I had a great meeting last week with Boris and Julia who work for the Bresee Foundation. The Bresee Foundation is a nonprofit community center that is a source of faith, hope and service to low-income youth, adults and families in central Los Angeles. They serve nearly 2,000 individuals annually, primarily at-risk youth from the Mid-Wilshire, Koreatown, Pico Union, and Westlake neighborhoods.
Spark Good Studios is partnering with Bresee (mostly Boris) to try a small experiment to see what happens when "at-risk" youth begin taking risky acts of altruism.
While we were talking the topic shifted from Bresee to all the people who volunteer there but then have to move away. One person we discussed had moved to Los Angeles to pursue fashion and was now having to move back to the midwest from whence they came.
Which is when I said, "So who says someone has to move to Los Angeles or New York to do fashion? Who says a small town in the midwest can't become the new fashion hub of the world?"
We all agreed but it still sounded kind of...you know...stupid.
Then again, 200 years ago New York was only a town of 20,000. And now with globalized markets and democratized technologies anyone, anywhere can find a voice and change the cultural landscape of literally the entire world.
The irony of our conversation was that the Bresee Foundation exists to give hope to kids who might not otherwise have it. But at risk kids aren't the only ones who need hope. Cities need hope as well, and so do fashionistas destined for Topeka, KS. Just like a kid in Pico Union can go to college, so too can your town become a creative force in the world. Just like Los Angeles was built (and needs to be rebuilt) so too can your city be built and rebuilt.
Hope isn't locked to a geographic location. Hope goes where creativity goes. It goes where the hopeful go. So what cultural force is your community going to be because you're a part of it? 200 years from now why are people going to move to your city?
And how are you going to give hope to those who are searching for it?
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Friday, July 2, 2010
A few "Clicks" buys Beds for the Homeless
An excerpt from an email I got yesterday from my friend Josh:
Thought you might like this since it is a direct result of one of your Spark Groups.
If you remember, Jenn Kenning took on a risk to start a Non-Profit during one of the Spark Group's back in January at Jonn Hipp's house. Well it is underway and I am on the Board of Directors and have been a part of it since the beginning.
We were just approved last night as a Finalist from over 1000 submissions for a $250K Grant from the Pepsi Refresh Project:
Hey buddy -
Thought you might like this since it is a direct result of one of your Spark Groups.
If you remember, Jenn Kenning took on a risk to start a Non-Profit during one of the Spark Group's back in January at Jonn Hipp's house. Well it is underway and I am on the Board of Directors and have been a part of it since the beginning.
We were just approved last night as a Finalist from over 1000 submissions for a $250K Grant from the Pepsi Refresh Project:
Our first project will be to provide 71 full-size beds and bedding essentials to the Los Angeles Downtown Women's Shelter by December 1, 2010 for use in their new shelter building and then an additional 53 Full-Size beds and bedding essentials by June 2011 for use in the newly renovated Original Women’s Shelter building.
The new Non-Profit is called A Good Night's Sleep. The genesis of this project was actually inspired from both the book "Wide Awake"by Erwin McManus and the movie the Blind Slide.
To help out our friend Jenn simply go to the link below, register and rock the vote.
Spark on!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
TOO MANY NON-PROFITS!
Have you ever wondered why people feel the need to start up their own non-profit for a cause rather than just work with the non-profits that are already working for that cause?
Wouldn't it be more efficient, focused and drain less resources to have one BIG non-profit rocking the water problem, one BIG non-profit tackling the homeless problem, one BIG non-profit healing the disease problem, etc?
It has become trendy in my world to criticize non-profts in a city with more non-profits than any other city in the United States. "They should stop asking people for money and go out and get real jobs," I heard a friend of mine recently say.
But does he feel the same way about...say...photography? I mean, shouldn't there be just one BIG photography company that runs all of the worlds photography needs? Wouldn't that be more efficient?
And shouldn't there be just one BIG clothing company, and one BIG bank and one BIG school and one BIG government and one BIG church and one BIG TV station or film company where everything is streamlined and efficient?
Think about your profession. Shouldn't there be just one BIG [insert your profession here] to take care of all of the world's needs?
If you're like me, answering that question gets uncomfortable. It seems like when you start making one BIG anything you start losing something else. You start losing uniqueness, you start losing leadership development, leadership expression and-- in the long run-- you diminish a culture's capacity to create, not enhance it.
Not everyone loves being a worker bee in middle management of something huge. Not everyone should. Some people love to start new things. Other people love to run old things. Some like to take broken things and fix them, others like to take the best and make it better.
Non-profits and For-profits should work together when they can, absolutely. But the presence of many unique people tackling the same problems in their own unique way with their own unique social networks should be celebrated, not condemned.
The same goes for business, governments, churches, universities, and-- yes-- non profits.
We need more of them, not less. And the ones we have now need to be better. So get on it.
Wouldn't it be more efficient, focused and drain less resources to have one BIG non-profit rocking the water problem, one BIG non-profit tackling the homeless problem, one BIG non-profit healing the disease problem, etc?
It has become trendy in my world to criticize non-profts in a city with more non-profits than any other city in the United States. "They should stop asking people for money and go out and get real jobs," I heard a friend of mine recently say.
But does he feel the same way about...say...photography? I mean, shouldn't there be just one BIG photography company that runs all of the worlds photography needs? Wouldn't that be more efficient?
And shouldn't there be just one BIG clothing company, and one BIG bank and one BIG school and one BIG government and one BIG church and one BIG TV station or film company where everything is streamlined and efficient?
Think about your profession. Shouldn't there be just one BIG [insert your profession here] to take care of all of the world's needs?
If you're like me, answering that question gets uncomfortable. It seems like when you start making one BIG anything you start losing something else. You start losing uniqueness, you start losing leadership development, leadership expression and-- in the long run-- you diminish a culture's capacity to create, not enhance it.
Not everyone loves being a worker bee in middle management of something huge. Not everyone should. Some people love to start new things. Other people love to run old things. Some like to take broken things and fix them, others like to take the best and make it better.
Non-profits and For-profits should work together when they can, absolutely. But the presence of many unique people tackling the same problems in their own unique way with their own unique social networks should be celebrated, not condemned.
The same goes for business, governments, churches, universities, and-- yes-- non profits.
We need more of them, not less. And the ones we have now need to be better. So get on it.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Take It Off The Shelf
Right now there is a book on my shelf, taunting me.
It was an impulse purchase from Amazon. I tend to buy books in bulk and then read them over the next, say, 20 years. If “1-click purchase” was crack cocaine I wouldn’t have any teeth and would live in Baltimore.
Or then again, maybe I have it all wrong. Maybe it’s like the puppy locked out of the house in the back yard. You walk by the window and he puts his two front paws against the glass, whimpering. His puppy-dog eyes say it all:
Play with me.
Whether that book is taunting me or whimpering I can’t be sure. But one thing I know is that it’s on the shelf. Collecting dust. Sandwiched between a sci-fi novel and a self-help book. How terrible.
I tend to put a lot of things on the shelf. Not just books, pictures and trinkets from the last vacation. I can also cram relationships, hobbies, hard conversations and dreams between my IKEA purchased, put-together-myself-without-swearing shelves.
Upon reflection, there’s a lot of stuff that is in my life...but barely. They’re on the shelf. “On the shelf” means I think about it every now and then, usually before I fall asleep. My last waking moment is usually, “Oh! I would really love to do that! Maybe I’ll start tomor….zzzzzzzzzzz.”
And on the shelf they stay. Collecting dust.
"On the shelf" items get talked about over coffee with friends or standing in line for an over-priced movie. "Hey, wouldn't it be cool if...?" we say. And then the cup is empty or the movie is over and-- for whatever reason-- that idea never makes it into the texture of our daily lives.
The problem is that many of life’s most fulfilling moments, most rewarding risks and most exciting opportunities tend to stay on the shelf. Like fine china or a grandfather’s watch—we hold those possibilities with such high esteem that we never bother touching them.
Could it be that the keys to unlocking the parts of our lives we most desperately want to change are sitting on the shelf, right in front of us?
So take your life off the shelf.
www.sparkgood.com
It was an impulse purchase from Amazon. I tend to buy books in bulk and then read them over the next, say, 20 years. If “1-click purchase” was crack cocaine I wouldn’t have any teeth and would live in Baltimore.
Or then again, maybe I have it all wrong. Maybe it’s like the puppy locked out of the house in the back yard. You walk by the window and he puts his two front paws against the glass, whimpering. His puppy-dog eyes say it all:
Play with me.
Whether that book is taunting me or whimpering I can’t be sure. But one thing I know is that it’s on the shelf. Collecting dust. Sandwiched between a sci-fi novel and a self-help book. How terrible.
I tend to put a lot of things on the shelf. Not just books, pictures and trinkets from the last vacation. I can also cram relationships, hobbies, hard conversations and dreams between my IKEA purchased, put-together-myself-without-swearing shelves.
Upon reflection, there’s a lot of stuff that is in my life...but barely. They’re on the shelf. “On the shelf” means I think about it every now and then, usually before I fall asleep. My last waking moment is usually, “Oh! I would really love to do that! Maybe I’ll start tomor….zzzzzzzzzzz.”
And on the shelf they stay. Collecting dust.
"On the shelf" items get talked about over coffee with friends or standing in line for an over-priced movie. "Hey, wouldn't it be cool if...?" we say. And then the cup is empty or the movie is over and-- for whatever reason-- that idea never makes it into the texture of our daily lives.
The problem is that many of life’s most fulfilling moments, most rewarding risks and most exciting opportunities tend to stay on the shelf. Like fine china or a grandfather’s watch—we hold those possibilities with such high esteem that we never bother touching them.
Could it be that the keys to unlocking the parts of our lives we most desperately want to change are sitting on the shelf, right in front of us?
So take your life off the shelf.
www.sparkgood.com
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
No This Without This.
Take a minute and watch the short Youtube clip. Go ahead, explore your inner geek.
Okay, so this is how it works: you don't get the elation of victory without first stepping into the uncertainty of defeat. In geek: you don't get to experience the thrill of blowing up the Death Star until you first have to courage to almost die trying.
Everyone longs for the victory, for the elated moment when you get the girl, make the winning shot, overcome the obstacles and...yes...blow up the Death Star. But those moments are unavailable to those of us who don't ask her out, take the shot, fight the odds or...yes...fly into the heart of the Death Star.
So what's worth trying for? Go for it.
Okay, so this is how it works: you don't get the elation of victory without first stepping into the uncertainty of defeat. In geek: you don't get to experience the thrill of blowing up the Death Star until you first have to courage to almost die trying.
Everyone longs for the victory, for the elated moment when you get the girl, make the winning shot, overcome the obstacles and...yes...blow up the Death Star. But those moments are unavailable to those of us who don't ask her out, take the shot, fight the odds or...yes...fly into the heart of the Death Star.
So what's worth trying for? Go for it.
And if you like pictures:
NO THIS:
WITHOUT THIS:
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