The PM Podcast

Christal M. Cherry is the founder of The Board Pro, speaker, consultant, author, and creator of Fabulous Female Fundraisers. With more than 20 years in the nonprofit sector, Christal has become a leading voice on board leadership, fundraising, equity, and belonging. Through The Board Pro, she helps nonprofit boards lead with love, courage, and strategy — whether that means navigating tough convers...

Rohan Dileep and Beatrice Norman are co-presidents of Meals Matter, the Wisconsin-based, student-led nonprofit honored with the 2026 William R. Simms Award for Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy. Meals Matter began in 2024, when two Middleton High School students saw the scale of food insecurity in their community and decided to do something about it. What started as a grassroots food-collection ef...

Jen Newmeyer, CFRE is senior director of digital fundraising strategy at PBS, founder of CharityJen, author of Digital Fundraising Transformation, and recipient of the 2026 AFP/Skystone Partners Prize for Research on Fundraising and Philanthropy. Jen has spent more than 20 years helping nonprofits modernize fundraising programs, strengthen donor engagement, grow audiences, and build more sustainab...

Tatumn Zale, CFRE is assistant director of development at AllThrive 365 and one of AFP’s 2026 Outstanding Young Professionals. Tatumn has quickly built a reputation as a creative, disciplined, and deeply human fundraising leader. At AllThrive 365, she has helped revitalize donor communications, rebuild fundraising events, strengthen corporate partnerships, and grow both recurring and individual gi...

Amari Duncan is director of philanthropic impact at Girls Inc. of the Greater Capital Region and one of AFP’s 2026 Outstanding Young Professionals. Although she entered the fundraising profession only four years ago, Amari has quickly built a record as a strategic, mission-centered, and community-rooted advancement leader. At United Way of the Greater Capital Region, she managed more than 40 corpo...

Torrie Taj is a nonprofit executive, fundraising leader, educator, coach, and the 2026 Outstanding Fundraising Professional of the Year, the highest honor awarded by the Association of Fundraising Professionals. For more than three decades, Torrie has helped shape Arizona’s nonprofit landscape. She spent 23 years at A New Leaf, rising from direct service roles to executive leadership, helping grow...

Birgit Smith Burton is a fundraising leader, advocate, author, and founder and CEO of the African American Development Officers Network. Birgit launched AADO at Georgia Institute of Technology in 1999 to create mentorship, professional development, and networking opportunities for fundraisers of color. During her 26-year career at Georgia Tech, she helped lead efforts that secured more than $700 m...

Edgar Villanueva is an award-winning author, speaker, strategist, and founder and CEO of the Decolonizing Wealth Project and Liberated Capital. An enrolled member of the Lumbee Tribe, Edgar has become one of the leading voices challenging philanthropy to rethink its relationship with wealth, power, healing, and reparative action. His bestselling book, Decolonizing Wealth, sparked conversations acr...

Sharon Kitroser is a fundraising strategist, partnership builder, and nonprofit coach with a background that spans more than 25 years in media and advertising and another decade in fundraising and nonprofit leadership. Today, Sharon is the co-founder of Team Kat & Mouse, where she helps organizations grow fundraising revenue through coaching, storytelling, corporate partnerships, and practical...

Jackie Blackbird is Indigenous Communities Officer at Newman’s Own Foundation and a leader advancing Indigenous food justice for kids. An enrolled member of the Aaniiih (Gros Ventre) Tribe and a descendant of the Nakoda (Assiniboine) Tribe, Jackie manages partnerships with more than 30 grantee organizations working across Indigenous communities. Before joining Newman’s Own Foundation, she helped l...

Anne Connelly is an entrepreneur, angel investor, and a leading voice in blockchain and cryptocurrency for social impact.  Anne advises corporations, startups, and nonprofits worldwide, and teaches Blockchain-based Business Models for Social Impact at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. She is also an expert on decentralized societies at Singularity University and has lectured at Oxfo...

My guest today is Rey Saldaña—President and CEO of Communities In Schools®, the national organization that surrounds students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life. A CIS alumnus, Rey’s journey from student to national leader reflects the mission of the organization he now leads.  Born and raised on the South Side of San Antonio, Rey is the son of immig...

In this episode, we speak with Karen Isble—Vice President for College Advancement at Kalamazoo College. Karen previously served as Associate Vice Chancellor and Campaign Director at the University of California, Irvine, where she helped lead the university’s $2 billion Brilliant Future campaign. Before that, she held senior leadership roles at the University of Michigan, contributing to the univer...

In this episode, we speak with Kate Sheeran—Joan and Martin Messinger Dean of the Eastman School of Music—about her journey from professional musician to leading one of the greatest music conservatories in the world. Kate reflects on the experiences that shaped her path—from performing at the highest levels as a French horn player to leading major institutions like Kaufman Music Center to returnin...

In this episode, we speak with Julie Castle—Chief Executive Officer of Best Friends Animal Society and a leading voice behind the national no-kill movement—about her remarkable journey from aspiring lawyer to one of the most influential leaders in animal welfare. Julie shares how a single visit to a sanctuary in Utah changed the course of her life, setting her on a path that would take her from cl...

In this episode, we speak with Glen Galaich—CEO of the Stupski Foundation, host of the Break Fake Rules podcast, and author of the new book CONTROL: Why Big Giving Falls Short—about his journey through the evolving landscape of modern philanthropy and his mission to challenge the structures that shape it. Glen shares how his work—from Human Rights Watch to the Global Philanthropy Forum to leading...

In this episode, we speak with Kym Renner—career public servant and sister of actor Jeremy Renner—about her journey from a small-town childhood in Modesto to a life devoted to child welfare and social impact. Kym shares stories of growing up with Jeremy, witnessing his rise to global fame, and living through the trauma of his near-fatal snowplow accident—an experience that reshaped their family an...

Ryan Wilson is the founder and CEO of Team Trust Productions, one of the few disability-led video production companies in the United States. Through documentaries and fundraising films created with nonprofit organizations across the country, Ryan and his team work to place people with disabilities at the center of their own stories—as creators, leaders, and narrators rather than subjects of sympat...

With more than twenty-five years in nonprofit technology, Tracy Kronzak has worked across the ecosystem: from server racks and on-premise systems to cloud architecture, enterprise partnerships, and AI strategy. They’ve served in leadership roles at Salesforce.org, Microsoft’s Tech for Social Impact initiative, Bonterra, and multiple nonprofit tech consultancies, while advising mission-driven organ...

Trey Devey is President of Interlochen Center for the Arts, where he leads one of the world’s most influential institutions for the education and development of young artists. Since assuming the presidency in 2017, he has guided Interlochen through a period of transformation—completing a decades-long campus plan, launching new global and online programs, and navigating the profound disruptions of...

Tim Wilson is the founder and host of People in Fundraising, the podcast spotlighting the people who fuel the nonprofit sector. With more than two decades in prospect development across higher education and healthcare—including leadership roles at Harvard Business School, Intermountain Healthcare, and now Weber State University—Tim brings deep expertise in data, research, and donor strategy. He al...

Recognized as one of the Top Five CNN Heroes of 2025, Hillary Cohen is the co-founder of Every Day Action, a nonprofit tackling food waste and hunger by redirecting unused gourmet meals from Hollywood sets to people in need across Southern California. After years working as an assistant director and witnessing staggering amounts of food thrown away daily, Hillary and her co-founder, Sam Luu, set o...

Recognized as one of the Top Five CNN Heroes of 2025, Tim Woodward is the Executive Director and a founding force behind Animal Rescue Corps, the national nonprofit created in 2010 to confront large-scale animal cruelty wherever it occurs. What began with a small team determined to fill a devastating gap in animal protection has grown into a nationwide rescue effort working hand in hand with law e...

Recognized as one of the Top Five CNN Heroes of 2025, Heidi Carman is the founder and Executive Director of First Responder Therapy Dogs, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the emotional well-being of first responders. What began with Heidi and her own dog visiting local fire stations in California has grown into a national effort reaching firefighters, paramedics, dispatchers, and law enforcemen...

Recognized as one of the Top Five CNN Heroes of 2025, Debra Des Vignes is the founder and Executive Director of the Indiana Prison Writers Workshop (IPWW), a nonprofit dedicated to transforming the lives of incarcerated individuals through the power of creative writing. Launched in 2018 after her decade-long career as a crime reporter, IPWW began as a single 12-week class inside one Indiana prison...