The Business of Giving

Few organizations have redefined what activism looks like in the 21st century more than Global Citizen—a movement that began with three high school friends in Australia and has now mobilized millions of people worldwide, leveraging over $49 billion in commitments that have impacted 1.3 billion lives. At the center of this extraordinary transformation is Hugh Evans, Co-Founder and CEO of Global Citizen.Hugh was inspired by Nelson Mandela’s revolutionary declaration that overcoming poverty “is not a gesture of charity, but it’s an act of justice.” From securing $250 million from Norway’s Prime Minister through a strategic Twitter invasion to pioneering the use of music festivals as diplomatic summits, Global Citizen has cracked the code on making world leaders accountable to the world’s most vulnerable.In today’s conversation, Hugh reveals how technology, focus, and relentless innovation are reshaping the fight against extreme poverty.It’s Hugh Evans on The Business of Giving.

Picture this: You’re sitting in an empty Red Cross blood donation center, knowing that premium streaming content worth millions go unused while nonprofits everywhere struggle to afford basic advertising. That lightbulb moment launched Kris Johns from adtech executive to nonprofit revolutionary, founding AdGood—a 501(c)(3) that’s rewriting the rules of television advertising for organizations changing the world.With partnerships spanning A+E Global Media to LG, AdGood has unlocked access to 1.5 billion monthly impressions across 1,000+ channels, offering nonprofits something unthinkable: premium Connected TV advertising at 70% off market rates. But here’s the kicker—their AI-powered platform can create broadcast-quality 30-second video ads in under four minutes, democratizing professional creative for organizations with $250 budgets.Today, discover why Kris believes this isn’t just about cheaper ads—it’s about fundamentally transforming nonprofit marketing. And now for my conversation with Kris Johns, the CEO and Founder of AdGood.

Picture this:  A young lawyer with $3,500 from a church committee and an audacious dream to fix what seemed unfixable—the fact that when development projects failed in low-income communities, they left “a hole in the ground for the next 30 years.”That lawyer was Elyse Cherry, and today she’s the CEO of BlueHub Capital, having turned that modest start into a staggering $20 billion in community transformation across 42 states. But here’s what makes her story remarkable: she’s never forgotten that first lesson about standing “at the intersection of downtown and community.”You’ll hear how BlueHub’s game-changing SUN initiative has prevented nearly 1,250 foreclosures while injecting $67 million back into communities.It’s Elyse Cherry on The Business of Giving.

What happens when you realize your values guide only half a percent of your wealth while the other 99.5% operates by completely different principles? You become what Sharon Schneider calls an “Integrator.”As founder of Integrated Capital Strategies and author of “Handbook for an Integrated Life,” Sharon works with ultra-wealthy families who’ve grown tired of the schizophrenic dance between making money and doing good. Her journey began at Foundation Source, where she helped families perfect their charitable giving while watching their investment portfolios—often 20 times larger—fund the very industries their foundations were fighting against.Today’s hyperconnected world has made this contradiction impossible to ignore. When your phone shows you exactly who made your t-shirt and your coastal property insurance rates explode due to climate disasters, the old two-pocket system stops making sense.Today, she reveals how Integrators are rewriting the rules of wealth. It’s Sharon Schneider on the Business of Giving.

Welcome to The Business of Giving. I’m Denver Frederick, and today we’re joined by Michele Jawando, President of the Omidyar Network. Michele’s journey has taken her from Capitol Hill to Google to one of philanthropy’s most forward-looking technology ventures, giving her a rare perspective as both builder and translator — connecting policymakers, industry leaders, and civil society.At a moment when AI is reshaping work, childhood, and connection itself, she’s leading an ambitious effort to “hardwire humanity into technology,” ensuring that dignity, fairness, and inclusion are embedded in our digital future.We’ll discuss AI companions and children, why 18-year-olds should help design the digital future, and how philanthropy can shift tech’s incentives toward human flourishing. It's Michele Jawando on The Business of Giving.

The nonprofit sector is hemorrhaging talent—10,000 full-time jobs vanished in the first 70 days of 2025. While many leaders wait for the storm to pass, Nancy Murphy, CEO of CSR Communications, has a blunt reality check: the storm isn’t passing. It’s the new weather.Nancy has spent her career helping nonprofits navigate disruption and developed the sector’s first objective measure of board change readiness. Her diagnosis is stark—leaders are clinging to outdated models while the ground shifts beneath their feet.For the past five years or so, we've been living in what a futurist calls the BANI world– brittle, anxious, non-linear, and incomprehensible. And we know that the pace and volume of change will never again be as slow or as small as it is today, if you can believe that.Today, discover why waiting for stability could be fatal—and what change-ready organizations do differently when crisis strikes.

Welcome to The Business of Giving. I’m Denver Frederick, and today we’re joined by Ryan Dewey Smith, founder and leader of Inperium, one of the most expansive nonprofit networks in the country. Operating across 20 states, Inperium has pioneered a revolutionary affiliation model that’s transforming how nonprofits achieve sustainability and scale. Ryan started Inperium nearly a decade ago when he recognized that traditional nonprofit structures were failing organizations serving our most vulnerable populations. Through innovative sole-member affiliations, tax-exempt municipal bond financing, and even nonprofit employee stock ownership programs, Inperium is rewriting the playbook for nonprofit collaboration. This is a conversation about the future of sustainability in the social sector.

What if the key to solving urban poverty isn’t creating new programs, but matching proven solutions with communities that need them most? Ali Knight, CEO of GreenLight Fund, joins us to discuss a revolutionary approach that’s quietly transformed cities across America for two decades. From his journey as a “latchkey kid” in New York City to leading a national organization that’s invested over $40 million in community solutions, Ali reveals how patience and discipline created lasting change.  That ambitious vision is attracting mayors, nonprofit leaders, and funders nationwide who are hungry for solutions that actually work—and it’s reshaping how philanthropy approaches urban poverty one city at a time. It’s Ali Knight of the GreenLight Fund on The Business of Giving.

Welcome to The Business of Giving. Today, we’re examining America’s animal welfare crisis with someone who’s been fighting it for over a decade.Cathy Bissell founded the BISSELL Pet Foundation in 2011, evolving from local shelter fundraising into a national force. Their programs have found homes for 17,000 pets in a single event and performed over 120,000 spay and neuter procedures this year alone.But behind these numbers is a deeper crisis—rising costs and housing restrictions leaving shelters overcrowded and families heartbroken.Today, Cathy will share how systematic thinking can solve seemingly impossible problems—and why she believes the time to help animals is right now.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

What happens when you inherit billions to give away, but the weight of that responsibility threatens to define you more than your own dreams? And how do you honor a grandfather who was simultaneously the “father of fracking” and one of America’s most passionate environmentalists?Welcome to The Business of Giving. I’m your host, Denver Frederick. Today we examine next-generation philanthropy with Katherine Lorenz, Executive Director of the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation and co-founder of the Giving Pledge Next Gen initiative.Katherine’s family preserved decades of intimate conversations with her grandparents—a treasure trove of philanthropic wisdom. But her path wasn’t predetermined. Working with indigenous farming communities in the mountains of Oaxaca, she experienced a revelation that would reshape everything.This is a conversation about wrestling with paradox, building authentic peer networks, and discovering that sometimes the most powerful philanthropy comes from embracing life’s contradictions.