Sasha Rabkin, Chief of Program Strategy & Innovation for the Advanced Education Research & Development Fund (AERDF), speaks plainly about what it takes to build trust.

He shares what makes early-stage funding possible, why–when he was a fundraiser–he resisted sending a deck, and how power and credibility get negotiated in the early stages of a relationship.

This is a conversation about timing, posture, and what it really means to invest in people—not just projects.

Produced by Chris Lawrence and Urbanist Media

For more tools, workshops, and resources on building authentic fundraising relationships, visit: aspirationtech.org/htrm