Musings from Yoxi Founder, Sharon Chang
I just returned to my desk after another somewhat awkward, somewhat lovely Zoom holiday party. It’s December 23rd — a day that has always, for the past several years, marked the beginning of my year-end reflection. I was happy to see many dear friends on screen. The festive virtual toasts reminded me of how fortunate I am to have the time, space, and community to nurture my life-long learning journey. Like everything else in this turbulent year, my journey has felt extremely uncomfortable. It has been a bumpy train ride at the speed of…
A roundtable hosted by Yoxi explores shared futures
Current timeline: May 2020
“It’s time to step into the liminality of it all,” says Melinda Weekes Laidlow to the group gathered on Zoom.
Liminality seems to be the order of this pandemic moment — with the normal receding and the new still unclear. The focus of today’s roundtable is the future of investing. The group includes experts on many facets of how money flows: philanthropy, impact investing, wealth management, and more. …
Musings from Yoxi Founder, Sharon Chang
I woke up from a dream where I worked really hard to install a steering wheel on a supersonic flying sailboat. The whole contraption appeared to be magnetic in a logic-defying way: floating, repelling, snapping and spinning in all directions like a Pixar animation gone awry. The most unnerving part of it was the silence. With all the action, I seemed to be gliding peacefully without sound or gravity. The chaos didn’t create panic at all. I was happy in that dream.
Now, with my eyes wide open staring at total darkness, I realize…
Insights from Yoxi Executive Director, Kaz Brecher
In our Secret Sauce series, we attempt to open access to the essence of our observations even as we are still connecting dots across complex, interconnected systems. Our insights are gleaned from our examinations of the work being done by Yoxi explorers in the field. We seek to understand which of their solutions rely on specific contexts and which are more portable or adaptable to other geographies and industries. Overall, we aim to share our learnings and inspire further experimentation with potentially transformative ideas and interventions.
Measuring What Really Matters
Musings from Yoxi Founder, Sharon Chang
Earlier this month, I returned from a beautiful trip to the edge of the world, Fogo Island. Despite being one of the coldest places on the planet, its inhabitants are some of the warmest people I have ever come across in my life. In this remote corner of Newfoundland, beauty — physical and spiritual — can be found at every corner in every way, making each seemingly ordinary encounter extraordinary.
This was not my first visit. About three years ago, I was introduced to Zita Cobb, the founder of the Shorefast Foundation and the…
Musings from Yoxi Executive Director, Kaz Brecher
In our Field Notes series, we share perspectives and insights as we take a closer look at the work being done by Yoxi explorers on their inspiring journeys of discovery. We appreciate that Aunt Bertha has been lauded as a success by many in the social impact sphere but is not yet a household name. Founder Erine Gray embodies the humility and dedication that has driven their steady drumbeat towards impacting more lives and resulted in meaningful growth. Putting their money where their morals are, Aunt Bertha is a Certified B Corporation with…
Musings from Yoxi Executive Director, Kaz Brecher
In our Field Notes series, we share perspectives and insights as we take a closer look at the work being done by Yoxi explorers on their inspiring journeys of discovery. Designathon Works founder and force-of-nature, Emer Beamer, has been unleashing the wisdom of children since graduating from her design studies and starting Nairobits as a social enterprise 25 years ago. Far ahead of her time in terms of European development projects in Africa, she used technology to enable young people to tell their own stories of what life was like growing up in…
Notes from the road from Yoxi Founder, Sharon Chang
Earlier this summer, I was invited to speak at the Omina Summit in Costa Rica, a sustainability gathering that brings together innovators in fashion and environmentalism to exchange research and ideas. This is a topic that I have been passionate and curious about for years, and my conversations with Andrea Somma, the founder of Omina, had been fruitful and encouraging. Yet I had no idea what to expect — and I must confess that I don’t particularly enjoy going to summits, convenings, unconferences or conferences by any other name. …
Insights from Yoxi Executive Director, Kaz Brecher
In our Secret Sauce series, we attempt to open access to the essence of our observations even as we are still connecting dots across complex, interconnected systems. Our insights are gleaned from our examinations of the work being done by Yoxi explorers in the field. We seek to understand which of their solutions rely on specific contexts and which are more portable or adaptable to other geographies and industries. Overall, we aim to share our learnings and inspire further experimentation with potentially transformative ideas and interventions.
What’s Scale Got to Do with It?
Musings from Yoxi Executive Director, Kaz Brecher
In our Field Notes series, we share perspectives and insights as we take a closer look at the work being done by Yoxi explorers on their inspiring journeys of discovery. As one of our earliest investments, Liberty & Justice exemplifies the kind of brazen optimism that we love, paving the way for other intrepid entrepreneurial endeavors. As Africa’s leading ethical apparel manufacturing company, they have specialized in value chain management for high-volume, time-sensitive, duty-free goods for leading American clothing brands, trading companies, and other importers who care about exceptional quality, on-time delivery, social…
Yoxi
Yoxi is a social innovation explorer. We make humble and heroic investments that arrive when the art of questioning is mission-critical to creating real impact.
