A Legacy of Purpose: Conversations with Dina H. Sherif

Join Executive Director of the MIT Kuo Sharper Center for Prosperity and Entrepreneurship, Dina H. Sherif as she brings together the stories of those brave enough to engage in leadership, with a focus on those who are working hard to see entrepreneurs thrive across global growth markets. The podcast will feature individuals who stand strong in their purpose and who are working hard to create change, now and for the future.

A Legacy of Purpose: Conversations with Dina H. Sherif is a business podcast hosted by Dina H. Sherif, with 13 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Dina H. Sherif hosts A Legacy of Purpose: Conversations with Dina H. Sherif, a business show with 13 episodes published.

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  Episode #3

  HAL GREGERSEN on Leading with Curiosity in a Complex World

  Jul 20, 20261h 6mS2

  How do we retain our human agency, creativity, and capacity for deep critical thinking in a world shifting at an exponential pace? In this episode of : . , host Dina sits down with Hal Gregersen, PhD, MIT Digital Fellow, leadership expert, and author of 'Questions Are the Answer,' for an intimate, candid conversation that challenges our modern obsession with immediate answers. Moving past conventional soundbites, this dialogue uncovers how true leadership requires the bravery to sit in the uncomfortable silence of not knowing, and how continuous inquiry serves as our ultimate anchor for navigating complexity. Through a powerful combination of personal stories and rigorous frameworks, Gregersen details why leaders must shift from projecting absolute certainty to embracing deep, intentional observation. He shares how his creative practice as a photographer intersects with behavioral psychology, how childhood survival mechanisms can evolve into a proactive search for truth, and how his latest research proves that vulnerability directly builds psychological safety within a team. Finally, the conversation confronts the deep ethical dilemmas of the modern technological landscape, exploring how leaders can strategically audit their own identities to ensure they adopt artificial intelligence by design, rather than by default. : Hal Gregersen, PhD, is a Digital Fellow at the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, a Senior Lecturer in Leadership and Innovation at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and the former Executive Director of the MIT Leadership Center. Recognized by Thinkers50 as one of the world's most influential management thinkers, he has dedicated his extensive career to fostering cultures of fearless inquiry across global academic institutions and corporations. He has authored or co-authored ten books translated into 15 languages, including the bestsellers Questions Are the Answer: A Breakthrough Approach to Your Most Vexing Problems at Work and in Life and The Innovator’s DNA: Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators (with Clayton Christensen and Jeff Dyer). : Hosted by Dina H. Sherif, Executive Director of the MIT Kuo Sharper Center for Prosperity and Entrepreneurship, features intimate dialogues with global innovators, leaders, and policymakers. The series strips away polished scripts to uncover the emotional drivers and core values that guide high-level judgment and systemic transformation. #ALegacyOfPurpose #HalGregersen #MIT #LeadershipExpert #CriticalThinking #AIStrategy #OrganizationalCulture #PsychologicalSafety #ManagementTheory #ContinuousInquiry #NewCalculus #ChallengingAssumptions #FearlessInquiry #QuestionsAreTheAnswer Host: Dina Sherif Produced by Sherif Shafie For Media Inquiries: Sherif Shafie Sloan School of Management Massachusetts Institute of Technology 292 Main St, E38, 5th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02142

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  Episode #2

  BEYOND EXTRACTION: Redesigning Value with Ayo Sopitan

  Jul 20, 20261h 21mS2

  Can sustainable commodities trading unlock inclusive prosperity across global growth markets? In this episode of 'A Legacy of Purpose', host Dina H. Sherif interviews Ayo Sopitan, Founder and CEO of Metalex Commodities Inc. and an MIT Kuo Sharper Center Foundry Fellow, to explore how a non-zero-sum ecosystem is redefining African innovation and climate resilience. In this insightful conversation, you will discover how aligning a venture with personal philosophy and the Japanese concept of Ikigai creates the unshakeable foundation required to tackle complex, systemic infrastructure challenges. Ayo openly shares his transition from a fifteen-year elite corporate consulting career into raw commodities mining, breaking down his methodology of iterative problem solving to navigate long-term economic risk. The discussion moves far beyond standard business strategies to address the critical mandate of narrative sovereignty, localized mineral processing, and carbon-neutral green transition solutions. You will also gain powerful insights into how African diaspora capital can be strategically redirected from short-term consumption into long-term local production and ecosystem building. From building affordable community housing to integrating nature-based forestry conservation, this conversation redefines what ethical leadership and sustainable growth look like on the global stage. Watch to hear Dina and Ayo map out a new calculus for economic agency, transparent mentorship, and a lasting legacy of purpose. Key topics covered in this episode: • Shifting from raw extraction to local processing and value retention • Navigating the risk muscle from the college dorm room to the global C-suite • The ecosystem approach: integrating affordable housing, local jobs, and clean energy • Re-channeling the $100 billion annual African diaspora remittances into production • Redefining mentorship through radical honesty and sharing embarrassing failures Host: Dina Sherif Produced by Sherif Shafie For Media Inquiries: Sherif Shafie Sloan School of Management Massachusetts Institute of Technology 292 Main St, E38, 5th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02142

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  Episode #1

  Designing Systems for Hope | A Conversation with H.E. Ghada Waly on Power, Policy, and the Courage to Step Back

  Mar 17, 20261h 2mS2

  <p>𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗛𝗼𝗽𝗲 | 𝗔 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗛.𝗘. 𝗚𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗮 𝗪𝗮𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿, 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸<br/><br/>"𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙥𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙥𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙙𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮."<br/><br/>In this episode of A Legacy of Purpose, host Dina H. Sherif is joined by a true pioneer of global development, Her Excellency Dr. Ghada Waly.<br/><br/>From the rural fields of Upper Egypt to the high-stakes treaty rooms of the United Nations in Vienna, Ghada Waly’s career has been defined by a singular mission: to center human dignity in the machinery of government.<br/><br/>As Egypt’s Minister of Social Solidarity, she didn’t just manage poverty—she innovated against it. She architected Takaful and Karama (Solidarity and Dignity), a conditional cash transfer program that supported millions of families by linking financial aid to education and health, using technology to bridge the gap between the state and the most vulnerable.<br/><br/>She later took this "bottom-up" philosophy to the global stage as the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)—becoming the first woman, African, and Arab to hold the post. There, she championed an alternative, holistic perspective on security, arguing that crime is often a sympt...

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  Episode #9

  The Story of MENA & Building What Doesn’t Exist Yet | A Conversation with Noor Sweid

  Jul 30, 20251h 4mS1

  <p>In this episode of A Legacy of Purpose, Executive Director Dina H. Sherif is joined by Noor Sweid, Founder and Managing Partner of Global Ventures, former Chief Investment Officer of The Dubai Future Foundation, and the first woman to lead an IPO in the MENA region.</p><p>With a career spanning biotechnology, government innovation, and now one of the most active venture capital firms in emerging markets, Noor shares her candid thoughts on what conviction looks like in the face of uncertainty, why capital is never the full story, and how growth markets must build not just for...

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  Episode #8

  Stories are the Bridge to Every Opportunity | A Conversation with Maha Abouelenein

  Jun 25, 202559 minS1

  <p>In this episode of A Legacy of Purpose: Conversations with Dina H. Sherif, we sit down with Maha Abouelenein to explore the power of communication, the responsibility of owning your story, and why she believes self-reliance is the most critical tool in your toolkit. Maha Abouelenein is a powerhouse in global strategic communications—a woman who’s shaped narratives for tech giants, political leaders, and entrepreneurs across the world. <br/><br/>From her upbringing as the daughter of Egyptian immigrants in Minnesota to building bridges between global brands and the Arab world, Maha shares her journey, her principles, and her h...

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