VIP Speaker Series
URBANST 131 - Very Impactful People (VIP) Speaker Series
The VIP Team brings you the Very Impactful People: Social Innovation & the Social Entrepreneur bi-annual speaker series, featuring exclusive talks with leading global social entrepreneurs and founders. We curate a stellar lineup of speakers, collaborate directly with them to organize these dynamic events, and facilitate each session to ensure an inspiring experience for students.
Speakers: Fall 2024
TAs: Gabriel Nagel, Amari Porter
Week 1 (9/23)
John Roussel, Colorwave
Week 2 (9/30)
Anshu Gupta, Goonj
Week 3 (10/7)
Elizabeth Klodas, Step One Foods
Week 4 (10/14)
Serita Cox, iFoster
Week 5 (10/21)
David Gory, AirBuild
Week 6 (11/28)
Jim Bildner,
Week 7 (11/4)
Matthew Flannery, Branch.co
Week 8 (11/11)
Christina Fialho, Rewrite the BiLine
Week 9 (11/18)
Mathis Wackernagel, Global Footpring Network
Week 10 (12/2)
Homegrown from Stanford panel
2024-25 Team Leads
Gabriel Nagel
VIP Co-Director
Gabriel Nagel, Chair of the EPA’s Youth Advisory Council and UN Climate Action Ambassador, founded the nonprofit Light CO2 and passed a historic environmental justice policy across 200 schools. He has advised the U.S. government, engaged with VP Harris, and taught SENSA’s Very Impactful People social entrepreneurship class. He loves matcha, hiking, and meditation.
Amari Porter
VIP Co-Director
Amari Porter is a sophomore majoring in Symbolic Systems with a focus on Human-Centered AI and a minor in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity. She is passionate about using tech for social change—particularly reducing racial bias in AI and closing the funding gap for minority-owned businesses in venture capital. She is originally from South Florida and loves music, trying new food, and photography!
Past Speakers
Fall 2023
TAs: Melanie Quan & Lucy Loughridge
Alex Brown, Alga Biosciences
Kjell Clarysse, Forestbase
Keenan Wyrobek, Zipline
Anne Toba, Ripples
Nadya Okamoto, August
Maricel Saenz, Minus Coffee
Tracy McCurty, Black Belt Justice Center
Michelle Zhu, Huue
Fall 2022
TAs: Sam Roberts & Savannah Ardrey
Troy Carter, Earthshot Labs
Sami Inkinen, Virta Health
Diego Saez Gil, Pachama
Tyler Huggins, Meati Foods
Joi Jackson-Morgan, 3rd Street Youth
Joe Makower, GreenBiz
Hannah Sieber, Artyc
Michael Charley, Sunski
Spring 2022
TAs: Kate Peña & Sohayla Eldeeb
Sal Khan, Khan Academy
Austen Allred, fka Lambda School
Cheryl Dorsey, Echoing Green
Lia Ellis, Sublime Systems
Rick Aubrey, HomeRise
John Boyd Jr., National Black Farmers Association
Paola Santana, GLASS
Becca Heller, International Refugee Assistance Project
Fall 2021
TAs: Kate Peña & Sohayla Eldeeb
Ethan Brown, Beyond Meat
Chris Anderson, TED Talks
Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank
Marjorie Scholtz, Verbhouse
David Keith, Carbon Engineering
Raj Panjabi, Last Mile Health
Linda Rottenberg, Endeavor
Marc Koska, Apiject
Vineet Singal, CareMessage
James Kanoff, The Farmlink Project
Nicolas Pinkowski, Nitricity
Kimbery Schreiber, NeuroNav
Spring 2020
TAs: Lola McAllister & Grace Lu
Fall 2020
TAs: Lola McAllister & Grace Lu
Cherly Dorsey, Echoing Green
Keller Rinaudo, Zipline
Paul Rise, Fair Trade USA
Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank
Durreen Shahnaz, IIX
Nididi Nwuneli, LEAP Africa
Marcos Igreja, Genecis
Wendy Kopp, Teach For America
Marcc Koska, Apiject
Spring 2019
Daniel Kish, Co-Founder & Executive Director, World Access for the Blind
Joanna StrobeR, Founder & CEO, Kurbo Health
Brian Hill, Founder & CEO, Edovo
Seth Goldman, Co-Founder & TeaEO Emeritus, Honest Tea
Daniela Fernandez, Founder, Sustainable Oceans Alliance
Leva Zand, Founder & Executive Director, ARTogether
Bart Myers, Founder & CEO , Countable & Countable Action
Rob Joyce, Founding Principle, Social Impact Designs
Jake Woods, Co-Founder & CEO, Team Rubicon
Spring 2018
Karen Tse, Founder & CEO, International Bridges to Justice
Adam Braun, Founder, Pencils for Promise
Melanie Edwards, Founder & CEO, Mobile Metrix
Sakena Yacoobi, Founder & Director, Afghan Institute of Learning
David Mikkelsen, Co–Founder, Refunite
Gregg Treinish, Founder, Adventure Scientists
Yuja Chang, Co–Founder, Aira
Ruth Shapiro, CEO, Center for Asian Philanthropy and Society
Ohad Elhelo, Founder & Executive Director, Our Generation Speaks
Aerica Banks, Founder, BEACON
Fall 2017
Pamela Hawley, Founder and CEO, UniversalGiving
Kola Masha, Founder and Managing Director, Babban Gona
Christa Gannon, Founder & CEO, Fresh Lifelines for Youth (FLY)
Anne Moses, Founder and President, IGNITE
Marcello Palizzi, Co-Founder, B LAB Europe
Nick Tilsen, Founder, Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation
Doniece Sandoval, Founder and CEO, Lava Mae
Steve Davis, CEO, PATH
Lesley Marincola, Founder and CEO, Angaza Design
Lucy Bernholz, Senior Research Scholar, PACS & Director, Digital Civil Society Lab
Spring 2017
Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, Founder And President Of The Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen Foundation (LAAF)
Chris Ategeka, Founder And CEO Of Rides For Lives
Lucy Sanders, CEO And Co-Founder Of The National Center For Women & Information Technology (Ncwit)
Eren Bali, Serial Entrepreneur Who Co-Founded Udemy
Christopher Gray, Founder Of Scholly
Susan N. Herman, President Of The American Civil Liberties Union
Marc Freedman, Founder And CEO Of Encore.Org
Larry Kramer, President Of The William And Flora Hewlett Foundation And The Former Dean Of Stanford Law School
Vince Siciliano, President And CEO Of New Resource Bank
Ann Mei Chang, Executive Leader At The Intersection Of Innovation, Technology, And Global Development. Previously, Chief Innovation Officer And The First Executive Director Of The U.S. Global Development Lab At Usaid.
Fall 2016
James Bildner, CEO, Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation
Xavier Helgesen, Co-Founder and CEO, Off Grid Electric
Zac Bookman, CEO, Opengov
Alexandra Bernadotte, Founder And CEO, Beyond 12
Jini Kim, Founder And CEO, Nuna Health
Matt Flannery, Co-Founder, Kiva; Founder And CEO, Branch.Co
Laura Stachel, Co-Founder And Exec. Director
We Care Solar And Saru Jayaraman, Co-Founder And Co-Director. Roc United.