People in Fundraising: A Nonprofit Podcast by Tim Wilson

Today's terrific guest, Eric DePalma, is the director of development at Los Angeles-based Haven Services. With an academic background in anthropology (B.A. and M.A.), Eric uses this discipline to "decode the organizational behavior of mission-driven institutions, often with the same analytical lens one might apply to a troop of capuchins." With that as part of his LinkedIn bio, I knew I had to book Eric on "People in Fundraising!" In our conversation, Eric describes his role at and the mission of Haven Services, a "wrap-around financial services" social impact organization. Per Haven's website, it "provides effective financial capability, housing, and supportive services that help low- and moderate-income individuals and families achieve economic inclusion and financial security." These facts provided by Haven are sobering: "Over 30% of renter households spend at least half their income on rent and utilities, leaving little for other expenses. Homelessness increases significantly when median rents exceed 22% of median income, and in Los Angeles, the median rent is a staggering 46.7%." Eric also talks about his work building its new initiative, the Partnership.LA Summit. He has often been impressed that in the social capital world, "there is a lot of giving and sharing, not competition," as it relates to expertise, networking, and ideas. In our last segment, Eric describes the objective and several content pieces of his hilarious and expertly spot-on LinkedIn newsletter The Struggle to Nonprofit. One article's headline is especially hilarious: "Refusing to Update the CRM is an Act of War." :-) I encourage my audience to subscribe to Eric's newsletter! Thank you Eric for a fascinating and enjoyable interview!

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.