Grief can break you. Or it can show you exactly what you were always meant to do.

Hazem and Mack sit down with Jackie Pham, founder of the CEO Foundation, a Houston nonprofit named after her three children, Colette, Edison, and Olivia, who were lost along with her mother in a tragic accident five and a half years ago. Jackie shares how a career in corporate finance and an MBA from Rice gave her the tools to rebuild with purpose, how the CEO Foundation partners with Houston nonprofits to empower the next generation of leaders, and why she believes showing up for others is one of the most powerful things any of us can offer.

Learn more about the CEO Foundation at ceofoundation.org.

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Key Takeaways

1. The CEO Foundation is named for Jackie's three children: Colette, Edison, and Olivia. After losing all three and her mother in a single accident, Jackie chose to keep parenting through the foundation, channeling her grief into a mission to empower the next generation of leaders, change makers, and community members.

2. Rather than choosing one cause, Jackie built the CEO Foundation on a partnership model, supporting over 30 Houston nonprofits whose work aligns with the spirit of each of her children. The foundation also helps these organizations with marketing and awareness, filling a gap that many smaller nonprofits cannot fill on their own.

3. The CEO Foundation's annual gala flips the traditional charity auction model: instead of bidding on experiences to keep for yourself, attendees bid on items that are donated directly to nonprofit partners and shared with underserved children, giving kids a first Rockets game, a birthday trip to a museum, or simply a guaranteed school lunch.

4. Jackie spent nearly her entire career in corporate finance, eventually serving as a CFO, but found herself wanting work whose purpose she could explain to her own children. That desire led her to startups, an MBA at Rice, and ultimately to founding the CEO Foundation after her loss.

5. Her advice to anyone who has suffered significant loss, or to any organization that wants to make a deeper community impact, is rooted in connection: show up, listen, engage with everyone you meet, and recognize that bridging the right people together can be just as powerful as writing a check.

Timestamped Overview

00:31 Hazem welcomes Jackie Pham, founder of the CEO Foundation
00:58 The meaning behind CEO: Colette, Edison, and Olivia
01:30 Losing her three children and her mother in a tragic accident
02:20 Deciding she was still a mom and founding the foundation to keep working for them
03:18 The partnership model: supporting 30-plus nonprofits rather than choosing one cause
04:30 How Jackie chooses partners whose work speaks to each child individually
05:00 The CEO Foundation's role in marketing and awareness for smaller nonprofits
05:41 How the annual gala works: bidding for others instead of keeping what you win
06:50 Giving underserved kids their first NBA game or museum visit and what that means to families
07:44 Spotlight on East Fort Bend Human Needs Ministry and sponsoring kids' sack lunches
09:50 Giving 100 tickets to the Children's Discovery Center to be shared as birthday gifts
10:33 How community programs keep kids safe, supervised, and away from harmful influences
11:50 The Nehemiah Center: after-school care for children of healthcare workers near the Med Center
13:49 How programs like these keep kids out of trouble and build self-confidence
14:06 Jackie's academic and professional background: UH undergraduate, Rice MBA, career in fintech and corporate finance
14:41 Why she started questioning corporate finance and sought more purpose through grad school
15:39 Learning to tell the story through the numbers for organizations she truly believed in
16:30 How becoming a parent changed what she needed her career to mean
17:46 Working in carbon project development and how she explains meaningful work to children
19:00 A moment of laughter about explaining banking and community impact to your own kids
19:31 Hazem on how hardship becomes a passion and why giving is an act of gratitude
20:05 Jackie's answer: one day at a time, making them proud, doing right by them
21:40 Mack's reflection on the quiet inspiration Jackie gives to people going through their own grief
22:26 Bowes Place: working with grieving families and children who have lost someone
23:15 A little boy at a dinner event, a photo of his brother, and a conversation about missing someone every day
24:36 What Hazem and Mack can do beyond banking: connections, engagement, and knowing people's full stories
25:22 Jackie's advice: the people who bridge connections are as important as those directly in the work
26:50 Why the word "relationship" in banking has to mean more than an account number
28:27 How to find and follow the CEO Foundation: website, Instagram, and Facebook at CEO for good
29:40 How many local nonprofit foundations exist in greater Houston and how CEO Foundation fits in
30:48 Closing gratitude and invitation for listeners to support the foundation