It's What Everyone Needs To Do: A Conversation with Hillary Cohen, a Top Five 2025 CNN Hero

Recognized as one of the Top Five CNN Heroes of 2025, Hillary Cohen is the co-founder of Every Day Action, a nonprofit tackling food waste and hunger by redirecting unused gourmet meals from Hollywood sets to people in need across Southern California. After years working as an assistant director and witnessing staggering amounts of food thrown away daily, Hillary and her co-founder, Sam Luu, set out to challenge the status quo and prove that feeding people shouldn’t be “too complicated.” What began during the pandemic has grown into a movement that partners with studios and fills plates instead of dumpsters. In this episode, Hillary shares how small shifts behind the scenes can lead to big change on the streets.

Recognized as one of the Top Five CNN Heroes of 2025, Tim Woodward is the Executive Director and a founding force behind Animal Rescue Corps, the national nonprofit created in 2010 to confront large-scale animal cruelty wherever it occurs. What began with a small team determined to fill a devastating gap in animal protection has grown into a nationwide rescue effort working hand in hand with law enforcement to save animals from neglect, abuse, and disaster. In this episode, he shares what it takes to lead life-saving operations, build powerful partnerships, and ensure that every animal has the chance to know safety, dignity, and care.

Recognized as one of the Top Five CNN Heroes of 2025, Heidi Carman is the founder and Executive Director of First Responder Therapy Dogs, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the emotional well-being of first responders. What began with Heidi and her own dog visiting local fire stations in California has grown into a national effort reaching firefighters, paramedics, dispatchers, and law enforcement officers across forty-six states. By bringing calm and connection into high-stress environments, Heidi is helping first responders navigate the daily toll of their work—one wagging tail at a time.

Recognized as one of the Top Five CNN Heroes of 2025, Debra Des Vignes is the founder and Executive Director of the Indiana Prison Writers Workshop (IPWW), a nonprofit dedicated to transforming the lives of incarcerated individuals through the power of creative writing. Launched in 2018 after her decade-long career as a crime reporter, IPWW began as a single 12-week class inside one Indiana prison and has since expanded across eight correctional facilities in multiple states. Through writing, reflection, and community, Debra is giving people behind bars a chance to reclaim their voices—and their futures—one story at a time.

Julie Yurko is President & CEO of Northern Illinois Food Bank, where she leads a neighbor-centric transformation of the charitable food system to deliver dignified, equitable access across 13 counties. A respected nonprofit leader and past president of Apra International, she serves on the boards of the Global FoodBanking Network, Better Business Bureau of Chicago, Feeding Illinois, and the Thrivent Member Network. In this episode, we trace Julie’s path from cello student and Chicago Symphony Orchestra fundraiser to crisis-tested food bank chief—exploring how faith, lived experience, and innovative community partnerships shape her vision to end hunger.

In this special episode, we bring together some of the most influential voices in healthcare philanthropy—Nancy Bussani, Executive Vice President and Chief Philanthropy Officer for CommonSpirit Health and President of the CommonSpirit Health Foundation; Julie Cox, Vice President of Development at LifeBridge Health; John Drake, President of the BSW Irving Foundation at Baylor Scott & White Health; David Flood, Enterprise Chief Development Officer and President of the Intermountain Foundation; Bill Littlejohn, CEO and Senior Vice President of the Sharp HealthCare Foundation; and Birgit Stumpf, Acting Managing Director of Deutsche Stiftung Frauengesundheit and Leader of the Healthcare Section of the Deutscher Fundraising Verband. In a collaboration between Accordant and DonorSearch, I met with each of these leaders individually at the AHP International Conference to ask one simple but revealing question: In today’s environment, what is your biggest challenge—and what is your greatest opportunity? Here are their answers.

Lindsey Nadeau is Vice President of Philanthropy Insight at UNICEF USA, where she leads data-driven strategy and enterprise systems that deepen donor engagement and accelerate revenue growth. A nationally recognized voice in prospect development, she also serves as President-Elect of Apra International. In this episode, we follow Lindsey’s journey from her early days in development operations to steering insight-driven strategy for one of the world’s leading humanitarian organizations—all while exploring how her equestrian mindset informs her leadership and life with balance, patience, focus, and the discipline to keep improving, stride after stride.

Christy Coleman is the Executive Director of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, where she leads institutional efforts to reinterpret early American history and engage the public in complex national narratives.  A nationally recognized museum leader, she was raised within the historically significant community of Williamsburg and played a significant role at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation before taking on the role of President and CEO of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit. There she led a five-year, $43 million Legacy Campaign and oversaw development of the core exhibition And Still We Rise: Our Journey Through African American History and Culture. She later became CEO of the American Civil War Museum in Richmond, where she directed the merger of the Museum of the Confederacy and the American Civil War Center and co-led the Monument Avenue Commission examining Confederate memorials. Named by Time magazine as one of “31 People Changing the South,” she has become a leading voice in transforming how history is interpreted and discussed in public life. In this episode, we explore her personal and professional journey to leadership across pivotal cultural institutions, how she has navigated controversy with purpose, and her belief in history as a catalyst for understanding and change.

Bill TeDesco is the founder of DonorSearch, the leading provider of fundraising intelligence solutions in the nonprofit world. Raised in Pennsylvania, he studied Landscape Architecture and then earned a Master of Public Administration from Penn State before beginning his career in technology and then moving into a key development role at the Fund for Educational Excellence and later at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He went on to serve as Executive Vice President at Target America and CEO of WealthEngine before launching DonorSearch in 2007 to bring data, analytics, and AI into fundraising in ways that put relationships first. In this episode, we explore his journey from school days to frontline fundraising to technology leadership, the lessons he’s learned along the way, and his vision for the future of the field.

Brent Grinna is the founder and President of EverTrue, a platform reimagining how nonprofits connect with their supporters. Raised on a farm in Iowa, he went on to Brown University, where he captained the varsity football team and chaired the senior class gift campaign, before moving into the private equity and then earning his MBA at Harvard Business School. His early experiences in alumni fundraising led him to see how outdated systems held back meaningful relationships between institutions and donors. In response, he built EverTrue to bring data and digital tools into advancement work in ways that put people first. In this episode, we explore his journey from Iowa to the world of philanthropy and technology, the lessons he’s learned along the way, and his vision for the future.