Too many hiring systems are broken, and moms are often the ones getting left behind. But what if there was a better way?

In this inspiring episode, I talk with Mary Kay Ziniewicz, founder and CEO of Bus Stop Mamas, about how she’s radically reimagining what work can look like for mothers. From her early career in law firm marketing to building a national platform that connects talented women with flexible, meaningful jobs, Mary Kay is a force for challenging outdated assumptions and rebuilding the hiring process with humans at the center.

You'll hear how Mary Kay’s personal transformation led her to purpose-driven work, why remote work isn’t the silver bullet we think it is, and the untapped business case for hiring moms. We also explore how employers can be part of the solution, saving money, increasing retention, and building stronger teams by hiring differently.

Whether you're a nonprofit leader, a social impact entrepreneur, or a working parent yourself, you’ll walk away from this conversation encouraged, challenged, and ready to take bold steps forward.

In this episode, we cover:

• The origin story of Bus Stop Mamas and why it’s changing lives
• Why 43% of women still leave the workforce after having children
• How social conditioning and hiring algorithms marginalize moms—and how to fix it
• What employers get wrong about childcare and workplace flexibility
• The power of vulnerability, creativity, and community in leadership
• Why being wrong might be the best thing for your career
• Fast-cash gigs, pinch hitters, and how Mary Kay is redefining modern hiring

Links & Resources:

🔗 Visit Bus Stop Mamas

🔗 Connect with Mary Kay on LinkedIn

📝 Read our related blog post: The Courage to Ask: Rethinking Sales and Your Nonprofit Fundraising Strategy

📩 Subscribe to Secrets of Social Impact Communicators newsletter: Join here

Thank you to Mary Kay and the team at Bus Stop Mamas for this powerful conversation.

Thanks as always to Lee Williams for editing and producing this episode!

What if the path to real social impact began with letting go?

In this episode, I sit down with Alfredo Mathew III, founder and CEO of SPCC One—the world’s first Shared Prosperity Community Corporation. Alfredo is a former public school educator turned social entrepreneur who’s building a bold, transformative model that reimagines capital, ownership, and community.

Alfredo shares how his work empowers small businesses—especially Black and Brown-owned enterprises—to band together, unlock capital, and drive systemic change through shared prosperity models rooted in economic democracy and collective ownership.

We also dive into:

• What small businesses and nonprofits get wrong about capital
• The mindset shift founders must make to stop playing small
• How to spot when your business model needs a pivot
• What it takes to build local economic engines that last
• Why ego is holding the social sector back—and what to do about it
• A life-threatening health scare that gave Alfredo powerful clarity on impact, legacy, and humility

Alfredo doesn’t just talk systems change—he’s living it. You’ll walk away from this episode challenged, inspired, and equipped with actionable ideas for growing your impact while staying grounded in purpose.

More from our conversation:

• Connect with Alfredo Mathew III on LinkedIn
• Visit Alfredo’s website: alfredomathew.com
• Email him: alfredo@spcc.one
• Learn more about SPCC One

Related Resources:

• Read my article: “Breaking Through Bottlenecks”
• Watch recent webinars on the Silver Maple Strategies YouTube Channel
• Sign up for my free newsletter, Secrets of Social Impact Communicators: Subscribe here

Thanks as always to Lee Williams for editing and producing this episode!

Visit the Silver Maple Strategies website

Follow Silver Maple Strategies on LinkedIn

Book Nate Birt as a speaker or facilitator

Do you ever feel like you're encountering a series of neverending bottlenecks within your nonprofit? Here at Silver Maple Strategies, we see this all the time - and it's nothing to be ashamed of. On the contrary, it's part of the natural growth of any purpose-driven organization. The best part? There are tremendous solutions available to any leader looking to break through bottlenecks and deliver increasingly higher levels of impact. In this episode, I'll teach you how. It really boils down to focusing your attention and strategy in three key areas:

• Mindset: Erase doubt, stop denying your own value, and avoid sabotage
• People + Machines: Shift away from analog-only systems and toward human-centered, digitally streamlined processes, embrace automation where sensible, and encourage your team to cross-train
• Money (aka Fundraising): Focus attention versus spreading it broadly over many areas, bias toward action (rather than primarily research) and navigate tricky predicaments with an eye toward financial sustainability.

I hope these insights can be helpful to you in determining which bottleneck you'll break through next.

And if you're curious to explore what this could mean for your own nonprofit's health and growth, I'd love to visit with you. Book a free, no-pressure consultation to dive deeper on your nonprofit's specific needs. You can simply schedule a time to talk with me, CEO Nate Birt, at www.SilverMapleStrategies.com/Contact.

Are you struggling to get noticed by funders and strategic partners — even though your nonprofit is doing critical, impactful work?

In this episode, I'll walk you through the essential keys to making your nonprofit brand unforgettable. Drawing on insights from more than 17 years in communications and 8+ years advising nonprofit leaders, I share the most common branding challenges nonprofits face today — and the exact steps you can take to rise above the noise.

You’ll learn how to shift your mindset from “surviving” to “thriving” and build a brand that funders remember, partners rally behind, and your team is proud of.

• Why caution-mode branding holds nonprofits back — and what to do instead

• The top five branding pitfalls that make nonprofits invisible

• How to reframe your narrative to emphasize transformation, not just activity

• Why audience clarity is the new brand superpower

• Five “Invisible No More” branding keys you can implement today

Plus, listen in as I reveal the action steps you can take right now to start moving the needle on visibility, funding, and influence.

Whether you're leading communications, fundraising, or executive strategy — this episode will give you the clarity and momentum to lead with confidence.

• Schedule your free 30-minute consultation with me: www.silvermaplestrategies.com

• Reach out directly for your copy of the Invisible to Visible Messaging Clarity Checklist: nate@silvermaplestrategies.com

Subscribe to Secrets of Social Impact Communicators, my weekly newsletter full of tools, case studies, and inspiration for nonprofit leaders:
Join here

Visit Silver Maple Strategies to learn more about our work.

In this episode, I walk nonprofit leaders through timely strategies for building fundraising resilience in a complex and fast-evolving 2025 landscape.

You'll walk away with actionable ideas, renewed confidence, and a powerful framework to tackle today’s toughest fundraising challenges.

I introduce our team's proprietary Resilience Leadership Model, crafted to help nonprofit organizations navigate change with purpose and strategy. You’ll learn why so many nonprofits struggle with silos, underutilize AI, and fall into reactive patterns—and how to break free.

Plus, I share behind-the-scenes insights from my 8+ years working alongside nonprofit leaders on:

• Why resilience is the new success metric for nonprofits

• How to foster morale, flexibility, and clarity across your team

• What AI can (and can’t) do for your fundraising efforts

• Why reporting isn’t just about metrics—it’s about strategic storytelling

• A practical 3-step path: Communicate, Experiment, Accelerate

Whether you’re a nonprofit executive, development professional, or simply passionate about impact-driven work, this episode will leave you energized and equipped to lead with greater confidence and creativity.

If you'd like access to any of the following, simply email me at nate@silvermaplestrategies.com:

🎁 Journaling Prompts for Fundraising Strategy – Designed to help you clarify next steps for your organization
📥 Session Recording & Slides – Available to all attendees and registrants
📅 Book a 1:1 Strategy Session with Nate – No pressure, just a conversation about your nonprofit and specific areas where you're looking to grow. Schedule here

💡 Want personalized support for your nonprofit? Visit our website at Silver Maple Strategies
📬 Sign up for Nate’s free newsletter: Secrets of Social Impact Communicators
🎙️ Check out the podcast on your favorite player—and on YouTube!

In this episode, I sit down with Eva Goulbourne, Founder and CEO of Littlefoot Ventures, for a fascinating discussion of why this is a historic moment for addressing climate change via food and agriculture.

Eva's food systems and sustainability strategy firm focuses on using food systems transformation as the climate solution. She brings extensive expertise serving both for-profit and nonprofit executives including food business technology companies, venture capital, nonprofits, and family philanthropy.

Eva's passion for food and its ability to connect people and transform lives began before the age of 10, when she became a loyal subscriber to Martha Stewart Living. She went on to develop a passion for international development and spent time working with farmers in Kenya and Malawi before serving as Senior Associate in Agriculture Technology Innovations at the World Economic Forum and later as Employee No. 1 and Director of Business & Multistakeholder Programs at ReFED, where she helped scale food waste solutions across the U.S.

In this episode, Eva shares insights on timely topics for social impact leaders, including:

• Diversifying Your Funding Strategy In Partnership With Family Philanthropy: Eva shares how nonprofits can partner with family philanthropy by developing relationships grounded in trust, understanding individual trustees' priorities, and adding immediate value rather than simply asking for an investment upfront.

• Connecting Your Nonprofit's Outcomes To The Broader Climate-Action Narrative: Eva explains how many nonprofits undersell their climate impact. She offers practical communications strategies nonprofits can use to frame their programs as climate solutions.

• Appreciating The Unique Nature Of This Food-Climate Moment: Eva shares her perspective on what makes this moment - 2024 and beyond - so special for leaders and organizations advancing climate solutions via the food system.

Resources and Links:

• Connect with Eva Goulbourne on LinkedIn.
• Learn more about Little Foot Ventures at LittleFootVentures.com.
• Get my free report, "10 Climate-Smart Ag Risks Facing Nonprofits in 2025," by emailing me at nate@silvermaplestrategies.com.
• Purchase my new book, 7 Secrets of Highly Effective Social Impact Communicators: Grab your copy here.

Credits:

Thank you to our producer, Lee Williams, for editing and producing this episode.

Please rate and review the show on your favorite podcast platform. Every review helps spread the word!

In this episode of Secrets of Social Impact Communicators, I welcome Jan Barlow, founder of Better Job Fit, for an insightful conversation on career transitions, leadership, and purpose-driven work. Jan shares her incredible journey from a successful corporate career in pharmaceuticals to creating an organization that helps vulnerable populations such as veterans and foster care communities transition into civilian work.

Jan opens up about her own career challenges, including the burnout that came from working outside of her strengths and how it led her to rethink her path. She now uses her extensive experience in job matching to help others find meaningful, aligned careers that make a difference. Jan also delves into the critical role of emotional intelligence, behavioral diversity, and creating shame-free environments where individuals and teams can thrive.

Key Takeaways:

1. Career Alignment & Well-Being: Jan emphasizes the importance of working in alignment with your strengths and gifts to avoid burnout and stress. Her personal story highlights how job misalignment can lead to physical and mental health issues for social impact leaders and their teams.

2. Conscious Awareness in Leadership: Social impact leaders must prioritize raising their own self-awareness and make the mindset shift from "me" to "we" to use their strengths for the greater good.

3. Helping Vulnerable Populations: Better Job Fit’s work with veterans and foster care communities provides structured job-matching, helping individuals transition from highly regulated environments (military, foster care) to the unstructured private sector with confidence and clarity. Jan shares several poignant stories of career transformation that will challenge you to take your purpose-driven work to the next level of excellence.

4. Behavioral Diversity: Jan discusses the importance of recognizing behavioral differences in teams and explains how understanding these differences can mitigate conflict and improve collaboration.

5. Creating Solutions, Not Blame: Building a "solution-oriented" culture helps teams focus on progress, rather than dwelling on problems. This fosters a healthier, more collaborative workplace.

Memorable Quotes:

• "What's really not spoken of or discussed much is the psychological impact when you are in job transition. ... When you are in that food, water, shelter mode you can have a house, you can have everything fine, but mentally, if you're in that fear mode ... you start to get into that psychological spiral. That's really what I wanted to help alleviate." - Jan Barlow
• "It's about deference over difference, respect over talking about how different we are ... . That's really what behavior diversity is about." - Jan Barlow

Resources:

• Connect with Jan Barlow on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Jan and her work at her website, Better Job Fit
• Interested in personalized career consulting? Reach out to Jan at jbarlow@betterjobfit.org.

Call to Action: Be sure to rate and review the show on your favorite podcast platform, and check out my latest book, 7 Secrets of Highly Effective Social Impact Communicators. For guest ideas or topics you'd like to hear about in future episodes, reach out to Nate at nate@silvermaplestrategies.com.

Production Credits: Special thanks to Lee Williams for producing this episode.

Remember: Social impact work is soul work. Lead like you live.

In this episode, B3C Global CEO and Founder Cytandra Hoover shares her fascinating experiences building climate resilience in local communities and advancing equity across the world. Cytandra is a seasoned expert in global social impact and inclusive insurance. You'll learn something new and be inspired in equal measure, I promise!

In This Episode:

• Cytandra's Background: Discover how her childhood experiences traveling with her botanist father and witnessing global disparities in conflict zones and places devastated by natural disasters shaped her career path.
• The Power of Microinsurance: Learn about microinsurance's role in protecting vulnerable populations against climate-related events and other risks.
• Sustainability and Finance: Consider the importance of sustainable, financially viable solutions for long-term community support.
• Challenges and Opportunities: Hear insights into the barriers to adoption of microinsurance in the U.S. and other high-income countries, and how these can be overcome.
• The Future of Social Impact Finance: Examine the finance trends social impact professionals should watch in the next 12 to 18 months.

Connect with Cytandra:

• LinkedIn: Cytandra Hoover

Additional Resources:

• Visit B3C Global: Learn more about Cytandra's work and her company's mission at B3C Global
• Social Impact Insights: For more on how to engage in impactful work and the intricacies of microinsurance, check out our website.

Special Thanks:

• Editing and Production: Lee Williams, for his impeccable production work on this episode.
• Get My Book: "7 Secrets of Highly Effective Social Impact Communicators" now available wherever books are sold.