Designing Tomorrow: Creative Strategies for Social Impact

If solving the world's hardest problems requires the world's best people, why do we pay social impact professionals like they should be grateful just to have a job? The sector still treats its workforce as a cost to be minimized rather than the most important element to its success. So what would it look like to invest in people with the same urgency we bring to our missions? Rusty Stahl is the founder of Fund the People and a former Ford Foundation program associate. He's spent over a decad...

In the social impact sector, we talk a lot about systems. Structural barriers. Root causes. Power structures. But I've watched systems-focused thinking become its own kind of trap: top-down, abstract, and alienating the very people it aims to serve. Because systems aren't just structures and policies. They're people. And you can't change a system by imposing solutions from above. You have to build with the people living inside it. My guest today calls herself a practical radical. After her fa...

What if the biggest barrier to your mission isn't funding, or talent, or market conditions — but the people sitting in your boardroom? Not because they're bad people. But because they don't have clear expectations about their role. They weren't trained on the very real skills required for governance. And they're shoved into systems that don't allow them to bring their best strengths to the table. In this episode, I sit down with Rob Acton, founder of Cause Strategy Partners, to explore what s...

We break down the 2025 Bank of America Study of Philanthropy with the researchers who created it — exploring what this concentration means for nonprofit sustainability and the future of philanthropy. There’s a number that keeps showing up in conversations about American philanthropy. And it tells two completely different stories depending on how you read it. Over the past decade, charitable giving from affluent households increased more than 30%. That’s remarkable. That suggests a secto...

In this episode, we're joined by Drew Dumsch, President and CEO of the Ecology School at River Bend Farm in Maine. Drew co-founded the organization 26 years ago with a premise that felt radical then and feels essential now: that ecological literacy — learning to read the landscape the way you learn to read a book — is foundational to creating engaged, compassionate citizens capable of understanding complex systems. This conversation challenges the assumption that more information will save us...

Mike Nellis has raised over $1 billion for progressive campaigns and causes. As the founder of Authentic and former Senior Advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris, he's seen what work — and what doesn't — in digital fundraising. In this conversation, we explore what nonprofits can learn from campaign strategy, the dangers of volume-driven marketing, and why authenticity might be the only sustainable advantage left. Notable Quotes "The biggest thing that moves the needle is volume. It matters...

What if philanthropy, as we know it, is a flawed system? In this episode, we're joined by Jen Nguyen, a director at the Stupski Foundation, a unique "spend-down" organization designed to close its doors after giving away all of its assets by 2029. Jen, a former college counselor, provides an unapologetically candid look at a sector she may soon leave, revealing a rare freedom to challenge the status quo from within. We'll discuss how a "wait and see" approach to philanthropy falls short in ...