As 2025 winds down, we’re reflecting on the bold transformations happening across Canada’s social profit sector. This November on The Discovery Pod, we sat down with leaders who are redefining what it means to lead with purpose, resilience, and vision. From succession planning at Asante Africa Foundation to scaling during crisis at Kids Help Phone, and from rethinking revenue models at Breakthrough T1D Canada to challenging sector norms with Toronto Metropolitan University, these conversations highlight strategies, leadership, and a commitment to building organizations that truly serve their communities.
Building Resilient Social Profits with Geoffrey Kasangaki, Asante Africa Foundation
Geoffrey Kasangaki’s journey to becoming CEO of Asante Africa Foundation offers one of the most compelling succession stories in our sector. After a five-year strategic planning process, Asante Africa accomplished what only 10% of organizations achieve: successfully shifting governance and leadership from the global North to the global South. Geoffrey’s perspective reframes success itself: “I cannot count myself as successful if I have no succession plan.”
For leaders facing similar transitions, Geoffrey’s approach offers a roadmap: embed succession planning in your strategic plan from the start with a multi-year timeline that includes mentorship, executive development, and governance restructuring. Make decisions data-driven rather than ego-driven to ensure the organization’s needs drive the transition.
Asante Africa’s three-year program cycle demonstrates balancing rigor with flexibility. Year one focuses on stakeholder buy-in and clear agreements; year two is full implementation; year three is sustainability. But here’s the key: they use evaluation data to determine if communities need additional support. This structured yet responsive approach maintains consistency while honouring that change doesn’t happen on a uniform timeline.
Transforming Crisis into Growth with Katherine Hay, Kids Help Phone
Senator Katherine Hay led Kids Help Phone through one of the most dramatic transformations in Canadian charity history by asking a deceptively simple question: “Who are we?” They set aside the obvious parts of their identity (charity, youth mental health) to discover what else defined them. The answer—an innovative, data-driven technology organization—changed how they organized, funded, and approached their work.
This exercise in strategic clarity offers every leader a practical tool. Katherine’s formula is elegant: “Know who you are, and you’ll know where to go.” Take your board and leadership team through a session to identify what’s not obvious about your organization’s identity. This reframing unlocked Kids Help Phone’s growth from 1.9 million interactions in 2019 to over 22.5 million since March 2020.
Katherine’s most important lesson? When growth threatens your foundation, invest internally. When the organization hit a breaking point during COVID, they spent an entire year investing in people and systems rather than maintaining growth. They applied McKinsey’s three horizons model but recognized they needed to strengthen their core before building higher. As Katherine puts it, “If you don’t have your people with you, no shiny gadget will be worth anything.”
Mission Beyond Boundaries with Jessica Diniz, Breakthrough T1D Canada
When COVID eliminated 68% of Breakthrough T1D Canada’s event-driven revenue overnight, Jessica Diniz didn’t panic, she listened. Through a four-month listening tour, they learned their community wanted to designate gifts, receive meaningful stewardship, and see tangible impact. Within two years, they flipped their revenue model, with 68% now from major gifts and corporate philanthropy.
What made this effective was the structure: Jessica involved every level of her development team in conversations, turning research into professional development. Then came the critical step: closing the loop by showing donors what changed as a result of their input. This has become ongoing practice, creating a continuous feedback loop that keeps the organization aligned with its community.
Jessica’s navigation of their 50-year-old name change offers another vital lesson. Moving from JDRF to Breakthrough T1D reflected their commitment to representing their entire community (88% of people with Type 1 diabetes are over 19). The process mattered as much as the outcome: engage stakeholders, test extensively, and be crystal clear about your “why.” Jessica’s reflection: “Did everyone love our name? No. But those who didn’t, agreed with the why.” When you articulate change in terms of values and mission, even those who disagree can respect the reasoning.
The Future of Social Profit Leadership with Tanya Rumble, Toronto Metropolitan University
Tanya Rumble’s work through Recast Philanthropy and her role at Toronto Metropolitan University challenges the sector to examine the power dynamics embedded in our everyday practices. From gift acceptance policies that most fundraisers have never read, to the myth of neutrality in charitable work, to the need for “wise relational practices” rather than relationships at any cost—Tanya’s insights push us beyond compliance to true values alignment. Her research on gift acceptance policies reveals a critical gap: these documents are one of the only tools organizations must ensure their values are reflected in the gifts they accept, yet they’re rarely revisited or even well understood by frontline fundraisers.
Perhaps most provocatively, Tanya challenges the notion that charities should be neutral. “Inherently charity is the opposite of neutral,” she argues. “You have made a statement and said, we exist to solve this issue.” This clarity of purpose shouldn’t make us afraid to have perspective or to call donors in when their views conflict with our mission. The organizations that are clearest about their values and their point of view, she observes, tend to be the most effective at fundraising—and the healthiest places to work. Her vision for the future is grounded in optimism: she sees a new generation bringing diverse perspectives to fundraising, and she’s excited about how philanthropy can play a catalytic role in addressing the biggest challenges of our time.
This month’s conversations reveal that transformational leadership in the social profit sector requires equal parts courage, humility, and strategic thinking. Whether its building succession plans from day one, investing in your people during growth periods, listening deeply to your community before acting, or being unafraid to center your values—these leaders show us that there is indeed a better way forward. One common thread throughout these conversations is a refusal to accept “good enough” and a commitment to building organizations worthy of the communities they serve.
Access the full episodes at the links below to hear more:
- Listen on Apple Podcasts
- Listen on Spotify
- Listen on Castbox
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