Ever wondered why some brilliant startups never get funded?
The answer might lie in unconscious biases that plague investment decisions. In this eye-opening conversation, we explore how Illumen Capital is revolutionizing access to capital through their innovative bias reduction program.

🔍 What you’ll learn in this episode:

• The research behind bias in investing: How identical profiles with only the race of a photo changed investor decisions.
• Practical tools for reducing bias: From standardized first interview questions to multiple reviewers in hiring and investment processes.
• Real-world impact: Illumen’s portfolio has achieved gender parity across teams, proving that reducing bias isn’t just ethical—it’s profitable.
• A success story: A rural Texas founder nearly overlooked, who secured funding thanks to a fresh perspective that recognized opportunity others had missed.
• The human + tech balance: Why the most promising companies combine technological innovation with deep human understanding.
• Life & investing advice: How slowing down decision-making processes can actually accelerate long-term success.

About our guest

Joanna Kuang is the Senior Vice President of Product and Impact at Illumen Capital, where she leads efforts to dismantle systemic bias in investing and expand access to capital for underrepresented founders.

📌 Connect with Joanne on LinkedIn: Joanna Kuang

🌐 Learn more about Illumen Capital: Illumen Capital Website

This podcast was sponsored by EVCHARGE4U your partner for fast, reliable EV charging solutions for homes, businesses, and fleets. Powering a cleaner tomorrow, today.

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What happens when communities invisible to the digital world suddenly appear on a map? Lives change. Resources flow. Possibilities emerge.

Rebecca Firth, Executive Director of Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT), leads a global movement that’s reshaping how we think about maps, data, and community agency. With 750,000 volunteer mappers across 90 countries, HOT has illuminated regions home to nearly a billion people—bringing them out of digital darkness.

Maps aren’t just for navigation—they’re critical tools for disaster response, public health, climate resilience, and social equity. Yet millions remain unmapped, unseen by systems meant to support them.

HOT is changing that by putting mapping power directly in the hands of local communities. Through initiatives like their FAIR project, they’re training neighborhood-specific AI models with communities, not on them—ensuring data reflects lived realities.

From flood planning in Liberia to forest conservation in Guatemala, the results are transformative. In Sierra Leone, a map source reads simply: “I live here.”

Rebecca shares how open data, community ownership, and ethical AI can shift the global map toward equity—and why mapping is one of the most powerful tools for justice today.

🎧 Listen now to learn how you can help build a more resilient, inclusive world—one map at a time.

👉 Start mapping or sign up for the newsletter at hotosm.org

🔗 Explore more links: linktr.ee/hotosm
📸 Follow along on Instagram: @_hotosm

Sponsored by EVCHARGE4U—your partner for fast, reliable EV charging solutions for homes, businesses, and fleets. Powering a cleaner tomorrow, today.

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🎧 Building Health & Wealth Equity with Sydney Thomas of Symphonic Capital

What does it take to close the gaps in health and wealth access—and build a future where equity isn't just a buzzword, but a business model?

In this episode of The Optimist Circuit, we sit down with Sydney Thomas, founder of Symphonic Capital, a trailblazing venture firm backing health tech and fintech companies working to dismantle systemic barriers. With a background shaped by lived experience and a sharp eye for resourceful founders, Sydney is rewriting the rules of early-stage investing—one values-driven startup at a time.

💡 In this conversation, you'll learn:

• Why resourcefulness is the #1 trait she looks for in founders ("making a dollar out of ten cents")
• How companies like Flourish Care help moms access doula services through their insurance—solving not just care gaps, but information gaps
• Why climate resiliency is the next frontier for both health and wealth equity
• Her measured take on AI as a tool—not a replacement—for human-centered decision-making
• How Sydney stays grounded and optimistic through community, storytelling, and listening to elders for historical context

🎙️ Whether you're a founder, investor, or future-builder, this episode will leave you feeling energized, thoughtful, and ready to invest your time and values into something greater.

Sydney is the Founder and General Partner of Symphonic Capital, an early-stage VC firm investing in the next generation of institutions serving overlooked and underserved communities. She has focused on this thesis for the past decade and is now on a mission to elevate the perspectives of founders, investors and LPs who have a diverse set of lived experiences and are dedicated to solving problems that impact the majority of people. She participates in several extracurricular activities to increase diversity in tech and level the playing field more broadly.

Sydney is a proven fund builder and investor. She joined one of Silicon Valley’s first Pre-Seed funds and scaled it from a Solo Operating GP with 10 investments to a 3-person team with 400+ investments and $200M+ in AUM.

👉 Follow Sydney on LinkedIn and explore her work at symphoniccapital.com.

🔗 Stay connected with The Optimist Circuit:

• Instagram
• TikTok
• LinkedIn
• YouTube

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Season 1, Episode 2 – Informed Optimism: Harnessing AI for Sustainability and Social Good

Ellen Spooner and Francesca Fernandez welcome you to The Optimist Circuit podcast, where they explore the powerful intersection of technology, sustainability, and social impact. This episode takes you behind the scenes of their vision for the podcast and introduces the co-hosts' impressive backgrounds.

Ellen shares how Francesca has shaped environmental and community development programs for organizations ranging from startups to Fortune 500 tech companies, including her work with innovation competitions like XPRIZE. Francesca reveals her journey from humanitarian work to sustainability, realizing that community prosperity depends fundamentally on healthy ecosystems. In turn, Francesca highlights Ellen's eight-year career in strategic communications, from leading ocean conservation campaigns in the South Pacific to her recent work exploring AI and sustainability.

What makes The Optimist Circuit unique is its deliberate focus on solutions rather than dwelling exclusively on problems. While acknowledging the real challenges of AI—from energy consumption to potential social disruptions—Ellen and Francesca are committed to showcasing concrete examples of technology driving positive change. They spotlight innovations like Citrineio, which uses AI to invent new materials that solve specific sustainability challenges, and explore how major tech companies’ demand for energy could accelerate renewable infrastructure at unprecedented scale.

The hosts embrace what they call "informed optimism"—acknowledging difficulties while actively highlighting pathways forward. As they explain, we're at a pivotal moment in the AI revolution where there's still time to shape how these powerful technologies evolve.

Subscribe now and join a growing community that believes technology and nature can—and must—work together to create a brighter, more sustainable future for everyone.

🎧 Follow and connect with us:

• LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube: @TheOptimistCircuit

#AIforGood #SustainableTech #Podcast #TheOptimistCircuit #InformedOptimism #TechForChange #AIEthics #ClimateTech #InnovationForImpact

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In this episode of The Optimist Circuit, we sit down with Cheryl Goodman, a trailblazing tech executive and founder of Goodtech. With a career spanning Qualcomm, Sony, and Startup San Diego, Cheryl shares her insights on navigating the AI revolution, building influence in tech, and the power of strategic communications in emerging industries.

From AI's role in reshaping brand storytelling to how non-tech professionals can thrive in an AI-driven world, this conversation is packed with insider wisdom, career strategies, and bold predictions for the future of technology.

🎧 Tune in to discover:
✅ How AI is transforming corporate communications
✅ Strategies for making an impact in emerging tech spaces
✅ The mindset shifts needed to succeed in the evolving digital landscape

Subscribe now and join the conversation on the intersection of AI, tech, and human innovation! 🚀✨

Cheryl K. Goodman

ckgoodman@findgood.tech

CEO, FindGood.tech - Author - "How to Win Friends and Influence Robots" ebook & print

Forbes | Technology Programming | Certified AI Workforce Expert

Mind the Machine Podcast

Watch on Spotify & Youtube or listen at Apple or anywhere you like to hear your podcasts.

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Welcome to The Optimist Circuit podcast where we are Building the Circuit: Connecting AI, Tech, Nature, and People to Spark Optimism and Power Solutions for Society.

The Optimist Circuit podcast is your gateway to exploring how human ingenuity—combined with AI, technology, and nature—is solving society’s most pressing challenges.

Through compelling interviews with AI, tech, and business leaders, real-world case studies, and stories of groundbreaking innovation, The Optimist Circuit delivers insights and inspiring narratives that highlight how technology and nature can work together to create a better future.

Join hosts Ellen Spooner and Francesca Fernandez as they spotlight the pioneers behind businesses, startups, and research, revealing the human ingenuity driving transformative ideas that connect communities and amplify human potential.

Ellen Spooner, co-founder and cohost of The Optimist Circuit, brings over eight years of strategic communication experience with organizations like NOAA, the Smithsonian, and the Waitt Institute. Her expertise in making complex science accessible to millions and her passion for AI and tech drive the podcast’s commitment to impactful storytelling.

Francesca Fernandez, co-founder and cohost of The Optimist Circuit, is a circular economy and sustainability strategist with over a decade of experience in circularity, decarbonization, and nature & biodiversity. She specializes in maximizing value and minimizing waste—whether in material flows, emissions, habitat loss, or social inequity. Francesca’s expertise in strategy, innovation, and human-centered research informs her passion for building a healthier planet and more equitable communities.

Our mission is to empower changemakers, innovators, and thought leaders with stories and strategies that prove optimism, collaboration, and innovation are the keys to solving global challenges.

Subscribe now and be part of the conversation shaping the future of tech, AI, and sustainability.

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