The Nonprofit CEO Podcast

Curtis Chang set out to build a nonprofit nobody would ever know by name. He wanted Good Faith to be like Target: the store as the brand, not the founder. 

Four years later, Curtis, David French, and Russell Moore were at the center of the most prominent faith-and-politics curriculum in the country. A quarter million people had used it. This conversation is about how a founder navigates a pivot, and why market need and relationships sometimes rewrite the plan.

He also talks about the two ways nonprofit CEOs drift into bad decisions: chasing off-mission funding a...

Andy Crouch uses a framework from Peter Greer to name a structural problem with honest at the heart of many nonprofits. It's the stakeholder gap, and he argues it creates built-in incentives to not tell the whole truth all the time. And the better you are at fundraising, the more danger you're in.

Andy also traces the 40-year collapse of institutional trust to something deeper than politics: the unmasking of prestige as mere dominance. And he makes an unexpected case that the generation coming into the workforce right now may be the best in decades, if you...

Olivia Mulerwa spent months carrying a decision she couldn't talk about with anyone who didn't already have a stake in the outcome. She needed to have a hard conversation with a beloved board member. The rest of the board was unwilling to even discuss it. She had to decide in isolation.

This conversation covers how she made that call, the listening process she used in advance, and the one person she thinks of before making any major decision at Mission ONE.

Olivia also talks about stepping into the President's role just three months after being...

Phil Buchanan had 48 hours to decide whether he would speak out when it seemed everyone else was staying quiet.

We talk about that decision, the actual calculus, and the strategic mistake he thinks many nonprofit CEOs are making right now.

He also talks about what nobody told him before he became CEO, the culture he has spent 25 years building, and why standing for nothing is the fastest way to lose trust.

Phil is president of the Center for Effective Philanthropy, a research and advisory organization serving foundations and donors across the sector, and...

On this episode of The Nonprofit CEO Podcast, hosts Adam Jeske and Krish Kandiah dive into the complex, consequential decisions that shape nonprofit leadership. Krish Kandiah, founder of the Sanctuary Foundation and a key figure in driving the UK’s response to refugee crises, shares his journey from fostering children in his own home to influencing national policy and launching innovative charities. Together, they explore the challenges of starting organizations rooted in personal conviction, navigating government relationships, and leading through changing political landscapes. Listeners will hear candid reflections on letting go as a founder, inspiring large-scale community action, and ma...

Dr. Jennifer Holloran walked into her first board meeting as CEO of American Bible Society and left with a $5 million crisis and a collapsing timeline, with no peers she could call.

This conversation covers that decision, how she navigated a pressurized process, and what she wishes she'd had in those first weeks that was lacking.
She also talks about the energy calendar she built after hitting a wall, the decisions that still keep her up at night, and what it looks like to lead a legacy organization toward better health and effectiveness. 

Jennifer is P...

The role of the nonprofit CEO role is isolating. The decisions are high-stakes, the support is often thin, and the margin for error can literally be life and death.

The Nonprofit CEO Podcast is where those decisions get talked about honestly. 

Hosted by Adam Jeske, The Nonprofit CEO Advisor, this podcast goes beyond theory and best practices to the real choices that define careers and shape communities.

If you're a nonprofit CEO navigating tough calls, or you know one who is, this is the conversation you've been missing.

For patterns, synthesis, a...