The Idealist.org Podcasts

Can you make the world more sustainable by working for a corporation?

According to Net Impact and its free, downloadable career guide Corporate Careers that Make a Difference, you can.

Everyday, business leaders make a positive environmental and social impact in their companies — both in dedicated green jobs, as well as in more conventional job functions.

On this episode of the Idealist Careers Podcast, Idealist’s Amy Potthast chats with Abby Davisson from Net Impact, a national nonprofit dedicated to engaging business in making the world sustainable, and Yonnie Leung, Principal of Environmental Sustainability for Shared Services at  Pacific Gas and Electric Company in California — and who is profiled in the Net Impact career guide.

During the conversation, they also briefly mention Net Impact's Business as UNusual Guide to MBA programs that have a focus on corporate citizenship. The 2011 Guide launches this week and is available at netimpact.org.

You can meet many of the schools mentioned in Business as Unusual at the Idealist Grad Fairs taking place across the country, gradfairs.idealist.org.

Finally, for a look at a range of businesses working for the public good, please check out Chinook Book, our Portland Grad Fair media sponsor.

Lara Galinsky, Senior Vice President of Echoing Green is launching an inspiring career guide for social-impact work called Work on Purpose.

Each chapter of Work on Purpose asks key questions for career seekers; illustrates the impact of these questions in the lives of Echoing Green community members; and offers a place for notes at the end for you to jot reflections from your own life.

In this episode of the Idealist Careers Podcast, Idealist's Amy Potthast chats with Lara Galinsky about the central message of Work on Purpose: finding work that uses your "Heart + Head = Hustle."

Lara shares the stories of the five people who illustrate this message:

• Cheryl Dorsey, President of Echoing Green, who graduated from medical school and Kennedy School of Government, and chose social-justice over medicine.
• Mark Hannis, founder of the Genocide Intervention Network and the child of Holocaust survivors, who discovered as a college student that genocide still occurs, and that he could mobilize action to end it.
• Mardie Oakes, founder of Hallmark Community Solutions, combined her background in architecture, community housing, and finance to develop housing for people with special needs.
• Socheata Poeuv, creator of the film project Khmer Legacies, which documents interviews between Khmer Rouge survivors and their adult children.
• Andrew Youn, Founder of the One Acre Fund, who started out in a corporate consulting job but later used his business skills to develop a market system for farmers in a region of Kenya to prevent annual famines.

Learn more about Work on Purpose.

Learn more about Work on Purpose.

Posted as part of Nonprofit Career Month, featuring the diversity of career opportunities in the nonprofit sector. Listen to more shows in this series.

Today’s guest is Heather Calverase, Executive Director of Teach For America’s Newark, New Jersey region where she is responsible for growing sustainable base of financial, community, and district awareness and support including cultivating and stewarding donations, building strong ties with local school districts, and recruiting corps members.

Prior to her position with Teach For America, Heather worked in the business sector, including nearly a decade with Kaplan, best known for its test preparation books and classes.

Amy Potthast chats with Heather about what is appealing about what Heather brings to the nonprofit sector from her business sector experience, as well as her background on educational issues.

Posted as part of Nonprofit Career Month, featuring the diversity of career opportunities in the nonprofit sector. Listen to more shows in this series.

Today's Nonprofit Career Month podcast guest is Debbie Bower, Executive Director of Senior Resources Inc., a South Carolina nonprofit that provides seniors services, resources, transportation help, and Meals on Wheels so that they can live healthy and independent lives.

Debbie started her career with a Bachelor's degree in recreational therapy and soon found herself working as an activity director at for-profit and nonprofit assisted living facilities throughout the Midwest. When she relocated to South Carolina, she was drawn to the mission and programs of Senior Resources because the organization allowed her to continue to working with seniors, on issues that matter to their lives. She started there as a volunteer administrator and program director and over the course of many years has worked her way up to the Executive Director position.

Amy Potthast and Debbie talk about the skill sets required to lead an organization; the inspiring nature of nonprofit work and the passion it takes to sustain a career in the sector; what it means to make a difference in the lives of other people through your daily work; and Amy's grandfather who contributes his own poems to other seniors through Senior Resources programs.

Today's Nonprofit Career Month podcast guest is Elizabeth Droscher, Executive Assistant at Phoenix School. Phoenix School is a nonprofit charter high school in Roseburg, Oregon, whose staff works hard to see students realize their potential and to graduate, by offering alternative learning approaches and opportunities to engage in the community.

As the Executive Assistant, Elizabeth supports the school’s director and its Board, writes grants, builds community partnerships, and coordinates events. She’s honed her communications and planning skills on the job in past county government and business work, as well as in the nonprofit sector.

Amy Potthast and Elizabeth chat about the importance of volunteering in the lives of young people, and the ongoing need for professional development to gain new expertise and expand what you’re capable of doing in a job.

Posted as part of Nonprofit Career Month, featuring the diversity of career opportunities in the nonprofit sector.

Today’s Nonprofit Career Month podcast guest is Krista Kelley, Vice President of Development at Adelante Development Center in Albuquerque, one of the largest nonprofits in New Mexico. Adelante offers community-based services for people who are physically or mentally disabled, who have chronic neuromuscular diseases, and who are disabled simply due to the aging process.

Krista has designed and led Adelante’s development department which has included lobbying, government relations, media campaigns, capital campaigns, direct mail campaigns, donor development, planned giving, in-kind donation programs, special events, private foundation, city, state, and federal grants.

Prior to working for Adelante, Krista worked in both domestic and international business development and marketing and in business and operations analysis.

Amy Potthast talks with Krista about developing a new department at a nonprofit, the adjustment to working in a nonprofit after working in a business, and the family-friendly potential of many nonprofits that value work-life balance for their staff members.

Listen to more Nonprofit Career Month podcasts, or subscribe to the Idealist podcast in iTunes.

Posted as part of Nonprofit Career Month, featuring the diversity of career opportunities in the nonprofit sector. Today’s guest is Margaret Ambler Salamon, Research Specialist and wearer of many other hats at the Center for Nonprofit Excellence in Albuqueque, NM. The Center for Nonprofit Excellence is a collaborative effort of the United Way of Central New Mexico and the Albuquerque Community Foundation and aims to strengthen the capacity of the nonprofit sector through building collaborations, educating donors, and increase the effective management of nonprofits. Margaret’s passion for nonprofit organizations began in 2000 with a ten-month term with Public Allies, a national apprenticeship program focused on building young leadership while strengthening communities. Amy Potthast chats with Margaret about her career path, the excellent work that the Center for Nonprofit Excellence and Public Allies are doing to strengthen the nonprofit community, and what it's like to work at the hub of many community organizations.

Posted as part of Nonprofit Career Month, featuring the diversity of career opportunities in the nonprofit sector.

Today’s guest is Abby Flottemesch, a mid-career nonprofit professional and Minnesota native who is currently engaged in a job search. Abby recently completed a year-long fellowship in Bogota, Colombia, with Atlas Service Corps where she worked with the Saldarriaga Concha Foundation—a Colombian foundation that provided resources to organizations that worked with disabled individuals and the elderly.

Prior to her Atlas Corps Fellowship, Abby worked for five years in program and fund development in Minneapolis and in Washington, DC, with The Campus Kitchens Project (CKP)—a national, student-powered hunger relief organization connected with the innovative DC Central Kitchen. Abby also served as an AmeriCorps VISTA member, organizing community development efforts in Puerto Rico.

Amy Potthast chats with Abby about the important skills required in a fund development role at a nonprofit; her recent Atlas Corps Fellowship, and her job search strategies.

Today’s guest on the Nonprofit Career Month podcast is Arlene Siegel Cogen, a Charitable Gift Planner with The Oregon Community Foundation (OCF) in Portland, OR. At OCF, Arlene’s main focus is individuals, families, professional advisors, and businesses who would like to establish current or testamentary charitable funds or deferred gifts.

Arlene entered her nonprofit career after 20 years of working in the corporate sector. As a Certified Financial Planner, Arlene worked for companies such as West Coast Trust and Allen Trust, Citibank, US Trust and First Union before finding her "dream job" with the Oregon Community Foundation.

Idealist's Amy Potthast chats with Arlene about the process of changing careers at mid-life, the crucial role of networking, and finding work that aligns with your financial goals as well as your values.

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.