A note before you listen: This episode discusses suicide and suicide prevention. If you or someone you know is struggling, you’re not alone. In the U.S., call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7. Outside the U.S., visit findahelpline.com to find support near you.
Ali Borowsky used to design for the NHL Winter Classic. Now she designs something far more personal: a small blue box that tells whoever finds it that strangers care. 🩵
Rooted in her own lived experience, Find Your Anchor brings color, creativity, and humanity to suicide prevention. Guest co-host Aila Malik brought Ali to the mic to share how a grassroots nonprofit with a product reached 116,000 boxes through handwritten notes, community box builds, and partners from middle schools to the San Francisco 49ers.
In this episode, you'll hear:
- Why letting partners lead is the fastest way to reach communities you could never reach alone
- How staying "unapologetically analog" helped a small nonprofit scale without losing its soul
- What happens when 3,500 requests arrive in 24 hours and your business model is karma
- How to protect your own wellness when your heart work becomes your job
You'll walk away with a fresh take on partnership, scale, and the small things that keep people going.
Episode Highlights:
- (4:42) Ali's story: creating what she wished she'd had
- (5:41) What's inside the box, and what an "anchor" really is
- (10:39) Three ways the boxes get into the world
- (13:17) Customizing boxes with nonprofit partners
- (16:21) From box one to 116,000: staying unapologetically analog
- (21:37) A nonprofit with a product: when your business model is karma
- (24:05) What Ali has learned about win-win partnerships
- (27:04) Staying well while doing heart work
- (35:41) One good thing: learn three people's anchors
Episode Show Notes: www.weareforgood.com/episode/748
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