723. How American Express Is Building the Next Generation of Nonprofit Leaders (and What It Means for Yours!) - Madge Thomas

Madge Thomas leads a leadership academy most nonprofit professionals have never heard of — one that's quietly spent nearly two decades and $100M+ training over 165,000 nonprofit leaders worldwide. As president of the American Express Foundation and head of corporate sustainability at American Express, she's built it on a deceptively simple premise: invest in the leader, not just their programs, and the impact ripples outward — to the organization, the community, and long after any single initiative ends.

Madge makes the case that the people powering nonprofits are the sector's most under-resourced asset — then shows how the Academy is changing that with funding, peer cohorts, alumni grants, and a curriculum rebuilt for this moment: AI training with Microsoft, storytelling with TED, and resilience for a shifting funding landscape. 

If you've ever poured everything into your programs with nothing left for yourself or your team, this episode names that tension out loud — and offers a different way through.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• Why investing in individuals instead of just programs creates a "two plus two makes five" ripple effect that most funders never think to measure
• How the Academy stacks funding, a peer cohort of ~75 leaders, and alumni grants to attack nonprofit burnout at the root — by removing the impossible choice between developing your people and running your programs
• What today's nonprofit leaders need that they didn't a decade ago, including AI training built with Microsoft and storytelling training built with TED

You'll walk away with a new lens on where philanthropy should focus — and a reminder that you don't need a $100 million budget to start a ripple. A ripple starts with one tiny fracture in the surface. 🩵

Episode Highlights:

• Little Madge in Perth: the values that started it all (2:28)
• The ripple effect of investing in leaders (4:00)
• 20 years, $100M, 165,000+ leaders — and the stories behind the numbers (5:12)
• Why bet on people instead of programs? (10:12)
• Burnout, and removing the choice between people and programs (12:31)
• What nonprofit leaders need now: time, network, and dollars (15:49)
• AI as augmentation: building an AI-confident sector with Microsoft (20:08)
• Holding AI and humanity together (21:08)
• A moment of generosity: Mrs. Wilson and the uniforms (25:30)
• One good thing: start small (30:06)

Episode Show Notes: www.weareforgood.com/episode/723

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