Giving Compass CEO Dale Nirvani is an expert in leading social impact. Her perspective was recently featured on The NewSchool’s blog spotlighting members of Dreamers & Doers.
Social impact isn’t reserved for large corporations with massive budgets. It’s built by intentional leaders who prioritize doing good right where they are, no matter their company’s size or stage.
From launching community-driven initiatives to redefining what responsible business looks like, these founders are showing that impact can be more than a nice bonus—it can be integral to growth.
Here, Dreamers & Doers members open up about the pivotal choices they’ve made to put impact first and share their advice for founders who believe they’re “too small” to make a difference (spoiler: you’re not).
Dale Nirvani Pfeifer
CEO of Giving Compass, a nonprofit donor education platform helping over 2M givers transform their generosity into meaningful change every year.
When faced with a choice between pursuing rapid growth or deepening community impact, we chose the latter—prioritizing visibility for grassroots, community-led nonprofits that rarely make it onto major donor platforms. Integrating AI tools allowed us to elevate these organizations’ stories at scale, helping donors discover them more easily and direct millions in funding toward equity-driven change. The result has been stronger community partnerships, higher donor engagement, and a measurable shift toward more inclusive philanthropy.
Impact doesn’t depend on scale; it depends on intention. Start by aligning one business process or decision with your values, and let that alignment become a habit that grows with you.