Charity Talks

Meg Smith, the CEO of Cure Alzheimer's Fund, joins Charity Talks.  Cure Alzheimer's Fund is dedicated to funding research with the highest probability of preventing, slowing or reversing Alzheimer's disease.  The brain is the most complex organ in the human body, and as Meg and Brooke discuss, that leads to a wide range of promising targets for potential research.  Since its inception, Cure Alzeimer's Fund has distributed almost $2...

Lauren Hendricks, the President and CEO of Trickle Up, is this episode's guest.  Trickle Up partners with women in extreme poverty to build economic opportunities through programs rooted in the "Graduation Approach."  As Lauren and Brooke discuss, Trickle Up's programs reach the most marginalized communities including women, indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, and people facing forced displacement.  Founded in 1979, Trick...

Susan Combs, the Founder of Pancakes For Roger, joins Charity Talks.  Susan founded Pancakes for Roger to honor her father, Major General Roger E. Combs, by helping veteran address the unique challenges they face during and after their service.  Through partnerships with 501(c)(3) organizations and initiatives tailored to veterans' needs, Pancakes for Roger strives to make a meaningful difference in their lives.  (0:21).

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Marijana Savic, the Founder and Director of Atina, and Board Director of Global Fund for Children, is this episode's guest.  Atina is a Serbia-based nonprofit that fights against human trafficking.  As Maja and Brooke discuss, not only does Atina help the transition process for trafficking victims, it also works to support the rights of women generally.  Given Maja’s decades of helping these often ignored survivors, it is not surpr...

Maya Ajmera, founder of the Global Fund for Children (GFC), and President & CEO of Society for Science and Executive Publisher of Science News, joins Charity Talks. GFC invests in innovative, community-based organizations around the world to help children and youth reach their full potential and advance their rights. Founded in 1921, Society for Science is dedicated to expanding scientific literacy, access to STEM education, a...

Dan Hubbard, the founder and Director of 4Amanda.Org, is this episode’s guest. 4Amanda is a non-profit foundation that provides emergency financial support to cancer patients.  The foundation is named for Amanda Pagans-Hubbard, Dan’s deceased wife, who with Dan set up the foundation before her passing.  As Dan and Brooke discuss, the financial challenges that coincide with cancer treatment are often as crippling as the disease.  4A...

Joey Savoie, the Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of Charity Entrepreneurship, is this episode’s guest.  CE’s core mission is to launch high-impact nonprofits by connecting entrepreneurs with effective ideas, training and funding.  As Joey and Brooke discuss, each year CE dedicates hundreds of research hours to identifying the most effective charity ideas.  It then recruits aspiring entrepreneurs, and through its two-month incu...

Titus Syengo, the Executive Director of Teaching at the Right Level Africa (“TaRL”), is this episode’s guest.  TaRL began as a joint venture between Pratham and J-PAL (whose Global Executive Director — Iqbal Dhaliwal — was a guest on Charity Talks last year).  Its primary goal is to strengthen children’s foundational literacy and numeracy skills by using its evidence-based approach.  As Titus and Brooke discuss, TaRL is supporting ...

Sean Mayberry, the founder and CEO of StrongMinds, joins Charity Talks.  StrongMinds treats depression suffered by women largely in Africa. For African women, depression is a leading cause of disability. Yet, due to the lack of investment in mental health services, approximately 85% of people in low-income countries – if not more – receive no treatment.  As Sean and Brooke discuss, StrongMinds addresses ...

Catherine Spencer, the CEO of Cochrane, is this episode’s guest.  Cochrane is a global organization that collaborates to produce trusted health evidence, make it accessible to all, and advocate for its use.  Its work is internationally recognized as the benchmark for high-quality information about the effectiveness of health care.  During the podcast, Catherine and Brooke discuss the process by which Cochrane produces this informat...

Dr. James Deutsch, the CEO of Rainforest Trust, joins Charity Talks.  For more than 30 years, Rainforest Trust’s primary mission has been to raise funds in order to make grants in Africa, Asia and South America that preserve and protect land and habitats there.  As James and Brooke discuss, by protecting millions of acres of land, Rainforest Trust is saving endangered species from extinction.  But its impact goes well beyond that. ...

Princess Padmaja Kumari Parmar, the Founder and President of Friends of Mewar, is this episode’s guest.  Padmaja is the daughter of the House of Mewar, which was founded in 734 AD and is the world’s longest, unbroken serving dynasty.  She founded Friends of Mewar to address three pressing problems - women’s empowerment and education, lack of preventive healthcare, and preservation of Mewar’s cultural heritage.  Over the past ten ye...

Michael Chuter, the Chief Executive of Pump Aid, joins Charity Talks.  Pump Aid works primarily in Malawi, and its goal is to achieve lasting positive change in the poorest and most disadvantaged communities there by implementing water, sanitation, and hygiene programs. As Michael and Brooke discuss, over the last twenty years, over 10,000 communities and almost 2 million people have been provided with access to safe, clean water t...

Christopher Cassidy, the President and CEO of the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation (“NMOHMF”), is this episode’s guest. Chris attended the U.S. Naval Academy and became a Navy SEAL, before becoming a commander of SEAL units in Afghanistan. After Chris left the SEALs, he joined NASA as an astronaut, flew on the Space Shuttle Endeavor and Russian Soyuz spacecraft, commanded the International Space Station, and eventually ros...

Dr. Michael Plant, the Founder and Director of the Happier Lives Institute, joins Charity Talks. While studying for his PhD in moral philosophy at the University of Oxford, Michael realized that there was a pressing need for more research on the most cost-effective, evidence-based ways to improve global happiness. That led him to found the Happier Lives Institute. Michael and Brooke discuss how by drawing on the fields of philosoph...