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  • Welcome to Season 3 - Growing Stronger Impact

    Welcome to Season 3 - Growing Stronger Impact
    Mar 3 2026

    How do you build a sustainable business when your primary goal is social change rather than just a bottom line?

    After a two-year break, People Helping People is back with Season 3.

    This season is all about the "how-to" of social entrepreneurship, helping you bridge the gap between having a heart for change and running a business that actually scales. Building a social enterprise is a unique challenge. You aren’t just a nonprofit chasing grants, but you aren’t a typical for-profit startup only focused on revenue. You’re somewhere in the middle.

    Adam talks about why social entrepreneurs think differently and why things like marketing, sales, and finance are actually the engines that keep your mission alive.

    Adam gets honest about his own journey. He shares his transition from a 25-year tech career to launching a t-shirt brand for youth experiencing homelessness. He also opens up about being an entrepreneur and the awkwardness of finally starting a video challenge on social media.

    This season isn't just about tips; it’s about community. Whether you're tackling homelessness or building a neighborhood tool library, you don't have to do it alone. Adam previews a season full of expert guests, deep dives into business models, and the peer support you need to turn a blank sheet of paper into a thriving impact venture.

    CHAPTERS

    00:00 Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship

    02:41 Navigating Business Development for Social Enterprises

    04:48 The Journey of a Social Entrepreneur

    08:11 Vision for People Helping People Podcast
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    11 Min.
  • Empowering Dreamers through DACA Time | with Brook Kohn and Nathali Bertran

    Empowering Dreamers through DACA Time | with Brook Kohn and Nathali Bertran
    Jan 16 2018

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    Brook Kohn and Nathali Bertran brought their frustration with the DACA application process to the Columbus Give Back Hack -- a 54-hour hack-a-thon aimed at developing sustainable social enterprises. There, they put together a team and over a weekend built a wireframe and working prototype for a platform that would ease the process for dreamers applying for DACA.What was it like growing up as a dreamer?Nathali grew up in New York City - she moved there when she was just 9 and went to elementary school just like any other kid. She didn’t realize what her status as undocumented meant until she had to apply for college and applications kept requiring her social security numbers. So, she had to dig into the possibilities with her guidance counselors and family to figure out what she could do. Coming from a low-income background, her family couldn’t afford a full education, so her options were limited. This was 2010, and a common barrier that dreamers face.Today, there is a lot more awareness in education. Some institutions disregard the social security requirement if you’ve attended public school. Others treat you like a student from abroad. There are still challenges on scholarships -- Nathali was one of the lucky few who received a scholarship.What is DACA?In 2012, President Obama passed DACA, and that allowed Nathali to get a work permit, and allowed her to look for a job like anyone else. As Brook explained,DACA is really deferred action. It was created way back when we had the Beatles touring America, specifically for John Lennon. He was a British citizen, but he wanted to stay in the United States. So his smart immigration attorney said OK let's just defer his deportation because he has overstayed his artist visa but he's contributing so much to America. People wanted him to stay, because he made a lot of money for everyone -- sold out shows and all this artistic value and revenue. So they said, let's keep him here and just put him up at the bottom of the list, and focus our attention on people that are causing harm.It’s from this same deferred action that DACA was born in 2012. But the process is complicated. Complex forms. All to be done with pen and paper. Nathali was lucky that her parents were able to save enough to afford a lawyer - it was over $1,000, which is significant when you’re from a low-income background. She was also lucky that she didn’t miss school, and had records of her attendance because you have to show that you’ve never left the country after you arrived. She has to renew her application every two years - but now that she’s a working professional, that’s less of a burden.How did DACA Time come about?For many dreamers the process is both complicated and expensive, creating a huge barrier. After Nathali explained this to Brook, they decided they wanted to do something about it. So they brought this idea to Give Back Hack to build a platform that would help automate and simplify the process of filling out these forms, to make it more accessible to other dreamers.The response was fantastic. Derek Dehart, a product manager at Cover My Meds, joined their team, and Nicholas Tietz came onboard as their developer, as well as a couple of talented designers - Chriss Barr and Andy Jett.After Give Back Hack, they took their idea to Columbus Soup and APTE (Alleviating Poverty through Entrepreneurship) conference at OSU, which led them to SEA Change -- a Columbus program for helping develop social enterprises.Now through all of this, mind you, the entire team has full-time jobs, and yet they’re pouring their spare time into this passion, working fast to develop their platform and connections into the community.What happened when DACA was rescinded?In September/October of 2017, the current administration ended DACA. Nathali’s renewed her application right before it ended, so she has until 2019, but for th
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    37 Min.
  • Sheila Fuentes from SI’LO Shares Why Social Enterprise Issues Are Best Handled as One Problem at a Time

    Sheila Fuentes from SI’LO Shares Why Social Enterprise Issues Are Best Handled as One Problem at a Time
    Mar 26 2021

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    Sheila Fuentes spoke on the mindset lessons she learned while building her sustainable retail brand, SI'LO. Sheila is based in the Philippines, and pivoted her career from banking with an economics background to the fashion industry. One of the leading concerns for SI'LO is sustainability, but Sheila also mentioned the issue of unethical labors. Adopting new mindsets would help her in situations like the pandemic, when the business model needed to be revised.Overthinking a problem can lead to overcomplicated solutions. Sustainable fashion contains a lot of moving parts, such as supply chain partners, which leads to unexpected problems scattering an entrepreneur’s attention. Shiela expressed her approach as specifying the problem and having clarity of the main goal. She explained that it’s okay to start without having a perfect process set in place. Attention should be placed on finding a clear goal for a set issue. Sheila gave it a simple order:“One problem to solve, and then clarity of your vision.”One common issue for social entrepreneurs comes from initiatives that work directly with communities. Connecting with people that are participants or receivers in an issue supported by the initiative is essential, but a system for these interactions can get lost. Sheila spoke from the perspective of what she observes happening between communities and social entrepreneurs in the Philippines. She shared an example of what it means to build a better relationship and build rapport with a community.Shiela then goes into her own personal stories of building her mindset and the confidence of her journey. Three years were spent being afraid of what would happen if she quit her full-time job. She transparently shared her thoughts around balancing her full-time job and the business in the beginning. Until one day, she bluntly realized her business was not progressing, and finally said “I need to challenge myself, and go out of this comfort zone”. Sheila goes on to discuss the relationship between decisions and circumstances in overcoming what entrepreneurs may think is holding them back.Before wrapping up, Sheila directed the conversation further into the topic of mindset. She has a business coach and has experience as a business coach, but she warns that the real block to mindset is ourself. Once moving past self-sabotage, entrepreneurs can grab hold of concepts such as a growth mindset, “selling is serving”, and self-awareness. Having a new mindset around the business opens the door to new approaches. Sheila then explained how these new mindsets start with first assessing your mind, and getting to know what narratives are stored in the subconscious mind.We finished up with how attached people are to being “validated”. We managed to put a positive spin on the topic by speaking about switching “validation” into acknowledging others for their work. We can really help inspire other people simply by noticing what they're accomplishing in a genuine way. Acknowledging each other helps lift up the world around us. If you would like to earn more, you can connect with Sheila over Instagram.
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    27 Min.
  • Compelling Analytics Founder Abel Koury Helps Organizations Craft Effective Surveys with the Right Questions

    Compelling Analytics Founder Abel Koury Helps Organizations Craft Effective Surveys with the Right Questions
    Mar 12 2020

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    Asking the right questions is essential for accessing insightful information. Abel Koury from Compelling Analytics helps refine questions that drive your social enterprise forward.After multiple interactions with nonprofits, Abel was inspired to combine his experience in research design and data analytics with social justice. Non-profits and smaller organizations don’t always have the capacity to create great surveys that will collect and analyze the proper data to further develop the organization’s services. Abel says organizations might be doing a wonderful job, but their data does not reflect the scope of their work.Growing up in an “underprivileged town” with “economically disadvantaged immigrant parents” also shaped Abel’s perspective.“I know firsthand how it is to grow up in poverty. I take that with me where I go, and I try to use that as a lens in my work.”--Abel KouryAbel explained his thoughts on a rule of thumb for organizations. He started by creating an example of an organization with the goal of eliminating food insecurity. Focus first on articulating what you're trying to achieve, and then sum up that end goal as a headline for a reporter. In this example, Abel said using “36% of kids are now able to eat three meals a day”. By focusing on the way you expect to present the story, and where you want the program to be when you get to the stage of sharing with reporters, you get clarity. Organizations can work backwards from that imagined headline.“Before you even start the program, you've got to think about what do you want the data to look like? What do you want to collect? How are you going to show your impact?”--Abel KouryGoing deeper, Abel talked more about deciding what to ask and what information should be presented. Questions can limit results when the research design is lacking from the beginning. This led to Abel discussing how surveys should be created with the most diverse participant in mind. Questions inclusive to the variety of perspectives within your audience are an attentive and conscious effort.Defining a question’s context is equally significant. Abel gave a great example where people need to choose between 1-5, with 1 = not very fit and 5 = very fit. These choices too much room for personal interpretation, miscommunication of the question and flawed survey answers. Unless fitness is defined through context. For example, 1 = not very fit (eg. I couldn’t run a mile) and 5 = very fit (eg. I can run a mile with no problem.)As we continued, Abel got more into the rules of thumb organizations can consider to craft more effective surveys. He gave three solid rules any organization can utilize. I could really connect, since at Wild Tiger Tees, is also still learning to craft data collection, defining measures, and amplifying impact. Abel’s work with Compelling Analytics is building the future of proven impact.If you would like to learn more you can visit the official website or Abel’s LinkedIn.Read Full TranscriptAdam: [00:00:00] Welcome to the People Helping People podcast, the podcast to inspire greater social change in the business world and give you ideas on how to take action.I'm your host, Adam Morris. And today I am here with Dr Abel Koury a personal trainer and founder of Compelling Analytics. A company which really helps you to ask the right questions to get the answers you need to drive your nonprofit or social enterprise forward. So I'm very excited to hear today. We have a treat. We're going to talk about something which has alluded me for a very long time, which is how do you write a good survey.And how do you get good information that you can actually use? We're going to get some really interesting practical information here, so I'm excited to dive in. So, Abel, welcome on the podcast.Abel: [00:00:48] Thanks so much for having me.Adam: [00:00:49] I'd love to hear a little
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    31 Min.
  • Furniture Bank of COH Transforms 10,000 Acts of Kindness | with Steve Votaw

    Furniture Bank of COH Transforms 10,000 Acts of Kindness | with Steve Votaw
    Oct 27 2020

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    Steve Votaw from Furniture Bank of Central Ohio discussed the depth in their mission to “turn empty houses into homes of hope”. A phrase of “empty houses” referring to the barren conditions of a household pushing through poverty. A lack of material resources, such as furniture and appliances, can eat away at the warmth of a home. Furniture Bank of Central Ohio noticed the resources are available, yet oftentimes wasted by fortunate families wishing to trash items. At the core, the initiative is redirecting items from becoming waste to finding renewed purpose in a new home.Each tale has its own twist. Origins for this initiative start with being a nonprofit. Steve talked through how the service and businesses model was not sustainable solely through philanthropic giving. The team decided to bring social enterprise into their nonprofit. In fact, there was urgency for a pivot. A partner who regularly gave the initiative $1 million could no longer support at that capacity. With no time to spare, the team was pivoting and experimenting with their external and internal operations.Ultimately, the shifts led toward two main approaches. The initiative now earns funds through owning thrift stores and operating a downsizing company. Funds can be secured by sales and received for the value of service. Conveniently, furniture can be gained through both options, which adds to the furniture the initiative supplies to families.Steve indulged in finding a good rhythm and the topic alludes to the compound of effort. While discussing the journey of their first thrift store, he expressed the growth from $40,000 in surplus the first year to $250,000 surplus the second year. The thrift store was more for maintaining operations, so any surplus was a gift. Discovering a fitting business model did more than expected.“It takes away the pressure on philanthropy because if we can raise our own resources through these efforts, it reduces our dependence on philanthropic support.”--Steve VotawFocusing more on numbers and impact, Steve explained the evolution of impact within Furniture Bank of Central Ohio. He first observed the growing need created by poverty being amplified by the disproportionately smaller presence of government assistance. Impact driven by the initiative comes from earning funds, volunteers, donations, and adjustments to the business model personalized for the mission. Steve broke down a few numbers to the core operations making everything function.In the near future, the initiative will be tested again by another residual issue of the pandemic. Steve expressed his thoughts on what role evictions will play in the initiative’s operations moving forward. Recognizing a shift reminds the team that the work is not over. Sharing a personal story, Steve recalled a “moving” moment he witnessed as one family was being helped. The moment is proof of simple things holding tremendous meaning. Steve summed up the experience saying that even the smallest moment “helps make a house, a home”.If you would like to learn more, check out Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or the official website.
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    39 Min.
  • Lasheyl Stroud Maintains Deep Rooted Advocacy While Serving Within the Social Justice Ecosystem

    Lasheyl Stroud Maintains Deep Rooted Advocacy While Serving Within the Social Justice Ecosystem
    Oct 19 2020

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    Trigger Warning: Content in this episode involves conversations on human trafficking and trauma-based family dynamics.Lasheyl Stroud brought her expertise and authentic understating to share the work being done in and around the juvenile court system. At the time of recording, Lasheyl is growing past her role as Lead Magistrate, and running for judge of the Franklin County Court. She prepped the discussion by first explaining the difference between a judge and a magistrate. Lasheyl handled cases in Domestic Relations and Juvenile Court, which typically involve family-based issues. She also handled cases in Empowerment Court, where cases relate to human trafficking.Going across the state, and working with a sense of urgency, Lasheyl participated in every part of the court. The urgency comes not from a lack of time, but is sustained by clarity and passion. In her experience, she represented parents and children. From full time commitments at the Attorney General’s Office to volunteering as a Guardian Ad Litem, her focus on social justice impact exposed her to a wide range of experiences. Her passion and focus come from a profound sense of care, which explains the actions she upholds when children, children she considers as if they’re her own, are involved directly in court cases.Moving to a topic the public is less educated on, Lasheyl described the system of human trafficking from the perspective of her role in court. Unlike movies, human trafficking often begins with familiar figures in an individual’s life. Family and romantic partners are predators more often than people imagine. She revealed the name “Empowerment Court” is meant as a message to empower the victims within the court cases.Youth are showered in a love that is pure and genuine for the duration of the transition through court. Court staff, child services, and related stakeholders tend to be the first healthier examples of adults for some youth in court. Lasheyl unpacks the careful and attentive approach used to build true relationships with the youth. Lasheyl also dives into the delicate details of family dynamics. For example, removing youth from environments where the a parent is allowing the child to be trafficked by a significant other.If urged to add to the love being given to the youth, Lasheyl shared that people can donate gift cards, clothing, or other forms of service. As a step further, she also mentioned training conferences and mentoring programs can help people become more educated towards the social issue.Our discussion changed direction towards juvenile delinquency. Based on Lasheyl’s explanation, the harshest issue becomes the lingering consequence felt by youth after being engaged in the court system. Court personnel and volunteers aim to resolve this issue, with one hopeful option being restorative justice circles.In closing, Lasheyl took a deep dive into her journey through the social justice sphere that led to running for judge during COVID-19. (So, go out and vote, and vote all the way down your ticket!)If you would like to learn more, you can visit Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or the official website.
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    49 Min.
  • Finding True Affordable Housing Matches With Real Estate’s Love Doctor, Renter Mentor | with Jerry Valentine

    Finding True Affordable Housing Matches With Real Estate’s Love Doctor, Renter Mentor | with Jerry Valentine
    Jan 23 2020

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    Jerry Valentine explains how Renter Mentor is transforming the search for affordable housing as a consulting service and tech platform. In a way, they streamlined the landlord-tenant relationship. While working through community partnerships, the organization is bringing accountability, clarity, and efficiency to the affordable housing market.Speaking from personal experience, this is not Jerry Valentine’s first run with low-income housing, and he only became more knowledgeable. He actually gives a simple description of the state of the affordable housing market. Section 8 developed into the Housing Choice Voucher Program. In the program, tenants can find housing anywhere within public housing authorities’ jurisdiction as long as the landlord is willing to accept. Jerry and I both agreed that the last part is the huge “catch” of the fine print.Low-income housing is not a simple process. Paperwork alone can create a progress hurdle. Once landlords have a glimpse of the procedures, they are more likely to back out of the process completely. Jerry also mentioned aspects like the inspection (which you only have two times to pass), bring more hurdles to the affordable housing market.He didn’t fail to admit the public sector is not exactly up to speed on tech advances either, consequently making processes slower. Facing difficulties and learning curves can turn people away, but Renter Mentor is sure this does not need to be the reality.“I'm not a developer by any means, but I do have an innovative mindset; because I do know innovation and technology is a big part of advancing into this decade.” - Jerry ValentineSimilar to his housing market familiarity, Jerry is no stranger to forging his own path. He reflects on his momentum with Renter Mentor starting at Give Back Hack. Funnily, Renter Mentor did not begin as the most popular idea, but they got the three people they needed to form a team - and have gone on to be one of the successful startups launched from the Give Back Hack weekend launchpad.They followed their Give Back Hack success by joining SEA Change. SEA Change is a 14-week accelerator supporting social enterprises in the earlier stages of their journey. Renter mentor was 1 of the 6 winners to collectively gain funding towards their venture.Jerry reassured that everything isn’t perfect. He shared lessons the team learned along the way, such as not being established as a business in the beginning and having to rewind the process of incorporating. Fortunately, the positives outweigh the negatives overall.Columbus is a challenging city with fast growth: more people moving in, more displacement, and increasing homelessness. He explains the situation is not at the point where a change can’t be made, but that addressing the situation now is more beneficial.“That's why Renter Mentor is here. It's a disruptive solution to the problem, and trying to get ahead of things...” - Jerry ValentineYou can connect with Renter Mentor on their website at joinrentermentor.wixsite.com/rentermentor or on LinkedIn. If you’re interested in learning more, attend one of their upcoming events.
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    34 Min.
  • Wild Tiger Tees Special: The Journey to an Idea | with Adam Morris

    Wild Tiger Tees Special: The Journey to an Idea | with Adam Morris
    Feb 13 2020

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    Today’s special, special guest is Suzy Bureau of GiveBackHack. If you listened to episode 50, you knew this would happen. I was encouraged to share a little more about my story, especially Wild Tiger Tees, and Suzy jumped in to share my experience starting a social enterprise.Wild Tiger Tees came together during a weekend at GiveBackHack in 2018. I, Adam Morris, am the co-founder of this social enterprise where we “empower youth experiencing homelessness with the skills necessary to gain employment through the art of screen printing.” We partner with Star House under their workforce development program called Star Works.Our talk began at a point where I did not have an idea for Wild Tiger Tees or the People Helping People Podcast. In 2006, I was out in London working at a bank after my MBA and was not connecting with my role. If anything, the most meaningful thing to me at that time was my volunteer work with Samaritans for suicide prevention. Once I acknowledged that passion I began trying to build a career around giving back and making an impact. Of course, I didn’t forget to tell Suzy about the oddly comical moment of being let go from that bank job.Until 2016, I wasn’t having any luck with ideas on how I would give back or make an impact. Then I realized that 10 years passed already. I told Suzy about the importance I found in being able to connect with people and what things mean. I discussed my thoughts on being inspired to make a change awhile “thinking into it”. Suzy gave a positive outlook on my choice to look at the strengths and weaknesses of my entrepreneur skills; whether it was looking at experience or exposure to the issue.I discovered that spending 10 years of trying to figure something out on my own was not helping much, and decided I needed to talk to people who were active and engaged in cool work. My only thought was to see where that would take me. With this approach, I was led to the conversation inspiring this podcast. Coincidentally, or maybe not-so-coincidentally, the same approach towards interaction inspired the idea behind Wild Tiger Tees. I enjoyed getting to dig back into the journey with Suzy.Another inspiration behind Wild Tiger Tees came from a staggering statistic. Out of the youth that come into Star House, 90% secure jobs. After revisiting those youth three months later, only 10% still have that job. Wild Tiger Tees began concentrating on better preparing the youth to deal with the real-world workforce. Our focus points are teamwork, communication, effort, and punctuality.The conversation with Suzy had such great momentum, so we split our talk into two episodes. Up next, we get into building an interdisciplinary team, doing the groundwork for your ideas, and making things work.If you want to learn more about Wild Tiger Tees, check out Instagram, Facebook, or the official site.
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    34 Min.