A Podcast To

Power Up

Change-Makers

Connect with the Frontline Non‑Profit Leaders Who Inspire You

Photography by Hannah Colen

Power Station: The Social Activism Podcast for Progressive Non-Profits

Stay Informed

On forward-looking ideas from progressive non-profit leaders

Network With Other Leaders

On social media to ask questions and offer ideas:

Gain Leadership Insight

By connecting to leaders with real-world experience creating change

Not nearly enough

media platforms showcase progressive non-profit leaders, which minimizes their role in change-making and can leave them feeling isolated and disconnected.

Let’s inspire and learn from each other.

All progressive change-makers benefit from connecting with peers and amplifying each others’ voices.

Power Station logo by Yadira Gonzales

Get Inspired to

Make Social Change

Listen to Power Station now wherever you download podcasts.

Becoming American
34 min
#340 Asylum Works

Where To Listen

It is difficult to reconcile the human, cultural and economic contributions of immigrants to America, both historically and now, with their relentless vilification by extremist political leaders. And it is deeply frustrating that attempts to enact legislation to repair a broken immigration system have failed because of political opportunism. The experience of asylum seekers, those who fled torture, is particularly dystopian. Their ability to access resources and gain legal status rests with a fragmented series of legal processes, public agencies and under-resourced nonprofits. When Joan Hodges-Wu, a social worker specializing in serving victims of torture decided she could no longer operate within this system, she launched Asylum Works, a new model that engages and uplifts asylum seekers. On this episode of Power Station, Joan shares the story of launching a new nonprofit in 2016 with $4,000 raised from a GoFundMe campaign. Since then, Asylum Works has collaborated with academic experts and survivors to provide support that includes but extends beyond legal services to health and wellness, education and training. It is powered by an exceptionally diverse staff, many of whom are survivors themselves. My words are not enough. Hear Joan and share!

 

Identity, Voice and Justice
34 min
#339 National Coalition for the Homeless

Where To Listen

One voice that is often overlooked or not even considered in deliberations about ending homelessness in America is that of people who are experiencing homelessness themselves. That paradigm is being upended by the National Coalition for the Homeless, which organizes, trains and engages people with lived experience as partners at policymaking tables. Their first-hand knowledge of housing and homelessness systems makes them invaluable advisers to US HUD and the CDC and led to the development of tools for getting people out of unsheltered homelessness and to safety during COVID. Their participation in policymaking is supported by the Coalition’s Lived Experience Training Academy, a singular resource for effective policy advocacy. As Donald Whitehead, executive director of the Coalition explains on this episode of Power Station, when people do not see themselves in policy making, they feel disengaged. That understanding is what sustains him in the Coalition’s current campaign, registering people to vote in shelters across the country, which moves them towards hopefulness, agency and power. Donald Whitehead brings his own lived experience to the daunting but realizable goal of ending homelessness. He is an indispensable leader and an inspiration to me.

 

 

Culture Shifting Narratives
37 min
#338 Funders Together to End Homelessness

Where To Listen

It should not feel astonishing, but it does. In a national debate and many state campaign stops, presidential and vice presidential candidates are asserting that housing is a human right and sounding a call to end homelessness in America. Their declaration is both overdue and exhilarating. Getting there is the North Star of Funders Together to End Homelessness, which brings together grant makers, nonprofits that advance housing justice through federal policy advocacy, and those who have lived experience with homelessness and housing insecurity. As its indomitable CEO, Amanda Misiko Andere explains on this episode of Power Station, learning how racism is baked into this nation’s policy making and public systems and unlearning assumptions about why Black and Indigenous people are disproportionately impacted by homelessness requires a good deal of sitting in discomfort. Funders Together is mobilizing philanthropy to be a part of the solution by taking grant makers on this journey and encouraging investment in nonprofits on the frontline of policy advocacy. As Amanda says, racial justice is housing justice. Undoing racial inequities is an urgent but long term project. She is a philanthropy influencer who I am proud to follow.

 

 

Why This Podcast?

We have firsthand experience

with tackling inequitable conditions in non-profits with limited resources and recognition.

We created a podcast to amplify the voices of those building power and making change.

anne-headshot
Your Host
Anne Pasmanick

Changing the Country One Story at a Time

How are you powering up your non-profit?

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Power Up Your Progressive Non-Profit

You don’t have to be limited by the way things have always been done. Instead be empowered to take on big, bold policy change.

Listen

to Power Station guests tell their stories

Engage

with the community on social media

Get Inspired

to push through barriers in your own organization

Share

how you are powering up your non-profit

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About Anne Pasmanick

I was propelled into community organizing when I was illegally evicted 30 years ago. I understand the challenges and potential of working for social justice in non-profits with finite resources and support.

Anne Pasmanick

I was launched into nonprofit policy advocacy 30+ years ago when my landlord, looking to maximize his profits in a gentrifying Brooklyn neighborhood harassed, robbed and illegally evicted me from a property he owned. I quickly found neighborhood and statewide nonprofits, learned about tenant’s rights and how to advocate for policy change at city hall and the state capitol. Most importantly, I joined my neighbors who waged a successful years-long battle to stay in their homes.

Since then, I have worked in nonprofits with a social change mission as an organizer, fundraiser, policy advocate, program developer and executive director. I understand what it takes to be effective, stay solvent, and improve the lives of underinvested people and communities. I care, deeply, profoundly about the systemic and racial injustices that have marked public policy making and I know that nonprofits are critical to reimagining what can be. I started Power Station to amplify the voices of leaders who build community, influence and power. They are our pathway to progressive change.

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