Nonprofit Lowdown
Nonprofit Lowdown
Rhea Wong
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#345- Cinderella Nonprofit: How a Brooklyn Debate Coach Went Viral and Raised $1.3 Million in 48 Hours with DiCo
34 minutes Posted Jul 7, 2025 at 12:00 pm.
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This week’s episode of Nonprofit Lowdown is straight-up magic. 🪄


I sat down with my friend DiCo, Executive Director of the Brooklyn Debate League, and her story is nothing short of jaw-dropping.


One minute, she’s a public school teacher running debate club on Fridays. The next? A viral Humans of New York post, a GoFundMe that raises $1.3 million in two days, and suddenly she’s leading a movement to bring speech and debate to all kids—especially those from historically excluded communities.


In this episode, we talk about:

💥 The power of speech & debate to literally change lives

💡 What it’s like to scale a nonprofit overnight

🤝 Why asking for help isn’t weakness—it’s strategy

🔥 And how DiCo built a powerhouse network just by being kind (seriously)


I left this convo so inspired, fired up about the future of youth leadership, and ready to help scale this thing to the moon.


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