Mary Hagen knew early she wanted to build something — launching her first business at 20. Today, she’s the CEO of Colossal, a company that’s quietly reshaped how fundraising works. Since joining, Mary has scaled Colossal by over 1000%, helping generate more than $207 million for nonprofits like the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Baby2Baby, PAWS, and the James Beard Foundation. But the real shift is how that money gets raised. Instead of relying on a few major donors, Colossal built a model around digital competitions and community participation — turning thousands of small contributions into millions raised. In this conversation, Mary breaks down what it actually takes to grow a purpose-driven company, why she believes leadership is about showing up — not just saying the right things — and how modern fundraising is moving away from exclusivity toward something far more accessible.

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