 |
Designing Tomorrow: Creative Strategies for Social ImpactAuthor: Eric Ressler
Designing Tomorrow explores a new playbook for modern social impact leaders and brands to reach their true impact potential. Why do some social impact brands thrive, while so many others fail to get traction, build support for their cause, and make meaningful progress? Imagine your impact with truly sustainable revenue and resources. With deeper community engagement and relationships. With more influence in your social impact category. Hosted by Eric Ressler, Founder & Creative Director of Cosmic, with co-host Jonathan Hicken, Executive Director of the Seymour Marine Discovery Center, each episode dives into the strategies, mindsets, and behaviors top social impact brands use to play and win in the attention economy. Go beyond high-level concepts to specific tools and tactics you can use today. Watch on YouTube or listen to new episodes each Tuesday. Lets design a better tomorrow, together.Designing Tomorrow is a Cosmic Production. Learn more at https://designbycosmic.com/ Language: en-us Genres: Business, Marketing, Non-Profit Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
Listen Now...
What Happens When Organizations Can't Dream
Episode 70
Tuesday, 2 December, 2025
What happens when organizations can't dream?Not because they lack vision. But because they're too busy scrambling to make payroll, chasing emergency grants, firefighting the latest crisis. Scarcity doesn't just drain bank accounts — it steals the capacity to imagine what's possible.In this episode, I sit down with Jamye Wooten, founder of CLLCTIVLY in Baltimore, to explore what he calls "reactivism" and how the social impact sector got trapped in a cycle of moving from crisis to crisis, hashtag to hashtag, never building the institutions we actually need.After years on the front lines in Ferguson and Baltimore, Jamye stepped back to create what he calls an "imagination incubator" — and he's putting real resources behind it. We dig into what it actually takes to give leaders the space they need to dream, the hidden costs of the grind we celebrate, and why capital (not training) is what builds capacity.In our conversation, we explore:Why scarcity steals imagination — and what that costs us [01:47]Creating containers for imagination: CLLCTIVLY's $75K residency program [04:30]The capacity building myth: why organizations need capital, not more training [12:22]What funders get wrong about outcomes and sustainability [06:08]Participatory grantmaking and putting people before projects [09:22]How philanthropy shifts priorities every 3-5 years — and why that's devastating [10:09]The missing VC-style pipeline for social impact organizations [12:00]Partnership vs. paternalism: reimagining funder-grantee relationships [19:27]Navigating the DEI backlash and building sustainable funding models [16:31]From $5,000 to $1.2 million: how individual donors built Collective Give [19:00]Creating power balance in philanthropy spaces [22:12]The personal cost: "Dad, you're so close, but so far" [30:44]What keeps Jamye going when the work is relentless [29:17]Connect with CLLCTIVLY and what's next [33:56]Notable Quotes"We've been trying to create a container for imagination and to provide space for other folks to pause and imagine the future that they want to see." — Jamye Wooten [03:43]"Capital will help you build capacity. What does it mean to get the upfront capital that allows me to go hire my CFO and my CEO and begin to build out a team? Most folks are building as they climb without this type of infrastructure." — Jamye Wooten [13:40]"We may celebrate the hustle, the bootstrapping and the grind and resilience of community. It will also take you out." — Jamye Wooten [09:45]"I would love to see foundations and funders make a long-term commitment to really bet like they want organizations to win." — Jamye Wooten [11:22]"The times are urgent, we must slow down." — Jamye Wooten [29:40]P.S. — Struggling to align your mission with your message? Cosmic helps social impact leaders build brands that actually reflect the change you're creating. Let's talk about your vision: Listeners, now you can text us your comments or questions by clicking this link.*** If you liked this episode, please help spread the word. Share with your friends or co-workers, post it to social media, “follow” or “subscribe” in your podcast app, or write a review on Apple Podcasts. We could not do this without you! We love hearing feedback from our community, so please email us with your questions or comments — including topics you’d like us to cover in future episodes — at podcast@designbycosmic.com Thank you for all that you do for your cause and for being part of the movement to move humanity and the planet forward.
