275: He Took Over From a Legend After 45 Years—Here’s What Worked

Release Date: Jan 29

Leaders aren’t just born—they’re built, and sometimes it takes stepping into the unknown to truly make a lasting impact.

In this heartening episode of the Learn-It-All™ podcast, Damon Lembi sits down with David Brint: innovative real estate entrepreneur and transformative former chairman of the Foundation Fighting Blindness. David shares the inspiring story behind his decades-long mission to cure blinding diseases—a journey that began with his own son’s diagnosis. Together, they dig into everything from scaling one of America’s top affordable housing companies to overhauling a nonprofit for long-term success—plus, the hard (and human) lessons of leadership, succession, and impact.

Whether you care about social entrepreneurship, resilient leadership, or the power of personal connection, you’ll walk away with real, actionable wisdom—and hope for a brighter world.

What You’ll Learn:

How David turned personal adversity—his son’s diagnosis with a rare blinding disease—into a mission-driven leadership journey.
What it takes to grow a nationwide real estate company that applies social impact and economic development to affordable housing.
The nuts and bolts of taking over from a legendary founder and why nonprofit leadership needs an entrepreneurial mindset.
The secrets behind successful succession planning—how to step in, when to step down, and how to set the next leader up for success.
How building the right team and fostering a learning organization unlocks breakthrough growth—for businesses and nonprofits alike.

In This Episode:

00:03 – The moment that inspired David’s mission: seeing hope firsthand
01:08 – Why David took the chairman role after 20 years with the Foundation Fighting Blindness
04:05 – From real estate consultant to affordable housing pioneer
06:03 – How the affordable housing industry evolved (and the role of tax credits)
10:32 – Neighborhood transformation: education, childcare, and the Purpose Built Communities model
13:12 – Designing award-winning housing for the visually impaired
14:04 – How vision (and partnership) fuels organizational growth
16:35 – Finding your niche and hiring world-class talent
19:20 – The #1 challenge scaling a mission-driven business
22:23 – How personal adversity led to founding a game-changing nonprofit
26:17 – Leading with transparency: balancing business and nonprofit commitment
27:13 – The entrepreneurial nonprofit: fundraising, venture funds, and risk
30:36 – How to win board buy-in and empower leadership teams
32:52 – Building a high-performing, learning-focused nonprofit (the hard choices)
35:09 – Making the mission tangible: why “science is our product”
38:09 – Raising record-setting funds—by making learning core to the culture
42:44 – Leading so people “don’t want to let you down”—and why passion is contagious
43:45 – The moment a child could truly “see”
47:30 – Succession planning: why knowing when to step down is as important as stepping up
50:01 – Letting go: giving your team ownership, in business and philanthropy
51:45 – How parenting a child with blindness changed David as a leader

About David Brint

David Brint is a transformative leader whose dual careers interweave purpose and business. As co-founder and principal of Brinshore Development, he’s grown the company into one of the top 50 affordable housing developers in the U.S., responsible for more than 11,000 units nationwide and acclaimed for their innovative, community-focused developments. But David’s journey took on new meaning when his son was diagnosed with a rare blinding disease, steering him to leadership at the Foundation Fighting Blindness, where he helped raise hundreds of millions for vision research and pioneered an entrepreneurial, “learning organization” approach as chairman of the board. Today, David remains an advocate for impact-driven business and nonprofit strategies that empower communities and change lives.

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