Through the Noise

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#200 The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Arlene Pietranton Aug 11, 2016

Show notes

Today we are celebrating the 200th Episode of Through the Noise and we do so by welcoming Dr. Arlene Pietranton of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. ASHA is a major membership organization -- representing 186,000 members working to make "effective communication, a human right, accessible and achievable for all." Their members use both science and art in order to diagnose their patients and the staff also takes an innovative approach to running the organization. Rather than "supervisors", managers and other directors play the role of "coaches," leading, guiding, and mentoring the staff, rather than overseeing. Dr. Pietranton has been in the field for 22 years so you won't want to miss her expertise as a pathologist or the insights she shares after many years as a C-level executive.

#199 Capitol Hill Group Ministry - Karen Cunningham Aug 08, 2016

Show notes

Karen Cunningham of the Capitol Hill Group Ministry joins us to talk about their work to help people get and maintain safe and stable housing in Washington, DC. The CHGM has been working to empower individuals in the Capitol Hill area of DC since 1967 when it was formed by a number of congregations in the area aiming to collaborate on social justice issues. Ms. Cunningham's interest in this field started as a child when she was inspired to run a canned food drive to help those less fortunate in her community. We learn about the District (of Columbia)'s ambitious plan to eradicate homelessness among veterans, individuals, and families and get down to the nitty-gritty details of managing an nonprofit. Don't miss the discussion on the importance of staying focused on your organization's strategic plan and pursuing programs that contribute to those long-term goals.

Karen Cunningham is the executive director of Capitol Hill Group Ministry (CHGM). She has worked in nonprofit management and provided legal and social services for domestic violence survivors and homeless individuals and families for more than fifteen years.

CHGM is a non-sectarian, independent nonprofit that provides empowering human services to help homeless and at-risk individuals and families on Capitol Hill and across the District of Columbia access and maintain safe and stable housing.

#198 FCC Charlie Meisch Aug 04, 2016

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Charlie Meisch joined the Federal Communications Commission just over a year ago as Senior Advisor to the Incentive Auction Task Force. He describes the FCC as the "stewards of the public's airwaves" and as such are responsible for the ways that people communicate wirelessly. In 2002 the Commission identified the need to make more space for broadband and while a solution was found and authorized by Congress in 2010, the Auctions just started this year. The Task Force developed an innovative approach to the ever-increasing problem of limited bandwidth for our data-hungry lives and earlier this year implemented the Incentive Auction -- a way of freeing up extra space on the broadcast spectrum to embrace new and evolving technologies. Mr. Meisch describes his role as "Explainer in Chief" and a lot of his role involves speaking to journalists, small groups, and podcasts like Through the Noise to clarify the what these auctions may mean for the American consumer -- and how they can assist and influence similar agencies in Latin America and Europe. Join us today to learn more about this crucial way we communicate and get a behind the scenes look at many of the facets of technology we take for granted.

Charlie Meisch is a policy communications professional with 20 years' experience serving the public, private, and non-profit sectors. Long fascinated by our legal institutions' flexibility to adapt to new knowledge, Charlie specializes in science and technology policy. His expertise lies in taking a deep dive into the substance of issues and emerging with plain language that is accessible to lawmakers, the press, and the public - without sacrificing the key details.

The Federal Communications Commission regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. An independent U.S. government agency overseen by Congress, the commission is the United States' primary authority for communications laws, regulation and technological innovation.

#197 Child Trends Natalia Pane Aug 01, 2016

Show notes

Today we're joined by Natalia Pane of Child Trends who manages to make even the Government Accoutability Movement sound compelling. As Senior Vice President for Research and Operations, Ms. Pane has her hand in many facets of running the nonprofit Child Trends -- a research organization focused on improving the lives of children and their families. As a research organization, their work can be considered successful even when they discover that something is not working -- when they can prove a program or strategy is ineffective or even harmful and eliminate it. This can have positive impacts for children, families, and other organizations by publishing the results and making them widely available, although as Ms. Pane points out, many publications are loathe to publish findings that are negative so they make their research known to their 25,000 subscribers and other followers. Beyond the research, Natalia Pane walks us through some of the ways Child Trend is succeeding on the human resources front and how they became listed as 39th best employer in the country for women.

For more than 20 years, Natalia Pane has worked closely with the leadership of government agencies, foundations, and nonprofits to collect and use better data—from federal statistics to performance measures—to improve children's lives. Her work and commentary has appeared in the Washington Post, Chicago Tribute, CNN, NBC News, and Huffington Post Parents among others, and she now oversees about 110 research staff and is responsible for ensuring the effective management, strategic growth, and quality of research and workplace at Child Trends

Child Trends is the nation's leading nonprofit research organization focused exclusively on improving the lives and prospects of children and youth; is #18 and #39 in the country for best places to work for recent grads and women (http://reviews.greatplacetowork.com/child-trends); and is growing so check the website for job postings www.childtrends.org/careers.

#196 International Fund for Animal Welfare - Andy Wilson Jul 28, 2016

Show notes

Andy Wilson, Vice President of Development for the International Fund for Animal Welfare joins us today to explore a new topic for Through the Noise -- animals. Andy Wilson ensures that the International Fund for Animal Welfare has enough funds to complete their operations --- raising $75 million each year to support 250 staff doing projects in 40 different countries. The IFAW was started in 1969 by a man who was frustrated with the killing of seals for fur in Canada and has since grown exponentially and continues to have a great impact in protecting individual animals and animal ecosystems. Recognizing that human development is intrinsically linked to the elimination of animal habitats, they work to address the causes of the problem holistically. Listen up for some tips on development and how the heartwarming success stories of those not-so-cuddly Siberian Tigers help grow the organization.

Andy Wilson leads IFAW's global development team including major donors, foundation relations, direct mail, advisory councils and online giving. Andy supports IFAW's mission by creating innovative marketing strategies that lead to increased awareness, fundraising revenue, relevance and respect among our current target donor audiences as well as identifying new audiences to meet our fundraising needs into the future. The International Fund for Animal Welfare's mission is to rescue and protect animals around the world through campaigning and advocacy.

#195 World Bank Group Lindsey Buss Jul 25, 2016

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Today's guest is Lindsey Buss of the World Bank Group. As Senior Officer for Community Outreach, he works with a program called Community Connections and facilitates the giving back of $6.6 million by 69% of the 10,000 person staff of the World Bank. Unlike grants which require the recipients to spend their funds in a certain fashion, the contributions collected by the WBG are not restricted and do not require detailed reporting. The Community Connections program is part of the corporate social responsibility arm of the World Bank which also allows staff to volunteer during the work week for local nonprofits, contributing their expertise to local causes about which they are passionate. Join us today for a discussion about the benefits of giving back to the community where you live and work and how that involvement through the workplace can attract and retain key talent.

Lindsey Buss is Senior Officer for Community Connections at the World Bank Group, where he oversees philanthropic, volunteer, and a variety of other community activities such as the high school internship program. Prior to joining the World Bank, Lindsey served for nine years as President & CEO of Martha's Table, an education and nutrition nonprofit in Washington, DC and seven years as an attorney at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. The World Bank Group's mission is to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity worldwide and through its Community Connections program it supports those efforts in its host city of Washington, D.C. with a variety of corporate social responsibility initiatives.

#194 The C Suite Kevin Morgan Jul 21, 2016

Show notes

Kevin Morgan specializes in helping companies and nonprofits become more effective and efficient. He is the CEO and Founder of The C-Suite and joins us today to talk about his work making great organizations even better and helping struggling organizations become functional and successful so that they can more fully focus on their mission. He is an advocate for mentorship and addresses the value he has received as a mentor and a mentee, saying "if you don't have a mentor, you're doing yourself a disservice." Do you agree? Don't miss this episode of Through the Noise for this conversation and to get some tips for making your department or organization thrive.

Kevin Morgan, founder of TheC-Suite.co, is a corporate and nonprofit turnaround specialist. He has helped stabilize, optimize, and scale nonprofits and companies as CEO, COO, as well as head of finance, HR, client service delivery and as a board member.

TheC-Suite.co builds better nonprofits by implementing business discipline at the tactical, strategic, and governance levels.

#193 Maven Women - Rebecca Ballard Jul 18, 2016

Show notes

Rebecca Ballard is the Founder and CEO of Maven Women, a socially conscious clothing company that creates professional clothing for women that considers the social and environmental of their product along every step of the supply chain. Though Maven Women is not a nonprofit, Ms. Ballard has a background in both nonprofits and consulting and her company is founded on many of the same principles that motivate nonprofits. She joins us today for a conversation about social entrepreneurship, paying the "true cost" of products we purchase, and how our choices can shape our world. She has three important tips for our listeners who may be considering a change in their buying habits to reflect a more broadly-sustainable approach, factoring in the human, social, and environmental cost.

Serving as a Chief Marketing Officer for the last decade, Jimena has been responsible for the design, direction and implementation of marketing strategies and programs for Raffa, P.C. -a certified B –Corp, Top 100 nationally ranked professional services firm dedicated to helping great organizations thrive. She also leads and manages the firm's corporate social responsibility initiatives and reporting. Prior to joining Raffa, Jimena was a successful entrepreneur , a nonprofit consultant and also a teacher.. With nearly 250 on-staff professionals and 17 partners, Raffa is now recognized as one of the 100 largest and best-managed accounting firms in the U.S. They are among the first Washington DC area businesses to earn B Corporation Certification. Serving as advisors and back office solution providers to nonprofit organizations and businesses, Raffa's client-centric, customized approach helps each client meet its potential and ensures that each client's success is sustained and maintained.

#192 Congressman Don Beyer Jul 14, 2016

Show notes

Today we're excited to welcome Congressman Don Beyer of Virginia's 8th District to Through the Noise to discuss civil engagement and participation and the best ways to effect change. Congressman Beyer represents one of the smallest districts in the country by area but one of the most dense in population. Congressman Beyer explains his motivations for the daunting task of running for office and the desire to make a positive difference in the world and to leave the world a better place is a major driver for him as he ages. He is deeply concerned with climate change and works devotely to be a voice of reason and factual information when so many are spreading misinformation and doubt. Don't miss our first ever episode with a U.S. Congressman!

Congressman Don Beyer is serving his first term as the U.S. Representative from Virginia's 8th District, representing Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, and parts of Fairfax County. He serves on the Joint Economic Committee, the House Committee on Natural Resources, is Ranking Member on the Oversight Subcommittee to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and a member of the New Democrat Coalition. He was the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia from 1990 to 1998, and was Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein under President Obama. Creating the new American economy, fighting climate change, ensuring women's economic empowerment.

#191 Raffa - Jimena Ryan Jul 11, 2016

Show notes

Jimena Ryan is the Chief Marketing Officer with Raffa PC, an accounting and technology consulting firm focused on empowering nonprofits and other companies working to make positive change in the world. She joins us to talk about socially responsible investing, what it means to be a B Corporation, collaborating with other members of the B Corp community, and how companies can use their resources and influence to improve the communities where they work and live. Ms. Ryan owned a high end event planning firm for 20 years prior to joining Raffa and the story of her career transition is valuable for anyone considering a career change.

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