The Social Impact Solutions Podcast · Social Impact Solutions

Eradicating Poverty Through Job Creation With David Simms

June 1, 2025·45 min·4 clips

A $400,000 investment in April 2020 turned into a 20x larger company, lifting Kenyan farmers from mud huts to cement homes.

The episode treats poverty as a jobs problem. David Sims says small and midsized enterprises create about 70% of jobs in the United States and in developing nations, which changes the nonprofit conversation pretty quickly. Donations still matter, but the sharper question is how to grow businesses that can actually hire people. The host keeps pulling the discussion back to what can be done now. Talented becomes the working example: look at the tools already on the table, then ask what capital can realistically accomplish. Donor advised funds carry a lot of the weight in that model. David explains that DAF capital has already been given away, which can make impact investing feel less risky for people holding that money. He does not frame it as another donation. He frames it as capital that can go into businesses in Africa, earn returns, and move back into donor advised funds. That distinction matters because the episode keeps separating money spent down from money used to create jobs and come back for another round. The host names the practical move: Talented did not wait for a perfect structure. It started with what was reachable and built around funders willing to try it. A personal story gives the idea some bite. David remembers a couple whose view changed when the wife connected invested capital with stewardship. The religious language stays personal, not pasted on. It fits the larger point that mission capital deserves to be judged by what it produces, not by where it sits. The closing stays encouraging without getting mushy. David pushes mission-driven people to try work that has not been done before, especially with teams, boards, donors, or investors around them. Boldness, in this episode, is something people practice together.

As heard by us

A job-creation case for using donor-advised capital as working capital for impact.

It makes a clear case for job creation, arguing that mid-sized companies are often the right scale for growing employment and helping people move out of poverty.

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Why you'd press play

If you want a practical case for capital that creates jobs and measurable change, press play.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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