What if the boldest thing a nonprofit could do isn't fight to survive alone, but choose to grow together?

In this episode, Jay Deppeler, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer at Inperium, shares how a 25-year journey through the health and human services sector led him to one of the most revolutionary models in nonprofit leadership. Imperium now operates across 20 states with 34 affiliates and more than $800 million in revenue, all without erasing a single organization's identity or mission.

Jay didn't start in boardrooms. He started as a 19-year-old psychology student working with traumatized kids in a residential treatment facility, wondering why the systems around them weren't better. That question never left him. And when he met Ryan Dewey Smith in 2016, it found its answer.

[00:04:40] What He Does and Who He Serves

Senior EVP and Chief Development Officer at Inperium, a nonprofit-supporting organization
Inperium strengthens health and human service nonprofits without eroding their mission or local identity
Affiliates gain scale, infrastructure, and capital while keeping their name, vision, and values

[00:05:40] How He Got Here

Started as a 19-year-old psychology student working with traumatized kids in a residential treatment facility
Saw 84 kids at full capacity with interventions he felt weren't robust enough
Pursued a master's in counseling psychology at Lehigh University to go deeper into the work
Realized the people he was helping were supported by nonprofits that needed to be stronger at the systems level

[00:09:00] Building Edison Court

Became president and CEO of Edison Court in 2012 and led its first ever strategic plan
Faced a major funding shift from program funding to fee-for-service and later managed care
Tried and failed to recruit other nonprofits to grow together; ego and identity concerns blocked every attempt
Decided to raise his hand and look for a larger partner instead; that partner was Inperium

[00:11:20] Meeting Ryan Dewey Smith

Met Ryan in August 2016 in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
Ryan introduced the concept of affiliation as distinct from merger or acquisition
Affiliating organizations keep their mission, vision, and values while gaining back office support
Jay was persuaded immediately; eight months later Edison Court became Inperium's third affiliate

[00:13:00] What Affiliation Actually Looks Like

Within three months of affiliating, Edison Court opened its first facility outside its home county
Went back to organizations that had said no and showed them what was possible; they all came in
Helped the Children's Home of Reading, on the brink of insolvency after 150 years, with a $400,000 loan to make payroll
That organization restructured, re-strategized, and is now flourishing

[00:17:40] The Relationship That Changed Everything: Ryan Dewey Smith

Without Ryan's vision, Jay believes Edison Court would not have survived the funding shifts
Ryan's energy and audacity know no bounds; he never runs from a problem
He gives his leadership team full latitude to leverage their unique skills
His can-do attitude was transformative in 2016 and remains so today

[00:21:40] When Everyone Ran for the Hills

In 2024 an organization with $300 million in revenue lost $26 million over two fiscal years
Their bank was calling a $22 million line of credit on May 31st; cash would run out by early July
That put 3,800 employees and 35,000 people supported by the organization at serious risk
Inperium was the only organization that stepped in with a $25 million line of credit

[00:25:40] The Federally Qualified Health Center

The organization had a federally qualified healthcare center that couldn't affiliate under Inperium's governance structure
Losing it would have left thousands of underserved people in Philadelphia without healthcare
Jay brokered a deal with a local healthcare center to underwrite a new 501c3 and reapply for the federal grant
Within seven days of recording, they will be a fully operational new federally qualified health center

[00:29:00] Affiliation Is a Strategy, Not a Surrender

Boards resist affiliation because they fear losing their identity; Inperium lets them keep it
Affiliation is not concession; it is a strategic pivot to deal with the realities of the world
For-profit businesses do this constantly; nonprofits tend to leave their pragmatic hats at the door
No money, no mission; no margin, no mission; the work has to be run like a business

KEY QUOTES

"Affiliation isn't concession. Affiliation isn't giving up. Affiliation is a strategy to pivot and deal with the realities of the world." - Jay Deppeler

"If you have no money, you have no mission. If you have no margin, you have no mission." - Jay Deppeler

CONNECT WITH JAY DEPPELER

Website: http://www.inperium.org

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaydeppeler

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