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The Nonprofit Insider Podcast · Swim Karim

Faiza Venzant on the State of Nonprofits, DEI, Managing Volunteers and Why Everyone Can Win

November 5, 2025·1 hr·3 clips
Faiza says DEI is just language, but humanity and welcome are the parts that will not die.
Wrapping up 2025, the host sounds energized. He introduces Faiza Venzant as a serious voice in the nonprofit sector, then the conversation loosens into two nonprofit people comparing notes. The opening has some housekeeping, a promise of video in 2026, and a quick joke about kids not being impressed by their parents. Then Faiza gets into the work. She talks about a credential held by more than 1,200 people around the world, with 66 new CVAs in October and 136 in 2025. The numbers give the point some weight: volunteer engagement is not a side chore. It has a code of ethics, professional standards, and a community of people trying to do the work well. The host catches the ethics thread right away. He brings it home through philosophy questions with his nearly 10-year-old, where right and wrong have started to feel newly alive. It is a small aside, but it gives the nonprofit conversation a place to land. Faiza then connects ethics to volunteers, communities, and organizational values. Her point is simple and hard to dodge. If nonprofits say they serve a community, they have to work with people whose politics and faith may not match their own. That is daily work for people leading volunteers across real differences. The close feels communal. Faiza points listeners back to Swim, asks for likes, follows, feedback, and ratings, and the host sends people to socials and the show notes. It ends like a field conversation: appreciative, practical, and rooted in people making room for each other to think out loud.

As heard by us

Volunteer ethics and credentialing, grounded in the practical realities of nonprofit service.

The conversation treats volunteer administration as a profession with its own ethics, and that gives it real weight. Faiza Venzant moves from credentialing to the day-to-day realities of volunteer engagement, including how nonprofits work with people who may not vote, pray, or…

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Why you'd press play

Volunteer ethics, told through the real work of keeping people aligned in nonprofits and communities.

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