Giving Ventures

Most state-level political breakthroughs happen when social entrepreneurs step up — but few leverage the full potential of strategic philanthropy and advocacy. Matt Brouillette, the architect behind Pennsylvania’s powerful free-market movement, reveals the blueprint social entrepreneurs can follow to transform states from within. This episode of Giving Ventures explores the unique role of entrepreneurial leaders in shaping public policy and building durable infrastructure for freedom. Matt Brouillette is the president and CEO of Commonwealth Partners, leading efforts to shift state policy and race ahead of progressive infrastructure. His work demonstrates that real change begins with bold, entrepreneurial leadership — and that everyone, from philanthropists to grassroots citizens, has a part to play. Matt's newest book is You Gotta Win Pennsylvania. Americans for Fair Treatment Black Pastors United for Education Commonwealth Foundation Commonwealth Partners The Fairness Center The Joshua Group Mackinac Center State Policy Network

Filmmaker and Acton Institute scholar Michael Matheson Miller joins Peter to discuss poverty in America. Back in 2014, Michael directed Poverty, Inc., an award-winning documentary that investigated and challenged the multi-billion-dollar poverty industrial complex around the world. His soon-coming film is Poverty Trap, which turns its attention to the failures of America's anti-poverty efforts.

There is a Hall of Fame for just about everything in this country. But where is the Hall of Fame celebrating the inventors, the creators, the entrepreneurs that have made America so great? Well, there isn't one yet. However, the great social entrepreneur John Tillman is working on a $350 million project aimed at building a hall of fame for entrepreneurship and American innovation, which he is calling the Hall of Giants. John joins Giving Ventures to share his vision and provide a peek at the special soft launch it has coming up on the mall later this summer. John is the chairman and former CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute. He's also been founding or reviving other organizations from Center Square, Bearing Tree, Iron Light. And before all that, he was a business entrepreneur himself.

Many people underestimate how fragile liberty really is and how much it relies on a vibrant global movement. Brad Lips, CEO of Atlas Network, pulls back the curtain on the strategies empowering think tanks worldwide to defend freedom, fight corruption, and lift communities out of poverty. Brad describes how Atlas Network’s "Coach, Compete, Celebrate" model accelerates achievement among liberty advocates across more than one hundred countries—and what the liberty movement in the US can learn from our international friends. In a world where authoritarian regimes sometimes seem to have the upper hand, understanding how to nurture, fund, and scale liberty efforts is crucial. If you're you're a donor eager to deploy your resources smartly across borders to make an impact that lasts, this episode is essential listening.

In recent years, advocates of school choice have celebrated significant legislative victories. In many states, the challenge now lies in transforming these wins into tangible opportunities for families by building up new schools. This episode of Giving Ventures explores the challenges and opportunities of the implementation phase of school choice with two distinguished guests. Tommy Schultz, CEO of the American Federation for Children, has been at the forefront of advocating for educational choice, ensuring that legislative gains translate into real-world benefits. Joining him is Ryan Delk, founder and CEO of Primer, an innovative organization that empowers educational entrepreneurs to establish micro schools, providing families with accessible and high-quality educational options.

For the past decade, one entity has become predominant in secretive giving on the left of the political spectrum: Arabella Advisors. It goes by a lot of different names, like the New Venture Fund, the Windward Fund, 1630 Fund. This panoply of organizations represents hundreds of nonprofit entities ranging from full-fledged 501(c)3s and 501(c)4s to astroturf groups that only exist as websites. Billions of dollars have flowed into and out of these Arabella entities, all working to counter free markets and conservative ideas and to advance progressive ideology. Despite its major influence, Arabella is still pretty secretive. But one individual thoroughly understands the reach of Arabella and its tentacles: Scott Walter, the president of Capital Research Center, which focuses on the sources and influence of philanthropic dollars on the left.

America's national debt now has surpassed $38 trillion, and we're adding another $2 trillion each year with our deficit spending. The situation is even more bleak when you consider our unfunded liabilities for the future. Couple that with the cliffs we're facing on Social Security, the continued problems with Medicare and Medicaid that we're seeing play out in Congress now: It feels like an insurmountable problem.So how in the world do we get America's finances back to some orderly system? Romina Boccia is the Director of Budget and Entitlement Policy at the Cato Institute, and she spends her days analyzing problems and promoting solutions around debt, entitlement, federal spending broadly. She's the co-author of a new book, Reimagining Social Security: Global Lessons for Retirement Policy Changes. Romina also serves on the board of America's Future.

We want our doctors to treat us as individuals, not members of an identity group, and we would hope that our medical establishments would resist today's fixation on identity politics. But unfortunately, that's not the case . We have seen identity politics creep into doctors' offices and medical schools, and we've seen its negative effects, particularly in the fight over gender-affirming care. In this episode of Giving Ventures, Dr. Stanley Goldfarb joins Peter to discuss these issues and describe the good work his organization, Do No Harm, is doing to combat progressive ideas in the medical field. Dr. Goldfarb has a long history as a teacher, researcher, and practitioner of medicine. He's also been a keen observer of the shift that the medical profession has taken over the last couple of decades. He is the author ofTake Two Aspirin and Call Me By My Pronouns and Doing Great Harm: How DEI and Identity Politics Are Infecting American Healthcare and How We Are Fighting Back.

Here at DonorsTrust, we've mostly focused on the charitable giving provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law by President Trump earlier this year. But the big bill also brought about some significant changes to America's welfare programs. Emphasizing work requirements and accountability, this legislation has the potential to transform lives and foster economic independence. Tarren Bragdon, founder and CEO of the Foundation for Government Accountability, joins this episode of Giving Ventures to discuss the importance of these reforms.

2026 marks 250 years since our Founding Fathers declared their independence July 4, 1776. The fireworks are sure to be bigger and many Americans will pause to reflect on the meaning of our country's founding. Many charities supported by the DonorsTrust community of givers have already begun producing materials and planning events to help us all think about the values that inspired our Founders to throw off the British yoke a quarter millennium ago. Central to one of those efforts is Jay Lapeyre, a philanthropist who is passionate about ethical basis of America's freedoms. Jay has launched the Free Society Coalition to organize an effort to center our semiquincentennial conversations around the ideas of the Declaration of Independence. The group has produced a brochure titled "Happy Birthday, Freedom!" which introduces readers to the essential values of liberty and responsibility as seen in the Declaration. In this episode, Jay joins Peter to discuss the inspiration behind the project and what lies ahead as 2026 approaches.