
Episode 18: A Conversation with Operation Snow Leopard
10/08/24 • 99 min
This is a very special episode of Goalmakers – well, all episodes of Goalmakers are special, of course, because of the incredible people we get to interview – yet this one stands apart.
Let me explain. This session chronicles a very important chapter in our history books because it narrates the heroic efforts of a team of passionate individuals that came together to conquer a huge challenge – how to get key persons out of Afghanistan after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in the summer of 2021.
For this episode, I was privileged to be able to sit with the founders of Operation Snow Leopard, and an organizational consultant and veteran who are also part of the OSL team.
This is a story of David and Goliath, goliath being the incredible challenge of how to extricate persons from the grips of the Taliban state.
Data, paperwork, physical extraction routes, safehouses, secrecy, resettlement, more data, more paperwork, more challenges of where to settle persons...
This is a story of passion and perseverance. This is a story about the love of freedom and doing what’s right.
This is also a narrative of how myriads of disparate data needs were centralized and a professional-grade manifest database was created by Salesforce and Google to set a new standard that can be used for future evacuation efforts for a variety of situations.
And OSL’s mission is not complete, and they need more partnerships and support.
And I was very happy to hear how their membership with Global Washington helped facilitate several important connections and collaborations.
I hope you enjoy hearing about Operation Snow Leopard as much as I enjoyed interviewing this diverse, warm, smart, and welcoming group.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This is a very special episode of Goalmakers – well, all episodes of Goalmakers are special, of course, because of the incredible people we get to interview – yet this one stands apart.
Let me explain. This session chronicles a very important chapter in our history books because it narrates the heroic efforts of a team of passionate individuals that came together to conquer a huge challenge – how to get key persons out of Afghanistan after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in the summer of 2021.
For this episode, I was privileged to be able to sit with the founders of Operation Snow Leopard, and an organizational consultant and veteran who are also part of the OSL team.
This is a story of David and Goliath, goliath being the incredible challenge of how to extricate persons from the grips of the Taliban state.
Data, paperwork, physical extraction routes, safehouses, secrecy, resettlement, more data, more paperwork, more challenges of where to settle persons...
This is a story of passion and perseverance. This is a story about the love of freedom and doing what’s right.
This is also a narrative of how myriads of disparate data needs were centralized and a professional-grade manifest database was created by Salesforce and Google to set a new standard that can be used for future evacuation efforts for a variety of situations.
And OSL’s mission is not complete, and they need more partnerships and support.
And I was very happy to hear how their membership with Global Washington helped facilitate several important connections and collaborations.
I hope you enjoy hearing about Operation Snow Leopard as much as I enjoyed interviewing this diverse, warm, smart, and welcoming group.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Previous Episode

Episode 16: A Conversation with David Evangelista, Regional President & Managing Director, Europe Eurasia, Special Olympics
I am very pleased that today I get to share an inciteful and though-provoking conversation with a very special person – David Evangelista, Regional President & Managing Director of Europe Eurasia for Special Olympics.
This conversation is one of those rare occurrences where one’s perspective is forever changed. At least it was for me...and I’ll wager that it will be for you too.
This recording was made in March of 2023 for a Global Washington profile article on David, as interviewed by one of our long-time writers, Amber Cortes.
I really want to describe what’s in this interview, but I think it will be a much better journey for our listeners to simply let David’s surprising insights and perspectives unfold and reveal themselves without preamble. They’re timeless and applicable on so many levels.
Hit play, sit back, and enjoy!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Next Episode

Episode 17: A Conversation with Naria Santa Lucia, General Manager of Digital Inclusion at Microsoft Philanthropies
Digital upskilling ... digital inclusion.
These are important concepts when one understands the need for economic opportunity for new job seekers and existing business owners in low- to middle-income countries.
Whether from a university in Ghana, or a village in Haryana, it is paramount for people in today’s business ecosystems to have comfort with, and knowledge of, digital technologies to be successful.
Microsoft understands this and has embarked on an ambitious mission to empower not only the emerging new generation of skilled workers across the globe, but also companies, government agencies, and nonprofits who support economic development in low- to middle-income countries.
This may sound like a lofty goal, yet Microsoft is achieving amazing results.
To find out more about how they do this, I was able to have an informative conversation with a woman who is at the heart of it all, Naria Santa Lucia, General Manager of Digital Inclusion at Microsoft Philanthropies.
Naria talked about the vast number of interrelated programs, products, and services Microsoft offers nonprofits, job seekers, and, well, just about anyone who would like to learn more about technology.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
If you like this episode you’ll love
Episode Comments
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this episode
<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/goalmakers-504692/episode-18-a-conversation-with-operation-snow-leopard-75845680"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to episode 18: a conversation with operation snow leopard on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>
Copy