Episode 22 - Tokenizing social impact ft. Michael Cooper from Panagora Group

In this episode we are pleased to be joined by Michael Cooper, Director for Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning at the Panagora Group, for a discussion on tokenizing social impact. We dive into what tokens are, the role of tokens in driving social impact, and Michael’s work on tokenizing social impact, including what it means for current social impact practice, and the gaps that need to be addressed moving forward. This episode combines the perspectives of emerging fields like cryptoecnomics with historical evidence from the behavioral sciences with an eye toward building new social impact tools.This episode begins a series of discussions with Michael on what tokens are, how they can be used to achieve these positive behaviors, and what is necessary to do this effectively and ethically.About Michael and Panagora GroupThe Panagora Group is a leader in providing evidence driven innovation in social impact to the United States Agency for International Development and is actively building the tools for effective and ethical digital impact.  Along with colleagues from the Research Institute for Cryptoeconomics, Notre Dame and Cardiff Universities, Michael has recently published a paper that explores the use of tokens to achieve the behaviors necessary for social impact, which can be found HERE.Social LinksFollow Panagora Group:TwitterWebsiteFollow Michael CooperTwitterLinkedInMediumEpisode Time Stamps:01:30 – What was your “ah hah” moment that got you interested in cryptocurrency and blockchain03:30 – What is "social impact"?  How is blockchain being used to achieve it?07:20 – What is your background in blockchain and social impact?14:30 – What is a "token"?20:10 – How can tokens be more effective in achieving social impact? (8 mins)26:15 – What are the next steps that need to happen to make advancements in tokenizing social impact?35:10 – What’s the best way for listeners to learn more about your work?For more exciting content exploring the intersections of web3 and social impact, check us out at cryptoaltruism.org.Buy us a coffee!Enjoy the episode? Crypto Altruism runs on the support of the community. Help us out by buying us a coffee:ETH(ERC20) - 0xac5C0105914F3afb363699996C9914f193aeDD4A--DISCLAIMER --While we may discuss specific web3 projects or cryptocurrencies on this podcast, please do not take any of this as investment advice, and please make sure to do your own research on potential investment opportunities, or any opportunity, before making an investment. We host a variety of guests on this podcast with the sole purpose of highlighting the social impact use cases of this technology. That being said, Crypto Altruism does not endorse any of these projects, and we recognize that, since this is an emerging sector, some may be operating in regulatory grey areas, and as such, we cannot confirm their legality in the jurisdictions in which they operate, especially as it pertains to decentralized finance protocols. So, before getting involved with any project, it’s important that you do your own research and confirm the legality of the project. More on the disclaimer at cryptoaltruism.org.Please note: we make use of affiliate marketing to provide readers with referrals to high quality and relevant products and services.