Scaling Social Impact: Suzanne Smith on Helping Organizations Create Change

About this episode

Suzanne Smith discusses the challenges nonprofits face in scaling their impact and the importance of sustainable organizations in creating social change.

Suzanne Smith has spent her career working with nonprofits and has witnessed a reality many people outside the field don’t see: solving big social problems requires more than passion and good intentions. It requires organizations strong enough to grow and build long-term sustainability. In this episode, Suzanne shares what it’s like to work in the social impact world, and what she’s learned from working with organizations trying to turn big ideas for change into lasting results and stronger communities. "One of the things I saw was the fact that the issues were scaling, but the organizations were not scaling along with them." Hear Suzanne talk about: Growing up in a family that talked about social issues at the dinner table Her early career working in lobbying and the nonprofit sector Why many nonprofits struggle to scale their impact The intersection of nonprofit, business, and government in creating change Why she believes social change work is a calling, not just a job Mentioned in this episode: Social Impact Architects Suzanne Smith’s Substack blog, Social Trendspotter Support This Show: Follow Tell Me What It’s Like in your favorite podcast app Leave a rating & review —…

People in this episode

Host: Stacy Raine

Guest: Suzanne Smith

Topics covered

• social impact
• nonprofits
• sustainability
• community change
• scaling organizations

Keywords

• social problems
• nonprofit sector
• organizational growth
• social change
• community impact

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Social Impact Architects, Social Trendspotter

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