Power Station

It is safe to say that we are living in extremely stressful times. The president rules more than governs and his rhetoric and policies reflect and encourage overt acts of racism and sexism. His relentless focus on border walls and deportations have created chaos in immigrant communities. And now we are grappling with COVID-19, a pandemic for which we are unprepared, and which the president framed...

What happens when a nonprofit decides to make a shift and tackle its mission at a deeper level? That is the journey that Bread for the City, frontline service provider to Washington DC's lowest-income residents started on 8 years ago. Since its founding in 1974, BFC has been the go-to resource for people in need of food, clothing, medical and legal assistance. It modeled how to provide high-qualit...

What makes an advocacy organization exceptional? It starts with a vision for tackling inequity that centers constituents in advocating for themselves. In the case of the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, it is also dedication to social policy that ensures decent housing for our nation's lowest-income renters. These are residents of public and subsidized housing - families with children, senio...

How is it possible for laws that determine the fate of Muslim Americans to be decided without them having a seat at the decision-making table? That is the power imbalance that motivated the launch of Muslim Advocates by Farhana Khera in 2005. Muslim Advocates works "in communities, the courts and in Congress", to address discriminatory public policies and corporate practices impacting the lives of...

PFLAG may not be the most high-profile LGBTQ+ organization, but it is the oldest, largest and the first, in 1973, to create a safe space for the parents, friends and families of LGBTQ+ youth. It was organized by Jeanne Manford, after seeing her son Morty, a young gay man, beaten at a demonstration covered on the nightly news. She became his advocate, joining him at a gay rights rally wearing a sig...

Some of the most effective nonprofits are designed to both help individuals in need and build collective community power. This is the case with NALEO-the National Association for Latino Elected Officials, founded in 1977 by Rep Edward Roybal, then one of just 5 Latinos elected to Congress. In 2020, NALEO supports 38 Latino congressional members and a bi-partisan bench of over 6,800 Latinos serving...

Ron Hantz, a great friend of Power Station, and our first guest returns for Episode 100. Ron is back to talk about a current threat that has been largely obscured by the presidential impeachment hearing. At another congressional hearing, Comptroller of the Currency and Trump appointee, Joseph Otting, testified before the House Financial Services Committee, feeling the heat of Congresswoman Maxine...

It took a century long struggle for American women to "win" the right to vote in 1920. And win does not accurately reflect a struggle in which women were jailed and beaten in pursuit of that right. This victory led suffragist Carrie Chapman Cott to establish the League of Women Voters (LWV), a non-partisan champion of voting rights. Now, LWV is convening national conversations about issues from th...

National CAPACD is painfully aware of gentrification and displacement hurts its AAPI membership. They look at the challenge through an historical lens, starting with colonialism to more recent strategies for driving renters and homeowners out of their homes based on rising prices, tax liens, intimidation and buy-outs. Anjan Chaudhry, Director of Community Empowerment, reviews the legacy of colonia...

We rely on access to high-speed internet to meet the demands of everyday life. We pay bills, apply for jobs, look up children's school assignments, and get real-time updates on bus arrivals. But at least 20 million Americans live without digital access. They are our neighbors and family members from cities and rural regions who lack the infrastructure (physical wires) and/or the financial means to...

In our first Power Station episode of 2020, we welcome celebrated advocate Marco Davis, eight months into his role as President & CEO of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI). Marco shares his vision for deepening the impacts of CHCI's programs, known for the powerful pipeline of talented Latino leaders they generate. He explains how it all began in 1976, when the first 5 members of C...

Join me for an entirely different kind of Power Station episode. This is a look back, with the very talented audio engineer and producer Rob Ford, at why I created Power Station, how personal experience shaped my vision for nonprofit advocacy, the under-reported role of nonprofits in crafting policy solutions to seemingly intractable societal problems and how our guests are thriving in unimaginabl...

So much is at stake in America in the year ahead. The 2020 presidential election and decennial census will be markers in history, a time for communities to stand up and be counted or a perilous step backward. For low-income, immigrant and communities of color, in particular, the stakes are tremendously high and civic engagement is an imperative. Latinos have suffered because of the President's hat...

Jon Pratt builds community, influence and power every day. He leads the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, a trade association for nonprofit organizations that provide services in the arts, education, affordable housing, health and the environment. Just as chambers of commerce represent the interests of the business community, MCN amplifies the voices of the nonprofit community. It is where members...

Diane Yentel leads the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, the nation's most influential champion for ending housing poverty and homelessness in America. It is a respected presence on Capitol Hill and in state houses where legislators know that their reports and testimony are evidence-based and accurate. In recent years, NLIHC has stopped every effort rolled out by the Trump Administration and...

This nation values higher education but make it hard to access, particularly for low-income and people of color. Students may not have counselors to guide their search and the cost of applications can be prohibitive. It takes motivated adults to connect young people to opportunities and Sean Lanier is deeply dedicated and driven in this mission. Although he has retired from the military, he contin...

When Eddy Morales first moved back to Gresham, Oregon from Washington, DC, he did not plan to run for elected office. He expected to continue his business as a political campaign adviser and reconnect with family and community. Years in DC working with Voto Latino and Democracy Alliance had sharpened his considerable talents as a national policy advocate, and he wanted to engage civically at the l...

Gun violence continues to devastate families and communities. When 20 first graders and six adults were murdered by a gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012, the nation's shock and grief were palpable. President Obama spoke passionately  about the urgency of passing background checks and stronger gun control laws. But pushback by the NRA and members of Congress prevailed. When...

We all want to be heard and understood, a fair expectation. But being heard takes more than engaging an attentive listener. It requires purpose, knowing what we want to say and how to express ourselves. We must know how to adapt communication styles, from a private conversation to a conference room to social media. It can be humbling, frustrating and even costly when we fail. Tia Blount brings her...

Since 1991, Latino Economic Development Center, a DC based nonprofit, has worked side by side with Latino families to make their American Dreams possible. These families, both citizens and undocumented immigrants, have aspirations of safe and affordable rental housing, home ownership and the launching and expansion of small businesses. But they are under-resourced in the federal budget and underse...

America has a conflicted relationship to science. Presidents and Congress love science until data is at odds with their beliefs, political and economic interests. Public confidence in science is growing as evidence of the impacts of climate change on rising sea levels, displacement and migration in coastal communities is now widely accepted. Jacob Carter, biologist and research scientist from the...

It's hard to describe how energy shifts when Patrick Gaspard is in the room. He is positive, ready to engage, and most importantly, completely present. As president of the Open Society Foundations, whose philanthropy supports democratic practice, human rights and equal access to justice in 120 countries, Patrick is a powerful presence in many rooms. His ability to listen to and act on what communi...

How do we know that the nonprofit programs we believe in are effective? Without evaluating them against pre-determined measures we cannot make a case for their efficacy, replication or scaling. It starts with a process that ensures that stakeholders are engaged in developing them, measurable goals are identified and the vision for success is shared. And, for these measures to be impactful, they mu...

Ilda Martinez was 3 years old when she arrived at a migrant Head Start center in Plant City, Florida. Her first language was Mixtec, an indigenous dialogue of Oaxaca, Mexico. She learned Spanish and then English in Head Start programs. These migrant and seasonal programs are critical resources for families like Ilda's that move several times a year to harvest crops, from blueberries in North Carol...

Head Start is known for making early childhood development and education a reality for all families. Developed as part of the 1960's War on Poverty, Head Start is an example of public policy that serve the educational needs of underserved children. But the Head Start model was organized around the school calendar, an approach that works for most but not all of our nation's families. It does not me...