Through The Noise

Do you feel the stress of working in an office, huddled over a computer is taking a toll on your body? Or worry about that old running injury that keeps flaring up? Today's guest, Michael Bowers of the American Physical Therapy Association has some ideas for you -- and 95,000 people at his fingertips that can help you address problems of your physical body so that your mind can work freely without worry. He has seen the wonders that physical therapy can offer to people of all ages through the tremendous success the therapy has had with his three year old granddaughter who was born prematurely. First developed to treat wounded warriors during World War I, physical therapy has grown and evolved, and continues to improve dramatically as a non-invasive way to treat people's injuries and maintain health throughout the aging process. After listening to this inspiring episode, you might find yourself calling one of the members of the American Physical Therapy Association. Your body would probably appreciate it. Bowe

Today we take another cultural departure from Washington, DC and chat with Jon Pratt of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. The Council exists to make nonprofits more effective and helps share resources, education, and training among nonoprofits working in Minnesota. This helps their member organizations stay current on trends and technology even while focusing primarily on their core issues. Minnesota as a whole and the nonprofits working there benefit from a unique state tradition -- the Keystone Awards. Find out how charitable organizations are supplementing their fundraising and maybe something you hear in today's episode will trigger a great actionable idea for your organization. Jon Pratt is the executive director of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. He has worked at Minnesota Public Interest Research Group as an attorney and lobbyist, as regional director at the Youth Project, and as director for the Philanthropy Project. The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits (MCN) was founded in 1987 to meet the inc

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to work alongside local communities and businesses in far reaching corners of the world? How to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS across villages in Malawi? Talk about access to justice with indigenous tribes in Timor-Leste? Spread amessage of peace on the ground in Papua New Guinea? Find out from the experts in the second half of our two-part series with leaders from Counterpart International, a development organization that for 50 years has been working in close partnership with people and communities in more than 65 countries around the globe. In this episode, you’ll hear from three of Counterpart’s country directors – Bedilu Shegen, Steve Wisman and Carolyn Tanner – who share a bit about their experiences working in some of the world’s most challenging places to bring life-changing health and justice programs directly to the doors of those who need them most. Best of all, when you’re finished this episode and eager to hear more, take a listen to our recent conversation w

This holiday season, we invite you to sit back and enjoy a stimulating two-part series addressing today’s leading development issues: from climate change and capacity building to education and health and nutrition. Our conversations will engage experts, working on the ground, from Counterpart International, an international nonprofit that’s been working for 50 years – and in more than 65 countries – to help people build better lives and more durable futures. In our first episode, you’ll meet Maria Esther Bucaro, Counterpart’s Country Director for Guatemala, and Paul Guggenheim, Country Representative for the Dominican Republic. In their lively conversation, Maria and Paul share insights into some of the challenges facing local communities in the regions where they live and work. Maria explains an innovative strategy for equipping farmers in rural Guatemala to overcome malnutrition and earn sustainable incomes. Paul speaks about efforts in the DR to improve climate resiliency, including a recent national actio

Have you struggled to make connections to your supporters? Found visitors to your website visit a single page or two before leaving? You won't want to miss today's episode when we talk with online communications consultant and the founder of EPolitics, Colin Delaney. Many nonprofit organizations get buried in the details of their own work that they have limited time to seek out techniques to amplify their work and make sure it gets in front of the right people. If your organization is humming along perfectly and you have as many supporters and money as you need, congratulations! Check out some of our archives and tell us your secrets -- want to be a guest on the show? For everyone else, welcome! Colin Delany is a twenty-year veteran of internet politics, a digital strategy consultant, the founder/editor of EPolitics.com and a columnist for Campaigns & Elections. Delany is the author of several ebooks, including the digital campaigning guide "How to Use the Internet to Win in 2016" and a definitive overvie

Today we're excited to welcome Cost Tree as a new sponsor. You may recall their appearance on episode 124. Thanks to their generous support, we're able to sit down today with Stephanie Berkowitz of the Northern Virginia Family Service. The NVFS is an organization working to strengthen communities in Northern Virginia by providing life-saving tools, resources, and training to those who need it most. NVSF provides a vast array of services to families in need and is constantly searching for additional revenue streams. Stephanie Berkowitz shares some of the struggles her catch-all organization faces and reiterates a point made by many guests on Through the Noise: storytelling is powerful and is the secret to connecting with your audience. Stephanie Berkowitz, M.S.W., was selected to lead NVFS in 2015 after a nationwide search. Stephanie’s 16-year career with NVFS included leading the Survivors’ Fund Project for victims of the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon, along with a diverse spectrum of programs serving clients i

Providing a life-saving and life-changing service is something many organizations strive to do -- but once you've hit gold and have found a solution, the challenge becomes how to let potential clients know it exists. This is a good problem to have and one currently facing Code of Support, a four-year old organization based in Washington, DC. Code of Support is something of a "matchmaking organziation" which works to connect vets with essential services. Today we speak with Kristy Kaufman, Code of Support's Executive Director about the "Code" and learn ways to support the men and women who make up the Armed Services. This young nonprofit is making a big splash -- don't miss this episode to find out their secret to success. Kristy has served as an advocate for military and veteran families for over 12 years and is a subject matter expert regarding the mental health impacts of war on military families. Her publications and media appearances include the Washington Post, New York Times, NPR, CNN, NBC and ABC. Kris

We were lucky to get David Humphries in the studio today -- he's not traveling to all corners of the earth facilitating community-based education and development right now. We had a great conversation that goes from Kenya to Colombia to Liberia and connects the dots between vastly different communities to find a common thread of success. We've heard this from previous guests on Through the Noise: development specialists widely recognize the crucial need to involve the local community in education and health-transformation efforts. Even if your organization has a wildly different focus, there's still much to learn that can be widely applied across all fields. Don't miss this conversation or David's melodic Scottish accent today on Through the Noise. David Humphries is Vice President for Communications & Public Affairs at Global Communities, where he oversees all aspects of outreach from branding to media and government relations across 25 countries. David has lived and worked in the USA, Japan and the UK,

On Through the Noise, we often explore the value of collaboration between individuals and organizations and today we sit down with Burt Edwards whose work with InterAction facilitates collaboration between organizations with similar goals. Operating from the idea that organizations are more successful when working together, InterAction is something of a clearinghouse of information for those working in the fields of international development, sustainability, and humanitarian assistance. We'll examine the role of the media and journalists and how to respond effectively to catastrophes without simply being reactive. Burt joined InterAction in July 2014 and brings over 18 years of experience designing successful strategies to help shape public opinion and influence decision makers on key policy issues from climate change to international conflict. InterAction is an alliance organization in Washington, D.C. of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Our 180-plus members work around the world. What unites us is a co

John Porter, today's guest, has been named a Living Legend of Alexandria and has contributed to the success of the community his entire life. He first worked in Alexandria Public Schools as a teacher and was later principal of TC Williams for 22 years. He's well-known around Alexandria and is now helping his hometown in a different manner. As Executive Director of ACT for Alexandria, he helps fund and support other important organizations doing essential work in Alexandria and elsewhere. Last year alone, they helped 130 nonprofits raise money. Maybe they can help you too... John retired from the Alexandria City Public Schools in 2009 after a distinguished career with the Alexandria City Public Schools, which was highlighted by his twenty-two year tenure as principal of T. C. Williams High School of Remember the Titans movie fame. After retirement, John continued his work in Alexandria and is presently serving as president and CEO of ACT for Alexandria, Alexandria’s community foundation. ACT’s mission is to in

Housing insecurity is one of the greatest problems facing millions of Americans today and the lack of safe, quality, affordable housing invites a host of other problems that can affect one's health as well as limit access to employment and healthy food. Fortunately there are many creative and thoughtful people working on this and we have one of them in the studio today. John Paukstis of Habitat for Humanity Metro Maryland joins us for a conversation about the unique approach Habitat takes to tackling the problem of housing and how they involve businesses and community members in the solutions. With a massive volunteer base through Habitat for Humanity International, the organization has turned affordable housing on its head. Can you guess how many defaults the Maryland affiliate has faced since they got into the business in 1982? 50? 100? 500? John has served as Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity Metro Maryland since 2006. Originally from the South Side of Chicago where he worked in a family owned pri

Ever wondered where your money is going? Looking through your books at the end of the quarter or end of the year to discover that all your hard-raised money has evaporated into unforeseen costs? This is a common problem for nonprofits who have yet to figure out the difference between direct and indirect costs and how to accurately anticipate and budget for them. If your organization has struggled with these issues before, you won't want to miss this episode with Cathy Galbraith and Nicolie Lettini of CostTree, a software that tackles these issues so you never have to guess again. Getting a firm grasp on these elements will help you sleep better at night and, who knows? Maybe you'll be able to allocate some money for that raise... Overhead on the mind of most nonprofit leaders these days. The new Uniform Guidance, which pulls together eight different OMB circulars, has changed the way federally funded nonprofits get reimbursed for their indirect costs (overhead). For more than 16 years, CostTree’s CEO, Nicolie

Does your branding say what you think it's saying? Today's guest, Danielle Baron of ABET, reveals the problems her organization faced when undertaking a rebranding. As she explains, if you asked 200 people what ABET meant, you could get 200 different answers. By undertaking a massive survey and hiring outside consultants for the rebranding, they were able to craft a uniform message that is direct, easy to remember, and a call to action. Has your organization struggled to project a single idea? Have you lost potential supporters because inconsistent branding left your message muddled? Do you know? Don't miss this episode. Danielle Duran Baron is the Senior Director for Global Communications and Marketing at ABET, the global accreditor of college and university programs in applied science, computing, engineering and engineering technology at the associate, bachelor and master degree levels. In her current role, she has led the organization through a massive rebranding initiative to help position ABET as forward

Today's episode is a little different. We're joined by Mehdi Sadaghdar, star of the popular YouTube series, ElectroBOOM. Videos on ElectroBOOM receive hundreds of thousands, if not millions of views, and the success of the series could be a lesson in communication for nonprofits and other organization. ElectroBOOM is valuable and popular, not just for the fascinating and funny way that Mehdi Sadaghdar demonstrates the principles of electrical engineering, but also because of his personality and willingness to show and laugh through failure. Is YouTube a medium that could advance your mission and attract more supporters? I am an Iranian Canadian Engineer at day, and a youtuber at night. I was not born in Canada! Electroboom is dedicated to entertain and somewhat educate at the same time.

The folks at 501cTech describes themselves as "the people who help the people who help the people," and today we sit down with Todd Peterson who runs their Client Services division. Are you storing sensitive data on an Excel spreadsheet or flash drive? It's time to modernize. No matter how many staff an organization has, it will require IT services and 501cTech provides a full-range of services to nonprofits. While providing help-desk and other services to over 70 clients across the DC region, one question comes up again and again. Can you guess the most pressing question? To find the answer and how you could improve the performance of your own organization, don't miss today's episode. As 501cTECH’s VP, Client Relations, Todd oversees account management and new client acquisition. Previously, he managed 501cTECH’s service desk, network administration procedure and staff—doing everything from developing high-level IT strategy for clients, to managing 501cTECH technical personnel and client projects. 501cTECH,

"If you've seen one Chamber, you've seen one Chamber." That's how today's guest, Chris Mead of the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives describes the culture of the more than 7000 Chambers that exist around the United States. As independent and unregulated community organizations, any person is free to start and operate a Chamber of Commerce. Our conversation takes an unexpected turn as we delve into the fascinating -- and not always so pretty -- history of the Chambers around the United States. Al Capone, Eliot Ness, the Cherry Blossom parade, Golden Gate Bridge, and the internment of Japanese Americans star in today's episode as Mead gives us a sneak peak into his book on the history of the Chambers, Magicians on Main Street. Chris Mead has nearly 20 years’ experience working with associations. He handles mostly sponsorships and memberships. And he’s also fascinated by chambers of commerce and their role in the building of the United States. The surprising influence of chambers on American history

Grab a cold one and settle down for our conversation with Lester Jones of the National Beer Wholesalers Association. Are you ready? It's incredibly easy in the United States and much of the rest of the world to find beer with nearly unlimited varieties and Lester Jones breaks down the elements necessary to turn water into a delicious beer and get it from the brewer all the way to you for your podcast-listening enjoyment. His organization represents those who distribute the beer, tier 2 of the 3-tier system of beer development and delivery. As Chief Economist of the National Beer Wholesalers Association, he analyzes the trends in beer brewing and consumption and provides insights into the ever-evolving world of beer, making the distributors, retailers, and even the brewers and importers more successful. For an insider-look into the world of beer, don't miss this episode with Lester Jones. Lester Jones serves as the Chief Economist for the National Beer Wholesalers Association, a national trade organization tha

Immigration is an issue frequently mentioned in the mainstream media but it's almost always covered in a superficial way, overlooking the fact that there are many different circumstances that would prompt a person to leave their home to move to the United States or anywhere else. The Council for Global Immigration helps companies of all varieties ensure they comply with immigration laws while hiring international professionals. Lynn Shotwell is the Executive Director of the Council and speaks with us today about the tremendous difficulty faced by companies trying to hired skilled workers and those individuals who are attempting to secure visas to accept positions. We continue to operate under laws from 50 years ago that don't address many of today's challenge. Lynn Shotwell has been an advocate for the free movement of highly-skilled talent for two decades. She works with policymakers in the United States and around the world to persuade them to reform migration systems so they work for employers, employees a

America's Charities is one of the preeminent organizations working to connect nonprofits with donors from the private and public sector to increase their reach and grow the funds available to achieve their mission. Today we talk with Jim Starr who is both "running the show and making the show keeps running."  He emphasizes out a well-known fact of development: that people give when they are asked and America's Charities helps multiply the opportunities for nonprofits and charities to have their "ask" heard.  If you are part of a nonprofit that is not raising enough to meet the demands of your mission -- and what organization ever has enough? -- you should check out this episode and consider membership in America's Charities to get your message and your mission in the ears of the right people at the right time. As an accomplished leader with more than 25 years of experience and a proven track record in the nonprofit and healthcare sectors, Jim has served in national and field executive leadership roles with mu

With the advent of new technology, there is often a wave of fear which Rob Atkinson calls the "Privacy Panic Cycle." In the 1960s, some people were afraid of transistor radios, thinking that small radios could be slipped into their drinks so that others could listen to their conversations. While this may seem laughable, technology continues to evolve and there is a growing struggle between those who advocate for all technological advances while others assert that "private" life becomes increasingly less private as innovations become integrated into our lives. Where do we draw the line? Should we even draw a line? Check in today for a discussion of these issues with Rob Atkinson of The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation.  Robert Atkinson is the founder and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) and is also author of Innovation Economics: The Race for Global Advantage (Yale, 2012) and The Past and Future of America’s Economy: Long Waves of Innovation That Power