We Are For Good Podcast - The Podcast for Nonprofits
The We Are For Good Podcast brings nonprofit professionals + everyday changemakers into conversations with the most innovative, heartwired leaders in social impact. Hosted by Jon McCoy + Becky Endicott, each episode unpacks fresh mindsets, practical skills + inspiring stories designed to help you work smarter, build healthier cultures + accelerate our collective impact.
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About We Are For Good
We Are For Good is a storytelling, learning + activating community built for nonprofit professionals + everyday changemakers. Through our podcasts + media, purpose-driven activations + global gatherings, we equip for-good leaders with the connection, skills + inspiration to grow their impact. Because we believe community is everything—and together, we can create an Impact Uprising.
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We Are For Good Podcast - The Podcast for Nonprofits
720. Stories to Fill The Hope Gap: Why Celebration Is the Story That Changes Everything - Colby King, Kiki Arts Collaborative
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The Kiki and ballroom scene, built by Black and brown LGBTQ+ youth of color in New York City, has been creating art, designing fashion, performing, and building community for over 20 years.
Meet Colby King 👋 He’s the founder of Kiki Arts Collaborative, an economic development platform turning ballroom artistry into sustainable careers in arts, culture, and media through creative mentorship, job training, and internship placement. In 2025, that work earned Colby the David Prize, one of five awarded annually to the most luminary nonprofits in New York City.
In this episode, you'll hear:
- Colby’s personal story and journey to the work he is doing today through KAC
- Why celebration, not charity, is the storytelling strategy at the heart of KAC's work, and what nonprofit leaders can apply to their own work
- What it looks like to build with a community instead of for it and why that distinction is at the root of everything Kiki Arts Collaborative does
You'll walk away questioning the scarcity mindset the sector trained into all of us. You'll also be empowered with a sharper sense of how to tell stories that restore dignity instead of trading on need. 🩵
Episode Highlights:
- Meet Colby King and Kiki Arts Collaborative (00:44)
- From Dallas pews to Columbia: the origin story (02:06)
- The mission: lowering the barrier to creative careers (05:38)
- "Seeing my art as art": the Inspiration Point exhibit (08:01)
- Charity vs. celebration: reframing the impact story (09:59)
- The mom who gave away her bed: generosity that stuck (11:48)
- One Good Thing: "take care of your blessings" (14:04)
- How to connect and what KAC needs now (15:43)
Episode Show Notes: www.weareforgood.com/episode/720
Series Hub: https://www.weareforgood.com/hopegap
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