find your cause

Joseph Smalzer
  • 5.0 (9)
  • Non-Profit
  • Updated Weekly

"find your cause" is the official podcast of Greater Than Zero Percent (GTZP). GTZP is 501(c)(3) non-profit on a mission to find people and organizations that are changing the world and sharing their stories. We believe that however big or small of a positive impact you have, every bit counts. As long as you are adding greater than zero percent, the momentum you build is already changing the world.

  1. 6d ago

    Don't Let AI Write This For You With Jermaine Ee

    Jermaine Ee built a chatbot to help his mother put her life into words: her belongings, her memories, the people she loved. A few months into the project, she had a stroke and passed away. Before that, on a family trip back to Oklahoma, she stood in a remodeled Burger King and finished a story she'd carried for forty years. Jermaine turned that mission into HeirLight, an app built to make estate planning feel less like paperwork and more like the conversations that mattered most. TIMESTAMPS: [00:00:22] What is the mission and purpose of HeirLight? [00:02:07] What role did your mother play in inspiring HeirLight? [00:06:33] Was your mom able to share her story and experiences before passing? [00:11:28] What are the core components of a standard estate plan? [00:13:28] What is the difference between an advance directive and a power of attorney? [00:14:30] Why should you avoid drafting a legal will using generic AI tools? [00:17:18] What is the step-by-step experience for someone using HeirLight? [00:25:30] How has HeirLight evolved since launching, and where is it headed? Heirlight Website: https://heirlight.com/en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/HeirLight-61577567893011/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heirlight/ App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/heirlight-simple-will-maker/id6748193203 Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.heirlight.app&hl=en LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/heirlight/ GTZP links: Website: http://www.gtzp.org Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2ZeAnlQ... YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gtzp #FindYourCause #GreaterThanZeroPercent #EstatePlanning #Nonprofit #MissionDriven #HeirLight #LegacyPlanning #FounderStory

    Don't Let AI Write This For You With Jermaine Ee

  2. Jul 14

    Giving At-Risk Kids Their First Passport With Omari Davis

    Home economics. Wood shop. Music. The enrichment classes that taught a generation how to actually live got quietly cut from schools, but the kids still need them. Omari Davis built an organization to put them back. Omari Davis is the founder and executive officer of Get Out And Learn Something (GOALS), and a returning Find Your Cause guest five years after his first appearance. In this conversation he and Joseph Smalzer get into the "Use What You Got" culinary unit that teaches latchkey kids to make a real meal from whatever's already in the kitchen, the Passion Through Passports program that has taken youth on their first flights to Jamaica, Costa Rica, and Puerto Rico, why "no man is an island" still matters in the age of AI, the importance of protecting the pause between a question and an answer, and the slow, cold-call-and-a-flyer work of growing to nearly 20 schools across two states. G.O.A.L.S. Website: https://www.getoutandlearnsomething.com/ Email: getoutandlearnsomething@gmail.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/getoutandlearnsomething Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getoutandlearnsomething/ GTZP: Website: gtzp.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greaterthanzeropercent/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greaterthanzeropercent/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/greaterthanzeropercent/ Want to be a guest? You may reach jerome@gtzp.org for inquiries. #FindYourCause #YouthDevelopment #Education #Nonprofit #LifeSkills #GreaterThanZeroPercent

    Giving At-Risk Kids Their First Passport With Omari Davis

  3. Jul 7

    45 Years Fighting for the World's Most Forgotten People With Steven Muncy

    Steven Muncy was 23 years old, had never left the US, and couldn't speak a foreign language. He bought a ticket to the Philippines anyway. Forty-six years later, he leads Community and Family Services International, a 500-person organization working with hundreds of thousands of displaced people each year across Southeast Asia. In this conversation, Steven talks about the lessons that only come from showing up in a refugee camp, why the narrative around refugees is not just wrong but provably wrong, and the one moment with a woman named Dolores that changed how he listens. Guest links: Community and Family Services International: https://cfsi.ph/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CFSI.RebuildingLives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cfsi_rebuilds/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cfsi-rebuildinglives/ X: https://x.com/CFSI_rebuilds YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/cfsivideo/feed GTZP links: Website: www.gtzp.org Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/find-your-cause/id1528910691 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2ZeAnlQdjwKX5JodvYFwp2 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gtzp #FindYourCause #Refugees #HumanRights #Nonprofit #GreaterThanZeroPercent #SocialJustice

    45 Years Fighting for the World's Most Forgotten People With Steven Muncy

  4. Jun 26

    How 91% of Illinois Wetlands Disappeared With Peter Goodspeed

    Illinois has already lost between 80% and 91% of its wetlands over the last 200 years. Most of that land is now farmland, and most people have no idea it happened. Peter Goodspeed, Restoration Program Director at The Wetlands Initiative, has spent his career working to reverse that loss, one acre at a time. In this conversation he explains what a wetland actually is (it is more than standing water), why losing them leads to catastrophic flooding and dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico, and how a small 20-person nonprofit is quietly restoring thousands of acres across Illinois and Indiana, including a former WWII munitions plant just outside of Joliet. He also walks through what farmers, homeowners, and regular people can do right now to be part of the restoration, even without owning land. Chapters: [00:00] Introduction [00:00] What Is The Wetlands Initiative? [00:00] Why Peter Chose This Work [00:00] What a Wetland Actually Is [00:00] What Wetlands Do for Us [00:00] Why 80-91% of Illinois Wetlands Are Gone [00:00] Balancing Agriculture and Conservation [00:00] A World With No Wetlands vs. a World With Plenty [00:00] The Smart Wetlands Program [00:00] The Dixon Refuge and Midewin Prairie [00:00] The Calumet Region Restoration [00:00] How You Can Get Involved Guest links: The Wetlands Initiative: wetlands-initiative.org Instagram: @wetlandsinitiative GTZP links: Website: gtzp.org Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/find-your-cause/id1528910691 Sponsor Alignment Call: calendly.com/gtzp/gtzp-impact-alignment #FindYourCause #WetlandsRestoration #EnvironmentalNonprofit #Conservation #GreaterThanZeroPercent #TheWetlandsInitiative #ClimateAction #Chicago

    How 91% of Illinois Wetlands Disappeared With Peter Goodspeed

  5. Jun 19

    The Jersey That Changed a Life With Lesley de Jonge

    Lesley de Jonge is the founder and executive director of Let's Keep the Ball Flying, a nonprofit connecting the global volleyball community to spread access to the sport. In this conversation he and Joseph Smalzer get into the moment in Nepal that started it all, why a jersey can be a bridge into belonging, how the organization teaches coaches in rural areas to build a volleyball from plastic bags and a net from bamboo, the school-adoption model that has clubs from Stanford to Nebraska giving back, and the lesson he keeps relearning: the people doing the giving are the ones who get changed the most. Let's Keep the Ball Flying: Website: lktbf.org Email: info@lktbf.org Socials: https://www.instagram.com/letskeeptheballflying/ https://www.facebook.com/letskeeptheballflying https://www.tiktok.com/@letskeeptheballflying https://www.linkedin.com/company/letskeeptheballflying/ GTZP.ORG: Website: https://www.gtzp.org/ Email: jerome@gtzp.org Socials: https://www.facebook.com/greaterthanzeropercent/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/greaterthanzeropercent https://www.youtube.com/@gtzp https://www.instagram.com/greaterthanzeropercent/ https://www.tiktok.com/@greaterthanzeropercent #FindYourCause #Volleyball #SportForGood #Nonprofit #AccessToSport #GreaterThanZeroPercent

    The Jersey That Changed a Life With Lesley de Jonge

  6. Jun 12

    What Wealthy Donors Think During Your Pitch? With Bill Crouch

    Bill Crouch spent two decades as a college president before founding BrightDot, a consulting firm that has worked with over 150 nonprofits to fix the one problem most of them refuse to name: they do not know how to talk to the people who have the money. In this episode, Bill and Joseph dig into why fundraising staff turn over every 16 months, what a funeral home owner taught Bill about donor psychology, how the shift from the 80/20 rule to a 95/5 wealth concentration has changed the game for nonprofits, and why "your mission doesn't count unless you have the revenue to run it." Connect with Bill and BrightDot: brightdot.com Find Your Cause: Website: gtzp.org Sponsor inquiry: https://calendly.com/gtzp/gtzp-impact-alignment/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gtzp Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greaterthanzeropercent/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/greaterthanzeropercent/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greaterthanzeropercent Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greaterthanzeropercent/ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/find-your-cause/id1528910691 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2ZeAnlQdjwKX5JodvYFwp2 #FindYourCause #Nonprofit #Fundraising #BrightDot #Mattership #NonprofitLeadership #SocialImpact #MissionDriven #Philanthropy

    What Wealthy Donors Think During Your Pitch? With Bill Crouch

  7. Jun 3

    What LGBTQ+ Youth Actually Need With Brian Wenke

    Brian Wenke has spent over a decade as Executive Director of It Gets Better, one of the most recognized LGBTQ+ youth organizations in the world. What started in 2010 as a single video response to a wave of youth suicides became a global storytelling movement reaching young queer people across 19 countries. But Brian is not interested in staying relevant forever. His goal is to put the organization out of business. In this episode, Brian and Joseph dig into what it actually takes to reach LGBTQ+ youth before a crisis happens, why storytelling alone is not enough anymore, how the Changemakers grant program has put $1.6 million into youth-led projects across nearly every US state, and what Brian thinks the community itself has gotten wrong in the current political moment. Connect with Brian and It Gets Better: itgetsbetter.org twitch.tv/itgetsbetter @ItGetsBetter on all major platforms Find Your Cause: Website: gtzp.org YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gtzp Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greaterthanzeropercent/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/greaterthanzeropercent/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greaterthanzeropercent Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greaterthanzeropercent/ Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/find-your-cause/id1528910691 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2ZeAnlQdjwKX5JodvYFwp2 Sponsor inquiry: https://calendly.com/gtzp/gtzp-impact-alignment/ #FindYourCause #Nonprofit #LGBTQYouth #ItGetsBetter #SocialImpact #CauseLeadership #MissionDriven #Philanthropy

    What LGBTQ+ Youth Actually Need With Brian Wenke

  8. May 26

    He Fights for Forgotten Crime Victims With David Thiruselvam

    Sponsorship Inquiries: https://calendly.com/gtzp/gtzp-impact-alignment When a crime happens, the system focuses on putting the perpetrator away. The victim testifies, helps the prosecution, and then gets forgotten. There are no programs, no financial support, and no path forward for people whose lives have been completely upended. David Thiruselvam saw that gap and built a law firm around it. Victim Recovery Law Center exists specifically for crime victims, from sexual assault survivors to shooting victims to families who lost someone because a business failed its duty to keep them safe. The cases are hard, expensive, and go to trial. That is exactly why most law firms do not take them. This episode covers how the civil justice system actually works, why most victims do not know they have legal options, what businesses are legally required to do to protect their customers, and how one lawsuit helped take a ghost gun manufacturer off the streets. Chapters: [02:00] Why David built a firm focused only on crime victims [03:13] Why America is a litigious country and whether that is good or bad [07:24] The coffee case: what most people get wrong about frivolous lawsuits [10:53] How settlement amounts are determined and what forum shopping is [14:07] How insurance and civil lawsuits interact [18:29] Why most victims never know they have a legal option [21:45] How cameras are changing accountability, not crime rates [22:03] Why the mall was held responsible [23:54] Gas station shootings and the duty businesses owe their customers [29:36] How to find a law firm if you are a crime victim [37:33] How a lawsuit shut down a bar where employees were drugging customers [41:07] How to contact Victim Recovery Law Center Connect with David Thiruselvam: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-thiruselvam-49560a6/ info@victimrecoverylaw.com Connect with Find Your Cause: Website: gtzp.orgYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@gtzpInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/greaterthanzeropercent/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/greaterthanzeropercent/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@greaterthanzeropercentFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/greaterthanzeropercent/Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/find-your-cause/id1528910691Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2ZeAnlQdjwKX5JodvYFwp2 #FindYourCause #GTZP #VictimRecoveryLaw #CrimeVictims #Justice #VictimRights #Law #CivilJustice #GhostGuns #SexualAssaultAwareness

    He Fights for Forgotten Crime Victims With David Thiruselvam
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
9 Ratings

About

"find your cause" is the official podcast of Greater Than Zero Percent (GTZP). GTZP is 501(c)(3) non-profit on a mission to find people and organizations that are changing the world and sharing their stories. We believe that however big or small of a positive impact you have, every bit counts. As long as you are adding greater than zero percent, the momentum you build is already changing the world.

Information

  • Creator
    Joseph Smalzer
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    204
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Joseph Smalzer
  • Show Website
    find your cause