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

The roots of racism in America run so deep they even determine who benefits from life extending clinical trials. This truth guides Dana Dornsife in advocating for equitable access to medical treatment, which should be but is not, a standard of care in our medical system. When Dana’s brother-in-law Mike was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, she immersed herself in enrolling him in a clinical trial. That experience, which allowed him to live another 19 months, inspired Dana to launch the Lazerex Cancer Institute. She knew that with all the challenges Mike faced, it was exponentially harder for people of color without financial support.  Lazerex is upending the status quo for nonprofits in the cancer care arena. It connects people with all forms of cancer to clinical trials, covers the costs of travel for those without means, and engages stakeholders, from patients to hospital administrators in democratizing outdated government policies and profit-driven insurance systems. Lazerex Cancer Institute is building a bottom up movement for change with the capacity to move the FDA, state and national legislators, and medical institutions to prioritize racial equity. As Dana shows, problems are only intractable when we allow them to be.

If you are a nonprofit leader who thinks about fundraising with the same intensity that you bring to tackling your mission, this is your episode. Chances are you have been denied the level of funding needed to scale your most impactful strategies or turned down for general operating support, which enables you to deploy resources as needed. In this episode of Power Station, we explore what happens when our most open-minded philanthropic leaders design a new model for identifying and investing in solutions to our world’s most pressing challenges. Dr. Cecilia Conrad brings brilliance, intentionality, and a belief in the power of collaboration to her leadership of Lever for Change, an affiliate of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. She is cultivating a cohort of donors, from the LEGO Foundation to the Kellogg Foundation and MacKenzie Scott, who agree that the most powerful solutions to complex challenges, from climate change to infant and maternal health care and the refugee crisis are generated by nonprofits. They have stepped up to invest $10 million in the winners of competitions among exceptional nonprofits. Dr. Gordon is the deeply committed change maker who tells this story best.

The acrimony in Congress and across the country reflects competing visions for America’s future. This is less a policy debate than a heated referendum on who is entitled to hold power in America. State legislatures are on a fast track to curtailing the rights of communities of color, immigrants, women, and LGBTQ people. Asian American Pacific Islanders, representing 50 ethnic groups, and speaking 100 languages, have been historically marginalized and are current targets of anti-Asian violence. Now accounting for 6.8 percent of the total U.S. population, the community is hardly a monolith. Disaggregated data compiled from the 2020 Census reveal that Indian Americans, Cambodian, Hmong, Filipino, Chinese and Koreans (among others) have distinctly different levels of economic well-being, educational attainment, political representation, and influence. Christine Chen, the indomitable executive director of APIA Vote, a vital component of America’s civil rights infrastructure is laser focused on delivering what local AAPI communities need, from resources to training, to engage in civic life, get out the vote and become decision makers. She brings an unshakable faith in local leaders, the tactical expertise of a field organizer and profound love of AAPI communities.