Sameer Sood is a medical doctor who is sick of the many financial limitations he’s had to confront. For example, if a patient is covered by Medicare or Medicaid, why can’t that pot of money also cover housing, which might be the best, most cost-effective prescription he could write for someone without shelter? And why can’t you use some of the finance tools of for-profit startups to fund not-for-profit, community-based work? That’s what Sameer is asking–and answering–with the company he cofounded, FwdSlash.

Sameer grew up with relatively little money and even after earning a doctor’s salary never seemed to become too attached to any of it. Of all the things he’s done so far, that may be what's most impressive.

Episode Guide

1:53 Sameer’s money origin story

6:20 A physician’s view of what’s wrong with healthcare in America

8:45 He’s a doctor and an entrepreneur and doesn’t see a difference between the two.

10:55 Feeling “bullet-proof” on $60,000 per year

13:12 Helping non-profit organizations use finance tools typically reserved for for-profits

23:59 What he really wants to buy is his time

28:27 Nine-year-old Sameer wages a schoolwide campaign to buy his family a TV

33:13 Lionel confesses his money envy

Private foundations are tax-exempt entities that serve a charitable purpose. In the US, they have about $1.5 trillion in assets under management. How much, you may wonder, are they required to spend on mission-driven activities each year?

Five percent.

Which is why my friend and guest Rodney Foxworth is helping these organizations think through the other 95% and whether that part of their operations will look like every other profit-maximizing pool of money around the world or something that also supports their charitable mission.

Episode Guide

1:37 Rodney's birthday celebrations used to be known across several states.

2:53 His name sounds a little too on the nose.

4:13 Rodney's money origin story

9:50 How his firm Worthmore helps foundations, family offices, and mission-driven investors

14:28 Why these wealthy organizations need social impact advisors

18:52 The scale of the social impact industry

20:09 A generational shift driving wealthy people and organizations to better align their values and their investing

22:50 Does investing more in your mission inevitably mean making less money?

33:06 A creative example of a foundation redirecting its financial returns to low-income program participants

Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson is the author of the new biography “Claire McCardell: The Designer Who Set Women Free.” Published on June 17, the book, Dickinson's first, has been praised in the New York Times, Bazaar, Elle, and other publications. Surely wealth and the high life are just around the corner, right?