Philanthropy and Community Empowerment: A Talk with Hanh Le

Insights for Change Podcast features conversations with people in philanthropy about funder listening to shift power. In this episode, Melinda Tuan, Fund for Shared Insight's managing director, sits down with Hanh Le, co-CEO of iF, A Foundation for Radical Possibility, to explore what it means for philanthropy to truly listen and shift power to community. Hanh shares her deeply personal journey — from her family's experience as Vietnamese refugees to her evolving role in philanthropy — and how that history shapes her commitment to equity and justice. She and Melinda discuss how iF transformed from a conventional health-conversion grantmaker into a community-centered racial justice foundation, grounded in truth-telling, healing, and repair. Together, they unpack how foundations can move beyond performative listening to genuine partnership, co-creating with communities, redistributing wealth, and transforming systems from within.