In this episode, Kristine Michie sits down with Cate Mayer of Be the Ones and Jeanine Abrams McLean of Fair Count to explore how joy, play, and creativity can transform civic engagement. Together, they challenge the idea that disengagement is a personal failure, reframing it as a response to systems that leave people feeling unseen and disconnected from power.

Through stories like the monks Peace Walk that captured global attention and rural bus tours filled with moments of wonder, they show how shared experiences rebuild trust and inspire participation. Their work expands civic life beyond voting to include belonging, imagination, and relationships that sustain communities over time.

At its core, this conversation invites a shift from being against something to being for something: peace, connection, and shared responsibility, reimagining participation as something people can truly belong to.

In this episode, Kristine Michie sits down with M. Gabriela Alcalde to explore the deeper costs of comfort, particularly the ways dominant-culture comfort sustains systems that limit our shared humanity. Drawing from her book What Your Comfort Costs Us, Gabriela unpacks how individualism, workplace culture, and societal structures shape both harm and the possibility for transformation.

Together, they discuss the need for collective healing, the role of storytelling in building empathy, and how workplaces can serve as powerful spaces for change. Gabriela also brings in the importance of play, joy, and embodiment, showing how creativity and connection are not distractions from leadership, but essential to reimagining a more just and human-centered world.

In this episode, Kristine Michie sits down with Nikki Dinh, Iman Mills Gordon, and Ericka Stallings from the Leadership Learning Community (LLC) to explore the shift from equity work toward a broader vision of liberatory leadership. Together, they discuss why equity can sometimes mean making an unjust system slightly better, while liberation asks a deeper question: how do we build systems that are life-giving, joyful, and just?

The conversation explores LLC’s approach to leadership development through experimentation, network-building, and collective learning. Nikki, Iman, and Ericka share stories that shaped their commitment to liberation, from immigrant and neighborhood organizing roots to traditions of community care and collective leadership. They also discuss how joy, play, trust-building, and shared experiences help leaders sustain the journey toward collective liberation.

In this episode, Kristine Michie sits down with Andrea Levere, CEO of Capitalized Good, to discuss why nonprofits should be treated as enterprises and equipped with the capital to match. Andrea introduces the concept of enterprise capital—flexible, multi-year funding that strengthens an entire organization rather than individual programs—explaining how it supports long-term sustainability, financial resilience, and strategic growth for organizations addressing problems the market won’t solve. She reflects on her journey from community organizing in Appalachia and West Tennessee to Yale School of Management, where she honed the financial tools that shaped her leadership at Prosperity Now and the founding of Capitalized Good. Throughout the conversation, Kristine and Andrea explore trust-based philanthropy, the value of financial technical assistance, and how humor, music, and play can help sustain the serious work of social change.

In this episode, Kristine Michie sits down with Sara Lomelin, founding CEO of Philanthropy Together, to explore why giving should feel joyful, relational, and deeply human. They discuss the rise of giving circles and collaborative funds, the myth that philanthropy belongs only to the wealthy, and how collective giving blends ancient mutual aid with modern infrastructure. Sara shares how Philanthropy Together serves as a “coral reef” for the field, supporting thousands of groups globally, and reflects on love, power, proximity, and the courage to act together in uncertain times.

In this episode, Kristine Michie talks with Phil Buchanan about the mounting pressures on nonprofits and the role of philanthropy in responding. They explore funding cuts, staff reductions, and rising demand, and discuss how donors can step up with trust‑based giving that invests in both people and programs. Phil and Kristine also reflect on resilience, values, and the moral responsibility of privilege, inviting listeners to consider how they can protect what works, reimagine systems thoughtfully, and bring joy and resolve to serious change work.

In this episode, Kristine Michie talks with Jeanine Abrams McLean and Johanne Meleance about how systems shape undercounted communities and how storytelling, civic engagement, and community ownership can drive lasting change.

In this episode, host Kristine Michie sits down with Emma Bloomberg, Founder and CEO of Murmuration, to explore how meaningful civic change begins at the local level. Blending personal stories with practical insight, Emma shares how her organization equips community groups with data, tools, and long-term support to strengthen democratic participation. From small neighborhood wins to national trends tracked through Murmuration’s Civic Pulse program, the conversation highlights a clear message: democracy grows stronger when everyday people choose to engage—block by block, conversation by conversation.

In this The PlayFull Podcast’s Best of 2025 series, host Kristine Michie brings together a chorus of extraordinary changemakers—visionaries in gender justice, philanthropy, political peacebuilding, and social innovation—for a deeply honest, spirited conversation. What unfolds is a rare and refreshing look at how bravery, playfulness, discomfort, and connection intersect in the lives and leadership of women transforming the world. For listeners navigating this moment’s chaos and change, this episode offers not just insight but a sense of belonging, permission to pause, and motivation to press forward.

In this episode of The PlayFull Podcast, Kristine Michie speaks with Don Howard, President and CEO of the James Irvine Foundation, about the future of work and the role of philanthropy in an AI-driven economy. Together, they explore how economic empowerment, trust-based giving, and worker inclusion can create more equitable opportunities for low-income communities. Drawing from Don’s journey into philanthropy and his commitment to inclusive leadership, the conversation highlights how empathy, adaptability, and even playfulness can sustain leaders and drive community-led change in a rapidly evolving world.

In this episode of The PlayFull Podcast, Kristine Michie sits down with longtime policy strategist and justice advocate Robert Raben for a deeply human conversation about sustaining meaningful work in complex times. Together, they explore how humor, faith, strategic clarity, and emotional grounding help leaders navigate cultural and political pushback without losing their joy. Touching on burnout, inclusion, rest, and the power of play, the conversation reframes resilience as a practice rooted in connection, purpose, and principled action.

In this episode of The PlayFull Podcast, Kristine Michie talks with Mia Sundstrom, CEO of the National Institute for Play (NIFP), and Lauren Sundstrom, NIFP Board Member, about the science, practice, and impact of play. They explore how play is essential not just for individual well-being but for workplaces, education, and societal health. From neuroscience and character development to organizational culture and philanthropy, the conversation reframes play as a foundational human and public health necessity.

In this episode of The PlayFull Podcast, Kristine Michie sits down with spiritual leader, author, and Unity San Francisco Senior Minister Ken Daigle to explore how play, faith, vulnerability, and imagination fuel personal transformation and social change. Drawing from Ken’s journey through Catholicism, queerness, theater, an HIV diagnosis, recovery, and ministry, they examine play as a sacred practice—one that invites discomfort, honest dialogue, and moral imagination. Together, they reflect on interfaith connection, polarization, unapologetic desire, and the courage to imagine lives and systems shaped not by fear or limitation, but by possibility.

In this episode of The PlayFull Podcast, Kristine Michie sits down with activist and strategist Scot Nakagawa and organizer Zev Mishell to explore how joy, play, faith, and ritual sustain people and movements through long struggles for justice. Drawing from decades of organizing, interfaith work, and personal history, they reflect on why burnout is a structural risk, how symbols and embodied practices build belonging, and why faith and politics are never truly separate. Together, they invite listeners to reimagine resistance as not only strategic but cultural and emotional—showing how imagination, care, and playful protest help movements endure, communicate meaning at scale, and keep showing up when the work feels heavy.

In this episode of The PlayFull Podcast, Kristine Michie sits down with poet, lawyer, and MacArthur Fellow Reginald Dwayne Betts to explore how joy, language, and access to stories sustain liberation and resilience in social justice work. Reflecting on his writing, his nonprofit Freedom Reads, and his lived experience, Betts invites listeners to reconsider how beauty, imagination, and serious work coexist—showing how words, books, and thoughtfully designed spaces can reshape systems, nurture hope, and sustain long-term movement building.

In this episode of The PlayFull Podcast, Kristine Michie talks with Jenan Mohajir, an educator, storyteller, and Vice President of External Affairs at Interfaith America, about the beauty and power of pluralism. They explore how local communities become sites of healing, how faith-based service shapes civic leadership, and how trust, humility, and storytelling sustain long-term work for the common good.

In this episode of The PlayFull Podcast, Kristine Michie talks with Rev. Naomi Washington-Leapheart, a Black queer preacher, teacher, and justice advocate, about integrating faith, politics, and joy into social change. They explore how voting and civic engagement can be expressions of faith, how reclaiming spiritual language fuels imagination and action, and how play and creativity sustain resilience in long-term justice work.

In this episode of The PlayFull Podcast, Kristine Michie talks with Rev. Jennifer Butler, founder of Faith in Democracy, about infusing joy, faith, and community into social change and exploring how spiritual language, humor, and compassion can renew resilience and help bridge divided communities.

In this episode of The PlayFull Podcast, Kristine Michie talks with filmmaker Nicholas Ma about using creative storytelling and sustained in-person conversations to bridge divides, spark empathy, and strengthen community.

In this episode of The PlayFull Podcast, Kristine Michie talks with Michelle Sobel and Harry Gottlieb—co-founders of Unify America—about reducing polarization, rebuilding civic trust, and helping people collaborate across differences with curiosity and play.