The Coach's Journey - build a coaching business with integrity #95: Stephanie Hill from GiveDirectly - Empowering Through Trust: Coaching, Cash, and Lasting Impact
GiveDirectly is an extraordinary organisation, working to end extreme poverty through an idea that is simple but revolutionary: give cash directly to people in extreme poverty and let them decide what they need most. Research shows this approach is not only effective but also deeply empowering.
Since I (Robbie) first read about GiveDirectly in 2017, it has been the focus of almost all my charitable giving: I find the research-backed practices and incredibly meaningful recipient stories so compelling that almost every time I have thought in detail about the organisation and what they do, I have increased my regular giving.
In this special Podcasthon episode of The Coach’s Journey Podcast, Stephanie Hill, the VP, People at GiveDirectly, joins me to explore the connections between teaching, coaching, and leadership, and to outline the transformational work that GiveDirectly does.
From her days working to recruit and develop thousands of teachers in New York City to her role in helping a rapidly scaling global nonprofit build strong teams, Stephanie shares deep insights into learning, growth, and the power of trusting people to know what they need.
In this episode, we discuss, on GiveDirectly:
Why giving cash directly to the poorest people in the world works!
Common misconceptions about cash transfers as a form of philanthropy.
Amazing stories from GiveDirectly’s recipients.
The Power of Trust – why both great coaching and effective philanthropy start from the belief that people know what they need.
And on learning, coaching, culture and more:
The Gradual Release Model – how great teaching (and coaching) helps people build confidence and autonomy over time.
Lessons from Scaling – what it takes to grow an organization quickly while keeping core values intact.
Building a Culture of Learning – how GiveDirectly fosters ongoing development among its globally distributed team.
Leading with Values - how has GiveDirectly taken its company values and actually brought them to life.
Stephanie’s personal leadership journey – what she learned from recruiting and training 5,000 teachers a year and how those lessons apply to coaching, leadership and organizational growth today.
This episode is packed with wisdom for coaches, leaders, and anyone passionate about learning, development, and making a meaningful impact.
I can’t wait to share GiveDirectly’s amazing work with you, but it’s not just that this is an amazing charity that made me want to feature GiveDirectly on the show; it’s that it’s a charity whose work closely aligns with the philosophy of coaching.
At its heart, coaching is about trusting people, believing they have the answers within them, and supporting them to make the best choices for their own lives.
GiveDirectly operates on the same principle. Rather than imposing solutions, it hands people the resources to create their own change. For coaches who want to make a difference in the world beyond their work, I can’t think of a better organization to support: if you’ve never quite found a focus for your charitable giving that really resonates, or if you’ve ever wondered how you can contribute in a way that aligns with the values of coaching — courage, trust, empowerment, and belief in human potential — GiveDirectly could be a powerful answer.
If you have a few pounds or dollars to spare this month or every month, consider giving to GiveDirectly. They will send it to someone for whom those few pounds or dollars will go further than you can possibly imagine, as part of a story of courage, empowerment and trust in the beauty of human nature.
For more information about GiveDirectly, visit: https://www.givedirectly.org/ or https://www.linkedin.com/company/givedirectly
To donate to GiveDirectly, visit: https://www.givedirectly.org/donate/
For more information about Stephanie, visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-hill-1232028
For more information about Robbie Swale, visit https://www.robbieswale.com/.
Read more about The Coach's Journey at www.thecoachsjourney.com.
Music by My Good Man William: listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4KmeQUcTbeE31uFynHQLQg
To support the Coach's Journey, visit www.patreon.com/thecoachsjourney and to join the Coach's Journey Community visit www.thecoachsjourney.com/community.
THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT THAT YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN:
Rutger Bregman: https://www.rutgerbregman.com/
Bregman on tax at Davos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8ijiLqfXP0
Bregman’s TED Talk - "Poverty isn't a lack of character; it's a lack of cash": https://www.ted.com/talks/rutger_bregman_poverty_isn_t_a_lack_of_character_it_s_a_lack_of_cash/
Utopia for Realists: https://www.rutgerbregman.com/books/utopia-for-realists
GiveDirectly Live: https://live.givedirectly.org/
GiveDirectly’s Research: https://www.givedirectly.org/research-at-give-directly/
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs
GiveDirectly Donation Link for the US: https://www.givedirectly.org/donate/
GiveDirectly Donation Link for the UK: https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/5197#!/DonationDetails
How to donate to GiveDirectly from other countries: https://www.givedirectly.org/giving-internationally
Teach for America: https://www.teachforamerica.org/
TeachFirst: https://www.teachfirst.org.uk/
The GROW Model: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GROW_model
Inner Game of Tennis by Timothy Gallwey: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Inner-Game-Tennis-ultimate-performance/dp/1035047926
GiveDirectly NPR Article: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/12/02/781152563/researchers-find-a-remarkable-ripple-effect-when-you-give-cash-to-poor-families
Carol Dweck and Growth Mindset: https://www.amazon.com/Mindset-Psychology-Carol-S-Dweck/dp/0345472322
Elena Aguilar and "Mind the Gap": https://www.edweek.org/education/opinion-the-key-to-working-with-adult-learners-mind-the-gap/2018/02
Fred Kofman: https://www.fredkofman.org/
The GiveDirectly Values: https://www.givedirectly.org/givedirectly-values/
The Leadership Pipeline (book): https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Pipeline-Second-Edition-Developing/dp/0470894563
How to Help GiveDirectly: https://www.givedirectly.org/how-to-help/
Work at GiveDirectly: https://www.givedirectly.org/careers/
Podcasthon: https://podcasthon.org/
Book your place at Robbie and Claire Pedrick’s event in Malvern in 2025: The Artful Coach and the Soulful Coaching Business. Read more here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/3dcoaching/1504338
FULL BIOGRAPHY FROM STEPHANIE
Stephanie began her career as an educator. After university, she joined Teach For America in New York City and taught English Literature to low-income High School students in The Bronx while getting her Master’s degree in teaching. She then worked for Teach For America as a coach to cohorts of new teachers.
After a brief stint as a recruiter, she joined the New York City Department of Education to build a new model for teacher preparation - one that would integrate theory and practice and include a longer, more intentional gradual release of responsibility for new recruits. The program also created a new career-ladder position for the supervisors of these aspiring teachers - experienced educators who were selected and trained to not just share their classroom, but also provide targeted, actionable modeling and feedback that would accelerate the learning process.
Stephanie worked to scale that program to prepare over 500 new teachers for NYC’s hardest to staff schools each year, while eventually taking on leadership of the city’s overall teacher recruitment and preparation - where she led a team to recruit and place over 5,000 new teachers each year.
In April of 2020, she joined the international non-profit organization GiveDirectly as their first VP, People, just as the organization was going through a period of rapid growth, with ~75% headcount increase year over year. GiveDirectly takes an innovative approach to aid by giving unconditional cash to people living in extreme poverty, often using a technology-forward approach to maximize efficiency (and therefore dollars to recipients). Stephanie is proud to have led the People function for the past 5 years - building and defining recruitment, people operations, learning and development, talent planning and employee engagement for the organization.