Next Gen Doers

Independent Media in the Age of Interference: Zach Shaw

Zachary Shaw is a media executive with over seven years of experience leading impactful storytelling across journalism, public relations, and digital media. As Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Forum Media, he leads a fast-growing platform delivering incisive political and cultural reporting to a national audience, with work featured in CNN, Newsweek, USA Today, and The New York Times. Forum Media Website: https://theforum.beehiiv.com/ [https://theforum.beehiiv.com/] Instagram: TheForum_Media [https://instagram.com/TheForum_Media] Zachary Shaw Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawzachary30/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawzachary30/] Instagram: @Zach__Shaw [https://instagram.com/Zach__Shaw] Email: zach@forummedia.news

Building the Future of Work: Zara Zaman

Zara Zaman is an Investor and the Head of Platform at Emerge, a $73M early-stage fund investing in the future of work and learning. She leads Emerge's Venture Partner community of the top 100 founders, operators and executives in the space globally, from companies like OpenAI, Microsoft, Duolingo, Kahoot!, Udemy and more. Prior to Emerge, Zara was the Co-founder and Director of Edventure, the first pan-European university venture builder, focused on PhD spinouts. Edventure ran deep tech programmes in collaboration with Cancer Research UK and universities across Europe. In 2021, Emerge ran the largest university entrepreneurship conference for students and researchers in more than 45 countries across the globe. For the last four years, Zara has been living out of a suitcase, working from a different country every month, from Argentina, to Japan, to South Africa. She enjoys discovering new cultures, cuisines and languages, and most of all, meeting new people working on exciting projects. Zara Zaman: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zara-zaman/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/zara-zaman/] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zarasurfs/ [https://www.instagram.com/zarasurfs/] Substack: https://substack.com/@zarasurfs [https://substack.com/@zarasurfs]

Empowering Women for Climate Action: Renata Koch Alvarenga

Renata Koch Alvarenga is an award-winning Brazilian social entrepreneur and climate resilience advocate. She is the Founder and Executive Director of EmpoderaClima, a leading nonprofit organization advancing women's empowerment for climate action in Latin America and the Caribbean through education. A Harvard University graduate, Renata has worked at the United Nations, the World Bank, and the British Mission in Brazil. She was awarded the Beautiful Forces grant by Estée Lauder and Vital Voices in 2024, and became a Forbes Under 30 honoree as the Social Impact cover that same year. Currently, she serves as a Young Leader in the Generation17 initiative by UNDP and Samsung, and a Planet Fellow of Our Future Agenda at the United Nations Foundation. EmpoderaClima Website: ⁠ [https://www.empoderaclima.org/]https://www.empoderaclima.org/⁠ [https://www.empoderaclima.org/⁠] LinkedIn: ⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/empoderaclima/posts/?feedView=all]https://www.linkedin.com/company/empoderaclima/posts/?feedView=all⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/empoderaclima/posts/?feedView=all⁠] Instagram: ⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/empoderaclima]https://www.instagram.com/empoderaclima⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/empoderaclima⁠] Renata Koch Alvarenga: Website: ⁠ [http://renatakochalvarenga.com]renatakochalvarenga.com [http://renatakochalvarenga.com]⁠ [http://renatakochalvarenga.com] LinkedIn: ⁠ [http://www.linkedin.com/in/renatakochalvarenga/]www.linkedin.com/in/renatakochalvarenga/⁠ [http://www.linkedin.com/in/renatakochalvarenga/⁠] Instagram: ⁠ [http://www.instagram.com/renatakochalvarenga]www.instagram.com/renatakochalvarenga [http://www.instagram.com/renatakochalvarenga]

Building Africa's Tech Ecosystem: Caleb Maru

Caleb Maru is the Founder & CEO of Tech Safari, a platform building the social infrastructure behind Africa’s tech and business ecosystem. Tech Safari operates across media, convening, and talent — reaching over 1.5 million people monthly through digital platforms, curating high-impact summits and investor gatherings across the continent, and supporting companies with strategic talent and market expansion. Through Tech Safari, Caleb has worked with and convened leaders from organizations including GIZ, the World Bank, Paystack, Netflix, and other global and African institutions shaping the continent’s future. Tech Safari exists to create markets and unlock opportunity — connecting technology, capital, and community to help companies scale across Africa. Caleb also co-founded Proximity Ventures, an early-stage investment platform backing over 30 companies building transformative solutions across the continent. Prior to Tech Safari, he led growth and program strategy at EntryLevel and co-founded and exited an emerging markets edtech startup. Caleb’s work sits at the intersection of technology, capital, and community — building the spaces where Africa’s next generation of businesses scale and connect to opportunity. Tech Safari: Website: https://www.techsafari.io/ [https://www.techsafari.io/] Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/company/techsafarihq/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/techsafarihq/] LinkedIn: https://www.instagram.com/techsafarihq/ [https://www.instagram.com/techsafarihq/] Caleb Maru: ke.linkedin.com/in/calebmaru

Introducing Next-Gen Doers

Welcome to the Next-Gen Doers Podcast. I'm your host, Aishwarya G. Rai. I want to tell you a bit about why I started this podcast, and who I made it for. Make sure to follow to keep up to date on our weekly conversations. We're also on Instagram @nextgendoers [https://www.instagram.com/nextgendoers?igsh=MWgxMTkxeHZ0ZGc1bQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr] We are so glad you are here.