In this episode, we sit down with Katie Hong for a candid conversation about money, power and identity. Having worked in philanthropy for over 15 years, Katie knows the sector can be a significant catalyst for social change. She reflects on how essential it is for those working on the grant-making side of things to face into their own relationship to power and money. Katie and Becky also discuss what people working in philanthropy can do to be most helpful to non-profits in these times. Listen in to learn how those working to give away other people’s money can more effectively show up and partner with others in advancing a more just and equitable world.

Katie Hong, Raikes Foundation, Director of Special Initiatives

Show Highlights:

  • Katie’s honest reflections on what she’s learned as a White House Fellow and working for the Gates and Raikes Foundations
  • What it’s like to have a job that is about giving away other people’s money
  • How being an immigrant and a woman of color has shaped her and her world-view
  • Challenging paternalistic assumptions that sometimes arise in her field 
  • Philanthropy as risk capital that can either help or harm
  • Getting over solution-itis and looking at what happens after
  • “We don’t have a knowledge problem, we have a power problem.”
  • The difference between positional power and personal power


Forbes article, “What is Power, Really?”


Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World by Anand Giridharadas

Just Giving: Why Philanthropy is Failing Democracy and How it Can Do Better by Rob Reich

Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance by Edgar Villanueva