What happens when someone born into a family fortune decides that keeping control of that wealth is the real problem? In this episode, Stupski Foundation CEO Glen Galaich and co-host Eric Brown, principal of Brown Bridge Strategies and co-host of Let’s Hear It, sit down with Austria-based activist Marlene Engelhorn, co-founder of Tax Me Now. Marlene inherited many millions of dollars and chose to give most of it away by creating a Citizens’ Council of 50 everyday Austrians to decide where the money should go. Together, they dig into what it means to institutionalize philanthropy, and what it takes to dismantle it.

Glen and Eric start with a jaw-dropping snapshot of the sector from the Center for Effective Philanthropy report: A Sector in Crisis. In it, 40% of surveyed nonprofit leaders say funders are less helpful now, while 20% of foundations believe they have little responsibility to help nonprofits navigate this moment. It’s a stark disconnect: foundations feel secure while nonprofits face existential crises. Against that backdrop, Marlene talks about “rich fragility,” the ways wealth holders defend their privilege, and why she believes any philanthropic approach that keeps people dependent on private goodwill misses the point.

💡 Marlene Engelhorn: I don't want to protect my privilege. I want it gone. I think that's the only genuine approach to philanthropy. It's to basically make sure that it abolishes itself.

Learn more about taxmenow and their campaign to challenge inherited wealth and push for democratic tax reform.

Explore the Guter Rat (Citizens’ Council) and how the process works.

Preorder your copy of Glen’s book, CONTROL: Why Big Giving Falls Short.

Learn about the Stupski Foundation.

Co-Hosts: Eric Brown & Glen Galaich

Guest: Marlene Engelhorn

Executive Producer: Claire Callahan

Production Team: Podfly

Graphic Design: Middle MGMT

This is philanthropy’s rainy day.

Across communities, the escalation of ICE activity is terrifying. Families are living in fear. Core pillars of our democracy are under attack. Meanwhile, too many funders are still holding back, waiting for a crisis that’s already here.

In this episode, Glen and Ralph Lewin weigh in on why escalating ICE actions should be a wake-up call for philanthropy to step up in real ways to protect our communities. They challenge the persistent myth that philanthropy must conserve resources for a future emergency.

Spoiler alert: this is the emergency.

Special guest, Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward, joins the conversation to share how ongoing litigation is actively defending our democracy. Skye brings both urgency and hope—reminding us that, despite efforts to flood the zone, the people are winning more than they’re losing. But we will only win if philanthropy fully funds the legal, advocacy, and organizing efforts that make those wins possible.

💡 Skye Perryman: The cost of inaction in this moment is far higher than the cost of taking action.

Learn more about Democracy Forward and their initiative, Democracy 250, and find out how you can support the work of defending democracy

Preorder your copy of Glen’s book, CONTROL: Why Big Giving Falls Short.

Learn about the Stupski Foundation.

Co-Hosts: Ralph Lewin & Glen Galaich

Guest: Skye Perryman

Executive Producer: Claire Callahan

Production Team: Podfly

Graphic Design: Middle MGMT

Why does philanthropy resist risk? Ralph Lewin, Executive Director of the Peter E. Haas Jr. Family Fund, joins Glen as co-host to bust one of the biggest fake rules in philanthropy. In this episode, Ralph and Glen make the case for embracing “philanthropic reformers” (not critics!) and courageous risk-taking rather than clinging to a comfortable but broken status quo.

Special guest, María Teresa Kumar, Emmy-nominated MSNBC contributor and founding president and CEO of Voto Latino, stops by to reflect on what it really means to be “American” in today’s political climate. As fear-driven narratives and ICE raids targeting immigrants intensify ahead of the midterms, María Teresa reminds us why reengaging and delivering on promises made to the Latino electorate has never been more urgent.

💡 María Teresa Kumar: “Recognize that no is for everybody else. Everybody will say no to you. And that's okay, because you only need one yes.”

Get involved with Voto Latino.

Break Fake Rules is a podcast that brings today’s news and big philanthropic issues into focus to change Big Giving for good.

Learn about the Stupski Foundation.

Co-Hosts: Ralph Lewin & Glen Galaich

Guest: María Teresa Kumar

Executive Producer: Claire Callahan

Production Team: Podfly

Graphic Design: Middle MGMT