Give Better Get Better

Happy New Year! To kickoff 2026, we are launching a new series focused on people often called "snowbirds." These part-time, seasonal residents often have meaningful ties to more than one community, with one home in a colder northern climate and another somewhere warm, for example. What does that arrangement mean for the community foundations where they live and play?We begin our exploration of the Snowbird with Barzella Papa, President & CEO of the Community Foundation of North Central Florida and Chair of the Community Foundations of Florida. She shares her path to leadership of a formerly volunteer-led foundation, their deep work on the coming wealth transfer and how Snowbirds shape the work that they do in and around Gainesville, FL.

Thanksgiving is the perfect occasion for Josh to welcome Laura McKnight and Kelli Cavey from Embolden back to the show. The GBGB team recaps the first year, highlights some "favorite" episodes, and previews what's coming up in 2026. Thank you for listening to this show. Please share your thoughts and suggestions for topics/guests at GiveBetterGetBetter@gmail.com. We are grateful for your ideas!

This week Josh meets Renee Byng Yancey, President and CEO of the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia, who talked about her path from banking to philanthropy, the "think and do tank" embedded in their organization, and how the federal government shut down and funding squeeze is affecting people and nonprofits in her community.

Join Josh this week as he gets to know Winter Kinne, President & CEO of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. She talks about spending her entire 20 year career in community foundations and the potential of the organization's new home to transform their community.

This week Josh talks with President & CEO of the SouthCoast Community Foundation, Melanie Edwards-Tavares, about her journey from a nonprofit sustainability program to a community foundation, her focus on building resilience across the nonprofit sector and her wish that people would know the power of community foundations.

This week we meet the President & CEO of the Community Foundation of Abilene, Katie Alford. She discusses her unexpected career in community foundations, their efforts to translate community needs into their grantmaking plans, and the superpower that community foundations have to propel communities forward.

This week we travel to New York City's borough of Brooklyn to meet the President & CEO of Brooklyn Org, Dr Jocelynne Rainey. Learn about her path to leadership in her beloved Brooklyn, get a glimpse into their participatory grantmaking models, and stay tuned for her wish to bring people together.

This week we learn about a community foundation with a twist when we meet Christine Clayton, Executive Director & CEO of Commonwealth Charitable Management and the Community Foundation of the Endless Mountains in northeast Pennsylvania. She explains the state tax credit that drives some of their work, how their organization is connected to the shale oil boom, and the reality of serving a rural community.

In this CEO conversation, Donna Kush, President & CEO of the Omaha Community Foundation, talks about her journey from corporate philanthropy to the community foundation world, the health of the nonprofit sector at this pivotal time, and her desire to expand the positive effects of philanthropy to meet the needs of the communities where we work.