Here’s what ex-Pew director Mike Dahl is bringing to Broad Street Ministry’s table

After 10 years under the leadership of founder Bill Golderer, Broad Street Ministry has a new executive director in former Pew Charitable Trusts‘ exec Mike Dahl.

Dahl spent 15 years wearing multiple hats at Pew — head of government affairs, general counsel, head of IT, board secretary — but his latest role was overseeing the Philadelphia program (which recently doled out $8.5 million to fight the effects of childhood poverty).

That experience also served as his introduction to Broad Street Ministry, which is a Pew grantee. As Dahl was thinking about the next chapter in his life, he said, Broad Street Ministry had a particular appeal to him.

“In my mind, it’s the best of head and heart,” he said. “They take a very rigorous approach to people facing deep poverty and hunger, and they do so in a tremendously caring way.” 

Dahl is used to that rigor, coming from a renowned data-driven organization. Every health and human services organization, Dahl said, has to be similarly thoughtful and careful about how they’re tracking their data and demonstrating it to the funding community.

Among Dahl's priorities is overseeing the launch of Rooster Soup, a partnered social enterprise under Broad Street Ministry and Federal Donuts.

It’s something he hopes to intensify at Broad Street.

“Funds are scarce. People face a lot of decisions on where to invest their money,” he said. “They’re looking for organizations that are taking proven approaches, evidence-based models and demonstrating impact. That’s a model I understand deeply.” 

Among Dahl’s priorities when he takes the helm as executive director next month is overseeing the launch of Rooster Soup, a partnered social enterprise under Broad Street Ministry and Federal Donuts. That project was the brainchild of Golderer, who stepped down from Broad Street last year to pursue a congressional candidacy.

Golderer will remain on the board and has been involved in deciding on his successor.

“I come in for a deep admiration for what Bill and the staff at Broad Street has built,” Dahl said. “[Bill] has been terrific, and remains an important contributor to Broad Street going forward.” 

But before he takes over, Dahl has to delve into the work Broad Street is doing by studying its approach to alleviating poverty. It’s a nonprofit that has continually looked to tweak and improve its model, he said. First on Dahl’s list is to tweak and improve the organization’s Hospitality Collaborative and the services associated with the program.

“I’ve always come from this approach: If it ain’t broke, fix it,” Dahl said. “That mentality goes with me to Broad Street.”