Nonprofit Lowdown

I’m so excited to share this powerful convo with my friend and guest, Rhonda Allen, CEO of Dev Color. We went in on what it means to lead an org that centers Black technologists — especially in a moment when DEI is under fire and folks are playing it safe.

In this episode, we talk about:

➡️ Navigating leadership as a Black woman in tech

➡️ What it really takes to fundraise when DEI isn’t “trendy” anymore

➡️ Why small, authentic huma...

I had the real pleasure of sitting down with my brilliant friend Anysa Holder, Chief Advancement Officer at Easterseals NJ, on the latest episode of Nonprofit Lowdown. 🙌🏽

We covered so much ground, including:
💥 What it’s like to stay in the nonprofit sector for 15+ years
💥 The emotional labor of fundraising (especially as women of color)
💥 Unpacking money trauma and mindset
💥 Why board training needs a major upgrad...

I'm so excited to share this week’s conversation with my guest and friend Yukari Kane, CEO and co-founder of the Prison Journalism Project (@prisonjournalism).

Yukari is a former @WSJ tech reporter who made the leap into nonprofit leadership — and let me tell you, her story is incredible. We talk about what it’s like to run a growing org that operates at the intersection of journalism, education, and criminal justice reform...

This week’s episode of Nonprofit Lowdown is straight-up magic. 🪄

I sat down with my friend DiCo, Executive Director of the Brooklyn Debate League, and their story is nothing short of jaw-dropping.

One minute, they're a public school teacher running debate club on Fridays. The next? A viral Humans of New York post, a GoFundMe that raises $1.3 million in two days, and suddenly they're leading a movement to bring speech...

On the latest episode of Nonprofit Lowdown, I had the absolute pleasure of speaking with Dr. Dee Frayne (aka Dr. D), a life + business coach and former nonprofit exec who gets it. We went deep on what it means to burn out in a sector that’s often under-resourced, under-supported, and powered by people who care way too much to quit… until we’re forced to.

We talked about:
✨ Why the nonprofit world can feel like a parking lot for p...

I’m so excited to share this week’s episode of Nonprofit Lowdown with you. I sat down with my friend and former student, Omri Preiss, the Co-Founder & Managing Director of Alliance for Europe — and we had a powerful, eye-opening conversation.

We don’t often feature voices from outside the U.S., so this one is extra special. Omri is on the frontlines of preserving democracy across Europe, and what he shared about disinformati...

I had the pleasure of sitting down with my friend and former student, Katy Troyer, the Executive Director of the KGSA Foundation — the U.S.-based fundraising arm for the Kibera Girls Soccer Academy in Nairobi, Kenya.

We talked about what it’s really like to raise money for a cause that’s thousands of miles away, how the international development sector is shifting due to major funding cuts, and why community and storytelling are...

This week on Nonprofit Lowdown, I sit down with the phenomenal Dr. Nastassia Harris (@perinatalhealthequity) to talk about her journey from professor and nurse to full-time founder and CEO of the Perinatal Health Equity Initiative.

We talk about:

✅ Making the leap into nonprofit leadership

✅ Facing fears around fundraising & salary

✅ “Burning the ships” and doing it scared

✅ Why YOU are the bottleneck in your org (and how to...

I’m beyond excited to share my latest episode of Nonprofit Lowdown featuring one of my former students and now nonprofit powerhouse, Jehron Petty, founder and CEO of ColorStack.

Y’all—Jehron started ColorStack during the height of the pandemic, fresh out of Cornell, and five years later? He’s leading a national org serving over 15,000 Black and Latino CS students with a $2.4M budget and a full-time team of 8.

In this convo, ...

I got to chat with my friend and former student Amber Buck Hamilton, founder of Fig Leaf Development and a total rockstar in the fundraising world.

We talked about:

✅ Why she left her high-level nonprofit job to start her own consulting biz

✅ How burnout, family, and values drove her decision

✅ What it really feels like to take the leap (spoiler: terrifying AND amazing)

✅ That pesky imposter syndrome

✅ And why there’s more than...

I had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with my friend and fundraising rockstar Maria Griffin on the latest episode of Nonprofit Lowdown — and trust me, you need to hear this one.

Maria is the Chief Advancement Officer at DREAM (yes, the same DREAM from the episode with Rich Berlin!) and she's about to launch her own consultancy to help nonprofits raise big money with big strategy. 💸

In this convo, we got real about ...

Hey friends—I'm turning my recent Leadership Connect session into a podcast episode because the conversation was too real not to share with a wider audience.

If you’re a fundraiser, ED, or nonprofit leader navigating today’s uncertainty, this one’s for you. Yes, the economy is wobbly. Yes, federal and state dollars are shrinking. But no, that doesn't mean the money isn’t out there.

In this episode, I break down:

I had the absolute pleasure of speaking with Karla Altmayer, co-founder of Healing to Action, on Nonprofit Lowdown this week — and wow, this conversation is a must-listen.

We talked about how her team is flipping the script on both gender-based violence and traditional fundraising. Instead of fancy decks or transactional asks, they’re hosting underground dinners that focus on authentic connection, shared values, and deep communi...

This week on Nonprofit Lowdown, I had the absolute pleasure of reconnecting with my friend Yully Cha, SVP of Research & Policy and Senior Advisor at Embrace Boston.

We dove into a deep and inspiring conversation about what it really means to lead equity work in today’s climate—and why joy and belonging are central to the fight for justice. 💥

We talked about:

✨ The story behind the Embrace MLK monument in Boston ✨ The po...