49 min

Talent Matters Remix, Part III: Culture of Care - with Michele Booth Cole Fund the People: A Podcast with Rusty Stahl

    • Non-Profit

This is the third and final episode of Talent Matters Remix, our special summer series in partnership with ProInspire, co-hosted by Monisha Kapila and Rusty Stahl.

In this episode, Monisha and Rusty talk with Michele Booth Cole, Executive Director of Safe Shores - The DC Children’s Advocacy Center, about why and how to build a nonprofit organizational culture that supports and develops employees. Michele reflects on her article, “A Culture of Care, Without Compromise,” in the Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR) Talent Matters blog series. She discusses how her experience and thinking has evolved since the piece was published in April 2015.

We also discuss Michele’s 25-year journey as a Black woman executive director in the nonprofit sector, including her years as a volunteer in different organizations, her first experience as an E.D. with Mentors, Inc., and finally her work with Safe Shores -- The DC Children's Advocacy Center. 

Other topics discussed:


How to lead nonprofits with a sense of abundance, accountability, and fearlessness.
The importance of feedback, and learning to hear people, see people and invest in people who are aligned with the values of our organizations.
How to deal with systemic racism and biases as a Black woman leader.
A message to funders on racial equity and justice.
Policies, rituals, and traditions created and led with and by Safe Shores staff to forge a culture of care.


The Talent Matters Remix, which is being released throughout July 2021, revisits Talent Matters, a 2014-15 series of essays on the Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR) blog. These special episodes are co-hosted by Monisha Kapila, Founder and Co-CEO of ProInspire (who helped curate the SSIR series), and Fund the People’s Rusty Stahl. These conversations feature some of the amazing authors from the Talent Matters blog series.

A lot has changed in our society in the seven years since 2014, when the blog series began. We’ve had seismic changes in our politics, economy, society, and the nonprofit sector and philanthropy. It’s time to revisit, reflect, and remix it!



*We want to thank Monisha Kapila and the ProInspire team, along with guests Michele Booth Cole, Trish Adobea Tchume, and Stephen Bauer for making the Talent Matters Remix possible. You can find out more about the series and all links and resources mentioned in the show notes at fundthepeople.org/podcast. 

This is the third and final episode of Talent Matters Remix, our special summer series in partnership with ProInspire, co-hosted by Monisha Kapila and Rusty Stahl.

In this episode, Monisha and Rusty talk with Michele Booth Cole, Executive Director of Safe Shores - The DC Children’s Advocacy Center, about why and how to build a nonprofit organizational culture that supports and develops employees. Michele reflects on her article, “A Culture of Care, Without Compromise,” in the Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR) Talent Matters blog series. She discusses how her experience and thinking has evolved since the piece was published in April 2015.

We also discuss Michele’s 25-year journey as a Black woman executive director in the nonprofit sector, including her years as a volunteer in different organizations, her first experience as an E.D. with Mentors, Inc., and finally her work with Safe Shores -- The DC Children's Advocacy Center. 

Other topics discussed:


How to lead nonprofits with a sense of abundance, accountability, and fearlessness.
The importance of feedback, and learning to hear people, see people and invest in people who are aligned with the values of our organizations.
How to deal with systemic racism and biases as a Black woman leader.
A message to funders on racial equity and justice.
Policies, rituals, and traditions created and led with and by Safe Shores staff to forge a culture of care.


The Talent Matters Remix, which is being released throughout July 2021, revisits Talent Matters, a 2014-15 series of essays on the Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR) blog. These special episodes are co-hosted by Monisha Kapila, Founder and Co-CEO of ProInspire (who helped curate the SSIR series), and Fund the People’s Rusty Stahl. These conversations feature some of the amazing authors from the Talent Matters blog series.

A lot has changed in our society in the seven years since 2014, when the blog series began. We’ve had seismic changes in our politics, economy, society, and the nonprofit sector and philanthropy. It’s time to revisit, reflect, and remix it!



*We want to thank Monisha Kapila and the ProInspire team, along with guests Michele Booth Cole, Trish Adobea Tchume, and Stephen Bauer for making the Talent Matters Remix possible. You can find out more about the series and all links and resources mentioned in the show notes at fundthepeople.org/podcast. 

49 min