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High-Impact Growth

High-Impact Growth

Dimagi 87 Episodes Aug 21, 2026

A podcast for social entrepreneurs, global development funders, nonprofit leaders, and anyone figuring out how to build solutions that are both immensely impactful and achieve high growth. Hosted by Dimagi CEO Jonathan Jackson and co-host Amie Vaccaro, it draws on 20 years of experience building digital tools for global health and development. Each episode unpacks barriers and opportunities for high-impact growth and features conversations with industry leaders around the world.

Episodes

Grow the Pie: GiveDirectly's CEO on Absorbing the Third Wave
Grow the Pie: GiveDirectly's CEO on Absorbing the Third Wave Aug 21, 2026 00:52:27 Five years ago, they were mid-level software engineers. Today, they hold giving accounts larger than major foundations — and the sector they want to fund may not be ready to absorb the money. Nick Allardice, CEO of GiveDirectly and former CEO of Change.org, joins Amie and Jonathan to unpack his widely discussed article "The Absorption Problem" and what the "third wave" of phila
From Embracing Complexity to Solving the Right Problems
From Embracing Complexity to Solving the Right Problems Aug 18, 2026 00:46:10 Could a funder deploy $100 million in global health tomorrow and know where every single dollar went? Dimagi CEO and co-founder Jonathan Jackson believes verified service delivery finally makes the answer yes. In this candid mid-2026 check-in, Jon joins co-host Amie Vaccaro, VP of CommCare Growth and Strategy, to unpack a year of profound change including why Dimagi retired its longtime value &quo
Eric Ries on Why Good Companies Go Bad
Eric Ries on Why Good Companies Go Bad Aug 7, 2026 00:56:08 What does it really mean to make a profit — and why do so many mission-driven companies eventually betray the very things that made them great? In this episode, Eric Ries, creator of The Lean Startup and founder of the Long-Term Stock Exchange, joins Amie Vaccaro and Jonathan Jackson to discuss his new book Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad and How Great Companies Stay Great. Eric dismantle
The Last Mile of Family Planning: Lessons from Lafiya in Nigeria
The Last Mile of Family Planning: Lessons from Lafiya in Nigeria Jul 30, 2026 00:42:30 In a single program area in northern Nigeria, contraceptive use climbed from 2% to over 70%. This change wasn't caused by a new technology, but happened because of one new strategy: centering trust. In this episode, Jonathan Jackson and Amie Vaccaro sit down with Klau Pakos, CEO and co-founder of Lafiya, to unpack how their organization closes the "last mile" gap in family planning i
Why Development Needs More Innovation, Not Less with DIV Fund
Why Development Needs More Innovation, Not Less with DIV Fund Jul 23, 2026 00:49:53 When USAID was dissolved, Sasha Gallant didn't let the work she'd spent years building disappear with it. As the former head of Development Innovation Ventures (DIV), USAID's evidence-driven innovation fund, Gallant watched stop-work orders freeze over 100 active awards overnight. Rather than let that portfolio die, she did two things: Helped mobilize more than $130 million to keep the
Who Actually Owns This? Naming What's Broken with Nithya Ramanathan
Who Actually Owns This? Naming What's Broken with Nithya Ramanathan Jun 26, 2026 00:48:54 What does it actually take for a country, government, or community to truly own a technology or an outcome? In this fast-paced and candid episode of High-Impact Growth, Dimagi CEO Jonathan Jackson and co-host Amie Vaccaro welcome back Nithya Ramanathan, CEO and co-founder of Nexleaf Analytics. Moving past polite sector rhetoric, Nithya and Jonathan break down why so many well-intentioned global he
40,000 Health Workers, One AI-Powered Lifeline
40,000 Health Workers, One AI-Powered Lifeline May 15, 2026 00:49:25 What happens when a health extension worker in rural Ethiopia faces a complex case and there's no doctor nearby? This episode goes beyond the AI hype cycle to explore a live, working answer: HEP Assist, a generative AI-powered call center built for Ethiopia's 40,000 health extension workers by Last Mile Health, IDinsight, and the Ethiopian Ministry of Health.Abraham Zerihun, Ethiopia Count
Closing the Gap: Scaling Mental Health Care Through Local Heroes with Pavel Reppo
Closing the Gap: Scaling Mental Health Care Through Local Heroes with Pavel Reppo Apr 15, 2026 00:50:30 Imagine a country of 50 million people with only 50 psychiatrists. This staggering treatment gap is the reality in Uganda, but Pavel Reppo is proving that specialized experts aren’t the only ones who can provide life-changing care. As the Executive Director of Finemind and CEO of Matchbox Fund, Pavel brings a rare dual perspective to the conversation, bridging the worlds of grassroots mental healt
Thinking About Individual Giving? Start Here
Thinking About Individual Giving? Start Here Feb 20, 2026 00:45:58 As traditional funding sources shift, many nonprofits are asking a hard question: can individual giving become a meaningful and sustainable revenue stream? In this episode of High-Impact Growth, Amie Vaccaro and Jonathan Jackson sit down with Javan Van Gronigen, founder of Donate.ly, to unpack what it truly takes to make that transition work.Drawing from more than a decade in digital fundraising,
Beyond “AI for Good”: Building Responsible AI
Beyond “AI for Good”: Building Responsible AI Jan 22, 2026 00:50:17 AI is moving fast in global health and development, but good intentions alone don’t guarantee good outcomes. In this episode of High-Impact Growth, we sit down with Genevieve Smith, Founding Director of the Responsible AI Initiative at UC Berkeley’s AI Research Lab, to unpack what it really means to build and deploy AI responsibly in contexts that matter most.Drawing on a decade of experience in i
[Pods Fight Poverty Re-Air] How GiveDirectly is Changing Aid
[Pods Fight Poverty Re-Air] How GiveDirectly is Changing Aid Dec 18, 2025 00:42:04 Today’s episode is a re-air in support of Pods Fight Poverty, a campaign from our friends at GiveDirectly. You can learn more and donate at: GiveDirectly.org/DimagiUpdate: You can learn about the impact of this campaign here.—-In this episode, we’re joined by Stella Luk, Regional Director at GiveDirectly, and Erin Quinn, Dimagi’s Senior Director of Customer Success, to explore a fundamental questi
What Makes a Dollar Matter? Lessons from Coefficient Giving
What Makes a Dollar Matter? Lessons from Coefficient Giving Dec 10, 2025 00:52:04 What if you could identify exactly where your philanthropic dollar would save the most lives or improve the most years of healthy living? In this episode, Deena Mousa, lead researcher at Coefficient Giving (formerly Open Philanthropy), walks us through the rigorous frameworks that guide one of the world's most analytically driven funders. From evaluating causes using importance, neglectedness,

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