As the new president of the groundbreaking consulting firm Spitfire Strategies, Jen Carnig, who succeeds the legendary Kristen Grimm, might feel a little like whoever takes Megan Rapinoe’s place. It might seem a little daunting and very hard on your hamstrings, but think of the possibilities! Jen may have big shoes to fill, but she’s obviously ready to get busy.

A champion strategist in the areas of advocating for police accountability, community safety, human rights, and exposing the perils of artificial intelligence, Jen has big plans for Spitfire. In addition to her impressive resume, she clearly has the people skills for the job. She is uncommonly kind, thoughtful, and deeply committed, and Jen chats with Eric about the power of listening, how communications is really about relationships, and how hard Spitfire works so that its clients can succeed in their work. Please join her and Eric as they go deep on how to use communications for good.

When our guest, Ashwath Narayanan, was 22, he launched Social Currant, a creative agency that is helping nonprofits and issue organizations use social media to reach audiences more effectively. By contrast, when co-host Eric was 22, he was working as a production assistant on low budget horror movies. So there’s that.

Ashwath and his team of six fulltime staffers are working with TikTok and Instagram influencers to encourage young people to drive social movements and inspire political campaigns. In his conversation with Eric, he spoke about how Social Currant uses really sophisticated tools to create and test messages and score huge victories in campaigns that are providing young people with a powerful voice and legitimate influence with decision makers on issues like the child tax credit, health, and many more.

Eric told Kirk that his conversation with Ashwath wasn’t just one of the most interesting conversations he’s had on the show, but in his life. 

If you want learn about how to run a great strategy to reach young people, or if you want to feel better about the kind of talent that is stepping up to make the world better, you really, really, really shouldn’t miss this episode.

You may have noticed, also, that we have a brand-spanking-new LinkedIn page! Please give us a follow and use it to learn more about our guests, contact us with questions or feedback, and connect with other listeners.  Oh, and please tell your friends and rate us on whatever podcast platform you use. It really matters!

On our latest episode of Let’s Hear It, we’ve snagged a giant in philanthropy. Our guest this week may well know more about philanthropy than any human walking the planet. Stacy Palmer created the Chronicle of Philanthropy thirty-five years ago, and since then her publication has simultaneously been philanthropy’s watchdog and its cheerleader (as it has served as a dating app of sorts between fundraisers and grantmakers).

Stacy speaks with Eric about what she’s learned over this time, what philanthropy does well, and how it can improve. Eric and Stacy discuss the shifting role of communications at foundations, congressional regulation (or lack thereof), how coverage of the field has changed, and the influence of living donors like Bill and Melinda Gates and MacKenzie Scott on philanthropy, among other topics in this entertaining and wide-ranging conversation.

If you care about raising money, giving it away, or communicating about any of it, don't miss this conversation!

Spending out, spending down, sunsetting – whatever you call it, it’s a tricky business.

This year the Kendeda Fund will close its doors, having provided over one billion dollars in funding over the past thirty years. Their causes included girls’ rights, preventing gun violence, environmental sustainability, advancing racial equity, and supporting veterans, among others.

Kendeda began as an anonymous grantmaking effort by Diana Blank, who eventually decided to turn the reins over to her daughter Dena Kimball and to allow the foundation to communicate freely about its work. To do this, they turned to David Brotherton, a consultant with a long history in foundations and communications, to help the organization step into the light.

Dena and David sit down with Eric in a freewheeling conversation about the decision to go public, spend out, and about what they learned along the way.

To learn more about their great work, stay tuned for their updated website and in the meantime check out Kendeda’s new podcast, Stories from the Kendeda Fund.

Going Commando with Nima Shirazi of Spitfire Strategies and Citations Needed

This week on Let’s Hear It, cynical-ish and salty-tongued Nima Shirazi of Spitfire Strategies and the hit podcast Citations Needed endures a slightly arduous, minorly torturous time behind the mic with Eric.

Nima’s career is full of exciting experiences, including his current job as a vice president at Spitfire Strategies and drumming in rock bands, and especially Citations Needed. Nima and his co-host Adam Johnson set up shop at the intersection of power, politics, propaganda, and the press (pretty peppy party, Pete) – no small feat, as it happens.

Nima’s show explores the many ways that media language infiltrates our daily lives and how pernicious those terms can be. For instance, did you know that the term “officer-involved shooting” was created in the 70s by the LAPD to describe officers killing members of the public? Nima uses his experience on the podcast to keep him honest-er in his work and his approach to communications.

We wouldn’t call him the biggest optimist in the room, but you’ll appreciate Nima’s thoughts about how progressive organizations can use communications to change dangerous narratives. Listen now to hear how (how now, brown cow? Okay, we’ll stop). 

We have an impactful episode deep-diving into how Tony Proscio, a thought leader in this space, has moved the needle on the innovation of language in nonprofit and foundation work. He and Eric partner to get granular on staying transparent with folks from the donor pipeline to the board room.

Fear not – the episode isn’t all Eric and Tony doing their best impressions of the two crabby Muppets in the balcony. Tony has some hopeful words to say about how people working in nonprofit and foundation communications can improve, including how technology has brought us closer to clarity and authenticity. Just don’t try to find him online.

As long as there has been art, there have been artists using their creativity to try to transform society for the better.

On the latest episode of Let’s Hear It, Eric speaks with Tara Dorabji, Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at the Center for Cultural Power, an organization dedicated to harnessing the power of creativity.

Tara Dorabji and her colleagues Erin Potts and Dr. Melanie Meinzer have crafted an extraordinary new report – Building Narratives of Joy: Experimenting with Transformational Narratives – that digs into the intricacies of shifting mindsets and fostering belonging through art.

Tara speaks with Eric about how she got kicked out of the farmer’s market for being too political, how she facilitated a conversation with a Japanese anti-nuclear advocate that brought a Livermore Labs PR person to tears, and how the Lego superhero Vax Man helped dramatically increase vaccination rates among Latino youth in California’s Central Valley.

Yep, narrative can do all that. Join us for this great conversation.

Join us in this thought-provoking and inspiring episode as we welcome Trevor Smith, the Director of Narrative Change at Liberation Ventures, an organization helping to strengthen the movement for Black-led racial repair.  

Trevor is a writer, researcher, and strategist focused on the topics of racial inequality, wealth inequality, reparations, and narrative change. He is also the creator, curator, and editor of an amazing newsletter – Reparations Daily (ish).

Trevor talks with Eric about the growing movement calling for reparations as a catalyst for true racial repair. He invites us to reflect on how we can all work toward a new narrative on reparations, and how we can create a democracy that is inclusive, empathetic, and centered on principles of justice.

So, whether you're passionate about social justice, interested in narrative change, or simply eager to learn more about the path to a more equitable society, this episode promises to leave you inspired and informed.

Let’s face it, most of us will never work the way we did before COVID. The office is different, and how we learn, share, and connect are different. So what are we going to do about it?

Harvard Law professor Alan Jenkins has argued cases before the Supreme Court, made grants at the Ford Foundation, co-founded a national narrative change nonprofit, and now has co-authored...a comic book.

But not just any comic book. 1/6: The Graphic Novel is a powerful and chilling reminder that great communications and great advocacy takes many forms. He and his co-author Gan Golan and artist Will Rosado give us a dramatic new look into what happened on that terrible day and what might have happened had the insurrectionists prevailed.

Alan speaks with Eric about his love of comic books and a career that has been at the intersection of storytelling, law, and social justice for positive change. Don’t miss this terrific conversation with one of our field’s most creative and incisive communicators.