August 12, 2024 • 34 mins
Social impact, change-making, entrepreneurship. Opportunities abound to affect positive impact and influence by leveraging your passions. Extraordinary things can happen when passion meets purpose. Sounds overwhelming? It doesn't need to be. You may already have a side hustle that spotlights your passion. You may already be thinking about that one project that you never seem to have enough time to put into motion.
Find out how you can get started on a path toward social entrepreneurship!
Learn more about UC Berkeley Extension @https://bit.ly/4fEEagB
Read this episode's transcript @https://bit.ly/4iLNXC9
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
[MUSIC PLAYING]
(00:03):
AMANDA CRYER (00:06):
Whether you're a one-person
business or amulti-person business,
dignity is socritical because when
you've got leaders and business,and when you're a leader,
and when you're workingwith other people
that you are co-creatingto become leaders,
dignity is the number one, inmy opinion, most important thing
to implement into your businessvalues and your mission
(00:27):
and your commitments.
JILL FINLAYSON (00:31):
Welcome to the Future of Work podcast
with Berkeley Extension andEDGE In tech at the University
of California.
Focused on expanding diversityand gender equity in tech,
EDGE is part ofCITRIS, the Center
for IT Research in theInterest of Society,
and the Banatao Institute.
UC Berkeley Extension isthe continuing education arm
of the University ofCalifornia at Berkeley.
(00:53):
Social impact, change-making,entrepreneurship.
Opportunities abound to affectpositive impact and influence
by leveraging your passions.
Extraordinary things can happenwhen passion meets purpose.
Sounds overwhelming?
It doesn't need to be.
You may alreadyhave a side hustle
that spotlights your passion.
You may already be thinkingabout that one project
(01:15):
that you never seem to haveenough time to put into motion.
To find out how you can getstarted on a path toward social
entrepreneurship, we'redelighted to speak with Amanda
"Kazzy" Cryer.
Amanda is CEO of AC Media,an award-winning filmmaker,
social impact entrepreneur,and widely known influencer.
She is committedto elevating voices
through film, traditionalmedia, and social media,
(01:36):
and is passionate aboutprojects that bring awareness
to important issues.
Having lived and worked inboth developed and developing
countries, she has been activein co-creating opportunities
to solve problems, shiftsystems, and activate
the inner capacity of leadersto create lasting change.
Amanda has developed,led, and coached
dozens of programsfor organizations,
(01:58):
as well as soloentrepreneurs worldwide that
engage each participant toinitiate real world projects
and real strategies that producemeasurable and lasting results
for humanity and the planet.
And she's a former UCBerkeley Extension student.
Welcome, Amanda.
AMANDA CRYER (02:13):
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm very happy to be here.
Thank you for thatwonderful, wonderful welcome,
very generous.
Thank you, Jill.
JILL FINLAYSON (02:20):
You're welcome.
And this is a favoritetopic of mine.
I have a long time beena fan and participant
in social entrepreneurship,working with the Skoll
Foundation and working withchangemakers, using technology
to solve global challenges.
And so it's really excitingto talk with you today.
So I thought we couldstart out by saying,
(02:41):
there are many people whoare seeking more fulfillment
in their careers, and manyare seeking more fulfillment
in their lives.
So before we delve intobecoming a social entrepreneur,
what are you seeing interms of people's interest
in social impact?
And what might beholding them back
from pursuing those interests?
AMANDA CRYER (02:57):
I want to answer the second question first
because that's really one thatresonates from the feedback I
get from people, whatholds people back
from going into the socialimpact space as an entrepreneur
or as an organization.
And I think that there'sthis misconception sometimes
that if you pursue a careerin the area of social impact,
(03:20):
in any areas ofsocial impact, or you
want to directsome of your values
in your organization that standaligned with social impact,
that you're going to losemoney or that you're going
to have to suffer financially.
Because social impact has moreto do with triple bottom line
thinking, rather than justthe bottom line, which
(03:42):
is making money, I thinkthat there's a misconception
that people think, well, ifwe're not always just thinking
about making money,and if we're also
thinking about other things,such as people and planet,
then we're not focusedon making money,
which means that we're notgoing to make money, period.
JILL FINLAYSON (03:57):
Yeah, there really is a false dichotomy.
Oftentimes, nonprofits areseen as warm but inefficient,
and corporates are seenas efficient but not
warm or caring.
But to your point, thereis an intersection here,
where you can be efficientand generate revenue and be
good for the planet and people.
AMANDA CRYER (04:14):
I completely agree.
I think a lot ofcorporations have been moving
and are consideringmoving into that space.
And I'm so happywhen I see that.
This is last year,I think maybe.
But I saw thatMicrosoft was now hiring
people that havecriminal records, that
have digital punishment,which is a really great thing.
(04:36):
And I was really happyto see Microsoft doing
that because that's one of--
for me there,that's a huge shift.
It's a mindset shift in howwe view humanity in general.
And so once we startlooking at things like that,
we can look at onething to implement
into our organizationsor one thing
to work on as a socialimpact entrepreneur that
(04:57):
can make a differencein the lives of people.
JILL FINLAYSON (05:00):
So thinking about making impact,
you can make impact eitheras a solo entrepreneur
or a social entrepreneur.
How else can you make impact?
AMANDA CRYER (05:08):
Even when you're working in an organization that
is really based onthe bottom line,
I do think thathaving conversations
with people in the company, yourbosses, your colleagues, people
that are perhaps mentoringyou in the company to move up,
I think that there'san opportunity
(05:29):
to have these transformativeconversations and these really
important conversationswith people
in leadership at your companyto introduce new ideas.
For instance, Walmart--
Walmart is a for-profit company.
And they, after much thoughtabout what they wanted to do,
(05:50):
they wanted toimplement something,
a social impact strategy tomake a difference in the world.
And so they madethey implemented
lowering their O2 emissionsover a certain amount of time.
And they accomplished that goal.
Having those vitalconversations with people
in your company, peoplein leadership positions,
and presenting them with goodopportunities, and saying,
(06:13):
hey, you know what?
We could implement thesethings in our company.
And we could positionourselves in a way
where we can actually giveback in a real measurable way.
And then we canalso tell the world
about that, which is going tomake other corporations want
to follow in our footsteps.
So why don't we startdoing something like that?
JILL FINLAYSON: Yeah, I think there's (06:33):
undefined
something to be said therefor employee resource groups,
for advocating forfamilies, for advocating
for needs of the employees.
But there is alsothis opportunity
just to be aware thathaving these conversations
about sustainability, about thevalues that the company should
be walking thewalk, if you will,
(06:54):
is so important because thatdoes attract top talent.
That does helpretain top talent.
And it really comes from anemployee having initiative,
having agency, and beingwilling to make a statement
or make a suggestion that thisis something we could be doing
and still be profitable.
AMANDA CRYER (07:12):
Exactly.
And please know, as asolo impact entrepreneur,
you can have theseconversations with the leaders
at the organizationthat you work with.
Research, do yourhomework about ways
that company that you workwith, that you work for,
can make a difference in theworld, and present it to them.
(07:34):
And let them know,because this is actually
a fact, that corporationsthat implement social impact
initiatives.
While it may appear alittle bit risky at first,
the corporations that havethe courage to take that leap
and do that end up becoming muchmore profitable on the back end.
JILL FINLAYSON (07:52):
And I would imagine more innovative as well.
AMANDA CRYER (07:55):
Much more innovative
because people aremore discerning now
as customers, as clients.
When they know that if theyhave to pay an extra quarter
or something fora product that's
helping to make a differencein the rainforest,
they're willing to do that.
JILL FINLAYSON (08:09):
I love this taking action and feeling
agency.
When you discovered you hadagency, what did you do next?
AMANDA CRYER (08:16):
I got into action immediately.
I don't think I everrecognized that I
had agency at all in my life.
I just don't think I did.
And it's not because Isaw myself as a victim.
I just didn't seemyself as very powerful.
It never occurred to me thatI really had any real power.
So when I saw that Idid have agency, then
(08:39):
I started feelingthat I had some power.
I started feeling like, wait,maybe I kind of always had this,
but I needed to take it back.
And because I-- for whateverreason, circumstances I'd been
through, life journeyexperiences, I had lost that.
And when I started working inthis area of social impact,
that's when I regained it.
(09:01):
And I recognized,I re-recognized
that I had it and started justtaking action in those areas
and started using my voiceand researching and learning.
I can't tell you--
that's why I'm astudent of Berkeley.
It's like, I've donecourses at Harvard.
I've done so manyprograms to educate myself
(09:22):
with more wisdom in the areasthat matter to me because I want
to make sure thatwhatever I learn
is going to make a differenceand that I can also pass it
on to somebody else as well.
JILL FINLAYSON (09:34):
I think that's part of having
agency is this growth mindset.
And if I don't knowit, I can learn it.
I can expand on that topic.
What have you seen thathas made you effective,
and what could otheraspiring social entrepreneurs
learn from your experience?
AMANDA CRYER (09:51):
Well, it depends if someone really wants
to take on unifying people.
And I will say this, Jill.
It's socially acceptable tosay that you want to unite.
JILL FINLAYSON: Social entrepreneurs (10:02):
undefined
have an amazing ability todo what I call yes, and.
And they're like, I can beprofitable and sustainable.
I can be empatheticand drive change.
As I was hearingyou talk about that,
I was wonderingwhat your advice is
or what you've seenas characteristics
of good social entrepreneurs.
AMANDA CRYER (10:22):
Never thinking you're right.
That's definitely number one.
Always, always being opento listen to other people,
most importantly, especiallywhen you don't agree with them.
Not joining silosand echo chambers
with people who onlyagree with what you feel.
Number one, what'sso imperative is
(10:44):
to join groups that youactually have differing
opinions than they do.
That is so critical for us.
It's not easy to do that atfirst because you can almost
feel like you're in a placethat you don't belong.
But the thing is, isthat we do belong.
We do.
And as long as you're open tolistening to other people's
(11:06):
points of view, thatis the number one
most important characteristicof someone, of a social impact
entrepreneur, is being open tosomeone else's point of view
and not making them wrongbecause their personal life
experiences and their businesslife experiences, what they've
been through, may be completelythe opposite of what you've
(11:29):
gone through in your life.
JILL FINLAYSON (11:30):
This is really avoiding othering, putting
people into an other group.
And one of the things wementioned in your introduction
was that you co-createopportunities to solve problems.
And I think that ties in withthis joining other groups
and trying to hearother perspectives.
How do you go about co-creatingopportunities to solve problems?
AMANDA CRYER (11:53):
Family.
So in engaging inconversations with people
from all differenttypes of backgrounds,
all differentreligions, definitely,
different sexes, differentsexual orientations,
different sexual identities,engaging with all groups
to listen.
I did a podcast nottoo long ago about what
(12:14):
I thought wassomebody-- or the host
had asked me whatI thought was one
of the most importantthings about having
transformative conversations.
And I said, the mostimportant thing is listening.
If I don't listen, I'mnot learning anything new,
and it's just alreadywhat I already know.
JILL FINLAYSON: That's a valid point. (12:31):
undefined
And so as somebody who isan aspiring changemaker,
this sounds like a goodsecond step, so first,
putting yourselfin places where you
can have these conversations,second, listening.
How do you thengo about building
an organization or a movement?
AMANDA CRYER (12:49):
So again, it would go back
to the basic building blocks ofknowing what your values are,
your universal values.
Universal values are valuesthat support not just yourself
and those closest toyou, but also all people,
so an organization that isbuilt on, let's just say,
values of dignity, equity,compassion, courage.
(13:13):
You have to look at what yourorganization's values are
and then workaround those things.
So what does thatlook like for dignity?
Well, dignity means that everyperson who you come into contact
with, every projectthat you create,
is built on afoundation of dignity.
What does that mean?
That every person has the rightto feel proud of who they are,
no matter who they are, nomatter where they come from.
(13:34):
Dignity is a really, reallyimportant universal value
to build any businessthat you have.
Whether you're aone-person business
or a multi-personbusiness, dignity
is so critical because whenyou've got leaders in business,
and when you're aleader, and when
you're working with otherpeople that you are co-creating
(13:56):
to become leaders,dignity is a number one,
in my opinion, mostimportant thing
to implement into your businessvalues and your mission
and your commitments.
JILL FINLAYSON (14:05):
Yeah, and you've worked
with a lot of socialentrepreneurs.
How do you help them?
What does your program provideto help them get going?
AMANDA CRYER (14:14):
It's to do what Monica taught me how to do,
and that was to ensurethat every person gets very
present to their innateability to make a difference,
that they have that abilityto do that if they should so
choose to do that.
JILL FINLAYSON (14:30):
And that's one of the things
that you've done throughyour social media platform.
Can you tell us how you becamea social media influencer?
And how do you use socialmedia to deliver your mission?
AMANDA CRYER (14:44):
Well, I became a social media influencer
by accident.
That was definitely notsomething I set out to do.
It was during the pandemic.
And I started a YouTube channel,just doing some things at home
that I could do to make myselffeel better and not so alone
and isolated.
And then it just kind ofmoved over to LinkedIn.
(15:06):
And then it-- well, it sort ofmoved over to Instagram first,
then to LinkedIn.
And I just startedsharing messages
that mattered to me,messages to once again--
and I know this may soundredundant-- but once again,
really to bring people together,to make people feel and know
that they belong, no matterwhat, without labels.
JILL FINLAYSON (15:26):
And you suddenly found yourself
with a lot of followers.
Did that change howyou talk to people?
AMANDA CRYER (15:35):
I don't know.
I first started outjust really wanting
to create joy andhave people experience
joyful moments in their liveswith this YouTube channel
and have people laugh at mysilliness and my high startle
reflexes becauseI do have those.
And so it was alljust kind of done out
(15:57):
of fun and wanting people tonot be depressed or feel down
or feel lonely.
I know that during the pandemic,a lot of us were feeling lonely.
I was having Zoomcalls with people
to make sure that weweren't feeling lonely.
And I live with achronic condition.
And so even before thepandemic, I wasn't really able
to go out and participatein as many social functions
(16:20):
as I would have liked to.
And so when thepandemic happened,
it wasn't somethingbrand new for me.
I was not likeother people where,
high functioning, reallyhealthy individuals
were able to go out andsocialize all the time.
When the pandemic happened,that was very hard for people
because all of a suddentheir social lives,
(16:42):
they were robbed oftheir social lives.
And so they were just isolated.
And so I was usedto being isolated.
So when I startedthe YouTube channel
and I started havingZoom calls with people,
I thought to myself, listen,you're isolated at home,
but you don't haveto be isolated.
We can get on a Zoom call.
We can watch a movie together.
And we could doa reaction to it.
(17:03):
I started a Patreon account.
So I started just havinginteractions with people online
to make sure that people didn'tfeel as isolated as I had
already experienced in my life.
For me, it was notthat big of a deal
anymore because I'd already beengoing through that for a while.
But I wanted otherpeople to know
that being isolatedfor a little while,
(17:25):
that it was going to beOK, that you'd be OK.
And with that, that's reallythe messaging I've put out
in the beginning, was justabout bringing people together
and wanting to create joy andhave people laugh and have fun.
And out of thatbeginning messaging
of mine on social media iswhat came my messaging of unity
(17:45):
as well, because unity wasalways there in the background.
It's just not really whyI started social media.
I never expected tobecome an influencer.
I just wanted to getout there and have
people experience joy andhave people feeling less down.
JILL FINLAYSON (18:00):
Yeah, you mentioned your backstory.
Maybe we couldshare just concisely
a little bit about why youwere prepared, if you will,
for the COVID closure.
AMANDA CRYER (18:11):
Sure.
Yeah.
Yeah, for seven years, I've beenliving with a chronic illness.
And I live with two braintumors, dysautonomia,
and several otherillnesses, unfortunately.
And I was managingnot too badly before I
contracted a near-fatalcase of COVID last year.
I lost most of my lungcapacity and ended up
(18:33):
in a hospital for two weeks andwas on constant oxygen support
for just over two weeks becauseI could not breathe on my own.
So since contracting thatvery severe case of COVID,
unfortunately, the illnessesthat I was already living with
have gotten much worse.
And that's not unheard of.
That's very common.
When you're already living withautoimmune disorders and things
(18:55):
like that, COVID canexacerbate those issues.
And my doctors haveall told me that.
And so now, I've got what'scalled post-COVID syndrome,
long haul COVID.
But I have faith.
I have faith that I will comethrough all of this somehow.
And I just keep movingforward and just
keep doing what I canto utilize whatever
(19:19):
the talents and the wisdom thatI have to make a difference,
to support people in findingreal genuine friendships,
genuine connection, andlove and relationships
because I don'tthink that that's
available to a lot of people whoare dealing with chronic illness
and also people who aredealing mental illness
(19:42):
and neurodivergentindividuals as well.
I think it's been reallydifficult. Most of social media
is built for high-functioning,healthy individuals.
So I really wouldlike to be a space
on my social media for peoplewho are dealing with things
like that, but for all people.
You can be totally healthy,and you're welcome.
JILL FINLAYSON (20:04):
So it seems that beyond the agency that you
got from your mentor,this moment of awareness
that you could help empathizewith other people going
through similarsituations was a turning
point in your socialentrepreneur journey.
AMANDA CRYER (20:21):
Gigantic turning point for me, I mean, huge.
And for a lot of yearsI didn't come out.
I wasn't out in theopen about really
how difficult it is, theeveryday living that I have,
due to the conditionsthat I live with.
And, Jill, you, UCBerkeley, you all here
are one of thereally people who I'm
(20:43):
coming out full throttle withthese things that I live with.
And the reason whyI didn't at first
was because I was concernedthat people would think
I was incompetent, that Icouldn't get my job done,
that I couldn't dothings because I'm
living with these conditions.
And I was concerned that,yeah, I would not be seen
as a valuable member of anorganization or somebody that
(21:07):
could provide value because Ihad so many, you know, quote,
unquote, "issues" withmy health going on.
JILL FINLAYSON (21:13):
That's a really big concern.
And I kind of wantto flip the script
and say, what have you learnednow from your followers?
AMANDA CRYER (21:20):
The exact opposite.
I will say, every single personwho subscribes to my channel
or follows me isso compassionate
and is just always thankingme for being out in the open
about things and not concealingthese things about myself
and, and really sharingmy true self and not
(21:42):
just the good thingson the outside,
when I have the moremoderate days where
I'm able to go outand do something.
I have recently putup some other things
where I'm havingmore severe symptoms,
and I will bereleasing more of that.
JILL FINLAYSON (21:58):
When you look at beyond social media,
you have told a lotof stories by film.
Can you give people adviceon better storytelling
or how they might use film toconvey the impact that they
want to have in the world?
AMANDA CRYER (22:13):
Yes.
I would definitely, for usingfilm or media in general
to convey impactis, I would say,
take an investigationaljournalistic approach
and a non-biased approachis really important.
Every individual canhear your message
so that it resonates deeplywith as many people as possible.
JILL FINLAYSON (22:35):
So it's one thing to tell a story,
but the reason you'retelling the story
is you want to makethe change that you
want to see in the world.
So how do you make a story,activate people, if you will.
AMANDA CRYER (22:47):
I would start first
with something that haspersonally impacted you
or someone you care about.
I would start there.
So the criminal justicesystem, has personally, I
would say, digitalpunishment in particular,
which is criminalrecords, has personally
impacted my own family.
And I've seen thedamage that it has done.
(23:08):
And so the reasonwhy I wanted to make
a film on the criminaljustice system
was because I have beenpersonally impacted
by that system ofdigital punishment, which
is why I was so happy tohear when Microsoft said,
we are now going tostart hiring people that
have criminal recordsbecause why not?
People make mistakes.
(23:28):
They go to prison.
If they rehabilitateand they get better
and they want toreturn to society
and be a valuablemember of society,
who are we to say thatthey can't do that?
JILL FINLAYSON (23:41):
Yeah, I believe that second chances are not
evenly distributed.
And so how can we fostermore second chances?
AMANDA CRYER (23:50):
Well, the whole court system
has to be overhauled becausethe thing about being--
making a mistake in our livesor being charged with a crime--
and I will say this, too, Jill.
There are people who certainlyshould not be in prison.
They should not be there.
And there are peoplewho should be.
(24:10):
So I will say that.
It goes both ways.
But I will say that all of thesethings get plea bargained down.
So if you come froma low income family,
the lawyer that'sassigned to you,
which you have nochoice in choosing--
you have no family to help youpay for a good lawyer to fight
(24:30):
your case--
you have to take a plea bargain,which means you're automatically
going to go to prison.
You're automatically goingto end up with a record.
And so it really comes downto-- the income disparity
in this country,income inequality,
it plays so much into thecriminal justice system.
And that's what I recognize themost in working in this area,
(24:53):
is when you don'thave money to fight
that, you're up against lawyersthat you have no chance.
You have no chance.
JILL FINLAYSON: Yeah, and this is (25:03):
undefined
where your investigativeapproach comes into play
and quantifying theinequality issues.
AMANDA CRYER (25:12):
Exactly.
Precisely.
Yes.
JILL FINLAYSON (25:15):
So one of the things
that you really strive todo is empower other people.
How is that going?
And where are youpursuing this effort?
AMANDA CRYER (25:25):
So how is that going?
I need to startdoing measurements.
So thank you for asking me thatquestion because I really need
to start doing measurements.
I know that people, individualsare out there in the world,
saying, I've transformeda million lives.
I've transformed10 million lives.
How do you know?
(25:46):
Really, how do you know?
And maybe they do know.
Maybe they have implementedtheir measurements.
And so they really dohave evidence of that.
I don't haveevidence of that yet.
Now, I get feedback frompeople all of the time,
telling me about the differencethat I've made with them,
telling me about the differencethat they feel about themselves.
(26:09):
I ran two betaprograms last year
that were specificallyabout empowering people
to have agency toknow and recognize
that they themselves arethe ones to make the change.
The feedback that I receivedfrom both of those programs
was overwhelmingly positive, andso I was able to measure that.
(26:30):
But I do have tostart measuring again.
And when I launchanother program,
I will be doing measurements tosee how many people are being
impacted in that way,how many people truly
feel empowered to make adifference in the world.
And then I also want to domore measurements with them
as they go into the world to dothat because it's important not
(26:51):
just when they leave theprograms that they're
in that I'm leading, butalso when they go out
to make those changes, I wantto follow their progress, six
months, nine months, 12 monthsto see what's actually happening
with them and help themto measure their results.
JILL FINLAYSON (27:09):
I love that because there's
sort of a longevity play here.
The first thing they tryto do may not work out.
There may be asecond or a third.
And so being ableto look over time,
do you have advice forpeople who are maybe running
into friction or barriers?
You've persisted throughsome of these barriers.
How do other people keepworking on their social venture,
(27:29):
even though it's very difficult?
AMANDA CRYER (27:31):
So I would definitely
say, take on a mentor,if you have money,
to work with a consultant.
But it's really important tohave mentors and consultants who
have been doing thiswork for a long time.
That's what I've always done.
Throughout my life, throughoutmy learning process,
I've always worked withmentors because you are going
to come up against barriers.
That's inevitable.
This is not one of thoseroads where it's like, oh,
(27:54):
everything's justgoing to come your way.
Oh, no.
When you really wantto affect change,
you have to work withall stakeholders.
And that's going to be, again,with people that you may not
agree with, thatyou may not actually
want to work with either.
But to effect real change,you have to make a choice of
whether or not you wantto affect real change
or you just want tosay you're doing it.
(28:14):
So if you really wantto fetch real change,
you're going to be workingwith people who you may not
necessarily like and you may notnecessarily agree with as well.
But you can alwaysfind common ground.
That's what I found.
I work with people that Idon't always agree with,
but I do definitely findcommon ground with people
that I don't agree with.
And that's really important.
JILL FINLAYSON (28:34):
That's a really good tip
to begin there and find theareas where you do agree and try
to share the differentperspectives so they can make
the journey on theirown because you
can't make people take a journeythey're not willing to take.
As I think about a lotof the changes that
are happening in theworld, a lot of them
are being accelerated by a lotof these emerging technologies,
(28:57):
artificial intelligence.
Do you think there's a role forAI in creating social impact?
AMANDA CRYER (29:03):
Oh, boy.
I'm really excited aboutAI in medical areas,
for instance, issuesthat I'm living with,
issues that otherpeople are living with.
AI can reallyadvance technologies
and help people livelonger, healthier lives
and perhaps even save lives.
And so I'm very excitedabout things like that.
It's also AI makesme feel a little bit
(29:25):
nervous in other areasbecause I want to make
sure it's being used ethically.
I don't want to see peoplelosing their jobs, jobs
that they are very skilled at,but also jobs that they have
that they use tosupport their families.
And I also don't wantto see artists losing
all of their creativityand their outlets
to be creative allof a sudden now
(29:45):
because AI can generatea graphic image for you
that a graphic designercould once do for you before
or a musical artist, forinstance, for music or anything
like that.
I think there's a place for AI.
And I'm not againstAI whatsoever.
I've used AI, soit's not a bad thing.
(30:06):
But I think that for me,I'm always looking at,
is this somethingthat's ethical?
Is it ethical?
Is this going to hurtsomeone when I'm using it?
Is it going to take away workfrom somebody when I'm using it?
And if the answer isyes to those questions,
then I just don't use it.
I don't want to takeaway work from people.
JILL FINLAYSON (30:27):
Yeah, my hope in the glass half full category
is that AI relieves us of boththe dangerous and the drudgery
jobs and allows people toincrease their productivity such
that they can spend moretime on the parts of the job
that they do enjoy and the partswhere human insight is so key.
AMANDA CRYER (30:46):
I'm in complete agreement with you with that.
So especially where it canincrease our productivity,
that is perfect.
And that is where I see it.
I think that if you can useAI to help you do what you do
and increase your productivityand keep your focus on what
it is that you really loveto do, then go for that.
(31:06):
Do that.
And let's look at usingAI as a tool to support us
and what we really want to do.
JILL FINLAYSON (31:14):
Absolutely.
And we all want tolive in the moment,
but I have to bring outthe crystal ball and say,
looking years aheadnow, what sort of shifts
would you like tosee in how we define
work and success and our rolesin creating a better world?
AMANDA CRYER (31:30):
I would like to see us defining success
as someone who is a kind andcompassionate human being
and someone who wants tobring people together,
someone who wants to make peaceprofitable, and someone who,
(31:50):
regardless of their financialstanding, their religion,
their race, ethnicity,sexual preference,
aesthetic appearance, sex.
I would like to see successmean that anyone who
was kind and compassionate andwants to bring people together
(32:13):
and wants to createpeace and love.
No matter how much of acliche that might sound,
that is really, truly--
I would want success tomean is I would want success
to mean that.
And it doesn't currentlymean that, unfortunately,
and I wish it did.
But that is what I wouldwant success to look like.
JILL FINLAYSON (32:31):
So what are your final words of advice
in terms of maybe people whodon't feel they have agency
or for those who feelthey have agency but don't
know how to makepeace profitable
or bring people together?
What are yourfinal tips in terms
of building the socialimpact they want to see?
AMANDA CRYER (32:51):
My final tips are to join UC Berkeley's Social
Impact program,definitely, and also
join the programs that Icreate and lead as well,
and find mentors.
I'm a mentor.
I'm not sure.
Jill, are you a mentor?
JILL FINLAYSON (33:09):
I'm always mentoring.
AMANDA CRYER (33:11):
Find mentors that are working
in the area of socialimpact and get out there
and start looking atareas that matter to you
and reach out to us andpeople that want to help
guide you and give youtips and recommendations
on what you can do.
We're all out here.
We're all around.
And I'm a mentee asmuch as I am a mentor.
(33:33):
And I'll be doing thatfor the rest of my life.
And I'm sure youwill, too, Jill.
JILL FINLAYSON (33:37):
Well, thank you so much for joining us,
for spending your timeto share your path
and to share ideasfor how people
can get started in this spaceof social entrepreneurship.
Thanks so much for joining us.
AMANDA CRYER (33:48):
Thank you so much, Jill, for having me.
I'm really grateful.
Have a wonderful day.
JILL FINLAYSON (33:52):
Thank you.
And with that, I hopeyou enjoyed this latest
in a long series ofpodcasts that we'll be
sending your way every month.
Please share withfriends and colleagues
who may be interested in takingthis Future of Work journey
with us.
And make sure to check outextension.berkeley.edu to find
a variety of coursesand certificates
to help you thrive in thisnew working landscape.
(34:13):
And to see what's comingup at EDGE in Tech,
go ahead and visit.edge.berkeley.edu.
Thanks so much for listening.
And we'll be back nextmonth for another look
at the Future of Work.
The Future of Work podcastis hosted by Jill Finlayson,
produced by Sarah Benzuly,and edited by Matt Dipietro
and Natalie Newman.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
(00:03):
AMANDA CRYER (00:06):
Whether you're a one-person
business or amulti-person business,
dignity is socritical because when
you've got leaders and business,and when you're a leader,
and when you're workingwith other people
that you are co-creatingto become leaders,
dignity is the number one, inmy opinion, most important thing
to implement into your businessvalues and your mission
(00:27):
and your commitments.
JILL FINLAYSON (00:31):
Welcome to the Future of Work podcast
with Berkeley Extension andEDGE In tech at the University
of California.
Focused on expanding diversityand gender equity in tech,
EDGE is part ofCITRIS, the Center
for IT Research in theInterest of Society,
and the Banatao Institute.
UC Berkeley Extension isthe continuing education arm
of the University ofCalifornia at Berkeley.
(00:53):
Social impact, change-making,entrepreneurship.
Opportunities abound to affectpositive impact and influence
by leveraging your passions.
Extraordinary things can happenwhen passion meets purpose.
Sounds overwhelming?
It doesn't need to be.
You may alreadyhave a side hustle
that spotlights your passion.
You may already be thinkingabout that one project
(01:15):
that you never seem to haveenough time to put into motion.
To find out how you can getstarted on a path toward social
entrepreneurship, we'redelighted to speak with Amanda
"Kazzy" Cryer.
Amanda is CEO of AC Media,an award-winning filmmaker,
social impact entrepreneur,and widely known influencer.
She is committedto elevating voices
through film, traditionalmedia, and social media,
(01:36):
and is passionate aboutprojects that bring awareness
to important issues.
Having lived and worked inboth developed and developing
countries, she has been activein co-creating opportunities
to solve problems, shiftsystems, and activate
the inner capacity of leadersto create lasting change.
Amanda has developed,led, and coached
dozens of programsfor organizations,
(01:58):
as well as soloentrepreneurs worldwide that
engage each participant toinitiate real world projects
and real strategies that producemeasurable and lasting results
for humanity and the planet.
And she's a former UCBerkeley Extension student.
Welcome, Amanda.
AMANDA CRYER (02:13):
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm very happy to be here.
Thank you for thatwonderful, wonderful welcome,
very generous.
Thank you, Jill.
JILL FINLAYSON (02:20):
You're welcome.
And this is a favoritetopic of mine.
I have a long time beena fan and participant
in social entrepreneurship,working with the Skoll
Foundation and working withchangemakers, using technology
to solve global challenges.
And so it's really excitingto talk with you today.
So I thought we couldstart out by saying,
(02:41):
there are many people whoare seeking more fulfillment
in their careers, and manyare seeking more fulfillment
in their lives.
So before we delve intobecoming a social entrepreneur,
what are you seeing interms of people's interest
in social impact?
And what might beholding them back
from pursuing those interests?
AMANDA CRYER (02:57):
I want to answer the second question first
because that's really one thatresonates from the feedback I
get from people, whatholds people back
from going into the socialimpact space as an entrepreneur
or as an organization.
And I think that there'sthis misconception sometimes
that if you pursue a careerin the area of social impact,
(03:20):
in any areas ofsocial impact, or you
want to directsome of your values
in your organization that standaligned with social impact,
that you're going to losemoney or that you're going
to have to suffer financially.
Because social impact has moreto do with triple bottom line
thinking, rather than justthe bottom line, which
(03:42):
is making money, I thinkthat there's a misconception
that people think, well, ifwe're not always just thinking
about making money,and if we're also
thinking about other things,such as people and planet,
then we're not focusedon making money,
which means that we're notgoing to make money, period.
JILL FINLAYSON (03:57):
Yeah, there really is a false dichotomy.
Oftentimes, nonprofits areseen as warm but inefficient,
and corporates are seenas efficient but not
warm or caring.
But to your point, thereis an intersection here,
where you can be efficientand generate revenue and be
good for the planet and people.
AMANDA CRYER (04:14):
I completely agree.
I think a lot ofcorporations have been moving
and are consideringmoving into that space.
And I'm so happywhen I see that.
This is last year,I think maybe.
But I saw thatMicrosoft was now hiring
people that havecriminal records, that
have digital punishment,which is a really great thing.
(04:36):
And I was really happyto see Microsoft doing
that because that's one of--
for me there,that's a huge shift.
It's a mindset shift in howwe view humanity in general.
And so once we startlooking at things like that,
we can look at onething to implement
into our organizationsor one thing
to work on as a socialimpact entrepreneur that
(04:57):
can make a differencein the lives of people.
JILL FINLAYSON (05:00):
So thinking about making impact,
you can make impact eitheras a solo entrepreneur
or a social entrepreneur.
How else can you make impact?
AMANDA CRYER (05:08):
Even when you're working in an organization that
is really based onthe bottom line,
I do think thathaving conversations
with people in the company, yourbosses, your colleagues, people
that are perhaps mentoringyou in the company to move up,
I think that there'san opportunity
(05:29):
to have these transformativeconversations and these really
important conversationswith people
in leadership at your companyto introduce new ideas.
For instance, Walmart--
Walmart is a for-profit company.
And they, after much thoughtabout what they wanted to do,
(05:50):
they wanted toimplement something,
a social impact strategy tomake a difference in the world.
And so they madethey implemented
lowering their O2 emissionsover a certain amount of time.
And they accomplished that goal.
Having those vitalconversations with people
in your company, peoplein leadership positions,
and presenting them with goodopportunities, and saying,
(06:13):
hey, you know what?
We could implement thesethings in our company.
And we could positionourselves in a way
where we can actually giveback in a real measurable way.
And then we canalso tell the world
about that, which is going tomake other corporations want
to follow in our footsteps.
So why don't we startdoing something like that?
JILL FINLAYSON: Yeah, I think there's (06:33):
undefined
something to be said therefor employee resource groups,
for advocating forfamilies, for advocating
for needs of the employees.
But there is alsothis opportunity
just to be aware thathaving these conversations
about sustainability, about thevalues that the company should
be walking thewalk, if you will,
(06:54):
is so important because thatdoes attract top talent.
That does helpretain top talent.
And it really comes from anemployee having initiative,
having agency, and beingwilling to make a statement
or make a suggestion that thisis something we could be doing
and still be profitable.
AMANDA CRYER (07:12):
Exactly.
And please know, as asolo impact entrepreneur,
you can have theseconversations with the leaders
at the organizationthat you work with.
Research, do yourhomework about ways
that company that you workwith, that you work for,
can make a difference in theworld, and present it to them.
(07:34):
And let them know,because this is actually
a fact, that corporationsthat implement social impact
initiatives.
While it may appear alittle bit risky at first,
the corporations that havethe courage to take that leap
and do that end up becoming muchmore profitable on the back end.
JILL FINLAYSON (07:52):
And I would imagine more innovative as well.
AMANDA CRYER (07:55):
Much more innovative
because people aremore discerning now
as customers, as clients.
When they know that if theyhave to pay an extra quarter
or something fora product that's
helping to make a differencein the rainforest,
they're willing to do that.
JILL FINLAYSON (08:09):
I love this taking action and feeling
agency.
When you discovered you hadagency, what did you do next?
AMANDA CRYER (08:16):
I got into action immediately.
I don't think I everrecognized that I
had agency at all in my life.
I just don't think I did.
And it's not because Isaw myself as a victim.
I just didn't seemyself as very powerful.
It never occurred to me thatI really had any real power.
So when I saw that Idid have agency, then
(08:39):
I started feelingthat I had some power.
I started feeling like, wait,maybe I kind of always had this,
but I needed to take it back.
And because I-- for whateverreason, circumstances I'd been
through, life journeyexperiences, I had lost that.
And when I started working inthis area of social impact,
that's when I regained it.
(09:01):
And I recognized,I re-recognized
that I had it and started justtaking action in those areas
and started using my voiceand researching and learning.
I can't tell you--
that's why I'm astudent of Berkeley.
It's like, I've donecourses at Harvard.
I've done so manyprograms to educate myself
(09:22):
with more wisdom in the areasthat matter to me because I want
to make sure thatwhatever I learn
is going to make a differenceand that I can also pass it
on to somebody else as well.
JILL FINLAYSON (09:34):
I think that's part of having
agency is this growth mindset.
And if I don't knowit, I can learn it.
I can expand on that topic.
What have you seen thathas made you effective,
and what could otheraspiring social entrepreneurs
learn from your experience?
AMANDA CRYER (09:51):
Well, it depends if someone really wants
to take on unifying people.
And I will say this, Jill.
It's socially acceptable tosay that you want to unite.
JILL FINLAYSON: Social entrepreneurs (10:02):
undefined
have an amazing ability todo what I call yes, and.
And they're like, I can beprofitable and sustainable.
I can be empatheticand drive change.
As I was hearingyou talk about that,
I was wonderingwhat your advice is
or what you've seenas characteristics
of good social entrepreneurs.
AMANDA CRYER (10:22):
Never thinking you're right.
That's definitely number one.
Always, always being opento listen to other people,
most importantly, especiallywhen you don't agree with them.
Not joining silosand echo chambers
with people who onlyagree with what you feel.
Number one, what'sso imperative is
(10:44):
to join groups that youactually have differing
opinions than they do.
That is so critical for us.
It's not easy to do that atfirst because you can almost
feel like you're in a placethat you don't belong.
But the thing is, isthat we do belong.
We do.
And as long as you're open tolistening to other people's
(11:06):
points of view, thatis the number one
most important characteristicof someone, of a social impact
entrepreneur, is being open tosomeone else's point of view
and not making them wrongbecause their personal life
experiences and their businesslife experiences, what they've
been through, may be completelythe opposite of what you've
(11:29):
gone through in your life.
JILL FINLAYSON (11:30):
This is really avoiding othering, putting
people into an other group.
And one of the things wementioned in your introduction
was that you co-createopportunities to solve problems.
And I think that ties in withthis joining other groups
and trying to hearother perspectives.
How do you go about co-creatingopportunities to solve problems?
AMANDA CRYER (11:53):
Family.
So in engaging inconversations with people
from all differenttypes of backgrounds,
all differentreligions, definitely,
different sexes, differentsexual orientations,
different sexual identities,engaging with all groups
to listen.
I did a podcast nottoo long ago about what
(12:14):
I thought wassomebody-- or the host
had asked me whatI thought was one
of the most importantthings about having
transformative conversations.
And I said, the mostimportant thing is listening.
If I don't listen, I'mnot learning anything new,
and it's just alreadywhat I already know.
JILL FINLAYSON: That's a valid point. (12:31):
undefined
And so as somebody who isan aspiring changemaker,
this sounds like a goodsecond step, so first,
putting yourselfin places where you
can have these conversations,second, listening.
How do you thengo about building
an organization or a movement?
AMANDA CRYER (12:49):
So again, it would go back
to the basic building blocks ofknowing what your values are,
your universal values.
Universal values are valuesthat support not just yourself
and those closest toyou, but also all people,
so an organization that isbuilt on, let's just say,
values of dignity, equity,compassion, courage.
(13:13):
You have to look at what yourorganization's values are
and then workaround those things.
So what does thatlook like for dignity?
Well, dignity means that everyperson who you come into contact
with, every projectthat you create,
is built on afoundation of dignity.
What does that mean?
That every person has the rightto feel proud of who they are,
no matter who they are, nomatter where they come from.
(13:34):
Dignity is a really, reallyimportant universal value
to build any businessthat you have.
Whether you're aone-person business
or a multi-personbusiness, dignity
is so critical because whenyou've got leaders in business,
and when you're aleader, and when
you're working with otherpeople that you are co-creating
(13:56):
to become leaders,dignity is a number one,
in my opinion, mostimportant thing
to implement into your businessvalues and your mission
and your commitments.
JILL FINLAYSON (14:05):
Yeah, and you've worked
with a lot of socialentrepreneurs.
How do you help them?
What does your program provideto help them get going?
AMANDA CRYER (14:14):
It's to do what Monica taught me how to do,
and that was to ensurethat every person gets very
present to their innateability to make a difference,
that they have that abilityto do that if they should so
choose to do that.
JILL FINLAYSON (14:30):
And that's one of the things
that you've done throughyour social media platform.
Can you tell us how you becamea social media influencer?
And how do you use socialmedia to deliver your mission?
AMANDA CRYER (14:44):
Well, I became a social media influencer
by accident.
That was definitely notsomething I set out to do.
It was during the pandemic.
And I started a YouTube channel,just doing some things at home
that I could do to make myselffeel better and not so alone
and isolated.
And then it just kind ofmoved over to LinkedIn.
(15:06):
And then it-- well, it sort ofmoved over to Instagram first,
then to LinkedIn.
And I just startedsharing messages
that mattered to me,messages to once again--
and I know this may soundredundant-- but once again,
really to bring people together,to make people feel and know
that they belong, no matterwhat, without labels.
JILL FINLAYSON (15:26):
And you suddenly found yourself
with a lot of followers.
Did that change howyou talk to people?
AMANDA CRYER (15:35):
I don't know.
I first started outjust really wanting
to create joy andhave people experience
joyful moments in their liveswith this YouTube channel
and have people laugh at mysilliness and my high startle
reflexes becauseI do have those.
And so it was alljust kind of done out
(15:57):
of fun and wanting people tonot be depressed or feel down
or feel lonely.
I know that during the pandemic,a lot of us were feeling lonely.
I was having Zoomcalls with people
to make sure that weweren't feeling lonely.
And I live with achronic condition.
And so even before thepandemic, I wasn't really able
to go out and participatein as many social functions
(16:20):
as I would have liked to.
And so when thepandemic happened,
it wasn't somethingbrand new for me.
I was not likeother people where,
high functioning, reallyhealthy individuals
were able to go out andsocialize all the time.
When the pandemic happened,that was very hard for people
because all of a suddentheir social lives,
(16:42):
they were robbed oftheir social lives.
And so they were just isolated.
And so I was usedto being isolated.
So when I startedthe YouTube channel
and I started havingZoom calls with people,
I thought to myself, listen,you're isolated at home,
but you don't haveto be isolated.
We can get on a Zoom call.
We can watch a movie together.
And we could doa reaction to it.
(17:03):
I started a Patreon account.
So I started just havinginteractions with people online
to make sure that people didn'tfeel as isolated as I had
already experienced in my life.
For me, it was notthat big of a deal
anymore because I'd already beengoing through that for a while.
But I wanted otherpeople to know
that being isolatedfor a little while,
(17:25):
that it was going to beOK, that you'd be OK.
And with that, that's reallythe messaging I've put out
in the beginning, was justabout bringing people together
and wanting to create joy andhave people laugh and have fun.
And out of thatbeginning messaging
of mine on social media iswhat came my messaging of unity
(17:45):
as well, because unity wasalways there in the background.
It's just not really whyI started social media.
I never expected tobecome an influencer.
I just wanted to getout there and have
people experience joy andhave people feeling less down.
JILL FINLAYSON (18:00):
Yeah, you mentioned your backstory.
Maybe we couldshare just concisely
a little bit about why youwere prepared, if you will,
for the COVID closure.
AMANDA CRYER (18:11):
Sure.
Yeah.
Yeah, for seven years, I've beenliving with a chronic illness.
And I live with two braintumors, dysautonomia,
and several otherillnesses, unfortunately.
And I was managingnot too badly before I
contracted a near-fatalcase of COVID last year.
I lost most of my lungcapacity and ended up
(18:33):
in a hospital for two weeks andwas on constant oxygen support
for just over two weeks becauseI could not breathe on my own.
So since contracting thatvery severe case of COVID,
unfortunately, the illnessesthat I was already living with
have gotten much worse.
And that's not unheard of.
That's very common.
When you're already living withautoimmune disorders and things
(18:55):
like that, COVID canexacerbate those issues.
And my doctors haveall told me that.
And so now, I've got what'scalled post-COVID syndrome,
long haul COVID.
But I have faith.
I have faith that I will comethrough all of this somehow.
And I just keep movingforward and just
keep doing what I canto utilize whatever
(19:19):
the talents and the wisdom thatI have to make a difference,
to support people in findingreal genuine friendships,
genuine connection, andlove and relationships
because I don'tthink that that's
available to a lot of people whoare dealing with chronic illness
and also people who aredealing mental illness
(19:42):
and neurodivergentindividuals as well.
I think it's been reallydifficult. Most of social media
is built for high-functioning,healthy individuals.
So I really wouldlike to be a space
on my social media for peoplewho are dealing with things
like that, but for all people.
You can be totally healthy,and you're welcome.
JILL FINLAYSON (20:04):
So it seems that beyond the agency that you
got from your mentor,this moment of awareness
that you could help empathizewith other people going
through similarsituations was a turning
point in your socialentrepreneur journey.
AMANDA CRYER (20:21):
Gigantic turning point for me, I mean, huge.
And for a lot of yearsI didn't come out.
I wasn't out in theopen about really
how difficult it is, theeveryday living that I have,
due to the conditionsthat I live with.
And, Jill, you, UCBerkeley, you all here
are one of thereally people who I'm
(20:43):
coming out full throttle withthese things that I live with.
And the reason whyI didn't at first
was because I was concernedthat people would think
I was incompetent, that Icouldn't get my job done,
that I couldn't dothings because I'm
living with these conditions.
And I was concerned that,yeah, I would not be seen
as a valuable member of anorganization or somebody that
(21:07):
could provide value because Ihad so many, you know, quote,
unquote, "issues" withmy health going on.
JILL FINLAYSON (21:13):
That's a really big concern.
And I kind of wantto flip the script
and say, what have you learnednow from your followers?
AMANDA CRYER (21:20):
The exact opposite.
I will say, every single personwho subscribes to my channel
or follows me isso compassionate
and is just always thankingme for being out in the open
about things and not concealingthese things about myself
and, and really sharingmy true self and not
(21:42):
just the good thingson the outside,
when I have the moremoderate days where
I'm able to go outand do something.
I have recently putup some other things
where I'm havingmore severe symptoms,
and I will bereleasing more of that.
JILL FINLAYSON (21:58):
When you look at beyond social media,
you have told a lotof stories by film.
Can you give people adviceon better storytelling
or how they might use film toconvey the impact that they
want to have in the world?
AMANDA CRYER (22:13):
Yes.
I would definitely, for usingfilm or media in general
to convey impactis, I would say,
take an investigationaljournalistic approach
and a non-biased approachis really important.
Every individual canhear your message
so that it resonates deeplywith as many people as possible.
JILL FINLAYSON (22:35):
So it's one thing to tell a story,
but the reason you'retelling the story
is you want to makethe change that you
want to see in the world.
So how do you make a story,activate people, if you will.
AMANDA CRYER (22:47):
I would start first
with something that haspersonally impacted you
or someone you care about.
I would start there.
So the criminal justicesystem, has personally, I
would say, digitalpunishment in particular,
which is criminalrecords, has personally
impacted my own family.
And I've seen thedamage that it has done.
(23:08):
And so the reasonwhy I wanted to make
a film on the criminaljustice system
was because I have beenpersonally impacted
by that system ofdigital punishment, which
is why I was so happy tohear when Microsoft said,
we are now going tostart hiring people that
have criminal recordsbecause why not?
People make mistakes.
(23:28):
They go to prison.
If they rehabilitateand they get better
and they want toreturn to society
and be a valuablemember of society,
who are we to say thatthey can't do that?
JILL FINLAYSON (23:41):
Yeah, I believe that second chances are not
evenly distributed.
And so how can we fostermore second chances?
AMANDA CRYER (23:50):
Well, the whole court system
has to be overhauled becausethe thing about being--
making a mistake in our livesor being charged with a crime--
and I will say this, too, Jill.
There are people who certainlyshould not be in prison.
They should not be there.
And there are peoplewho should be.
(24:10):
So I will say that.
It goes both ways.
But I will say that all of thesethings get plea bargained down.
So if you come froma low income family,
the lawyer that'sassigned to you,
which you have nochoice in choosing--
you have no family to help youpay for a good lawyer to fight
(24:30):
your case--
you have to take a plea bargain,which means you're automatically
going to go to prison.
You're automatically goingto end up with a record.
And so it really comes downto-- the income disparity
in this country,income inequality,
it plays so much into thecriminal justice system.
And that's what I recognize themost in working in this area,
(24:53):
is when you don'thave money to fight
that, you're up against lawyersthat you have no chance.
You have no chance.
JILL FINLAYSON: Yeah, and this is (25:03):
undefined
where your investigativeapproach comes into play
and quantifying theinequality issues.
AMANDA CRYER (25:12):
Exactly.
Precisely.
Yes.
JILL FINLAYSON (25:15):
So one of the things
that you really strive todo is empower other people.
How is that going?
And where are youpursuing this effort?
AMANDA CRYER (25:25):
So how is that going?
I need to startdoing measurements.
So thank you for asking me thatquestion because I really need
to start doing measurements.
I know that people, individualsare out there in the world,
saying, I've transformeda million lives.
I've transformed10 million lives.
How do you know?
(25:46):
Really, how do you know?
And maybe they do know.
Maybe they have implementedtheir measurements.
And so they really dohave evidence of that.
I don't haveevidence of that yet.
Now, I get feedback frompeople all of the time,
telling me about the differencethat I've made with them,
telling me about the differencethat they feel about themselves.
(26:09):
I ran two betaprograms last year
that were specificallyabout empowering people
to have agency toknow and recognize
that they themselves arethe ones to make the change.
The feedback that I receivedfrom both of those programs
was overwhelmingly positive, andso I was able to measure that.
(26:30):
But I do have tostart measuring again.
And when I launchanother program,
I will be doing measurements tosee how many people are being
impacted in that way,how many people truly
feel empowered to make adifference in the world.
And then I also want to domore measurements with them
as they go into the world to dothat because it's important not
(26:51):
just when they leave theprograms that they're
in that I'm leading, butalso when they go out
to make those changes, I wantto follow their progress, six
months, nine months, 12 monthsto see what's actually happening
with them and help themto measure their results.
JILL FINLAYSON (27:09):
I love that because there's
sort of a longevity play here.
The first thing they tryto do may not work out.
There may be asecond or a third.
And so being ableto look over time,
do you have advice forpeople who are maybe running
into friction or barriers?
You've persisted throughsome of these barriers.
How do other people keepworking on their social venture,
(27:29):
even though it's very difficult?
AMANDA CRYER (27:31):
So I would definitely
say, take on a mentor,if you have money,
to work with a consultant.
But it's really important tohave mentors and consultants who
have been doing thiswork for a long time.
That's what I've always done.
Throughout my life, throughoutmy learning process,
I've always worked withmentors because you are going
to come up against barriers.
That's inevitable.
This is not one of thoseroads where it's like, oh,
(27:54):
everything's justgoing to come your way.
Oh, no.
When you really wantto affect change,
you have to work withall stakeholders.
And that's going to be, again,with people that you may not
agree with, thatyou may not actually
want to work with either.
But to effect real change,you have to make a choice of
whether or not you wantto affect real change
or you just want tosay you're doing it.
(28:14):
So if you really wantto fetch real change,
you're going to be workingwith people who you may not
necessarily like and you may notnecessarily agree with as well.
But you can alwaysfind common ground.
That's what I found.
I work with people that Idon't always agree with,
but I do definitely findcommon ground with people
that I don't agree with.
And that's really important.
JILL FINLAYSON (28:34):
That's a really good tip
to begin there and find theareas where you do agree and try
to share the differentperspectives so they can make
the journey on theirown because you
can't make people take a journeythey're not willing to take.
As I think about a lotof the changes that
are happening in theworld, a lot of them
are being accelerated by a lotof these emerging technologies,
(28:57):
artificial intelligence.
Do you think there's a role forAI in creating social impact?
AMANDA CRYER (29:03):
Oh, boy.
I'm really excited aboutAI in medical areas,
for instance, issuesthat I'm living with,
issues that otherpeople are living with.
AI can reallyadvance technologies
and help people livelonger, healthier lives
and perhaps even save lives.
And so I'm very excitedabout things like that.
It's also AI makesme feel a little bit
(29:25):
nervous in other areasbecause I want to make
sure it's being used ethically.
I don't want to see peoplelosing their jobs, jobs
that they are very skilled at,but also jobs that they have
that they use tosupport their families.
And I also don't wantto see artists losing
all of their creativityand their outlets
to be creative allof a sudden now
(29:45):
because AI can generatea graphic image for you
that a graphic designercould once do for you before
or a musical artist, forinstance, for music or anything
like that.
I think there's a place for AI.
And I'm not againstAI whatsoever.
I've used AI, soit's not a bad thing.
(30:06):
But I think that for me,I'm always looking at,
is this somethingthat's ethical?
Is it ethical?
Is this going to hurtsomeone when I'm using it?
Is it going to take away workfrom somebody when I'm using it?
And if the answer isyes to those questions,
then I just don't use it.
I don't want to takeaway work from people.
JILL FINLAYSON (30:27):
Yeah, my hope in the glass half full category
is that AI relieves us of boththe dangerous and the drudgery
jobs and allows people toincrease their productivity such
that they can spend moretime on the parts of the job
that they do enjoy and the partswhere human insight is so key.
AMANDA CRYER (30:46):
I'm in complete agreement with you with that.
So especially where it canincrease our productivity,
that is perfect.
And that is where I see it.
I think that if you can useAI to help you do what you do
and increase your productivityand keep your focus on what
it is that you really loveto do, then go for that.
(31:06):
Do that.
And let's look at usingAI as a tool to support us
and what we really want to do.
JILL FINLAYSON (31:14):
Absolutely.
And we all want tolive in the moment,
but I have to bring outthe crystal ball and say,
looking years aheadnow, what sort of shifts
would you like tosee in how we define
work and success and our rolesin creating a better world?
AMANDA CRYER (31:30):
I would like to see us defining success
as someone who is a kind andcompassionate human being
and someone who wants tobring people together,
someone who wants to make peaceprofitable, and someone who,
(31:50):
regardless of their financialstanding, their religion,
their race, ethnicity,sexual preference,
aesthetic appearance, sex.
I would like to see successmean that anyone who
was kind and compassionate andwants to bring people together
(32:13):
and wants to createpeace and love.
No matter how much of acliche that might sound,
that is really, truly--
I would want success tomean is I would want success
to mean that.
And it doesn't currentlymean that, unfortunately,
and I wish it did.
But that is what I wouldwant success to look like.
JILL FINLAYSON (32:31):
So what are your final words of advice
in terms of maybe people whodon't feel they have agency
or for those who feelthey have agency but don't
know how to makepeace profitable
or bring people together?
What are yourfinal tips in terms
of building the socialimpact they want to see?
AMANDA CRYER (32:51):
My final tips are to join UC Berkeley's Social
Impact program,definitely, and also
join the programs that Icreate and lead as well,
and find mentors.
I'm a mentor.
I'm not sure.
Jill, are you a mentor?
JILL FINLAYSON (33:09):
I'm always mentoring.
AMANDA CRYER (33:11):
Find mentors that are working
in the area of socialimpact and get out there
and start looking atareas that matter to you
and reach out to us andpeople that want to help
guide you and give youtips and recommendations
on what you can do.
We're all out here.
We're all around.
And I'm a mentee asmuch as I am a mentor.
(33:33):
And I'll be doing thatfor the rest of my life.
And I'm sure youwill, too, Jill.
JILL FINLAYSON (33:37):
Well, thank you so much for joining us,
for spending your timeto share your path
and to share ideasfor how people
can get started in this spaceof social entrepreneurship.
Thanks so much for joining us.
AMANDA CRYER (33:48):
Thank you so much, Jill, for having me.
I'm really grateful.
Have a wonderful day.
JILL FINLAYSON (33:52):
Thank you.
And with that, I hopeyou enjoyed this latest
in a long series ofpodcasts that we'll be
sending your way every month.
Please share withfriends and colleagues
who may be interested in takingthis Future of Work journey
with us.
And make sure to check outextension.berkeley.edu to find
a variety of coursesand certificates
to help you thrive in thisnew working landscape.
(34:13):
And to see what's comingup at EDGE in Tech,
go ahead and visit.edge.berkeley.edu.
Thanks so much for listening.
And we'll be back nextmonth for another look
at the Future of Work.
The Future of Work podcastis hosted by Jill Finlayson,
produced by Sarah Benzuly,and edited by Matt Dipietro
and Natalie Newman.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Popular Podcasts
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com