Patricia Loya is the Executive Director of La Cocina, a San Francisco Incubator Kitchen for Women.  The mission of La Cocina is to cultivate food entrepreneurs as they formalize and grow their businesses by providing affordable commercial kitchen space, industry-specific technical assistance and access to market opportunities.  They focus primarily on women from culturally diverse and immigrant communities. 

Patricia earned her undergraduate degree from the University of California at Irvine and went on to earn a Masters of Education degree from Harvard University.  In 2001, Patricia was a fellow with the Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders through the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.  In 2003, she participated in the Hispanics in Philanthropy Leadership Institute at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Upon receiving her undergraduate degree, Patricia joined La Raza Centro Legal in San Francisco.  She later co-founded Ujima Unidos, a Saturday school for African American and Latino youth in Oakland, California.  She then went on to become the Executive Director of Centro Legal de la Raza where she worked closely with immigrant and low-income communities, assisted day laborers in forming their own worker association, and launched the flagship project, The Youth Law Academy. She became the Executive Director of La Cocina in 2009.

A transcript of this interview is available on my blog Have Fun Do Good.

Kimberly Wilson is a teacher, writer, do-gooder, entrepreneur, and eco-fashion designer who is currently obsessed with Paris, potbelly pigs, and all things sparkly.  She is the creative director and founder of Tranquil Space, which was named among the top 25 yoga studios in the world by Travel + Leisure.  She is also the author of two books: Hip Tranquil Chick and Tranquilista: Mastering the Art of Enlightened Work and Mindful Play.

With a passion for do-gooding, Kimberly launched Tranquil Space Foundation to bring yoga, creativity, and leadership to women and girls, and is currently pursuing a Masters in Social Work.  You can learn more about Kimberly at www.kimberlywilson.com

A transcript of this interview is available on my blog, Have Fun Do Good.

Lisa Witter is the Chief Operating Officer of Fenton Communications, the largest public interest communications firm in the country. She heads the firm's practice in women's issues and global affairs for clients including Women for Women International, Nobel Peace Prize Winner Wangari Maathai, MoveOn.org, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the Global Fund for Women, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, David and Lucille Packard Foundation and many others.

She is a co-founder of the award-winning SheSource.org, an online brain trust of women experts to help close the gender gap among commentators in the news media. She was honored as an outstanding activist and expert on women’s issues by Oxygen.com for her work on a national campaign against privatizing Social Security during the 2000 presidential election.

Lisa is a frequent public speaker, blogger and political commentator appearing as an expert on NPR, MSNBC, FOX News, CBS Early Show, O, the Oprah Magazine and has been published in Newsday, The New York Times, The Seattle Times, The Anderson Cooper 360, Huffington Post, AlterNet and BlogHer.

Witter is co-author with Lisa Chen of The She Spot: Why Women are the Market for Changing the World and How to Reach Them.  You can check out their blog at SheSpotter.com.

 A transcript of this interview is available on my blog, Have Fun Do Good.

Jose has worked in business and community development for over ten years. Currently, as the Executive Director of Inner City Advisors, Jose provides strategic leadership, management and direction to the organization.  He is passionate about entrepreneurship, having been raised by his father - a successful farming entrepreneur - who taught him how businesses have the power to transform communities.  Jose was recently recognized for his commitment and track record in supporting entrepreneurs by receiving the 2009 Young Professional of the Year Award by the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce.

Prior to Inner City Advisors, Jose served as Development Director for five years at Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA), a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization that provides microenterprise business technical assistance and neighborhood planning services to small businesses.  Before working in the nonprofit sector, Jose also worked in Corporate Retail Operations and Human Resources at Macy's West, Inc.

Jose sits on various economic development board.  He serves on the Oakland Workforce Investment Board and sits on the Bay Area Business Advisory Board of Directors for the Consulate General of Mexico in San Francisco and the OneCalifornia Bank Advisory Board.  Jose is also a member of Board of Directors of the YMCA of The East Bay, OBDC Small Business Finance and People's Grocery.  He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from UC Davis, and Entrepreneur Management Development Certification from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

When he is not busy doing community development work, you will find him coaching and playing soccer--his other passion.

You can read a transcript of this interview on Have Fun Do Good.

Interview from July 9, 2009 with David Cohn, the Founder of Spot.us.  Spot.Us is a nonprofit project pioneering “community funded reporting.”  Through Spot.Us, the public can commission journalists to do investigations on important, and perhaps overlooked stories.

David is a journalist turned entrepreneur who has written for Wired, Seed, Columbia Journalism Review and The New York Times. While working toward his master’s degree at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, Cohn worked as an Editor at newassignment.net, which focused on citizen journalism and ways news organizations could explore the social web. He recently became a contributing editor at NewsTrust.net, a non-profit media literacy tool and news filter, and is the editor-in-chief at Broowaha, an expanding citizen journalism network.

You can read a transcript of the interview on my blog, Have Fun * Do Good.

Kjerstin Erickson, the founder and Executive Director of FORGE.  FORGE is a US-based nonprofit organization that facilitates African refugees’ developing and running projects in their communities that range from libraries to health centers to microlending programs to preschools.

Erickson founded FORGE in 2003, when she was a 20 year-old junior studying Public Policy at Stanford University. Now 26, Kjerstin continues to manage FORGE's operations, growth and development. FORGE serves 60,000 refugees in 3 different refugee camps in Southern Africa, and is an official Operating Partner of the United Nations’ refugee agency (UNHCR).  She has been named a Haas Public Service Fellow at Stanford, a "Top 10 College Woman" by Glamour Magazine, and a "Person You Should Know" by CNN.

A transcript of this interview is available on my blog, Have Fun * Do Good.

Zainab Salbi is the Founder and CEO of Women for Women International, an organization that helps women survivors of war rebuild their lives.

She is also the author of two books, Between Two Worlds: Escape from Tyranny: Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam, and The Other Side of War: Women’s Stories of Survival & Hope.

In 1995, President Clinton honored Zainab at a White House ceremony for her humanitarian work.  In 2005, Forbes gave her its Trailblazer Award.  In 2006, Women for Women International received the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, and in 2007, Zainab was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

You can read a transcript of this interview on my blog, Have Fun * Do Good.

Yoga instructor, Seane Corn, has been featured in commercials and appeared on the cover of Yoga Journal, Fit Yoga, and many other magazines.  She utilizes her national platform to bring awareness to the HIV/AIDS crisis, and is the National Yoga Ambassador for YouthAIDS.  

Seane is also the co-founder of Off the Mat, Into the World an educational, experiential and motivational process for people interested in conscious activism and service.  You can learn more about Seane's work at www.seanecorn.com and experience her teaching on her DVDs Vinyasa Flow Yoga and Seane Corn: Yoga From the Heart.

A transcript of this interview is available on my blog, Have Fun * Do Good.

Interview from February 11, 2009 with Bryant Terry, eco-chef, food justice activist, and author of Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, and Creative African-American Cuisine.

Bryant is currently a Fellow in the Food and Society Policy Fellows Program, a national project of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.  His first book, Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen, which he co-authored with Anna Lappé, won a 2007 Nautilus Award for Social Change.  He was also a co-host of the PBS series, Endless Feast.

You can read a transcript on this interview on my blog, Have Fun Do Good.

Jennifer Lee is the Founder of Artizen Coaching.  She is a certified coach, artist and yogini based in Oakland, California.  Jennifer is the author of The Right-Brain Business Plan e-Book and the creator of the Unfolding Your Life Vision Kit. She was also featured in the book, The Girl's Guide to Kicking Your Career Into Gear and her art visioning work is showcased in The Vision Board: The Secret to an Extraordinary Life.

You can read an edited transcript of this interview on my blog, Have Fun * Do Good.