The Idealist.org Podcasts

October is Nonprofit Career Month, a month of activities to promote the diversity of career opportunities in the nation's nonprofit sector. Driven by the collective contributions of the nonprofit community, the campaign dispels common myths about nonprofit work, provides you with entry points to the sector, and allows current and aspiring nonprofit professionals to share expertise.

Launching our Nonprofit Career Month podcast series is a discussion with Mac Bennett who shares his experiences and insights from 30 years of nonprofit leadership. Since March 2005, Mac Bennett has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of United Way of the Midlands in Columbia, SC.

Mac studied finance and management at the University of South Carolina, and then blazed a career in public service, first holding a variety of leadership positions with the University of South Carolina and then serving as Executive Director of the Central Carolina Community Foundation.

Bennett is also a founding director of the South Carolina Association of Nonprofit Organizations (SCANPO). Throughout his career, Bennett has been instrumental in efforts to improve training and education for people working in the nonprofit sector.

Idealist's Amy Potthast chats with Mac about making a difference while making a living; how Mac got started as a volunteer in the sector; the variety of ways to serve your community; and Jim Collin's book Good to Great and the Social Sectors.

A continuing problem in developing countries is that small business people, like farmers and craft workers, still live in poverty and cannot expand their businesses. In this episode we speak with Adarsh Kumar, who started the group AICA which helps connect producers in India with larger markets. In addition to this work, he wanted to do more and started a new venture, Livelihoods Equity Connect (LEC). With LEC, he hopes to create a new development model that helps these producers expand their businesses while also providing practical management advice. Adarsh tells us about his project, starting a new organization and his hope for the organization.

As Peace Corps nears it's 50th Anniversary in 2011, applications are on the rise, fewer Volunteer positions are getting funded, the Senate just confirmed a new agency director, and the number of Peace Corps  alumni is nearing 200,000. Helping connect the dots among the agency's fiscal needs, and Volunteers past, present, and future is the National Peace Corps Association—the independent organization of former Peace Corps Volunteers, known as Returned Peace Corps Volunteers or RPCVs.

The National Peace Corps Association offers the Peace Corps community tools and resources to stay informed and engaged, and advocates for Peace Corps funding and support.

Today’s guests are Erica Burman and Molly Mattesich of the National Peace Corps Association. Erica Burman is the Director of Communications at NPCA, and a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer who served in The Gambia in the late 80s. Molly Mattesich manages the Africa Rural Connect project at NPCA, as well as the Peace Corps Connect online social network. Molly served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mali from 2002-2004.

Idealist's Amy Potthast talks with Erica and Molly about NPCA's initiatives like the More Peace Corps Campaign, Africa Rural Connect, the RPCV Mentoring Program, and Global Teachnet. They also talk about the new online social network for the Peace Corps community Peace Corps Connected, the Peace Corps Polyglot blog, and World View magazine. Finally, they discuss the new Peace Corps director — and departing NPCA board member — Aaron Williams, and how online communication tools are changing the Volunteer experience.

In this Questions With episode, Douglas speaks with Heather Cronk about her work at the New Organizing Institute (NOI).  NOI is progressive training organization focused on utilizing online outreach strategies, from micro-blogging to video.  Heather talks about how she entered this career and some advice she has for nonprofits and advocacy groups to effectively use new communication technologies.

In the latest Questions With podcast, Douglas speaks with Nancy Mahon the Executive Director of the MAC AIDS Fund and Senior Vice President at MAC Cosmetics. The MAC AIDS Fund is the charitable arm of MAC Cosmetics which raises money for HIV/AIDS programs through their Viva Glam line of products. Nancy talks about her professional path from law clerk to HIV/AIDS work as well as why and how her company continues to contribute to the fight against the disease.