If anyone knows how foundations can and should use communications, it’s Grant Oliphant. Grant, who was formerly communications director at the Heinz Endowments, now runs the organization as its president. As a former board chair of the Communications Network, the national organization of foundation and nonprofit communications professionals, Grant may be one of the country’s great champions for our field. But Grant isn’t satisfied.

As Grant tells Eric in this episode of Let’s Hear It, “Many of the issues we care about are losing or at least deeply embattled.” Grant says that foundations have a “sacred responsibility” to change the narrative in the field and in the broader culture.

If that’s not a challenge, we don’t know what is.

In this very candid conversation, Grant and Eric discuss how foundation communications are advancing social change, and how they’re falling short.

How do we communicate in ways that are authentic, emotional, and evocative?

At a time when we are bombarded by reports, books, blogs (okay, and podcasts), the Race Card Project at the Aspen Institute invites people to tell their own stories about race and identity in a whopping six words. To date, they have collected over a quarter million six-word stories. As it turns out, six words can reduce you to tears or laughter at least as well as a white paper or powerpoint presentation.

Amrit Dhillon helps run the project with former NPR host Michelle Norris and she talks to Eric about how they are helping people around the world to tell their own stories about this challenging and potentially divisive topic with empathy and understanding.

Learn more about the Race Card Project at: https://www.facebook.com/TheRaceCardProject

Larry Kramer is the President of the Hewlett Foundation and he has stood out for being candid, opinionated, and seemingly unafraid of what the rest of the philanthropy world thinks of him. Lucky for him that he’s an incredibly nice guy, and lucky for us that he’s endlessly entertaining.

In Eric Brown’s freewheeling conversation with Larry, the Hewlett president holds forth on trying to get the rights to Can’t Buy Me Love for the foundation’s hold music, how he’s trying to make democracy great again through the foundation’s Madison Initiative, and why his mother wishes he was still dean of the Stanford Law School. And much, much more. Just listen – you’ll be glad you did.