Righting and Writing History: On Episode 7, Vanessa is joined by Angelique Power, President & CEO of The Skillman Foundation. Together they discuss the four pillars of community change, the role of foundations to serve as connective tissue for the future-building youth who are driving change in Detroit, why public schools should be at the center of policy change, and the strength that comes from Detroit's deeply loyal communities to fight for a better future.   

Righting and Writing History: Episode 6 Vanessa is joined by Jen Ford Reedy, President of the Bush Foundation. In conversation, they explore the importance of long-term thinking, strategic communications understood as programs work, and the way that multiple narratives enrich our understanding of our democracy.

What can philanthropy do to bolster the power of people to participate in our government for the people and by the people? What role has the information environment played in the deterioration of our democratic guardrails? What can we learn from periods like this before, or elsewhere, to map out how we can build a stronger democracy and economy that simultaneously advances human well-being?  This conversation is essential listening for anyone in the nonprofit sector or devoted to advancing philanthropic work and our civil society. In this episode, Vanessa is joined by Stephen Heintz, former President of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and originator of the term "acupuncture philanthropy." Together, they discuss why communications work is the pathway to advance nonprofit impact and strengthen our democracy and why this is the moment for organizations to take action. They delve into the need for a fourth founding of our democracy, what old assumptions we need to let go of, and why each of us should consider ourselves a founder of this future democracy.

Righting and Writing History: Episode 4, Vanessa is joined by Keenya Lambert, President and CEO at the Chicago Foundation for Women. Together they explore the incredible change that has been advanced to this moment through our democratic history, and what it will take to build the infrastructure for lasting change for women and gender expansive people.  

In this episode, Vanessa is joined by Alesha Washington, President & CEO of the Seattle Foundation. At the foundation, Alesha leads efforts to inspire transformative philanthropy with the objective of fostering a joyful region of shared prosperity, belonging, and justice. With her leadership, the foundation has set a refreshed strategic direction, elevated its positioning on key issues like affordable housing, transit, and childcare access, and strengthened its operations for greater community impact. In this wide-ranging conversation, they discuss what community foundation work can do when it fixes joy as an objective, the immense opportunity that foundations have in this moment of profound change for the social sector, and the value of taking learnings from one region and considering how they might play out in a new place.

In this discussion, Vanessa sits down with Kevin Walker, President of Northwest Area Foundation, who leads efforts to advance racial, social, and economic justice across eight states and 76 Native nations, including a longstanding commitment to Native-led organizations. Their conversation explores lessons learned in periods of crisis, and how foundations can contribute to a strong democracy. Examining the importance of foundations supporting grantee partners as a bulwark protecting the society we value, they talk about how the past must inform our present to build a durable and more equitable future.

Vanessa kicks off season seven with Supriya Lopez Pillai, President of the Libra Foundation. As a philanthropic leader with nearly three decades in social movements and 20 years in institutional philanthropy, Supriya contributes to an inspiring discussion about how philanthropic leaders can meet the challenges we face today. Their conversation touches on the importance of reflection on the origins of wealth that is being deployed through philanthropic organizations, and the stories we tell ourselves about how it was generated. They discuss living and practicing the kind of social systems we want to exist in the future, remembering that our work today is one piece in a long line of people fighting for a better world.

In our final episode for season 6 of the Social Change Diaries Podcast, Communications Strategist and Wakeman Agency CEO, Vanessa Wakeman sits in the interviewee chair, sharing her latest insights. Joined by Camaro West, Executive Director of Peace is Loud, a nonprofit that uses the power of storytelling to advance gender justice, Vanessa dives into how nonprofits can surface narratives to prompt transformative social change. Together, they explore why it is essential to ask the question of who should be telling the story. Touching on funding dynamics, narrative resilience, and the needs present in our changing media and information ecosystem, this conversation is sure to get you thinking strategically about communications for your nonprofit in the new year and beyond.  See more information about this episode on our website.

Listen in for a fantastic conversation on the growing field of nonprofit news and how this model transforms how stories are told, and information is shared in our society. In this episode of the Social Change Diaries podcast, Vanessa is joined by Courtney Lewis, Chief of Growth Programs at the Institute for Nonprofit News, an organization that works with over 500 nonprofit news organizations committed to public service. Together, they discuss why nonprofit newsrooms are different, how they center the stories and information audiences need, and why even conventional newsrooms are having to grapple with how to engage people on a more human level.   More information about this episode on our website

In our most recent episode, Vanessa dives into how to bring narratives to life, with our guest Anat Shenker-Osorio, Principal and Founder of ASO Communications. Their conversation examines how social change communicators can approach language, specifically when it is contested, and how to increase impact for meaningful and transformative change on social issues. See this episode on our website.