Have you ever looked at the career you have built, the skills and the experience, and asked yourself whether all of it could be doing more good? We have.

We are Katya and Marina, two former management consultants and colleagues who, after many years in the corporate world, moved our careers towards impact. Since then we have realised how many experienced, talented people want their work to matter more, and how hard it is to know where to contribute, how your skills translate and where you would be most useful. The world of social and environmental impact can be messy. There are many ways in, and the best path is rarely obvious, especially for people coming from the private sector.

Pivot to Good is a series of real conversations with people who have shifted their careers towards social and environmental impact. We talk about what prompted their pivot, what helped them make the move and what happened afterwards. And we go beyond the polished success stories, into money, identity, status, family, uncertainty, and the skills that transfer and the ones that do not.

This is not a podcast telling everyone to quit their job and join a non-profit. A pivot to good can mean changing sectors, building something new, creating change from within a company, or finding a different way to use your skills and experience for more impact.

Follow the show and explore the impact world with us, so you can decide what a pivot to good could mean for you.

Scott Stirrett went to Goldman Sachs for the prestige and left to build his own nonprofit. He spent nine months testing his idea for Venture for Canada on nights and weekends before committing to it full-time. He then grew it into a national organization with an annual budget of more than USD 10 million, wrote The Uncertainty Advantage, and stepped away after twelve years.

If you are thinking of starting a nonprofit, this episode offers practical lessons from someone who has built and led one. Scott shares how he tested his idea before leaving his job, why fundraising is particularly difficult in the early years, and what it takes to build an effective organization that can adapt and thrive beyond its founder. He discusses the importance of strong management practices and of engaged boards. He is also candid about privilege, financial safety nets, and the pull of status, in banking and in nonprofits. And he shares how anyone can start building their capacity to take risks, even without making a dramatic career leap.

Resources mentioned

About Scott:

• Scott’s Book: The Uncertainty Advantage: https://www.scottstirrett.com/the-uncertainty-advantage
• Scott’s newsletter: https://scottstirrett.substack.com
• Venture for Canada: https://ventureforcanada.ca

Ecosystem resources:

• Ambitious Impact, Charity Entrepreneurship Incubation Program: https://www.ambitiousimpact.com
• High Impact Professionals, Impact Accelerator Program: https://www.highimpactprofessionals.org/impact-accelerator-program

Data & Research:

• Six Ways Non-Profit Entrepreneurs are Distinct from “Traditional” Entrepreneurs https://www.kauffman.org/currents/six-ways-non-profit-entrepreneurs-are-distinct-from-traditional-entrepreneurs/

What does an impact career look like from every seat at the table? Vivian Gee has sat in most of them. After Silicon Valley and an INSEAD MBA, she chose impact over the finance or consulting path. She convened social entrepreneurs at the World Economic Forum, built a central bank network for financial inclusion, ran Temasek’s corporate philanthropy, and designed donor education at Stanford. Most recently, she led the Fair Employment Foundation through a post-pandemic turnaround.

If you think impact means a UN job or a nonprofit, this episode widens the map. Vivian explains what each type of impact organisation offers, which one brings you closest to the people you want to serve, and where funders can do more. She is frank about the trade-offs. Pay in the impact sector varies as much as the roles themselves, and running an impact organisation is anything but a soft landing after corporate life. Her message to anyone still weighing the move is simple: there has never been a better time to start.

Resources mentioned:

• Trust-Based Philanthropy Project: https://www.trustbasedphilanthropy.org
• Nonprofit Employment Data Project, George Mason University (US nonprofits as the third-largest employer): https://nonprofitcenter.schar.gmu.edu/category/nonprofit-employment-data-project

Abbreviations:

• SDGs: United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, https://sdgs.un.org/goals
• ILO: International Labour Organization, https://www.ilo.org
• IOM: International Organization for Migration, https://www.iom.int
• WEF: World Economic Forum, https://www.weforum.org
• CSR: corporate social responsibility