In conversation with sector leaders

I started talking to sector leaders in early 2025 and decided many of their career stories made inspirational talking points for people entering the sector. Many of the people in this series, started in face to face fundraising and now find themselves in leadership positions in the charity and education sector.

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It started on the street - in conversation with Gökhan Uç - a self described extrovert fundraising across Turkey, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania.

Gökhan Uç is a Turkish fundraising professional based in Istanbul who began his career in face-to-face fundraising with UNICEF in 2009 — initially just to fill time before mandatory military service. He proved a natural, getting four sign-ups on his first day, and quickly rose to team leader within three months. He went on to spend nearly a decade at WWF Turkey before moving into his current regional role at WWF Central and Eastern Europe, where he leads individual fundraising strategy across Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and emerging markets. A self-described extrovert who used to have a short fuse, he credits street fundraising with teaching him patience, empathy, and how to listen — skills he now uses daily to coach and develop fundraising teams across the region.

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It started on the street - in conversation with Ryan Valasapali - a snowy Sheffield surprise after the heat of Amritsar

Ryan Valasapali arrived in Sheffield from India in 2007 to do an MBA, and within two months was knocking on doors in the snow asking strangers to donate to charity. What started as a way to pay his own bills became a career that has spanned the UK and India for nearly two decades.

In this episode, Ryan shares how door-to-door fundraising shaped him far more than any business school could, building the confidence, resilience, and entrepreneurial instinct that took him from Sheffield team leader to managing director and eventually to co-founding his own companies. He talks candidly about his first day on the job, the moment a cancer survivor changed everything, and why he believes face-to-face fundraising is one of the toughest and most transformative jobs in the world.

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It started on the street - in conversation with Sally Wynter and David Morris - Being nearly fired was the best thing that could have happened

Host Rory sits down with Sally and David, two former face-to-face street fundraisers who both started out working for Shelter in their late teens and early twenties. Sally went on to launch a CBD gin brand from her bedroom, selling it for a life-changing sum before 30. David built a decade-long career in face-to-face, including stints setting up teams in New York and Bangkok, before transitioning into philanthropy, where he now heads up major donor, trust, and corporate fundraising at a London hospice. Together they reflect on the chaotic, humbling, and surprisingly formative experience of stopping strangers on the street and how it quietly shaped everything that came after.

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