How to Change the World

Catherine Alonzo is joined by leaders from Affirm Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare, Cohere, and Prisma Community Care to explore what it really takes to successfully rename an organization. A name carries history, identity, and purpose. While renaming can create opportunities for growth, clarity, and stronger community connection, it also requires navigating change management, stakeholder buy-in...

Catherine Alonzo is joined by urban planner and educator Nick Martell to explore how zoning, housing policy, and transportation planning shape the communities we live in. Decisions made by planners and policymakers influence everything from housing affordability and traffic congestion to sustainability, economic opportunity, and community connection. This conversation explores how change happens a...

Rebranding can feel like a surface-level change. A new logo, a new color palette, maybe a refreshed website. But in practice, it goes much deeper than that. In this episode, Catherine brings together three social change leaders to share what it really looks like to go through a rebrand, why they chose to do it, and what powerful outcomes it created for their organizations. From community safety an...

If your marketing isn't working the way it used to, it's easy to assume the answer is to do more. More posts. More emails. More campaigns. More everything. In this episode, host Catherine breaks down why that instinct often leads to burnout instead of results and offers a clearer way to diagnose what's actually going on. She introduces the two root issues behind most marketing challenges: a brand...

Writing a book can feel overwhelming, with so many paths, so many unknowns, and no clear place to start.   In this episode, Jesse Finkelstein, co-founder of Page Two (the publisher of Catherine's new book) pulls back the curtain on the publishing process and what it really takes to create a book that matters. They explore the different publishing paths available today, why hybrid publishing is gai...

If you've ever wondered what it takes to keep imagining a better world while everything around you feels on fire, this conversation is for you.   For the 200th episode of How to Change the World, Luis Ávila returns to the podcast to talk about immigration advocacy, power-building, and what this moment demands of changemakers. We explore the long arc of immigrant rights work in Arizona and across t...

Challenges related to housing and homelessness can feel too big, too complex, or too stuck to solve. This conversation offers a clearer view of what real progress can look like.   Mike Shore, President and CEO of HOM Inc., joins me to talk about what it takes to move one of our most urgent community challenges forward. We discuss why housing is the solution to homelessness, what people often misun...

If you've ever wondered how leaders keep going when the work never feels finished, this conversation offers a look behind the curtain.   Claire Louge, Executive Director of Prevent Child Abuse Arizona, joins me to talk about what it looks like to lead change today. In this movingly honest conversation, Claire shares her personal journey moving from chronic self-doubt to developing self-trust, and...

If the world has started to feel like it's falling apart—and you're wondering what change can realistically look like right now—this episode is for you.   Guest host Veronica Aguilar turns the mic on Catherine Alonzo, regular podcast host and author of The Changemaker's Toolkit, to talk about what led her to write a book "for the frustrated changemaker" and why it feels more timely than ever. Cath...

If you care about ethical fashion, women's leadership, and what it looks like to build change that lasts, this episode is for you.   Julie Colombino-Billingham, founder of luxury fashion brand Deux Mains, joins me to share how a background in disaster response and a life-changing season in post-earthquake Haiti led her from short-term aid to focusing on long-term economic freedom for Haitian peopl...

If politics has started to feel like nothing but noise, this conversation offers a different way in.   Entrepreneur, investor, and author Neil Thanedar joins me to talk about his new book Positive Politics. We discuss why politics, messy as it is, is still one of our most powerful tools to create lasting social change. We unpack why negative politics dominates our attention, what positive politics...

2026 is poised to be a chaotic year in politics and elections – with high-stakes consequences. So, what better time to analyze and predict the year ahead with Javelina's resident political experts?    In this episode, I'm joined by Javelina political strategists David Waid and Justin Plumb to unpack what they're already seeing in early 2026 — from fractures within both parties, to how campaigns ar...

What a year of changemaking books taught us about how to drive meaningful impact.    In this special second annual How to Change the World Book Club episode, Catherine is joined by book club regulars Maggie Bauer and Eric DeMarco to share the standout reads of the year, the themes that kept surfacing, and the "book awards" they handed out along the way. From most hopeful to most likely to shift yo...

If it feels like corporations have more influence than elected officials right now… you're not imagining it.   Authors Seth Levine and Elizabeth MacBride join me to unpack their new book, Capital Evolution: The New American Economy — and the argument that we're living through a major transition in American capitalism. They break down how the last 50 years of "shareholder-first" thinking helped con...

Our culture would have us believe that most any problem can be solved by working harder, longer, faster, more. But what are the limitations of hustle culture and how can we move beyond it?   Brand and business strategist Quinn Tempest helps solopreneurs build businesses that change the world without pounding themselves into the ground. In this insightful episode, she shares what it looks like to b...

What if a 10-week, after-school program led by older students could move the needle on a statewide literacy crisis? Sophie Allen Etchart, founder and CEO of Read Better Be Better (RBBB), shares how a simple, peer-led reading model — pairing middle school leaders with younger readers — is helping Arizona students beat the odds in a state where 61% of third graders aren't reading at grade level. Sop...

What if a 13-year-old could bring lawmakers from both parties to the same table… and win?   Parents, caregivers, and disability advocates flooded the Arizona Capitol this year to stop a funding crisis that threatened essential services for people with developmental disabilities. Two of the leaders in that fight — Brandi Coon, president of Raising Voices Coalition, and Amy Haley, advocate and mom t...

What if your morning coffee could strengthen entire communities? Dr. Arisbe Mendoza, Director of Global Impact at Fairtrade International, shares how everyday purchases — your morning coffee, chocolate bar, or bottle of wine — can create ripple effects across communities worldwide. From living-income pricing and climate-resilient farming to gender equity and co-ownership by 1.9 million farmers and...

The Six Questions To Ask Before You Hire Marketing Support How do you know what kind of marketing help your organization really needs? Too often, changemakers either ask for an outcome ("I need to raise more money") or something too broad ("I need help with social media") — and end up with the wrong fit.   In this solo Changemaker Chat, Catherine lays out six questions every leader should ask befo...

How do you build a content strategy that actually works — without burning out or getting lost in the noise? Do you ever feel like you're churning out content with knowing if it's truly working? In this episode, I sit down with Kristen Neuendorff, the content strategist behind many of Javelina's client projects, to talk about creating content with purpose. We cover how changemakers can align their...

How can we thrive in a rapidly changing world? Canadian entrepreneur, author, and social impact leader Scott Stirrett shares how to thrive in uncertainty—and why reinvention is the new career advantage. From self-compassion over perfectionism to adaptable planning, anti-fragility, generalist "power skills," and building both weak and strong ties, Scott shares practical tools from his book The Unce...

Too often, marketing Return-on-Investment (ROI) gets reduced to dollars in and dollars out. In this solo episode, Catherine challenges that narrow view and explores why the impact of marketing is about so much more.   From building community and awareness to shifting culture and shaping long-term behavior, she reframes marketing as a powerful tool for changemakers that goes far beyond short-term r...

In this episode of How to Change the World, host Catherine Alonzo sits down with innovation strategist and educator Dr. Steve Diasio to talk about how we rethink creativity, challenge outdated systems, and foster innovation that actually works for everyone. From breaking down the myths of who gets to innovate to sharing tools for collaboration across teams and sectors, Steve brings clarity and ene...

How do we create real change in a world that feels stuck? A powerful framework to define decision-making roles - especially when the stakes are high. In this episode of How to Change the World, host Catherine Alonzo sits down with renowned facilitator, author, and systems change expert, Adam Kahane to talk about how we move forward when collaboration feels harder than ever. With decades of experie...

Is the Democratic Party facing a messaging crisis — or something deeper? This episode unpacks the post-election fallout and growing perception that Democrats are out of touch with working-class voters. In this episode of How to Change the World, host Catherine Alonzo sits down with Javelina's own David Waid — co-founder and VP of political campaigns — and political strategist Justin Plumb to dig i...