Margaret Hall is the Executive Director of The Greenlight Fund, a national venture philanthropy organization, which she co-founded with John Simon in Boston. In the past 10 years, they have scaled this venture philanthropy model to five other cities, most recently in Detroit. Margaret explains the GreenLight Fund model, the inspiration for bringing venture philanthropy to the nonprofit sector, and how they are creating a more connected and integrated network of service partners. This is a wonderful, innovative approach to involving communities and bringing the best social services to the people. 

David Greco is the head of Social Sector Partners. Social Sector Partners works to transform organizations working to achieve social impact through strategic adaptation, business model repositioning, and scaling programs. Healthy, vibrant, and just communities require a strong and sustainable social sector.

David provides a continuum of consulting services to help build the capacity, financial strength and sustainability of community based organizations.   In this podcast, he discusses his experience working with funders and donors to develop more effective grantmaking strategies, build the skill and capacity of program staff, and improve grantmaking outcomes.

Antony Bugg-Levine is the CEO of Nonprofit

Antony also discusses some of the bigger trends in the

Jen Ratay is the Executive Director of the Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund, or SV2, where she manages a network of more than 200 Partners and philanthropists, and helps guide their philanthropic investments to the most effective outcomes. SV2's pool of investments helps support promising nonprofits and social enterprises in the Silicon Valley community, as well as throughout the world. SV2 is on the cutting edge of a lot of philanthropic trends. They pioneered Venture Philanthropy in its earliest days. A decade and a half later, they remain committed to longer term investments and capacity building grants, while introducing additional initiatives to achieve social impact, such as impact investing. Jen has helped to guide the organization through a recent strategic planning initiative, where Partners reassessed their philanthropic practices and reaffirmed their shared values and commitment to strengthening the social sector. Jen joins the Philanthropy Hour today to discuss some of the exciting new things SV2 is working on, as well as broader trends in the philanthropic sector. Her energy and passion are infectious. 

As the CEO of Mission Measurement, Jason Saul has focused relentlessly on cracking the code of measuring social impact. For as long as the social sector has existed, funders and nonprofits alike have remained in the dark when it comes to measuring real performance and impact. How do we crack create a real, mainstream economic currency for the value of social change, a sort of marketplace for social outcomes?

Today, Jason gives us a more detailed look into the metrics and algorithms that drive Mission Measurement, and why it is such a crucial component of lifting the social sector, and improving organizations. Jason and his team have worked relentless on this question, and the result has been the Impact Genome Project, a revolutionary new system that can predict social outcomes before an investment. Partnering with the same engineer that developed the Music Genome Project for Pandora, This is a comprehensive evidence-base of what works in social change. 

This is truly a groundbreaking and transformational moment for the social sector. Jason Saul and his colleagues are on the forefront of this movement, and this interview is a must-listen. 

Andrew Wolk is a pioneer in the social enterprise movement. He designed and taught one of the first courses on social entrepreneurship in this country. He is the founder of several social venture including Root Cause, a nonprofit consulting firm and pragmatic partner to nonprofits, social entrepreneurs, foundations, and government. 

In this podcast, Andrew discusses the Root Cause model, their relentless focus on impact and outcomes, and how measuring and understanding impact is of vital interest to nonprofits striving to improve lives. He also explains the use of data and evidence for driving higher performance, and why it is necessary to focus on the right data. Andrew also provides some exclusive insights into Root Cause, and how the organization is evolving with the times, and responding to the issues of our country. 

Gregg Behr is the Executive Director of the Grable Foundation, based in Pittsburgh, PA, helping to advance high-quality early childhood education, improved teaching and learning in public schools, and robust out-of-school time support. In this podcast, Gregg discusses this family foundation's grantmaking practices, the importance of being very present in the community, and responsive to community leaders, and the need to get back to the basics with respect to effective grantmaking. We discuss the unique characteristics of the Pittsburgh community, and how philanthrophy has been a true driver of change in the city over the past few decades. The Grable Foundation is demonstrating place-based grantmaking, and a model of excellence. 

Third Sector Capital leads governments, high-performing nonprofits, and private funders in building evidence-based initiatives that address society’s most persistent challenges. As experts in innovative public-private contracting and financing strategies, Third Sector is an architect and builder of the nation’s most promising Pay for Success projects including those in Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, and Santa Clara County, California. 

As a co-Founder, Caroline provides a clear and in-depth look at the Pay For Success field, what they have achieved thus far, and what can be accomplished in the future. This is a helpful primer for anyone who is trying to learn more on the PFS subject. Caroline's energy and passion about Pay for Success is infectious! 

Rick Williams is the CEO of the Sobrato Family Foundation, based in Cupertino, CA, which is focused on building a thriving Silicon Valley, through its business and philanthropic leadership. It is a place-based grant maker that invests in organizations seeking to make a social impact in the tri-county area of Silicon Valley.

Today, Rick joins us to discuss the strategic grantmaking of the Sobrato Family Foundation, the challenges specific to the Silicon Valley region, how they are responding to the community, and how they are using philanthropy as a tool for change. This is a great and inspirational conversation, from a man with a lot of industry experience.

Dr. Emily Gustafsson-Wright is a fellow at the Brookings Institution. She helped publish a report in summer 2015 with some of her colleagues entitled "The Potential and Limitations of Social Impact Bonds: Lessons From The First 5 Years of Experience Worldwide." Here we discuss exactly what a Social Impact Bond is, how it functions, and its potential ramifications for funding social service projects in the future. SIBs have only been around for 5 years, but they are already gaining a lot of attention, with potential investors ready to get involved in the game. So it is important to analyze what is working and what needs to be improved for the future.