “Tell me about what motivated you. What moved you and your heart to come up with this idea?” I love the name AIM2Flourish because that’s what it’s about. How can we flourish? Business has an important role to play in terms of making the world a better place and leaving no one behind.
I like the word aim. In my coaching career, I frequently get people who come to me and say, “Why am I doing what I’m doing?” You come to coaching when you’ve hit a roadblock. That’s interesting to have that put in front of students. The why is not just about getting into business and demonstrating competency in something but there has to be an aim and a why behind that business.
It’s aspirational. It’s the mission, vision, and aspiration that we have for our business and beyond, our community, or the world.
Why Businesses Are So Critical Today
Roberta, you mentioned how business is so important and making sure we leave no one behind. Why do you think business is so critical in the times that we’re living in? Why business?
Look at the government. There’s a lot to weep about what’s going on in terms of the cynicism that people have about politics and government. There’s no question that it’s a collaboration in the world that you need nonprofits to do their part and business to make a profit but also do good in the world. They’re making things that people need. We also need a functioning democracy where people are motivated to participate in it and you have the freedom to choose. What I encourage people to do is to look for the good guys. Look for those B corp companies and companies that are aspiring to do good. All of it is important in terms of creating the world that we all want.
Climate Crisis
You have been committed to finding these companies. You talk often about the choices you make when you purchase something and your carbon footprint. You’ve been also very involved in the climate change movement and serving on many boards. Can you speak a little bit more about that? I’m going to ask you a question. What motivated you and your heart to move in that direction?
I’m so passionate about the climate crisis and feel somewhat guilty in terms of my age group and the way that we were so cavalier in terms of how we treated resources and created this disposable world. I have to say that I feel very guilty about my carbon footprint in terms of my travel. One of the worst things that you could do is fly around. If you think back many years ago, we weren’t flying around the way we do now. What I try to do is offset my guilt by giving to climate organizations that are doing fantastic jobs.
I’m a slow learner. Things take a while to percolate in me but years ago, I covered COP9 in Milan for NOW With Bill Moyers. I was the investigative reporter for PBS and NOW With Bill Moyers. The story that I told was how the American delegation and the fossil fuel industry were in cahoots in terms of making sure that there was no progress at COP9. Here we are years later and we’re not on track to meet the 1.5 °C that before we have a runaway climate. We already are seeing the impacts that scientists were predicting but we didn’t listen.
We have record-breaking heat waves, wildfires, catastrophic flooding, and droughts. The scary thing is we’re going to look back at this hottest of all summers and think of it as one of the cooler and calmer ones. These impacts are happening all over the world and at the same time. I feel a sense of great urgency in terms of what we need to do for our children and theirs so that they have a livable and breathable world before it’s too late.
Now, we have this record-breaking heatwave, wildfires, catastrophic flooding, and droughts. The really scary thing is we’re going to look back at this hottest of all summers and think of it as one of the cooler and calmer ones.
There are a lot of good things that are happening. One of the things in terms of America is that we have the Inflation Reduction Act, which is a huge landmark piece of legislation in terms of money going into renewables and encouraging people to do a better job. There are all kinds of things that we can do also as Americans. One of the things that I’ve been thinking a lot about is food and food waste. Americans waste 42 billion pounds of food every year. That food rots in landfills and produces methane, which is the most potent greenhouse gas. That’s like adding 23 million more cars to the roads every year. That’s crazy.
How do we rain it in in terms of food waste and think about our real needs? How much do we need to shop for or feed our families? The other thing is according to the UN, 1/3 of the climate crisis is how foods are grown, processed, transported, and distributed, what your choices are in terms of what you consume, and then what kind of waste you have. Each of these steps creates greenhouse gases. If it’s about 1/3 of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, that’s exciting because that means it’s 1/3 of the solution in terms of how we choose to grow, what we choose to eat, and how we waste food.
At GW, we launched the Global Food Institute and that’s exactly one of the focus areas. Education is one of the forms. You talked a little bit about traveling. I wonder what are some practical things in your list that you try to do differently or be differently to support?
There’s a lot that I needed to do because, in my generation, we weren’t thinking about it. Waste is a big deal. We compost and put that in the garden. You’re recycling in terms of vegetable peels, fruit, and eggshells. We put solar panels on our house. One of the things that I did, which I hadn’t thought to do before, is I signed up with our electric company to have renewable energy. Those are simple things.
I would say the biggest thing is voting for leaders who understand the impact of man-made climate and what we’re doing to our precious Mother Earth. I feel that Mother Earth is going to shake us off like fleas if we don’t get our act together. Mother Earth will be here. She knows how to evolve but we will not be here if we don’t get our act together as a civilization. That means less competition and more collaboration.
The biggest thing is voting for leaders who understand the impact of man-made climate and what we’re doing to our precious Mother Earth.
Perspective Shift To Make Positive Choices
Roberta, I have a question for you. You’ve talked a couple of times mentioning, “My generation didn’t think about resources.” I’m curious because that’s a certain mindset, perspective, and image towards what the earth is for me, we can say. Some of these measures you’re talking about involve taking specific choices and actions. Behind that has to be a certain perspective that’s driving that. I wonder how you think about changing perspectives from one generation to the next. There’s a lot in the news. I have a lot of clients who are talking about having nightmares about the climate and things like this. That’s anxiety-driven.
There’s a whole ecology movement that has sprung up around eco-movement.
What kind of perspective shift in the positive? How do you work towards that to get people to take these positive choices?
It’s the flipping that I did from talking about companies doing bad things to who’s doing it right. I’m very excited about supporting young people in any way that I can in terms of stepping into their leadership to co-create a world that works for everyone. One of my heroes in the climate movement is Bill McKibben. He has also started something called the Third Act. Those are the little old ladies like me who sit in rocking chairs in front of banks and suggest that people divest. They’re not supporting the fossil fuel industry.
It’s this idea that I treasure of old people helping young people in terms of stepping into their power. Politically, there are groups like NextGen America. It’s the biggest youth group in terms of getting out the youth vote. I worry about apathy in young people of feeling disenchanted with all of the political name-calling. We’re a very divisive country. We need the power of young people to design the future that they want. One of my biggest worries is they’ll throw up their hands and feel like, “I’m not being listened to. My vote doesn’t count.”
In Virginia, where I live, in 2017, it was a tie in the House of Delegates. Your vote counts. We’re talking about elections that can be very close. We’re helping young people understand their value as political beings and activists in terms of supporting democracy. This is such a complex problem but we are a very resilient species. Our young people are even more resilient and a lot of them do care about nature.
Cultivate More Hope In The World
I want to get this maybe in closing but you said that we have already gone through some significant thresholds. What we’re doing is to minimize some of the impacts. When I hear that, it makes me sad and to know. I’m also thinking, “How do we keep generating more hope?” Jane Goodall talked about the little actions and you’ve talked about actions that we can take. As we take those actions and we know that those actions matter, we generate more hope. Can we continue to cultivate more hope in the world?
Hope is crucial. Despair doesn’t work. One of the most important things is to talk about it in a realistic way. Katharine Hayhoe is one of the climate scientists. I love reading her blogs because she always starts with good news and then some not-so-good news about the climate. Her main theme is to talk about it. You can talk about climate to anyone because it affects all of us.
You can talk about climate to anyone because it affects all of us.
I think positively about what we can do individually because there’s a lot that we can do in terms of these little things like composting, what you choose to eat, and what you choose to drive or not drive, take a bike or walk, creating more walkable cities, or planting trees. There are a lot of significant things that we can do as individuals. One of the most important things is voting.
I was out knocking on doors in Virginia with my husband. If I just sit home, worry about it, and feel depressed about it, nothing’s going to happen but there are things that we can do like that. I bound out of bed in the morning to talk to young people and do whatever little part. I think about Professor David Orr’s beautiful quote, “Hope is a verb with its sleeves rolled up.” I keep my sleeves rolled up. I do bound out of bed with hope because I know that we can make a difference. This is the time. We’re at a pivotal moment. It matters what we do. That’s exciting.
“I’ll keep my sleeves rolled up.” I will keep remembering that.
I have my sleeves rolled up.
Thank you, Roberta. This has been wonderful and very inspiring.
I always feel inspired talking to you, Ina. It’s been a delight getting to know you, Bonnie.
Thank you.
Important Links
- AIM2Flourish.com
- One Earth
- The Carbon Underground
- The Peace Studio
- Magnolia Moonshot 2030
- FoolProof Foundation
- Global Food Institute
- Third Act
- NextGen America
- https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/Roberta-Baskin-095386/
- https://Case.edu/weatherhead/fowler/people/AIM2Flourish-Support-Staff/Roberta-Baskin
About Roberta Baskin
Non-Profit Director & Renowned Journalist
Roberta Baskin spent more than 30 years as an awarding-winning investigative reporter exposing injustice and corporate misconduct stories at ABC News, CBS News, and PBS. Roberta’s storied career garnered more than 75 journalism awards, including prestigious duPont Columbia Awards, Peabody Awards, and multiple Emmys. Her investigations reformed injustices and improved dozens of health and safety products and practices.
Five years ago Roberta shifted to the mission of finding companies and telling stories about exemplary businesses, companies helping to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. She co-founded and launched AIM2Flourish.com at Case Western Reserve University, which now showcases more than 3,000 Global Goals stories written by business school students in more than 100 countries. Roberta served as key fundraiser, strategist, and global education promoter. Real Leaders Magazine honored her among its “100 Visionary Leaders.”
At the heart of the Global Goals is Goal #13: Climate Action, which led to Roberta’s current Board of Directors positions for One Earth and The Carbon Underground. Roberta also serves on the founding board of The Peace Studio, supporting strengths-based media-making in the arts and journalism. She’s also a founding board member of the FoolProof Foundation, a free platform teaching financial literacy, used by more than 12,000 teachers nationwide. Roberta has traveled the world as a guest lecturer from Baku to Budapest, and from Bilbao to Borneo.