Remembering Why You are There

The other weekend, I went to the Storyteller annual gala.  I've been a big advocate of Storyteller and the importance of early childhood education for years.

But, I must admit between thinking about what I am going to wear, who we are sitting with, chatting with friends, and making sure I don't drink enough to pay the price in the morning, it's easy for me to loose site of why I am there.  Other than the three minutes when an excellent video on a Storyteller family was shown, the rest of the four hours were simply a party for me.

Then I woke up, luckily one drink shy of regret, to New York Times writer Nicholas Kristof's Sunday article.  It is as if he knew the event was the night before.  It was if he knew Paul Tough was coming to speak in SB next month on "Why Kids Succeed."

In Kristof's article, he and Tough discuss that the character strengths that matter so much to success are not innate.  They are rooted in brain chemistry by the environment in which we grow-up.   One study followed 267 children of first-time low-income mothers for nearly four decades. It found that whether a child received supportive parenting in the first few years of life was at least as good a predictor as I.Q. of whether he or she would graduate from high school.

"This means the cycle can be broken, and the implication is that the most cost-effective way to address poverty isn’t necessarily housing vouchers or welfare initiatives or prison-building. Rather, it may be early childhood education and parenting programs." 

TAKEAWAY:

My clarity is back and I am completely reminded why Storyteller continues to be one of the organizations I give my time and money to and in a twisted way, a little piece of me feels my night of celebration helped make a difference.

Is there something you support that you have forgotten why it is so important to you? 

Its Not the Subject Matter That Counts Most

Last week, Ken Saxon, the founder of Courage to Lead and our newly expanded nonprofit Leading From Within, was awarded the 2012 Man of the Year Award for his service to and impact in our community.  While I expressed what an honor it is to be working with Ken in my last post, this post is not entirely about him.

This post is about Ron Gallo's, President and CEO, Santa Barbara Foundation, speech just prior to the announcement of the award recipients.  In Mr. Gallo's speech, and I am working from memory here, he discussed that sometimes we don't take a stand because we are afraid it will be unpopular.  But, where would our community be if some of the prior Men or Women of the Year award recipients were afraid to be unpopular?  Accomplishments such as fighting for standards in Juvenile Halls and having women and minorities appointed to City Commissions might not have happened.

Mr. Gallo pointed out that wherever one chooses to get involved,  "It is not the subject matter that counts most, but rather the energy, the ingenuity, the commitment and the compassion one brings. "

TAKEAWAYS:

1) Sometimes I wonder if our town has lost the art of civil discord.  What are we not speaking up for because we are concerned about having unpopular views?  I am a strong supporter of Early Childhood Education for the underserved, but some of my friends feel those parents should not have had their children in the first place.  Do I do enough to honor their view while still making a case for these children who are members of our society or do I just politely end the conversation and ask about their child's last sports game?

2) Sometimes I have friends on a committee for a cause that is not high on my radar of importance.  I'd like to be sharing my volunteerism with these friends and connecting with them over committee meetings and other related social events, but I have to remind myself that my time is precious and I need to keep focused on the causes most important to me rather than on which of my friends are on the committee.

3) And while my friends and I do not always have the same priorities on how we give our time, and sometimes we do, I want my friends to feel supported and encouraged in whatever cause they pick because as Mr. Gallos says, "Its not the subject matter that counts most, but the energy, the ingenuity, the commitment and the compassion one brings."

This year's Man of the Year, Ken Saxon, did have to take a stand on an less popular issue.  He took a stand that community leaders cannot continue to expect nonprofit leaders to make the change we want from them if we do not give them the capacity to keep from burning out, if we do not invest in their personal development, and if we do not help them to maintain their soul with the role in a field where there will never be enough resources to feed the last child, or house the last homeless person.

What I've Been Up To

"With deep alignment of personal convictions with community purpose, applying ones knowledge and skills becomes irresistible.  There is a sense of acute purpose that stretches far beyond one's individual interests."

- Peter Karoff

This quote represents to me everything about why anyone is driven to be philanthropic.  I've had the pleasure of being introduced to and working with Peter Karoff over the last few months.  Peter founded The Philanthropic Initiative over 20 years ago.  TPI is a nonprofit organization that serves as an ally to donors who aspire to effective philanthropy, and promotes philanthropy through research, and education.  I can't believe how lucky Santa Barbara is to have Peter as an active member of our philanthropic community.

Peter and I are now working with a nonprofit called Leading From Within.  Leading From Within has been offering high quality leadership development and renewal through its Courage to Lead program for almost five years.  It was founded by another amazing community resource, Ken Saxon.  In the last six months Ken and I have expanded the organization to three programs which includes:

• Courage to Lead - now in its fifth year, a leadership development and renewal program for mid to late career nonprofit leaders
• Emerging Leaders Program - a new program for leadership development for the next generation of nonprofit leaders
• Katherine Harvey Fellows - a 12 year old leadership development program for future community leaders from diverse professional backgrounds run in partnership with the Santa Barbara Foundation

It has absolutely been my pleasure to work with and learn from these aspirational gentleman who have given decades of their time to making our communities a stronger place through the gift of their time to their thoughtful, reflective approach to their passion for learning.

While my blogging has and will slow down, I look forward to sharing the many lessons of philanthropy with you as we launch our programs in January of 2013.