Speaker 1:
From the New York Stock Exchange at the corner of Wall and Broad Streets in New York City, welcome Inside the ICE House. Our podcast from Intercontinental Exchange is your go-to for the latest on markets, leadership, vision, and business. For over 230 years, the NYSE has been the beating heart of global growth. Each week, we bring you inspiring stories of innovators, job creators, and the movers and shakers of capitalism here at the NYSE and ICE's exchanges around the world. Now, let's go Inside the ICE House.
Judy Shaw:
Philanthropy is the lifeline that helps communities rise from the ashes of devastation, offering hope when it's needed most. In the wake of disaster, donations fuel essential relief efforts providing food, shelter, and medical care to those in need. But, its impact doesn't stop there. Philanthropy helps rebuild homes, restore livelihoods, and ignite the spark of recovery long after the crisis. It unites businesses, organizations, and individuals turning generosity into action that creates lasting change. Today's guest here in Las Vegas, Jake Wood, redefined philanthropy with Groundswell. As founder and CEO, he's making charitable giving more accessible, transparent, and impactful for both individuals and corporations. His second time on the podcast, Jake's vision has revolutionized corporate giving, fostering a new era of generosity that strengthens communities in need. Jake, thanks so much for joining us at ICE Experience and joining us Inside the ICE House.
Jake Wood:
Yeah, I'm excited. My second time here.
Judy Shaw:
Great to have you. Now, Jake, this January, team Rubicon marked its 15th anniversary. 15 years of mobilizing hundreds of thousands of volunteers, responding to over 1000 disasters, and raising hundreds of millions of dollars since 2010. Looking back on this journey, how do you reflect on the nonprofit's evolution and the impact it's made over the past decade and a half?
Jake Wood:
Yeah, I mean, it's been a remarkable 15 years. I think if we rewind the clock 15 years ago, 2010, we just got done with the first mission we ever ran in Haiti after the earthquake, and I think we thought we had an idea that was worth building upon, a little kernel of an idea. I don't think we ever could have fathomed what it's become, and it's really a testament to these tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of volunteers who we call gray shirts, these men and women that go all over the world, all around the country, to help people on their worst day after these disasters. I mean, we couldn't possibly throttle that back. We couldn't contain that enthusiasm to go and serve. It's just been this remarkable journey watching them live their purpose through Team Rubicon.
Judy Shaw:
Now, unfortunately, the anniversary coincided with the wildfires that ravaged the Los Angeles community, a community that Team Rubicon considers home.
Jake Wood:
Yeah.
Judy Shaw:
How are the leadership and volunteers at Team Rubicon stepping up to help the community respond to and rebuild in the aftermath?
Jake Wood:
Yeah. Well, LA is home for Team Rubicon, and so this was right in our backyard. It was just unbelievable the level of destruction that, that fire had. Fires are tricky, right? Obviously we're not getting out there and fighting the fires. We're leaving that to the professionals. Even the aftermath is tricky because there's so much toxicity, and a lot of people are talking about this now, that burns down to the soil and into the ash.
We have responded to fires throughout our decade-plus of service, and what happened was, I remember specifically I got on a call with our CEO, our head of operations, who used to be number three at FEMA. We were on there with four battalion fire chiefs, the police chief, and the city emergency manager. We were asking, "How can we help?" I think they were a little overwhelmed, we don't know. I said, "What's your biggest challenge right now?" The police chief stepped up and said, "We are stretched so thin just managing traffic control points, would Team Rubicon help with that?" Before he even got done asking the question, I said, "Of course." We've never done that before. It's not rocket science.
Our approach to this disaster has been we are here to assist in any way, shape or form to decompress an overstressed fire department, police department, office of emergency management. That's taken a lot of forms. We're going to be here for the long run. As we transition into that rebuilding phase, we're looking to plug in there as well.
Judy Shaw:
While there's an immediate need to assist with the cleanup and recovery from the destruction caused by the fires, what does long-term aid look like for Team Rubicon as it continues to support those impacted by the LA wildfires?
Jake Wood:
Yeah. Well, Team Rubicon has worked in the rebuilding phase since 2017 after Hurricane Harvey, and we've approached that a couple of different ways. More recently, we work through local small business leaders and contractors, and basically serve as project managers to rebuild mostly homes for socially vulnerable folks, low income, or who have other vulnerabilities. That's going to be the same in Los Angeles.
I think, though, that the other thing that we can't lose sight of is that this was in many ways not necessarily a preventable disaster, but it could have been better mitigated. One of the things that Team Rubicon is really focused on over the last couple of years is running mitigation work in coordination with national, state, and local officials to reduce the risk of wildfires. As much as we need to rebuild what happened, we also have to start work to prevent the next one. We're really focused on using this as a call to action to mitigate against future wildfires.
Judy Shaw:
Now, Jake, you mentioned that you have been on Inside the ICE House, it's your second time. Last time was February 23. When we had you on the podcast, last Groundswell was approaching its second anniversary.
Jake Wood:
Yeah.
Judy Shaw:
Now two years later, the company has seen significant growth. How would you describe Groundswell's evolution since you last joined us?
Jake Wood:
Yeah, I mean, February 2023, our product had only been live in the market for about six months. We were starting to see some really great early signals, but as it was for everybody, 2023 and 2024 were challenging economic periods of time, but we were able to navigate through that. We've seen just a ton of really amazing success over the last six months as we have begun up this growth curve. None more exciting than taking Intercontinental Exchange live on our platform, among some really other amazing and iconic companies like the Bank of New York, BNY Mellon, iconic institution, using Groundswell to power their philanthropy. We're really excited about how we've gotten here in the first four years of the company's existence, but we're really excited about the next four.
Judy Shaw:
As the frequency and intensity of natural disasters continue to rise, we've already seen the impact of events like the LA wildfires and the recovery efforts following hurricanes Milton and Helene in the Southeast in late 2024. Given the increasing numbers of disasters and the growing need for assistance, how would you assess the overall state of philanthropy and charitable giving in 2025?
Jake Wood:
Yeah. Well, one of the things that we saw really up until hurricanes Helene and Milton last fall was a significant reduction in disaster philanthropy at the individual level. I think people, following Covid, had a lot of compassion fatigue. Think about what's transpired over the last five years. You had Covid, you had the murder of George Floyd, you had other large disasters, the rise of Black Lives Matter. All these things people were asked to care about, and we saw across 2022, 2023, a reduction in people's willingness to support organizations like us after hurricanes and wildfires.
That switched with Milton, Helene, and the LA wildfires. I think people recognize that the world is becoming more dangerous. I think we are kind of reverting back to that thing that makes America unique, which is our ability to empathize with our neighbors whether we've met them or not. We're, I think, developing some level of confidence that, that pendulum is swinging back, where Americans will rise up and do the right thing when communities are impacted by these storms.
Judy Shaw:
Groundswell works closely with publicly traded companies, including Intercontinental Exchange as you mentioned. Since launching the program earlier this year, ICE has already matched over $200,000 of our employee donations. When partnering with these large organizations, how does Groundswell integrate its efforts with their existing corporate social responsibility programs to reach the highest potential?
Jake Wood:
Yeah, listen, there aren't many companies that would look at their corporate social responsibility team and see them as mission critical. I think that there's a lot of companies that take their philanthropy very seriously. They take it as a part of the way that they do business. But listen, I mean, it's not profit generating, it's not revenue generating. What the result of that is, it's typically an under-resourced team, limited staffing, limited resources. What these teams need is a high leverage platform that allows them to do more with less. That's really what we've aimed to build at Team Rubicon. Sorry, at Groundswell. We've been switching back and forth here so much.
At Groundswell, let's provide a tool that allows them to do more with less. We've certainly seen that with ICE. I mean, $200,000 across what is typically some of the lowest months in philanthropy because people have just given their end of year gifts in December, people aren't usually thinking about supporting charities in January and February. To see $200,000 matched in the first couple of months with really no administrative burden on ICE's philanthropy team, it's pretty awesome to see.
Judy Shaw:
Important to ICE is the efficiency of the process and the tools that Groundswell provides. We want to get money into the hands of those who need it as soon as possible. How does Groundswell approach allocation?
Jake Wood:
The length of time it took for Team Rubicon to receive donations from the existing corporate philanthropy platforms, it was one of the reasons why I started Groundswell. It was frustrating to me to have to wait 30, 60, or 90 days after a disaster to get the money to fuel the mission. From the beginning, we've just had this relentless focus on reducing that time to impact, the speed to need we talk about. We're really proud that we've built a platform that's able to match those donations instantly in real time, disperse them within 24 hours for US-based charities. It doesn't matter if you're responding to a disaster or you're working on homelessness or STEM education, cashflow is always an issue for these under-resourced nonprofits. Improving that for them is the right thing to do with the problems that we're facing in our society.
Judy Shaw:
As new generations enter the workforce, there's been a noticeable shift in employee expectations with many seeking to be more socially active. Considering these changes, have you observed a shift in how large organizations use and value their philanthropy programs?
Jake Wood:
Well, I think that there's certainly a generational factor that's at play here. It's pretty well documented and undisputed at this point that Gen Z talent, they want to do more than just drive profit. They want to have purpose in their work. I think it's hard for people to figure out how to do that, but certainly a low hanging fruit in that is providing them with tools to get them involved in philanthropy and do things like volunteering activities, particularly in a remote and hybrid environment where you can bring people together, align them around something that's bigger than themselves. These are, I think, really important tools in a large enterprise's toolkit. It'll be interesting to see what happens with the pullback in activity around DEI, how companies can replace that purposeful pursuit elsewhere through their philanthropy programs.
Judy Shaw:
Emerging technologies, including AI and automation, have influenced various sectors of business. How have these advancements impacted Groundswell, its mission, and the broader landscape of philanthropic giving?
Jake Wood:
Yeah, I mean, listen, I think if you aren't thinking about how to integrate AI not just into your product, but into everything that you're doing as a company, then you're quickly going to be left behind. Thus far, we've been really focused on how do we leverage it for our internal processes. Whether that's writing code, whether that's responding to help desk tickets, how do we use it to get more leverage out of our relatively small team? I think we've wanted to be really thoughtful within how we integrate it into our product. We haven't, like some other platforms and products that are on the market, not necessarily even just in our industry, but we haven't rolled out pointless AI integrations just for the sake of saying that we have it. When we release our AI functionality, we really want it to be game changing.
Judy Shaw:
As I mentioned earlier, Groundswell is approaching its fourth anniversary since its founding in July 2021. Looking ahead, how do you envision the platform's future in continuing to support communities affected by disaster and devastation?
Jake Wood:
Yeah, well, I think what we really aspire to do is build out an ecosystem that brings these nonprofit and community organizations into the platform as seamlessly as we've brought corporate America onto it. We really believe that we can build a marketplace of impact at scale. Whereas for the first four years we've really focused on building the tooling that companies need to engage their employees, I think the next four years there's going to be a lot of focus on how do we then create the pull, the other side of that marketplace and bring nonprofits in so that they can extract that impact and value out of these companies and those employees.
Judy Shaw:
All right, Jake, as we wrap up for all our listeners, where can they get involved, and what challenge would you pose to them in helping to support the greater good of their neighbors and their surrounding communities?
Jake Wood:
Yeah. Well, we've talked about two amazing organizations here. One thing I would say, if you're inspired by Team Rubicon's mission, one common misconception out there is you have to be a military veteran to volunteer, and you don't. If you've never served a day in uniform in your life, we can get you the training that you need to get out there in your community to have impact. Don't stand on the sidelines, get involved. If you're out there and you think your company needs Groundswell, hey, find me on LinkedIn, I would love to chat.
Then lastly, what would I say? I think that my biggest concern about our country, our society right now is what I see as a rise in apathy. We talked about compassion fatigue earlier. I think apathy is a really dangerous state of mind, when you can't bring yourself to care about someone or something else. Just don't fall victim to that. Continue to care, continue to seek ways to make an impact and make a difference. No matter how big or how small, it matters.
Judy Shaw:
Jake, thanks so much for joining us Inside the ICE House.
Jake Wood:
Thanks for bringing me back.
Speaker 1:
That's our conversation for this week. Remember to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen. Follow us on X @ICEhousepodcast. From the New York Stock Exchange, we'll talk to you again next week Inside the ICE House. Information contained in this podcast was obtained in part from publicly available sources and not independently verified. Neither ICE nor its affiliates make any representations or warranties, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of the information, and do not sponsor, approve, or endorse any of the content herein, all of which is presented solely for informational and educational purposes. Nothing herein constitutes an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy any security, or a recommendation of any security or trading practice. Some portions of the preceding conversation may have been edited for the purpose of length or clarity.
