Julie Pham, PhD

Applications are now open for National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (National CAPACD)'s 2025 Small Business Development Technical Assistance Program! This program aims to create a space where participants working in community-based organizations (CBOs) can connect with and learn from one another in their mission to engage and support micro-entrepreneurs and small business districts, including Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) communities and cultural corridors. Over the course of nine months, participants will attend online meetings and 1-2 in-person convenings. The grant will provide $9,000 of funding. Upcoming info session registration here: https://lnkd.in/gi-bEHBu

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Inclusive education isn't just about inclusive placement. It's about changing how we design schools and support learners. A new brief from Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) takes a close look at the Supporting Innovative Practices - SIP project, and there are some important lessons here for anyone thinking about what inclusion really looks like. Here are five takeaways that really stand out 👇 1️⃣ Inclusion doesn’t happen by accident. Districts that made real progress didn’t just “place” students in general education. They redesigned schedules, staffing, and supports so inclusion could actually work. 2️⃣ Professional learning matters when it’s practical. One‑off workshops aren’t enough. Educators showed the biggest gains when they could see inclusive classrooms, learn together, and apply what they learned right away. 3️⃣ Leadership mindset is a bigger barrier than money. Again and again, districts said beliefs and culture, not resources, were the hardest part. When leaders treated students with disabilities as everyone’s responsibility, progress followed. 4️⃣ Data can drive inclusion (when it’s shared). Successful districts used data to ask better questions: Who has access to general education? Where are students being separated, and why? They also made that data visible beyond special education. 5️⃣ With the right support, systems can change. Districts working with SIP improved inclusive placement rates faster than state and national trends, especially those that started out with low inclusion rates. That tells us improvement is possible, even in tough conditions. This brief is a reminder that truly inclusive education is a system change, not a compliance checkbox. When schools invest in structures, learning, and shared responsibility, students with disabilities spend more time learning alongside their peers, and everyone benefits. Grateful for the work of SIP, their partners, and everyone who is moving authentic inclusive education forward. You see y'all? Authentic inclusive practices are happening right now all across this country. We just have to keep sharing those stories.

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Let’s talk about accountability today. Not the word — the action. Tell me if you have seen this, too, in public communities (it could be Slack channels, public email chains, etc.). Someone sends a group email: ● “Hey, does anyone have a resource for equitable board recruitment?” ● “Any templates for trauma-informed donor surveys?” ● “Can we brainstorm better evaluation frameworks?” Maybe 3-5 emails with questions like these a day – seeking group wisdom? One reply. Maybe two, depending on the question. Maybe it also depends on the level of comfort, inclusion, and belonging—all of those good things—but I am focusing on only accountability at this moment. Thing is, usually we assume: “Someone else will handle it.” (To be honest, we’re all “someone else” to someone else.) We cut ourselves slack — because we are busy. We do mean well. But that shared sense of “I’m not the right person to respond” slowly erodes collective action. Now, stretch that to AI + accountability. Everyone agrees we need ethical, responsible, equitable AI. But who is responsible for: ● Checking for biased training data? ● Making sure marginalized voices were included in the pilot feedback? ● Translating AI summaries so they’re understandable and not just efficient? ● Saying “no” to shiny tools that look impressive but harm trust? We assume - someone in tech will figure it out, - someone in leadership will make a policy, - someone with more expertise will take the first step. But waiting is not in the nature of artificial intelligence. That technology is meant to be agile, constantly learning, and scaling. Besides, it (AI) is already in our inboxes, CRMs, donor communications, grant applications. And if everyone is assuming someone else is ensuring accountability… Then, no one is. So here is something I want for you and me: ● The next time our team adopts an AI tool, ask: What harm could this do? ● The next time a dataset is shared, ask: Who is represented and why? Who is missing and why? ● The next time you feel “this isn’t mine to respond to,” remember: accountability isn’t solo. It’s shared. Real accountability isn’t loud and shiny. But it is occasionally uncomfortable, almost always persistent, and the only way to make the best use of power. #nonprofits #nonprofitleadership #community

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Philanthropic collaboratives that channel resources from multiple donors to nonprofit organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and other social-change initiatives are on the rise. Based primarily on survey responses between 2022 and 2024 from over 300 such funds, this report paints a robust picture of the current landscape. It suggests how collaborative leaders and donors might grow and strengthen this increasingly important segment of philanthropic giving. The Bridgespan Group’s research in recent years has highlighted the great potential of funder collaboratives to unlock and deploy more philanthropic resources to advance social change: -Collaboratives are one of four compelling pathways to increase philanthropic contributions among high-net-worth individuals. -When executed well, collaboratives can produce significant impact. Collaboratives offer substantial benefits for donors looking to engage across issue areas and to give efficiently and effectively. -The majority of collaboratives have charted a course that differs from traditional philanthropy: they tilt toward equity and justice, field and movement building, and leaders of color. -Collaboratives have unique opportunities and challenges regarding measurement, evaluation, and learning—with some promising frameworks others can learn from. -Donors can engage with collaboratives in issue-specific ways, (e.g., in democracy, gender equity, racial equity, or climate) and regional ways (e.g., in India, in Africa, or more broadly across the Global South); to illustrate this, our database of philanthropic collaboratives has grown to over 300 funds. The Philanthropic Collaborative Landscape

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What is a nonprofit ecosystem anyway? This term has been used often in the nonprofit sector, but what does this really mean? The nonprofit ecosystem is dynamic, with various stakeholders, community members, bridge builders, and investors interacting and adapting to changes in funding, policies, and community needs, ultimately working towards creating positive social change. Funders are often vested in building, supporting and investing in ecosystems, with the understanding that systems change and dynamic interventions have to happen on multiple levels to lasting and long term sustainability and change to occur. These investments can be long term, catalytic, research oriented, and to sustain institutional operations and viability - all are important components to sustainable ecosystems. The question then becomes when an ecosystem is disrupted and its roots are being destroyed and the systems that work to support each other - much like a flora, plant, sea or other ecosystems that are being damaged. What does repair look like? What does restructuring and reinvestment look like? What does even systemic change look like? How do we continue to examine the roles that members of society and leaders of nonprofits in driving systems change? What policies need to be implemented and examined to disrupt or support change? These are the critical questions that funders and all members of the community should be engaged within a framework that seeks to repair and build complex social challenges. #nonprofits #philanthropy

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Only 19~% of new individuals ever make another gift (31.9% #charity average). Wish #donorchurn, drop-off, and attrition issues could stop? ♻️ New Donor Retention: ~14% to 19.4% #IndividualGiving Donor Retention: 31.9% #MonthlyGiving Retention: 65% – 89% Repeat Donor Retention: 87.3% (Data from Q3 2025) Nonprofits seem baffled when total strangers don't want to continuously give away their money for free. When it's written like that the problem and solution is plain as day. →How do we solve it? First: Shift goal post to acquiring monthly vs. small individual givers. Then, use the same principles to build strong teams & cultures at the office; Reciprocity, recognition, acknowledgement, a few gifts, and key outreach focused on community building. People won't remember what you do, but they'll never forget how you made them feel. #Retention is recognition. Systems, Rapport. It's money + effort over time spent intelligently on everyday donors you want to give regularly to you. 🚀 ✓ Want #donors to make another gift? Tailor communications tightly to initial inspiration by capturing campaign interest on acquisition. Be thankful, quickly. Create, then explain donor incentives. ✓ Want supporters to upgrade? Act reciprocally through strategic, exclusive gifts. Message-out continuously opportunities to earn more over time, and gamify your upgrades so donors actively strive to give for fun, or rewards. ✓ Want #sustainers to stay past year-2? Schedule community events aimed at your ongoing-donor base focused on outreach & mobilization towards inviting in new donors (P2P; Also, it's a +1 event). Test in municipalities with dense monthly donor stratification. Give monthly givers ongoing reasons to stay year-1. Data doesn't lie: $50 – $100 donors upgrade readily, $25-$30+ sustainers stay long. $20 & under need attention. And all have to be asked, but first they must feel appreciated, not forgotten. Included. A) Consider for the ordinary donor it's harder to part with $30 (sustainers per month) than for the admired CEO to part with 4-8 figures per year. B) Although we can recognize 80% of your funds come from the top <20% of supporters who receive 100% of your #stewardship admiration, the 80% of your base isn't even receiving a 20% capacity of your appreciation. That's toxic Guess we know what to tackle first. 🎯 →What is the system? Industries to take inspiration i.e. don't struggle: beauty, gaming, home improvement, SaaS. Schedule + Intention. What you do and which touchpoints you create can be limitless (i.e. from outside industries: 3-3-3-6, 2/2/2, etc.), but there is a right way and a wrong way. Which way do you want? 💹 . ..and don't even get me started on how effective & cool direct #f2f recapture campaigns can be! (ReCap = 2x-3x longer than initial support. LTV + Impact Maximization) Lastly: I believe the acquisition tools you use to inspire matter, too. Many even pair. What's working for you? 📊 #nonprofit #fundraising #regulargiving

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Here are my top three pieces of advice for social impact leaders in 2026: ✅Think intersectionally. Design and support programs that cut across issues, sectors, and communities because real impact happens where priorities overlap, not where they sit in silos. ✅Build collaboratively. Partner with mission-aligned nonprofits, institutions, and community leaders. Collaboration is how we learn faster, scale smarter, and avoid duplicating effort. ✅Lead with storytelling. Data may inform, but stories move people. Capture attention, humanize impact, and build lasting interest by centering the voices and experiences behind the work. Peace Bamidele #SocialImpact #PurposeDrivenLeadership #Collaboration #StorytellingForChange #Philanthropy

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