Design Economics Podcast (Episode 21)
When Vinny came across Jody Levison-Johnson’s Forbes piece arguing that the social sector deserves to be treated as an economic engine, he reached out. That conversation became this episode. Jody is President and CEO of Social Current, a national network of nearly 1,800 human service organizations, and the founder of Five & Rising, a movement to revalue, reframe, and rebuild how the social sector is funded and supported. Together they trace how a sector representing 5.3% of U.S. GDP has been systematically funded like a workaround, what it would take to change that, and why getting there matters for every community.
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About Jody Levison-Johnson
Jody Levison-Johnson, PhD, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker with over 30 years of experience in the field of human services. She currently serves as the President and CEO of Social Current, an organization that works to support, strengthen, and amplify the work of a diverse network of nearly 1,600 human service organizations and the social sector. Over several decades, Jody’s career has crossed a variety of settings including private human service providers, state and local governments, and national associations. Much of her work has focused on cross-sector alignment to benefit children, youth, and families. Jody’s experience leading system reform efforts across the country has prompted her interest in the environmental contexts that surround leadership of deep change in social and public systems. Jody holds a Master of Social Work degree from Syracuse University and a Master of Arts and PhD in Leadership and Change from Antioch University.