Michelle Shevin’s understanding of power took shape in an unlikely place—a graduate program run by the U.S. military—where she first learned to see how institutions build and justify control.

As a former Senior Program Manager at the Ford Foundation, she talks about wicked problems that can’t be solved, only lived with; the arrogance of solutionism; and the trap funders fall into when they confuse speed and scale with progress. She reflects on how technology both concentrates and exposes power, why relationships—not efficiency—are the real measure of impact, and how humility functions as a discipline, not a personality trait.

It’s a grounded conversation about power, responsibility, and what thoughtful practice inside big institutions can still make possible.