Monthly Archives: May 2009

Are You Joining a Sector or Joining a Cause?


Posted by ajlovesya

In one of the sessions in the Fellowship for Emerging Leaders in Public Service, Dean Schall of NYU Wagner cautioned us not to focus on the sector we are in and instead think of the change we want to see and pick the best path to make it happen. The reality is that each sector—government, for-profit, and non-profit—is instrumental for a society to thrive and they all work together more often than we realize.

This advice made me wonder: does public service require one to work at a nonprofit, or does it mean dedicating one’s work to the greater good, regardless of the sector? For example, in The Triple Bottom Line, Savitz argues that sustainable for-profits won’t need to have corporate philanthropy or volunteer programs because the way in which they do business will be shaped to support the communities in which they are located. Another book, The Idealist.org Handbook to Building a Better World, offers tangible tips on creating change no matter what sector you are in.

I think many of us who work in nonprofits find ourselves in the sector because of the causes we are passionate about. We may view our employment at a nonprofit as secondary to our identities as educators, lawyers, health care providers, social workers, etc. In other words, some of us just happen to be in the sector unless you are in a position that is fairly nonprofit specific (i.e. fundraising or executive director) or are making a transition from for-profit to nonprofit.

But this also makes me wonder if this attitude hurts the sector. I find that people will discuss their commonalities as nonprofit employees if it is related to something bad as opposed to wanting to harness the commonalities that make the sector unique. It is easier to focus on your subfield—education, health, law, etc—than to think of yourself as part of larger field and work on collaborating and strengthening the whole.

In my view, the sectors are fundamentally different, have different social roles, and therefore mean different things to the public. So while you should choose the path that allows you to do your best work, not acknowledging how your sector interacts with the public, other sectors, and the state of its employees may actually weaken your ability to fully engage your cause.

What are your thoughts? Are you part of a cause or part of a sector or both?


An Evening with Echoing Green and Amazing Social Entrepreneurs


Posted by ajlovesya

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge supporter of Echoing Green. They have an amazing track record of incubating innovative solutions to pressing social issues. The founders of Teach for America, The Genocide Intervention Network, City Year, and Green for All are some of the trailblazers that have been Echoing Green Fellows.

So you can imagine how excited I was when I had the opportunity to meet some of the finalists Thursday night at an event coordinated by my fabulous cousin Deva. I helped read through applications and conduct interviews so I know making it to the finalist stage is no small accomplishment.

Every single one of the proposed projects was incredible. Some of my favorites:

The J.U.I.C.E. Project: When I read about the project it came alive to me instantly. In communities hit hardest with obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, what if we turned corner stores into places for affordable healthy food, health literacy, exercise, and art programs? Having grown up in a community where the bodega/corner store was our main source of food I can see the value in placing it at the center of a health conscious lifestyle. I chatted with angie beatty and shawn mckie, the leaders of this initiative, and was blown away by their vision. They view themselves as members of the community and speak in terms of collaboration, community building, and support.

Jamaica Leadership Academy: Colleen Hinds, the leader of a network of schools in Jamaica—designed to combat poverty and the country’s brain drain—came up to me after giving her 90 second pitch. Apparently through out her pitch she noticed how I was basically jumping up and down with excitement for her idea. So she sat down with me and allowed me and my friend to ask a million and one questions about curriculum, funding, and challenges.  Fostering a sense of ownership in one’s country is an enormous challenge but is necessary to develop crucial social, human, and economic capital.

City Hall Fellows: I didn’t get a chance to speak with Bethany Henderson about her bold project to provide recent college grads with positions in city halls around the country but what resonated was her desire to get young people involved in local government as a powerful tool for social change. I see a similar issue happening with the nonprofit sector as young people, wanting to change the world, don’t see it as a viable option for a number of reasons, resulting in the oft cited leadership gap. The same is happening in the government sector so I am excited to see this project.

The rest of the finalists are here so feel free to read about them and ask them questions.

I was equally impressed with the staff at Echoing Green. Talking with Maritza, Michael, and Cheryl gave me a glimpse of the talent and passion that make Echoing Green the amazing organization that it is. I’ve invited myself to their office as an unofficial member of the family because they really do rock :D To learn more about the organization visit them here.