Nick Grono

Shaping Philanthropy

Nick Grono, the CEO of The Freedom Fund, the world’s first private donor fund dedicated to tackling slavery around the world, joins Anissa Punjani for this episode of Shaping Philanthropy to talk about his new book on nonprofit leadership.

Nick has had a long and rich career spanning the public, private and non-profit sectors. A corporate lawyer by training with a spell at an investment bank, Goldman Sachs, he has been chief of staff to the Australian attorney general, spent ten years at International Crisis Group, latterly as deputy president and chief operating officer, and served as a board member or chair of several leading non-profit and advocacy organisations, including Girls Not Brides and Global Witness.

In this podcast, Nick shares what he has learned – sometimes the hard way – about how to lead teams and organisations. “The things that get you into leadership positions aren't necessarily the things that make you a great leader,” he says, highlighting challenges around managing budgets and responding to Covid-19.

Nick also talks about the importance of purpose, getting funding from MacKenzie Scott, and impact and how to measure it. "It can be really challenging to measure impact, but our work really benefits by having a better understanding of what we're achieving,” he says.

Other topics explored include the promise – and pitfalls – of collaboration and board relationships, challenges of leading nonprofits, and how he came to write the book and what he hopes it will achieve.

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Circle is a partnership between Philanthropy Age and the Pearl Initiative. It is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.