Ep. 19 - How The Media Is Reshaping Supply Chains

Guest

Xanthe Scharff

Duration

40 minutes

Host

Justin Dillon

Stories move business and policy in ways statistics can't.

‍

Investigative journalist Dr. Xanthe Scharff — co-founder of The Fuller Project — joins the show to unpack how storytelling drives change in global supply chains. From child and forced labor in cobalt mines to the women whose voices could be part of the solution, Xanthe and Justin explore why narrative continues to move business and policy where data alone falls short. They dig into how supply chain stories get placed in major outlets, why strategic audience thinking matters, and what cross-sector collaboration looks like when it actually works.

Listen on:

Watch on:

In this episode

How investigative journalism reshapes corporate behavior on human rights
Child and forced labor in critical mineral supply chains, including cobalt for batteries
Why stories move business and policy decisions more than statistics ever could
The mechanics of placing supply chain stories in major outlets — and why strategic audience targeting matters
How engaging women in mining communities can be part of the solution, not just the story
Cross-sector collaboration: why media, nonprofits, government, and business need to work together
The human stories behind the raw materials in everyday products

‍^{ABOUT THE GUEST}

Dr. Xanthe Scharff is an award-winning journalist, social entrepreneur, and co-founder of The Fuller Project — the global newsroom dedicated to groundbreaking reporting on women worldwide. Under her leadership, The Fuller Project grew from a grassroots startup founded on the Syrian border in 2014 into a global newsroom whose reporting has won 39 industry awards and been published with The New York Times, TIME, The Atlantic, Reuters, The Guardian, and The Washington Post.

Xanthe is also the founder and Board Chair Emerita of Advancing Girls' Education in Africa (AGE Africa), a nonprofit that has supported more than 3,000 girls' education in Malawi. She has received the Helen Gurley Brown Genius Grant for climate journalism, the National Association of Black Journalists' Salute to Excellence Award, and a Distinguished Achievement Award from Tufts University. As of 2025, she serves as Managing Director for External Affairs and Editor-at-Large at The Freedom Fund.

‍