What Do You Understand?

In this episode of What Do You Understand? Sasha Fisher, co-founder of Spark Microgrants, discusses the negative effects of prescriptive philanthropy and how grassroots initiatives give the decision-making power back to the indigenous communities.

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In this episode of What Do You Understand? Guest speaker Mark Casanova shares his experience leading community-driven solutions to end the homelessness issue at both the community level and globally.

A clinician by trade and Executive Director of Homeless Healthcare Los Angeles, Mark Casanova brings extensive expertise in development, outreach, fundraising, and managing community-led programs that aim to resolve the issues surrounding homelessness. Mark is an advocate for harm reduction and leads the Syringe Exchange Program at HHLA in an effort to decrease the risk of overdose within the homeless.

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In this episode of What Do You Understand? We revisit historical landmarks of activism with author and historian, Nico Slate, while deciphering modern-day activism and its effectiveness in delivering change.

Nico Slate is a history professor at Carnegie Mellon University and the author of Colored Cosmopolitanism: The Shared Struggle for Freedom in the United States and India, which he wrote while completing his PhD at Harvard University. Nico is the founder of the Bajaj Lab for Rural Development, which helps document and support the Bajaj Foundation’s efforts to create a model of rural development for India and the world, as well as SocialChange101.org, a free online educational resource and youth workshop series for students of social change.

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Meet your hosts! We are excited to start our first season with an introduction of our hosts. Daniel Casanova, Executive Director of Global Partners for Development (GPFD), talks about his journey in philanthropy and international development. Ria Pullin, Director of Marketing and Communications for GPFD, has worked as a professional on-camera host for over a decade and is learning philanthropy and development on the job and by talking to experts in a wide range of fields.

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