When you come from a classic employee background and you've never seen anything beyond 9-5 jobs in your family or among your friends and colleagues, it's hard NOT to assume that going freelance, becoming a solopreneur, or building a portfolio career is a risky gamble. I, and I suspect many of my peers, grew up believing that finding a stable job that stimulates you intellectually, aligns with your
When did you last have a dedicated hour to reflect on the relational dynamics in a partnership you are managing? Not to plan the next meeting, not to update a logframe, not to draft the agenda for the steering committee. But to actually sit with what is going on between the people involved, including yourself: what trust has been built and what has been quietly eroding, whose voice has been shrink
I had a call last week with a woman I'll call Sarah. She's been a Director at a large foundation for seven years. Manages a €20M portfolio. Built partnerships across three continents. By every external measure, she's successful. "I keep thinking I should figure out what's next," she told me. "But I never actually sit down and do it. I tell myself I'll think about it this weekend. Then the weekend
Today, PurposePhil Career turns one. I want to be honest about what that means. The numbers are not yet where I want them to be. The path forward is not perfectly clear. And I have absolutely not figured it all out. What I can say is that one year ago I decided to build something, namely a curated talent platform for professionals in education, philanthropy, and MEL, and I kept going even when it
Recently, a philanthropic organisation shared with me that they received over 1,000 applications for a single fellowship position. How many were genuinely qualified? A fraction. The rest? Many were AI-generated applications from candidates who had never worked in philanthropy, applying to dozens of roles per day with a few clicks. Welcome to recruiting in 2026. Through PurposePhil Career , I suppo
Three years ago, I left my last salaried job at a large Swiss philanthropic foundation to move to Greece with my husband and kids. We were starting a small hotel on an island. I didn't know if I'd continue working in social impact after 15 years in the sector. I didn't know what my career would look like. And I didn't want to decide yet. What I did know: I needed to rest. I needed my kids to settl
What happens when you design an AI companion for authenticity instead of optimization AI companions carry a heavy reputation: emotional manipulation, profit-driven dependency, chatbots designed to keep you engaged. When most people hear "AI companion," they think: sexualized relationships, parasocial attachment, companies monetizing loneliness. What if we designed them differently? What if instead
It's been a year of building, testing, learning, and discovering what actually matters. When I launched PurposePhil Career in March, I had a hunch: our sector needed something different for career transitions. A space that understood the nuances of education, philanthropy, and social impact work. A community that valued both expertise and humanity. The response has been beyond what I imagined. Wha
Over the last few months, I've had the same conversation over and over. A former colleague searching for her next role after eight months of applications. A mentee who just left a job she loved because the pace was unsustainable. A friend at a foundation who told me, voice flat with exhaustion, "I just don't know how much longer I can do this." Then in a recent cohort of twenty professionals I was
"I've never seen anything like this," a participant once told me during a coffee break at a multi-stakeholder convening. "We started with such broad challenges this morning, and now we're talking about concrete collaboration opportunities. As a whole group. How did that happen?" I smiled, because I knew the answer wasn't magic, it was facilitation. Skilled, intentional, external facilitation. Over
A Conversation with Constance Kwaa Ababio, Policy & Advocacy Manager, IDP Foundation In this edition of PurposePhil Pulse, I’m honored to share a conversation with Constance Kwaa Ababio , Policy & Advocacy Manager at the IDP Foundation, Inc. . From her beginnings in a rural Ghanaian village near the Côte d’Ivoire border to shaping national education policy conversations, Constance’s journe
An analysis of partnership insights from leaders across global education and philanthropy Over the past months, I've had the privilege of speaking with 17 female leaders in education and philanthropy for the PurposePhil Pulse series. From emergency contexts in Syria to global networks spanning 60+ countries, from foundations in Switzerland to grassroots organizations in Pakistan, these conversatio
In this deeply reflective conversation, Nangamso Mtsatse , currently the Global Head of Foundational Learning at Teach For All , shares a personal and powerful journey through South Africa’s education system. From long commutes across apartheid-era divides to becoming a national leader in literacy reform, her story is one of persistence, identity, and conviction. We explore the formative experienc
In this edition of PurposePhil Pulse on female leadership in education and philanthropy, I’m honored to share my recent conversation with Maria Qureshi , whose journey from a classroom in a public school in Pakistan to leading multi-stakeholder education strategies for Syria exemplifies both courage and clarity of purpose. Maria brings a rare blend of ground-level experience and global systems exp
In today’s PurposePhil Pulse edition on female leaders in education and philanthropy, I am delighted to share my recent exchange with Dr. Randa (Grob) Zakhary , Founder and CEO of Education.org . Randa’s career spans medicine, neuroscience, consulting, philanthropy, and global education leadership. What struck me in our conversation is how she weaves those diverse experiences into a clear vision:
