The PM Podcast

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100

Latest episode

Jun 2026

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About the show

Untold stories. Real impact. The PM Podcast features raw, personal conversations with changemakers reshaping our world—from nonprofit leaders to grassroots heroes. Hear stories of tragedy and triumph, grief and grace, love and laughter. Whether you lead a mission-driven organization or just care deeply about your community, you’ll find inspiration in every episode. Hosted by Jay Frost. Produced by Jack Frost. Powered by DonorSearch.

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60 recent

June 13, 2026Episode 14629 min

Silver Tsunami: A Conversation with Tatumn Zale, AFP's 2026 Outstanding Young Professional

Tatumn Zale, CFRE is assistant director of development at AllThrive 365 and one of AFP’s 2026 Outstanding Young Professionals. Tatumn has quickly built a reputation as a creative, disciplined, and deeply human fundraising leader. At AllThrive 365, she has helped revitalize donor communications, rebuild fundraising events, strengthen corporate partnerships, and grow both recurring and individual giving — including a 131% increase in individual giving in just one year. She now manages $6 million in annual grant revenue, has increased event sponsorship revenue by 233%, secured major gifts, and expanded practical in-kind partnerships serving low-income seniors. Tatumn is also the co-founder of Kindling Impact Consulting which works with small to mid-sized nonprofits. Recorded live in the Exchange at AFP ICON 2026, this conversation explores Tatumn’s journey into fundraising, how theater and sales helped shape her presence, storytelling, and connection with donors, how caring for a family member has informed her work with older adults, and what the coming silver tsunami means for philanthropy, nonprofits, and the future of care.

June 5, 2026Episode 14533 min

Winner's Mindset: A Conversation with Amari Duncan, AFP's 2026 Outstanding Young Professional

Amari Duncan is director of philanthropic impact at Girls Inc. of the Greater Capital Region and one of AFP’s 2026 Outstanding Young Professionals. Although she entered the fundraising profession only four years ago, Amari has quickly built a record as a strategic, mission-centered, and community-rooted advancement leader. At United Way of the Greater Capital Region, she managed more than 40 corporate partnerships, helped rebuild Emerging Leaders United, and mobilized more than 1,500 volunteers across nine counties. Since joining Girls Inc. in 2023, she has led non-grant fundraising, modernized the advancement program, launched new signature events, and helped more than double philanthropic support. She is now helping lead Girls Inc.’s first capital campaign in more than 40 years. Amari also serves in a community leadership role with KIPP Capital Region and Albany Academy for Girls, where she became the youngest and first Black woman to serve as president of the Alumnae Council. Recorded live in the Exchange at AFP ICON 2026, this conversation explores Amari’s path from sports to fundraising, the role of mentorship, and how a winner’s mindset has set her on a course for success.

May 29, 2026Episode 14428 min

The Cause Is More Important: A Conversation with Torrie Taj, AFP's 2026 Outstanding Fundraising Professional of the Year

Torrie Taj is a nonprofit executive, fundraising leader, educator, coach, and the 2026 Outstanding Fundraising Professional of the Year, the highest honor awarded by the Association of Fundraising Professionals. For more than three decades, Torrie has helped shape Arizona’s nonprofit landscape. She spent 23 years at A New Leaf, rising from direct service roles to executive leadership, helping grow the organization and expand housing, shelter, and support services for vulnerable families. Since 2015, she has served as CEO of Child Crisis Arizona, where she has led dramatic growth in both mission impact and philanthropic support, including a transformational campaign that created the Center for Child & Family Wellness. She is a longtime champion of ethical fundraising, professional development, mentorship, and what she calls an abundance mindset—challenging nonprofit leaders to think beyond scarcity and invest boldly in people, infrastructure, and mission. Recorded live in the Exchange at AFP ICON 2026, we explore her leadership journey, the lessons she has learned along the way, her abundance mindset, and the importance of growing things.

May 22, 2026Episode 14344 min

Meet People Where They Are: A Conversation with Birgit Smith Burton, Founder of AADO and Immediate Past Chair of AFP

Birgit Smith Burton is a fundraising leader, advocate, author, and founder and CEO of the African American Development Officers Network. Birgit launched AADO at Georgia Institute of Technology in 1999 to create mentorship, professional development, and networking opportunities for fundraisers of color. During her 26-year career at Georgia Tech, she helped lead efforts that secured more than $700 million in foundation support for scholarships, research, and major initiatives. She also made history as the first African American woman elected chair of the global board of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Along the way, she has become one of the most respected voices in the profession on leadership, inclusion, mentorship, and the future of fundraising. Recorded live in the Exchange at AFP ICON 2026, this conversation explores Birgit’s journey, the evolution of AADO, leadership in philanthropy, and what it takes to build a more inclusive and equitable future for the sector.

May 16, 2026Episode 14254 min

$1 Trillion for Healing: A Conversation with Edgar Villanueva, CEO of the Decolonizing Wealth Project

Edgar Villanueva is an award-winning author, speaker, strategist, and founder and CEO of the Decolonizing Wealth Project and Liberated Capital. An enrolled member of the Lumbee Tribe, Edgar has become one of the leading voices challenging philanthropy to rethink its relationship with wealth, power, healing, and reparative action. His bestselling book, Decolonizing Wealth, sparked conversations across the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors about generosity, justice, and what it means to repair harm through the movement of money. Today, through the Decolonizing Wealth Project, Edgar is leading Moonshot — an ambitious 10-year effort to catalyze 1 trillion dollars in reparative giving grounded in dignity, reciprocity, and healing. In this episode, we talk about Edgar’s journey from home to national leadership, the spiritual dimensions of money and philanthropy, the resistance and response to his work, what reparative philanthropy actually means in practice, and why he believes healingmust sit at the center of the conversation about wealth.

May 9, 2026Episode 1411 hr 11 min

Skinned Knees and Resilience: A Conversation with Sharon Kitroser, Co-Founder of Team Kat & Mouse

Sharon Kitroser is a fundraising strategist, partnership builder, and nonprofit coach with a background that spans more than 25 years in media and advertising and another decade in fundraising and nonprofit leadership. Today, Sharon is the co-founder of Team Kat & Mouse, where she helps organizations grow fundraising revenue through coaching, storytelling, corporate partnerships, and practical fundraising strategy. Before that, she led partnership and development work for organizations such as the American Red Cross and the Gift of Life Marrow Registry. In this episode, our conversation ranges from Sharon’s family roots on the Lower East Side, Europe, and South Africa to living upstairs from the Marx Brothers, life in radio, corporate fundraising, mental health, shocking family secrets, and why both children—and clients—sometimes need the freedom to skin their knees and learn resilience and independence.

May 1, 2026Episode 1401 hr 18 min

The Trust Factor: A Conversation with Jackie Blackbird, Indigenous Communities Officer, Newman's Own Foundation

Jackie Blackbird is Indigenous Communities Officer at Newman’s Own Foundation and a leader advancing Indigenous food justice for kids. An enrolled member of the Aaniiih (Gros Ventre) Tribe and a descendant of the Nakoda (Assiniboine) Tribe, Jackie manages partnerships with more than 30 grantee organizations working across Indigenous communities. Before joining Newman’s Own Foundation, she helped lead her tribe’s economic development efforts and co-founded the Aaniiih Nakoda Community Foundation. Jackie also spent more than 18 years at Nike, where she led the N7 Fund—directing over $10 million to support sport and physical activity in Tribal and First Nation communities. Today, she continues that commitment through her work and through service on multiple boards supporting Native-led initiatives. In this episode, we trace her journey from tribal community to national leadership—and explore how culture, community, and philanthropy come together to advance opportunity and food justice for the next generation.

April 25, 2026Episode 13953 min

Exponential Thinking: A Conversation with Anne Connelly, Author of Bitcoin and the Future of Fundraising

Anne Connelly is an entrepreneur, angel investor, and a leading voice in blockchain and cryptocurrency for social impact. Anne advises corporations, startups, and nonprofits worldwide, and teaches Blockchain-based Business Models for Social Impact at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. She is also an expert on decentralized societies at Singularity University and has lectured at Oxford’s Saïd School of Business on impact finance. Her work has taken her from boardrooms to the field, including with Doctors Without Borders in the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo. She is the co-author of Bitcoin and the Future of Fundraising and Trust, and has been recognized as one of CBC’s Young Leaders Changing Canada and among the Fifty Most Inspirational Women in Technology. In this episode, we trace her journey from Ottawa to Africa—where she carried a backpack full of cash to pay NGO staff and saw wheelbarrows of currency needed to buy a tomato—and how those experiences helped shape her belief in digital currency, technological solutions, and exponential thinking.

April 17, 2026Episode 1381 hr 7 min

An Idea Whose Time Has Come: A Conversation with Rey Saldaña, President and CEO of Communities In Schools

My guest today is Rey Saldaña—President and CEO of Communities In Schools®, the national organization that surrounds students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life. A CIS alumnus, Rey’s journey from student to national leader reflects the mission of the organization he now leads. Born and raised on the South Side of San Antonio, Rey is the son of immigrants from Mexico and a graduate of Stanford University, where he also earned a master’s degree in education and received the President’s Award for the Advancement of the Common Good. Before taking the helm of Communities in Schools, he served as Regional Advocacy Director for the Raise Your Hand Texas Foundation, as Chair of the San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Agency, and as the youngest person ever elected to the San Antonio City Council, serving four terms focused on education, public transportation, and opportunity for working families. In this episode, we begin in San Antonio, where Communities In Schools first shaped his path—then trace his journey to leading the organization at a defining moment: taking the helm as the pandemic shut down schools nationwide, stewarding a transformational gift from MacKenzie Scott, and advancing an ambitious vision to expand CIS to more Title I schools across America.

April 10, 2026Episode 13751 min

Shepherding the Next Generation: A Conversation with Karen Isble

In this episode, we speak with Karen Isble—Vice President for College Advancement at Kalamazoo College. Karen previously served as Associate Vice Chancellor and Campaign Director at the University of California, Irvine, where she helped lead the university’s $2 billion Brilliant Future campaign. Before that, she held senior leadership roles at the University of Michigan, contributing to the university’s $5 billion+ Victors for Michigan campaign. She began her career in arts administration, with roles at the Chamber Music Society of Detroit, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Goodman Theatre—and today serves as chair of the board of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra. A former president of Apra, Karen has been a national voice in advancement for many years. We begin our conversation with a glimpse of where it all started—how her talking and singing as a child earned her the nickname “Radio” within the family, hinting early on at a life shaped by music and communication.