Distilling Philanthropy is a guest-driven, conversation-led podcast that explores philanthropy through the lived perspectives of the people who engage with it through their own work and lives. Set in a speakeasy, not a boardroom, the podcast dispels convention and leans into the moment.
Each episode features honest, long-form conversations with guests who share how they personally view philanthropy. By understanding how they define it, wrestle with it, and experience its impact, they are able to move beyond traditional narratives. The podcast looks at the real opinions, trade-offs, and moments that shape meaningful change.
Distilling Philanthropy creates space for open dialogue around responsibility, generosity, and the complexities that sit at the intersection of impact and intention.
Why the Least Valuable Thing a Donor Gives Is Money
Steve French leads The Signatry, a faith-based donor advised fund sponsor built to help people solve some of the world's hardest problems, and he brings four decades of building and selling companies to how he thinks about giving. In this conversation he makes the case that the least valuable thing a donor offers is money, that comfort erodes organizations more than apathy, and that fear is what keeps most charitable capital from ever being deployed. Along the way: the difference between being an owner and a steward, the venture that cost him his entire liquidity, and the three things he measures before partnering with anyone. A candid hour for donors, families, and philanthropic advisors thinking about impact, stewardship, and giving with real purpose.
29 Sept 2026
Why Philanthropy Is Really Just Love of Mankind
Simone Devenny has spent her career as a wealth strategist at the intersection of money, family, and meaning. After a profound loss, she speaks about giving with rare depth. In this conversation she makes the case that philanthropy is "love of mankind" put into action, and that our deepest wounds can become the roadmap for how we help others. She shares how a community of grieving mothers turned unimaginable loss into purpose, why the summit of wealth is a vantage point rather than a destination, and what it means to simply show up for people. A moving hour for donors, families, and philanthropic advisors thinking about legacy, intention, and giving so the next person suffers less.
15 Sept 2026
The Dollar Taylor Lewan Gives Before He Writes the Check
Taylor Lewan, former NFL offensive lineman and co-host of Bussin' With The Boys, joins Distilling Philanthropy with unusual honesty about how he came to giving. He admits he was long suspicious of athlete charity and hard-wired to protect what he'd earned, until his wife reframed what it means to help and why fulfillment follows generosity. Along the way: giving a hand up rather than a handout, teaching his kids gratitude at every red light, and saying yes to everything until you earn the right to say no. A candid hour for donors, families, and philanthropic advisors thinking about how giving actually starts and how it gets passed to the next generation.
1 Sept 2026
Why So Much Money Just Sits There
Marisa Swystun spent her career in the nonprofit and philanthropic sector before moving into wealth management, and that crossover shapes how she counsels donors. She makes the case that giving well starts with understanding your catalysts, the reasons you actually let go of money, long before you get to values or causes. Along the way: why the rules of wealth creation don't apply to giving, why so much charitable capital sits idle at the 5% minimum, and what she means when she says giving buys happiness. A grounded hour for donors, families, and philanthropic advisors thinking about intention, impact, and how to give with clarity.
18 Aug 2026
Why Smart Giving Starts With the Outcome
Ali Harnell, founder of Live Nation Women, joins Distilling Philanthropy for a candid conversation about giving when you have the means to solve problems, not just fund them. She makes the case for starting with a desired outcome instead of a legal vehicle, and for recognition when it serves a cause better than anonymity. Along the way: the nonprofit she started and why it stalled, and the four-second decision behind her first donor advised fund. A useful hour for donors, wealth managers, family office leaders, and philanthropic advisors thinking about impact, legacy, and intention.
4 Aug 2026
Why Shawn and Andrew East don't find the best charity – they find the best problem solver
Shawn Johnson East and Andrew East built a large platform through athletics, relationships, and years of storytelling, and in this conversation they turn that lens on giving. They make the case that seeing the work firsthand beats writing a check, that charities lose people when they sound like commercials instead of humans, and that the real task is finding the best problem solver rather than the best charity. Along the way: the "beautiful guilt" of getting more than you give, why they take their kids to build homes in Tijuana, and how proximity to a problem shapes the causes you choose. A warm hour for donors, families, and philanthropic advisors thinking about impact, storytelling, and how giving gets passed to the next generation.
13 May 2026
A Wealth Advisor's Philanthropy Wake-Up Call
In this conversation, Tony talks about what it actually takes to move philanthropy from obligation to intention — why the standard "know your client" framework falls short, what advisors are still afraid to ask, and how the most meaningful giving rarely begins with a check. He also shares the personal experience that reoriented his entire relationship with generosity, and what he believes is at stake as the wealth management profession faces a generational reckoning.
This is a candid, behind-the-bar conversation about perspective, legacy, and what it means to serve a client well across every stage of their wealth journey.
Tony Guinane spent more than two decades managing wealth for some of the most successful families in the country before co-founding Dial Square Private Wealth with approximately $1.2 billion in client assets.
29 Apr 2026
What Happens When It Stops Being About You
In this conversation, Ty talks about what a decade on the road with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition taught him about genuine service, why the skilled trades represent one of the most overlooked philanthropic opportunities of this generation, and how a four-day boat build with a father he barely knew changed everything he believed about what he was capable of.
He also shares what he's learned partnering with Anonymous Philanthropy and the Skilled Careers Coalition about reaching young people who are ready to do something with their hands and their lives — they just need someone to show them the door.
This is a warm, honest, behind-the-bar conversation about fulfillment, purpose, and what it looks like when giving stops feeling like a "should" and starts feeling like the whole point.
Ty Pennington has built over 240 homes across the country, traveled to every state, and stood in front of more families at their lowest points than most people will encounter in a lifetime. What he found on the other side of all of it is that the work that mattered most wasn't about the build. It was about what happened to the people on both sides of it.
1 Apr 2026
The Gap Between "Wealthy" and "Rich"
In this episode of Distilling Philanthropy, Rob and Josh cover the distinction between being wealthy and having money, why overcommitting to a cause tends to produce better outcomes than optimizing your giving, how liquidity events can either bond a family together or fracture one permanently, and what wealth managers consistently get wrong about entrepreneurs. Rob also shares a story from his time chairing Operation Homefront — one of the highest-stakes moments in a career full of them — and what it clarified about the difference between involvement and actual commitment.
Rob Wolford co-founded Hollencrest Capital Management in 1999, building it into a nearly $3 billion UHNW advisory firm — but that's not why this conversation matters. What shapes his approach to wealth, family, and legacy is something harder to put on a pitch deck: twenty-seven years of watching what money does to people, and what it doesn't.
18 Mar 2026
What False Consensus is Doing to Your Giving Strategy
In this conversation, Stuart and Josh explore what it takes to move from reactive giving to root cause philanthropy, why false consensus is one of the most expensive problems in family governance and donor strategy, and how the coming generational wealth transfer (potentially $170 billion in new charitable capital over the next fifteen years) demands a more intentional approach to alignment, mission, and measurement.
They also get into the fulfillment side of giving: the metric most foundations don't track, and the reason so many donors disengage from work they said mattered to them.
Stuart McClure has built his career around a single discipline: finding the invisible gap between what people believe is working and what actually is.
As the founder of Cylance, acquired by BlackBerry for $1.5 billion, and the author of the foundational Hacking Exposed series, Stuart spent decades applying prevention thinking to systems that everyone else assumed were protected. Now, through Wethos AI and the Clavis Foundation, he's bringing that same framework to philanthropy — asking not just where donors should give, but why so many well-resourced giving strategies quietly fail to produce what anyone actually intended.
4 Mar 2026
Why Wealthy Families Need Advisors Who Push Back
In this episode of Distilling Philanthropy, Kevin and Ben join host Josh Stamer for a candid conversation about what it actually means to be a trusted advisor to high-net-worth families — not just picking good investments, but knowing when to push back, how to bridge generational wealth transfer with genuine philanthropic purpose, and why the most valuable thing you can offer a sophisticated client is often the clarity to see what they already have.
They also get into the formative experiences that shaped their instincts: a gap year drilling in the Western Australian Outback, cold-calling on Dun & Bradstreet cards from a cubicle in the Inland Empire, and the quiet discipline of parenting children who have more than you ever did.
Kevin Murphy and Ben Durrant co-founded Provenio Capital in 2016 with a straightforward thesis: wealthy families weren't being served well by firms that treated alternatives as an afterthought and coordination as someone else's problem.
Nine years and $1.6 billion in assets under advisement later, what they've built looks less like a wealth management firm and more like a quarterback system — one designed to organize complexity, hold the right specialists accountable, and stay honest with clients even when it's uncomfortable.
18 Feb 2026
The Metric Philanthropy Isn't Measuring (But Should)
In this episode of Distilling Philanthropy, Josh Stamer sits down with Kari Hernandez (SVP of Growth at Ren, Inc.) to challenge how we measure (and practice) modern philanthropy. They dig into donor-advised funds (DAFs), why "assets parked" is the wrong scoreboard, and what it looks like to move from check-writing to problem-solving with real outcomes, momentum, and fulfillment. If you're a high net worth donor or advisor trying to deploy charitable capital with more clarity and less friction, this conversation delivers a sharper framework for what's next.
Kari leads growth strategy across product, partnerships, and market expansion at Ren, a philanthropy-tech company powering charitable giving infrastructure for donor-advised funds, nonprofits, wealth managers, and fintech partners. Her background spans systems engineering and operations, including early work at Disney, leadership roles at McKinsey, and VP positions at Indigo Agriculture and Veho. She holds degrees from USC (BS Industrial & Systems Engineering), MIT (MS Transportation), and Harvard Business School (MBA).
14 Feb 2026
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