Power Station
Power Station is a podcast about change making. Each episode features a nonprofit leader whose organization tackles injustice and creates equity and opportunity across the United States. Guests introduce listeners to communities that are often underestimated and share their strategies for building community, influence and power.
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Our power as citizens in this moment is to care
09/01/2025
Our power as citizens in this moment is to care
For Ty Hobson-Powell, being a child of Washington DC goes deeper than living with the United States Capital and the White House as a backdrop. It is not just that politics is in his bones and that he has worked in national campaigns and in District government to generate policy change for people and communities. What motivates his fight for justice is the unique experience of living in the seat of this nation’s federal government while being one of 700,000 Washingtonians who raise families, work and build communities, all without statehood or full representation in Congress. In this episode of Power Station, Ty shares what his activism looks like now, his call for less apathy and more care for others and how his book, The Fire This Time memorializes his message, especially for young people of color about leadership, courage and using your voice with purpose and power. At a time when our nation’s democratic principles and institutions are under assault and DC is under federal control this conversation brings, at least for me, urgency, clarity and a plan of action. Ty is building the world he wants his 4 year old daughter, who is his inspiration, to inherit.
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This is for everyone and everyone should be able to contribute
08/25/2025
This is for everyone and everyone should be able to contribute
The advent of the internet changed how we interact with friends, our nation and the world. We are all there now, accessing news and popular culture through social media apps, attending school, working and connecting with friends. At our best we are also engaging, as nonprofits and political campaigns, in mobilizing voters and organizing public policy campaigns that advance equity and strengthen democracy. All of this exists while social media companies profit from disseminating hate-based disinformation peddled by authoritarian politicians and their surrogates. In this episode of Power Station, the awesome public interest technologist and social justice activist Mallory Knodel poses a vital question. What if we looked at the internet and social media apps not as the final arbiter of politics and culture but as a tool over which we, collectively and individually have choice and agency? What if the technical design of the platform we uses supported human rights and democracy? Mallory and her co-creators at the Social Web Foundation are building the infrastructure needed to make our connectivity more intentional, purposeful and creative. The are envisioning and implementing a Fediverse and ActivityPub as an open space for everyone. Hear her and share!
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All roads lead back to voting
08/18/2025
All roads lead back to voting
At the highest levels of government our elected officials are violating the Constitution, ignoring court orders and trampling societal norms to undermine decades of progress in America. They are demonizing schools, corporations and nonprofits that practice diversity, equity and inclusion, taking back federal grants intended for housing and climate change mitigation in communities of color and cutting nutrition programs in public schools. In this episode of Power Station I speak with Celina Stewart, the inspiring and unstoppable CEO of The League of Women Voters who is making history of her own. Celina, an expert in redistricting, the Census and voting rights is the League’s second African American CEO. She describes leading during a constitutional crisis, pushing back against harmful executive orders while supporting members tackling hyperlocal threats to their communities. The League of Women is fueled by people power, those who join school boards, testify at city council hearings, and stand with immigrants against unfounded deportations. The League’s newest initiative, Unite and Rise, 8.5. seeks to protect and preserve our democracy by mobilizing 8.5 million voters. This is the powerful non-partisan movement, centered in 700+ local leagues, that can change the course of history.
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Our job is to organize the veteran flank of a much broader progressive movement
08/11/2025
Our job is to organize the veteran flank of a much broader progressive movement
For José Vasquez, leading Common Defense, a national nonprofit comprised of 200,000 veterans who share progressive values, is an extension of the oath he took as a 17 year old enlistee. He swore to and has remained steadfast in defending the Constitution and advocating for the well-being of those who serve. He and a cohort of activist vets launched Common Defense in 2016 to provide a civic engagement platform for veterans who are anti-racist, pro-democracy and anti-authoritarianism. Collectively they are advancing progressive policymaking in state legislatures, on Capitol Hill and in the White House. Common Defense organizes around the issues that resonate deeply for its members, including climate change and healthcare. A current campaign demands accountability for the president’s dismantling of the Veteran’s Administration, which is putting the health of 16.5 million veterans at risk. On this episode of Power Station, I speak with José about his life’s journey, from joining the Army, to living out his family’s dream of a college education, to his evolving views about our military and his decision to organize his fellow veterans to use their voices for the common good. Hear him and share!
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We are contributors, we are not takers
08/04/2025
We are contributors, we are not takers
How is it possible that in 2025, America is funding and operationalizing daily raids on Latinos in the form of arrests, detainments, deportations and disappearances? What can justify the vilification of Latinos, a community that includes families that have been established here for generations and newer arrivals seeking citizenship in a broken immigration system? Meanwhile, Latinos, working across sectors, contribute $4.1 trillion dollars to this country annually. While the president and congressional leadership are the architects of this cruel, and often illegal campaign targeting 20% of the nation’s population, both political parties have failed Latinos as a whole. Neither has modernized our immigration system or fully recognized their economic, cultural and social contributions. I am honored that Sindy Benevides, founder of Aqui: The Accountability Movement, shared her organizational story on this episode of Power Station. Sindy explains that achieving a just future for Latinos in America requires a narrative shift around how Latinos are perceived, the leveraging of the their economic power, and accountability by all sectors for hiring and policies impacting Latinos and other communities of color. Sindy is a powerrful leader who is building a new path towards justice, one that we all can walk.
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Organizing is the Swiss army knife of changemaking
07/28/2025
Organizing is the Swiss army knife of changemaking
Organizing is a superpower. It allows us to make our voices heard, to influence the decision-makers, from corporations to landlords to the elected officials who determine clean air standards, the cost of childcare, the minimum wage and whether voting rights will expand or become more restrictive. And in a moment in which politicians are defunding healthcare and other public systems to finance tax cuts for the wealthiest in our society, organizing provides a skillset and framework that prepares nonprofit organizations, their staff and community-based volunteers to lead impactful and changemaking campaigns. In this episode of Power Station I speak with the invincible Elyssa Feder, who has trained thousands of new entries in the organizing field since launching Rising Organizers in 2016. She is positioning a new generation of organizers to save and strengthen our battered democracy and is creating the organizing infrastructure that nonprofits need to activate their communities and fulfill their mission. And Elyssa is committed to growing power, through organizing, in Washington DC where 700,000 people lack full voting representation in Congress. As she says, organizing takes many forms and there is room for all of us. Hear her and share this episode!
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We all have mental health issues
07/21/2025
We all have mental health issues
What makes culture change possible? Not the kind that divides people, which we are experiencing now but change that which empowers individuals, builds community and in some cases saves lives. Active Minds, a nonprofit founded by Alison Malmon after losing her brother Brian, a college student, to suicide 21 years ago demonstrates how normalizing conversations about mental health and prioritizing the well-being of youth and young adults is transforming America. Active Minds has activated student-led mental health advocacy chapters across 500 college campuses and high schools and is now expanding into middle schools. In this episode of Power Station I speak with Brandi Pretlow, Active Minds Vice President for Community Initiatives whose clinical expertise, deep empathy and strategic savvy is engaging diverse communities, from educational systems to influencers and athletes, in elevating mental health care as a shared value. Brandi speaks to the resources we all need, from housing to health, to maintain our mental health and to the imperative of meeting needs in the most marginalized communities. We talk about navigating federal budget cuts, expanding Active Mind’s advocacy voice and the promise of seeing culture change in action.
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We are straddling the social justice and banking worlds
07/14/2025
We are straddling the social justice and banking worlds
We have a long history in America of institutions and public systems that do not serve all members of the public equally. As Erin Kilmer-Neel shares on this episode of Power Station, the financial services industry, banks in particular, have routinely failed to approve loan applications for small businesses and mortgages from borrowers of color on par with their white counterparts. Perceptions of unworthiness is rooted in a well-documented history of racism in public and corporate policymaking. As executive director of the Beneficial State Foundation, the nonprofit that owns and partners with Beneficial State Bank, an equity-driven enterprise, Erin is powering a movement to unlearn the biases that undergird perceptions of risk and reimagine policies and practices that meet the capital needs of borrowers of color. Take Underwriting for Justice, an initiative that is upending racially discriminatory lending norms. It is engaging banks in signing on to methodologies that lead to systemic yeses. Erin is a bright light in the ongoing campaign to bridge the social equity and banking worlds. She credits the vision of Beneficial Bank co-founders Tom Steyer and Kat Taylor in creating an institution that builds power within, instead of extracting from, the communities it serves.
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This moment is not just about policies, it is about people
07/07/2025
This moment is not just about policies, it is about people
What stories have we heard, and beliefs have we internalized, to explain the crisis level numbers of Americans who are on the brink of losing their housing or are already experiencing homelessness? Do we blame the individuals? Is the problem intractable? Years of study illuminates the facts: we have a profound dual problem of affordability and supply. Our federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour is responsible for a wage to rent disparity that causes extremely low income Americans to pay more than half of their income on rent. And a shortage of 7.1 million affordable housing units makes it inevitable that 77,000 Americans have no home at all. That data and more is captured in seminal reports produced by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, which has been at the forefront of tenant-led policy advocacy for decades. On this episode of Power Station, Renee Willis, the Coalition’s exceptional new President and CEO shares the life experience that guides her leadership in this most challenging of times. As she says, when we talk about policy we are really talking about people. The Coalition knows the true story of housing in America and champions people who aspire for better.
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When I meet with legislators I say that farmworkers not only feed you, they feed your constituents.
06/30/2025
When I meet with legislators I say that farmworkers not only feed you, they feed your constituents.
If you think that young people are not informed about, paying attention to or taking action to counter the harm, in rhetoric and policy, practiced by the current administration, you will be encouraged by this episode of Power Station. My three outstanding guests, Jean Garcia, Hannia Hernandez-Mendoza and Bryan Juarez Ruiz, are college students whose academic successes and commitment to shaping a more just future led to their selection as summer interns with the National Migrant & Seasonal Head Start Association. NMSHSA is the advocate and support system for 24 migrant head start centers that provide high-quality educational services to 26,000 children of farmworkers in 34 states. Jean, Hannia and Bryan have all experienced the extreme challenges of agricultural work first-hand. And they all credit their early childhood days in migrant head start centers as foundational to their educational development and capacity to, as their immigrant parents expect, build a life for themselves beyond the fields in which they have toiled. They are on the way, not only to personal achievement but to charting bold systems change for farmworkers, immigrants and other underserved and targeted communities. Hear them tell their stories here.
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I stand on the shoulders of grandparents who fled an authoritarian regime in the South
06/23/2025
I stand on the shoulders of grandparents who fled an authoritarian regime in the South
It is meaningful and instructive that the Legal Defense Fund, which has championed racial justice at the voting booth, in education, housing and in the criminal justice system since its founding by Thurgood Marshall in 1940, is on the frontlines today, winning legal victories in a perilous moment for American democracy. LDF is defending the hard-won civil rights of Black Americans against racially imposed barriers, laid out in Project 2025 and implemented by President Trump and the 119th Congress. As LDF Associate Director-Counsel Todd Cox explains on this episode of Power Station, Congress has abdicated its responsibility as a check on the executive and the U.S. Department of Justice has rejected its mandate to enforce civil rights laws, leaving the LDF and its sister organizations to carry out the fight in the courts. LDF brings the expertise and infrastructure needed to litigate, advocate in state legislatures and on Capitol Hill, organize in impacted communities and educate the public and policymakers about what is at stake. Todd, a consummate civil rights litigator, looks to his grandparents, who fled autocracy and racial violence in the south, as his inspiration and guide. Hear him and share this powerful story.
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Hay Que Siempre Tomar En Cuenta Nuestros Prójimos
06/16/2025
Hay Que Siempre Tomar En Cuenta Nuestros Prójimos
When UnidosUS convenes its annual conference this August, it will provide a safe space for the leaders of its 300 affiliates (community based nonprofits) to process and strategize over President Trump’s targeting of immigrants, assault on Medicaid and threats to their nonprofits’ tax exempt status. As Janet Murguía, President and CEO of UnidosUS shares on this episode of Power Station, it is an opportunity for thousands of leaders, stakeholders, allies and partners to draw strength from each other. As this nation’s largest Latino civil rights organization, UnidosUS is a powerhouse nonprofit whose expertise in organizing, research, policy advocacy, educational programming and civic engagement has advanced the rights and well-being of Latinos and other underinvested communities for 57 years. It remains a non-partisan frontline force for intergenerational wealth building, increasing opportunities for homeownership and educational opportunity through programs delivered by affiliates across America. We talk about the impacts of actions taken by this White House and the 119th Congress, from ICE raids to the breakdown of due process and, in response, the growing pro-democracy movement. I cannot think of anyone more equipped to lead in this unprecedented moment and to make America more equitable than Janet Murguia. Hear HER!
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We have an administration that is doing its best to undermine the integrity and functionality of our voting system
06/09/2025
We have an administration that is doing its best to undermine the integrity and functionality of our voting system
In 1963, a time of heightened suppression of Black Americans to their civil rights, President Kennedy invited 244 lawyers to the White House, calling on them to use their expertise and influence to move the civil rights struggle from the streets into the courts. That call to action launched The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a nonprofit that for 63 years has tackled discrimination against people of color and championed the right to full participation in civic life. In this episode of Power Station, I am honored to feature Rob Weiner, Director of the Committee’s Voting Rights Project. which challenges efforts at the state and national levels to disenfranchise voters of color. It is notable and moving that until recently Rob was Senior Counsel at the Voting Rights Division at the US Department of Justice. He explains that under the Trump administration, the DOJ has abandoned its mission to protect the right to vote and is instead trafficking in disproven claims of voting scams and election fraud. Rob and his colleagues at the Lawyers Committee are boldly pushing back against executive orders, redistricting schemes and narratives that seek to weaken hard-won civil rights. And they are winning. Hear him!
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We want to make sure that people feel seen, they feel heard and they feel protected
06/02/2025
We want to make sure that people feel seen, they feel heard and they feel protected
It started, as promised, on Day 1 of this super-charged Trump Administration. His targeting of political foes, immigrants, the LGBTQ community, people of color and the nonprofit organizations that defend their rights morphed into punitive and legally dubious executive orders. Fortunately, the civil rights community was prepared for the onslaught. They had studied Project 2025, pre-election, the administration’s playbook for autocratic rule. John C. Yang, President and Executive Director of Advancing Justice - AAJC, my guest on this episode of Power Station, is one of those insightful and courageous leaders. He and his team at Advancing Justice - AAJC are standing up, in court and on Capital Hill, to the administration’s efforts to defund Asian American organizations, decimate the federal workforce (8% of which is Asian American) and deport community members, including naturalized citizens. Advancing Justice - AAJC is working in concert with civil right and public interest organizations representing all communities who are being maligned and attacked. And these efforts are winning. We talk about diversity, a word that Trump now prohibits, and John reminds us that diversity is our strength and part of our national identity. This is a conversation about truth, hope and action. Listen and share!
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Making that next right decision is what courage is
05/26/2025
Making that next right decision is what courage is
As a nation we are learning a powerful lesson in real time. In the just completed first 100 days of the Trump administration, the president has led a reckless campaign of retribution that relies on the flouting of laws, courts and the constitution itself. From freezing federal funding to nonprofits that keep families fed to seizing immigrants and dispatching them without due process to foreign prisons he is adhering to Project 2025, the administration’s autocratic playbook for diminishing civil rights, a precursor to dismantling democracy. In this week’s episode of Power Station I speak with Skye Perryman, the intrepid and unbowed President and CEO of Democracy Forward, the national nonprofit on the frontlines of defending those whom the administration targets from his attacks. Democracy Forward is winning in the courts and in communities by giving a voice to those who are under attack. Its communications team is telling the stories of nonprofit leaders, lawyers and immigration advocates who are standing up for their rights and continuing to serve their communities. And Skye invites us to be a part of the movement. Listen and learn how we can move forward together.
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At the end of the day Congress needs to keep its hands off DC
05/19/2025
At the end of the day Congress needs to keep its hands off DC
To see disenfranchisement in action, look no further than Washington DC, whose 700,000 residents pay the highest taxes per household in our nation and yet have no voting members in the U.S. Congress. This inequity has persisted through both democratic and republican administrations and is intensifying in the 119th Congress and the Trump presidency. For almost 3 decades, DC Vote, a local nonprofit with national reach has led the movement for DC Statehood. It achieved the passage of Home Rule, but our elected leaders still do not control their budgets, and their legislation can be overturned by members of Congress who do not respect the right of a majority Black and Brown citizenry to govern itself. In this episode of Power Station I speak to DC Vote’s Organizing Director Kelsye Adams whose political savvy and organizing know-how is generating powerful pro-statehood coalitions across the nation. Kelyse, an organizing superstar, co-founded Free DC, which invites everyone, not just the organizationally affiliated, to advocate for democracy. Along the way she found time to launch Long Live GoGo, which celebrates the official music of DC and catalyzes civic action at the intersection of art, politics and culture. Listen and share!
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LinkedIn has identified that in the next 5 years 50% of all job skills will change
05/12/2025
LinkedIn has identified that in the next 5 years 50% of all job skills will change
There is one fact that Lisa Countryman Quiroz, CEO of Jewish Vocational Service Bay Area (JVS) wants you to take away from our deeply data-informed conversation. There is a proven pathway for people stuck in low-quality jobs to secure high-quality employment that moves families into the middle class. And doing so generates a quantifiable return on investment. That fact is documented in unimpeachable quarterly earnings data collected by the state of California’s Employment Development Department. Job seekers, primarily women of color, come to JVS with aspirations and the need to provide for their families. JVS’s investments in them, customized training for specialized positions in industry and public agencies, one-on-one staff support and advocacy for systems change, make a better life for families achievable. Jobseekers come to JVS having earned around $40k annually. Post training, they earn $60k and in 5 years their salaries are over $100k. These results are life-changing for families and a huge win for economic mobility. At JVS, Lisa Countryman Quiroz is making transformational progress notwithstanding the threat of federal funding cuts and policy rollbacks. There is so much to learn from this episode. Listen to Lisa and share!
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I define Black Power as the ability to live a long and full life
05/05/2025
I define Black Power as the ability to live a long and full life
What is more powerful than a book that delivers a new framework for understanding and repairing the most foundational injustice in our nation, the gap in wealth and power between white and Black Americans? The first revelatory moment I experienced reading Black Power Scorecard by Dr. Andre Perry was his description of Black power, a data-driven and additive definition, which can be summarized as the ability to live a long and full life. What follows is a deep and data-driven dive into the conditions that make a long life possible, from communities with clean air, to home and business ownership to incomes that empower families. Understanding where these gaps in wealth and power lie, provides an unimpeachable policy framework for advancing Black Power in America. Most importantly, Andre Perry connects us to Black communities that are flourishing because of Black entrepreneurs and leaders, including Lanier Richardson whose business investments are creating a new class of owners in Black communities. These stories are under-reported and deserve to be heard so that strategies are replicated. Black power, unlike White power, is collective and not extractive. It benefits all of us and it is fully within reach.
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I essentially found what I consider the secret sauce of right wing media and messaging and why it is so effective
04/28/2025
I essentially found what I consider the secret sauce of right wing media and messaging and why it is so effective
There is no question that disinformation, the invention of narratives founded in lies to influence how Americans think was instrumental to the election of Donald Trump. The far right has transformed our media eco-system by repeating hateful messaging on questionable platforms now perceived by true believers to be legitimate. The repercussions are upon us: deportations without due process, federal funding freezes for resources that meet human needs, a campaign to eliminate the tax exempt status of social change nonprofits, the acquiescence of republican members of Congress to their leader and the largely uninspired response to this moment by democratic leaders. On this episode of Power Station, I turn to Kevin Peréz-Allen, Senior Vice President of the non-partisan Signal Group, which lives up to its descriptor as a modern public affairs firm. Kevin shares data from his deep dive into right-wing messaging and his experience with clients: nonprofits, businesses, law firms, embassies and universities that are navigating unprecedented challenges and seeking to be heard by policymakers and the media. And we talk about what can be gained if those on the left communicate with clarity and not condescension. We can all do better if we are open to change.
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We see the lives of LGBTQ individuals and youth at risk
04/21/2025
We see the lives of LGBTQ individuals and youth at risk
In 1984, at the height of the AIDS crisis, the LGBTQ community was pushing back hard against prejudice, transphobia and the failure of the public health system to meet dire medical needs. When queer youth, some of whom identified as trans, were hospitalized at the then-notorious St. Eliabeth’s hospital in Washington DC, a group of community members and health professionals founded SMYAL, a nonprofit that provides housing, mental health support and safe spaces for LGBTQ youth. As SMYAL’s executive director Erin Whalen explains on this episode of Power Station, our president wants to return to that punishing era . Erin are her team are not collapsing in the face of federal funding cuts, the targeting of LGBTQ youth, particularly those who are undocumented, and the rising incidents of hate they are navigating. They are taking steps to care for each other and to support the little SMYALs, the 6-12 years old children and their parents, some of whom are now losing access to vital gender affirming care. As Erin shares, they will use their power and voices to be bold and brave. We all have an amazing opportunity to do the same.
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We often say that artificial intelligence and technology represent the new civil rights and human rights frontier
04/14/2025
We often say that artificial intelligence and technology represent the new civil rights and human rights frontier
The true story of America is currently being rewritten in real time by the White House. The president’s rejection of incontrovertible truths, from racism to domestic violence to the marginalization of people with disabilities is laid bare in the banning of words on government websites that reference those who have been most wronged in our society. It also explains his freezing of federal funding for nonprofits that work each day to tackle discrimination as codified in the National Fair Housing Act of 1968. This landmark civil rights legislation, hard-won after years of advocacy, was enacted just weeks after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and remains integral to creating a more equitable union. In this episode of Power Station, Lisa Rice, President and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance shares what it takes to move forward in the face of an existential crisis impacting her organization, its members and those they serve. Lisa is unbowed and NFHA is hard at work, correcting algorithmic biases in appraisals and lending and leading a movement for AI that advances civil and human rights. Lisa is a treasure. Please listen and share her story.
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The arts reminds us of our soul and our shared humanity
04/07/2025
The arts reminds us of our soul and our shared humanity
For Andrew Lee, performing at Carnegie Hall, bringing violin instruction to underfunded DC public schools, working in coalitions designed to increase funding for the arts and STEM during students’ out-of-school time, launching new orchestras, and partnering international musicians with young, emerging artists is all part of building a musical eco-system that reflects and is accessible to all. As Andrew shares on this episode of Power Station, leading the Washington Conservatory of Music, which for 40 years has been a center of learning for young people and adults, is an opportunity to build community, celebrate musical traditions and demonstrate the power of communication through the arts. Andrew’s gifts and aspirations go deeper than his musical virtuosity. His experiences with the policy making process on Capitol Hill, with running political campaigns and as a communications strategist for nonprofits make him uniquely qualified to meet the challenges of an unprecedented moment in this nation. We talk about what is at play, from federal funding cuts to donors’ changing metrics to the potential we all have to stand up and become a powerful voice for targeted communities and institutions. Listen, be inspired and use your voice.
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We are not your enemy
03/31/2025
We are not your enemy
It was 1973 when the National LGBTQ Task Force, the nation’s first LGBTQ rights organization, was founded. Homophobia was being codified into legislation; the AIDs epidemic was a devastating and deadly epidemic, and gay people were subject to discrimination and violence. A brave group of activists, scientists and doctors stepped up to create a nonprofit from which they advocated for the right to exist, be heard and win legal protections. Co-founder Bruce Voeller, a biologist who coined the term AIDS, and died from complications of it in 1994 was instrumental in organizing the first ever briefing on LBGTQ issues with the White House. In this episode of Power Station I speak with the fearless Allen Morris, Director of Policy at the National LGBTQ Task Force about how he uses his voice on Capitol Hill and in state legislatures to stand up against vitriolic rhetoric and policies targeting queer and trans people. Allen is leaning into principled struggle with policymakers, pressing them to see that queer people are not the enemy. As this administration seeks to turn back the clock on LGBTQ rights, the Task Force is unbowed. Allen is inspiring and a joy. Hear him!
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This need to say it doesn't have to be this way was very deep in me
03/24/2025
This need to say it doesn't have to be this way was very deep in me
It is a singular privilege to interview an author when their work is as powerful, instructive and intimate as What Might Be, Confronting Racism to Transform Our Institutions. In this episode of Power Station, I speak with Susan Sturm, Professor of Law and Social Responsibility at Columbia School of Law about her book, which explores her experience in tackling racism in American institutions and invites those who feel stuck on the sidelines to join in. Susan reflects on the “loving struggle” she has engaged in as a white woman working in multiracial collaborations, a practice supported by her treasured colleague, the late Lani Guinier. The book provides a window into the practice of confronting racism in predominately white institutions and the striking outcomes this work has generated. This includes the transformation of a court system whose routinized approach to calling balls and strikes each day obscured deeply embedded patterns of racial inequities which harmed litigants, court personnel of color and the broader community. We delve into Susan’s vision for moving forward in a political environment that denies the existence of racism altogether. Listen, learn and share.
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Capacity + Capital = Power
03/17/2025
Capacity + Capital = Power
How do you stay hopeful and motivated when entire communities, immigrants, LGBTQ and people with disabilities among many others, are being demonized and targeted for punitive action by our nation’s leaders? For Lucy Arellano Baglieri it is by keeping her eyes on the long game, building in the most difficult of times for a more just future. As Lucy shares on this episode of Power Station, this administration’s freezing of federal grants to nonprofits and efforts to revoke their tax exempt status is a defensive reaction to decades of progress in advancing civil rights and economic justice. In this episode of Power Station, Lucy shares how her family’s experience as immigrants who persisted through broken systems to thrive as entrepreneurs is at the core of everything she does. It guides her work at Luz Impact Strategies, the consultancy she founded to help nonprofits in strenghthening internal systems and tackling external barriers to maximizing their impacts in the communities they serve. The formula of capacity plus capital equals power has been foundational to Lucy’s accomplishments at the community and C-Suite levels and it undergirds her leadership and voice at Luz Impact Strategies now.
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One of the stories I heard was I just really want to take my child to a theme park
03/10/2025
One of the stories I heard was I just really want to take my child to a theme park
We are living in a moment of turmoil. Many communities feel targeted, and nonprofits are under pressure to quiet their voices. LIFT, a Washington DC based national nonprofit with offices in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles is undaunted in its support for and belief in Black and Brown parents seeking to break cycles of poverty and achieve economic mobility. In this episode of Power Station, Neils Ribeiro-Yemofio, the incomparable executive director of LIFT DC shares how just listening to parents about their aspirations for their families can be transformative. At LIFT DC, financial coaches are matched with parents, guiding parents through a 2 year process to increase their incomes, attain higher education and alleviate debt. As Neils says, it is an investment in hope, money and love. The results are stunning and unimpeachable. Parents are not only generating economic benefits for their families they are advocating for public policies that make life more equitable for their communities. Parents at LIFT DC have testified before the City Council and were instrumental in the enactment of the Child Tax Credit. And their advocacy is far from done. Hope lies here. Listen!
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They are coming for people experiencing homelessness but we are not backing down
03/03/2025
They are coming for people experiencing homelessness but we are not backing down
Do we believe in forcing people experiencing homelessness into detention camps? The president of the United States does, and it is happening now, including in New Orleans where 100 people were removed from an encampment and placed in a detention camp in the lead up to the Super Bowl. As Jesse Rabinowitz, Director of Campaign and Communications at the National Homelessness Law Center shares on this episode of Power Station, America remains locked into a narrative shaped by President Ronald Reagan who asserted that poverty and homelessness is a choice. Jesse is working toward a new narrative that recognizes the role of racism and corporate interests in creating our housing crisis and perpetuating homelessness. He breaks down how the Center’s holistic approach, from litigation to advocating for policy solutions to grassroots coalition building is essential to ending homelessness.This model matters greatly in a moment when all levels of government are criminalizing not only those whose are living with homelessness but also the nonprofits and community leaders who support them. Jesse is devoted to building the community power and political will needed to create a more just America where everyone has the housing they need to thrive.
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Young people are internalizing the messages they hear about themselves
02/24/2025
Young people are internalizing the messages they hear about themselves
It is not news, but it remains unacceptable, that young people in America experience life distinctly differently based on their race, class and geography. In Washington DC, children from low-income families attend schools that are deeply under-resourced, a stark contrast to their peers in more affluent and white communities. Academics and think tanks have long documented these disparities and elected leaders sometimes advance policies to lessen inequities. But the voices we seldom seek out for their views are young people themselves. In this episode of Power Station, the ebullient Nicole Newman shares how Critical Exposure, the nonprofit she leads, listens to Black and Latinx young people so that they are heard, seen and taken seriously as advocates for change, particularly within the schools they attend. Critical Exposure’s talented staff teaches them to use photography to tell stories about their lived experiences. And they teach them about the power of organizing, a skill that positions them to transform their schools and become advocates for equity over a lifetime. These young people are taxed with much responsibility. We can all, at least, listen to them. Nicole does, she is their wholly committed champion.
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Something that disabled people in the South have is power, it just isn't recognized
02/17/2025
Something that disabled people in the South have is power, it just isn't recognized
An organization’s origin story reveals so much about its founders’ principles and vision for generating transformational change. In the case of New Disabled South, co-founders Dom Kelly and Kehsi Iman Wilson knew that they were creating a space that didn’t exist, a movement for disability justice in the American South. They focused first on their internal infrastructure, developing human resources and operational policies that support the sustainability of staff, all of whom are disabled, as is the board of directors, as they conduct research, build coalitions and advocate for policy change in city halls and states houses across 14 states. In this episode of Power Station, I am joined by the exceptional movement builder e.k. hoffman who leads New Disabled South Rising, the 501c4 advocacy companion to NDS. E.k shares how punishing asset limits, failure by states to expand Medicaid and government hearings that are inaccessible diminish civil liberties. And as a disabled person who is also trans, e.k. navigates the realities of intersectionality. We talk about the rise of horrible rhetoric coming from the White and the necessity of experiencing disabled joy. New Disabled South is an essential space we should all see, hear and support.
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We do not want nonprofits losing their 501c3 status because of any unfounded implications
02/10/2025
We do not want nonprofits losing their 501c3 status because of any unfounded implications
What is the charitable sector and why is vital to our nation? It refers to organizations that exist to create social value over financial profit. It is an IRS designation that affords a tax-exempt status to nonprofits and the philanthropies that support them in meeting human needs and advancing policy solutions to social and economic inequality. Do not underestimate nonprofits, this country's third largest employer, accounting for a workforce of 14 million Americans. In this episode of Power Station, I talk to the incomparable Dr. Akilah Watkins, President and CEO of Independent Sector, the only national membership organization comprised of both nonprofits and foundations. She shares what happens when they bring their diverse perspectives to a common table to tackle challenges to an independent sector that is both crucial to our nation's future and under assault in the current moment. Akilah has been in the sector since becoming a community organizer at 14 and she brings that spirit to her leadership at Independent Sector where grassroots and more institutional nonprofits connect, engage and build a collective identity. We talk about the state of advocacy and public trust in the sector too. Hear us!
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