In a day and age where worldwide crises appear on phone screens faster than it takes popcorn kernels to pop, it should come as no surprise that Millennials and Gen-Zers are hyper-aware of what happens around them.
Social media has become a part of daily life, and whether or not its positives outweigh its negatives, it currently serves as a great tool to hold companies accountable for their practices. With increased visibility online, and a newfound ability to connect with their audience, businesses have adapted to the rising demand for transparency and investments to build a better future for the environment.
When it feels like the outside world is falling apart so early on in their lives, this next generation of consumers wants to see tangible results from the brands they love. They are aware of their purchasing power, and most want to put it to good use and will be quick to “cancel” those who fail to deliver on their promises.
Times are changing. People can find information everywhere at the click of a button. Businesses that want to leave a legacy must find ways to give back to the community and stick to their plan – winning can only come from providing a better tomorrow.
To highlight the organizations and individuals that are striving to make a difference in their industry, we interviewed Arielle Caputo, founder of Caputo Consulting, Head of Operations of The Edge Of Company and leader of the social impact track for the highly anticipated Web3 convention Outer Edge LA.
Who Is Arielle Caputo?
Arielle Caputo, currently leading the social impact track for Outer Edge LA, was always meant to end up where she is now. On a search for meaning and finding a sense of purpose bigger than life, she dove into the nonprofit sector and spent the last decade giving back.
After volunteering for every nonprofit in Los Angeles that would let her in, Caputo knew early on that she wanted to transform the lives of the individuals these organizations helped in a meaningful way unrelated to dollar donations. Over the years, through her determination to put a smile back on individuals going through hardships, she became an expert in organizing events and injecting a dose of fun into the communities she works with.
“My first experience was showing up at The Convent House in Hollywood with chocolates, balloons, flowers, and hygiene supplies for the youth residing there,” she recalled.
With one event being a massive dance party with makeup, prom-style dresses and suits, others were more serious in nature, offering individuals seeking to enter the professional world, outfits and classes on what to wear and how to successfully master job interviews and fill out college applications.
Caputo’s most notable event, in partnership with HavASole, allowed kids to experience their first-ever shoe festivals, with giveaways, custom airbrush stations for their new kicks and soccer players stopping by to give autographs. All in all, her hard work and creative direction in organizing these events led her to do many more, each scaling in size as time went by – such as co-hosting the Global Youth Awards and a monthly Think Tank that brought business owners focused on Social Impact, Sustainability, or Mental and Health well-being together to connect.
Explaining how her experience led her to where she is today, an owner of a consulting agency and more, Caputo shared: “In a personal pursuit to become the happiest, healthiest version of myself, I went deep down the road of non-toxic living and choosing sustainable brands for my home life. I began implementing all of the strategies, clean brands, and sustainable practices with SB Projects, making it my mission to run an office supporting sustainable and social impact-focused brands. From there, my goal became to implement everything I had learned over the years on a much larger scale.”
She continued, “I knew Josh Kriger from our Think Tanks as he had a social impact-focused business. After speaking about our goals and learning that we were in alignment with what he was seeking to do with The Edge Of Company, we decided to join forces and find creative ways to bring this vision to life and implement philanthropy into the structure of the Outer Edge LA conference.”
What Is Outer Edge LA?
Formerly known as NFT LA, Outer Edge LA is a four-day convention uniquely catered to the creative curiosity of every collector, investor, creator, artist, and industry-professional looking to onboard, connect, or co-create in Web3 and other areas of emerging tech. Last year alone, more than 250 speakers attended, with a number of artists surpassing 500, resulting in a colossal gathering of 3,500 attendees and a reach of 12 million across the media.
Dubbed the largest gathering of cultural influencers and Web3 innovators to hit the West Coast, the panel of speakers always exceeds expectations. Here are the top speakers scheduled to attend this year:
- William Shatner (Actor and Producer)
- Yat Sui (Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Animoca Brands)
- Jennifer Prince (CCO, Los Angeles Rams)
- Shyam Nagarajan (Web3 & Blockchain Services Lead, IBM)
- Tom Bilyeu (Co-Founder and Co-Host, Impact Theory)
- Scott Greenberg (CEO, Blockchain Creative Labs)
- Jeff Zirlin (Co-Founder, Axie Infinity)
- Sandy Carter (SVP of Business Development, Unstoppable Domains)
- Metta World Peace (Former NBA champion and Founder of Artest Management Group)
- Baron Davis (Former NBA all-star and Founder of Baron Davis Enterprises)
- Scott Page (Pink Floyd Saxist and CEO, Think: EXP)
- Annika Rose (Web3-native musical artist)
- Miguel Faus (Filmmaker and Director, Calladita)
Arielle Caputo on Outer Edge's Social Impact
DANNIE LE: Can you tell us more about what spearheading Outer Edge LA’s social impact track means to you and how you decided on which direction to take?
ARIELLE CAPUTO: The goal was, how do we not just talk about Social Impact on a stage but truly embed it into the structure of the conference? There are a lot of brands out there seeking to do good and make a difference, but Josh and I spoke early on about the importance of selecting ones that had [already] made a difference (not just proposing making a difference or in the early stages of formation). So we implemented several initiatives in place.
We carefully selected Web3 brands that had a measurable impact, proven dollars, and statistics showing the real-life impact they had made. I did massive research for months; I wanted to know every single company/project that was in the Web3 philanthropy space and see who was actually making a difference and then give a stage and visibility to the ones doing it right. I connected with hundreds of incredible people! There were established ones and then ones still on the come up.
We wanted to find a way to acknowledge the small startups and bring visibility to the change they are making in their own way. So we worked closely with Nadya [Rousseau] and her team with Alter New Media and created Community Partners; we onboarded over 20 social good companies, giving them placement on our website, logo visibility, shoutouts in our newsletter, and gifted their founder a ticket to attend Outer Edge LA so that they could continue to network and grow their brand to support their efforts in making an impact on our planet.
What are some of the initiatives and partnerships you put in place for Outer Edge LA 2023?
- We partnered with Candace Newman, Founder of Live Out Live, a nonprofit organization that provides skills, exposure and opportunities for Black, Latinx and other underrepresented teens and young adults seeking to pursue careers in live entertainment. They provide internships, workshops and mentorship programs and connect participants to opportunities in the live entertainment world.
- We partnered with Principal Amen Rahh, Founder of K12 Crypto and created a Youth Summit on March 15th; a full day focused on bridging the gap between students and school facilitators. We are so excited we were able to sponsor numerous youth and teachers to be able to attend the event for free.
- We partnered with Tal Navarro, Founder of Social Lady and WIN, to create a one-of-a-kind Charity Fashion Show during Outer Edge LA where Web3 thought leaders will walk to support Women In Need. All proceeds from the auction will go towards WIN Foundation, which is a nonprofit that supports women in war zones and in daily war (sex trafficking, violence etc.) by selling their art.
- We partnered with Tom Herman and Meta-Carbon and will be gifting all ticket holders a Mangrove Seedling NFT for carbon footprint reduction.
- We partnered with Olga Chernysheva, Founder of DRESSX, to create a unique digital wearable bomber jacket to gift to all 2023 ticket holders. After learning that 15% of fashion was consumed for digital content creation only, and one digital fashion garment emits 97% less carbon footprint to produce than the physical one, we wanted to support the mission of DRESSX in the Digital Fashion space to help make the fashion industry more sustainable.
In your opinion, how can events like Outer Edge LA contribute to creating a more socially conscious and responsible business community, and what role do you see the social impact track playing in this larger context?
Conferences and festivals that bring together change-makers are an incredible platform to leverage to make an actual difference. You have people traveling from all over the world seeking to connect with other like-minded individuals. You have press and media, stages and podcast interviews… all of these modalities of communication that have the incredible capability of reaching across time zones and countries. Why not set the stage and carve a path for numerous other conferences, exhibitions, and festivals to truly make a difference? From small initiatives like no plastic water bottles onsite, adding refillable water stations with recycled cups, adding vegan options, eradicating plastic lanyard sleeves, educating about the reduction of our carbon footprint, and reducing conference swag waste…all of these small practices lead to substantial impact which is something our OEL team is really all about.
What do you hope attendees will gain from participating in the social impact track, and how do you plan to measure its success?
The mission for The Edge Of Company and the goal of Outer Edge LA 2023 is to create magical moments that connect, educate, and inspire and we believe we will deliver that by highlighting some incredible people and projects. We want people to come excited and leave inspired, connecting with others set on making the world a better place and go on to create large companies and brands that do just that. We want to give people real-life tools, processes by proven companies, educational workshops, and success stories from CEOs and Founders who are carving a new path. I think success for us would be watching all the companies, projects, and brands that emerge from being inspired by OEL 2023 and that come back to co-create with us in future capacities.
Can you share an example of a particularly impactful session or speaker that will be featured in the social impact track and why you think it will be valuable for attendees?
Ahaha, that is like asking a parent which one is their favorite child. I can say I am very excited about all the incredible humans we are putting on the stage: Including representatives from Metagood, Impact NFT Alliance, The Giving Block, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Help US Gather (HUG), K12 Crypto, WIN Foundation, W1SE, Flower Girls NFT, Nfty Dreams DAO, Fund The Planet. We had [such] an overwhelming outreach of inspiring humans wanting to participate in OEL 2023 that we ended up creating a sanctioned satellite event 1 mile from the Convention Center called Philanthropy Day, with the goal to create a space where everyone focused on making an impact, whether through social good initiatives, sustainability efforts, fundraising, mental health awareness and more… can connect with others while everyone is in town for Outer Edge LA 2023.
Outer Edge LA takes place March 20-23, 2023, at the Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA. Buy your tickets here. Use our code Honey10 to get 10% off!
For more information, visit outeredge.live.
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Currently working as a copywriter and in PR, Dannie Le provides articles, press releases for a plethora of clients from diverse industries. From Montreal, Canada, she is an avid learner and believes in the power of strategic partnerships. When she’s not writing, she enjoys a good coffee, traveling, and taking life head-on.
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