Follow the Data Podcast: Why Data is So Vital to Public Health
July 13, 2018
This week, we revisit an episode featuring a conversation with Dr. Tom Frieden, one of the world’s leading public health experts, and President and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, and Allison Jaffin of Bloomberg Philanthropies as they discuss noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and what it takes to protect the world.
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Follow the Data Podcast: Equal Footing
June 26, 2018
“A woman is economically empowered when she has both the ability to succeed and advance economically and the power to make and act on economic decisions.” Using the guiding definition of women’s economic development from the International Center for Research on Women, Bloomberg Philanthropies and the King Baudouin Foundation partnered with Foundation Center to create Equal Footing, a freely accessible web portal for information-sharing and collaboration among those who invest and work in Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Burundi.
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Follow the Data Podcast: The Innovative Mayor, Greg Fischer
June 14, 2018
This episode of Follow the Data presents a conversation with Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer and James Anderson, who leads Government Innovation at Bloomberg Philanthropies. Mayor Fischer is serving in his second term and says that to be a good mayor, you need the “head of a CEO, but the heart of a social worker.”
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Follow the Data Podcast: Maintaining America’s Pledge – one year later
May 29, 2018
As the days grow warmer, the anniversary of the Trump Administration’s declaration of intent to withdraw from the Paris Agreement draws closer. In the days after this announcement last year, Mike Bloomberg and California Governor Jerry Brown launched America’s Pledge, an initiative to aggregate and quantify emissions reduction efforts of states, cities, businesses, and universities in the U.S. One year after the federal government announced it would pull out of the Paris Agreement, 2,700+ U.S. cities, states, and businesses are saying, "We Are Still In." Together, these non-federal actors have rallied their commitments in order to ensure the U.S. meets its Paris Agreement climate goals – with or without Washington.
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Follow the Data Podcast – New faces in old places: revitalizing Athens’ historic center
May 14, 2018
The heart of Athens historic center is experiencing a revival. The 27-acre district is bounded by three of Athens’ most historic squares: Syntagma, Omonia, and Monistraki. The Commercial Triangle, locally referred to as “Trigono,” is a working district, with commercial activity dating back to the 19th century. Despite its historic and geographic significance, the neighborhood fell into disrepair in the 1980s. As a result, many buildings were vacated. By 2016, 17% of ground floor and 45% of upper floor spaces were vacant, while a survey of shopkeepers in the area found that 50-70% believed graffiti, lack of cleanliness, and illegal parking were serious issues. While there were pockets of economic activity, the neighborhood was not pedestrian-friendly and it was struggling to attract new investment.
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Follow the Data Podcast: Gone Fishing
May 1, 2018
The United Nations International Coral Reef Initiative has declared 2018 the International Year of the Reef. Coral reefs are home to one in every four fish in the ocean, and are a critical backbone of ocean ecosystems. Unfortunately, climate change and destructive fishing practices threatens to destroy 90 percent of reefs in the next three decades. As the demand for fish continues to grow, overfishing and damaging fishing practices, like bottom-trawling and illegal fishing, are destroying coral reefs and endangering the primary protein source for a billion people and thousands more who rely on fishing for income. At Bloomberg Philanthropies, our Vibrant Oceans Initiative is working to replenish fish populations and create a more sustainable environment.
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Follow the Data Podcast: A Prescription for Hope in the Opioid Epidemic
April 17, 2018
In the United States, over two million people are addicted to opioids and an average of 115 people die every day from opioid overdoses. It is a complicated issue that requires multifaceted solutions, with engagement and action from many stakeholders. In this episode, Dr. Kelly Henning, Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Public Health Program Lead, speaks with Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, Vice Dean for Public Health Practice and Community Engagement at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is also director of the school's Bloomberg American Health Initiative, which was launched with a $300 million gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies.
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Follow the Data Podcast: Untapped American Talent
April 2, 2018
In the United States, research shows less than 50 percent of high-achieving, lower-income students apply to a selective college or university despite the fact that they are talented and have great qualifications. And only 6 percent of the students at top colleges and universities are from lower-income backgrounds. Today’s episode explores how colleges and universities are seeing this problem and doing something about it. College presidents are joining together in the American Talent Initiative or ATI, a program to increase the number of low- and moderate-income students enrolled at schools with the highest graduation rates. Their goal? To accept, enroll and graduate an additional 50,000 of these students by 2025.
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Follow the Data Podcast: Reducing Tobacco Use, A Year in Review
March 19, 2018
In honor of the winners of the 2018 Bloomberg Philanthropies Tobacco Awards and the progress these countries have made, we revisit one of our favorite podcast episodes about the worldwide fight to reduce tobacco use. This episode’s conversation is between Neena Prasad of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Public Health team, Yolonda Richardson, from the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and Jose Luis Castro, executive director of the Union and CEO of Vital Strategies.
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Follow the Data Podcast Episode 17: Rwandan Women Rebuilding Their Lives – Brick by Brick
March 6, 2018
Our newest episode of Follow the Data features a conversation between Verna Eggleston, who leads Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Women’s Economic Development program, and Joy Rwamwenge, the director of the Women’s Opportunity Center in Kayonza, Rwanda. And at the end of the show, we also speak with Laurie Adams, the President and CEO of Women for Women International, tells listeners how to get involved with the organization. Women for Women International opened its Women’s Opportunity Center in Kayonza in 2013. The facility is a six-classroom campus, with a bed & breakfast, restaurant, community garden and a local coffee café. The goal of the center aligns with the Rwanda government’s overarching 2020 vision – to create new economic opportunities and strengthen social infrastructure for rural women. By bridging the gap between urban buyers and rural farmers, the center provides space for education, business development, entrepreneurial activities, and networking.
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