Guests

Safwan Masri, Founding Board Chairman and Eric Widmer, Founding Headmaster Kings Academy Campus located outside Amman, Jordan

New England boarding schools have been a part of America’s elite educational fabric for centuries. Now picture a school of this kind taking root in the Middle East.

His Majesty King Abdullah had some of the best years of his life attending Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts, and he’s trying to emulate Deerfield in Jordan. His school is called King’s Academy, and the goal is to educate a generation of Middle Eastern students with the same educational standards as his New England alma mater.

Jessica traveled to Jordan to speak with Eric Widmer, the founding headmaster of Kings Academy and the former headmaster of Deerfield, and Safwan Masri, the founding Chairman of the Board. Kings Academy is located on 144 acres outside Amman, Jordan, and the school opens its doors to students in Fall, 2007. Listen to how Eric, Safwan, and King Abdullah are bringing the best of western education to the Middle East, From Scratch.

When patients are faced with a medical problem that may require surgery, they’ll often consider less invasive options first; but these alternatives to surgery have only become available thanks to a few pioneers willing to defy medical convention initally. Jessica’s guest is one such pioneer, Peter Nicholas, the co-founder of Boston Scientific (BSC). BSC is the world’s largest alternative medical device company. Peter tells us how he brought welcomed choices to patients, From Scratch.

Jessica speaks with Greg Olsen, the scientist and founder of Epitax and Sensors Unlimited, a near infra-red camera company. Greg was the third civilian to visit space in 2005.

There is so much bottled water to choose from, yet most people have trouble distinguishing one brand from the next. How creative can you get with H2O? Jessica’s guest is Darius Bikoff, the founder of the enhanced water company Glaceau, maker of Smart Water, Vitamin Water, and Fruit Water. By adding vitamins, fruit flavors, and minerals to its water, Glaceau is becoming the water of choice for a growing number of consumers. Darius talks to Jessica about how he pioneered the enhanced water category, From Scratch.

Jacqueline is the founder of the Acumen Fund, a venture capital firm that invests in social entrepreneurs around the world. Acumen uses market-based approaches to alleviate poverty in countries like India, Pakistan, and Rwanda. Jessica speaks with Jacqueline about her experience launching Acumen, and her unique approach to solving problems in the developing world, From Scratch.

Corporate philanthropy historically occurred after a company had made its profits. But for some companies lately, corporate giving is embedded in the company’s mission at the point of transaction. Ethos Water, now owned by Starbucks, is one such company that donates $.05 per bottle to water purification efforts in developing countries such as Honduras and India.

Jessica speaks with the co-founder of Ethos Water, Peter Thum. We’ll learn how Peter has married social responsibility with profitability, from scratch.

Richard Fuller is the founder of the Blacksmith Institute, a non profit organization that solves pollution-related problems in the developing world. Richard is also the founder of Great Forest, a company that advises corporations on their environmental responsibilities, such as recycling, energy conservation, etc.. Jessica speaks with Richard about how he is finding solutions for some of the worlds most urgent pollution issues, from scratch.

People used to turn to the Encyclopedia Britannica to get information on topics ranging from photo-synthesis to the Spanish Inquisiton, but more and more people are turning to Wikipedia, the on-line encyclopedia. Wikipedia is a collaborative encyclopedia edited by the on-line community, and is available in over 200 languages.

The founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, speaks with Jessica about how “wikis” are transforming the way we think about political activism, pop culture, etc.. We’ll also learn how Jimmy is creating his new company, Wikia, from scratch.

Jessica speaks with the founder and Publisher and Editor and Chief of Berkshire Living Magazine, Michael Zivyak and Seth Rogovoy. Berkshire Living Magazine is a lifestyle magazine that covers the Berkshires, a region that covers the areas of four states: New York, Western Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Southern Vermont.

Jessica speaks with the founding director of MASS MoCA, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, located in the Berkshires in North Adams, MA. Joe explains the process of getting the museum off the ground after 13 years, and discusses how the museum has helped to revitalize an entire community.