What becomes possible when philanthropy invests in the well-being of the people doing the work? In this episode, co-hosts Jamie Allison, Executive Director of the Walter & Elise Haas Fund, and Glen Galaich sit down with Jennifer Haas, President of the Levi Strauss Foundation and founder of the Women’s Leadership and Wellbeing Award, to examine the connection between philanthropic impact and nonprofit worker wellness.

Jennifer’s own experiment offers a different model. Through the Women’s Leadership and Wellbeing Award, women social justice leaders receive $15,000 tax-free personal checks with no proposal, reporting requirement, or prescribed definition of what well-being should look like. That choice opens a much larger conversation about trust, proximity, and philanthropy’s attachment to control. The question running through the episode is deceptively simple: if philanthropy is serious about helping organizations win, are its own practices designed to make that possible?

💡 Jennifer Haas: “You're almost throwing money away if you give a grant to an organization and you don't consider the well-being of the staff and the team.”

💡 Jamie Allison: “You can't contribute toward building a healthy community through unhealthy organizations. If the people inside of an organization are not doing well, that's going to take away from the community impact.”

Learn more about Jennifer Haas and the Women’s Leadership and Wellbeing Award through the Levi Strauss Foundation.

Order your copy of Glen’s book, CONTROL: Why Big Giving Falls Short.

Learn about the Stupski Foundation.

Co-Hosts: Jamie Allison & Glen Galaich

Guest: Jennifer Haas

Executive Producer: Claire Callahan

Production Team: Podfly

Video Editing: Edith Belmont

Graphic Design: Middle MGMT

How long is too long to lead a foundation? In this episode, Glen sits down with Kate Levin Markel, President of the McGregor Fund, to break a fake rule philanthropy rarely talks about: once foundation leaders get the job, there is very little incentive for them to leave. Kate explains why she made herself a promise to step aside after roughly a decade. As she demonstrates, staying too long can lead to stagnation and disconnection from community, while new leadership can expand our view of what is possible.

Kate also shares how McGregor responded when its grant partners faced an increasingly uncertain political environment by doubling their payout from roughly 5% to 10%. For Kate, both decisions come back to the same question: are foundations willing to evolve when the communities they serve need something different from them?

💡Kate Levin Markel: “I think the longer many of us are in these roles, the more disconnected we become from the community we are serving.”

Learn about the McGregor Fund and how it is evolving its grantmaking and leadership to stay responsive to the communities it serves.

Order your copy of Glen’s book, CONTROL: Why Big Giving Falls Short.

Learn about the Stupski Foundation.

Hosts: Glen Galaich

Guest: Kate Levin Markel

Executive Producer: Claire Callahan

Production Team: Podfly

Video Editing: Edith Belmont

Graphic Design: Middle MGMT