Green Shoots & Big Shifts is hosted by Reetu Gupta, who started the show to have open, hopeful conversations about what it really takes to make sustainability part of how we live, lead, and work.
Each week, she talks with people doing innovative, meaningful work, turning ideas into action. From startup founders and corporate change-makers to community leaders - reimagining how business, society, and the planet can thrive together.
These are stories about innovation, collaboration, possibility, and the everyday shifts that move us toward a more abundant and resilient future.
Kiss The Ground: From 4% awareness to 73K acres in Transition to Regenerative Farming
Four years ago only 4% of US adults knew what regenerative agriculture meant. Kiss The Ground (https://kisstheground.com (https://kisstheground.com/)) decided the fix was to stop talking over people and start meeting them where they are. Evan Harrison, CEO of Kiss The Ground walks through the strategy that moved that number to 13%, from mini documentaries, 5 with a Farmer series, and 25 shopping guides to a $500,000 grant program that put electric fences, cover crops and hogs on more than 200+ farms and set 73K acres on the path to transition to regenerative farming. Evan's background is music and digital media, and he brings a builder's eye to how consumer demand rewires supply chains.
Chapters:
00:00 Welcome to Green Shoots & Big Shifts
01:04 Meet Evan Harrison and Kiss The Ground
01:38 From a Venice nonprofit to the Netflix film
02:54 Only 4% understood regenerative agriculture
04:06 Simplifying the message and the tipping point strategy
06:16 Growing awareness from 4% to 7% to 13%
07:13 Content formats: mini docs, reels and shopping guides
10:55 The $500,000 farmer grant program
12:16 73,000 acres and stories from the field
12:50 Consumer demand versus policy and supply chains
13:24 Shopping guides, the farm map and certification
15:08 The milk carton moment and earning credibility
15:57 Helping partner companies avoid overstating claims
17:57 What farmers say about the real hurdles
20:40 Farmer Relations Board
23:04 Partner companies and how the partnerships work
27:24 What is next for Kiss The Ground
29:03 How listeners can help
31:25 A serial optimist on why change comes fast then slow
34:04 What keeps Evan going
35:39 One word for the audience: hope
You can follow Evan Harrison here:
LinkedIn - https://linkedin.com/in/evanharrison (https://linkedin.com/in/evanharrison)
Learn more about Kiss The Ground:
Website - https://kisstheground.com (https://kisstheground.com)
Follow the host, Reetu Gupta here:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/guptareetu/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/guptareetu/)
Green Shoots & Big Shifts: https://thepod.fm/listen/green-shoots-big-shifts
7 Oct 2026
70% of Wildlife Is Gone. This CEO Is Racing to Map What's Left - Dan White, CEO Gentian
Wildlife populations have dropped 70% over the last 50 years, and most organizations still can't say what nature exists on the land they manage. Dan White, CEO & Founder of Gentian, measures biodiversity using satellite imagery and AI that detects plant species and habitats from space, then hands that data to property developers, farmers, oil and gas firms, and First Nations communities so they can act on nature/ ecological risk. His path runs from childhood bird watching through behavioral economics work that cut aviation fuel use, and he connects both to the value we fail to count.
Chapters:
00:03 Welcome to Green Shoots and Big Shifts
00:55 Dan's early love of nature and bird watching
01:45 A career arc from music to CEO
02:32 Serendipity, doors, and following your values
04:25 What Gentian measures with satellites and AI
05:14 Why habitats matter and the extinction crisis
06:48 Who uses biodiversity data and why
08:20 Regulation, TNFD, and nature on the bottom line
11:19 Nature based solutions and climate resilience
12:56 Losing one drug every two years to plant extinction
14:32 Behavioral economics and changing decisions
15:24 District heating data and meeting Rob Metcalfe
17:45 The Virgin Atlantic fuel efficiency trial
18:31 Signal: feedback for pilots and ships captains
20:01 Why personalized goals beat leaderboards
23:08 Advice for people starting out in this work
25:18 What's next for Dan and Gentian
27:36 A word for the audience: chicken
Learn more about Gentian:
Website - https://gentian.team (https://gentian.team)
Follow the host, Reetu Gupta here:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/guptareetu/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/guptareetu/)
30 Sept 2026
Closing the Ocean's $150B Funding Gap through Donor Advised Funds: Laura Francis, Sea Forward
Less than 1% of philanthropic capital goes to ocean causes, and the funding gap for a healthy ocean runs at least $150 billion. Laura Francis, Founder of Sea Forward Fund, is closing that gap with a collaborative multi donor fund now invested in 12 ocean health funds that span roughly 200 companies across 53 countries. After 27 years at NOAA and a career as a kelp forest ecologist, she built a model where a $250 donation and a $2 million donation both matter, returns cycle back through a donor advised fund, and everyday people learn how ocean impact investing works.
Chapters:
00:03 Welcome to Green Shoots and Big Shifts
00:53 Falling in love with the ocean at 11 years olf
02:26 From UC Santa Barbara to 27 years at NOAA
03:53 Move into impact investing
06:12 The ocean funding gap and SDG 14
08:41 Inside Sea Forward Fund: 12 funds, 200 companies, 53 countries
09:26 Choosing science based fund managers and measuring impact
11:40 Why a $250 donation matters as much as $2 million
13:12 Impact Investing without a donor advised fund through CataCap
14:46 The living laboratory and the Ever Blue model
16:22 Ripple: community, webinars and newsletters
17:53 California Ocean Summit in Santa Barbara, December 2026
19:27 Lessons on mobilizing small donors for big impact
21:44 The ocean as a financial ecosystem
22:28 What's next: new platforms, field trips and growing to 15 funds
24:43 A science to finance pathway for students
25:35 Closing on resilience and hope
You can follow Laura Francis here:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauraannfrancis/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauraannfrancis/)
Learn more about Sea Forward Fund:
- Sea Forward Fund Website - https://seaforwardfund.org (https://seaforwardfund.org)
- Sea Forward Fund on Catacap: https://catacap.org/investments/seaforward
- California Ocean Summit: https://calocean.org/
DAF Commons: https://www.dafcommons.com/
Follow the host, Reetu Gupta here:
- LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/guptareetu/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/guptareetu/)
- https://www.linkedin.com/company/green-shoots-big-shifts/?viewAsMember=true
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Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
6 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
5 ratings
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