Hello MCJ Members,
Here’s a great bonus episode, with Andrei Cherny, co-founder & CEO of Aspiration! Thanks for being members and supporting MCJ, and enjoy the show!
Jason
Today's guest is Andrei Cherny, co-founder & CEO of Aspiration, an online financial firm with a conscience--created for everyone, built on trust, and dedicated to combining profit with philanthropic purpose.
Before Aspiration, Andrei worked for Vice President Al Gore as a speechwriter and John Kerry for President campaign as a speech writer and special advisor on policy. Andrei served public office as the Assistant Attorney General in Arizona in the late 2000s. Since then, Andrei has worked on public policy, communication and strategy in the private sector as president of ACE strategies and as managing director at Burson-Marsteller. Additionally, he is the author of two books and spent time as a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
We cover a lot in this episode, including Aspiration and how it came to be. We dive into how Aspiration works and what Andrei hopes to achieve through it. Andrei and I discuss the effectiveness of incentives in capitalist societies. Andrei also touches on how public policy and government helped him start Aspiration.
Enjoy the show!
You can find me on twitter @jjacobs22 or @mcjpod and email at info@myclimatejourney.co, where I encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.
Recorded June 26th, 2020
In today’s episode, we cover:
What is Aspiration?
Andrei's background & experiences that led him to the idea of Aspiration
Andrei's time working for Al Gore
How banks operate?
Aspiration's model of success
Challenges Aspiration is faced with
Andrei's perspective on fossil fuels & how it applies to banking
Discussion on "do no harm"
Collectivism versus individualism
Divestment versus advocating within the existing systems
How to create change within banking
The power of consumers
Links to topics discussed in this episode:
Banks & The Fossil Fuel Industry: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/18/global-banks-climate-crisis-finance-fossil-fuels
Banks & investments: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidrvetter/2020/03/18/jpmorgan-chase-tops-dirty-list-of-35-fossil-fuel-funding-banks/#6ef48c215dfe
Carbon Offsets & their controversy: https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/carbon-offsets-are-not-our-get-out-jail-free-card
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