Let’s Hear It

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127

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Aug 2026

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About the show

Welcome to Let’s Hear It, a podcast about foundation and nonprofit communications (among other things), hosted by non-relatives Eric Brown and Kirk Brown. Let’s Hear It is sponsored through generous contributions from the College Futures Foundation, the Lumina Foundation, the Prebys Foundation, and the Stupski Foundation. On Let’s Hear It, Kirk and Eric speak with leaders in the field about who they are, what makes them tick, and how they think about their work.

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August 31, 2026Episode 12754 min

So You Wanna Start a Podcast? With Emily Shaw and Bridget Conley

This podcast exists because Kirk Brown had what Eric thinks was a very stupid idea, to start a podcast about foundation and nonprofit communications. Seven years later, they're still at it. Our guests today, Emily Shaw and Bridget Conley, started the podcast Disrupting Peace because Bridget had a very good idea: create a podcast to take on the question of why peace hasn't worked, and find ways to address those challenges. Bridget is the research director at the World Peace Foundation. Emily is the crack producer who helped her build the show. Organizations are always looking for new ways to use communications to advance their mission, and sooner or later the question comes up, "Should we start a podcast?" So this episode is for every foundation, nonprofit, consultant, or anyone else out there sitting on a podcast idea and wondering if it's worth doing. Check out our website , where you can find all seven years of shows! Follow us on Apple Podcasts Follow us on Spotify Please rate and review! It really helps. Show Notes Our guests and their work Disrupting Peace — https://disrupting-peace.captivate.fm/ | Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disrupting-peace/id1759500826 World Peace Foundation — https://worldpeacefoundation.org/ Bridget Conley, host bio and research — https://worldpeacefoundation.org/blog/lessons-from-disrupting-peace/ Emily Shaw — https://www.emilyshawcreates.com/ Emily's case study on building Disrupting Peace, which covers a lot of what she describes in the interview — https://www.emilyshawcreates.com/work/disrupting-peace-world-peace-foundation Episodes they mention by name "Why Listening is the First Step to Peace," their most-listened episode — https://disrupting-peace.captivate.fm/episode/why-listening-is-the-first-step-to-peace "Syria: How Do You Rebuild After a Dictator?" — https://disrupting-peace.captivate.fm/episode/syria-how-do-you-rebuild-after-a-dictator "We Thought We Solved World Peace," the first episode, with Sam Moyn — https://disrupting-peace.captivate.fm/episode/we-thought-we-solved-world-peace The people and ideas they referenced Samuel Moyn, Yale — https://law.yale.edu/samuel-moyn | His book Humane, which is the "bombing for peace" material: https://campuspress.yale.edu/samuelmoyn/humane-how-the-united-states-abandoned-peace-and-reinvented-war/ Generous listening, the scholar's concept Bridget cites, is the framework behind Tufts' Generous Listening and Dialogue Initiative — https://tischcollege.tufts.edu/generous-listening-and-dialogue-initiative-gladi/about Edwin Ginn and the 1910 founding — covered on the WPF site: https://worldpeacefoundation.org/ The Fletcher School at Tufts — https://fletcher.tufts.edu/ Emily's origin story Cozy Boat, the show recorded in the inflatable boat — https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cozy-boat/id1403224776 Justine Lucas, the singer-songwriter in the pilot — https://www.justinelucas.com Candy Ears, her ongoing personal project — https://www.emilyshawcreates.com/work/candy-ears Last but not least, our sponsors! Prebys Foundation — https://www.prebysfdn.org/ | Stop and Talk with Grant Oliphant and Crystal Page — https://stopandtalkpodcast.com Break Fake Rules — https://stupski.org/break-fake-rules/ Lumina Foundation — https://www.luminafoundation.org | Today's Students, Tomorrow's Talent — https://www.luminafoundation.org/podcast/

August 11, 2026Episode 12650 min

Eloy Ortiz Oakley Shows How Valuable College Really Is

We are delighted to have College Futures Foundation CEO Eloy Ortiz Oakley back on the show to talk about one of our favorite subjects – the value of a college degree or certificate. Eloy joined us to talk about a new study College Futures commissioned from Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce that makes a powerful case about how valuable a college education is, not only to students, but to California’s economy. The conversation also offers a perfect example of how a foundation can use research to move policy makers and other decisionmakers to action. Follow Let's Hear It, leave a rating, and help more people find the show.

July 20, 2026Episode 12546 min

Fiona Guthrie of the Innocence Project on Using Story to Fight for the Wrongfully Convicted

Fiona Guthrie spent decades reporting stories as a broadcast journalist and later served as Director of Story at the Ford Foundation. Now, she’s using storytelling to help free people who are wrongfully imprisoned, including those on death row. In this episode, Eric talks with Fiona about the extraordinary career that led her to the Innocence Project, one of the country’s leading advocates for the wrongfully convicted. They discuss why it’s essential for an organization to stay relentlessly focused on its mission while helping build a broader movement for justice—and how storytelling can shape every aspect of a communications strategy. Fiona also reflects on her early days in radio and television in the UK and Australia, as well as the harrowing days covering 9/11. It’s a great conversation with an exceptional communications professional.

June 29, 2026Episode 12450 min

Please Be Good at Philanthropy with Jen Ford Reedy

Jen Ford Reedy has spent more than a decade leading the Bush Foundation, and over that time she has come to a conclusion that should be a challenge to the field—nobody actually has to be good at philanthropy. There's no license needed, no regulators keeping them accountable, and no market that punishes funders for doing it badly. You can just write checks, get celebrated for your generosity, and never once answer the question of whether any of it actually worked. Her new book, Please Be Good at Philanthropy, out on July 21, 2026 from Disruption Books, argues that good intentions aren't enough, and that philanthropy can do real harm when it's done badly. Jen talks with Eric about why she thinks being good at this work is a skill you have to learn, not something you arrive at already knowing, no matter how successful you've been elsewhere. They acknowledge the challenges funders face in getting honest feedback, especially from grantees who don’t want to risk the relationship. And they discuss the importance of being honest about what didn’t work, without blaming grantees. After the interview, Eric and Kirk chew on what philanthropy actually owes the people it serves, and concede that maybe they should please be good at podcasting while they’re at it. Follow Let's Hear It, leave a rating, and help more people find the show.

June 16, 2026Episode 12353 min

What Every Nonprofit Communicator Can Learn From Arts Marketing Genius Sean Kelly

Sean Kelly is one of the sharpest marketing minds Eric has ever met — and he's spent his career doing something all arts organizations dearly want to do: truly understand what their audiences want, align it with their own artistic vision, and set ticket prices accordingly. Sean is the founder of Vatic, a dynamic pricing company for performing arts organizations. His genius is his ability to look at a mountain of data and pull out the story it's trying to tell — then use that story to fill auditoriums and strengthen arts organizations. If you work in or fund the arts, clear your calendar. But any nonprofit communicator can learn a ton from Sean. His ability to truly understand what his audience wants – and needs – is a great lesson for us all. Follow Let's Hear It, leave a rating, and help more people find the show.

May 19, 2026Episode 12254 min

Marc Moorghen of Lever for Change – the Elvis of the Nonprofit World

On the latest Let's Hear It, Eric sits down with Marc Moorghen, VP of Marketing and Communications at Lever for Change. Founded by the MacArthur Foundation, Lever for Change connects donors with bold ideas through massive open calls. In just six years, Marc and his team have helped move $2.5 billion to nonprofits — including MacKenzie Scott's $640 million Yield Giving Open Call and Pivotal's $250 million Action for Women's Health. Eric and Marc get into how Lever for Change flips the traditional philanthropic "do not disturb" sign on its head, why unrestricted and open-call funding is finally going mainstream, and what it looks like when a foundation actually invites the unsolicited big idea. Also: a hearty plug for Stuart Ewen's PR!: A Social History of Spin — the book that put Marc on this path in the first place. (Kirk has thoughts.) Listen now — and please follow, rate, and review Let's Hear It wherever you get your podcasts. And listen for the opportunity to win a prize!

April 14, 2026Episode 1211 hr 1 min

So You Wanna Be a Consultant? Going Independent with Regan Douglass

A lot of people who work in nonprofits and foundations eventually get the tickle. You know the one. What if I just... went out on my own? Regan Douglass did something about it. After years as a communications leader at PolicyLink, California Humanities, and the College Futures Foundation, she pulled the ripcord and launched Sparkwise Communications. Two years in, no regrets. In this episode, Eric sits down with Regan to discuss what it actually takes to go independent — how thick your stomach lining needs to be, how to structure your business, how to smell the tuna fish sandwich wrapped in a red flag before you sign the contract, and how to hold onto your own voice when you've spent years inhabiting someone else's. This one's for everyone who's been sitting on the egg. It's time to let it hatch. Follow Let's Hear It, leave a rating, and help more people find the show.

March 17, 2026Episode 1201 hr 0 min

Glen Galaich on Why Big Giving Falls Short

Glen Galaich is the CEO of the Stupski Foundation — and he just wrote a book that bites the hand that feeds him and serves it up in a 236-page meal. Control: Why Big Giving Falls Short , out today, makes an argument as simple as it is explosive: when a donor takes a tax deduction to give money away, they've made a deal with the public. That money isn't theirs anymore. But the system we've built lets donors park billions in foundations and donor-advised funds indefinitely — dribbling out 5 cents on the dollar while the rest sits on Wall Street going absolutely nowhere. Glen isn't an outside critic. He's a sitting foundation CEO who spent years reinforcing every rule he's now trying to break. Eric read an early draft, argued with him about it, and told him his central framing was too polite. Glen ignored him. They pick up that conversation here. Follow Let's Hear It and leave a rating so more people can find the show.

February 24, 2026Episode 11948 min

From Presence to Power: A Conversation with Rashad Robinson

There's a question Rashad Robinson wants every nonprofit and foundation leader to sit with right now: Are you building power — or just showing up? Rashad spent 13 years leading Color of Change, co-founded the Fight Back Table, forced over 100 corporations to leave ALEC — the American Legislative Exchange Council, a powerful corporate-backed group that shapes conservative state legislation — and took on Facebook in one of the largest boycotts in American history. Now he's channeling all of that hard-won wisdom into a newsletter, a new show on News One, work alongside Jane Fonda defending the First Amendment — and a book, From Presence to Power: How to Take on the Fights That Matter and Win, dropping July 28th from One World/Penguin Random House. Eric sits down with Rashad for a wide-ranging conversation about what it actually takes to win: the difference between a dialogue and a negotiation, why visibility is only the beginning, what Bad Bunny's Super Bowl performance means for the movement, and how to fight fatigue when you're running on empty but can't stop. This one's got joy, strategy, and only a few references to the New York Mets. Listen now — and if Rashad's clarity and energy give you something to hold onto, please follow, rate, and review Let's Hear It wherever you get your podcasts.

February 3, 2026Episode 11859 min

A Sector in Crisis: CEP’s Elisha Smith Arrillaga Exposes the Dangerous Disconnect Between Foundations and Nonprofits

This might be the most important episode we've ever done, and we swear we’re not just saying that. If you work in or around philanthropy, stop what you're doing and listen. Nonprofits are facing record demand—higher than during COVID—and they're getting less funding. Not just from government. From foundations too. The sector is in freefall, and many of the people with the resources to help don't even see a problem. Eric sits down with Elisha Smith Arrillaga, Vice President at the Center for Effective Philanthropy, to unpack their devastating new report, A Sector in Crisis: How US Nonprofits and Foundations Are Responding to Threats. The findings reveal a staggering disconnect: 40% of nonprofits say that funders have shifted priorities in ways that are less helpful at this dire moment. And get this - 20% of foundations say they don't have much responsibility to help nonprofits navigate this moment at all!! This isn't a wake-up call. It's a five-alarm fire. And if foundations don't start closing the gap between what they think they're doing and what nonprofits actually need, organizations will close. Communities will suffer. And philanthropy will have failed the very moment it was built for. Unless philanthropy as we know it is just no longer useful. Listen now. Share it with your board. Share it with your program officers. Share it with anyone who still believes philanthropy can rise to meet this moment—because that moment is now. Follow Let's Hear It and leave a rating so more people can find the show.