Our visionary and engaging partners talk about their drive and impact in Good People Talk, the monthly podcast of The Good People Fund. It’s all about good people doing good in the world with creativity and hard work … and talking about it!
Find a new episode of Good People Talk here each month, or subscribe on SoundCloud. We’d love to hear your comments or suggestions too. So be in touch!
Episode 40: Guiding Families Through Pediatric Cancer
As founder of MyChild’sCancer — a GPF grantee — Oded Grinstein gives parents of children with cancer the medical knowledge and social support they need to be strong advocates for effective treatments and positive outcomes. The journey began when Oded’s infant daughter was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer that she effectively beat back. Oded speaks with GPF Co-Founder and Executive Director Naomi Eisenberger.
Episode 39: Supporting Survivors of Sexual Abuse
In Israel, Shana Aaronson is the CEO of Magen for Jewish Communities, a GPF grantee organization addressing sexual abuse and exploitation in the Orthodox Jewish community. Under her leadership, the organization is making huge impact by helping and supporting survivors, raising awareness and educating in the community and beyond, and advocating for survivors in investigatory and legal channels.
Grantee Program(s) Featured in This Episode:
Magen for Jewish Communities
Episode 38: Storytelling as the Great Connector
The art of deriving and telling life stories can be the great connector — empowering individuals on the edges of society, bridging divides in communities, and advancing social justice. Cara Solomon is a former journalist establishing and practicing this approach as Founder and Executive Director of Everyday Boston, a GPF grantee. She describes the impact she seeks and is making, here in conversation with GPF Executive Director Naomi Eisenberger.
Episode 37: In Israel, A Unique Model to Help Individuals in Emotional Distress
For individuals in emotional distress — including those with suicidal tendencies — an empathetic advocate trained to gauge the severeness of need can be a bridge to a positive outcome. Sahar — a GPF grantee — is a volunteer-driven Israeli non-profit organization using a unique tech model as a form of intervention. GPF Co-Founder and Exec. Dir. Naomi Eisenberger speaks with Sahar CEO Yael Levy.
Episode 36: For Vulnerable Youth and Families, Filling Voids and Changing Outcomes
For underserved and vulnerable youth and families involved in the juvenile court or child welfare systems in Massachusetts, resources as varied as a bus fare, a laptop, even a bed, can tilt the balance toward improved systemic and personal outcomes. Anne Bader-Martin is a juvenile court attorney who founded One Can Help — a Good People Fund grantee — to provide missing but needed resources and create positive trajectories.
Episode 35: In Rural Mali, Planting Futures Through Education
Barry Hoffner was on a personal trip to Mali in 2010, when he was struck by the lack of educational opportunities for young people in rural villages around Timbuktu. So he decided to build a school. Now, a dozen years and 16 schools later, his organization, Caravan to Class — a Good People Fund grantee — has grown from building schools … to supporting women’s literacy and sending young women to college through a scholarship fund named after his late wife, Jackie.
Barry speaks with GPF Executive Director — and host of Good People Talk — Naomi Eisenberger.
Episode 34: Shutaf: Filling a Void with Inclusion
Beth Steinberg and Miriam Avraham both have children with Down syndrome, both moved to Israel, and both found a lack of informal education programming for those with developmental challenges. So, they started a program themselves.
Shutaf, which means “partner” in Hebrew, is a Jerusalem based organization — and a Good People Fund grantee — practicing an inclusionary model of informal programming mixing kids, teens, and young adults across the spectrum of developmental, physical and learning abilities.
Beth and Miriam speak with GPF Co Founder and Executive Director Naomi Eisenberger about Shutaf and its impact.
Episode 33: “Homeless Women Need Bras” — Giving Dignity to Those in Need
Dana Marlowe was a working mom in metro Washington, DC who was driven by a personal experience to start I Support the Girls, a Good People Fund grantee. The organization gives bras, menstrual products and other personal care items to people around the world who need them desperately — due to homelessness, natural and human-made disasters, and other extreme circumstances. Dana sits with Naomi Eisenberger, GPF Co-Founder and Executive Director, to describe the genesis and impact of I Support the Girls, and the power of dignity.
Episode 32: Advocating for Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse in the Orthodox Jewish Community
Asher Lovy grew up in the insular Haredi community of Borough Park, Brooklyn and was sexually, physically and mentally abused by his mother. The silence within his community — where discussion of such aggressions was neither acknowledged nor welcome — propelled Asher to make some noise as head of ZA’AKAH (Hebrew for “outcry”), advocating for survivors of child sexual abuse in the Orthodox Jewish community. GPF Co-Founder and Exec. Dir. Naomi Eisenberger speaks to Asher about his personal journey and ZA’AKAH’s impact.
Episode 31: Aiding Holocaust Survivors in Ukraine, as Humanitarian Crisis Continues
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, The Survivor Mitzvah Project has been operating in overdrive, navigating turmoil and destruction in Ukraine to maintain contact with Holocaust survivors, deliver them more critical aid, and in some cases provide them safe passage out of the country. Good People Fund Exec. Dir. Naomi Eisenberger speaks with The Survivor Mitzvah Project Founder Zane Buzby about the organization’s work and impact during this international humanitarian crisis, and how GPF support is helping.