People in Fundraising: A Nonprofit Podcast by Tim Wilson

Today's wonderful guest, Emily Yu, represents a social impact organization that I've been aware of - as a consumer of their affiliated products since I was a teenager - the Newman's Own Foundation. Thank you to Weesie Thelen for arranging this powerful conversation!
Emily shares that "my north star and my mission is appreciation for change-makers. To be a change-maker demands the highest order of respect, skill, and expertise. That all takes resources - very intensive resources. We're talking about incredibly complex and entrenched issues and challenges in community.
"For me, having seen on-the-ground work and now being able to see and be on both sides of the coin with [the Newman's Own] Foundation" gives Emily "a voice on my shoulder that says these folks and organizations really need additional resources to tackle their challenges."
She describes the Newman's Own Foundation's work as "resourcing wonderful orgs. across the U.S. and beyond on their work on nutrition education, school food, indigenous food justice, and continuing [late actor] Paul Newman's legacy with the Serious Fun children's network of medically inclusive camps."
I learned a great deal about the Newman's Own Foundation's mission and Emily's role as its Chief Partnerships and Program Officer. And our audience will as well!
Emily also shares her founding role at AI PRIORI (pree-ori), an initiative "designed to help social sector leaders at nonprofits, foundations, government institutions, and communities review their content at scale," per its LinkedIn.
In our final segment, Emily reflects on the concept of "leadership by water, rather than by fire," popularized by interpersonal comms thought leader Professor Preston Ni.
Thank you, Emily, for a wide-ranging and fun conversation! I appreciate you sharing your passion for and commitment to the social sector with us in your conversation.

Today's guest Carolyn Vasquez, MA, joined "People in Fundraising" while she was at a Somos El Poder conference with previous guest Armando Zumaya! Armando founded this national Latinx fundraising institute. In our conversation, Carolyn eagerly describes her volunteer role on the prospect research support team at Somos El Poder.In addition, Carolyn talks about her career pathway to prospect management, after first earning an MA in international human rights law from the American University in Cairo. This institution is where Carolyn began working in prospect research before rising to become the director of development strategy and prospect management at Holy Name Medical Center.
We also discuss her 2026 LinkedIn article "Why I Chose Nonprofit Over Profit." In her highly thought-provoking piece, Carolyn notes that she intentionally carries her "Latina visibility," and writes about leadership paths, demographics, authentic relationships, and the challenge of institutional, systemic inequities. Her article is in the second comment, and I encourage everyone to read it. Thank you Carolyn for a wonderful and fun interview! I look forward to seeing more content about conferences and strategy pieces from you and Somos El Poder.  

If you see today's "People in Fundraising" guest Megan Tice at the Apra International PD conference this week in Chicago, please tell her that she's awesome! I first met Megan through the Apra Rocky Mountains chapter and its conference - a benefit of the Apra ecosystem.
Another benefit? Megan found out about her current job at Make-a-Wish America through the Apra Rocky Mountains board! In our conversation, Megan talks about:
* How she intentionally connects with co-workers in her fully remote current and past roles.
* The people who demonstrate characteristics that Megan admires and tries to emulate in her work philosophy. "The common thread" in Megan's career has been "people who advocate," and - like her - are driven by "genuine curiosity."
* How the Make-a-Wish America advancement team sets "intentional expectations and guardrails" around scaling the use of AI. Megan described it as "careful but hold adoption." She also shares how this approach brings clarity to her role.
Thank you Megan for a sensational and fun interview! I am excited to see you again, this week, during the Apra PD conference.

Today's "People in Fundraising" guest, José Rodriguez, shares fascinating career moments from the consulting and mission-based nonprofit worlds. He credits CCS, where José worked for over 4 years in the Chicago office, with giving him "professional expertise and confidence."
As a husband and father with a young family, José reached a point where he needed to re-balance. This desire, coupled with his earlier fundraising experience with dioceses, led to him co-founding Impact House Group in 2024, which bills itself as "your one-stop shop for Catholic fundraising and marketing."
The firm provides marketing, fundraising, and Spanish-speaking fundraising services. José shares that about 80% of Impact House Group's clients are in the Catholic social impact space. In our interview, José shares the handful of personal metrics that he uses to guide his daily work and life. These include faith, focus, and effort.
Thank you José for an outstanding conversation! I know your sharing about experience with burnout, pivoting, and the role of faith in your life will resonate with many in our audience.

"I'm full of stories!" That is how today's guest, Ana Maria Chacaltana of Peru, describes herself. Now in Texas, Ana Maria recounts her career pivot from advertising to volunteering at a cancer shelter in Peru's capital, Lima. There, she met a teenage cancer patient, Angieska, "who taught me the most important lesson of my career. It was emotional, human, and the foundation of everything I do today."
Ana Maria shares her friendship with Angieska, one of the stories that shape her life. Since then, "I've been focused on connecting purpose with resources, helping nonprofits raise the funds they need for their missions."
In her perspective, the Global South views philanthropy as practice before theory, while the Global North's take is the opposite. This became "my professional opportunity and purpose," Ana Maria recounts, "building the bridge that connects the Global South and the Global North."
Her life experience and nonprofit leadership led Ana Maria to found AC Growth Partners, a firm combining her 25+ years in strategic comms and her last decade leading fundraising and alliance development across Peru and Latin America in health, sustainability, and social impact.
Thank you, Ana Maria, for an emotionally moving conversation with your global nonprofit insights!

For today's guest Haider Ali, his career has come full circle in a sense. A native of Pakistan, he enrolled at Montreal's McGill University on his father's advice. "My alma mater has been the ticket to my life in Canada – supporting my visa, permanent status in Canada, and citizenship, and it all led to me wanting to give back."
As an undergrad, Haider applied to 40+ campus openings, and got 1 response: the advancement team, for a database role. "I saw the impact of a scholarship go from the university honoring a donor’s wish, down to the recipient." He then led McGill's business intelligence unit, the first in Canada.
Now, Haider is at FundMiner, which helps nonprofits "deploy and report on the money they've raised, turning dollars raised into impact delivered."
In our conversation, Haider shares:
* What led him to pen timely and interesting articles: "The Death of Advancement Services" (2024); "Righting Writing," on the impact of AI in human thought processes and writing (2025); and "The Nonprofit Sector is Eating Itself" (2025).
* How and where to start rebuilding trust in nonprofit institutions after a decade-plus of negative public opinion, dwindling donor and governmental support, and other factors.
* Creating a bank of industry resources. “How can we help the maximum amount of people in our industry, versus just the people that have the ability to do it themselves.”
* His reaction to a quote about solving problems and workplace culture from the late HBS professor Clayton Christensen. I didn't know ahead of time that Haider holds him in high esteem. Haider encourages nonprofit leaders to attend non-social impact conferences, because he has learned a great deal about workplace culture from differing perspectives.
We talk about the word "nonprofit," and how we aren't aware of another sector that identifies itself by what it is not. Haider concludes by discussing ways to grow the social impact profession.
Thank you Haider for an incredible conversation!

Veteran fundraising leader Enock Ajayi joins "People in Fundraising" from Nigeria in our interview, held in early May 2026. We weathered some WiFi issues and I did my best to edit the interview for our audience. Enock is a passionate social impact leader. I am grateful that he said yes to my invite!
In our conversation, Enock discusses:
* His career in fundraising/advancement, which has mostly been at higher ed. institutions in Nigeria - the University of Ibadan; the Olusegun Agagu University of Science & Technology; and the Federal University of Technology-Akure.
* How people in Nigeria, which has Africa's largest population (over 240 million people) and is the 6th-most populous country in the world, typically view fundraising.
* How earning a Certificate of Achievement from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy has enriched his career. Enock focused on "Annual Sustainability - Emerging Scholars on African Philanthropy" at the Lilly School.
* Why he entered the fundraising profession, "due to my love for humanity, charity, and my interest in developing the future generations of my country."
Enock, thank you for a wonderful and interesting conversation! People in our audience will enjoy learning about NGO/social impact work in Nigeria and how you contribute to its fundraising climate.

Today's "People in Fundraising" guest, Selene Hur, is a longtime volunteer and social impact leader in Toronto. Recently, she wrote about concluding 10 years of service with Toronto Wildlife Centre. Her love and care for animals is a theme we often wove into our really enjoyable conversation!
Selene shares:
* What led to her volunteer leadership with Toronto Wildlife Centre and other organizations, including serving on prospect development's Apra International board - and what elements of board service have helped her to grow as a person and professional.
* Moments and learning experiences as the YMCA of Greater Toronto's first and so far only Manager of Prospect Development & Research.
* Her reflections on this quote by Time writer Ann Patchett, describing late primatologist Jane Goodall's incredible work: "Genius built on the ability to wait seems particularly female - curiosity dovetailed with patience. When Jane was a child in England, she knew she was meant for animals, for Africa. Without a university education, or fear, she headed into the jungle with a notebook, sat atop a knoll or climbed a tree, and waited."
[Side note: Selene and I talk about the magnificent 2017 documentary, "Jane." We highly recommend this to anyone!].
Thank you Selene for an outstanding conversation!

Today's "People in Fundraising" guest Tanya Johnson and I connected on LinkedIn after she wrote a post to share two items: One, that she had been named a 2025 Fulbright Specialist (congratulations!); and two, how her award's essay was grounded in a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:
"Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which makes philanthropy necessary."
In our interview, Tanya shares:
* How this Dr. King quote "resonated more deeply than ever" with her.
* What the Fulbright Specialist is, and why more social impact leaders should seek to achieve it
* The launch of Beacon By Lighthouse, an "AI-powered philanthropy coaching platform built on Tanya's 20 years of frontline fundraising and philanthropy experience. Designed for small and growing nonprofits, it provides practical, on-demand guidance for donor strategy, fundraising planning, communications, grant writing, major gifts, and legacy giving, making expert coaching accessible to organizations that may not have the budget for a full-time consultant or strategist."
Here is its website: https://www.lighthousephilanthropyconsulting.com/beacon and its app: https://app.beaconbylighthouse.com/Home
Thank you Tanya for an incredible and fun conversation! I wish you the best at City of Hope and with Beacon By Lighthouse.

Today's "People in Fundraising" interview with Jason Hill is one of the most candid and thought-provoking conversations in this podcast's 4.5 year history. Thank you Jason for creating a space for us to have such a deep conversation! In our interview, Jason focuses on his upbringing and his journey to stronger emotional intelligence and healthy masculinity, which led to his founding of Beyond the Man Box. He describes: * How his mom, grandma, and aunts "raised me to be human, where it was OK to feel the range of normal emotions." His mom sadly, suddenly passed away in 2024, and how such a loss "completely changes your life forever; it’s not a single event, and makes you think about life.” For Jason, this compelled him to leave tech and return to the social impact world, where he had earlier worked for the Audre Lord Project and SAGE, which supports queer seniors in New York City. * Personal challenges such as "having masculinity policed by other men" and seeing "men struggle in silence" with their emotional development - as well as personal successes such as being 15 years sober. * How "a real man is truly integrated in all of the emotional experiences that you can have." Unfortunately, for a lot of men, they learned in childhood (as I did) to "stuff down all the feelings they're not allowed to feel, all the things that say, 'You're not allowed to be human.'" And that for generations as proven by scientific studies, anger is the one (secondary) emotion that boys and men are often given a pass to express. * Re: above, how boys and men build "protective intelligence" through the years, a defense strategy to cope - and how that wall impacts the many and varied relationships a man will have in the home, community, and workplace. * How Jason "had the idea for Beyond the Man Box for a decade, afraid to go out on his own and face resistance from men." His retreats "offer a space and vocabulary for what they’re feeling. 'You can’t have capacity to experience something that you can’t name.' Learning about the nervous system, body signals (chains of emotional reactions that turn into physical coping behaviors and protection strategies such as deflecting, clenching one’s jaw)." * "I want people to know and feel how much I LOVE connecting with people!" * I shared this quote from the late NCAA basketball coach Jim Valvano (Jimmy V): "To me, there are three things everyone should do every day. Number one is laugh. Number two is think -- spend some time time in thought. Number three, you should have your emotions move you to tears. If you laugh, think and cry, that's a heck of a day!" As you see from Jason's many quotes I share, Jason's perspective resonated with me. In childhood, I was an inquisitive, quiet, sensitive, and bookish kid. Some adults, including male teachers, recognized and boosted me for these qualities, while my guy friends kidded me to the point of annoyance and shame. I felt self-conscious that my masculinity wasn't stereotypical (if there is such a thing). So in middle adulthood now, I am grateful for broader definitions of masculinity, a greater awareness of the need for emotional intelligence, and for incredible people like Jason who are doing the work to equip men and their partners with tools to become emotionally well-rounded humans. Thank you very much, Jason! What an incredible interview that I know will resonate with many people in our audience.