The world needs to catch up to Indira Henard, executive director of the DC Rape Crisis Center. She champions survivors of sexual violence, which she views as inextricably linked to other forms of oppression, including discrimination based on race and gender. And she applies this intersectional lens to all areas of the Center’s work, from clinical therapy to advocacy for public policies that support survivors. Indira believes that we need to launch an inter-generational conversation about sexual violence: how it is defined, whom we believe when it is reported and what accountability looks like. Women that the Center works with have been re-traumatized by the pandemic and the brutal insurrection at the US Capitol. Indira and her team are standing up for them all. As bleak as this work might seem it brings Indira joy. Having swapped out a career on Capitol Hill and the White House to become a voice for and with survivors in the real Washington DC, she is exactly where she needs to be.

What if your job was to ensure that Latino leaders have a seat at decision making tables in the public and private sectors? This is the work that Marco Davis leads as President & CEO of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. Its fellowships place talented young Latinos with members of Congress who are themselves Latino change makers. This experience, coupled with real-time training, prepares the next generation to navigate the policy making process and the nuances of Capitol Hill culture. With 63 million Latinos in the nation, almost 20% of the population, claiming these seats at the table is long past due. And given the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on Latinos, from rates of infection to loss of businesses to exposure as frontline workers, their engagement in equitable recovery planning is urgent. If you need more evidence of CHCI’s efficacy, its alumni network of 4000  Latino leaders speaks volumes. This pipeline of talent represents the future of our country. And don’t miss the opportunity to hear great leaders speak from the heart on CHCI’s new podcast, Here to Lead. 

If you worry about our nation’s capacity to recover from Covid19, this episode may change your perception of what is possible. Melissa Jones is executive director of BARHII- Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative- a collaborative that is charting a course for recovery in 9 hard-hit counties. This partnership between public health agencies, municipalities and community organizations was launched in the mid 1990s to tackle inequities that are often the underlying cause of illness. They apply the same framework to Covid19, which has disproportionately impacted African Americans, Pacific Islanders and Latinx people, from a loss of jobs to loss of life. BARHII focuses on the social determinants of health, factors that are not addressed in the doctor’s office: housing conditions, isolation, and lack of a living wage. Melissa lays out changes in public policy needed to ensure an equitable recovery. New policies include the provision of housing by municipalities for those who cannot quarantine in crowded households. And BARHII advocates for philanthropy to act with urgency, making grants to cover these costs. Melissa is a leader whose voice must be heard, from here to the White House.

Here it is, my 150th episode, a milestone in the lifecycle of a podcast. It has been a journey, creating a platform for progressive nonprofit change making. To mark the moment, I reconnected with Joseph Leitmann-Santa Cruz, CEO and executive director of CAAB-Capital Area Asset Builders-one of the most tenacious seekers of justice that I know. CAAB connects underinvested Black and Brown communities with strategies for creating assets (home ownership, small businesses and higher education) that are the basis for building generational wealth. This population includes the one in five individuals in the nation’s capital who live below the poverty line. And that statistic is particularly jarring because it is based in pre-pandemic data. CAAB embeds itself in the “unofficial” DC and metropolitan region where work opportunities are limited and low paying. And low-wage workers are often unaware that claiming a refund, through the Earned Income Tax Credit, can yield significant and lifechanging returns. As Joseph says, “When everyone is given an opportunity to succeed, we all benefit.” This is the vision and purposefulness we should all aspire to in 2021.

This episode tells the story of LEDC- the Latino Economic Development Corporation-a nonprofit at the epicenter of our nation’s multiple crises, from COVID19 to the loss of businesses, jobs and housing to the assault on Latinos by the outgoing President and his congressional allies. Marla Bilonick, LEDC’s executive director, credits her staff and the indispensable partnerships she has built with municipalities from Washington DC to Baltimore County and Puerto Rico in creating policy solutions to seemingly intractable challenges. As a CDFI-Community Development Financial Institution-an alternative and more flexible provider of capitol to non-traditional borrowers, LEDC has kept Latino small businesses afloat where banks could or would not. Keeping families whole, through counseling, capitol, organizing and advocacy requires 24/7 responsiveness. And Marla expects a next wave of foreclosure and evictions. We were talking about the toll of anti-Latino rhetoric and policies on the community when we learned the terrible news about the storming of our Capital. We were shaken to the core. But Marla is positive and undeterred. That is the leadership we need in Washington DC and nationally. Listen.

I was deliberate in choosing John Holdsclaw as my first guest of 2021. It is not only because he is a friend and EVP of Strategic Initiatives for National Cooperative Bank, whose investments yield resources ranging from rural electric co-ops to grocery stores in urban food deserts. Or because he is Board president of the CDFI Coalition, the voice for over 1100 lenders in underinvested communities. I was curious about John’s takeaways from 2020, a devastating year particularly for low income and communities of color and his thoughts about nonprofit change making. We focused on intentionality, the practice of stepping back to assess how nonprofits align their stated values with their behavior. John suggests taking a hard look at how your organization engages members, hires and retains executives of color, and works collaboratively within the sector. And he argues that a new administration creates an opportunity to expand which nonprofits have a seat at policy making tables. With thanks to John, this is our year of intentionality. (see below).

Acronym Alert! Here are a few references we failed to decode:

-National Credit Union Association.

-Community Development Bankers Association

-Community Development Credit Unions

-National Credit Union Association

In this episode I have a great time with super-producer Rob Ford, talking about Power Station's beginnings, aspirations and lessons learned. I don't love talking about myself but I do love talking about nonprofit advocacy and how it is being amplified through this platform. I talk about how I got involved in community organizing and policy advocacy, which shapes how I think about what is effective and how to make an impact. And I have the opportunity to thank great friend and nonprofit leaders who have supported my crazy idea to enter into this uncharted territory.

Here is a staggering statistic. Right now, 45 million Americans are struggling under the weight of $1.7 trillion in student debt. The college education that was supposed to create economic opportunity has far too often, particularly in communities of color, created deep generational harm. Parents have financed their kids’ educations while still paying off their own college loans. And while student borrowing is a reality across race and class lines, the burden is deepest in Black and Brown communities where the racial wealth gap persists. As Ashley Harrington, Federal Advocacy Director of the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) explains, the majority of borrowers are crushed by less than $10,000 in debt. CRL, an indispensable champion in the fight against predatory lending, is teaming up with advocates from civil rights, veterans and consumer groups to create a new path forward. On this episode, we explore an important question: What if President Biden authorized the cancellation of student debt on day one of his administration? The solution is in hand and the opportunity to remake America is here.

We will look back on 2020 as the moment when our nation’s longstanding systemic inequities became impossible to ignore. Just look at our digital divide. Right now, over 17 million children lack the requisite connectivity plans or devices needed to participate in a remote learning mandate. It is not only a problem of broadband access. It is also a challenge of adoption, the ability of families to afford laptops and service plans. Which means that parents are also excluded from engaging in 21st century commerce, from banking, to health services, to shopping, that have increasingly, and sometimes exclusively, migrated online. The impacts are felt most acutely by those already grappling with housing and food insecurity. While federal resources are limited, municipalities have become the change makers, creating solutions and taking action to implement them. And these mayors, tribal leaders, state regulatory bodies and residents have an indefatigable partner in Next Century Cities, a national champion of digital equity, led by the remarkable Francella Ochillo. It is exciting, essential and inspiring work.

This nation is finally cracking open the conversations we need to have to make change possible. Systemic racial inequities have been exposed by COVID-19, particularly its disproportionate impacts on communities of color, which are stark and quantifiable. The loss of jobs, and by extension homes, for those with the most tenuous employment, demands that elected leaders act and affected communities are engaged. And we are confronting a less publicly discussed but longstanding challenge. Karma Cottman explains that domestic violence is on the rise, exacerbated by stay-at-home orders that have sequestered survivors with their abusers. As executive director of the DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence and its national sister organization, UJIMA, Inc, Karma brings so much to this conversation, from great successes in systems change to an inexhaustible energy and love of her community. Hear her and be grateful to the frontline domestic violence responders in your community.