In one month, CEO Bill Simmons shipped more than 15 working applications and 70,000 lines of code to his team, without adding a single software license or outside developer.

He did it with about $25,000 in internal time, replacing software that would have cost over $750,000 to build. Most nonprofit CEOs are still asking whether to pay attention to AI. He's already restructuring how his organization functions by using it.

Bill Simmons is President and CEO of Hope Rises International, a Christian global health organization working in more than 50 partnerships across Africa and Asia to address neglected tropical diseases. Annual revenue: $11.3 million.

This is the first time I've seen how AI can transform the processes and outcomes of the nonprofit sector.

Jody Levison-Johnson had a big idea and had to decide whether to bet her organization's resources on it. A film was coming out that could either quietly fade or become an inflection point for how the country thinks about the nonprofit sector. She had to decide if Social Current should lead the campaign that followed, and how much to ask her board for.

She also talks about the two ways CEOs drift into bad decisions: chasing off-mission funding and refusing to sunset programs they love, plus why she thinks the hardest decision most nonprofit CEOs eventually face is knowing when to leave.

Dr. Jody Levison-Johnson is President and CEO of Social Current, a national organization that accredits, trains, and advocates for a network of approximately 1,800 human service organizations across the US and Canada.

Curtis Chang set out to build a nonprofit nobody would ever know by name. He wanted Good Faith to be like Target: the store as the brand, not the founder.

Four years later, Curtis, David French, and Russell Moore were at the center of the most prominent faith-and-politics curriculum in the country. A quarter million people had used it. This conversation is about how a founder navigates a pivot, and why market need and relationships sometimes rewrite the plan.

He also talks about the two ways nonprofit CEOs drift into bad decisions: chasing off-mission funding and staying stuck in a rut. And he offers a reframe on anxiety that has real implications for how CEOs lead through loss. Curtis calls it "holding," and he thinks the CEO's job in seasons of organizational pain is something closer to Chief Grieving Officer.

Curtis Chang is Founder and Executive Director of Good Faith, an organization at the intersection of Christian faith and public life. The After Party, its flagship curriculum on faith and politics, has reached over 250,000 users. The Good Faith Podcast ranks in the top 0.5% of all podcasts globally.

Andy Crouch uses a framework from Peter Greer to name a structural problem with honest at the heart of many nonprofits. It's the stakeholder gap, and he argues it creates built-in incentives to not tell the whole truth all the time. And the better you are at fundraising, the more danger you're in.

Andy also traces the 40-year collapse of institutional trust to something deeper than politics: the unmasking of prestige as mere dominance. And he makes an unexpected case that the generation coming into the workforce right now may be the best in decades, if you can earn their trust first.

Andy Crouch is Partner for Theology and Culture at Praxis, a New York-based nonprofit that supports faith-driven founders, funders, and innovators, from early-stage ventures to both nonprofits and businesses operating at meaningful scale across every sector.

Olivia Mulerwa spent months carrying a decision she couldn't talk about with anyone who didn't already have a stake in the outcome. She needed to have a hard conversation with a beloved board member. The rest of the board was unwilling to even discuss it. She had to decide in isolation.

This conversation covers how she made that call, the listening process she used in advance, and the one person she thinks of before making any major decision at Mission ONE.

Olivia also talks about stepping into the President's role just three months after being hired as a program director, rejecting some conventional wisdom about founder relationships, and how colleagues interpreted her actions differently the moment her title changed.

Olivia Mulerwa is President of Mission ONE, a nonprofit that supports over 600 local leaders across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

Dr. Jennifer Holloran walked into her first board meeting as CEO of American Bible Society and left with a $5 million crisis and a collapsing timeline, with no peers she could call.

This conversation covers that decision, how she navigated a pressurized process, and what she wishes she'd had in those first weeks that was lacking.
She also talks about the energy calendar she built after hitting a wall, the decisions that still keep her up at night, and what it looks like to lead a legacy organization toward better health and effectiveness.

Jennifer is President and CEO of American Bible Society, founded in 1816.

On this episode of The Nonprofit CEO Podcast, hosts Adam Jeske and Krish Kandiah dive into the complex, consequential decisions that shape nonprofit leadership. Krish Kandiah, founder of the Sanctuary Foundation and a key figure in driving the UK’s response to refugee crises, shares his journey from fostering children in his own home to influencing national policy and launching innovative charities. Together, they explore the challenges of starting organizations rooted in personal conviction, navigating government relationships, and leading through changing political landscapes. Listeners will hear candid reflections on letting go as a founder, inspiring large-scale community action, and maintaining a focus on what really matters—caring for the most vulnerable. This episode is packed with practical wisdom for nonprofit leaders grappling with funding constraints, sector competition, and the ever-present question of how to create lasting impact.

Phil Buchanan had 48 hours to decide whether he would speak out when it seemed everyone else was staying quiet.

We talk about that decision, the actual calculus, and the strategic mistake he thinks many nonprofit CEOs are making right now.

He also talks about what nobody told him before he became CEO, the culture he has spent 25 years building, and why standing for nothing is the fastest way to lose trust.

Phil is president of the Center for Effective Philanthropy, a research and advisory organization serving foundations and donors across the sector, and author of Giving Done Right.