More MPE Podcast | Columbia Business School

Over the last three decades, thousands of Columbia Business School students have taken part in the elective course, Modern Political Economy. Last year, we took this institution outside of the classroom with More MPE, where host Professor Ray Horton and Columbia Business School faculty casually discussed some of the most current and controversial issues that affect business, government, and society.

This season, Ray and his colleague at the Tamer Institute, Sandi Wright, are going outside the building to have conversations with CBS alumni who have pursued extraordinary careers in fields ranging from social services to impact investing to the circular economy, and so much more. These inspiring leaders of social enterprises are making a profound impact in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors not just in New York City, but across the country and around the globe.

Throughout the series, you're invited to submit questions that will become part of an in-person Q&A to wrap up the season with Ray and Sandi.

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More MPE is co-hosted by Sandi Wright and produced by The Podcast Consultant. Special thanks to executive producer Hannah Slow and student producers Sofia Martins '26 and Dominica Wambold '26.

New Episodes:

Ron Gonen ’04 on Building a Circular Economy Through Leadership and Innovation
Hosts Ray Horton and Sandi Wright speak with Ron Gonen ’04, founder and CEO of Closed Loop Partners, a New York-based investment firm composed of venture capital, growth equity, private equity, project finance, and an innovation center focused on building the circular economy.

Turning Purpose Into Progress: Justine Zinkin ’02 on Leading Change in Social Enterprise
Hosts Ray Horton and Sandi Wright speak with Justine Zinkin ’02, CEO of Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners, a national social enterprise providing financial services to low-income workers.

Empowering India’s Small Farmers, Scaling Kheyti, and Rethinking Social Enterprise
Hosts Ray Horton and Sandi Wright speak with Kaushik Kappagantulu ’17, co-founder and CEO of Kheyti, on his journey from the conventional career in engineering his parents favored to founding a social enterprise aimed at lifting millions of India’s small farmers out of poverty.

Bridging Academia and Community: Insights From a Social Enterprise Leader
Hosts Ray Horton and Sandi Wright speak with Shaba Keys, adjunct faculty at Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies Nonprofit Management Program, founder and president of the Bridge Lab, and a dynamic leader in academia and community development.

Trailblazing Sustainability: The Path to ESG Leadership
Hosts Ray Horton and Sandi Wright speak with Mary Jane McQuillen ’07, head of ESG and portfolio manager at Clearbridge Investments, on her journey into sustainable investing, which might not be what you expect.

A Banker Who Puts His Money Where His Heart Is
Hosts Ray Horton and Sandi Wright speak with Daniel Nissenbaum ’88, CEO of Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF), one of the largest of a special kind of nonprofit known as Community Development Financial Institutions.

Transforming Education for All: On a Mission to Create Inclusive Schools
Hosts Ray Horton and Sandi Wright speak with Lindsay Kruse ’06, CEO of All Means All, on her inspiring journey from management consulting to becoming a passionate advocate for equitable education, especially for students with disabilities and other marginalized groups.

The Role of Nonprofits in the Worlds of Business and Government
Hosts Ray Horton and Sandi Wright speak with Phoebe Boyer ’93, president and CEO of Children's Aid — one of the oldest and largest of New York City’s nonprofit social welfare agencies.

Transforming Communities Through Purposeful Investment
Hosts Ray Horton and Sandi Wright speak with Kesha Cash ’10, founder and general partner of Impact America Fund, on her humble beginnings to becoming a trailblazer in impact investing.

Managing NYC's Climate Crisis
Hosts Ray Horton and Sandi Wright speak with Rohit “Rit” Aggarwala ’00, the chief climate officer and commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) of the City of New York, a position he has held since being recruited in 2022 to the administration of Mayor Eric Adams.

Introducing More MPE Season Two
In the second season of More MPE, Professor Ray Horton and Sandi Wright speak with CBS alumni who have pursued extraordinary careers in fields ranging from social services to impact investing to the circular economy, and so much more. These inspiring leaders of social enterprises are making a profound impact in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors not just in New York City, but across the country and around the globe.

Past Episodes:

More MPE With the Political Economists
In the final episode of the season, host Professor Ray Horton speaks at a live event with Professors Glenn Hubbard and Tano Santos, the faculty who teach the popular course Modern Political Economy at Columbia Business School.

How Social Entrepreneurs Are Building a Better Economy
Host Professor Ray Horton speaks with Sandra Navalli OAM ’03, managing director of the Tamer Institute for Social Enterprise and Climate Change, on the increasing importance of social entrepreneurship and the unique role the center plays in supporting social entrepreneurship in the United States and around the world.

Can We Engineer Our Way Out of Global Warming?
In another session devoted to climate change, host Professor Ray Horton talks about an unconventional way of halting global warming — known as solar geo-engineering — with Gernot Wagner, faculty director of the Climate Knowledge Initiative at the Tamer Institute for Social Enterprise and Climate Change and senior lecturer at Columbia Business School.

Talking Europe
Host Professor Ray Horton speaks with Professor Tano Santos about the major problems facing Europe today (including the war between Russia and Ukraine, and China), and in the future (including the long-run economy).

How “Woke” Should Business Leaders Be?
In this session, we focus on an issue that bedevils many business leaders: Should they speak out on socio-political issues? Host Professor Ray Horton speaks with Professor Vanessa Burbano on how her award-winning research addresses the question.

Will We Avoid Catastrophic Climate Change?
Professor Ray Horton speaks with Professor Bruce Usher on how we have the technological ability to solve the problem of climate change, but that the political will is lacking in the United States and internationally. Usher says that business, then, is going to have to take the lead.

The Redistributive Effects of AI on Profits and Politics
AI is an innovation unlike any other in the history of humankind for its potential to remake society — for good or bad. In this episode, host Professor Ray Horton speaks with Professor Sandra Matz about how AI might affect the distribution of power and leadership in politics, business, and academia.

Dispelling the Myths of Global Migration
Professor Ray Horton speaks with Professor Dan Wang and postdoctoral research scholar Sandra Portocarrero about the wide-ranging effects of migration internationally, in the United States, and in NYC.

Climate Change: Its Economic Impact and How We Should Respond
Professor Ray Horton speaks with Professor Geoffrey Heal, an economist and conservationist whose teaching and research on climate change have left an indelible mark on the School.

Talking Politics
In this first episode, host Professor Ray Horton talks politics American-style with Glenn Hubbard, director of the Jerome A. Chazen Institute for Global Business; Dean Emeritus; and Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics at Columbia Business School.

Introducing More MPE Season One
In the first season of More MPE, Professor Ray Horton will speak with Columbia Business School faculty to casually discuss some of the most current and controversial issues that affect business, government, and society both at home and abroad.

New Episodes:

Past Episodes:

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