“If you're a positive adult who can offer support, there's a huge impact. 86% of our kids quadruple their literacy learning rate.” - Michelle Curren

Sometimes the most meaningful journeys in life are unexpected, aren’t they?

When Michelle Curren set out to change the world, she didn’t see herself helping kids learn to read in her hometown of Chico, CA. She thought she’d be actively combatting sex trafficking in other countries.

But through an interesting and unexpected journey, she came to understand that one of the most effective ways to help a child succeed in life is simply to help them read. Today, Michelle is the CEO and Executive Director of Reading Pals, a growing nonprofit devoted to rewriting kids’ stories by helping them tap into the power of reading.

In this conversation, you’ll hear:

• How you can combat donor and volunteer apathy through community
• The impact of making it easier to volunteer
• Honest reflections on whether to scale your nonprofit
• And why it’s important to protect your priorities in leadership

If you’re looking to reframe the way you define a direction and cast vision for the future of your organization, this episode is one you don’t want to miss.

Find our key takeaways and any resources mentioned during the episode in the show notes: www.futurenonprofit.com/michelle-curren

“So many people are not voicing their power.” - Holly Smithson

What if your biggest strength is the thing you’ve been told is your greatest weakness?

In this episode, Ted sits down with Holly Smithson, CEO of Athena, a global leadership platform dedicated to fast-tracking women in STEM (short for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). This is an incredible organization that is partnering with some of the nation’s top corporations by strengthening their executive pipeline, fostering cultures of innovation and impact, and accelerating workforce readiness for the future economy.

Holly shares how a childhood spent watching news with her dad and idolizing Carol Burnett sparked a lifelong passion for storytelling and advocacy. She walks us through her journey—from Capitol Hill to a cancer diagnosis—and how embracing vulnerability, authenticity, and innovation became central to her leadership.

You’ll hear how Holly’s nonprofit, Athena, grew from a regional incubator into a global confidence lab, why innovation is a critical skill for nonprofits, and how “embracing your power” can fuel stronger impact and more confident leadership.

Whether you're navigating growth, burnout, or a call to lead more authentically, Holly’s story is a powerful invitation to something better.

Want our key takeaways from this conversation? Take a look at the show notes for this episode: https://www.futurenonprofit.com/holly-smithson/

“There was no real mechanism for measuring what we meant when we said build trust… Who was creating the surveys? What was the methodology? What were the metrics assessing relationships?” - Meme Styles

You use data every day.

In the stories you tell donors.

In the statistics you share on social media.

In the decisions you make about the future of the organization.

But data-informed decision-making goes deeper than just collecting numbers and drawing conclusions from them.

Meme Styles, our guest today, reminds us that we need to be asking some important questions:

• Where did these numbers come from?
• How do we know they are trustworthy and accurate?
• How biased or unbiased are the sources of that data or the methodology we’re utilizing?

From running a lunchroom advocacy campaign as a third grader to sitting on panels with city officials in Austin, TX, Meme has always been a force for change. And in 2015, she founded MEASURE, a nonprofit data advocacy organization working to eliminate social disparities in health, education, economics, and criminal justice—one dataset at a time.

In this episode, Meme shares how data can either reinforce inequities or drive systemic change, how data bias can show up in nonprofits, why community is the best form of technology, and the most impactful decision Meme says she’s made in her leadership.

If you’re a nonprofit leader committed to equity, dignity, and visionary leadership, this conversation is for you.

Want our key takeaways from this conversation? Take a look at the show notes for this episode: https://www.futurenonprofit.com/meme-styles/