In this 90th episode of More Than Profit, Bryce Butler sits down with co-hosts TJ Abood and Brian MacKay to reflect on six years of podcasting, storytelling, and leadership at Access Ventures. What started as an unplanned experiment has grown into a platform showcasing diverse voices driving impact through business, generosity, and vulnerability. The team shares behind-the-scenes moments, evolving perspectives on leadership and investment, and the real work that goes into curating meaningful conversations. With honesty and humor, they discuss how the show has deepened their understanding of impact, elevated the voices of everyday leaders, and helped demystify the complexities of Access Ventures’ work. Looking ahead, they envision mini-series, revisiting past guests, and even spotlighting public officials. It’s a candid look at the heart behind the mic.

In this episode of More Than Profit, Bryce Butler sits down with Linda Gordeychev, a bilingual finance professional, former teacher, and systems thinker who’s helping to reshape the way large capital allocators align their investments with their values. Linda’s story begins on Long Island as the daughter of immigrants, continues through Villanova and Teach for America, and now finds her working at Ethic, where she builds customized values-aligned portfolios for institutional clients.

Together, they explore how language and power shape access, how traditional finance often misses the deeper mission of philanthropy, and why donor-advised funds (DAFs) offer both opportunity and risk when divorced from meaningful engagement. Linda reflects on her own journey from hedge funds to impact investing, the tensions between identity and capital, and how participatory governance and collaborative giving could help reimagine the future of wealth transfer.

What if donating stock was as natural as writing a check? In this episode, Bryce Butler is joined by longtime friend and fellow ecosystem builder Landon Young to explore the untapped potential of donating equity as a tool for generosity, community transformation, and systemic change.

Landon shares his personal journey—from his first company exit and giving experience to co-founding Donate Equity, a platform that helps founders give ownership in their companies to charitable causes. They discuss the nuts and bolts of equity donations, how donor-advised funds (DAFs) can be used more strategically, and how philanthropy can act as society’s most risk-tolerant capital.

This is a conversation about legacy, liquidity, and local impact—and how everyday entrepreneurs, not just tech unicorns, can lead the next generation of place-based generosity.

Donor-advised funds (DAFs) are one of the fastest-growing tools in philanthropy; but are they helping or hurting? In this candid conversation, Bryce Butler sits down with longtime friend and CIO of Access Ventures, TJ Abood, to explore the origins, challenges, and potential of DAFs as more than just a transactional giving tool.

They unpack how DAFs went from community-oriented giving vehicles to impersonal wealth management products, and what it will take to bring them back to their relational, catalytic roots. From charitable “inertia” to creative investing, they offer a hopeful reimagining of DAFs as engines of both generosity and innovation.

We know how to serve: we donate, we volunteer, we respond to urgent needs. But what if solving requires something entirely different? In this episode of More Than Profit, Bryce sits down with Dr. Josh Yates, sociologist, systems thinker, and VP for Strategy & Innovation at Belmont Innovation Labs, to explore what it really takes for communities to thrive.

Josh introduces the concept of human ecology—a way of understanding the complex, interdependent systems that shape our lives—and explains why so many well-intentioned efforts fall short. Together, they examine the difference between relief and restoration, the role of relational trust and early attachment, and the importance of imagination in pursuing social change.

This episode invites listeners to move beyond isolated interventions and toward systemic, relational transformation, rooted in dignity, community, and connection.

In this deeply reflective and insightful episode, Bryce Butler sits down with Dr. Justin Beene, a systems thinker and community leader rooted in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Raised between two starkly different worlds – an under-resourced urban neighborhood and private Christian education – Justin shares how this duality informed his lifelong passion for community, faith, economics, and justice.

From working in social work and seminary to launching innovative place-based economic development models, Justin walks us through his evolution as a leader and his belief in the transformative power of relationships, belonging, and love for one’s city. Learn how the Grand Rapids Center for Community Transformation is reframing traditional systems and co-creating equitable opportunities in housing, business, and leadership development.

In this timely episode, host Bryce Butler welcomes back longtime friend and systems-change innovator Ross Baird, founding partner of Blueprint Local, to discuss the evolving landscape of Opportunity Zones, housing, and economic development. A pioneer in the impact investing space, Ross shares hard-won lessons and hopeful outcomes from over $200 million invested into overlooked communities through a place-based equity strategy.

They dive deep into why relationships over transactions still drive Ross’s investment philosophy, what makes Opportunity Zones uniquely effective (and misunderstood), and how cities like Charlotte, Selma, and Washington, D.C. are seeing real revitalization—not displacement. Ross also gives an insider's look at proposed legislative reforms and offers compelling reasons why everyday people—not just financiers—should care about community investment.

Fracture to Flourish is a narrative podcast series aiming to shine a light on the underserved, unseen, and underestimated everyday people facing systemic challenges–from the foster care age-out crisis to the benefits cliff, and beyond. We work to highlight the interventions that actually work–and how you can get involved.

In Season One: Aging Out, we’ll explore the foster care age-out crisis facing 20,000 young people every year, with a focus on the economic and social impacts of aging out. Hear from former foster youth and experts involved in the system as we uncover both the trials–and triumphs–they’ve experienced, examine the connection between aging out of foster care and involvement in the criminal justice system, and uncover barriers to reintegration.

Produced by Access Ventures, an innovative impact multiplier seeking to influence more capital for good, and brought to you in partnership with Belmont Innovation Labs and Every Child TN.

Listen to Season 1 of Fracture to Flourish: https://fracturetoflourish.com

In this powerful episode, Bryce Butler sits down with Jeremy Vallerand, the co-founder and CEO of Atlas Free, a global network combating human trafficking through partnership, capacity-building, and systems thinking. Jeremy shares how a formative childhood shaped by faith and radical hospitality led him to a career devoted to justice. A trip to India in 2008 opened his eyes to the reality of modern slavery, launching a life-changing journey that would culminate in the creation of Atlas Free.

Together, they explore the global complexity of human trafficking, the importance of empowering local leaders, and how Atlas Free is building an interconnected network to tackle both immediate interventions and long-term systemic change. Jeremy also offers insights on the challenges of nonprofit funding, the myth of the “one-size-fits-all” organization, and why collective impact—not isolation—is the only way forward.

​​Key Topics Covered:

• Jeremy’s Personal Story

• The Birth of Atlas Free

• The Atlas Free Model

• Why Local Leaders Matter

• Systems vs. Relief Work

• Collective Impact & Interdependence

• The Power of Survivor Justice

Links:

In this episode of More Than Profit, Bryce Butler and Brian MacKay sit down with Su Jean Park, a current MIT MBA candidate and an inaugural Access Ventures Fellow. Su Jean shares her journey from consulting and automation projects to her passion for regenerative agriculture and sustainable food systems.

She discusses why food is such an integral force in shaping culture, economics, and public health, and why she chose to walk away from a stable corporate career to explore a more meaningful path. From her hands-on experience as a regenerative farmer in Hawaii to her research on food as medicine, Su Jean highlights the complexity of the food system and what it will take to make sustainable food accessible to everyone.

Whether you’re interested in food policy, business innovation, or the next generation of impact-driven leaders, this conversation is a must-listen!

Key Topics Covered:

• Su Jean’s Journey to Sustainable Food Systems

• The Role of Regenerative Agriculture

• Food as Medicine: The Future of Healthcare & Nutrition

• Making Sustainable Food Accessible

• Inspiring the Next Generation of Leaders

Resources & Links:

• ⁠More Than Profit Podcast Episodes⁠

• ⁠Learn More About Access Ventures⁠

• ⁠MIT Sloan School of Management⁠

• ⁠Ceres Community Project – Food as Medicine⁠