Danny Wallace, Founder, Join Me!

Danny Wallace and his “Karma Army” have gained international renown for their random acts of kindness. I wanted to find out from Danny what inspired him to ask people to “Join Me!” by sending him passport sized photographs. It started with a bored Danny putting an ad in a free newspaper for a laugh and grew through an internet site. “Join Me!” now has thousands of members worldwide who have signed a Good Friday Agreement to commit random acts of kindness every Friday. Danny is a true modern cult leader, the internet and a sense of humour are his greatest assets. Most of all Danny wants people to have a giggle and get over their fear of being nice to people.

Neil Jameson, Director of the East London Community Organisation

TELCO brings together churches, unions and schools on issues of common interest. Neil is a strong believer that the power to change the world already exists in some of society’s oldest institutions. This is why he gave up social work, where he thought he was creating more problems than he was solving, for organising social networks, which he believes empower many ordinary citizens. Neil hopes the work of TELCO will encourage people to be more politically active and thus revitalise democracy.

Mark Moody Stuart, Chairman of Anglo American plc.

Mark Moody Stuart’s name is almost legendary among those who support the concept of corporate social responsibility as one way to build a better world. I wanted to find out why a strong believer in sustainable development chose to become chairman of two of the most environmentally destructive companies in the world, Shell and Anglo American. Mark is driven by a passion for the responsible use of natural resources which he believes are essential for our lives. For him organisation and governance are the key to achieving the sustainable development we need.

Harriet Lamb, Director, Fairtrade Foundation

Many believe that global trade causes nothing but environmental destruction and oppression in the developing world so the idea that fair trade can in fact empower the poor is an attractive one. I went to the top of the most influential fair trade organisation in the UK and met Harriet Lamb. She explained how trade can be poverty’s worst enemy by helping farmers to organise and get more stable incomes. Her childhood in India motivated her to help the world’s poor and later in life bananas led her to fair-trade as a way to achieve her aim.

Neil Crofts, Founder and Director of Authentic Business

Neil’s aim is to encourage us all to find our true selves and in that way stop exploitation of the environment and people. For him, Authenticity meant leaving his partner, his home and his job within the space of one month. He has written a book, runs a website and supports a group of Authentic Guides who are helping to spread his ideas around authenticity. In the end he hopes that authentic businesses, which aim to have a positive impact while making a profit, will be so successful that traditional businesses will want to follow suit and become more authentic themselves.

Paul Portney, President, Resources for the Future

Paul has devoted his life to research to try and find ways to harness the power of the market in the service of the environment. He believes so-called market instruments are the key to successful environmental and energy policy. His organisation, Resources for the Future, originated the idea for one of the first such policy instruments, the now widely implemented tradable emission permit. Providing quality independent research is still his aim but the big challenge he faces is explaining technical findings in a simple way that will inspire people to take up the ideas in their work.

Lady Hilary Browne Wilkinson, Director of the Institute of Philanthropy

I wanted to hear from Lady Browne-Wilkinson why she believes philanthropy is so important that she decided to set up the Institute of Philanthropy, an organisation designed to improve the quality of philanthropy in the UK. When working as a city lawyer, after a 20 year career as a professional musician, it was seeing some of the country’s best musicians being paid less than her secretary that spurred her to look into the funding of other worthwhile causes. She now hopes her Institute can encourage philanthropy and corporate giving by improving the information available to donors.

Peter Melchett, Policy Director of the Soil Association and Organic Farmer

Peter Melchett was famously arrested for destroying some GM crops with other activists while he was executive director of Greenpeace. He then attained further notoriety by leaving Greenpeace to work for Burson Marsteller, a large PR firm with clients including Monsanto, Shell and Union Carbide. Knowing this from the press, I was fascinated to meet Peter and hear his rationale for change. What I discovered is not an activist who has sold out but a passionate organic farmer, campaigner and also business consultant. Peter explains the importance of the evolution of campaigns and the need to work in different ways depending on the point on the trajectory of the issue.

Craig McKenzie, Head of Investor Responsibility, Insight Investment

Shareholder capitalism is widely thought to foster short-termism and greed, but people like Craig McKenzie are trying to change that. Craig and his team are responsible for influencing the recipients of Insight’s 70 billion pounds worth of investment to behave in a more responsible way. Ever since his dad bought him a subscription to The Economist, age 14, Craig has understood that economic failures underpin many of society’s problems. When he left university, wanting to build a more sustainable, equitable and wealthy world, he decided that investment markets were the place to achieve his aim. In the coming years he hopes that education and campaigning will lead mainstream investors everywhere to adopt a more responsible attitude.

Robert Egger, Founder, DC Central Kitchen

Robert Egger is a winner of the Oprah “Angel” award. Once a nightclub owner, he has turned his entrepreneurial skills to feeding the homeless. His business collects waste food from restaurants in Washington DC and brings it to a central kitchen, where 4000 meals a day are made for homeless people. The same kitchen is a training ground for unemployed people to become cooks and is home to an up-market catering business. His model has now been replicated in one form or other around the USA. But Robert has an even greater ambition: to transform the whole face of business. He believes that successful businesses of the future will link purpose and profits together and that the whole process of money making will improve the community.

Rob Pratt, Director, Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust

Rob is determined to do something about climate change and has tried just about every approach to expand the market for renewable energy in the US. His career started in the US Capitol, he then went on to set up an international NGO and next to run his own energy company. With this experience behind him, Rob feels he’s really ready to change things, but the political and social environment in the US still pose him with his greatest challenge.

Trewin Restorick, Director, Global Action Plan UK

10 years ago Trewin set up Global Action Plan in the UK, an organisation which works with businesses, schools and local communities to encourage people to be more environmentally sustainable. He believes that individuals have the potential to make change happen and that every little action can make a difference. Global Action Plan focuses its efforts on mobilising people to take simple steps to protect the environment in their own lives. Trewin hopes that such grassroots action can really contribute to a better environment for everyone.

Vince Cable, Liberal Democrat MP and Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer

Vince is no ordinary politician. He became a member of parliament late in his career, after holding significant roles in academia and business. As a politician elected in his own right, Vince says he feels he has much more responsibility than when he was part of a multinational empire. He believes that ultimately things have to be achieved through consent and debate and therefore politics is the place to protect what he believes is most important: local communities in the face of a globalising world.