34. Failing Forward

This week we are privileged to be joined by Charlie Hammerman, President and CEO at The Disability Opportunity Fund (https://www.thedof.org), for an absolutely fascinating interview. We discuss how he leveraged his finance background into a career of multifaceted impact, changing the lives of individuals with disabilities all over the US (21:05). Other segments include "Board of Directors" (3:48), "Ari's rant" (17:35), "Where we were wrong" (79:20), and "Linkswipe" (83:38). 

Joel Pollick, Founder and CEO of Percent Pledge (https://www.percentpledge.org/) joins us to discuss his story, the benefits of building a culture of charity at your company, millennial giving trends and much more (19:54). Other segments include "Board of Directors" (5:35), and "Where we were wrong" (63:26). 

Finally the long awaited live recording from the 2021 Nageela @ Topgolf event featuring your favorite Chicago personalities is here. Again, very important PSA: There is no content of substance in this episode so if you are here to expand your knowledge then please skip to the next episode. You have been warned.....

Serial entrepreneur and philanthropist, Wendy Berger (https://wbsequities.com), steps in to discuss her story, nonprofit trends, female entrepreneurship, and her experience giving a Ted Talk (17:34). Other segments include "Board of Directors" (5:40), and Ask the "Expert" featuring an old friend (61:00).  

We are back for another episode and this time we are joined by Jonathan Greenberg (https://twitter.com/JGreenbergSez), Director of Freedom Initiatives at the Jack Miller Family Foundation. He was not shy about his opinions on a variety of matters, and gave lots of good tips for organizations as they interact with foundations and funders (4:55). Other segments include "Board of Directors" including the debut of our new intern Justin (46:40), and a new segment called "Personality Tests" (62:18). 

Founder and CEO of Maverick Soul Consulting (https://www.mavericksoulconsulting.com/), Stefan Teodosic, returns to the show in studio to become the first reoccurring guest on 990 Talk. We dug deep discussing his personal inspirations, strategic planning, the difference between mission, vision, and goals, and broke down the long term future of this podcast (4:52). Plus, join us for some random bonus content after the outro (78:56). Other segments include "Board of Directors" (61:31) and a disgruntled listener joins the show for a "Where we were wrong" regarding a segment last episode (72:55).

For the first episode of our new "podcast year" we are joined by Chicagoland Real Estate Investor and nonprofit entrepreneur, Jeff Aeder. We discussed a variety of things including the vision and story of the Chicago based Walcott School (https://www.wolcottcollegeprep.org), Milts BBQ (http://www.miltsbbq.com), his affinity for Jews in sports, what's next for him, and many other things (4:45). Other segments include "Board of Directors" (48:05) and Ask the "Expert" with Worthy Insurance CEO, Ryan Spalding (57:12). 

For the final episode of our inaugural podcast year, we were joined by living legend and member of various Jewish sports hall of fames, Lenny Silberman (https://www.lennysilberman.com/). We discussed his inspirations, his career, his current venture- Lost Tribe E Sports (https://losttribeesports.org/), lessons from a life in the nonprofit space, how he's never worked a day in his life and and so much more (3:34). We also nominated our "Board of Directors" (58:58), and did a "Where We Were Wrong which basically turned into a "Ask the Expert" with a very special recurring guest and dedicated listener (71:04).  

We were privileged this week to be joined by motivator, leader, and nonprofit founder, Kim Karr, for a very relevant interview discussing her organization, #ICanHelp (https://www.icanhelp.net/), among a variety of other things giving us a whole new perspective on perosnal failure as well as how to use social media for good (7:16). Other segments include "Board of Directors" (53:55) and a failed attempt at Board Wives Tell-All (63:23).

Founder and Executive Director of Chitribe (https://chitribe.org/), Rebecca Joey Schwab, joins us this week to discuss her motivations, experiences and vision for improving the greater Jewish community here in Chicagoland (18:46). Other segments include "Board of Directors" (8:57), and a "Ask the Amateurs" and "Ari's Nugget" (56:32). Plus a hidden bonus interview at the end with our Board Chair's son recorded live from his bar mitzvah.