There’s a problem most of us never see.

Children sleeping on floors.
No bed. No place to rest.

It’s called bedlessness.

In this episode of You Are What You Give, Luke Michaelson shares how one small moment turned into a movement that has changed over 370,000 lives.

Not by trying to solve everything, but by focusing on one clear, tangible need.

Build beds.

This conversation is about more than beds.
It’s about how real giving works:

Focus over scale.
Action over intention.
Doing one thing exceptionally well.

If you’re a nonprofit leader, donor, volunteer or simply someone who wants to give more thoughtfully, this episode offers a powerful reframing of what it means to make a difference.

To learn more about Luke Mickelson and Sleep in Heavenly Peace, go to https://shpbeds.org/.

Build a Bed.

Find one real need.
One real person.
One real situation.

And take one concrete step.

Because giving doesn’t grow by doing more -
it grows by doing what matters.

Special thanks to Victoria Hearst, whose generosity helps make these conversations possible.

For giving stories, episodes, insights and more, check out You Are What You Give at https://givewithus.com/.

Volunteer travel has become incredibly popular. But not all service trips are created equal.

Some experiences unintentionally center the volunteer instead of the community. Others leave participants inspired but unsure whether their efforts truly made a lasting difference.

In this episode of You Are What You Give, Avi Zimmerman speaks with Erin Hempen, founder of With Change in Mind https://www.withchangeinmind.org/, about how volunteer travel can be designed in a way that genuinely benefits the communities being served, while also transforming the people who participate.

Erin shares what she has learned from years of designing service experiences that emphasize relationships, cultural humility, sustainable impact, and meaningful human connection.

Together they explore:

• What separates meaningful service from “voluntourism”
• How nonprofits can design volunteer trips that respect and strengthen local communities
• How service travel can reshape how volunteers and donors think about giving

For nonprofit leaders, volunteers, and philanthropists alike, this conversation offers a thoughtful look at how service experiences can deepen our understanding of generosity and responsibility.

Special thanks to Victoria Hearst, whose generosity and belief in this project help make You Are What You Give possible.

Iran is not its regime.

In this episode, Avi Zimmerman speaks with Iranian-American activist Zolal Habibi about the fight for a free Iran, the difference between the regime and the Iranian people, and why many Iranians insist their future must be shaped by the people, for the people.

Recorded during an active regional conflict - from Israel, where the interview was briefly interrupted by an air-raid siren - this conversation explores the history of Iran’s resistance movement and the personal story behind Zolal’s lifelong activism.

Her father was executed by the Iranian regime during the mass killings of political prisoners in 1988 — a defining moment that shaped her commitment to the fight for freedom in Iran.

In this episode we discuss:

• Why many Iranians reject both war and appeasement
• The long struggle of resistance movements inside Iran
• The role of women in the fight for democracy
• The vision for a secular democratic republic in Iran
• What people outside Iran can do to support the Iranian people

At its core, this episode asks a deeper question:

What does it mean to stand on the right side of history?

Learn More

National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI): https://www.ncr-iran.org/

Maryam Rajavi: https://maryamrajavi4change.com/ https://maryam-rajavi.com

Iran Freedom: https://iranfreedom.org/

Organization of Iranian American Communities (OIAC): https://oiac.org/

Social Media

FB: https://www.facebook.com/IranNCR/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashrafi4ever/

X (Twitter): https://x.com/ashrafi4ever

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zolalhabibi

And special thanks to Victoria Hearst for supporting thoughtful conversations like this one and helping bring these voices to a wider audience.

Join the You Are What You Give community by subscroibing to https://givewithus.com/.

This is the fourth and final episode in our How Texans Give miniseries, and we close it by stepping inside the human side of Congress.

In this conversation, Avi Zimmerman sits down with Congressman Michael Cloud to talk about something rarely discussed in public life: how to serve without losing yourself.

This conversation goes deeper than party lines, diving into the value system of selfless leadership.

Congressman Cloud reflects on:

• The difference between seeking power and being willing to carry responsibility
• How trust becomes the real currency of leadership (reminding us of my discussion with Cathy McMorris Rodgers https://youtu.be/vYuR_1E4kJM)
• What keeps him grounded in an environment shaped by pressure and ambition
• Why giving is about what you give of yourself beyond what you give on behalf of others

This episode fits squarely within the How Texans Give series, exploring what people give when they step into responsibility: time, integrity and trust. Stewardship, not politics. And real giving when the stakes are high.

As with every episode in this series, special thanks to Victoria Hearst for her continued support and belief in these conversations.

If this episode resonates, we invite you to explore our weekly Giving Challenges and conversations about purposeful generosity at https://givewithus.com.