Design, Engineering, and Impact at the Autodesk Foundation: Episode 48 of Money + Meaning

SOCAP June 2, 2020

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Joe Speicher of the Autodesk Foundation discusses how design and engineering solutions can tackle inequality and climate change

On the foundation’s theory of change:
“Our board and our team believe that you can define any societal problem as either a climate change problem or an inequality problem…so our thesis has evolved over the years to bring our resources to bear against those two large challenges.”

On why the foundation started impact investing:
“We have focused our (climate change) efforts to date on ‘what are the opportunities to radically transform how we consume and store energy at industry level scale?’ and all of that stuff is happening in the private market. These are all startups.”

– Joe Speicher, Executive Director, Autodesk Foundation

The Autodesk Foundation is a corporate philanthropy that focuses on how design and engineering solutions can solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges. The foundation provides funding, software, and human capital to both for-profit and nonprofit organizations in the areas of low carbon innovation, resilient communities, and future of work. In this episode, Alex sits down with Joe Speicher, the Executive Director of the foundation, to discuss the evolution of the foundation, how and why they landed on those specific impact areas, the reasons the foundation began impact investing, and why Joe believes that philanthropy is a net negative for society. 

Featured Voices

Joe Speicher
Executive Director
Autodesk Foundation
Alex Kravitz
Host

Additional Resources

About Money + Meaning

Money + Meaning is the official podcast of SOCAP. The series aims to expand the conversation around impact investing and strategies to finance and support social change while stimulating innovative and valuable new partnerships across sectors.

Climate Action / Impact Investing / Sustainable Development
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