Let’s Hear It

As we approach World Refugee Day, it’s so good to know that there are people like Suzanne Ehlers who are making an extraordinary difference and people’s lives and providing real hope for the future. Suzanne is the Executive Director and CEO of USA for UNHCR, a nonprofit organization that supports the United Nations Refugee Agency. It helps raise awareness and makes funds available to aid refugees...

A huge thank you to Fatima Angeles, the Executive Director of the Levi Strauss Foundation, for joining us on the latest episode of Let’s Hear It. Fatima talks with Eric about the Levi Strauss Foundation's groundbreaking work in areas like reproductive justice, worker rights, immigrant rights, and democracy. Fatima discusses her 24-year tenure at Cal Wellness, where she gained invaluable experience...

Eleven years ago, David Callahan launched a most audacious project – a new publication that was going to get under the hood of philanthropy (to borrow from that great philosopher, Ross Perot) and expose the good, the bad, and the meh. Some folks chortled, some scoffed, and some cast their eyes heavenward in the hope that he would shed a little light on the seemingly byzantine and obscure world of...

Join us for a truly extraordinary conversation with the amazing Heather McGhee, the author of The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together. Heather exposes the lie of so-called zero-sum thinking—where one person's gain is seen as another's loss—and flips it on its head by explaining how diverse coalitions can produce a solidarity dividend that makes things better for e...

We’ve been doing this show for a while, and every so often the pieces just elegantly slide into place. In thirtyish minutes, Robert Pérez does this for us. Robert is the founder and Chief Exploration Officer of Wonder: Strategies for Good, a network of experts in messaging, storytelling, psychology and public-opinion research that works with foundations, nonprofits, activists, and advocates to adv...

Societies can’t thrive without sufficient levels of trust – trust in our elected officials, in our major institutions, the value of the dollar bill in our wallet, and even in our belief that our fellow motorists will abide by the traffic laws when we enter an intersection. You know where this is going, don’t you? We have a trust problem that threatens every organization in our country. Kristen Gri...

When Chris DeCardy took the reins of the Heinz Endowments last year, he was one of the very few former foundation communications directors to ascend to the lofty heights of president. And Chris has dived in with the energy of a teenager. Indeed, if there is a more energetic – nay, ebullient – foundation president in the land, we haven’t met them. Chris makes an extremely compelling case about how...

Governments have money and foundations can take risks. Shouldn’t these be marriages made in heaven? Amazingly they’re not, but in California, we’re starting to see partnerships that are bucking the trend, which can be spectacularly good examples of how to make great collaborations work. On this episode of Let’s Hear It, Eric speaks with Elena Chavez Quezada, Senior Advisor for Social Innovation in...

Academy Award season is here, but while the rest of the world may be debating which half of the Barbenheimer phenomenon will take home the most trophies, at Let’s Hear It we’re putting all our chips on Best Documentary Short nominee “The Barber of Little Rock,” co-directed by Christine Turner and our dear friend John Hoffman. Eric and John reunite to talk about the extraordinary film John has co-d...

In this episode of Let’s Hear It, our guest is none other than one of Hollywood’s most passionate and entertaining environmentalists – the amazing Ed Begley, Jr. As it happens, Ed and Eric go way, way, back, having worked together in Hollywood in the last millennium. Today, they’re both working in environmental communications, after a fashion, and Ed talks about how he was inspired to become an en...

We are so delighted to present the legendary Anat Shenker-Osorio. Yes, that’s right, that Anat Shenker-Osorio. Maybe you’ve heard her on Ezra Klein, MSNBC, on her excellent podcast Words to Win By, or read her work in the New York Times, the Guardian, and more. On our latest episode of Let’s Hear It, Anat goes deep on how to create messages that will help progressive causes succeed.   Anat is a po...

How many of us in the nonprofit world can track our interest in climate to nightmares we had about natural disasters at age ten? Anyone? Oh, right, just Don Chen, President of the Surdna Foundation, former director of the Cities and States program at the Ford Foundation, former CEO (and founder!) of Smart Growth America, and this week’s guest on Let’s Hear It. Don is a fabulous guest to start our...

Here is another one of our favorite interviews - Shanelle Matthews, founder of the Radical Communicators Network, former communications director for the Movement for Black Lives, and now Distinguished Lecturer at the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at City College at the City University of New York. Shanelle is simply amazing and we loved this conversation.

Today, we offer another one of our favorite interviews - a blast from the past with the inimitable Jim Canales, President and Trustee of the Barr Foundation. Jim is charming, funny, and one of they absolute nicest people in philanthropy. If you didn't get a chance to hear this conversation the first time, you're in for a treat.

This holiday season we're re-releasing some of our favorite and most popular episodes. Today - Trabian Shorters, one of our leading thinkers on asset framing - defining people by what they're hopes and dreams and what they have to offer. He has been such an important influence on so many of us.

In our latest episode, we offer a fascinating conversation with Alison Smart, the Executive Director of Probable Futures - a nonprofit climate literacy initiative. Alison shares her organization's approach to democratizing climate science, making climate predictions accessible, and providing practical educational resources for anyone, anywhere, for free.   Eric and Alison discuss how we can better...

When Larry Kramer announced recently that he was leaving the Hewlett Foundation to run the London School of Economics, it marked the end of an extraordinarily productive tenure as the head of one of the world’s largest and most influential charitable foundations. In Larry’s nearly twelve years at Hewlett, he helped lead a new era of climate philanthropy, and launched initiatives in transparency, c...

As the new president of the groundbreaking consulting firm Spitfire Strategies, Jen Carnig, who succeeds the legendary Kristen Grimm, might feel a little like whoever takes Megan Rapinoe’s place. It might seem a little daunting and very hard on your hamstrings, but think of the possibilities! Jen may have big shoes to fill, but she’s obviously ready to get busy. A champion strategist in the areas...

When our guest, Ashwath Narayanan, was 22, he launched Social Currant , a creative agency that is helping nonprofits and issue organizations use social media to reach audiences more effectively. By contrast, when co-host Eric was 22, he was working as a production assistant on low budget horror movies. So there’s that. Ashwath and his team of six fulltime staffers are working with TikTok and Insta...

On our latest episode of Let’s Hear It, we’ve snagged a giant in philanthropy. Our guest this week may well know more about philanthropy than any human walking the planet. Stacy Palmer created the Chronicle of Philanthropy thirty-five years ago, and since then her publication has simultaneously been philanthropy’s watchdog and its cheerleader (as it has served as a dating app of sorts between fund...

Spending out, spending down, sunsetting – whatever you call it, it’s a tricky business. This year the Kendeda Fund will close its doors, having provided over one billion dollars in funding over the past thirty years. Their causes included girls’ rights, preventing gun violence, environmental sustainability, advancing racial equity, and supporting veterans, among others. Kendeda began as an anonymo...

Going Commando with Nima Shirazi of Spitfire Strategies and Citations Needed This week on Let’s Hear It, cynical-ish and salty-tongued Nima Shirazi of Spitfire Strategies and the hit podcast Citations Needed endures a slightly arduous, minorly torturous time behind the mic with Eric. Nima’s career is full of exciting experiences, including his current job as a vice president at Spitfire Strategies...

We have an impactful episode deep-diving into how Tony Proscio, a thought leader in this space, has moved the needle on the innovation of language in nonprofit and foundation work. He and Eric partner to get granular on staying transparent with folks from the donor pipeline to the board room. *record scratch* Just kidding! This week on Let’s Hear It, Eric and legendary former strategic planning co...

As long as there has been art, there have been artists using their creativity to try to transform society for the better. On the latest episode of Let’s Hear It, Eric speaks with Tara Dorabji, Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at the Center for Cultural Power, an organization dedicated to harnessing the power of creativity. Tara Dorabji and her colleagues Erin Potts and Dr. Melanie Meinzer...

Join us in this thought-provoking and inspiring episode as we welcome Trevor Smith, the Director of Narrative Change at Liberation Ventures, an organization helping to strengthen the movement for Black-led racial repair.   Trevor is a writer, researcher, and strategist focused on the topics of racial inequality, wealth inequality, reparations, and narrative change. He is also the creator, curator,...