By Hildy Gottlieb

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The Patterson Foundation, in Sarasota, Fla., doesn't view the charities it supports simply as grantees.

Instead, the foundation makes a deliberate effort to treat them as partners in promoting social change and helps give them tools and training to advance their missions, says Debra Jacobs, the foundation's chief executive.

"It is through and with other people that we actually create change," Ms. Jacobs says. "We can't create change alone."

In this episode of Making Change, Ms. Jacobs talks about how Patterson builds partnerships, identifies emerging leaders, and maintains an organizational culture that fosters long-term changes.

Hildy Gottlieb is the co-founder of Creating the Future and author of "The Pollyanna Principles: Reinventing 'Nonprofit Organizations' to Create the Future of Our World." In this podcast, Making Change, she interviews leaders to discuss how those who are working for the greater good can effect more social change. New episodes of Making Change appear once a month.