We Are For Good Podcast - The Podcast for Nonprofits

Meet Nathan Cook 👋 He is the Chief Information and Technology Officer at Special Olympics International, where he is using technology to do something remarkable: help a movement that serves 5 million athletes across 172 countries finally operate as one. He is building a digital center of excellence, co-creating AI tools with athletes, and asking a question that should reshape how every nonprofit thinks about technology: what if we built this with the people we serve, not just for them?
In this episode, you'll hear:
How Special Olympics went from fragmented, program-by-program systems to a unified digital platform, and what it meant when 50% of athletes could suddenly self-register and own their own information for the first time
The story of Med Buddy, an AI-powered healthcare assistant that sits in the room with athletes during medical visits to translate, advocate, and improve care for people with intellectual disabilities
Why AI has an ableism problem: the research Special Olympics has conducted on bias in large language models, and what organizations need to know before AI gets embedded in more decision-making
Episode Highlights:
Meet Nathan Cook (2:33)
Nathan's path to this work: programming robots as a kid (3:04)
Why Special Olympics' fragmented systems were limiting the mission (4:16)
Technology at scale: how 50% of athletes can now self-register (5:04)
Building with athletes, not just for them: universal design in action (9:04)
Meet Med Buddy: AI as a healthcare advocate in the room (13:34)
Advice for nonprofits hesitant about AI (18:07)
AI bias and ableism in large language models (22:04)
A generosity story: a mom who finally talked with her son (25:08)
One good thing: eat the water beetle (28:03)
Episode Show Notes: https://www.weareforgood.com/episode/704

📅 Don't Miss These Free Upcoming Events! 👇
APRIL 29: Working Session Live: Forecast Your Monthly Giving Growth in 2026 with Dana Snyder (and the pathways to get you there!)
MAY  14: ImpactUp: Story This quarter, we're going deep on your most powerful (and underused) tool - Story. Local meetups happening worldwide. Find one near you. 
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Join the We Are For Good Community—completely free.
Join fellow changemakers, share takeaways from this working session, and keep collaborating in a space built for connection, inspiration, and real impact: www.weareforgoodcommunity.com
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We're living in the loneliest moment in modern history. And at the same time, people have never been hungrier for hope, for joy, for meaningful connection. 
Your volunteers are at the center of that tension. And if you're not treating people power as a strategy, you're leaving your mission's most powerful asset on the table.
Recorded live at the We Are For Good Summit, this conversation brings together four extraordinary leaders: Susan McPherson, founder and CEO of McPherson Strategies and author of The Lost Art of Connecting; Nicole Stewart, Executive Director of Boston CASA; Nicole R. Smith, Executive Director of ALIVE, the National Professional Association for Leaders in Volunteer Engagement; and Sara Lomelin, CEO of Philanthropy Together.
In this episode, you'll hear:
What ALIVE's data shows about organizations that treat volunteers as strategy vs. afterthought: 80% more volunteers, 60% higher engagement, and donors who are twice as likely to give
Boston CASA's three non-negotiables for scaling a volunteer program without burning people out: exceptional training, strong supervision, and a mission-anchored culture
How to operationalize people power right now: from launching a giving circle to giving volunteers a role, not a receipt
Why skills-based volunteering is surging even as companies go quiet on CSR, and what that means for nonprofits
People are looking for hope. They're looking for joy. They're looking for meaningful connections. You are the one they've been waiting for. 🩵
Episode Highlights:
How volunteer expectations have shifted post-Covid (3:00)
People want belonging, not transactions (4:09)
Volunteers as your best marketing money can't buy (8:21)
Volunteers as ambassadors, donors, and storytellers (10:42)
Boston CASA's non-negotiables for scaling without burnout (16:37)
CSR in 2026: skills-based volunteering and what companies are doing quietly (22:58)
Operationalizing people power: giving circles, storytelling, clarity (24:11)
Episode Shownotes: https://www.weareforgood.com/episode/703

📅 Don't Miss These Free Upcoming Events! 👇
APRIL 29: Working Session Live: Forecast Your Monthly Giving Growth in 2026 with Dana Snyder (and the pathways to get you there!)
MAY  14: ImpactUp: Story This quarter, we're going deep on your most powerful (and underused) tool - Story. Local meetups happening worldwide. Find one near you. 
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Join the We Are For Good Community—completely free.
Join fellow changemakers, share takeaways from this working session, and keep collaborating in a space built for connection, inspiration, and real impact: www.weareforgoodcommunity.com
Say hi 👋
LinkedIn / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter

Meet Pedro J. Rivera 👋 In 30 years at the intersection of law, philanthropy, and fundraising, he has launched three planned giving programs and raised $150 million for nonprofits and universities. In this Working Session, he's here to give you a clear entry point into planned giving, no matter where you're starting from.
In this Working Session, you'll hear:
How to talk about legacy giving in a way that feels natural
How to find your best planned giving prospects with data you already have
A 30-day action plan to move planned giving from overwhelming to doable
Episode Highlights:
What is planned giving, really? (0:21)
Why right now: The Great Wealth Transfer (3:18)
How to talk about legacy without making it weird (4:48)
Finding your best prospects: the 7-10 rule and more (5:50)
Weaving planned giving into what you're already doing (8:21)
The 30-day starter plan (12:05)
One Good Thing: stop assuming donors don't want to talk about this (14:07)
Welcome back to Working Sessions: hands-on, clarity-filled conversations designed to help you move real work forward inside your organization.
Let's get to work.
Episode Show Notes: https://www.weareforgood.com/episode/702
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Join the We Are For Good Community—completely free.
Join fellow changemakers, share takeaways from this working session, and keep collaborating in a space built for connection, inspiration, and real impact: www.weareforgoodcommunity.com
Say hi 👋
LinkedIn / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter

At 4am on April 3, 2025, Jennifer Rupp's phone wouldn't stop buzzing. 93% of Michigan Humanities' budget. Gone overnight. What happened next is a story about crisis leadership, radical transparency, and why connection isn't a soft strategy. It's the only strategy. 🙏
In this episode, you'll hear:
What Jennifer did in the first 24 hours after losing 93% of her budget, and why transparency was her most important tool
How she decided which programs to cut and which were non-negotiable (and the framework you can use to make those calls)
Why "when division is the crisis, connection is the strategy" isn't just a philosophy at Michigan Humanities, it's their entire operating model
Jennifer’s One Good Thing: flip the funding triangle. 85% of your money comes from individuals. Are you spending 85% of your time there?
This one's going to stay with you. 🩵
Episode Highlights:
Meet Jennifer Rupp (00:48)
The 4am email that changed everything (09:44)
How federal humanities funding actually works (10:46)
The pivot: transparency, triage, and staying mission-aligned (13:55)
What programs fell and which were non-negotiable (17:09)
Crisis leadership lessons you can only learn by walking through it (22:28)
From front porches to back decks: why we've lost the art of gathering (25:15)
The Great Michigan Gathering: a three-year plan to rebuild community (26:43)
A powerful story of generosity in Jennifer's life (33:10)
Jennifer's One Good Thing: flip the funding triangle (35:05)
Episode Show Notes: https://www.weareforgood.com/episode/701

📅 Don't Miss These Free Upcoming Events! 👇
APRIL 29: Working Session Live: Forecast Your Monthly Giving Growth in 2026 with Dana Snyder (and the pathways to get you there!)
MAY  14: ImpactUp: Story This quarter, we're going deep on your most powerful (and underused) tool - Story. Local meetups happening worldwide. Find one near you. 
//

Join the We Are For Good Community—completely free.
Join fellow changemakers, share takeaways from this working session, and keep collaborating in a space built for connection, inspiration, and real impact: www.weareforgoodcommunity.com
Say hi 👋
LinkedIn / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter

700 episodes felt like the kind of moment that deserved more than a LinkedIn post and a few dancing emojis. So we sat down to talk about what this journey has taught us about generosity, the stories that haven't left us, and what we're still learning.
We're so grateful you're here. Come celebrate with us. 🩵
-Jon + Becky
Episode Highlights:
Two powerful stories of generosity we are still carrying with us (5:00)
The ripple effect and what generosity has taught us (10:00)
Low ego, high impact: what the best leaders share (15:00)
Jon and Becky’s One Good Things (19:00)
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Join the We Are For Good Community—completely free.
Join fellow changemakers, share takeaways from this working session, and keep collaborating in a space built for connection, inspiration, and real impact: www.weareforgoodcommunity.com
Say hi 👋
LinkedIn / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter