Meet Taneshia. She's a social change agent and community developer who centers cultural equity in her work. As the President and CEO of Newark Symphony Hall, a historic performing arts center, she's using arts and culture as an economic development tool for the resurgence of Newark, N.J. She's also talking about how employing an entrepreneurial mindset for social change has created jobs, community engagement, and - of course - fueled donations for her nonprofit. We are cheering her ingenuity and creativity as a disruptive leader in our sector!

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

•  Taneshia’s background and journey to where she is today (4:09)
• Taneshia’s work with Newark Symphony Hall (7:50)
• $50 million renovation campaign and using arts and culture as an economic development tool for the resurgence of Newark (15:00)
• Investing in your staff members (16:00)
• Casting visionary leadership (22:00)
• Taneshia’s advice for dreaming bigger (27:18)
• Taneshia’s 3 step formula to social change (30:00)
  • 1. How can you really embody your mission? 
  • 2. What are your values? How can you really kind of live those values?
  • 3. Model humanity 
• Building a legacy and living life on purpose (35:00)
• A powerful moment of philanthropy in Taneshia’s life (41:00)
• Taneshia’s One Good Thing: Your current situation is not your final destination. (43:00)

For more information and episode details visit: www.weareforgood.com/episode/133

The We Are For Good Podcast is co-hosted by Jonathan McCoy, CFRE and Becky Endicott, CFRE and welcomes the most dynamic nonprofit leaders, advocates and philanthropists to share innovative ideas and lessons learned 3x a week!

Want to hear insider details and to get our best roundup of tips, freebies, resources and show notes from each episode? Join the Good Community - it's free! Visit

Join us at ImpactUp: Movement on July 10th!

It’s a free, one-day virtual event for changemakers who are ready to move their mission forward. You’ll walk away with real, practical tools—like how to use your data to spark action, how to craft a clear and compelling elevator pitch, and how to create messaging that actually moves people.

Grab your free spot at weareforgood.com/impactup 🥳

Thank you to our partners 🩵

Big gratitude to Givebutter, RKD Group, DonorDock, Feathr, Whiteboard and Sowen for their partnership in growing the Impact Uprising. If you’re searching for a new CRM, tech tool, brand partner, direct mail partner, or impact strategist— we’d love for you to start with our trusted recs. We’ve vetted them so you don’t have to. Head to weareforgood.com/recs to learn more.

Support the show

Become a Member and Get All-Access to Everything We Are For Good!
Experience the Impact Uprising Membership by We Are For Good: an ecosystem to learn, connect + grow in the power of a value-aligned community. Members gather monthly with Jon + Becky at exclusive members-only meetups + get video access to all new podcast episodes in an ad-free experience + so much more! Learn more + join us at weareforgood.com.

Say hi👇
LinkedIn / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter