We Are For Good Podcast - The Podcast for Nonprofits

There are 12 million kids in the U.S. with a mental health concern, and four out of five never get treatment — not because the care doesn't exist, but because it takes an average of 15 years for proven research to reach the providers families actually visit.
Dr. Lisa Hunter Romanelli has spent her career closing that gap. As CEO of The REACH Institute — and its very first employee 19 years ago — she's helped train nearly 10,000 primary care providers in evidence-based children's mental health care, with a goal of 16,000 by 2027. 🧠 But this conversation is really about storytelling. Lisa has taken a public health crisis and made it feel solvable, and she shares exactly how she does it with donors and partners.
In this episode, you'll hear:
Why leading with the solution — not the broken thing — is what actually moves donors to act
The "train the trainer" multiplier model: how reaching one pediatrician reaches hundreds of kids a year
How a single trained provider in Oklahoma City recognized a teenager's hidden anxiety and changed the course of her life
Where a leader 19 years into the work still finds hope — and the "whole leader" practice keeping her grounded
Why generosity shows up as far more than cash, and how to recognize every currency your community offers
You'll walk away with a more hopeful, more honest way to tell your own organization's story. 🩵
Episode Highlights:
Meet "little Lisa": From her mom's depression to child psychology (2:56)
One psychologist isn't enough: Meeting Dr. Peter Jensen and building REACH (3:02)
The 15-year research-to-practice gap and REACH's mission (5:50)
Why pediatricians are the front line for kids' mental health (6:22)
The story of "Mia": How one trained doctor changed a life (8:13)
Lead with the solution: Telling donors a story that creates hope (10:33)
Where a 19-year leader still finds her hope (11:40)
Generosity beyond cash: A board member's quiet gift (13:17)
One good thing: The "whole leader" and finding moments of presence (15:16)
Episode Show Notes: www.weareforgood.com/episode/722
Series Hub: https://www.weareforgood.com/hopegap
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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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The traditional nonprofit playbook is full of defaults nobody voted for: merge only when you're desperate, expect your team to run on empty, soften your mission to stay safe, and treat funders like they're doing you a favor. At the We Are For Good Summit, four leaders sat down to throw all of that out. 🧠
Hosted by Stacy Huston, CEO of SixDegrees.org and a social impact strategist working at the intersection of storytelling, influence, and action, this conversation brings together Tammy Tibbetts (She's the First), Lindsey Fuller (The Teaching Well), and Becky Straw (The Adventure Project) — three leaders who each named a default they've refused to accept and shared exactly what they did instead.
In this episode, you'll hear:
Why a merger can be a strategic first move instead of a white flag — and the single question Tammy asked herself to know She's the First was making the right call
How The Teaching Well retained 100% of its funders three years running by being radically honest about what its team actually needs
The case for treating identity as an asset, not a liability — even while peer orgs were scrubbing their websites in 2025
You'll walk away with permission — and a few tactical first steps — to question the defaults that are quietly draining your organization. 🩵
Episode Highlights:
Three nonprofit myths busted (1:46)
Mergers as a strategic first choice (5:28)
One tactical first step toward exploring a merger (8:35)
The dignity of work: flipping the aid model (10:23)
Doubling down on storytelling after the USAID gap (12:40)
Identity as asset: leading with Sankofa (14:20)
Retaining 100% of funders through radical honesty (16:26)
Comfort as complacency (18:09)
The "one good thing": self-care and collective care (24:21)
Episode Show Notes: www.weareforgood.com/episode/721
Resources Mentioned:
SixDegrees.org — Stacy Huston's organization, described as "a nonprofit for nonprofits," bringing organizations together as a collective force
She's the First — Tammy Tibbetts's organization putting girls front and center worldwide
Girl Rising — She's the First's merger partner; the unified brand going forward, led by CEO Christina Lowery
The Teaching Well — Lindsey Fuller's retention-focused organization solving the school staffing crisis
The Adventure Project — Becky Straw's organization creating good jobs in Sub-Saharan Africa
La Piana Consulting — the firm that "wrote the textbook" on nonprofit mergers; cited for the finding that 92% of surveyed merged organizations called it a success a year later
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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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The Kiki and ballroom scene, built by Black and brown LGBTQ+ youth of color in New York City, has been creating art, designing fashion, performing, and building community for over 20 years.
Meet Colby King 👋 He’s the founder of Kiki Arts Collaborative, an economic development platform turning ballroom artistry into sustainable careers in arts, culture, and media through creative mentorship, job training, and internship placement. In 2025, that work earned Colby the David Prize, one of five awarded annually to the most luminary nonprofits in New York City. 
In this episode, you'll hear:
Colby’s personal story and journey to the work he is doing today through KAC
Why celebration, not charity, is the storytelling strategy at the heart of KAC's work, and what nonprofit leaders can apply to their own work
What it looks like to build with a community instead of for it and why that distinction is at the root of everything Kiki Arts Collaborative does
You'll walk away questioning the scarcity mindset the sector trained into all of us. You'll also be empowered with a sharper sense of how to tell stories that restore dignity instead of trading on need. 🩵
Episode Highlights:
Meet Colby King and Kiki Arts Collaborative (00:44)
From Dallas pews to Columbia: the origin story (02:06)
The mission: lowering the barrier to creative careers (05:38)
"Seeing my art as art": the Inspiration Point exhibit (08:01)
Charity vs. celebration: reframing the impact story (09:59)
The mom who gave away her bed: generosity that stuck (11:48)
One Good Thing: "take care of your blessings" (14:04)
How to connect and what KAC needs now (15:43)
Episode Show Notes: www.weareforgood.com/episode/720
Series Hub: https://www.weareforgood.com/hopegap
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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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Dr. Sanjay Bindra is a practicing cardiologist who built a $2.5 million endowment at a zero-staff nonprofit in less than four years, with no campaigns and no urgency emails. Then he studied why it worked. 
The result: the GIVE Study, a 12-month real-time look at how small nonprofits can achieve sustainable recurring giving through trust, behavioral design, and strong governance. 
In this episode, you'll hear:
Why first-time donor retention has been under 20% for decades, and the single most important thing you can do to change that number
The difference between dopamine-driven fundraising and oxytocin-driven relationships
The GIVE framework: Gratitude, Impact, Voice, and Engagement, and how to apply it to build genuine donor relationships that last
What your org can do right now to start building a sustainable base
You'll walk away with a replicable framework for turning one-time donors into lifelong community members. 🩵
Episode Highlights:
Dr. Bindra's origin story: bananas, bread, and building from community (2:30)
How GOSUMEC Foundation went from zero to $2.5M with no staff (4:59)
The GIVE Study: what sparked it and what it found (10:10)
First gift vs. second gift: transaction vs. relationship (11:33)
The GIVE framework: Gratitude, Impact, Voice, Engagement (17:40)
Dopamine vs. oxytocin: the science of donor retention (18:59)
What small nonprofits can do right now (21:08)
Consistency over intensity: the one good thing (27:00)
Episode Show Notes: www.weareforgood.com/episode/719
Resources Mentioned:
GIVE Study Playbook in partnership with Givebutter
GIVE Study
Fundraising Effectiveness Project (FEP) — cited for the statistic that first-time donor retention is under 20%

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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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An 85% graduation rate against a district average of 60% — at a second-chance school in the South Bronx where the primary healing tool isn't a worksheet or a clipboard. It's a professional recording studio. 🎙️
J.C. Hall is a licensed clinical social worker, a hip hop artist, and a 2024 David Prize winner (one of just five awarded across New York City). At Mott Haven Community High School, he's spent 13 years building a program where trauma-exposed students rewrite their own narratives — set to a beat. His own path here ran through addiction, psych wards, and a teenage years he didn't expect to survive. Hip hop kept him alive long enough to find the help that did the rest.
In this episode, you'll hear:
How letting beneficiaries tell their own story (instead of explaining it for them) made J.C.'s documentary land with audiences who'd never touched hip hop culture
The case for emotion over statistics — why a felt story moves a donor to give when the logic of your mission alone won't
What an 85% graduation rate reveals about purpose, identity, and connection as outcomes you can actually track
If you've ever struggled to make your mission felt rather than just understood, this conversation will change how you tell it. 🩵
Episode Highlights:
J.C.'s journey to where he is today (01:57)
How hip hop therapy began with one kid and a lunch-table beat (07:32)
Meeting people where they are (10:50)
Ephraim's story: "I'm not gonna get my Monday" (11:44)
The data: an 85% graduation rate (16:44)
Why the kids — not the expert — are the story (17:22)
A moment of generosity that changed everything (20:29)
J.C.'s One Good Thing: Don't quit 15 minutes before the miracle (23:08)
Episode Show Notes: www.weareforgood.com/episode/718
Series Hub: https://www.weareforgood.com/hopegap
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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