Nonprofits don’t get enough credit for being hard. All the challenges of running a business, plus the added complexity of fundraising, donor management, and proving impact to people who want numbers. The founders in this section have built organizations that tackle real problems. And they’ve done it without the luxury of a profit motive making every decision simple.
These interviews cover the full nonprofit landscape. Education. Healthcare. Environmental. Social services. Arts. Advocacy. The organizations that fill the gaps where business and government fall short. Which is a lot of gaps.
The founders here are honest about the challenges. Fundraising fatigue. Board dynamics. The tension between overhead and impact. The constant pressure to do more with less. And the moments that make it all worth it, which tend to be quieter than the challenges.
You’ll find insights on nonprofit leadership, grant writing, community engagement, measuring impact, and the art of telling a story that makes people care enough to act. If you’re running a nonprofit, thinking about starting one, or working in the social impact space, these conversations offer perspective you won’t find in a management textbook.
[quote style=”boxed”]Tenacity is the #1 quality of an entrepreneur, even before intelligence. I’d wager to say 9 out of 10 business failures are because of lack of tenacity.[/quote] LazyAngel co-founders…
[quote style=”boxed”]Start earlier. I sometimes feel I wasted a lot of time. I could have started a few years earlier.[/quote] Hindol Sengupta is the founder, along with fellow journalist Shweta…
I’d find a way to pay myself sooner. I wasn’t able to dive in fully because I was constantly worried about putting food on the table–and my work suffered as…
Aaron Negherbon, a Northern California native, has had an entrepreneurial spirit and a strong sense of patriotism running through his veins since childhood. Starting in grade school, he marketed for…
[quote]Hipsters. In 2004 I got my first job as a teacher. I wore slacks, a short sleeve plaid shirt buttoned all the way to the top and rode a giant…
[quote]If you have a dream you want to realize, whether is is big or small, personal of business, for yourself or for a better world: don’t keep it to yourself….
[quote style=”boxed”]I like to think that my “good idea meter” is pretty accurate (everybody does). When I come up with an idea that I think is great I get a…
Meet Jameson Morris – Founder of Organic Soul and Conscious Box
[quote style=”boxed”]It’s simple. Find someone else passionate about the same problem you are trying to solve, start talking about it, then start making it happen. Something as simple as having…
Lauri Burns is the founder of The Teen Project, a non-profit organization founded in 2007, whose mission is to give every foster child an equal chance in life. As a…
[quote style=”boxed”]First, I visualize what the world will look like with this new idea, and how it will create the change I’m looking for. Then, I work my buns off.[/quote]…
[quote style=”boxed”]The way I see it, If you can imagine it then you can probably create it. However, I also realize that good ideas are rarely attributable to one person…
Meet Stuart Gold – Managing Director of the Trashy Bags Project
Skip Wiener has a master’s degree from Temple University in Plant Physiology (1967) and a master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania (1972). He worked for the…
Meet Saul “Skip” Wiener – Founder of the Urban Tree Connection