Meeting My Hero - Nicholas Kristof

"There are no silver bullets when it comes to global poverty so every drop in the bucket counts.  Drops are how we fill buckets."   That was the message of Nicholas Kristof Thursday night when he spoke first to a smaller group at DirectReleif and then a larger group at UCSB.

I've made no secret of the fact that Nick K. is my hero.  When asked if you could meet anyone in the world who would it be?  I say Nicholas Kristof.  Last week, that wish came true.  It was a brief meeting as he signed a few books for me (I was first in line) and got a nice photo taken (I plan to frame it) but,  Nick did not let me down. 

He was personable, humble and, in my opinion, the most knowledge human on the planet on global poverty.  I was like a groupie hanging on his every word.  Its hard to feel hopeful when so many people are starving, dying of ebola, living with fistula, or don't have access to education.  Its hard to feel hopeful when you hear stories of NGO's doing more harm than good (which he addressed as not something he agrees with).  But, hopeful was what Nick was all about.

He said several times "This is the generation that is going to end global poverty."  He pointed out that as philanthropists we try too much for the high hanging fruit when there is so much low hanging fruit that can make a significant impact.  For example, it's $300 to build a school, $100 for uniforms, but only $3.20 to de-worm a kid and worms are a significant road block in children attending school.  How many times have you heard about building schools?  A lot!  How many times have you been asked to donate $3.20 to help de-worm a kid?  Never!  He talked about an eye condition where people live everyday in the pain equivalent to child birth, but yet the fix for this condition is $40, and a 2 hour surgery a nurse can do!

Nick's newest book, "A Path Appears," points us to much of this low hanging fruit that is often over looked, but yet is critical in creating opportunity.  The Everyday message Nick gave was  "Just because you can't help every kid doesn't mean you shouldn't help one kid." 

TAKEAWAY:

Every drop helps and we are all capable of adding a drop to the bucket and we can't forget to tell our brains that or science tells us we won't keep giving, won't keep helping.

What will your next drop be?

Do Not Read This!

Its been a long time since I have posted.  Lots of ideas have crossed
my mind. I was tempted to post pictures of my kids doing the ice bucket
challenge. I think we all cracked up over at least one video.  That
viral campaign involving thousands of everyday people fascinated me! 
But, I missed hitting that before the numerous articles about it's
success went out because life and work have kept me busy.

However, here is something that came across my inbox today, that I cannot help
but share.  The video is produced by Room to Read.  I first learned
about Room to Read seven years ago (pre Four Cups of Tea) when my friend
Mike Walker did a 150 mile race across China's Gobi Desert to raise money for
them.  While carrying all of your supplies on your back while racing 150
miles across harsh landscape is not everyday, it is an example of what
an everyday friend can accomplish when they set their mind to it.

Not only did he raise over $100,000 for Room to Read, but a community of
people in Santa Barbara now know about them.  Because of Mike, seven
years later, I am moved by this campaign to raise awareness for their
mission and helping them by sharing it with all of you. 

A pretty simple everyday thing you can do is just share this video - DO NOT READ THIS!

$1.6 Million for Everyday Philanthropists

We can all agree that education is a valuable part of any civil society. We can also all agree that in order for the U.S. to be globally competitive, it is in our best interest for our nation's brightest to be able to finance a college education.

What if the brightest came here illegally as a child, has excelled both academically and as a community member, but has no way of securing college financing because they are ineligible for federal financial aid and because many scholarship based organizations are hesitant to award undocumented applicants because of potential negative impact on donors?  Is it still fair that these high achieving, most likely high contributors to our society still deserve a college education?

Four everyday philanthropists think so and have not only raised over $100,000 in funds for these students, but more importantly have persevered in influencing one of our community's highest profile funders to realize the importance of investing in these students is greater than the fear of any negative backlash.  At the annual Community Leaders Luncheon last week, Ron Gallo announced that the Santa Barbara Foundation Board of Trustees voted that documentation need not be considered when determining recipients for their $1.6 million in scholarship dollars.  Ron Gallo said,

"because we realize we are in a worldwide competition for the best workforce in this new global economy, because we believe in investing in all of our best and brightest and we believe that our country is always at its best when it is supporting the next generation [regardless of documentation]."

You can't get more everyday than four childhood friends taking time from their professional careers to found and run Adsum.  Jonathan Wang, Debra Roets, Maritza Mejia-Wilson, and Travis Wilson aren't any more special than you and me, but what they have achieved and will continue to achieve is pretty special.  

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.

Margaret Mead

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/margaretme100502.html#kozy73AHvEUyjsj1.99

Takeaway:

The best take away I can think of for this post is Margret Mead's famous quote:

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that has."

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.

Margaret Mead

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/margaretme100502.html#kozy73AHvEUyjsj1.99

Harnessing Your Power

One of the great things about my job as the facilitator of the Katherine Harvey Fellows is I get to hear fabulous community leaders speak and yesterday was no exception.

As someone who sits on the Board of Trustee for the Towbes Foundation and the Santa Barbara Foundation, Rob Skinner clearly fits into the category of being a philanthropist, but you might not consider him an Everyday Philanthropist.  However, his message to the group was astonishingly everyday: 

"Philanthropy isn't just about giving money, its being thoughtful about how you are going to be a catalyst for change and finding the things that energize you to be that catalyst. "

By harnessing your power to be a catalyst for change, it is no longer about how much money you can give, but about the number of people you can energize to make sure we live in an inclusive society, whatever the focus area you chose.

Rob gave the example of a school field trip where not all of the children can afford the price of the field trip.  Let's say it's the fifth grade four day trip many schools take to places like CIMI.  He said you could just reach into your pocket and help pay for the children who can't go  OR you can be energized to find a solution that eliminates this need on an ongoing basis for the school. Maybe you start an annual school wide fundraiser whose purpose is to provide scholarships to those kids who can't afford the camp and brings the school community together at the same time.

The message Rob left the group with really resonated with me because my philanthropic dollars don't go as far as I'd like, but I know I am an enthusiastic person and that I am good at finding ways to bring people into the causes I care about in a way that works for them.  I am also good at connecting people to opportunities I think they will care about thus providing them an avenue for harnessing their own power. I suddenly felt like a much bigger philanthropist!


TAKE-AWAYS:

• Where do you already harness your power by being a catalyst for change by energizing others?
• What other places could you harness your power by being a catalyst for change by energizing others?

110 Youth Everyday Philanthropists

The other week my three girls participated in the 6th Annual Keiki Paddle.  The Keiki Paddle consists of children between the ages of 7-16 paddling in an open ocean paddle to provide financial and emotional support to both a child with a life threatening illness and a nonprofit that supprts children with a life threatening illness. 

What continues to stick with me these last few weeks, is that this event is over 100 everyday kids participating in philanthropy and what's more, the event was started by everyday dads. 

The Keiki Paddle is an offshoot of the Friendship Paddle, which was founded over 10 years ago when a group of ocean loving guys wanted to do something to show support for their 39 year old friend battling cancer.  The Keiki Paddle was started several years later because many of the children, seeing their Dad's paddle in the Friendship Paddle, wanted to participate.

Additionally, the Dad's wanted to instill the fundamental concept of giving back to your community and having a little fun while doing it. They have even taken it a step further and have created a junior advisory board so kids can also get experience organizing and running an event.  These everyday kids have raised approximately $100,000 since the event began.

So what started out as everyday dad's wanting to do something to show love and support to their friend has impacted hundreds of other everyday dads and children who have participated in both the Friendship Paddle and the Keiki Paddle over the years. They have also provided financial and emotional support to almost 20 beneficiaries both adults and kids with life threatening illness and to multiple nonprofit agencies that support these families.

This year's beneficiaries of the Kieki paddle were 7 year old Samuel Helfand and the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation.  Click here to support this year's paddle.  

You can also hear more about the Keiki Paddle on this NPR story including hearing from teens Tavis Boise and Chase McFadden who both had parents who were beneficiaries of the Friendship Paddle.  They carry on the memory of their parent by being key organizers of the Keiki Paddle.

This is an example of everyday people being philanthropist at it's best!

Paying to Visit an African Village, Right or Wrong?

We recently took our three kids to Kenya.  Of course, this included a safari in the Maasai Mara, home of the indigenous Maasai Worriors. I did my best to find an outfitter that seemed to give back to the local community and was pleased when we arrived to learn that it was one of only a few outfitters of over hundreds of camps actually owned and run by a Maasai.  Like many outfitters, this safari included the option (for an additional fee) to visit a local Maasai village.

The village clearly knew we were coming and welcomed us with a dance in their traditional Maasai Worrior clothing, took us inside one of their mud huts, talked about how they lived, let us take as many pictures as we wanted, and ended in a little craft market with heavily inflated prices.

Was this a contrived experience?  Should we have done it?

I am going to err on the side and say even though it was contrived to some degree, these people really do live and dress like this.  We are talking tiny mud huts, with no running water, no agriculture, children in tattered clothes of whom a small percent go to school (supported by our safari camp).  Nothing contrived about that.  The Maasai are also extremely proud people and there is pride in showing others how they live.

My travels have taught me that abject poverty and oppression do not necessarily go hand in hand as is easy to assume.  Enough cannot be said about the power of community and a strong sense of tradition to enrich even the poorest of lives.  This is important to me for my kids to understand.

The ending of the visit with the push to buy inflated crafts clearly diminished the geniality.  However, it is sickening to see the millions of dollars passing through the safari camps, a high percentage foreign owned, with obviously very little benefit to the Maasai people who clearly live in extreme poverty.  The ability to charge for people to visit the village is an income source for them.  While not quite what I would call a market based solution, it is an assets they have and one that actually allows them to maintain their sense of community and cultural traditions.  

This isn't because of the demands by  tourists to visit. The income source affords them to stay as a community rather than be swayed to sell their land for short term income.  This results in the disbandment of the community and displacement of many Maasai who have nothing to show for the sale once the money is gone.

Overall, I felt good about the safari outfitter we chose who has created a market based solution that benefits the community and I look at my overpriced purchases as a donation. My family will enjoy them along with the lessons for my children of seeing how differently people can live and do more than just survive even if not quite thrive.

Seeing Hope Where I See Despair

"I believe that every individual has the power to bring about significant change, good or bad. Whether we choose to use that power — and for what purpose — defines our legacy."

-Scott Neeson

Last week Scott Neeson, from the Cambodia Children's Fund, was our keynote speaker for our DirectRelief Women's event.  Scott found hope where I would find hopelessness.  Now, I have a passion for travel and I have a passion for wanting the world to be a better place.  But, I prefer to travel to indigenous villages over cities and I've recently realized why.  I am selfish.

I find the poorest of villages to be filled with hope because of the power a village has to provide a sense of joy through pride in your culture and pride in a shared sense of purpose .  When I see the poor in the cities, I feel hopelessness, despair, and oppression.  While it is not without it's value to experience this as a traveler, selfishly I don't like it. 
 
Scott saw things differently.  In 2004, Scott was on holiday in between jobs as a high profile Hollywood executive.  We are talking major success -  multiple homes, multiple cars and boats, single playboy life, the works.  While in Cambodia, he was exposed to what I would consider the most desperate circumstances possible, children living in the municipal garbage dump, many abandoned, wearing everything they own, no home, no community, and no hope.

Scott proceeded to sell everything, quit his job, and dedicate his life to helping the most destitute of children.  Today the Cambodia Children's Fund cares for and provides comprehensive services like housing, education, and health to over 1,200 children and their families in the dump region.

I have no idea how Scott found hope in the most hopeless of circumstance, but I sure am glad there are people in this world with that ability and power.  Something I noticed about Scott's approach is he didn't try to save all of all of the world's children (I imagine based on the power trip he was on he might have thought he could), or all of Cambodia's children, or even all of Phnom Penh's children.  He picked a distinct area and went really deep, and I mean really deep and he started with just one child.


We can't all be a Scott Neeson, but a few things I took away from his talk and questions to ask ourselves:

• There is always hope where it feels hopeless.  Where do you feel its hopeless and where is there hope in this situation?

• Making a difference in one person's life is making a difference.  Where can you make a difference in just one person's life?

• The value of depth versus breadth.  Where can you go deeper with your involvement on one issue or one organization?