Podcasts

Vancouver Foundation models the art of critical self-examination in our inaugural PurposePhil episode, recorded back in 2021. Four leaders, including VF’s first Indigenous board member, get candid about why values and stories are at the heart of deep change.

A guided tour through multiple cultures and times offers diverse perspectives on what philanthropy is and what it was designed to do. Delve into the intertwining histories of inequality and philanthropy.

From a tax specialist to a social work professor with lived experience of youth homelessness, we ask how the relationship between donors, foundations, charities, and government shapes purpose.

At its best, what can philanthropy do that other institutions cannot? What purposes can foundations meaningfully pursue? Guests make the case for experimentalism, civic action, mutuality, transitional justice, and more.

Philanthropy is framed as community serving. But, what is community? Is there a difference between serving a community and being changed by a community? Unpack concepts like diversity, difference, multiculturalism, class, and more.

The debate over what philanthropy owes to past, present, and future generations has been heating up lately: spend down or hold funds in perpetuity? Repair for past harms and/or address current inequities? Let’s get nuanced.

Ultimately philanthropy comes down to lots of everyday decisions about how to give, distribute, and govern resources. The choice is a question of moral purpose and values. Consider what shapes ethical decision-making.