High-Impact Growth

What does it actually take for a country, government, or community to truly own a technology or an outcome? In this fast-paced and candid episode of High-Impact Growth, Dimagi CEO Jonathan Jackson and co-host Amie Vaccaro welcome back Nithya Ramanathan, CEO and co-founder of Nexleaf Analytics. Moving past polite sector rhetoric, Nithya and Jonathan break down why so many well-intentioned global he...

What happens when a health extension worker in rural Ethiopia faces a complex case and there's no doctor nearby? This episode goes beyond the AI hype cycle to explore a live, working answer: HEP Assist, a generative AI-powered call center built for Ethiopia's 40,000 health extension workers by Last Mile Health, IDinsight, and the Ethiopian Ministry of Health. Abraham Zerihun, Ethiopia Coun...

Imagine a country of 50 million people with only 50 psychiatrists . This staggering treatment gap is the reality in Uganda, but Pavel Reppo is proving that specialized experts aren’t the only ones who can provide life-changing care. As the Executive Director of Finemind and CEO of Matchbox Fund , Pavel brings a rare dual perspective to the conversation, bridging the worlds of grassroots mental hea...

As traditional funding sources shift, many nonprofits are asking a hard question: can individual giving become a meaningful and sustainable revenue stream? In this episode of High-Impact Growth , Amie Vaccaro and Jonathan Jackson sit down with Javan Van Gronigen, founder of Donate.ly, to unpack what it truly takes to make that transition work. Drawing from more than a decade in digital fundraising...

AI is moving fast in global health and development, but good intentions alone don’t guarantee good outcomes. In this episode of High-Impact Growth , we sit down with Genevieve Smith, Founding Director of the Responsible AI Initiative at UC Berkeley’s AI Research Lab, to unpack what it really means to build and deploy AI responsibly in contexts that matter most. Drawing on a decade of experience in...

Today’s episode is a re-air in support of Pods Fight Poverty, a campaign from our friends at GiveDirectly. You can learn more and donate at: GiveDirectly.org/Dimagi Update: You can learn about the impact of this campaign here . —- In this episode, we’re joined by Stella Luk, Regional Director at GiveDirectly, and Erin Quinn, Dimagi’s Senior Director of Customer Success , to explore a fundamental q...

What if you could identify exactly where your philanthropic dollar would save the most lives or improve the most years of healthy living?  In this episode, Deena Mousa, lead researcher at Coefficient Giving (formerly Open Philanthropy), walks us through the rigorous frameworks that guide one of the world's most analytically driven funders. From evaluating causes using importance, neglectedness...

In part four of our AI for Good series, hosts Jonathan Jackson and Amie Vaccaro reconnect with Brian DeRenzi, Dimagi's VP of AI and Research, to explore how AI is evolving—and what it still can't do. Since our last conversation, technology has made staggering leaps, but the global health sector has also been rocked by funding cuts, creating massive tension between potential and reality. Brian shar...

What comes next in a world where old funding models are breaking down? Our guest, Dr. Kevin Starr, CEO of the Mulago Foundation, argues this shift isn't a crisis but a "much needed reality bath". After a personal tragedy sent him stumbling from medicine into philanthropy, Kevin built one of the most respected impact-focused foundations. In this conversation, we explore Mulago's unique model of pro...

In early 2025, massive funding cuts from USAID sent shockwaves through the global development sector, leaving many to wonder what would come next. The money was gone, but the problems remained. In this follow-up conversation, Dimagi Managing Directors Gillian Javetski and Ismaïla Diene rejoin the podcast to discuss the aftermath and the unexpected "diamonds" created from the pressure. Th...

What happens when the leadership skills that once fueled success no longer serve in today’s climate of uncertainty? In this episode of High Impact Growth , leadership coach Jayson Morris returns for a candid conversation with Dimagi CEO Jonathan Jackson and host Amie Vaccaro . Together, they explore how leaders can navigate grief, anger, and fear while still showing up with authenticity and resili...

Raj Kumar, President and Editor-in-Chief of Devex , returns to High Impact Growth for a candid and insightful conversation about the future of global development. In a world reeling from sudden aid cuts and structural overhauls, Raj joins co-hosts Jonathan Jackson and Amie Vaccaro to unpack what this era of uncertainty means for NGOs, governments, and social enterprises alike. They explore:- The f...

In this insightful episode, hosts Amie Vaccaro and Jonathan Jackson welcome Franzi Gonder, a renowned somatic leadership coach and entrepreneur. Franzi shares her personal journey into somatic work, emphasizing how understanding our bodies can profoundly shape our leadership.  The conversation delves into the pervasive "beginner's mindset" in high-performance environments and its imp...

The old paradigms of global health are shifting. Nithya Ramanathan, Co-founder & CEO of Nexleaf Analytics, joins us to discuss navigating this new reality and rebuilding for impactful futures. As Nithya powerfully states, "the system has been burned down. this is our moment" – presenting a unique opportunity to redefine how we create impact. We explore Nexleaf's strategic pivots,...

In this episode, we’re joined by Rachel Lindley, Hannah Wichmann, and Samantha Muli from Five Talents to explore a bold shift in how development is done: What if communities—not donors—defined success, owned their data, and led the path forward? Five Talents supports women entrepreneurs across Eastern Africa through savings groups, but their approach goes far beyond finance. It’s a story of transf...

In this episode, we’re joined by Stella Luk, Regional Director at GiveDirectly, and Erin Quinn, Dimagi’s Senior Director of Customer Success, to explore a fundamental question: What if, instead of aid programs deciding what communities need, we simply gave people cash and trusted them to make the best choices for themselves? GiveDirectly has pioneered direct, unconditional cash transfers to people...

In this episode, hosts Jonathan Jackson and Amie Vaccaro are joined by two leaders on Dimagi’s People Operations team – Emily Gutman and Molly Broderick – to delve into what it takes to run Dimagi in a way that’s sustainable for its employees and the planet.. From reimagining performance management systems to demystifying the complexities of climate neutrality, they offer an unfiltered look at the...

The landscape of international aid is shifting rapidly, leaving organizations and communities facing unprecedented challenges. In this episode, hosts Jonathan Jackson and Amie Vaccaro are joined by Gillian Javetski, Managing Director of Dimagi’s Software-as-a-Service division, and Ismaïla Diene, Managing Director of Dimagi's Solutions division, to unpack the impact of massive funding cuts on g...

In this episode, Dimagi product leaders Danny Roberts, Kai Cowger, and Matthew Hayto delve into the challenges and opportunities of building SaaS products for global health. This insightful conversation explores transitioning from donor-driven funding to a product-driven model, focusing on user needs, product sustainability, and scaling for impact. The episode highlights the complexity of aligning...

In this episode, Nora Lindström, Senior Director of ICT4D at Catholic Relief Services (CRS), and Erin Quinn, Senior Director of Customer Success at Dimagi join the podcast to discuss the evolving role of the iNGO in the context of localization and advancing local leadership, the intersection of technology and localization in global development, and the ways that technologists in global development...

In this episode of High-Impact Growth , hosts Jonathan Jackson and Amie Vaccaro talk with Dr. Charles Elliott, Director of Data Management at Cure Violence Global (CVG), an organization using a public health approach to prevent violence. Dr. Elliott shares insights into how CVG views violence like an epidemic, applying data-driven methods to map and reduce violence in communities around the world....

In this episode of High Impact Growth hosts Amie Vaccaro and Jonathan Jackson, dive into one of Dimagi’s most ambitious and potentially transformative projects to date, CommCare Connect. This platform is designed to improve the jobs of community health workers (CHWs) by equipping them with digital tools to learn new skills, deliver health services, verify their work, and, crucially, get paid for a...

In today’s conversation, co-hosts Jonathan Jackson and Amie Vaccaro are joined by Nan Chen, Co-Executive Director of Africa Frontline First. Africa Frontline First is on a mission to increase financing for community health worker programs across Africa to save and improve lives. Half of the world's population lack access to essential health services and community health workers, who expand pri...

Dr. Kelly Collins and Gillian Javetski join co-hosts Jonathan Jackson and Amie Vaccaro for a candid conversation about the market for digital health products. Kelly returned from the World Health Assembly with a burning question: How can we teach global health to buy software as a commodity, the same way they might buy drugs or diagnostic tools? How might we peel back the influence of aid and dono...

Jayson Morris, Jonathan’s coach, joins the podcast for a candid dialogue on the challenges of social enterprise leadership amidst increasing uncertainty. Jayson shares his journey from investment banking to international development and eventually to coaching, highlighting his experience with burnout and neuroadrenal fatigue. He emphasizes the importance of tapping into the body’s innate wisdom an...