The Good People Fund
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!
A healthy snack business? A clothing line? A pop-up restaurant? For street-connected youth in inner city Baltimore, social enterprise projects — and community service jobs — break the cycle of poverty, develop skills for positive futures, and transform a community. Driving this impact is The Food Project of UEmpower of Maryland, a Good People Fund grantee. Michelle Suazo, Co-Founder of UEmpower of Maryland and Executive Director of The Food Project, describes it all to Naomi Eisenberger, GPF Executive Director.
There are an estimated 30,000 asylum seekers in Israel today … men, women and children, mostly from Africa, who’ve risked their lives to escape adverse conditions and now await legal status in Israel or elsewhere — anywhere that will welcome them. But for now, they live in substandard conditions, invisible to many Israelis while the government threatens deportation. Rabbi Levi Lauer, Founding Executive Director of Atzum, and Julie Fisher, Founder and Director of the Consortium for Israel and the Asylum Seekers, speak with GPF Executive Director Naomi Eisenberger about the plight of this population and what they are doing to change the reality.
For youth at risk – specifically teens and young adults with past or current contact with the child welfare or juvenile justice systems – having a mentor can be a tipping point toward positive self-worth and a promising future. That’s what Connections Mentor – a Good People Fund grantee – makes possible in NYC and Westchester County to the north, pairing volunteer mentors with youth needing positive role models. Connections Mentor Founder Paul Muratore speaks with GPF Executive Director Naomi Eisenberger about making a difference in lives and communities.
Flip through the online pages of jGirls Magazine for a deep dive into compelling issues – from self-identity to social pressures to protest – created by self-identifying Jewish girls aged 13 to 19. jGirls – a Good People Fund grantee – is the brainchild of Elizabeth Mandel, a New York-based documentarian, writer, and community activist who created the multi-media platform to elevate and empower critical voices, often marginalized. She speaks about her vision and impact, and the challenges of being a social entrepreneur during challenging times.
Jacob Sztokman was on a business trip to Mumbai when he came across abject need and horrendous conditions in the city’s slums. The exposure shook him up to a point of no return. He gave up his career in high-tech to establish Gabriel Project Mumbai – a Good People Fund grantee – to improve lives for individuals and families in India’s challenged urban areas and outlying villages.
There’s a fitness club in Maryland that stands apart from your usual corner gym. At SPIRIT Club, individuals with physical and developmental disabilities are lifting weights, doing aerobics, and working with personal trainers in an environment that prizes diversity, respect and inclusion. SPIRIT (Social-Physical-Interactive-Respectful-Integrated-Teamwork) Club Founder Jared Ciner talks about how his work as a fitness instructor and with individuals with special needs coalesced into SPIRIT Club and the ancillary SPIRIT Club Foundation – a Good People Fund grantee – to ensure that physical health and socialization be accessible to all.
