In this episode, Bard MBA director Eban Goodstein interviews Alejandro Juárez Crawford and Miriam Plavin-Masterman, co-authors of One Size Fits None, about how VC-driven scale and corporate cost-cutting have created unresponsive systems that squeeze consumers and workers alike. They share stories of grassroots innovators using platforms like Rebel Base to solve local problems—from disability employment in the Philippines to vegan leather made from jackfruit peels in Bangladesh—and discuss alternative funding models that keep capital and decision-making in communities. Their message: structured opportunities to experiment can awaken entrepreneurial capabilities everywhere, because "there's no Hollywood hero riding in to save us.
This episode captures the energy of Bard's 'Inside Sustainability Live' series, where real-world practitioners and academics come together to build community and share strategies for advancing sustainability work in challenging times.
Bard’s Graduate Programs in Sustainability cultivate leaders who break through existing systems, innovating solutions to critical social, environmental and economic challenges. 2023 marked the 20th anniversary of the first graduating class from M.S. in Environmental Policy degree at Bard CEP and the 10th graduating class from the Bard MBA in Sustainability program. The 2024 graduating MS EP, MS CSP, MEd and MBA classes brought the Bard GPS alumni community to over 500!
Eban Goodstein
Eban Goodstein is the Director of the Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability. In recent years, Goodstein has coordinated a series of worldwide educational initiatives on climate change involving over 2500 colleges, universities, high schools and community organizations. He is the author of a college textbook, Economics and the Environment, (John Wiley and Sons) now in its ninth edition; Fighting for Love in the Century of Extinction: How Passion and Politics Can Stop Global Warming (University Press of New England); and The Trade-off Myth: Fact and Fiction about Jobs and the Environment. (Island Press). Articles by Goodstein have appeared in The Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Land Economics, Ecological Economics, and Environmental Management, among other outlets. His research has been featured in The New York Times, Scientific American, Time, Chemical and Engineering News, The Economist, USA Today, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. He serves on the editorial board of Sustainability: The Journal of Record, and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Follett Corporation.
Alejandro Juárez Crawford
As cofounder of the Democratizing Innovation Institute and cocreator of the RebelBase platform, Alejandro leads a global collaboration to equip people to take on unresponsive systems by launching experiments of their own. He is coauthor of One Size Fits None: Time for an Entrepreneurial Revolution. He serves as clinical professor of innovation at Bard's leading MBA in Sustainability, writes and speaks widely on social innovation and entrepreneurship, and cohosts the What if Instead? podcast.
Miriam Plavin-Masterman
Miriam Plavin-Masterman is a tenured business faculty member at Worcester State University, and co-author of One Size Fits None: Time for an Entrepreneurial Revolution, a book that calls for democratizing innovation to solve complex, systemic challenges. An expert in organizational theory, culture, and social and sustainable entrepreneurship, she teaches Strategy, Organizational Behavior, Design Thinking, and Small Business Management.
Before entering academia, Miriam worked as a real estate financial executive, strategy consultant, and project manager, with experience spanning public–private development partnerships, financial management, and strategic planning for both small and large organizations. Her work bridges theory and practice, equipping leaders to build organizations that are innovative, resilient, and impact-driven.