All episodes are also available on YouTube so please subscribe and browse all of our past conversations, including those below.

51. Moral Injury & Organizational Harm

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We talked about, moral injury, the damage done to one’s conscience or moral compass when that person perpetrates, witnesses, or fails to prevent acts that transgress one’s own moral beliefs, values, or ethical codes of conduct (source: Moral Injury Project).

How does this play out in our social change organizations and work? Most of us do this work because we care deeply about justice and opportunity for all people. How do we reconcile instances when how our organizations operate, how decisions are made, and how actions are taken in the name of social good, violate our own moral compasses?

I was joined by three fantastic guests to dive into these topics.

Meico Marquette Whitlock, Mindful Techie, Author of When Work Doesn’t Love You Back

Frank Velásquez Jr., Founder, 4 Da Hood

Catherine Alonzo, CEO and Founding Partner, Javalina

45. Holiday Party 2023!

This episode was not recorded.

Each year we try to gather to celebrate the year of learning, guests, and big, bold questions. Since May 2020 (when the episodes began):

- 102 amazing guests have been featured on 45 episodes

- There have been 5,006 views of the episodes on YouTube

- More than 2,000 people receive the episode emails

- 851 people are members of the LinkedIn group

Alas, these are just numbers, but the stories, feels, and connections behind the numbers are what matters most.

41. New choices for how we assess impact: what is possible beyond either/or?

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In this episode,

Kelli Wilbert, Principal Program Manager - Equity in Design Operations, Workday;

Dr. Chera Reid, Co-Executive Director, Center for Evaluation Innovation; and

Heather Krause, Founder, We All Count

led us in a conversation where we discussed provocations like:

• Who decides what is impact?

• What is the role of power?

• What do stakeholder-centered data collection, analysis, impact, and user experience look like, and what is missing from our "standard" practices?

• What is the role of equity and justice connected to data, impact, and user experience?

• What choices do we make (and who makes them) that favor and benefit dominant cultures?
  

39. Holiday Party 2022!

This episode was not recorded.

Each year we try to gather to celebrate the year of learning, guests, and big, bold questions. 2022 included 10 amazing episodes led by 27 fantastic and inspiring leaders!

38. Failing Forward: When do we Risk Creating Harm when Our Intent is Rapid Learning?

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Business and startup jargon, methods, and spaces such as R&D, prototyping, pretotyping, rapid experimentation, and innovation labs have grown in the social impact sector for more than the past decade.

As we interrogate practices of design that have permeated the social impact realm, how might we also interrogate practices that support rapid testing, and "shallow experimentation and prototyping on what are wicked problems — problems like climate change, early childhood education, affordable housing, and various public health issues."

The quoted text above and this topic have been inspired by and taken from the article, by Louise Adongo, Have You Thought About the Harm Your Social R&D Project Might Cause?

Adongo goes on to question, "What happens when we lose sight of people in favour of innovation? When, for example, we go into a community with intent to prototype a ‘promising’ brand-new program, try out brand-new ways of delivering that program, learn a lot of useful information — then leave? What if the program fails? For whom does it hold promise? What promises? And who bears the brunt and costs of the ‘safe’ failures which inevitably happen in experimentation and innovation?"

Our three fantastic speakers,

Louise Adongo, Executive Director of Inspiring Communities,

Mojdeh Cox, Community Builder, Advisor & Leader

Tanya Chung-Tiam-Fook, PhD, Director, Centre for Indigenous Innovation & Technology; Co-Director at Participatory Canada

will dive into this topic and explore our current practices, the benefits and challenges of these practices, and what we might do differently.

36. What Policies and Programs Will Result in the Just Transfer of Wealth?

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In this episode we want to discuss wealth, wealth hoarding, and what local and national economic development and policy strategies we need for shared prosperity.

These are just some of the topics we want to explore with our three fantastic speakers, Jennifer Njuguna, Keneshia Raymond, and Chuck Collins.

35. Appropriation and Reparations: How Can We Take Restorative Action?

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Conversations about cultural appropriation and reparations are increasingly persistent. But how often do we take the time to understand the work that has been evolving in these spaces for decades? How can we understand how our behaviors and actions play a role to sustain and reinforce extractive practices? What can we do on a regular basis to take just and restorative action?

These are just some of the questions we want to explore with our three amazing speakers, Kathryn Evans, President, Rooted Strategy; Tommy Johnson, Chief Education Officer, Made with Black Culture; and Allen Kwabena Frimpong, Co-Creator & Managing Partner, AdAstra Collective.

34. What would Abolitionism look like if Applied to Philanthropy?

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This very special session was led by Dr. Raquel Gutierrez, CEO, Blue Agave Partners.

In her book, We Do This Till We Free Us, Mariame Kaba invites us to imagine what would our communities look like if we have everything we need: food, shelter, education, health, art, beauty, clean water, and more things that are foundational to our personal and community safety. What does it require of us to imagine and bring this society into being?

In the philanthropy sector, when the term “abolition” is heard many are quick to turn and move away rather than lean in and learn from those who hold abolitionism as an invitation (or mandate) to create a new society. What would abolitionism look like if applied to the field of philanthropy?

Can we imagine a world where institutional grantmaking institutions no longer existed because societal conditions often created or exacerbated by the sources of foundations were no longer a reality? What would a society rooted in mutuality, that has long existed in dis-invested PoC and other non PoC marginalized communities,​ require of us individually and collectively?

How can we participate in philanthropic abolitionism with integrity to create a new world? What will it take to embrace abolitionism as the level of radical needed to sustain social transformation?

If you’re interested in contributing to what the vision of philanthropic abolitionism could look, feel, and sound like I hope you will join us.

We want to talk about questions like:

- What is abolitionism?

- What can we learn from the prison industrial complex abolitionism to apply in our own social change work?

- What actions can we take to cultivate the conditions for imagining and creating a society where the things that are fundamental to individual and collective dignity are realized?

- What will it take for those of us who work in social change at a person, role, and systemic level to create a new society where racial justice is sustainable and real?

33. Change is Gonna Cost You: Who "Pays" for Equity-Centered Work?

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We have heard so much chatter, promises, callouts, and call-ins regarding DEI and the absolute need for this work, but what has been accomplished? Experts and leaders feel pressure to meet this moment, but what has been the cost to people guiding and engaging in these efforts?

We want to talk about questions like:
- What does it really take to create awareness and change behavior in the long term?
- What are the small and large ripples that are created by new conversations and new accountability?
- What do you do when people reach a level of exhaustion required by self-awareness, new learning, repairing harm, and expectations for action that are involved?

We will be joined by three fantastic speakers:

Afia Amobeaa-Sakyi, Director, Equity & Inclusion, Exponent Philanthropy

Whitney Parnell, Founder & CEO, Service Never Sleeps

Cecilia (Wang) Wessinger, Director for Global Community, Global Entrepreneurship Network

32. Urgency in Social Impact: Who really Benefits?

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If you work in social change, you probably have experienced the feeling of urgency, a rush to meet a deadline, a rush to address serious needs, or a rush to meet expectations of impact.

In the speed of our work, how often do we question what is gained and what is lost when we rush to create social change? What are the power dynamics that drive this speed and desire for rapid results? Do funders benefit? Do leaders benefit? Do organizations benefit? And most importantly, do communities benefit?

We want to talk about these and many other questions around urgency with three amazing guests:

Victor Udoewa, Chief Experience Officer & Service Design Lead, NASA

Tommie Collins, Design Strategist, ChiByDesign

Hilary Sedovic, Transdisciplinary Social Work Professional | Pragmatic Idealist

31. Code-switching in the Sector

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"Code-switching as it’s been coined by the POC community—specifically centered around the Black experience—is when Black people switch the way they speak, act, and interact with colleagues within the companies they work for. For a long time, code-switching has been a survival tactic. The thought of actually coming to work and being yourself as a Black person could potentially lead to discrimination, tokenism, and in some cases termination. In Black and POC communities, code-switching is seen as a necessary practice for advancing professionally and being considered as valuable at work. Transparently, there is no clear description of what code-switching looks like to everyone who experiences it, but generally, it is a tool that has been used to fit into a specific work culture that has been deemed appropriate. In retrospect, this deems any other behavior outside of the traditional guidelines, inappropriate." Excerpt from Margot Elise's article, "How Code-Switching in the Workplace Has Been Normalized for POCs"

We want to talk about the big questions including:

- What does code-switching look like in the social sector?

- What survival tactics are our social sector colleagues expected to employ to be seen as "valuable" and "appropriate"?

- What does it look like to belong inside and outside our organizations?

This very powerful and vulnerable conversation will be guided by:

Dorian Spears, National Program Partnerships and Strategy Lead, GET Cities

Stéphanie Bermúdez, Founder and CEO, Startup Unidos

30. How Do We Train the Next Generation of Changemakers?

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There are numerous universities and programs focused on social innovation, social entrepreneurship, and social impact design. We will talk about the strengths and limitations of higher education preparing the next generation of changemakers.

We want to talk about big questions like:
- How do colleges and universities account for the complexities and opportunities of co-design in the constraints of a semester?
- How can institutions of privilege root in equity and access, and help students identify their own positionalities?
- How do you help students shift from the theoretical to the real-life work of social change?
- How can these large institutions teach innovation practices when they often struggle to use them?

Our fantastic guests included:

Odesma Dalrymple, Associate Professor, Engineering Exchange for Social Justice, University of San Diego

Nate Wong, Georgetown University

Ann Verhey-Henke, Strategic Director, Center for Socially Engaged Design, University of Michigan

29. New Infrastructure Investment: How can it be Antiracist?

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With a massive amount of dollars being made available to communities across the country, there is a significant risk of these funds recreating/reinforcing inequities, racist and unjust practices. We want to talk about how these funds can be used to redesign and reimagine equity, access, and systems. Our featured guests include:

Priyanka Jain, Co-founder, 3x3

Nathaniel Smith, Founder and Chief Equity Officer/CEO, Partnership for Southern Equity

Blaze Lightfoot Jones-Yellin, Founder, Lightfoot Group; Urbanist; Professor, CUNY

28. Possibility Project’s Season Finale: Holiday Party

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After 27 episodes of incredible featured guests, mind-blowing content, and ridiculously thoughtful questions...we just want to relax and spend time with this incredible community.

Come join us for any part or all of the hour where we will...

• Share gratitude in community

• Celebrate the featured guests on Possibility Project this year

• Plot our disruptive practices we are planning for 2022

We look forward to being connected with you and hope you will join us for the last episode of the year!

27. Limitations of Empathy & The Future of Narrative Intelligence

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Human relationships are at the center of humanity. They drive our culture, performance, and results across any organizational structure, geography, or sector. “Designing for Humanity” is a moral imperative we must consider embodying today to be successful in our impact. The inquiry, practice, strategy, and methodology allow for practices like narrative intelligence and design beyond empathy.

In this special event, Michael O’Bryan will shed light on these concepts and practices and lead us in a workshop on how to expand our knowledge and practices to reach greater relationship, approaches, and ultimately practices in design. The tools that Humanature deploys sit at the intersection of human, economic, and ecological resilience.

Michael is a practitioner and researcher in the fields of community development, organizational culture, and human well-being. He is an Innovation Fellow at Drexel University’s Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation and most recently served as Director of Learning at The Village of Arts and Humanities. Michael is the founder of Humanature, a design strategy firm working with nonprofits, businesses, and government agencies to transform how they understand and support human development, interaction, and performance.

26. The End of Philanthropy & Shifting to What’s Next

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Our questions and approaches seek to advance collective action in our work and this conversation is, in part, inspired by this question of “What would the end of our dependence on philanthropy look like?” Our featured guests include:

• Mario Lugay, Senior Innovation Director, Justice Funders

• Pierre Joseph, Founder and Principal, P.E. Joseph Consulting

• Lindley Mease, CLIMA Fund, Director, Co-Founder/Managing Director, Blue Heart

Join us to discuss the foundation of THIS article by Mario Lugay:

• How can we stop the desire to accumulate wealth and help wealth holders actually spend down?

• What if philanthropy didn’t exist? What is philanthropy building towards? Is values aligned-philanthropy enough?

• What does a civic and political home look like today? And, what does that have to do with philanthropy?

• How can government shift the philanthropic asymmetries we have today?

• What do we need to be able to love our communities? 

• How do we shift narratives around who are the protagonists in philanthropy? 

• How do we build out the infrastructure to support key conversations that will translate to action?

25. What if we designed the social sector from scratch?

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We want to talk about what would change, or stay the same. We wonder what social impact, change, and justice would look like without the legacy and history we’ve inherited. Who would hold the reins, the purse strings, the power?

Join this conversation with our fantastic guests as we discuss changes needed in the fundamental pillars in the sector around program design, philanthropy, community engagement, and fundraising.

• Fay Darmawi, Founder and Executive Director, SF Urban Film Fest & Founder, Affordable Housing and Community Development Finance Consulting

• Marcus Cunningham, Community-Centered Fundraiser, Anti-Racist Systems Builder, Amateur Chef, Director of Institutional Giving, New Leaders

• Jessica Vibberts, Founder and CEO of Full Potential Ventures, Mentor to mission-driven leaders and organizations, Talent Strategist, Speaker

24. Black Women in Fundraising & Philanthropy

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“The participation of people of color in professional roles in philanthropy creates the balance of insight, perspective, and conviction needed to steward some of the most important missions of nonprofit organizations.”

- Rob Henry, Vice President of Education for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education

We want to talk about the roles and experiences of Black Women in Fundraising and Philanthropy and discuss:

• The daily living experiences of Black Women navigating micro aggressions, prejudice, and power

• The role organizational culture plays in creating and recreating false narratives and racist patterns

• Why less than 10% of all members of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, out of 31,000 are people of color

• Why the percentage of people of color in executive director/CEO roles has remained under 20 percent for the last 15 years.

Listen to our amazing speakers Birgit Smith Burton and Nneka Allen to dive into this very important topic.

*Content sourced from The Issue of Racism in the Fundraising Profession by Birgit Smith Burton, https://afpglobal.org/issue-racism-fundraising-profession.

23. Burnout: What to do if you feel ‘done’?

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This episode is all about the mixed feelings that people are having about work, from burnout to new inspiration.

We want to explore what you can do when you are re-thinking a role that might no longer fit. Join our set of amazing speakers who have made these hard decisions and have supported folx to make these hard decisions. We want to talk about:

• How do you navigate what you have to do with what you want to do?

• How do you return to a work culture that may no longer feel values aligned?

• How can you move ahead when the future feels uncertain?

  We are thrilled to have featured Surabhi Lal, Michael Tucker, and Jennifer Hennesy.

22. Unrecognized Philanthropy in Black Communities

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There is a clear misrepresentation of Black philanthropy and Black giving in a white-dominated social impact sector. Together, we will explore the myths and data behind Black engagement in philanthropy.

- Where is there harm being caused by philanthropy overlooking and undermining Black power?
- What are the ways in which Black people can and do engage fully in the philanthropic and social sector spaces?
- How can we encourage social innovation within the community and institutional giving with Black leaders at the forefront of this work?
- What might a new wave of community philanthropy look like if we promote civic engagement at its core?

We are thrilled to highlight the perspectives of:

Darryl K Lester , Founder at The Institute for Building Communities by Design

Kevin Dean, CEO of Momentum Nonprofit Partners

21. Shift from Pain-Profiting to Power-Sharing

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In the sector, we use stories and images to capture the interest (and care) of community members and potential donors.

- How often are those stories and images used in extractive ways, that reproduce the dynamics of giver/receiver, service provider/recipient?
- How do the stories we tell and the images we choose, replicate harm and perpetuate false narratives?
- Who is collecting, shaping, and telling stories, and for whose benefit?
- How can story be rooted in powerful and authentic co-creation, and be shaped by the voices and leadership of those at the center of the work?

We are thrilled to highlight the perspectives of:

Ivellisse Morales, Founder & CEO of bombilla

Tania Anaissie, Founder and CEO at Beytna Design

20. Talent Justice

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How is it that the social sector, which prides itself on its mission to ensure that all communities have access to health, safety, and prosperity, can underpay, overwork, and endanger the very people who carry out the work?

We all have either experienced or heard stories of beloved colleagues who are burned out or have left the sector because we can’t find a way that makes sense to stay, financially or spiritually.

Join another set of fantastic speakers who will talk about:

- Who can afford to work in the sector?
- Where accountability lies for equitable staff compensation and just treatment in the mission-driven workplace?
- How can we better align our values with our practices?

We are thrilled to highlight the perspectives of:

Shari Dunn, CEO and Principal of ITBOM, LLC

Rusty Stahl, Founder, CEO, and President of Fund the People

Judy Lubin, PhD, MPH and President of Center for Urban and Racial Equity

19. Antiracist Learning & Evaluation

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We often think about learning and evaluation as benign activities, required as part of how we as individuals and organizations function, grow and demonstrate impact. What is often unrecognized are the roles that power and racism play in these activities. For example, whose measuring stick are we using to show impact? Whose experiences of impact and learning do we center? Who is most affected by outcomes that don't "measure up"?

Join our fabulous guests:

Nwando Obele, M.P.P., Director of Learning and Evaluation at TSNE MissionWorks

Joyce Lee-Ibarra, Founder and Principal of JLI Consulting to explore this topic with our Possibility Project community

Naaima Kahn, Consultant and Owner and Principal of Create Good consulting

Check out this episode's AMAZING takeaways, questions, and resources!!

18. Disrupting Fundraising: How to Shift Power Dynamics and Align around Assets

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So, how can we move from transaction to authentic connection, where we and our donors feel better and more successful?

The status quo ways of fundraising aren't just outdated, they’re also ineffective. How do we flip power asymmetries and fundraise differently, where we center assets and new opportunities?

Together, we will honor the struggles, we as fundraisers face and explore how to fundraise in this new era in a special workshop featuring our amazing guest Mallory Erickson, CEO and Founder of the Power Panthers Formula.

17. Radical Allyship

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After the racial justice reckoning we have experienced particularly in the last year at a national level, the new buzz word is ‘allyship’ or being an ‘ally.’ In this episode, we will uncover what it really means and how to be radical in rethinking allyship.

In our 17th episode, we will explore going beyond performative allyship, get to the root of power asymmetries, and interrogate how power is held and shared. Join us to talk about:

• What happens when folks get tired of doing the work?

• How do we actually undo the harm and build authentic connections?

We will dive in and explore with our fantastic guests:

• Trella Walker, Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer at Nonprofit Finance Fund

• Tovi C. Scruggs-Hussein, Thought-Leader Cultivating Conscious, Connected, & Courageous Leaders Worldwide BE the Work - Racial Healing Allies Visionary

• Fleur Larsen, Facilitator: Social Justice Impact On Organizational Culture

16. Is there a Talent Pool Issue for People of Color? WATCH NOW →

We know there is a high representation of white people in leadership in the social sector, and does that mean it is hard to hire people of color for the same roles?
Join us to go deeper into systemic injustice and inequity in the talent flow for leadership in the social sector and explore:

• the past, current, and future states of hiring, promotion, and engagement

• narratives that fuel our current reality

• what is really needed to build a representative sector of leaders who represent our communities

Featured Speakers:

• Mary Morten, President at Morten Group, LLC

• Rachel Ramjattan, CFRE, Author, Speaker, Master Trainer, Fundraising Coach

• Dr. Argelis A. Ortiz, Professor, Executive Coach, Founder, Principal Consultant, Helping Leaders of Color to Seek Upward Mobility in Their Social Services Careers

15. Empathy in Equity-Centered Work - WATCH NOW →

Equity is a growing focus for much of the work that we do in the sector, but what is the role of empathy specifically? Even more specifically, what is the role of empathy in social change work and how it intersects with policy, service design, and tech?

• What are the core values in the sector that align around equity + empathy?

• In a sector known for addressing human needs, how do we bring more humanity to the work?

• What does a holistic problem-solving approach include?

Featured Speakers:

• Amy J. Wilson, Author of Empathy for Change: How to Create a More Understanding World | CEO, Empathy for Change

• Mari Nakano, Design Director, Service Design Studio, NYC Mayor's Office for Economic Opportunity

• Mai-Ling Garcia, Head of Digital Strategy & Engagement at City and County of San Francisco

Check out resources & takeaways →

14. [Special Workshop] Undoing & Healing Colonial Conditioning

Oftentimes we don’t see all the ways that colonial cultural thinking permeates not only how we view ourselves, but how we view others, and how we work in the world. With the best of intentions, even in social impact, this thinking can not only harm those we intend to support but also causes harm to ourselves.

Featured Speaker:

Nova Ren Kai-Enqú Ananda, Founder & Vision Keeper of Genesis Healing Institute. This event was not recorded so that we could provide a safe sharing space. The following are key takeaways from our fantastic conversations.

• The entrenchment and complexity of historical and current hierarchies and identities

• Ideas of mastery over nature rather than being one with nature

• The colonial condition is a competitive and oppositional system

• We live in tension with the binary, the third path

• Resurgence of the sacred feminine and the healing of the patriarchal masculine

13. Designing Equitable Futures

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More and more critiques and conversations are capturing the elements of design that reinforce white supremacist, white dominant, ableist, and cis-heterogeneous norms. The future of our work as changemakers rests on how we reimagine, elevate, and co-create disruptively. So, let’s get into the nitty gritty of addressing how we might use speculative and disruptive design as tools to imagine and create possible futures, all centered around equity.

Featured Speakers:

• Katie Krummeck is an educational designer and an international thought leader in leveraging the power of design to drive change in the K-12 system.

• Christopher Rudd is an Instructor and lead of Community-led Design for the Chicago Design Lab at the Illinois Institute of Technology-Institute of Design (ID) where his work focuses on co-designing with community stakeholders.

Check 0ut resources & takeaways →

12. [Special Workshop] Gut Check: Aligning your Work with your Values

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In social change work, we often rely on our gut or intuition for what projects to pursue. We make judgment calls about how our work connects with our values. But what could be possible if we formalized the introspection, questions, and process by which we vet opportunities and make these hard choices?

Join George Aye, Co-founder and Director of Innovation at Greater Good Studio, as he leads us through a process that Sara Cantor and their firm have been using for years to not only assess projects and affirm their core values, but also regain power pre-proposal.

Featured Speaker:

• George Aye, Pissed Off Optimist & Co-founder and Director of Innovation at Greater Good Studio

11. Create Protest: How Artists Frame Dissent and Hope

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Create Protest artists Man One, Naimah Thomas, and Florencio Zavala will exchange ideas around art & activism including the intersection of imagination/action, how artists create work that collides against fear and resistance, how the creation of artwork is in itself a political act, and how to create a community around shared struggles. This group of engaged artists inspires us all to see and do, to observe and take action, to pay attention and participate.

Featured Speakers:

• Man One is a multi-award winning artist, illustrator, curator, and entrepreneur

• Naimah Thomas is a Chicago based artist, art therapist, and licensed professional counselor.

• Florencio (Flo) Zavala is a Los Angeles-based artist, designer, creative director and founder of Estudio Zavala, a conceptual design and illustration practice addressing global needs via local actions.

10. Behind the Scenes w Devon + Heather

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We are going to take some time to reflect upon what have been NINE episodes! We want to share with you what has changed our thinking, our actions, and how we plan to make some new shifts in 2021!

Featured speakers:

• Devon Davey - Helping female founders and impact leaders build people + systems solutions & Co-Creator of Possibility Project

• Heather Hiscox - Founder & CEO at Pause for Change & Co-Creator of Possibility Project

9. Burn the Table: New Forms of Collaboration and Collective Leadership

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We always talk about the proverbial "table" in leadership and community work - come to the table, have a seat at the table, and set the table, but what if we "burned the table" and considered new forms of leadership and how we come together? We will explore models of collective action and collaboration that can lead us toward transformation in the sector.

We have two fantastic featured guests for this episode:

• Alnisa Allgood - Social Good Innovator, Capacity Building & Economic Inequity

• Alanna Irving - Bossless Leadership thought leader, Open Collective New Zealand

8. Design & Healing in Social Change

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This episode dives into the trauma that we are forced to reckon with and the healing that is required of us.

• How do I build deep empathy and healing? 

• What does safety mean in the context of social change? 

• How can I creatively help systems and institutions be more innovative, equitable?

Featured speakers:

• Alvin Schexnider - Gov’t BizOps Lead & Service Designer, Innovation Professor

• Nova Ren Kai-Enqú Ananda - Founder & Vision Keeper for Genesis Healing Institute

• Rachel Dietkus, LCSW - Macro Clinical Social Worker in Design

7. Whiteness of the Social Sector

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We want to talk about the lack of diversity and representation of community in the sector, and dive into questions like, how can we best help leaders and communities of color access and hold power? Where can we best support changemakers of color and be the accomplices they need?

Featured speakers:

• Andrew Plumley, Director of Inclusion, American Alliance of Museums

• Dr. Lakeya Cherry, CEO, The Network for Social Work Management

• Sean Thomas-Breitfeld, Co-Director, Building Movement Project

6. Reframing Leadership

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We will talk about new era leadership and ask questions like: What do we need from an entrepreneurial leader in today’s context? What is the profile of a new era leader? How might we uplift these voices in a sea of status quo leaders?

Featured speakers:

• Monisha Kapila, Founder and CEO of ProInspire

• Dell Gines, Senior Community Development Advisor for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

Explore resources and takeaways from this episode →

5. Consultants: Enabling or Dismantling the Status Quo?

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How do Consultants walk the delicate and significant line in serving and benefiting from status quo dysfunction in the sector? How is this reconciled with our desire and responsibility to dismantle those same structures?

Featured speakers:

• Derene Allen, Social Innovation Strategist and board member of Social Enterprise Alliance

• Nate Wong, Executive Director at Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation, Georgetown University

• George Aye, Pissed Off Optimist & Co-founder and Director of Innovation at Greater Good Studio

Explore resources and takeaways from this episode →

4. Equity & Design

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Conversation with Tameka Montgomery, CEO of Core Strategy Partners and Dr. Lesley Ann Noel, Professor of Practice and Associate Director of Design Thinking for Social Impact at Tulane University How do we go about designing programs, services, and policies? Is equity and access at the center of this work? Usually not. Let's talk about what it means to create mechanisms of social change that are disruptive because they are rooted in shifting power, equity, and impact.

Featured speakers:

• Tameka Montgomery, CEO, Core Strategy Partners, Inc.

• Dr. Lesley Ann Noel, Professor of Practice; Associate Director, Design Thinking for Social Impact, Tulane University

Explore resources and takeaways from this episode →

3. Investments & Philanthropy

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We will have a conversation around:

- what happens to the other 95% that foundations invest

- how individuals can invest differently to be values aligned 

- how organizations, corporate, foundations can invest differently and what accountability would look like 

- who is left out of wealth management

- how specific communities are structurally marginalized

- plus other dysfunctions that exist in these existing systems

We will be joined by powerful speakers including: 

Angela Barbash, CEO, Revalue

Marc Rand, Managing Partner, Community Capital Advisors, Interim Executive Director, American Nonprofits

2. Equity & Philanthropy

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Three sector leaders discuss how we need to, and how we can, dismantle and re-engineer philanthropy to be more equitable. Our amazing thought partners include: Sandra Nathan, Interim Executive Director of Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice; Darryl Lester, Founder, The Community Investment Network, President of Hindsight Consulting and Director of Service Year NC in the Institute of Emerging Issues at NC State University; and Glen Galaich, CEO of Stupski Foundation.

Featured speakers:

• Sandra Nathan, Interim Executive Director at Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice

• Darryl Lester, Founder and President of HindSight Consulting and Director at North Carolina State University Institute on Emerging Issues

• Glen Galaich, CEO of Stupski Foundation

Explore resources and takeaways from this episode →

1. Power & Philanthropy

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We CANNOT wait any longer to make long overdue shifts in how we create social change.

The social impact sector has a history of calling band-aids impact, wasting resources with the best of intentions, and placing control in the hands of disconnected leaders. We are seeing the impact of these practices finally being recognized.

WE MUST DO BETTER NOW, which is why we created The Possibility Project to sound the alarm by amplifying the call of others (https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13856641/).

Join us on MAY 21st at 10AM PT for our first conversation to tackle Power + Philanthropy. Three sector leaders will discuss the construction of philanthropy, the power brokers that maintain it, and the forces that expand the cracks in its foundation.

Featured speakers:

• Sabrina Slade, Social Innovation Director, John Rex Endowment

• Joseph Mouzon, Founding Executive Director, Attles Center for Excellence

• Melanie Emerson, Principal, Just Consulting

Explore resources and takeaways from this episode →