The Business of Giving

When Ike Anand flew into Memphis in the summer of 2020—just one of four passengers on an otherwise empty plane, double-masked with a face shield—he was answering what he calls a calling he couldn’t ignore.  After 15 years scaling Expedia’s global network in Seattle, Anand left the tech world to become the seventh CEO of ALSAC, the fundraising arm of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Now he’s leading the charge on a $12.9 billion strategic plan while reimagining what it means to be a tech-forward nonprofit in an age of viral content and AI-driven personalization.In this conversation, Anand reveals how speed, data, and culture are reshaping one of America’s most beloved charitable institutions. It’s Ike Anand on The Business of Giving.

Angela Williams has spent decades reading the signs that most of us miss—the hairline fractures in systems we’ve long taken for granted. As President and CEO of United Way Worldwide, she leads a network that touches 35 countries and receives 45,000 calls for help every single day. That vantage point has given her something rare: a real-time view of how chaos is reshaping the landscape leaders must navigate. In her new book, Navigating the Age of Chaos, co-authored with futurists Jamais Cascio and Bob Johansen, Williams introduces us to BANI—a framework for leaders trying to make sense of a world that refuses to follow the old rules.In this conversation, we explore why VUCA no longer serves us, how leaders can bend brittle systems instead of watching them break, and why the path through chaos requires attentiveness, flexibility, and intentional connection. It’s Angela Williams on The Business of Giving.

When Marika Anthony-Shaw was touring with Arcade Fire, the band started adding a single dollar to every concert ticket—sending the proceeds to Partners in Health’s work in Haiti. Night after night, that simple gesture grew from $3,000 to $10,000 per show. Over nine years, they contributed more than $2.5 million without asking anyone for money. The question became: Why isn’t everybody doing this?That question launched PLUS1, an organization that’s now embedded philanthropy into the architecture of live events. Today, Marika leads a movement that has raised over $32 million for more than a thousand nonprofits—not by disrupting the concert experience, but by making generosity a seamless part of it. As she puts it:Join us as Marika shares how PLUS1 is changing the way an entire industry thinks about giving—and how every dollar invested in their model unlocks $21 in grants to communities that need it most.It’s Marika Anthony-Shaw on The Business of Giving.

Plinio Ayala didn’t just leave the South Bronx of the 1970s and ‘80s—he returned to it with a blueprint for economic mobility that’s now reshaping workforce development across America.As President and CEO of Per Scholas, Plinio leads a tech training nonprofit that’s placed over 25,000 graduates into careers earning three times their previous income. But here’s what sets him apart: while most nonprofits shrink from rigorous evaluation, Plinio embraces randomized controlled trials. While foundation funding tightens, he’s building corporate investment as his primary growth engine. And while AI disrupts every sector, he’s racing to future-proof America’s workforce—one 15-week bootcamp at a time.Today, we explore how Per Scholas is creating more of those opportunities—and why Plinio won’t scale without data, won’t compromise performance for growth, and won’t accept that talent development is someone else’s problem—it’s ours to solve together.

Anne Filipic is the CEO of  Share Our Strength and leads its No Kid Hungry campaign at a moment when childhood hunger in America has reached alarming new heights. With one in five children—nearly 14 million kids—now facing food insecurity, Anne brings both urgency and strategic clarity to a crisis that touches every community in the country.In this conversation, she reveals how recent policy rollbacks have reversed hard-won progress, why the cancellation of federal hunger data threatens our ability to learn and respond, and what it will take to make federal nutrition programs actually work for the families they’re designed to serve.Join us for a conversation about practical solutions, innovative partnerships, and the political will required to ensure no child in America goes hungry.

Welcome to The Business of Giving. I’m Denver Frederick.Right now, in fields across dozens of countries, there’s an invisible race happening. On one side: curious children wandering into what looks like empty farmland. On the other: teams of specialists working meter by painstaking meter to find what’s buried there first.Today we’re joined by Darren Cormack, CEO of the Mines Advisory Group—an organization born from witnessing the devastating aftermath of conflict in 1980s Afghanistan. MAG has since become a driving force behind the global movement to ban landmines, co-founding the International Campaign that earned the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize.With 80% of landmine casualties being civilians—nearly half of them children—Darren’s teams operate in some of the world’s most dangerous territories. Recently honored with the 2025 Hilton Humanitarian Prize, he brings hard-won insights about innovation, leadership, and what it takes to build hope in the shadow of war.Join us for this compelling conversation about courage, community, and the delicate art of clearing the path to peace.

Picture this: You’re selling your old phone on eBay when a single click offers you the chance to send wildfire relief to LA. No forms, no guilt trip, no second-guessing—just pure impulse-to-impact conversion. You might do it without thinking twice.If you did, congratulations—you just participated in the $4 billion revolution Nick Aldridge has been quietly building for 18 years. While the nonprofit world obsesses over donor retention rates and capital campaign thermometers, Aldridge placed a different bet: What if generosity could be so frictionless that people do it almost by accident?The gamble paid off spectacularly. PayPal Giving Fund has moved money to 227,000 charities by embedding charitable giving into the mundane moments of digital life—not by creating new donors, but by catching generous impulses before they evaporate.Nick reveals why the gap between wanting to help and actually helping isn’t about money or motivation—it’s about the three extra clicks nobody wants to make.Join us to explore how removing friction unleashes generosity at unprecedented scale.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Edgar Sandoval arrived in the United States with just $50 in his pocket, unable to speak English, carrying only his American passport and an unshakeable determination. Today, he leads World Vision, one of the world’s largest humanitarian organizations, serving 100 countries and reaching millions of the most vulnerable children globally. From corporate boardrooms at Procter & Gamble—where he helped transform the meaning of “like a girl” from insult to compliment—to the remote villages of Kenya, Edgar’s journey reveals how divine calling can redirect a comfortable life toward extraordinary purpose. His leadership has revolutionized World Vision’s approach, flipping traditional sponsorship models and launching the organization’s most ambitious campaign yet: reaching 300 million people by 2030. In this conversation, Edgar shares how childhood memories of poverty, corporate innovation lessons, and unwavering faith converge to create massive humanitarian impact. It’s Edgar Sandoval on The Business of Giving.

What if the secret to changing the world isn’t buried in your bank account, but hidden in talents you’ve never fully recognized?Today we welcome John Studzinski—a financier who survived a near-fatal car crash that killed nine others, a philanthropist who’s discovered over 5,000 emerging artists, and author of the revolutionary new book A Talent for Giving: Creating a More Generous Society That Benefits Everyone.For six decades, John has shattered philanthropy’s elitist barriers with a radical truth: every person possesses world-changing abilities, regardless of wealth or status. As founder of the Genesis Foundation, he’s built a movement that rejects checkbook philanthropy for something far more powerful—authentic human connection and hidden talent unleashed.This conversation will revolutionize how you see giving—and yourself.It’s John Studzinski on The Business of Giving.

What started as a solo trek through Nepal’s earthquake-devastated Langtang Valley became a global movement connecting adventure with authentic impact. Today we’re joined by Candice Young, founder of Trek Relief, an organization that transforms travelers into changemakers through community-led projects across the world’s most remote regions.From installing solar panels in Peru to rebuilding schools in Nepal, Trek Relief has completed 28 trips across multiple countries, creating a unique model where participants don’t just witness need—they actively address it alongside local communities. What makes their approach different? Every project emerges from what communities actually request, not what outsiders assume they need.Join us as Candice shares how one moment of witness became a decade of purposeful travel that’s changing lives on both sides of the journey.