Robert Egger´s Piece of Mind

As we celebrate Black History Month, I once again take cyber pen to paper to offer yet another in my series of tips for those who aspire to make big things happen, via the nonprofit/social enterprise road.

When I was a kid, running nightclubs in DC, I was intrigued by Herbert Haft, who was this Poppa Smurf looking business leader in town (he had a magnificent white pompadour). Pre-Peoples Drug Store days, this dude had cornered the regional drug store market (he owned Dart Drugs), with a business mantra that revealed his strategy. “When I open a store, I want it to be at the corner of Main and Main” he said…indicating his belief that location was the key to success.

Now many young leaders look around and think to themselves…if I want to make an impact, then I need to work at the big city nonprofit…a famous one…a rich one. That’s understandable. As a culture, we equate big with good–famous with success–rich with power and influence.

But…I ask you to consider lessons from two of our country’s most respected black figures.

The first is George Washington Carver.

In 1938, one of the most impressive and unexpected things happened. One of the richest and most powerful white men in America, Henry Ford, took what had to have been numerous train and automobile rides to get to Tuskegee Alabama, the home of Booker T. Washington’s Tuskegee Institute, to offer a job to a black man–Professor Carver.

I don’t know how many of you have had the pleasure of visiting this historic college, but trust me….it’s country. You KNOW you’re going there, because it’s still way, way out there.

So imagine that….Henry Ford, a man who routinely had people of power come to him, traveled allllll that way, to offer Professor Carver a FAT salary, a new lab, a house and unlimited resources to conduct experiments on their shared passion for bio-fuel and renewable energy.

Carver thought about it…and demurred.

Let that sink in. Professor Carver was offered things far beyond what just about any black man in America could have dreamed of…the least of which was personal and professional respect….and he stayed put and continued to explore the world from a small, underfunded college in rural Alabama…where, I might remind you, men were called “boy”, where they could not vote, and where they were routinely lynched.

Simply put…he stayed because he believed in Tuskegee, and was willing to forgo the amazing opportunities that Ford was offering in favor of loyalty to his community and his unwavering faith that good ideas would rise, no matter the point of origin. He was right.

The second lesson comes from one of my personal favorite Americans–Harriet Tubman–and it’s just a fascinating tid-bit about her that I found out about a few years back, which continues to amaze me.

As you know, Harriet escaped slavery in Maryland as a young woman and found her way north. In NY, she lived in close proximity to some of the leading suffrage/abolitionist speakers of the day. John Brown, Frederick Douglas, Susan B Anthony and Sojourner Truth routinely electrified crowds with speeches that spoke to the inherent evil of subjugation and slavery.

Still…as powerful as their words were, somebody had to take action. Harriet was that person. She ventured 19 times into the deep south, rescuing hundreds and leading them on the treacherous trail known as the Underground Railroad

(Side bar—I love that the secret password of the UR was “ a friend with friends”)

But you know what…Harriet Tubman was less than 5 ft tall and didn’t even crack 100 pounds.

Do you KNOW how small that is. That’s like your 11 year old sister. Seriously…at the next family reunion, ask around to find somebody with those dimensions, and then MARVEL at how tiny she was. Her gun probably weighed half as much as she did.

In short—her bravery wasn’t about size and her power wasn’t derived from stamina. It was driven by spirit.

SO…young leaders. It ain’t about size. It ain’t about location. It’s about you. It’s about the power of your ideas. It’s about sticking with it, and carving out a name for yourself through the work you do. Don’t be tempted by the old metrics of power and influence. Make your own…and own your life.

Rock on.

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Last Friday afternoon, the Kitchen was proud to host a roundtable (and live webcast) that featured local and national nonprofit leaders meeting with United Kingdom Minister for the Cabinet, Tessa Jowell.

Minister Jowell was fresh from the Olympics in Vancouver (London will be hosting the Olympics in 2012) and she stopped in Washington to meet with people who could help her effort to “forward a policy agenda that supports the promotion of social inclusion through the development of third sector service delivery and a range of social enterprise models”.

Here, as in the UK, Nonprofit/Third Sector innovation is promoted vigorously, yet the current economic climate in both countries has exacerbated demand for basic services while putting significant pressure on governments to cut budgets.

During the roundtable dialogue,  Minister Jowell hoped to learn  more about direct service programs that achieve measurable outcomes in addition to exploring ideas with national leaders about innovation, public policy and community engagement.

Twenty leaders attended the intimate conversation, including Alan Abramson from the Aspen Institute, John Gompers from Experience Corp, Silvia Benatti from UDC/American Humanics, Jill Shumann from Lutheran Services of America (and Chair of the National Human Services Assembly), Bill Strathmann from Network for Good (and co-chair of the Social Enterprise Alliance which will host the 2010 Social Enterprise World Forum in April in San Francisco), Sandra Swirski of the Philanthropic Collaborative, Jeff Mason of the Alliance for Effective Social Investing, Chuck Bean from the Nonprofit Roundtable , John Herron of Harbor City Services, Shelly Whelpton of the Sheridan Group and Courtney Seiloff of the V3 Campaign

Highlights of the dialogue:

Minister Jowell detailed the role of the Minister of the Third Sector. The UK is one of only two countries (the other is Estonia) with a Cabinet Minister dedicated to working across government to support the environment for a thriving third sector, enabling the sector to campaign for change, deliver public services, promote social enterprise and strengthen communities. Minister Jowell spoke of the relationship between the NCVO (the UK version of Independent Sector / National Council of Nonprofits) and the government and suggested that, unlike the States, third sector groups had more room to voice their opinion about legislation and elections.

Minister Jowell also took significant time to speak about Social Enterprise in the UK. Their government sees Social Enterprise (and Third Sector work) as a form of economic empowerment, and as such, seeks to incentivize its growth and develop comprehensive measurable outcomes (an activity in which many of today’s attendees are involved in here in the States).

Additionally, in the UK, the Social Enterprise Coalition recently issued a Manifesto calling for a three-fold increases in government investment in their movement. In advance of the Olympics, the coalition also has suggested a “social enterprise square mile” that would highlight the role of “mission driven organizations which apply market-based strategies to achieve a social purpose”.  Minister Jowell has welcomed this idea and the use of the Olympics to drive new ideas forward.

The Minister also led a discussion on incentives for citizen involvement/investment in charitable causes. She energized attendees with information that donations to UK nonprofits earn tax breaks for the full amount of the donation, plus the amount that the donation would have been taxed.  

Finally…the group discussed our common aging societies. Both countries experienced “baby booms” following WWII. In the US, there has been a noticeable planning vacuum and Minister Jowell suggested that they too have been short sighted in thinking about the social and economic impact of a generation that will live longer than any previous cohort, but whose fortunes have been hard hit by the collapse of the banking/investment/housing industries. The Minister and guests all agreed that this generation represents a deep well of experienced volunteers (and new philanthropists) and that this cohort can no longer be ignored.

The hour and a half session opened many eyes to the divergent role that government plays in the evolution of the sector in each country.  Many of the attendees played significant roles in helping shape the newly opened Office of Social Innovation here in Washington. Many saw similarities between what each government hoped to achieve by elevating the expectations and funding for social enterprises.  However….few left the meeting not feeling that the UK has a distinctive edge over the US in its official attitude towards the role of the nonprofit/third sector.

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From Wonderful Washington, DC’s  The Hill comes “Nonprofit Community Plays Key Role in our Economy” and from San Fran’s FINEST Blue Avocado, I present ”Merging Nonprofit Voices into a Political Force”.

More soon

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Last September, when the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Citizen’s United vs. the FEC, I wrote a blog (A New Era of Political Equity) articulating what I felt would be the ramifications for nonprofits should the court decide that corporations have First Amendment, free speech rights akin to those of the individual.

Yesterday’s decision, which “rejects limits of corporate spending on political campaigns” now insures that virtually everybody in America, along with corporations and unions, has the right to overtly advocate for, or against, a candidate or incumbent…except for America’s 1.4 million nonprofit organizations/businesses. We alone must remain silent.

Each of us must now consider this reality. In a year in which 36 states will elect new governor’s, and countless cities will elect mayors, we who feed the poor, shelter homeless vets, nurture the elderly, sustain the arts, protect the environment, care for the sick, educate children, etc…must sit on the sidelines and bear silent witness to a process that relies on our work, yet excludes our voice.

There’s a word for this….”wrong”.

And while I for one will work tirelessly to challenge this dynamic, none of us can, or should, loose sight of the fact that we do have power. There are 100 million people who work at, or volunteer with, any number of America’s dynamic nonprofit organizations. Our votes have currency.

We must recognize that we and we alone, are the ONLY force that can provide a counter-balance to powers that would emphasize dividends over citizens.

We must realize that this can ONLY be achieved when set aside historic, understandable, yet detrimental divisions, and finally and firmly stand together. Only from that vantage point will we be able to ask, and insure, that each candidate provides derailed plans for how they would use EVERY asset in the community to achieve their vision for a city, a state or our country.

It could take time, to be sure, to evolve from the cacophony of causes that now mutes our shared potential….but we don’t have the luxury of time.  That is why I, for one, am ready to join my voice with yours, and yours, and yours and yours….and I am ready to do it today, so that, regardless of how much money one group spends in a campaign—the community we share will come first.

To that end, I ask you to join me…and all the others who have already signed up for the V3 Campaign, so that the Voice, Value and Votes of the nonprofit sector is heard–legally, and loud and clear–in every election.

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In my ongoing dialogue with DCCK’s “under 30” employees, as well as the ones I have with the countless students or young leaders I meet on my journeys, I am asked, more often than almost anything else, for the secrets of making real change happen.

Last year, I wrote a blog about Unplugging (as in, from your IPod’s) so that you can really hear your community. I’m a 100% believer that you cannot be part of changing the world or your community if you don’t know your town, and that means living in it full-fuckin-tilt. Seriously–everyday, from dusk till dawn. And that means being able, or learning to hear the cadence of your community and grooving to the beat of its streets….literally.

Well…as we enter 2010, here’s another tip I use to make bold things happen.

I’m a connector. I’ve trained my eyes to see connections other might miss. The Kitchen is a good example of that. It seems obvious now, but back in the day…when I tried to get folks to understand my vision of connecting food from restaurants with poor people to get them fed AND employed…well, let’s just say that I got a lot of “WTF” stares.

I learned from that experience. Ever since then, I’ve been trying to stay one jump ahead of the curve by building on this lesson.  So now, I not only listen to my community, I eyeball it—hard—almost everyday. I walk and watch, listen and learn. I look for loose threads of similar fiber. Then I piece these seemingly random things together to get to a spot where we can launch a new program–a program that works, but that can also be used to get a new dialogue going. NOT about the program we launched (that just happens automatically when it’s badass) but about the issue the program seeks to remedy (hint–you can do both. Badass programs do it all the time) 

Campus Kitchens is an example of that. There are 60,000 school based kitchens out there. Just about every kid needs community service hours to graduate—BUT, more often than not, they have to LEAVE school to get those hours. I just made the connection, suggested that it might be smarter to bring the nonprofit to the volunteers versus the older, established model, and BOOM….there are now 20 of them across the country (collectively, they just delivered their 1,000,000th meal) and more are opening this year. What’s cool about it is that it opens lots of doors about the idea of existing community resources—just used differently (and, to quote AC/DC…”dirt cheap”). It also shows what Gen Next students can achieve if 1) you give them the keys to the car (Campus Kitchens are 100% student run) and 2) empower them to drive in the direction THEY think it needs to go.

My larger point. There are TONS of things that have not been linked together, that should. Creating something new out of old shit is what ever generation usually does to redefine the world. Never forget, man…..uranium was just a rock, until they split the atom. Oil was just black, sticky stuff until they invented the engine. And the guitar was just another instrument in the band until Les Paul plugged it IN. It’s the folks that put things that exist together to create something new that rock the world.

So….here are two examples of things I think can be put together. BOTH are bold. BOTH can be done. BOTH need to be done. Ready….

1. Seniors and Sustainable Food–As we talk, there’s a waiting list for Meals on Wheels in over 50% of America’s cities….and there are 80 million “baby boomers” beginning to grow old. In fact….12,000 people a day turn 60 in America…and we don’t have a plan. Right now, the Federal Government allocates $5.00 per meal for a senior and, understandably, demands a certain nutritional content for each meal for it to be eligible for re-imbursement. Now the nutritional content part was devised by the USDA, with heavy influence by food lobbyists, so each meal must include, for example, milk. Many local programs buy meals that are prepackaged to meet these requirments, as well as for convenience and storage. Many of these meals are shipped interstate. Few are made from scratch. But think about it….are these the kinds of meal that will 1) be palatable to a new generation of seniors? 2) keep them healthy? 3) and/or support the local economy?  They will if we make the connection between small farmers, locally grown food and seniors. Can you imagine the potential? Think of how many farms we could support if we directed that $5.00 per meal into the local economy, versus into big businesses (no disrespect to business…I’m just more interested in small town economics). Imagine if we also made students part of that equation. Students + seniors + sustainable food = seriously cool business. We’re talking inter-generational after school programs. We’re talking healthy meals-to-go for working families when they pick up Pop or the kids. We’re talking farm to cafeteria…but using the cafeteria as a community hub. That’s the next step for Campus Kitchens…or your program. But we need to make it national….and we need to do it in a hurry.  

2. Speaking of national, there are two FAT pots of federal money out there right now. One is for “green jobs”. Now a big mess of that cash is for home renovation…..“Cash for Caulkers” as President Obama announced a few weeks back. This means storm windows, solar panels or other improvements that make a home more fuel efficient. Cool. But there’s another pot of money, in a separate federal department, for “Aging in Place”. Remember the 80 million boomers I mentioned earlier? Well…they aren’t enough retirement homes for all of them, or hospitals for that matter. It’s a HUGE priority that as m-a-n-y folks as possible live at home as l-o-n-g as possible. To do that, they will need their bathrooms retrofitted, and simple things like electric outlets moved up from the near the floor (the “hip-breaker zone”) to waist-high level. Now imagine if we merged those pots of cash? Can you imagine the businesses that could be launched that would train young people or those who lost their jobs to meet this immense need? More important—a smart nonprofit could train AND employ—that’s called social enterprise. And social enterprise’s continually re-invests their profits back into the community, which is THE business model of the future.

And that’s why I launched the V3 Campaign two years ago—to make the connection between nonprofits and local elections, so we elect a new generation of leaders who see these connections, who understand the stakes and who help break down dumbo barriers. I’d like to see folks step up who are BORED by the divide between .com and .org….and who, most importantly, realize that FUNDING these kind of efforts (ie: providing access to capital to nonprofits versus making them jump through hoops to get grants) is smart business for any town…and for this country.

SO…that’s my advice for today. Make the connections others don’t see. LOOK for them–hard. Your community is a puzzle, waiting for you to help solve it. And in some communities, the pieces are green and gray as well as gold.

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We have a joke of sorts at the DC Central Kitchen. Every year we say to each other “it can’t p-o-s-s-i-b-l-y get better next year”. It always does.

I can’t explain it. Sure we work hard…really hard. Sure we work the karma thing….with a capital K. And it was our 20^th year in operation!!! But still…the tide of love that comes in twice daily over at 425 Second Street is almost beyond understanding.

Consider the basics:

During the year, we worked side x side w/over 11,000 volunteers (including the Secretary of Agriculture, who has some solid knife skills!!). We prepared and delivered way over a million meals (as did our 20 amazing Campus Kitchens–cumulatively, they delivered their one millionth meal this year!!!) And just about ever one of those meals included locally-sourced food. In fact, because we MAKE more than 50% of our own income, we were able to purchase close to a million dollars worth of locally-sourced food, insuring that our meals are super nutritious, while we also keeping as much money as we could circulating throughout the regional economy. On top of it all, we graduated four outstanding classes from our training program (classes 73, 74, 75, and 76). Finally—in what was a real cherry on top of a bold year—we not only stayed open during the worst December DC blizzard in history, banging out 4,000 meals per day, but  we added an additional 3,500 meals ON TOP of all that to make sure everybody who was trapped inside had a hot daytime meal.

It don’t get much more bad-ass than that.

But this was the year I really took to the road. I’ve been traveling pretty much ever since we opened DCCK in 1989. I NEVER wanted to be one of those “have-to-make-every-decision” ED’s, so from almost Day One, I’ve surrounded myself with crazy smart colleagues, which has afforded me lots of room to both help and learn from others. For the first few years, I was pretty much helping others develop similar community kitchen efforts. Then I started speaking to the larger issue of nutrition and aging. As DCCK developed revenue generating businesses, I spoke about Social Enterprise. But over the last three years, I’ve taken up the standard on nonprofit unity—what could we accomplish if we quit fighting each other, found common ground and stood UP, together, for a new way of doing business. THAT’S what I talk about now….and I did it almost 80 times this year…giving keynotes from Burlingame, CA to Birmingham, England. I wrote op-eds, did radio and TV interviews, lectured at universities, spoke at high schools and colleges and went out of my way to stir things UP.  Like Johnny Cash…I was everywhere, man. I was in Palm Beach, Jacksonville, Lawrence, Austin, Chicago, Louisville, Baltimore, Phoenix (twice), San Fran (three times), LA, Pittsburgh, Albany, Boston, Richmond, Landsing, Milwaukee, Syracuse, Williamsburg, Kansas City and Dallas to name a few.

 And here are a few of my favorite moments.

1. My first speech of the year—with about 1,000 future nonprofit leaders enrolled in American Humanics programs at universities and colleges throughout America. PLUS, it was in Indianapolis a city I have visited many times over the last few years.  It was a great way to kick-off the year.
   
2. January 20, 2009 was our 20th Anniversary. While we love our jobs, we hate our work, so we kept the fanfare to a minimum. However, our friend Pam Fessler, from NPR did a nice podcast to mark the occasion and our work with the Ritz during the Inauguration of President Obama.
3. I also used the Inauguration as a backdrop for two of many op-ed’s on the need for nonprofits to unite—one was for the Council on Foundations and the other, my take on nonprofit mergers, for Cause Planet.
4. I was happy to get a sweet and provocative profile of my work in the Utne Reader, aptly titled “Ladling Soup and Raising Hell”
5. 5. Following a keynote at the Voice09 Conference for the Social Enterprise Coalition of the United Kingdom (where the barrier between politics and nonprofits is less pronounced and social enterprise is way out front), I penned this op-ed for Scotland’s Hollyroot Magazine suggesting (once again) that the time had come to think VERY  differently about the role of nonprofits.
6. Most state budgets are “unveiled” on July 1^st of each year. In the summer of 2008, I wrote an op-ed for the Chronicle of Philanthropy arguing that coming budget deficits (26 states posted $46 billion in deficits that year) would have a HUGE impact on the sector. I took pen to paper again for the July 2, 2009 issue, to see if saying it a bit louder this year might get more groups to join the V3 Campaign and GET INVOLVED in every state election.
7. For some god-knows-why-reason, I was again honored to be included in the Nonprofit Times Top 50 Power and Influence list…for the 4^th year in a row. I still remain one of the only direct service providers on the list 
8. You got to love a shout out from the BOSS. Bruce does this EVERYTIME he comes through DC. He is so the real thing!!!

9. This year I really got into twitter (@robertegger) and found out how powerful “new media” is was when I penned this blog about what I learned when I had a meeting with the “under 30’s” at DCCK. The Chronicle of Philanthropy picked it up and it picked up comments from across the country faster than you can say millennials. Two other blogs got similar bumps via twitter—one on the power of listening to your community if you really want to make change and the other on the opportunity that a “down economy” can offer forward thinking entrepreneurs.

10. In the fall, I roared through the prairie states—the frontier states—the mighty Midwest—I was in Rapid City, Sioux Falls, Omaha, Steamboat Springs, Billings and Mankato, MN to name a few. While in Madison I did a fun “business radio” interview on the Jody and Joan Show and penned my BEST op-ed of the year for, of all things, Prairie Fire…a small regional paper that was kind enough to ask for my opinion. We also got yet another great article on our work, this time from the Oregonian

11. Closing out the year, I was honored the be asked by my friend John Gompers, from Experience Corp, to speak at the annual Purpose Prize, a celebration of achievement by older men and women in their “encore careers”

This was an amazing honor. The high hats and hunga-mungas in the audience that night, at a plush vinyard overlooking San Francisco Bay, made the Oscar’s Red Carpet look positively pedestrain….but the list of winners this year was just awe-inspiring. What they are revealing about human nature–the need to be involved in something bigger than yourself–gives me huge faith in the years to come.

Now there was TONS more in 2009 than I have time to commit to paper (so to speak). I saw countless old friends and added a few more to the list. I drank some good tequila in crummy bars and bad tequila in some swell joints. I gave some rip-roarin barn burner speeches…and I laid an egg or two. I was honored to recieve an In Harmony w/Hope Award along with Father Gregory Boyle (of Homeboy Enterprises in LA) and Father Peter Young (who has done powerful work on NY state to house and employ felons). I performed my 6th wedding for my friends Barton and Carrie Ann, which got covered by Martha Stewart. I even made it to LA a few times to work w/my friend Azad on a project we hope to see gain traction in 2010, the LA Central Kitchen. While there I stopped by Dee Dee Ramone’s lipstick covered grave to pay my respects for ALL the joy his music has, and continues to bring to my life.

So there you go…lots of stuff to mull over here…some would say WAY too much. But there’s going to be even more in 2010. There will be 36 Governor’s races next year. I hope to be deeply and legally involved in many of them, helping to insure that the VOICE, VALUE and VOTES of the sector are included in every discussion. To those ends, I’ll be back on the road on January 3rd, and I plan on breaking this years speaking record. Look for me. Follow my wandering ass on Twitter, Facebook or this blog. Visit my website for a list of my 2010 speaking gigs. Give me shout out if I roll through your town. We’ll grab a beer and throw rocks at cars.

So…until then…let’s end 2009 the way every Ramone’s songs did….with an intro to the next.

Take it Dee Dee.

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