Lisa is also Director of the . In the podcast, she shares how her path began with community work focused on families and children, and how that work grew through her board service and her family’s foundation. One idea has shaped much of her work: communities know what communities need. That shows up in her support for organizations overseas, as well as in her family’s support for arts access for young people at the , in Vancouver.

A key part of the conversation is the idea of “enoughness”: asking what wealthy families truly need, what they want to leave behind, and what capital they can move now. Lisa explains how that reflection can help open up more funding for organizations working on climate change, Indigenous-led solutions, women’s leadership, and community-led change, while also challenging funders to think differently about power, legacy, accountability and trust.

Get the podcast on or listen on or .

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Another Way: Annabelle White on Inheritance and Putting Wealth to Work for Good

Annabelle White didn’t set out to work in finance or philanthropy. At 19, she became a beneficiary of her family’s wealth after her mother’s passing. As the PhilanthroThink Podcast hosts, Titilayo Adedeji and Jonathan Harline, spoke with her, they learned how she stepped into the responsibilities that come with inherited wealth — and how it wasn’t easy to find her place. She remembers sitting across from financial advisors and thinking, “There has to be another way.” She ended up moving in a new direction with her finances and her philanthropy.

In this episode, we explore how that shift led Annabelle to build Dragonfly Ventures, a family office focused on environmental health, human well-being and community-led solutions. She shares how her approach brings together impact investing, blended finance and trust-based philanthropy. From supporting community-led programs in the Arctic to rethinking how capital moves through systems, this conversation settles on one idea: money should be put to work in ways that support people and the places they live.

Watch the episode below, or listen on or .

Thank you to IG Private Wealth Management for a grant to make the “PhilanthroThink Podcast” series possible.

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“The big thing is to find people who know the ground, know the turf, and are connected to the people” –Eric Peterson on working with nonprofits.

In “Mobilizing Wealth for Public Impact” (Season 2, Episode 3, of the “PhilanthroThink Podcast“), Jonathan Harline and Titilayo Adedeji talk with Eric Peterson, co-founder of the and founder of the , about how he transitioned from running a for-profit tech company to creating a nonprofit foundation, which works in BC and Guatemala, and about how he collaborates with Indigenous groups in BC.

At 23:49 of the Podcast, he also gets into how wealth should be put to work rather than saved. “Idle money doesn’t do anybody any good,” he says. “I can’t imagine having a big endowment, and just sitting there — and not doing anything with it. Let’s face it, look at the needs that are out there. No matter what someone’s interest is, they can find some way of using their resources for social benefit.”

Listen or watch on , or :

Thank you to IG Private Wealth Management for a grant to make the “PhilanthroThink Podcast” series possible.

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“A Future Built on Recognition at the ,” Episode 2, Season 2, of our PhilanthroThink Podcast, features Raksha Bhayana (CEO and Co-founder of the Foundation). She tells the MPNL hosts, Megan Skivington and Fengwen Yu, about who gets recognized in the nonprofit sector — and who usually doesn’t — and about her early career in social work and her family’s values that led the Foundation on celebrating frontline nonprofit workers across Canada through partnerships with United Way Centraide Canada.

She also discusses the advocacy behind nonprofit appreciation initiatives in Nova Scotia, Ontario and BC, and how her adult children help to shape what’s next. Volunteering was always part of how Raksha raised her two children. In the early days, that meant time spent in seniors’ homes and supporting people experiencing homelessness in Toronto. As the Foundation grew, they attended events and edited Raksha’s speeches, offering feedback that made messages more relevant to younger audiences. Now, they’re advising and helping to decide the next phase of the Foundation, including recognizing frontline workers in hospital emergency departments.

Watch the with Raksha (below), or listen on or .

Thank you to IG Private Wealth Management for a grant to make the PhilanthroThink Podcast series possible.

The post Raksha Bhayana appeared first on MPNL.

In Episode 1 of Season 2 of the PhilanthroThink Podcast, “Money, Mission and Change: Rethinking Nonprofit Finance,” Cherry Chan, founder of , CEO of OTUS Financial Solutions, and host of the , talks to our hosts, Megan Skyvington and Fengwen Yu, about growing up in a money-focused community, building a real estate and accounting business and starting a small “Basket Brigade” in Hamilton. She takes us through what motivated her to set a goal to raise $50 million for nonprofits over the next decade — and explains why “nonprofit” is just a label and how social enterprise, licensing, sponsorship and better planning can help with fundraising. She also reflects on board pressures and the risk of staying stuck in a scarcity mindset, and offers practical ideas for testing new revenue streams and telling your story more often.

Watch the video below or listen on or .

Thank you to IG Private Wealth Management for a grant to make the PhilanthroThink Podcast series possible.

The post S2, E1: Cherry Chan appeared first on MPNL.

In “Two-Eyed Seeing” (Episode 4, Season 1 of our PhilanthroThink Podcast), tells hosts Megan Skyvington and Emily Goodwin how Indigenous-led approaches are reshaping philanthropy and how we need trust-based philanthropy, community engagement and “two-eyed seeing.” Wanda is co-founder of the and co-founder of . Driven by a passion for collaborative solutions, Wanda bridges gaps between diverse stakeholders, specializing in creating partnerships that drive positive social impact while promoting cultural respect and reciprocity. Listen or watch on (also available below), or .

Chapters:

00:00 Intro and Indigenous Acknowledgment
02:25 Wanda BrascoupĂ©’s Journey into Philanthropy
05:23 Decolonizing Philanthropy: Rethinking Power Dynamics
07:09 Indigenous-Led Initiatives: Changing the Philanthropic Landscape
12:54 The Indigenous Peoples Resilience Fund: A Case Study
20:09 Trust-Based Philanthropy: Building Relationships with Communities
24:40 Grounding in Community Values
27:23 Daily Reflections on Philanthropy
29:56 Building Trust in Philanthropic Processes
31:51 Engaging with Indigenous Communities
34:07 Humility and the Future of Philanthropy
36:34 Hope for the Philanthropic Sector
38:43 Encouraging Trust-Based Philanthropy
40:17 Learning from Past Experiences
44:13 Looking Ahead: Questions for Future Generations

Host and Co-hosts: and .

Production: .

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe wherever you listen—Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube—and leave us a review. Let us know what topics you’d like us to explore next. Help us create insightful stories by sharing this episode with fellow nonprofit enthusiasts and changemakers.

The PhilanthroThink Podcast is a series that complements our PhilanthroThink discussion series from ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ University’s Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership (MPNL) program. In each episode, we sit down with wealth creators, philanthropic leaders and innovative thinkers to dig into the challenges, opportunities and strategies shaping the sector both at home and abroad.

Banner photo is courtesy of David Gomez.

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In this extraordinary podcast, “What Makes a Philanthropist” (Episode 3 of Season 1 of the PhilanthroThink Podcast), talks to and about her early memories and philanthropic motivations, offering insights from her journeys in the business, public and nonprofit sectors. Manjit reflects on a defining moment early in her career when she was first called a “philanthropist” and how she wrestled with the label. Listen or watch on YouTube (below) — or via “PhilanthroThink” on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

This is Manjit at 9:10 of the podcast:

“I’m an immigrant in Canada. My father was living in Vancouver. He emigrated in 1959 or 1960… My parents had seven daughters; I’m the youngest of seven. Once my father could afford a house, which was not until 1968 — I think I was two, no, I was one and a half — all of us came, so that we could move here and build a life here. To make a long story short, we were a blue-collar family. My father was a sawmill worker. It’s not easy to support seven girls, in a culture, also, that was more patriarchal; so, there was some energy around what it means to take care of the girls.”

“That first summer, we arrived in May, and by June, my mother, with her five youngest girls — we were living in cabins in the Fraser Valley, and I was basically a migrant berry picker, even at almost two. My mother would tell stories of how I would be crawling behind her in the rows of strawberries. There was a lot of hard work, and there was a lot of sacrifice. And to come from there to be able to go to at a place where you feel so lucky to be able to contribute — and understanding that we can actually contribute at any level. But yet, not thinking that I want to be known, that I’m able to contribute, was a really interesting dichotomy to work through.”

“My first sense of what it means to be generous and to be kind, and to not be judgmental, was in those farm communities. It was mostly immigrant South Asian women, who were living there without their partners, with their children, in their own cabins, sleeping on bunk beds and things, but that was the only privacy you had. There was the communal kitchen, the communal bathroom. I remember these women singing, my mother included — stepping up for one another to feed one another if one wasn’t doing as well one week. I also remember my mother saying she would let one of the daughters who was old enough take care of sick kids, because she didn’t want other women to not have an income that day. There was this beautiful community that was rich and vibrant in support, in cooperation and in lifting each other up. That’s never left me. For me, that has been one of the key foundations of driving whatever I do: how do we bring people together to be more human together?”

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In Episode 2 of Season 1 of the PhilanthroThink Podcast, hosts Megan Skyvington and Daniel H. Lanteigne sit with Blake C. Goldring, Canadian business leader, philanthropist and Executive Chairman of AGF Management. Through and contributions to universities and other institutions, his philanthropic work stands out in health care, education, the arts and the military. In the podcast, he shares how he was asked to serve as Honorary Colonel in The Royal Regiment of Canada (his response: “You’ve got the wrong guy. I’m a Bay Street guy.”) and how that moment led to nearly two decades of national service. He also reflects on leadership, legacy and the power of giving time, talent and treasure. Watch or listen to the full episode below, or to Philanthrothink on or . Please subscribe to “PhilanthroThink” and leave a comment with your thoughts.

Thank you to IG Private Wealth Management for a grant to make the PhilanthroThink Podcast series possible.

The post S1, E2: Suits, Salutes and Service: Blake Goldring on Leaving His Mark appeared first on MPNL.

In the Episode1 of Season 1 of our PhilanthroThink Podcast series, hosts Megan Skyvington and Daniel H. Lanteigne sit with Linsey Sherman-Zekulin, a dynamic nonprofit leader, philanthropist and co-founder of , a private charitable foundation in Ottawa, and , a femme-focused travel and advocacy brand. At Happy Roots, Linsey is championing a trust-based approach to philanthropy and grant-making, something she discusses in Episode 1. You can find it below or on ,Ěý ´Ç°ůĚý.

Rethinking Trust-Based Philanthropy: A Conversation with Linsey Sherman-Zekulin

At the start of the interview, the hosts ask Linsey to share her journey into philanthropy and the key experiences that shaped her approach. She explains that the transition into philanthropy became more personal in 2019, when a shift in her family’s circumstances—and an entrepreneurial spark from her husband—paved the way for founding Happy Roots Foundation. This private charitable foundation is dedicated to a trust-based approach to grant-making, especially in the realm of infant and early childhood mental health. Linsey explains that by choosing this focus, she was able to connect her professional passions with her desire to make a tangible difference in the community.

She also highlights the importance of being flexible in her approach. Rather than relying on lengthy reports, Linsey says she prefers regular, informal conversations with her partners, which allows them to adjust their strategies in real-time. This approach not only builds stronger relationships but also ensures that the funding makes an impact.

At the end of the discussion, we understand that trust is at the centre of the foundation’s work, as it gives grantees the room to do what they do best—help others.

Linsey also discusses navigating respectively and thoughtfully the philanthropic landscape, knowing that there has been a longstanding power dynamic between funders and recipients.

The conversation later touches on the entrepreneurial elements of her Foundation’s work: “I do think there is something entrepreneurial about it. And I never considered myself particularly entrepreneurial, although, in the last couple of years, I’ve sort of dipped my toe into entrepreneurial life and learned a lot about it. And there are some really exciting things that come about when you kind of embrace that mindset.”

Lindsey also says that she hopes more people embrace the entrepreneurial spirit, particularly when considering higher-risk projects to support. With that mindset, there’s an opportunity to take risks in solving complex problems that might otherwise not be solved.

Thank you to IG Private Wealth Management for a grant to make the PhilanthroThink Podcast series possible.

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