This week’s episode is inspiring and has many great lessons on impact as Jessica Baron takes the mic to talk to mover and shaker Clare Zlatic Blankemeyer, the Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for the Mayerson Foundation and President of Impact 100. Among many topics, they discuss how thinking about problems from a different perspective invents new possibilities.  

They start out by discussing the Mayerson Foundation’s Activation Funding pilot to enhance the impact of philanthropic dollars on the agencies they fund, specifically: 

“to look at what’s best in people, and how are non-profits activating, accelerating, sparking what’s best in people...not only looking at a deficit and what’s wrong with them...whatever label might be attached to a client of a non-profit.” Clare Blankemeyer (2:30)

One example is sparking hope from one of the world’s darkest hours with their support for the Center For Holocaust and Humanities. (3:09)

Clare says, “We can choose as people to be our best selves, even when it imperils our lives.”  She shares the story of one mother’s courageous and tragic act as a celebration of human strength (4:04)


It “calls on us to what we can do in the face of injustice...what strengths can we call upon to act differently.” (4:57) 

She shares positive examples of people standing up for hate even when it doesn’t apply to them (7:56)


Clare discusses how  “Positive Psychology” influences everything that the Mayerson Foundation does, in order to inspire and create a “window of hope” (8:20)

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Jessica shares her personal experience with the exhibits about being inspired and hopeful to engage in impact. (11:02)

“Up-standers are not always extraordinary people.  They are ordinary people who made courageous decisions in a moment...The Holocaust was a result of people being bystanders, people not tapping into their strengths and sayiing ‘wait a minute. This is wrong.” We have opportunities to call on that everyday.” Clare Blankemeyer (11:34)

Next they discuss how “activation funding” from the Mayerson Foundation is supporting organizations who empower their clients, not simply “tell them what to do.” (13:00)

This work is carried through in another organization Clare is passionate about, Impact 100. Her inspiring quotes and outside-the-box thinking carry through, as she shares


THE primary flaw in traditional philanthropy and how nonprofits are changing(16:23)

How an embarrassing moment created an opportunity to think differently (21:20)

A lesson in authenticity.