John-Michael Keyes, founder of the I Love You Guys Foundation, joins Mike Spear to share how the devastating loss of his 16-year-old daughter Emily during a 2006 school hostage crisis became the catalyst for a national movement that has reshaped how schools, first responders, and communities prepare for and respond to crises.

Jocelyn Wyatt, CEO of Alight, shares her 25-year journey transforming humanitarian aid through human-centered design—from recognizing the disconnect between Washington decision-makers and field realities to leading a $90 million organization serving 4 million displaced people annually. Through powerful stories from Bolivia's forests to Sudan's war zones, she demonstrates why treating refugees as customers with choice rather than passive beneficiaries creates more dignified and effective aid, and how maintaining optimism in the face of massive funding cuts and global crises isn't just philosophical—it's strategic.

Data scientist, impact strategist, and entrepreneur, Andrew Means joins Mike Spear to reveal why many nonprofits are "flying blind" without basic data infrastructure, offering practical frameworks like the "data hierarchy of needs" while speaking plainly about charity evaluators that measure overhead instead of actual impact. The conversation explores how data democratization—not expensive consultants—can transform organizations, and why Andrew joined Altruous as an advisor to help build transparent, evidence-based philanthropy that focuses on the only question that matters: are beneficiaries actually better off?

Technologist and philanthropist Jim Carter III joins Mike Spear to demystify AI for the social impact sector, sharing practical strategies including his three-question framework for identifying AI opportunities and revealing how he helped facilitate $10 million in cryptocurrency donations to nonprofits. The conversation challenges the nonprofit sector's technology resistance, with both hosts arguing that AI adoption is now an imperative for organizations serious about their missions, while demonstrating through real examples—from digital clones to Altruous's AI-powered evaluation system—how artificial intelligence amplifies rather than replaces human judgment in philanthropy.

In this episode of Cause & Purpose, we sit down with the CEO of Native Forward, Angelique Albert. Angelique shares insights from her life growing up on tribal lands in Montana, talks about some of the historical context that shapes the way Native Americans relate to Education, and shares insights from scaling Native Forward to serve more Native American scholars.