Break Fake Rules: Change Big Giving For Good

What happens when we stop designing philanthropy around preservation, control, and donor comfort, and start asking how to put more capital, trust, and collective action to work? In this episode, Glen Galaich speaks with Renee Kaplan, CEO of Forward Global, in a conversation recorded at the Forward Global Summit in Whistler. They challenge the fake rules that keep philanthropy cautious and exclusive, and explore what opens up when wealth holders, nonprofit leaders, entrepreneurs, and other changemakers come together to solve problems side by side.Renee shares how Forward Global has evolved into a global community and impact platform built to amplify what works, accelerate collective action, and move resources at the pace this moment demands. If you’re ready to replace judgment and rigid boundaries with trust, openness, and a shared belief that no single person can drive lasting change alone, this episode is for you.💡Renee Kaplan: Are you ready to deploy, or are you only into preservation?Learn more about Forward Global and how you can join their global community.Order your copy of Glen’s book, CONTROL: Why Big Giving Falls Short. Learn about the Stupski Foundation.Guest: Renee Kaplan | Forward Global Executive Producer: Claire CallahanVisual Production Team: SeeBoundlessProduction Team: PodflyGraphic Design: Middle MGMT

What happens when we stop chasing individual freedom and start asking what it would mean to be free together? In this episode, Stupski Foundation CEO Glen Galaich sits down with Mia Birdsong, founder and executive director of Next River, where she is creating the cultural conditions necessary for a truly free world to emerge. Together, they break the fake rules of individualism, redefine what freedom actually is, and explore how we might pivot from a society organized around separation and scarcity to one rooted in care, connection, and collective well being.💡Mia Birdsong: I understand the kind of fear and anxiety that has us wanting to grip tightly to what's familiar, because it feels safe, but it's not safe. It's never been safe.💡Mia Birdsong: If we can find the courage to let go of trying to hold on to this thing, trying to fix this thing, and trust that together, if we are oriented toward our collective care and well being, we can build something better.Learn more about Next River and their work to create the cultural conditions for a truly free world to emerge.Order your copy of Glen’s book, CONTROL: Why Big Giving Falls Short. Learn about the Stupski Foundation.Guest: Mia Birdsong | How We Show Up Executive Producer: Claire CallahanProduction Team: PodflyGraphic Design: Middle MGMT

We’re excited to share a special feed swap this week from our friends, Eric Brown and Kirk Brown, on the Let’s Hear It podcast! In this episode, you’ll get to hear directly from Glen Galaich and frequent Break Fake Rules co-host and Let’s Hear It host, Eric Brown, as they talk about Glen’s newly released book, CONTROL: Why Big Giving Falls Short. Order your copy of Glen’s book, CONTROL: Why Big Giving Falls Short. Join Glen on the book tour!CONTROL: Why Big Giving Falls Short, out now, makes an argument as simple as it is explosive: when a donor takes a tax deduction to give money away, they've made a deal with the public. That money isn't theirs anymore. But the system we've built lets donors park billions in foundations and donor-advised funds indefinitely — dribbling out 5 cents on the dollar while the rest sits on Wall Street going absolutely nowhere.Glen isn't an outside critic. He's a sitting foundation CEO who spent years reinforcing every rule he's now trying to break. Eric read an early draft, argued with him about it, and told him his central framing was too polite. Glen ignored him. They pick up that conversation here.Follow Let's Hear It and leave a rating so more people can find the show.Learn about the Stupski Foundation and Glen Galaich.

This week, the co-hosts of Break Fake Rules are taking control of the show to talk behind Glen Galaich’s back about his new book, CONTROL: Why Big Giving Falls Short, out today!Eric Brown, principal of Brown Bridge Strategies and co-host of Let’s Hear It, locks Glen out of the Break Fake Rules studio to bring you a conversation with all of your favorite co-hosts: Jamie Allison, executive director of the Walter and Elise Haas Fund; Ralph Lewin, executive director of the Peter E. Haas Jr. Family Fund; and Dr. Carmen Rojas, president and CEO of the Marguerite Casey Foundation.Together, they dig into the book— what resonated, where they differed, and what it made them reconsider in their own work. What starts as a conversation about CONTROL opens into something larger: a candid conversation about leadership, power, accountability, and what philanthropy owes the communities it claims to serve. They also make a compelling case for why CONTROL is worth reading. Not because it offers easy agreement, but because it forces harder questions to the surface so we can change Big Giving for good.💡Jamie Allison: I think what's more important is breaking the fake rule that proximity to resource, proximity to wealth, equals wisdom…wealth does not necessarily equal wisdom.💡Jamie Allison: I think Control is worth reading because it invites philanthropy to look honestly in the mirror and ask whether our systems are truly serving the communities that we say that they're meant to.💡Carmen Rojas: I think we need a different operating model and control offers us a different pathway to operate as a society in response to these current crises.💡Ralph Lewin: The fake rule that stuck out to me from this book is that we spend all our time on 5% of our resources, when 95% of our resources is not necessarily mission aligned.Order your copy of Glen’s book, CONTROL: Why Big Giving Falls Short. Join Glen on the book tour!Learn about the Stupski Foundation.Co Hosts: Eric Brown, Jamie Allison, Carmen Rojas & Ralph LewinExecutive Producer: Claire CallahanProduction Team: Podfly

What happens when philanthropy treats this moment like a true crisis and local organizers refuse to let cruelty become normal?In this episode, Glen Galaich is joined by co-host Dr. Carmen Rojas, President and CEO of the Marguerite Casey Foundation, for a conversation filmed at the first of a series of events called Common Thread, a new initiative designed to bring people together through conversation, culture, and connection. Glen and Carmen talk about how people can get involved and attend future Common Thread events this year, then turn to the urgent realities of immigrant rights and due process as communities confront detention, deportation, and government overreach.Carmen reflects on using her LinkedIn community and platform to humanize the lives affected by disappearances and deportations. She also challenges some of philanthropy’s most entrenched assumptions, including the idea that institutions must hold tightly to wealth even in moments they themselves call a crisis.Then local organizer, Nikki Marín Baena, co-founder and co-director of Siembra NC, joins the conversation to talk about who pays when philanthropy plays it safe on immigrant rights. Nikki shares what organizing for immigrant rights looks like on the ground in North Carolina. From helping neighbors connect, making communities safer, supporting Know Your Rights efforts, building Fourth Amendment workplace trainings, and responding to immigration operations that reshape daily life for workers and families. Together, Nikki, Glen and Carmen uncover the fake rules forming around immigration and mass deportation in America, and call on philanthropy to embrace risk in support of the people doing this work. 💡Nikki Marín Baena: I think that we are taking it for granted that this moment of big hatred that we're in is the way that it has to be. We don't have to accept that there's just widespread hatred. We can find another way.Learn more about Siembra NC and their work to protect immigrant communities and build collective power in North Carolina. Sign up to volunteer! Preorder your copy of Glen’s book, CONTROL: Why Big Giving Falls Short. Learn about the Stupski Foundation.Co-Hosts: Carmen Rojas & Glen GalaichGuest: Nikki Marín Baena - Siembra NC | Defend and Recruit | LinkedIn Executive Producer: Claire CallahanProduction Team: PodflyGraphic Design: Middle MGMT

What happens when philanthropy stops treating the people doing the work as an unnecessary expense and starts funding nonprofit partners like it actually wants them to win? In this episode, Stupski Foundation CEO Glen Galaich and returning co-host Jamie Allison, Executive Director of the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, react to a Chronicle of Philanthropy piece on the high cost of low nonprofit salaries and the dangerous backlash nonprofits are facing right now.They are joined by guest Rusty Stahl, president and CEO of Fund the People, a leading advocate for investing in nonprofit workers, to make the case that strengthening the nonprofit workforce is not just a strategic investment, it is crucial to protecting democracy itself.💡Rusty Stahl: What we're seeing in our research is the more money you put into the staff and the people doing the work, the better the program is, and the greater the impact and results.Learn more about Fund the People and their work to strengthen the nonprofit workforce so organizations can win for their missions.Preorder your copy of Glen’s book, CONTROL: Why Big Giving Falls Short.Learn about the Stupski Foundation.Co-Hosts: Jamie Allison & Glen GalaichGuest: Rusty Stahl: Fund the People | Fund the People PodcastExecutive Producer: Claire CallahanProduction Team: PodflyGraphic Design: Middle MGMT

What happens when we stop pretending that systems will fix themselves, and ask what it really takes to change them? In this episode, Stupski Foundation CEO Glen Galaich and returning co-host Jamie Allison, Executive Director of the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, first discuss the Endeavor Fund and what it means to back organizations with long-term, trust-based support. Then they sit down with guest Catherine Bracy, founder and CEO of TechEquity and author of World Eaters: How Venture Capital Is Cannibalizing the Economy, to examine how venture capital shapes our everyday lives.Catherine traces how venture capital shifted from funding innovation to driving financialization, and why wealth inequality functions as a strategy as much as an outcome. She breaks down the power law logic that underwrites the entire system, what it extracts from workers and communities, and why it matters when foundations are more invested in venture than the organizations doing the work on the ground. The conversation lands on a challenge that’s hard to ignore: if philanthropy wants different outcomes, it has to question the assumptions behind where its money is parked, and prioritize community benefit over donor comfort.💡Catherine Bracy: The dirty little secret of venture capital is that it’s organized like a power law itself. The vast majority of these funds do not outperform the S&P 500, so what are you actually getting for that money?Learn more about TechEquity and their work to build a more equitable tech economy.Preorder your copy of Glen’s book, CONTROL: Why Big Giving Falls Short.Learn about the Stupski Foundation.Co-Hosts: Jamie Allison & Glen GalaichGuest: Catherine Bracy | World Eaters: How Venture Capital is Cannibalizing the Economy Executive Producer: Claire CallahanProduction Team: PodflyGraphic Design: Middle MGMT

What happens when someone born into a family fortune decides that keeping control of that wealth is the real problem? In this episode, Stupski Foundation CEO Glen Galaich and co-host Eric Brown, principal of Brown Bridge Strategies and co-host of Let’s Hear It, sit down with Austria-based activist Marlene Engelhorn, co-founder of Tax Me Now. Marlene inherited many millions of dollars and chose to give most of it away by creating a Citizens’ Council of 50 everyday Austrians to decide where the money should go. Together, they dig into what it means to institutionalize philanthropy, and what it takes to dismantle it.Glen and Eric start with a jaw-dropping snapshot of the sector from the Center for Effective Philanthropy report: A Sector in Crisis. In it, 40% of surveyed nonprofit leaders say funders are less helpful now, while 20% of foundations believe they have little responsibility to help nonprofits navigate this moment. It’s a stark disconnect: foundations feel secure while nonprofits face existential crises. Against that backdrop, Marlene talks about “rich fragility,” the ways wealth holders defend their privilege, and why she believes any philanthropic approach that keeps people dependent on private goodwill misses the point.💡 Marlene Engelhorn: I don't want to protect my privilege. I want it gone. I think that's the only genuine approach to philanthropy. It's to basically make sure that it abolishes itself.Learn more about taxmenow and their campaign to challenge inherited wealth and push for democratic tax reform. Explore the Guter Rat (Citizens’ Council) and how the process works.Preorder your copy of Glen’s book, CONTROL: Why Big Giving Falls Short. Learn about the Stupski Foundation.Co-Hosts: Eric Brown & Glen GalaichGuest: Marlene Engelhorn Executive Producer: Claire CallahanProduction Team: PodflyGraphic Design: Middle MGMT

This is philanthropy’s rainy day.Across communities, the escalation of ICE activity is terrifying. Families are living in fear. Core pillars of our democracy are under attack. Meanwhile, too many funders are still holding back, waiting for a crisis that’s already here.In this episode, Glen and Ralph Lewin weigh in on why escalating ICE actions should be a wake-up call for philanthropy to step up in real ways to protect our communities. They challenge the persistent myth that philanthropy must conserve resources for a future emergency.Spoiler alert: this is the emergency.Special guest, Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward, joins the conversation to share how ongoing litigation is actively defending our democracy. Skye brings both urgency and hope—reminding us that, despite efforts to flood the zone, the people are winning more than they’re losing. But we will only win if philanthropy fully funds the legal, advocacy, and organizing efforts that make those wins possible.💡 Skye Perryman: The cost of inaction in this moment is far higher than the cost of taking action.Learn more about Democracy Forward and their initiative, Democracy 250, and find out how you can support the work of defending democracyPreorder your copy of Glen’s book, CONTROL: Why Big Giving Falls Short.Learn about the Stupski Foundation.Co-Hosts: Ralph Lewin & Glen GalaichGuest: Skye PerrymanExecutive Producer: Claire CallahanProduction Team: PodflyGraphic Design: Middle MGMT

Why does philanthropy resist risk? Ralph Lewin, Executive Director of the Peter E. Haas Jr. Family Fund, joins Glen as co-host to bust one of the biggest fake rules in philanthropy. In this episode, Ralph and Glen make the case for embracing “philanthropic reformers” (not critics!) and courageous risk-taking rather than clinging to a comfortable but broken status quo.Special guest, María Teresa Kumar, Emmy-nominated MSNBC contributor and founding president and CEO of Voto Latino, stops by to reflect on what it really means to be “American” in today’s political climate. As fear-driven narratives and ICE raids targeting immigrants intensify ahead of the midterms, María Teresa reminds us why reengaging and delivering on promises made to the Latino electorate has never been more urgent.💡 María Teresa Kumar: “Recognize that no is for everybody else. Everybody will say no to you. And that's okay, because you only need one yes.”Get involved with Voto Latino.Break Fake Rules is a podcast that brings today’s news and big philanthropic issues into focus to change Big Giving for good.Learn about the Stupski Foundation.Co-Hosts: Ralph Lewin & Glen Galaich Guest: María Teresa KumarExecutive Producer: Claire CallahanProduction Team: PodflyGraphic Design: Middle MGMT

Welcome back to Break Fake Rules! In the season three premiere, Jamie Allison, Executive Director of the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, co-hosts with Glen Galaich to discuss the fake rules we need to break to relieve the pressure nonprofits are under at the outset of 2026.Special guest, Representative Lateefah Simon (CA-12), joins from Capitol Hill to reflect on her journey from nonprofit leader to federal policymaker. At a moment of intensifying fear and political division, Representative Simon calls on us to reject division, protect nonprofits, and do more for our communities.💡Representative Lateefah Simon: “If we’re not going to go hard, we should go home.”Tune in for a candid conversation about breaking through partisan divides and making real change in our communities.Learn about Representative Lateefah Simon’s work and subscribe to her newsletter.Break Fake Rules is a podcast that brings today’s news and big philanthropic issues into focus to change Big Giving for good.Learn more about the Walter and Elise Haas Fund.Learn about the Stupski Foundation.Co-Hosts: Jamie Allison & Glen GalaichGuest: Representative Lateefah SimonExecutive Producer: Claire CallahanProduction Team: Podfly

Break Fake Rules is back! Join us for a new season of rulebreaking to change the future of Big Giving for good.Get ready for more episodes, more often! This season, we're excited to welcome a few of our favorite rule breakers as recurring co-hosts. Alongside Glen Galaich, CEO of the Stupski Foundation, they will call on us to rethink the stories we tell about money, wealth, and power—and imagine a future where resources are shared, not hoarded. If you have ever questioned why we live by certain rules and wondered what becomes possible when we do things differently, this show is for you.New episodes drop weekly starting January 28, 2026.

That’s a wrap on season 2! In this bonus episode of Break Fake Rules, hear some of Glen and Claire’s favorite moments from the season. And spoiler alert - they drop exciting updates about what’s coming next season on Break Fake Rules. Break Fake Rules is a podcast from the Stupski Foundation that questions philanthropy’s self-imposed rules and looks for ways philanthropy can better serve communities and contribute to lasting change. Learn about the Stupski Foundation’s work.Host: Glen GalaichGuest & Producer: Claire Callahan

In the season wrap of Break Fake Rules, Carmen Rojas (CEO & President, Marguerite Casey Foundation) and Jamie Allison (Executive Director, Walter & Elise Haas Fund) bring the vibes to a year-defining conversation with host Glen Galaich. Together, they reflect on how philanthropy showed up in 2025—and how it needs to evolve in 2026.Jamie Allison calls on the sector to embrace courage and purpose: “Our communities and nonprofit leaders need from us what they've always needed from us. They need us to be courageous and to show that the project of philanthropy is about redistributing privilege and resources.”Carmen Rojas offers a bold vision for the road ahead, challenging philanthropy to think generationally and confront its own complicity: “We have an opportunity… to reset that table.” And: “We need to reconcile and have a meaningful conversation about the ways each of our institutions is enabling… this political movement.”Looking ahead at 2026, Glen Galaich reminds us why imagination matters: “So many foundations limit themselves to a cap… It stops us from dreaming and imagining things that could be leveraged for a better society.”Tune in for a finale filled with the kind of rule-breaking energy that sets the stage for a transformative 2026.Learn more about the Walter and Elise Haas Fund and the We Initiative to cultivate belonging. Explore the Marguerite Casey Foundation and learn about their decision to significantly increase grantmaking to protect communities under attack.Break Fake Rules is a podcast from the Stupski Foundation that questions philanthropy’s self-imposed rules and looks for ways philanthropy can better serve communities and contribute to lasting change. Learn about the Stupski Foundation’s work.Host: Glen GalaichGuests: Jamie Allison & Carmen RojasProducer: Claire Callahan

Progressives have lost sight of a central issue: class. Lawyer, professor, and author Joan C. Williams joins Break Fake Rules to unpack how the Left lost touch with working-class Americans—and how we can win them back. As income inequality deepens across the U.S. and Europe, Joan explains how class blind spots and broken promises have fueled distrust and driven voters toward the far right. Joan offers actionable, research-backed steps for funders and policymakers to rebuild trust, restore credibility, and reconnect with the working class.Joan C. Williams: “Not only have we been class clueless, we've often been class condescending.”Read Joan’s book, Outclassed: How the Left Lost the Working Class and How to Win Them Back.Break Fake Rules is a podcast from the Stupski Foundation that questions philanthropy’s self-imposed rules and looks for ways philanthropy can better serve communities and contribute to lasting change. Learn about the Stupski Foundation’s work.Host: Glen GalaichGuest: Joan C. WilliamsProducer: Claire Callahan

“It's only when you show your own courage that the performativeness of being inspired by others moves to allied-ness.”Ludovic Blain returns to Break Fake Rules, this time at a live recording at California Donor Table’s 20th anniversary convening and celebration! Last season, Ludovic delivered a master class in philanthropic giving across tax statuses. Now he’s back to urge us to play offense — by funding bold, long-term investments to counter the well-coordinated efforts of conservative groups and donors that harm our communities. How can donors fund initiatives that not only defend democracy but also create a better government for all? What lessons can we take from local-level wins to build progressive power at the national level? Tune in to find out. Break Fake Rules is a podcast from the Stupski Foundation that questions philanthropy’s self-imposed rules and looks for ways philanthropy can better serve communities and contribute to lasting change. Learn more about the California Donor Table.Learn about the Stupski Foundation’s work.Host: Glen GalaichGuest: Ludovic BlainProducer: Claire CallahanMentioned in this episode:Designing Tomorrow PodcastCheck out another social impact podcast called Designing Tomorrow. It’s hosted by Eric Ressler — founder of the creative agency Cosmic — and Jonathan Hicken, executive director at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center. If you’re looking for a show that’s real, smart, and made for this moment in social impact — give Designing Tomorrow a listen. You can find it wherever you get your podcasts.

Farhad Ebrahimi: “What utility is it for grantmakers to survive this political moment if none of the organizations we believe in survive?”In this episode, Farhad Ebrahimi—Philanthropic Transformation Strategist and co-founder at Solidaire Network—joins Break Fake Rules to deliver a total takedown of philanthropy’s most pernicious fake rules. And he comes with receipts! Hear why Farhad spent down the Chorus Foundation’s endowment in 2023 and what it really means to organize and mobilize funders to support a just transition to a regenerative economy that no longer feeds the philanthropic industrial compex. In a period when fear and political retribution are on the rise, Farhad calls us to prioritize grantee survival over grantmaker self-preservation. Learn about and join the Solidaire Network.Break Fake Rules is a podcast from the Stupski Foundation that questions philanthropy’s self-imposed rules and looks for ways philanthropy can better serve communities and contribute to lasting change. Learn about the Stupski Foundation’s work.Host: Glen GalaichGuest: Farhad EbrahimiProducer: Claire CallahanDesigning Tomorrow PodcastCheck out another social impact podcast called Designing Tomorrow. It’s hosted by Eric Ressler — founder of the creative agency Cosmic — and Jonathan Hicken, executive director at the Seymour Marine Discovery Center. If you’re looking for a show that’s real, smart, and made for this moment in social impact — give Designing Tomorrow a listen. You can find it wherever you get your podcasts.

💡Ari: “Spending less now only protects institutions. Spending more now protects communities.”💡Malila: “Foundations in general have the least to lose. This is the time to step up and take on more risk.”What happens when philanthropy stops playing it safe? In this episode, we go behind the scenes at the Stupski Foundation to reveal why we’re speeding up our spend down and putting 76% of our remaining grant funds to work now.Hear from two of Stupski’s resident rule-breakers, Malila Becton-Conusegra, our Bay Area postsecondary success program officer, and Ari Datta, our food justice program manager. They shared why they advocated to push more dollars out today: because communities can’t afford for us to wait and see. Tune in to hear Malila and Ari share how all foundations—not just spenddowns—can spend more to respond to urgent needs in our communities today and prevent future harm. Break Fake Rules is a podcast from the Stupski Foundation that questions philanthropy’s self-imposed rules and looks for ways philanthropy can better serve communities and contribute to lasting change. Learn about the Stupski's Foundation decision to accelerate its spend down.Host: Glen GalaichGuests: Ari Datta and Malila Becton-ConsuegraProducer: Claire Callahan

💡Marc Philpart: “I do have fear, but I refuse to be paralyzed by it. I refuse to not take action. I refuse to shy away from our commitment to our community.”How can we respond amid growing fear and political backlash against racial justice? In this inspiring episode, Marc Philpart, President and CEO of the Black Freedom Fund, discusses the Fund’s unwavering commitment to advancing Black freedom through the largest transfer of wealth to Black organizing in history. Tune in to hear Marc speak to the courage required to act in this moment and why we must stay the course.Break Fake Rules is a podcast from the Stupski Foundation that questions philanthropy’s self-imposed rules and looks for ways philanthropy can better serve communities and contribute to lasting change. Learn about and donate to the Black Freedom Fund.Learn about the Stupski Foundation’s work.Host: Glen GalaichGuest: Marc PhilpartProducer: Claire Callahan

💡Richard Tate: “It’s time we recognize that there is an increased level of risk, but it's a risk worth taking.” What keeps philanthropy from speaking out? And how can funders overcome fear and use our voices to protect communities against forces that seek to silence us? In this episode, Richard Tate from the California Wellness Foundation takes the mic to talk about how his foundation made the decision to speak out against the rise of authoritarianism. Risky? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely. Tune in to hear Richard’s vision for how much more we can accomplish in philanthropy by standing up together.Read more from Richard about the impacts of funding cuts to health services and why “We Shall Not Be Moved.” Break Fake Rules is a podcast from the Stupski Foundation that questions philanthropy’s self-imposed rules and looks for ways philanthropy can better serve communities and contribute to lasting change. Learn about the Stupski Foundation’s work.Host: Glen GalaichGuest: Richard TateProducer: Claire Callahan

💡Leah Hunt-Hendrix: “The 501(c)(3) is a social construct meant to protect wealth and give wealthy people a tax break for making a charitable contribution. It's not a necessity. You don't have to abide by it. A lot of mutual aid can happen outside of that structure.”Can solidarity heal our fractured democracy? In this episode, organizer, donor, and writer, Leah Hunt-Hendrix, shares how solidarity can be the antidote in divisive times. Hear Leah challenge traditional models of philanthropy that limit social change and call for a transformative approach rooted in solidarity. In her recent book, Solidarity for Social Change: The Past, Present, and Future of a World Changing Idea, Leah highlights how standing together can help us overcome the forces that seek to divide us. How can we shed the constraints of how philanthropy "has always been done?” Tune in to find out from Leah.Meet Leah: Leah Hunt-Hendrix is an organizer and writer who works on economic inequality and democracy. She has a Ph.D from Princeton University and is co-author of Solidarity: The Past, Present, and Future of a World Changing Idea, with Astra Taylor, which was published by Pantheon in 2024. Leah is the co-founder of Solidaire Network, a network that supports progressive social movements, and Way to Win, a fund that resources progressive electoral strategies. She currently leads Democracy Takes Work, a new project which aims to bolster worker organizing. Read Solidarity for Social Change: The Past, Present, and Future of a World Changing Idea by Leah Hunt-Hendrix and Astra Taylor.Break Fake Rules is a podcast from the Stupski Foundation that questions philanthropy’s self-imposed rules and looks for ways philanthropy can better serve communities and contribute to lasting change. Learn about the Stupski Foundation’s work.Host: Glen GalaichGuest: Leah Hunt-HendrixProducer: Claire Callahan

Dr. Sulma Gandhi: “This is what I mean by the 'frustrating funder.’ When I was a grantee for all those years, I was always trying to fit my proposal or how I was pitching into the box of the funder who had a particular strategy from some other community, not that of ours.”What does it take to break free from frustrating funding practices? This month, Stupski Foundation’s Hawaiʻi health program officer, Dr. Sulma Gandhi, shares her journey from grant-seeker to grant-maker and how she embraces trust-based practices to fully invest in community-led holistic health initiatives across Hawaiʻi. Think multi-year general operating support grants without the burdens of proposals, term limits, and cumbersome reporting— how refreshing! Hear how Dr. Gandhi is giving at the intersection of trust and urgency so communities can direct resources where they know they’ll work best.  Break Fake Rules is a podcast from the Stupski Foundation that questions philanthropy’s self-imposed rules and looks for ways philanthropy can better serve communities and contribute to lasting change. Learn about the Stupski Foundation’s work.Host: Glen GalaichGuest: Dr. Sulma GandhiProducer: Claire Callahan

In this episode of Break Fake Rules, author and philanthropic rule-breaker Dimple Abichandani joins us at the Global Philanthropy Forum Leaders Summit to spill the tea on her new book, A New Era of Philanthropy. 💡Dimple Abichandani: “Philanthropy is unique because the rule that we need to move towards is that these funds are not meant to be maintained and grown. They're actually meant to be transformed.”Learn more from Dimple in her new book, A New Era of Philanthropy: Ten Practices to Transform Wealth into a More Just and Sustainable Future. Break Fake Rules is a podcast from the Stupski Foundation that questions philanthropy’s self-imposed rules and looks for ways philanthropy can better serve communities and contribute to lasting change. Learn about the Stupski Foundation’s work.Host: Glen GalaichGuest: Dimple AbichandaniProducer: Claire Callahan

Sarah Longwell returns to Break Fake Rules, this time at the Forward Global Summit! In this episode, Sarah breaks down the state of American democracy and the fractured media landscape in the wake of the election. How can philanthropists play a positive role in the effort to defend democracy and counter misinformation? Listen to Sarah to find out. 💡Sarah Longwell: “What is the point of having FU money if you don't tell bad people to FU?”Hear more from Sarah and learn what real American voters think on The Focus Group podcast. For honest news and smart analysis, check out The Bulwark.  Break Fake Rules is a podcast from the Stupski Foundation that questions philanthropy’s self-imposed rules and looks for ways philanthropy can better serve communities and contribute to lasting change. Learn about the Stupski Foundation’s work.Host: Glen GalaichGuest: Sarah LongwellProducer: Claire Callahan

In the season two premiere of Break Fake Rules, powerhouse rule-breaking duo Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor, and Heather Kinlaw Lofthouse, Director of Inequality Media join Glen Galaich to explore the challenges of polarity and the corrosive forces of wealth and power on democracy. How we can hold onto hope for a more just future in these challenging times? Tune in to find out. 💡Robert Reich: “It has become far more important, even than it was 10 years ago, for people to cause good trouble, to poke the bear, to be courageous, to take on the powers that are now dominating America.”💡Heather Lofthouse: “This is an incredibly important time to be getting the truth out and to use these platforms where so many people are consuming information, news, and fake news.” Check out Robert Reich’s substack and learn more about Inequality Media. Break Fake Rules is a podcast from the Stupski Foundation that questions philanthropy’s self-imposed rules and looks for ways philanthropy can better serve communities and contribute to lasting change. Learn about the Stupski Foundation’s work.Host: Glen GalaichGuests: Robert Reich and Heather Kinlaw LofthouseProducer: Claire Callahan

Welcome back to Break Fake Rules with Glen Galaich, CEO of the Stupski Foundation. This season, we're excited to bring you a new slate of inspiring rule-breakers in media, government, philanthropy, and more. Listen to a preview of the new season. Full episodes drop monthly starting February 26, 2025.

Wait, there’s more! Tune into a bonus episode to hear some of our favorite rule-breaking moments from the season. Stay tuned for a special announcement about what’s next for Break Fake Rules.Break Fake Rules is a podcast from the Stupski Foundation that questions philanthropy’s self-imposed rules and explores ways it can better serve communities and contribute to lasting change. Host: Glen GalaichGuest & Producer: Claire Callahan

“We have to find a way to break down the dynamic of power that has created this gulf between us and who gets funded.” - Julián CastroFor the finale of Break Fake Rules, Glen sits down with longtime political rulebreaker, Julián Castro! Filmed in front of a studio audience at the National Forum on Family Philanthropy, hear Glen and Julián discuss the fake rules Julián encountered throughout his career in government and what he is discovering in his new philanthropic role as CEO of the Latino Community Foundation. Learn more about the Latino Community Foundation and their work to unleash the civic and economic power of Latinos. Break Fake Rules is a podcast from the Stupski Foundation that questions philanthropy’s self-imposed rules and explores ways it can better serve communities and contribute to lasting change. Host: Glen GalaichGuest: Julián CastroProducer: Claire Callahan

“Philanthropy has these ways of carving out money and setting it aside. Is there another way to think about what to do with money that exists in this world? Shouldn’t we be thinking about different ways of activating it now?” - Jennifer RisherBreak Fake Rules is a podcast from the Stupski Foundation that questions philanthropy’s self-imposed rules and looks for ways philanthropy can better serve communities and contribute to lasting change. In this episode, Glen talks with Jennifer Risher, an author and rulebreaking philanthropist who is motivating donors to move philanthropic wealth off the sidelines and into communities where it is needed today. Hear Jennifer share her initiative, #HalfMyDAF, which is challenging the wealth management system and motivating others to unleash dollars from donor-advised funds. Check out #HalfMyDAF and learn more from Jennifer in her book, “We Need to Talk: A Memoir About Wealth”. Learn about the Stupski Foundation’s work.Host: Glen GalaichGuest: Jennifer RisherProducer: Claire Callahan

“Spending down enables us to make larger investments in our grantees to take bigger swings at addressing the barriers that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities face when accessing health care.”Break Fake Rules is a podcast from the Stupski Foundation that questions philanthropy’s self-imposed rules and looks for ways philanthropy can better serve communities and contribute to lasting change. In this episode, Glen talks with Ryan Easterly, executive director of the WITH Foundation, who is dedicated to advancing comprehensive care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Hear Ryan encourage funders to break the fake rules that prevent resources from flowing to people with disabilities who need them today.Learn more about the Stupski Foundation’s work.Host: Glen GalaichGuest: Ryan EasterlyProducer: Claire Callahan

It’s time to Break Fake Rules, this time with two remarkable rule breakers who delve into race, philanthropy, and humanity. In this episode, Glen speaks with leading antiracist scholar and award winning author, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi and CEO of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, Marcus Walton. Which rules must we break to create an antiracist world? Tune in to find out. ”Racist ideas and bigotry across different areas not only prevents us from recognizing the full humanity of the other, but in being unable to recognize the full humanity of the other, we're actually not able to live in the full humanity of ourselves.” - Dr. Ibram X. Kendi“Institutionalizing a thing that has existed within human relationships since the beginning of humanity, that is philanthropy, dehumanizes it by definition.” - Marcus WaltonSign up for The Emancipator newsletter for up-to-date news on the people, organizations, and topics shaping the antiracism movement today.Break Fake Rules is a podcast from the Stupski Foundation that questions philanthropy’s self-imposed rules and explores ways it can better serve communities and contribute to lasting change. Host: Glen GalaichGuests: Dr. Ibram X. Kendi and Marcus WaltonProducer: Claire Callahan

“When we're trying to make the change that we want by only using the tools that have tax benefits to the donors, we should be very explicit about that. And that dynamic is a fake rule that we need to interrupt.”Break Fake Rules is a podcast from the Stupski Foundation that questions philanthropy’s self-imposed rules and explores ways it can better serve communities and contribute to lasting change. In this episode, Glen talks with Ludovic Blain, Executive Director of the California Donor Table. Ludovic dispells the myth of unrestricted 501(c)(3) funding and highlights how we can we better leverage philanthropic dollars to advance a multiracial democracy.Learn more about the Stupski Foundation’s work.Host: Glen GalaichGuest: Ludovic BlainProducer: Claire Callahan

“A.B.C. Always be challenging.”Break Fake Rules is a podcast from the Stupski Foundation that questions philanthropy’s self-imposed rules and explores ways it can better serve communities and contribute to lasting change. In this episode, Glen talks with Rachel Pritzker, President and Founder of the Pritzker Innovation Fund. Rachel encourages us to lean into humility and curiosity to challenge our assumptions and discover new solutions that lead to progress. Resources:As mentioned in the discussion, find more information about the important function of in-group moderates here. Learn how to navigate conflict in Amanda Ripley’s book, High Conflict. Learn more about the Democracy Funders Network, the Breakthrough Institute, Third Way, and the Energy for Growth Hub.Learn more about the Stupski Foundation’s work.Host: Glen GalaichGuest: Rachel PritzkerProducer: Claire Callahan

“We only see one side of the story, which is the giving of money but not the getting of money.”Break Fake Rules is a podcast from the Stupski Foundation that questions philanthropy’s self-imposed rules and looks for ways philanthropy can better serve communities and contribute to lasting change. In this episode, Glen talks with Dr. Carmen Rojas, president and CEO of the Marguerite Casey Foundation. Carmen outlines how we can break the fake rules of philanthropy to support a just economy and fully realized democracy that is accountable to communities.Learn more about the Stupski Foundation’s work.Host: Glen GalaichGuest: Dr. Carmen RojasProducer: Claire Callahan

“We're stuck in our own infrastructure that we've created and we've bought into it. If we were just to take a pause and just think about that for a moment, what could we do more today to mitigate the problems down the road? I mean, we could solve a lot right now.” Break Fake Rules is a podcast from the Stupski Foundation that questions philanthropy’s self-imposed rules and looks for ways philanthropy can better serve communities and contribute to lasting change. In this episode, Glen chats with Priscilla Enriquez, CEO of the James B. McClatchy Foundation. Hear them discuss her foundation’s commitment to spend down by 2030 through their Sunrise Plan to fund the people and support a brighter future for California’s Central Valley. Learn more about the Stupski Foundation’s work.Host: Glen GalaichGuest: Priscilla EnriquezProducer: Claire Callahan

“People should go push to liberate themselves. What do they want to do more of?”Break Fake Rules is a podcast from the Stupski Foundation that questions philanthropy’s self-imposed rules and looks for ways philanthropy can better serve communities and contribute to lasting change. Glen talks with Sarah Longwell, president and CEO of Longwell Partners, founder of The Bulwark, and host of The Focus Group podcast. In this episode, they discuss her decision to fight against Trump as a Republican and the need for the nation to build strong coalitions to restore Americans’ trust in our institutions and each other.Learn more about the Stupski Foundation’s work.Host: Glen GalaichGuest: Sarah LongwellProducer: Claire Callahan

Break Fake Rules is a podcast from the Stupski Foundation that questions philanthropy’s self-imposed rules and looks for ways philanthropy can better serve communities and contribute to lasting change. In our first episode of this series, Glen talks with Pia Infante, senior fellow at the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project, about the concept of a spend down, Trust-Based Philanthropy, and tapping into community power. Learn more about the Stupski Foundation’s work.Host: Glen GalaichGuest: Pia InfanteProducer: Claire Callahan

“There’s all this wealth that’s locked up, that has been taken from the community that needs to be distributed back to the community.” Break Fake Rules is a podcast from the Stupski Foundation that questions philanthropy’s self-imposed rules and looks for ways philanthropy can better serve communities and contribute to lasting change. Glen speaks with Jennifer Nguyen, director of postsecondary success at the Stupski Foundation, who makes the case for integrating students in decision-making, greater wealth distribution, and why institutional philanthropy should cease to exist. Learn more from Jennifer with, "Philanthropy Confidential, a “Dear Abby”-style quarterly column where Jen answers anonymously submitted questions about the opaque, strange, and often absurdist world of institutional philanthropy. Learn more about the Stupski Foundation’s work.Host: Glen GalaichGuest: Jennifer NguyenProducer: Claire Callahan

Some rules are meant to be broken - especially the fake ones! Join Glen Galaich, CEO of the Stupski Foundation, and guests, as they question philanthropy’s self-imposed rules and look for ways philanthropy can better serve communities and contribute to lasting systems change. New episodes drop monthly starting on January 17.Click here to learn more about the Stupski Foundation.