In Episode 28, I am excited to share my interview with Michael Gast. Mike has spent 20+ years organizing wealthy people like himself to invest not only their dollars but really their whole selves into creating an economy and social contract that works for everyone.  

Through the writing and conversations that he puts out into the world as director of a multimedia project called “Organize the Rich”, Mike invites progressives/changemakers/do-gooders (read: all people who want to create a more just, equitable, and humane economy and society) to see beyond

• the myth that nonprofits are THE WAY to changethe world   

• the allure of the American individual upwardmobility journey

• the idea that organizing/being organized is the sole responsibility of working class

• the taboo of talking about money and socialclass.

After you listen to this interview and become super curiousabout Mike’s work, you’ll want to:

• Check out his Substack at https://organizetherich.substack.com/
• Follow him on LinkedIN @Michael Gast
• Tune into his podcasts: Organize the Rich Radio onSpotify or Apple Podcasts

Connect with me, too!

• LinkedIN @Janai Gilmore
• Subscribe to my newsletter: https://janai-gilmore.kit.com/

“We are going to change the world. We will win. It's just not going to happen tomorrow.I may not happen the day after tomorrow — but we will win.”

In Episode 26, it is my pleasure to share my interview with Amber Hamilton, President and CEO of the Memphis Music Initiative/ Philanthropy Disruptor/ Freedom Fighter.  

The words that she shared with me were soul food. I’m talking greens, hot water cornbread, and black-eyed peas.

In 2025, that’s the kind of rich, hearty food that I need to sustain myself for the battles ahead.

I’m not just talking about the fight against the destruction of valued American institutions and of the social safety net which once upon a time made America at least closer to greatness than it is today. I’m talking about the fight against fear and the temptation to silently acquiesce to a new normal which those who are opposed to justice, democracy, unity, and the common good are trying to establish.

Of course, after listening to her brilliance on the podcast, you’ll want to know more about Amber and the great work she supports through Memphis Music Initiative!

• Listen to her TEDxMemphis Talk: A Poker Game and the Quest for Liberation
•  Read about her: Amber Hamilton
• Follow her on LinkedIN

I would loveto hear what this episode brings up for you. Feel free to drop me a line:

•  In the comments on Spotify
• On LinkedIN
• On Instagram @missjanaiashley

Don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter, subscribe to the podcast, leave me a review,and share!

A LOT has happened since I last started exploring the question“How do we cope with being human?” in my last episode.

Chaos and craziness have been unfolding in my country, theUnited States – from the antics of the Trump administration to natural disasters in multiple parts of the country. To say nothing of what’s going on in the broader world (e.g., war in Congo and Sudan, the rightward- political shift in Europe, and the devastating fallout of the dismantling of USAID).

In this political/social moment I believe it’s more important than ever for those of us who want a more equitable, humane world to remind ourselves of strategies that we can turn to when we do find ourselves falling into a space of overwhelm, cynicism, resignation, or despair.

As you listen to Episode 25, “How to Cope with Being Human –Part Two” and hear me share the last three of my five strategies for how to cope with being human, I invite you to reflect on how YOU cope.

Feel free to share your reflections with me:

• in the comments on Spotify
• in my inbox at [email protected]
• via LinkedIN @Janai Gilmore
• via Instagram @missjanaiashley

Last but not least, podcast references:

A First Hand Account of What Homelessness in America is Really Like by Patrick Fealey (Nov 14, 2024)   

The Source of Self Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations by Toni Morrison (Jan 2020)

James Baldwin - Frontline Prophet by Sabrina Nelson

Please don’t forget to review, share, and subscribe to thepodcast!

Before we’re “do-gooders” who want to change the world, we’re human beings.

To be a human being means that we have to cope with our own

To be a human being means that we live in a world that we didn't choose and that we have to cope with what author/coach Bina Patel calls “The F*ckery”: all the isms and systems and ways that humans harm other humans.

How do we cope with being human —without completely

In this episode, I share two of my five strategies. Stay

As you listen to episode 24 “How to Cope with Being Human –

Please share them with me:

In episode 23, I welcome you back to the classroom to explore questions which led me to take myself back to "Do Gooder School" in the first place:

"Do I want to go back into the nonprofit/social impact space for the next step in my career post-sabbatical?"

“Do I need to be a professional do gooder to

"If I decide to go back into the social impact space, how can I do it in a way in which I maintain a sense of joy in the work and avoid burnout?"

Today she serves as the Interim Executive Director (ED) of the nonprofit organization Co.act Detroit (*when the current ED isn't away on sabbatical, she serves as Senior Director of Program Strategy & Innovation). However, the journey that led her from a career in corporate banking and private wealth management to leading an organization in the social impact space was unconventional, to say the least!

Beyond her day job, Kyla's passion for equitable economic development, raising funds for good causes, connecting with people, and nurturing her own creativity leads her to all kinds of endeavors and adventures. You can keep up with her on IG @kylasc and on LinkedIN.

You can now subscribe to my newsletter to stay up to date on my latest podcast episodes, workshops, and random musings.

I don't feel like I've already been in Ghana for nine months, but I have! In just three months, it'll be time for me to go home and start my 9 to 5 life again.

Last month, I even officially started my job search. I polished my LinkedIn profile, updated my resume.

As I mentioned in the last episode, being in the space where I could choose to shift away from doing the kind of work I was doing before, which was working in the nonprofit sector, for

A foundational question for me is, do I need to be a "professional do gooder" to feel like I'm making an impact in the world?

To explore these questions and more, I've decided to take myself back to school in a series on the podcast that I'm calling Do Gooder School.

Consider this an orientation.

Is it just me or does the world kind of seem like a flaming dumpster fire right now? The list of issues and worthy causes include things in the headlines today like the humanitarian crisis in Gaza to ongoing issues poverty, climate change, homelessness, the loneliness epidemic, and on and on.

How do we choose which cause to pour our limited time and energy into? How do we decide whether to serve a cause at all? How do we define what it means to make an impact in the world?

These are questions that my guest Dave Coles helps hundreds of students think through every year in his role as Volunteer Centre Manager at the London School of Economics.  Also, these are questions which Dave continues to engage with in his own life.

His answers have led him at present to serving as a volunteer coach for a women’s football club, the South London Laces, serving on the board of the charity Facial Palsy UK, and to contributions that he makes in other ways as a blogger, a passionate advocate for ethical voluntourism, and more.

Whereas in my last chat with Dave, featured in ⁠Episode20, “Do’s and Don’ts for

Our conversation is the perfect start to a new series that I'm launching calling “Do Gooder School”.

As I’m consider what’s next for me career-wise, I’ve decided to take myself back to school to explore questions like:

Do I need to be a professional do gooder to feel like I'm really making an impact in the world?

If I do go back into the nonprofit sector or in the social impact space, how can I do it in a way in which I maintain hope and a sense of joy in the work and minimize the amount of time I spend feeling jaded and cynical? And how could I show up as bravely and boldly as some of the people whom I've admired most in the work?

What are the potential opportunities and challenges to taking any of the career paths that interest me?

I can’t imagine a better way to start school than by (figuratively) going back to my alma mater, LSE, to chat with Dave. 😊

You can keep up with him at ⁠https://davecoles.blog/⁠ or on IG ⁠@davidmcoles⁠.

As always, I invite you to drop me a line on IG @missjanaiashley or send me an email at [email protected] to share whatever reflections this episode brings up for you.

Let me start by confessing that I was originally set on calling this episode “Laying Down the ‘White Man’s Burden’”.

After all my interview guest, Dave Coles, is a white British man who, as a young, idealistic volunteer, ventured from his home in the UK to make a difference in Africa. Inspired by a steady diet of colonialism-inspired media narratives and the lyrics of a popular Christmas song by Band Aid, he was sure people in Africa were waiting for people just like him to come and help end their despair by doing something about their poverty.

However, since he first visited Ghana 20+ years ago up to now, he’s become much more of an expert in the ‘do’s and don’ts of doing good’ as a volunteer than an expert in how to solve poverty in Ghana, let alone in Africa. Today, as Volunteer Centre Manager at London School of Economics, as a blogger, and as a passionate advocate for ethical voluntourism, Dave uses his personal and professional platforms to push back against narratives all too pervasive in popular culture and sadly, in the development space, that depict Africans and other POC from "developing nations" as kind of hapless victims. He also uses his platforms to advocate for an end to orphanage volunteering and to unpack for himself and others what it means to do good in a way that actually does good with honesty, humility, and sometimes humor.

After reflecting on his journey, I realized that I saw too much of my own story reflected in his story for me to call this episode anything that might even seem to suggest that the biggest takeaways from our conversation were specific just to white men or white people or to people who work or serve internationally.

There are some “do's" and "don’ts” we, as people who want to change the world, all want to avoid- regardless of the geographic context in which we volunteer and/or just engage with other human beings who may have a different background or socioeconomic status from us.

That’s what this episode is about.

Links for Reference

As always, I invite you to drop me a line on IG @missjanaiashley, find me on LinkedIN, or send me an email at [email protected] to share whatever reflections this episode brings up for you.