In this powerful episode, Jocelyn Wyatt, CEO of Alight, shares her 25-year journey transforming humanitarian aid through human-centered design. From her early days recognizing the disconnect between DC-based decisions and on-the-ground needs in Bolivia, to co-founding IDEO.org and now leading a $90 million organization serving 4 million displaced people annually, Jocelyn reveals what it really means to center refugees as customers, not beneficiaries.

Discover how Alight maintains operations in Sudan through three different countries despite ongoing conflict, why "choosing optimism" is a strategic imperative when serving those in crisis, and how pop-up nail salons became the breakthrough for adolescent reproductive health programs in Africa. Jocelyn discusses navigating massive foreign aid cuts, the critical role of grassroots donors giving $20 at a time, and why proximity to problems leads to better solutions.

With 25 million people requiring humanitarian assistance in Sudan alone, this conversation challenges fundamental assumptions about how aid should work in the 21st century. Learn why treating refugees with dignity isn't just morally right—it's more effective.

Key Topics: Human-centered design in humanitarian work, refugee crisis response, Sudan emergency operations, funding challenges in foreign aid, innovation in displacement services, local leadership empowerment

Learn more at: wearealight.org | causeandpurpose.org

In this thought-provoking episode of Cause & Purpose, data scientist and impact strategist Andrew Means joins Mike Spear to expose critical gaps in how the social sector uses data and evaluation. Drawing from his vast experience in the sector, Andrew reveals how many nonprofits are "flying blind"—lacking even basic data infrastructure to make strategic decisions.

He shares practical frameworks like the "data hierarchy of needs" and emphasizes that data democratization, not expensive consultants, is the key to transformation. The discussion evolves into a broader critique of traditional philanthropy and a vision for evidence-based giving.

Andrew explains why he joined Altruous as an advisor, seeing it as uniquely positioned to bridge the gap between oversimplified ratings and inaccessible academic research. He emphasizes that with potential government funding cuts ahead, organizations that can prove their impact through data will thrive while others struggle.

Throughout, both hosts challenge the sector's resistance to general operating support, overhead myth, and top-down funding approaches. The episode concludes with Andrew's compelling case for transparency, acknowledging uncertainty in evaluations, and focusing on the only metric that truly matters: whether beneficiaries are actually better off.

In this episode of Cause & Purpose, we sit down with the CEO of Native Forward, Angelique Albert. Angelique shares insights from her life growing up on tribal lands in Montana, talks about some of the historical context that shapes the way Native Americans relate to Education, and shares insights from scaling Native Forward to serve more Native American scholars.