Social Innovators in Atlanta and New Orleans – Check Out This Opportunity
The Points of Light Civic Accelerator is calling all social innovators – entrepreneurs and business, community and nonprofit leaders – in Atlanta and New Orleans to participate in a two-day, hands-on boot camp. Learn about and use innovation best practices to make better decisions, test solutions and solve problems more effectively.
From left, Innovate Houston participants Jaison Oliver, Stephen Love, Krid Fung and Mercedes Harris
The two boot camps round out a three-city series of Rapid Innovation Summits, which launched this month in Houston, coinciding with Points of Light’s Conference on Volunteering and Service. More than 40 participants brought diverse challenges to the Houston summit, exploring solutions with their peer innovators.
Highlights included a networking reception and a thought-provoking conversation between Jeff Reichman, founder of January Advisors, and Ayesha Khanna, founder of the Points of Light Civic Accelerator. See more about Innovate Houston here.
“I’ve never been more excited for a Monday morning,” said participant Mark Cueva, who works for the City of Houston. “I’m looking forward to putting these tools and ideas to work.”
For the summits, attendees are encouraged to bring real-life, organizationwide issues. For example, if you’re thinking of launching a new program, if you want to motivate your team or perhaps you’re trying to re-energize funding efforts, the Civic Accelerator encourages you to bring your problems to solve.
As an added bonus, Innovate Atlanta attendees will be able to join change makers at an exclusive Innovate Atlanta VIP Reception at Google Atlanta. This is a not-to-miss opportunity to network with one another, exchange ideas and build a community of social innovators.
For more information and to register for the Atlanta summit, visit bit.ly/InnovateATL. Hurry, “early adopter” pricing ends Oct. 30. Early registration has also opened for Innovate New Orleans.
We look forward to seeing you!
Do You Work for a Community-Minded Company? Check Out The Civic 50!
Does your company care about the communities where it does business? Join us Oct. 30, 2015 for a free webinar about participating in The Civic 50, an initiative of Points of Light that honors the 50 most community-minded companies in the nation each year as determined by an annual survey.
Benchmarking and sharing the best practices of community engagement offers companies that participate in The Civic 50 a roadmap for using their time, skills and other resources to improve the quality of life in the communities where they do business. The Civic 50 will help translate good intentions into sound business practices for years to come.
In this webinar, from 1 – 2 p.m. Eastern, you will learn:
What makes The Civic 50 survey unique
Why your company should participate
Technical and logistical details about the survey submission process
After delivering an interactive, spoken-word performance, Grammy Award-winning poet J. Ivy urged attendees to “disrupt the status quo,” adding, “Being a change maker is about finding a course, igniting a spark and inspiring others to stop and take notice.”
One such change maker – Gabe Eggerling, who was inspired to serve after “reading a funny story to a little girl who told me that she didn’t have one book at home.” The experience moved Gabe, now starring in an Amazon Prime pilot called “The Kicks,” to create
honoree.
Gabe shared the story of 8-year-old Martin Richard, the youngest victim killed in the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013. Martin’s reputation for being a peacemaker inspired the recent
, Points of Light’s youth service enterprise – urged young people to spread kindness.
World-renowned chef José Andrés took up a cooking analogy to engage the audience on finding new ways of taking action for the greater good. “Sometimes those recipes, they have been written wrong,” said Andres, founder of the humanitarian organization
. “New recipes must be written if we want to be changing the world.”
José Andrés
De Andrea Nichols, director of Civic Creatives and alumna of the Points of Light Civic Accelerator, urged attendees to help create a pipeline of young leaders “to steer us into the future” and inspire change. Bill Basl, director of
, echoed that sentiment, calling on attendees to develop more ways for young people to enrich their lives through service.
Majora Carter, a Peabody Award-winning broadcaster who led the transformation of a New York City dump into a waterfront park, encouraged attendees to draw from their “legitimate and unavoidable impatience” to make communities better.
And, before singing a stripped-down version of his hit song, “Sleep When We Die,” musician and activist Kenna told attendees “find your crazy” – seemingly impossible ideas that both have personal meaning and do good for the world.
Near the close of the plenary, as Points of Light Chair Neil Bush and CEO Tracy Hoover presented the Daily Point of Light Award to Tyson Gersh, who is transforming a blighted area of Detroit into a thriving urban farm.
From left, Neil Bush, Tyson Gersh and Tracy Hoover
Then the announcement about the 2016 Conference on Volunteering and Service – next year in… Detroit!
Earlier in the day, the Business Track focused on the future. “These new 17
around poverty, hunger, education and gender equality are key to the success of future generations and the health of our planet,” said Sue Stephenson from The Ritz Carlton Hotel Company as a leader of the session, IMPACT 2030: Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals Through Employee Volunteerism.
Starbucks, Kaiser Permanente, PepsiCo and Target used their successes and failures to explore their organizational journeys as they evolve in the session led by the purpose guru Carol Cone, From Cause Marketing to Purpose Driven Brands. We are grateful for the generous support from Target as the Business Track demonstrated the immense change-making power of companies and their employees.
Kenna
The Together We Serve: Military and Veterans Forum, sponsored by BP, brought together community, military, private and nonprofit representatives for a discussion about how to use service to bridge the civilian-military divide. Ryan Manion Borek, president of the Travis Manion Foundation, spoke about how we can honor the fallen by challenging the living to serve.
Lt. Colonel Brian Gilman, a Marine, noted the need to break the notion of veterans as either “hero or broken.” Barry Mattson, executive director of The Mission Continues, and Koby Langley, senior vice president at the American Red Cross both spoke about the misconceptions of veterans, stating that every vet needs time to get to their “new normal.”
As we say goodbye to Houston, we’re planning to see you at next year’s Conference on Volunteering and Service in Detroit!
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Announcing the 2015 Corporate Volunteer Council of the Year
in Houston today, Points of Light honored the Greater Philadelphia Corporate Volunteer Council as 2015 Corporate Volunteer Council of the Year for serving as a primary local resource for encouraging, educating and connecting businesses that support employee volunteerism.
Kate Laepple Hertzog and Neil Bush
Corporate Volunteer Councils are local networks that businesses join to share best practices and address community needs through workplace volunteering. The Corporate Volunteer Council of the Year Award recognizes councils that have a clear purpose, activities that relate to that purpose and measurements for success. All entries are reviewed and winners selected by an awards committee comprised of national Corporate Volunteer Council leaders and convened by Points of Light.
The Greater Philadelphia Corporate Volunteer Council was presented the Corporate Volunteer Council of the Year award by Neil Bush, chairman of Points of Light, during the conference’s Business Track Luncheon. Kate Laepple Hertzog, manager of the council, accepted the award on the organization’s behalf.
Since its founding in 2011 by
, the Greater Philadelphia Corporate Volunteer Council has grown both in numbers and in impact. Its corporate members have opportunities to increase their skills and find new ways to engage their employees in order to better meet the needs of their community.
“The Greater Philadelphia Corporate Volunteer Council has provided me with the opportunity to connect with colleagues who are also focused on employee engagement. Through peer learning and sharing of best practices, I’m able to implement my knowledge to ensure our employees are giving back to the community in new and impactful ways,” shared Debbie O’Brien, senior vice president, market manager, Bank of America, and co-chair of the Greater Philadelphia Corporate Volunteer Council.
Led by an active steering committee that reflects its corporate members and managed by United Way, the council offers its members robust year-round programming that includes skill-building and issue-based sessions, along with monthly roundtable discussions that provide practical knowledge to use in members’ daily work. It also makes available satellite programming specifically for suburban members and small businesses.
“As a one-person community impact department at my company, I find the Greater Philadelphia Corporate Volunteer Council to be a fantastic resource,” said Jan Waldauer, manager of global corporate social responsibility and internal communication at Quaker Chemical Corporation. “Not only do I learn best practices from other companies, but expand my professional network as well as gain valuable insight into the Philadelphia-area volunteer space.
Conference Opens With a Call for Innovation and a Visit From President George H. W. Bush
in Houston resonated with thoughts on how to think about service in new and innovative ways, as Points of Light CEO Tracy Hoover issued the call to “mobilize every person in the world to be a change maker.” It recognized the great potential for change, as when Congressman Joaquin Castro told attendees, “The beauty of America is that there is an infrastructure of opportunity that helps us get where we want to go in life.”
Tracy Hoover welcomes attendees to the Conference on Volunteering and Service.
Points of Light Chair Neil Bush offered an impassioned plea to think differently about volunteer service, to move beyond the simple framework of more volunteers serving more hours. He also was joined by his father President George H. W. Bush, who founded Points of Light 25 years ago, and former First Lady Barbara Bush. “He challenged us all by saying any definition of a successful life must include service to others,” Neil Bush said of President Bush.
President Bush later joined his son center stage to honor sisters Maggie and Harper Cunningham, ages 10 and 12, from College Station, Texas, who created Books and a Blanket.
The plenary included a welcome by Houston Mayor Annise Parker and an engaging panel discussion, moderated by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham and featuring three former chiefs of staff – Andrew H. Card, who staffed President George W. Bush; Mack McLarty III (President Bill Clinton); and John H. Sununu (George H. W. Bush).
Tracy Hoover, left, Neil Bush, center, and President George H. W. Bush present the Daily Point of Light Award to sisters Maggie and Harper Cunningham.
Hoover welcomed conference attendees and encouraged them to seek the solutions that will bring volunteers closer to their passions. “Let’s inspire each other, let’s learn from each other, let’s be disruptive together,” she said. “You’ve accomplished so much and there’s so much to be proud of.”
The day started with 1,000 volunteers kicking off
, a 24-hour bid to break the Guinness World Record for the number of children read to by an adult in a single day.
This Conference service project – sponsored by the
– brought volunteers to elementary schools throughout Houston. Neil and Barbara Bush joined volunteers at Edgar Allen Poe Elementary School, each reading to a classroom full of children and speaking out on the critical importance of literacy.
From left, Jon Meacham, Mack McLarty III, John H. Sununu and Andrew H. Card
Later in the morning, the Volunteer Solutions for America’s Education Crisis Forum examined areas where volunteers can help establish a strong STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) foundation and connect to African-American and Hispanic youth.
STEM education for girls can be transformative, noted Anna Maria Chavez, CEO of
. Girl Scout alums who have had these opportunities have had more success in their academic and professional lives, are more involved in their children’s schools and understand they have a voice in making positive change in their communities.
Corporate social responsibility practitioners dug into the key skills for success in their rapidly changing field during the Three Skills Every CSR Professional Will Need in the Next Five Years session. At the Understanding Power and Privilege in the Volunteer Experience session, participants examined how strong self-awareness of power and privilege can result in programs that yield sustainable social change.
Former First Lady Barbara Bush reads to children at Edgar Allen Poe Elementary School in Houston as part of the Read Across the Globe service project.
In the Employee Engagement: What’s Working and What’s Not? workshop, more than 200 corporate attendees came to a deeper understanding of how they can spark excitement for service within their organizations and inspire employees to drive social change. In the Strengthening Community Networks for Efficiency and Impact session, speakers explored how innovative volunteer networks can build stronger communities.
In the Going Global workshop, speakers discussed the challenges and opportunities for scaling volunteering globally, from operationalizing volunteering around the world to deepening impact through skills-based service.
In the days leading up to the conference, attendees gathered for special training sessions and events.
On Saturday and Sunday, the Points of Light Civic Accelerator hosted Innovate Houston, sponsored by Starbucks. The hands-on boot camp coached teams of social entrepreneurs and business, nonprofit and community leaders on using innovation best practices to make better decisions, test solutions and solve problems more effectively.
Through the weekend, volunteer managers participated in a new certification program for disaster volunteer coordination, which covered a variety of topics, including recruiting and assessing volunteers and social media in emergency management.
On Sunday, HandsOn Network affiliates – local volunteer centers across the globe – gathered to connect, learn and share ideas about volunteer recruitment and management. They also celebrated this year’s George W. Romney Award winner, Boston Cares (read more here).
In the afternoon, Repair the World hosted a summit to explore the state of service and volunteering in the Jewish community.
Faith was a topic of discussion into the evening, with America’s Sunday Supper, hosted by St. Martin’s Episcopal Church. The evening’s discussion, led by historian Jon Meacham and the Rev. Dr. Russell Jones, focused on how communities of faith can help improve the state of education.
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Boston Cares Wins Romney Award for Giving Kids in Need Beds of Their Own
Thousands of Greater Boston school children do not have a bed, which affects their self-esteem, ability to learn and likelihood of graduating from high school. This year’s George W. Romney Award winner, Boston Cares, decided to tackle this problem by creating the Bed Project, through which volunteers build beds for kids who need them.
From left, Neil Bush, chairman, Points of Light; Patrice Keegan, executive director, Boston Cares; and Amy Smith, Points of Light chief strategy officer and president, Action Networks
Each year during the Points of Light Conference on Volunteering and Service, HandsOn Network honors the outstanding work of an affiliate through the George W. Romney Award. The award is the pinnacle of excellence, presented to honor the collective success of an affiliate in making a meaningful difference through volunteering and service in their community and across the sector.
Boston Cares, which received the award in Houston on Sunday, sought to help children who have no choice but to share beds with family members, sleep on the couch or sleep on the floor.
In creating its Bed Project, Boston Cares located skilled woodworkers – Nick Roulleau of Mansfield Fine Furniture and Eli Cleveland of The Rough Cut – who donated their time to develop a toddler bed prototype that is easy for volunteers to replicate.
“One of the most exciting things about Boston Care’s Bed Project is that it can be replicated by our global network of over 250 affiliates, so they are not only helping children in Massachusetts, but around the world,” said Alison Doerfler, executive director of HandsOn Network, an enterprise of Points of Light.
The nonprofit built a partnership with the New England Regional Council of Carpenters, through which apprentices have handled much of the advance work of cutting, milling and fabricating the lumber – although volunteers can handle this stage of the Bed Project if need be, using a series of customized “jigs” designed by Roulleau and Cleveland.
On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2014, Boston Cares launched the Bed Project with a goal to build 500 beds for kids in 2014. Since then, close to 1,400 volunteers have produced 700-plus beds for children served by 22 community partners in Boston, Somerville, Lynn, Lowell, Worcester and other nearby communities. The goal is to hit 1,000 beds by the end of 2015.
“We truly appreciate the beds the Boston Cares Bed Project has made and donated in the past and look forward to receiving and distributing many more to families in need thanks to this amazing program,” said Donna Hunnewell, executive director of The Wish Project, a recipient of Boston Care beds. “What a unique and effective way to use volunteers to help families.”
The George W. Romney Excellence Award was established in 1996 to honor Gov. Romney of Michigan and his personal commitment to volunteer service. Romney was chairman and CEO of American Motors, a three-term governor and U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. He was also founding chairman of the National Volunteer Center and a founding member of the board and executive committee of Points of Light.
“It is a great honor to be recognized for our work,” said Patrice Keegan, executive director of Boston Cares. “We have been so inspired and motivated by other affiliates and past Romney Award winners. Boston Cares is excited to move the Bed Project forward and thanks HandsOn Network and Points of Light for this honor.”
Happy #AmeriDay! Check Out 3 Ways to Get Involved
Get ready to welcome new AmeriCorps members! Today marks the launch of #AmeriDay, a monthlong celebration honoring the start of AmeriCorps service across the county. Check out three ways to get involved today:
1. Come to a virtual resume review.AmeriCorps Alums, a Points of Light enterprise, is celebrating the start of this AmeriCorps year by hosting a Virtual Resume Review today (click here to get one of our last tickets). We want to make sure that when this newest AmeriCorps class graduates, members already have the tips they need to help their resumes get to top of a hiring manager’s desk. This resume review is made possible by Deloitte volunteers, and we are excited to offer this opportunity to all current AmeriCorps members and alums.
2. Join us in celebrating those who serve.Click here to tweet a message! AmeriCorps members just starting their service need to hear from us that their service is powerful and that they are part of a national service movement.
3. Update your Facebook profile with an AmeriCorps picture! In case you missed it, Ameri-Pride is taking over Facebook. Save the AmeriCorps logo, add it as your profile picture today, and tell your friends why you’re a proud alum!
For more ways to connect to AmeriCorps members, alums, and career support throughout this year, be sure you register with us for the latest updates. Click here to get connected!
Kids and teens across the country – more than 23,000 of them so far – are making peace and spreading kindness in creative ways. (See below how your kids can, too!)
Kelli from New York created The World Peace Mural, a public art project that has inspired more than 400 young people to contribute art, photographs and poetry to a stunning display of unity across continents and languages.
Zach from Louisiana raised more than $530 for children being treated for cancer at St. Jude’s Hospital by arranging for his peers to pay $2 to wear their favorite hats to school. That money will go toward buying toys for anyone undergoing treatment.
And more than 900 students at a Florida school encouraged parents, grandparents, friends and neighbors to come together during a peace summit to spread peace beyond the walls of their school into their community.
Schoolmates display the poster they made to honor Martin Richard’s call for peace.
Their inspiration? An 8-year-old named Martin Richard, the youngest victim killed in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. In the days after the bombing, a photo of Martin holding a handmade poster that read, “No more hurting people – Peace” circulated widely online.
Martin was known as a “bridge builder” in his school and someone who believed in fairness, kindness and inclusion. The Martin Richard Bridge Builder campaign, run by generationOn – Points of Light’s Youth Service enterprise – encourages kids and teens to spread peace through service projects or simple acts of kindness, honoring Martin’s desire to bring people together.
During October – Bulling Prevention Month – the campaign urges educators and parents to create a culture of caring, kindness and compassion in their schools, communities and homes by addressing issues such as bullying, insecurities and community conflict through service.
Whether it’s planting a peace garden, making a peace poster or simply inviting someone new to sit at a school lunch table, there are many easy ways kids, teens and families can make a difference.
Students ages 5 -18 can get involved and learn about volunteer projects or share their stories of spreading peace and kindness for a chance to win a $250 grant by visiting www.generationOn.org/peace. The deadline for submissions is Oct. 16, 2015.
Martin’s message has inspired thousands of kids and teens across the country and the world to action through kindness and service. Will your kids join them?
Celebrating a Decade of Powering Volunteer Service and Accelerating Social Change
From global community days and home-builds to civic hackathons, companies have an immense power to mobilize and inspire their employees to achieve social change through service.
Alcoa’s employee volunteers serve nearly 2,000 nonprofit organizations every year during its signature month of service.
This year, we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the
, the premier global platform for mobilizing, equipping and inspiring high-impact volunteering. For the past decade, Council members have been trailblazers in turning their bottom lines into the front lines for social change.
To celebrate this anniversary, Points of Light has collected videos that share the inspiring role that service plays in companies and communities around the world. The new
features multiple messages from Council members reflecting on the power of volunteering.
Companies featured in the videos include Alcoa, Altria, Citi, Edelman, PepsiCo, Pfizer and Southwest. The challenges of our time – from poverty and hunger to inequality and education – are increasingly requiring large-scale and multi-sector responses. Council members are stepping up to this challenge by lending their most precious assets – their time and talent – to be transformative drivers of social change.
Service is still at the heart of the Corporate Service Council. Its learning communities and gatherings spark innovative thinking and inspire companies and employees to volunteer in ways that deliver transformative and lasting value.
Celebrate with us and visit our
to hear about 10 amazing years of powering corporate service.
When Women Get Stuck, America Gets Stuck
This post is by Mary Bruce, co-executive director of AmeriCorps Alums, a Points of Light enterprise and the only national network that connects the nearly 1 million AmeriCorps alumni.
Mary Bruce
Recently, LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Co. released “Women in the Workplace 2015,” a comprehensive study of the state of women in corporate America. Lean In founder Sheryl Sandberg writes, “Using the talents of our full population is critical.” And the new study shows we are not.
For example, while a majority of companies surveyed offer career development and flexibility programs like extended leave or reduced schedules, few employees take advantage of them. As a result, women remain underrepresented at every corporate level – and especially in the C-suite.
What are the consequences of this underrepresentation? Simply put, Sandberg explains, “When women get stuck, corporate America gets stuck.” She continues, “There is a wealth of evidence that diversity helps teams and organizations perform better in terms of innovation, creativity, revenue and profits.”
Making matters worse? Workforce data in the nonprofit sector is so opaque there’s much we don’t know. Questions asked in the “Women in the Workplace 2015” (e.g. if career development and flexibility programs are offered) aren’t asked of nonprofits.
And when they are asked, it’s infrequently. For example, the oft-cited CommonGood Careers report on Nonprofit Diversity shined a critical light on challenges of diversity and equity in the sector, but hasn’t been updated since 2008.
While “Women in the Workplace 2015” shows that corporate America is stuck, the nonprofit sector can’t see – and rarely get funds for – what’s sticky. In fact, the 20-year (1992 – 2011) annual average of investments in nonprofit talent by the thousand largest U.S. foundations was just 1.24 percent of total grant dollars.
Sandberg says, “Using the talents of our full population is critical to our economic growth, corporate productivity and individual happiness.” Alums know it’s more than that: It’s also critical to making communities safer, stronger and healthier.
