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.
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
Josh Tetrick – a social entrepreneur, writer, and speaker – has led a United Nations business initiative in Kenya, worked for both former President Clinton and the president of Liberia,…
Matt Flannery began developing Kiva in late 2004 following a trip to Uganda, where he witnessed microfinance first hand. At the time, he worked as a computer programmer at TiVo,…
Originally Dutch, Inge de Dreu now lives in Bogotá, Colombia. She’s a Business Consultant working on projects with companies and educational institutions, is now 27 years old and lives with…
Meet Inge De Dreu- Founder of InspiraTé, Manager of Touch of Love
Within the last 5 years Alezandra Russell has added a handful of new titles to her ever expanding resume: wife: social entrepreneur: traveler: foodie: and bi-continental citizen. Reluctant to fall…
Meet Alezandra Russell – Chief Recycler of Recycled Child Project
Nate St. Pierre is the founder of ItStartsWith.Us, a global group of people committed to changing the world in just 15 minutes a week. He consults with organizations of any size…
Race director, author, runner, coach, philanthropist and writer, Toby Tanser is the founder and only staff member of the charity organization Shoe4Africa. His latest and greatest project is trying to…
Julie Nessen, Director & Co-Founder of the Young Entrepreneurs Alliance began the program with her father Robert L. Nessen to realize their joint vision for empowering at-risk youths through business…
Meet Julie Nessen – Co-Founder of the Young Entrepreneurs Alliance
Pat Ford was born in Nebraska in 1948 and grew up in Idaho. He attended Columbia University in New York City and fled just short of graduation into some years…
Meet Pat Ford – Executive Director of Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition
Lisa A. Gatti, Founder and Executive Director of Pal-O-Mine Equestrian, began her career as a special education high school teacher. Today, she uses her horses as her teaching tool rather…
Buzz Miller, founder and president of PACT, was a successful practicing attorney for 35 years prior to his full time involvement in the animal welfare industry. As President of Melvin…