Nonprofits are faced with more challenges to accomplish their missions and the growing pressure to do more work, raise more and be more for the causes that improve our world.
We're here to learn with you from some of the best in the industry, bringing the most innovative ideas, inspirational stories, all to create an impact uprising.
So welcome to the good community. We're nonprofit professionals, philanthropist, world changers and rabid fans who are striving to bring a little more goodness into the world.
So let's get started. Hey, you, Becky.
Hi, John. I'm so excited today.
We've been counting this one down, and we're so excited. Today's here,
we have such a massive world changer on the podcast today. I'm so delighted to introduce Kimberly O'Neill. She is the founder of the giving blueprint, she is based out of Plano, Texas, and we're gonna be talking about narratives about nonprofits and the missions they serve. And I just want to tell everybody to buckle up, because Kimberly is going to knock your socks off, there is no way I could even begin to read all of this bio of impressive detail about your life, Kimberly, I'm just going to pick out a couple nuggets, because we just want to give you the floor. And have you run and talk about how social good organizations, nonprofits and social businesses are going to create economic engines and impacts on their communities. So just a little background, Kimberly. She's a native New Yorker, and I love that you have this deep passion for culture and community. And so she's an award winning professor at Tulane, an Executive leader, a social good expert, who served as the youngest African American female city manager in the United States. So that's a mic drop moment on its own. And we just love that she's not only a veteran, senior government and nonprofit executive that's raised all you know, more than $20 million for community initiatives. But she's also negotiating all of these major urban economic development projects by using your voice to impact public policy lobbying in places like New York City and on Capitol Hill. But I just look at your website, I look at all the things that you stand for. And it's really about being an advocate for social businesses. So you created this incredible company, we're going to give you a chance to talk about the giving blueprint. And we're also going to dive into this wonderful little incubator that you've created with cause studio and you are just somebody who has shown up in our sector, boldly, bravely, you are fighting for people for justice, which makes you one of our favorite people. Welcome to the podcast. Kimberly, we're so glad you're here.
Thank you, Becky. And Jonathan, I'm happy to be here. And I'm always excited to talk about anything and everything community and nonprofit. So you got the right person. This is just an opportunity to continue to spread the message of the good work that we see in the nonprofit sector, from organizations, regardless of size, and the changes that we need to see in our community and how we can all be a part of that. And really support the organizations on a day to day basis.
Well, you are preaching to the choir, our eighth core value, final core value of our company is community is everything. And I love that our first core value is everyone matters. And I feel like that is threaded so much in your journey. And I just want to know, how does the New Yorker get to Plano, Texas? And how did you decide to get into the social good space, take us back on your journey a little bit. So this
honestly is a more than 30 year journey. Growing up in my family, you don't have a choice and being part of community. And my parents had me involved literally in political campaign starting as early as 13. And so that was and then community organizations, and then the church, you didn't have a choice and going to do something on Saturdays. You didn't have a choice in serving your church, you know, so there were just non negotiables and my family, but that also became an anchor for the work that I do. And I think being a New Yorker and being around so many different cultures, and having to understand and respect cultures understanding the differences. So very early. I used to I remember, as a kid, I was really the only American kid in certain some of my groups. And so I would go to someone's house and they were Haitian, and then I'd go to someone else's house, and they were Jamaican, and someone else was from Panama. Someone else was from India. And so just learning, you know, as a kid, that there are so many different people, and we all want the same basic things at the end of the day, right? But how We approached them maybe a little bit different because of our backgrounds because of where we were raised because of who we are our internal DNA. And so it all started with my mother giving me a non negotiable option of you can do A or B, but there's no C. And I thank her for that. Now, as a kid, I, you know, you don't want to hear that. But I thank her for that now, because it really has allowed me to approach things without fear when I believe community is being done wrong. And sometimes my family has says, Can you calm down a little bit today? And I hope no, I can't, because if I calm down who's going to do the work. And unless I'm clear that someone else is behind me to do the work, it means I have to figure it out. If that work, means that someone else is going to be able to live life a little bit better. So started out with my parents. And then my intro was at 18. I started working for a nonprofit while I was in college. And they gave me such robust responsibilities that I've been running literally ever since then making decisions in every single job that I've had, and every single community project that I've had, because I know what it means and what it takes to make a difference. And sometimes people don't have the voice to do it. And I always say like in my TED Talk, your voice is your currency, it is the greatest asset that you have in some people are not confident enough. Some people don't have the environment, some people haven't been taught, some people haven't been empowered. And so if my voice allows other people to find the way to utilize their voice, then that's my purpose right now, while I'm on Earth.
And this would be when I normally say, that's why you need to go have a TED talk, I'm so glad that it's captured. That you just leaned into that, because what a powerful statement, and I'll threaded into a core value that we talked about a lot, because, you know, there's a lot of focus on money. And money is great as a driver to some of these things that we want to do. But we just believe that activating believers, people that have this core belief about something, they can have just as loud of a currency, in all the ways that they can spread your mission, your advocate, or bring their friends into the mission, or the family or whatever it may be. And so I love that you have owned that and put so much thought and clarity around that in your work. So you connect the dots into the giving blueprint. How did that come to be and kind of share what your work looks like with through it.
So giving blueprints actually launched because I was tired of rules. I was I worked in government. I had things that I couldn't and couldn't do. And when I moved to Texas, this was the first time in my adult life, that I could not be as active and community things in an area where I paid taxes, because of my connection to government. Because there are different roles. And it was where I said this is where the journey ends. 20 years later, this is the stopping point on this government career. And so giving blueprint launched really because of my former boss, who was Darrell Green, who played with what's now known as the Washington football team. He played for 20 years, and I took a small break from the government sector for a little while and I ran his nonprofit. And I remember just sitting in all a lot of days and thinking if athletes ran their nonprofit, the way that he runs his imagine how celebrities and people who have high visibility profiles. Imagine what they could do for community even if they didn't have their own nonprofit. So giving blueprint honestly launched as a sports philanthropy consultancy, where we vetted professional athletes and other philanthropists ask them and assess them for their natural inclination for giving. We identified organizations that fit the natural inclination for giving that we heard, not what they told us. So I love kids. Well, it doesn't show that you love children. It actually shows that you love working with animals. And so why aren't we looking at shelters and other places that fit because we believe that if we focus on what we naturally are attracted to when it comes to giving back, then there's a longer term commitment to that organization or causes along those lines. And so originally, we were just trying to get professional athletes to not start foundations that were going to close as soon as they left whatever league they were in. But what happened was individually People started coming to us smaller nonprofits, saying literally, I want an athlete. Well, that's not how it happens. There are clients. But I realized that there was such a gaping hole and support, but helping small nonprofits begin to scale. And so we started making the transition from sports, philanthropy and serving the philanthropist over to consult a consultancy that really focused on community and organizational capacity building within the nonprofit sector with the concentration on nonprofit startups up to medium sized organizations.
Wow, I just What a fascinating winding path. And I just feel like we are so lucky to have, you know what I would assume Darryl greens, which is somebody with passion and hustle, and grit and determination. And I and I really love this connection to community. And I just think that it's really interesting that just throughout your career, you've had the experience of bridging the gap between the needs of cities and counties. And as you're looking at individuals and businesses, like how have you seen community centered fundraising come together? How is that serving these nonprofits? What are some of your takeaways that you could impart to our community?
So one of the things that that I have seen, just in fundraising in general, especially for the ones that I target, which are those that probably haven't crossed, $500,000, consistently, primary target for me is both under $200,000, consistently, what I have really seen is that everyone approaches, everyone approaches, by way of thinking grants are going to be the thing
that say, Yes, keep going. I'm like,
you don't have any credit, it's like having no credit. And if you don't have any credit, American Express is not going to give you a black card, right. And so that's how I explained it to nonprofits, you are a risk. And for many nonprofits, they don't even realize that within the first 12 months of existence, one out of every two nonprofits fail. So that means 50% of these new and emerging nonprofits are not going to be here anyway. And then grants depending upon the funder, within the first three years, you may not even be eligible, because that for some people is a standard. If you're looking for any government grants, sometimes if you have not had your 501 C three status for at least three years, you can't be considered no matter how amazing you might be. So I always start off mentioning to nonprofits, what are the different opportunities for you to bring revenue and income into the organizations? Who do you know, who can donate 1000? Who can donate 100? Who can donate $10, because they are equally as important? And so I share with smaller organizations, the power of network, the power of the community, the power of people that can see and feel your impact? And how do you get them to buy in to the organization? Number one, number two, and then how do we? How do we build our social capital? How do we build relationships? Not just with corporations, and government? And and, and foundations, high wealth foundations? But how do we just develop relationships in the community? And how do we ensure that we're keeping our mission in the center of every thing that we do, including fundraising? And then how do we make sure when we're fundraising, that we're not compromising our values, and I hope that all organizations put values in terms of their organizing documents? And if you don't have them, it's never too late to add them. But how do we make sure that as we approach fundraising, that we're not compromising our values, and we're chasing a check, and we're not focusing on our mission. And I find a lot of organizations when they get into the pickle, especially during the pandemic, anytime we see any, anything that's impacting our economy, and grant funds may not be as available, that people are all of a sudden, innovative and ideas and approaching things that have absolutely nothing to do with their mission, but they're trying to survive. But if we plan appropriately, we may be able to survive a little differently. So for me, it's about tapping into this social capital that many people don't realize they have, nor do they realize that it is an opportunity to help sustain the organization a lot differently. And then the last thing that I will say is, what other creative ways are there for organizations to bring revenue into their into the organization by way of having a more entrepreneurial spirit? nonprofits don't have to give everything away for free. And it amazes me that everyone's there are many people that think that So what is it that the organization can do? duplicate your services for us? We had a program that we had curriculum. So we had associates. Well, is that something that you can license out? So having organizations begin to think from a fundraising perspective? What are assets? How do we use them? How are we under utilizing them? And can we create a strategy to ensure that we are around for as long as our mission driven programs and services are needed,
there's just too much alignment in what you said with the things that are core and the things that we want to lift right now. But I loved how you said baking the values in and you're talking about the relationships, like really understanding the stakeholders, seeing everybody at an equal level, I think that that's such an evolved way, because there's so much in the industry that puts a focus only on the dollar. And it's not looking at what how you actually build a movement that serves the actual community at the actual mission level. And I think you just have that, right. So I'm so thankful that you're in that space and giving the right type of consulting, you know, and the right kind of guidance, and the right friend to hold the hand to say this is the right next step. Can we you know, you're we lead into this with saying, you know, the power of the currency of your voice. And I think words do matter. And we've had 200 conversation on the podcast, I know that words and the words we use to describe people and people groups and people we're serving can be really painful. And it's something that you've been really bold to kind of step into and guide people through, would you kind of walk us through just being more aware of how we can be inclusive, even when we're talking about, you know, people that don't look like us? Mm hmm.
It's, it is one of the spaces where I take a lead, and I'm okay with being out front and correcting people. You know, our hearts may have the best intentions when we're looking at the social sector and community. But our welcoming intentions may be very offensive. I'll give you an example at risk. And at risk is a code word for children that are typically black and brown. Right. But we never say at risk for, it's just at risk, right. And so having people understand that when you say at risk children, you're putting the you're laying the blame on children for something they don't control, because you've labeled them. And so it is important to me, that we listen to community, that we involve community, that we pay attention to what community and cultures and different races or it could be people with disabilities, it could be someone from the LGBTQIA plus community. If someone says, Stop, it's offensive. It's the end. And I think we have to do a better job, not only people that are stakeholders, external stakeholders to the nonprofits, we have to do a better job with staff and the board as well. Because I have been in too many rooms where people have shared and categorize people in the most offensive ways. And you can tell that they don't even realize what they're saying. And so I am a very different point, I call myself I say that I'm in legacy season. Right? My dream job was city manager, I had that before I was 31. So what else is there for me to do, I'm middle aged. And so I'm in a season of, I only want to do work that will allow me to position community and organizations and the things that matter to me, and a better light, even if I will not be here to see the end. Right. And so legacy season means you're, for me, you're putting yourself out there a little bit differently. And quite an introvert. Right after we finish this, this session, I will probably take a nap. I am on and wired when I am doing my work, otherwise, I'd be fine staying at home and focusing on working alone. But it is important to me that we ensure that we are sharing the things of concern, especially if we are part of the community that is being talked about, especially if we have relationships where people will listen to us and I'm thankful that I do have those relationships. So I have very hard conversations about children. I have very hard conversations about women. I have very hard conversations about religion. And who are you to say that this is the right way to describe Ride someone because realistically, what I am interpreting that is a simulation over impact. You want people to look and feel a certain way. But in doing that we're stripping the cultural relevant pieces of a community or group of people. And that we shouldn't be doing because the value is in ensuring that we understand what makes each community great. And we've incorporated from the community, how do we help you to make it better, but I can't be offensive. And my approach, and if I am wrong, helped me understand that. And once you help me understand that it is now my responsibility to say I hear you. And I'm going to move on from that because you have educated me in a way that no one else has before but it could be because you're very powerful, or perceived to be very powerful. It could be because you are you carry the purse, strings, and a foundation. And I don't want to correct you, but I have to correct you. Because if you are going to go and you have the limelight and you continue to share these false narratives about community, you actually are hurting us more than you're helping us. And that to me is not acceptable.
It's really like a mission 2.0 of like you say this as your mission, but like, Are you really willing to live that out, I mean, to the point where our words and our actions and the way we hire and the way we fire and the way we do all the things if they don't support the values that we've baked in, because of your guidance back to that, and the mission that we say that we exist for, like we've completely missed the point to try to accomplish something.
And I love that you're showing up with this heart of empathy. And I and I have to tell you like it's it's hurting my impasse heart that you are going into these heavy conversations, and they are you're having to ramp up to him. And because I can imagine they would be depleting. So I want to thank you for stepping out there bravely because I want someone to correct me. When I when I say something that hurts someone, I think it's Brene Brown that always says, If someone tells you they're hurting, believe them, you know, there's no, there's no other position other than to say, I'm sorry, and I'm listening, and I'm learning. And that is what we need to do in this lifetime. And I and I really appreciate someone who's brave enough to be bold enough to have these conversations and elevate, elevate all of us. So John Kennedy, I can see,
I'm just, you know, we're doing a leadership series on Fridays. And I think that there's got to be some counsel you would give to me, it's about staying humble, to be able to receive that to be open to feedback. What, what are some qualities that we need to embody, as leaders of today, to be able to receive this type of, you know, heart, hard feedback to hear, because I think intentions often are right, but it's just stepping into this.
So the first one that I will say, is self care. Because if we are not taking care of ourselves, we may not be able to receive the information. If we are internalizing that we have done something also wrong and catastrophic versus we have not not expressed ourselves in the best ways. And someone is helping us to understand that. But for many nonprofit leaders, because of you know, this can be a thankless sector, right? You show up every day, the rewards are huge. But it doesn't always come with people expressing how grateful or thankful they are for the work that you're doing. And we're already battling people don't think where we should be paid hire, people are already battling that, you know, you're doing social goods. So you don't need a livable wage, you don't need benefits. So when you're weighing, you know, from a leadership perspective, that you may not be doing something right. It weighs on you a lot differently because of all of the things that you do handle correctly. And so I will start off with and I always talked about this self care is important. Because you have to be able to process the negative when it's you leading it in a certain way. And if you're just not in the right space, you don't have certain practices that you personally engage in. You may not hear the criticism that's really constructive. You just may take it as an attack. So that's where I'll start to is, how involved in the community what type of community engagement is happening for you to understand as a leader who you're serving, how you're serving them, and how different that community can be, because everything's not monolithic, right and so Those are some of the the first two of you don't have community at the table. And if you don't represent the community, right, if you don't match the demographic, the variables, then there are things that you're just not going to understand because you're an outsider. And so you have to make sure you're listening, not just with your ears, but also with your eyes, you have to pay attention to the things that people aren't saying, but they are visibly uncomfortable, because they're not at that point where they're willing to share. And sometimes I think we operate from a place with blinders on. And as long as we can achieve the goals and the objectives that we set out, we don't really pay attention to we did it, but we didn't do it well. And we didn't do it. Well, when our stakeholders are being sacrificed in some way, there was a recent situation where there was a photo essay of children in the paper. And these are children and I want to stress children, because sometimes I think community forgets that black and brown children over the age of 13 are not adults, right. And they're their children still, and they have been engaged with the criminal justice system. But their records are sealed at 18. So children like social media, so if they're in the paper, of course, they're going to love that. But as adults, what we should know is they should not be in there by name, they should not be in there by age, and they definitely shouldn't be in unlinking their names and their ages to the fact that they were in the criminal justice system. Because in 2021, and anytime in this technology, technology era that we're in, that's a digital blueprint that doesn't go away. You know, anything for my age group might go away, because not too many people are going to microfiche right to look up old newspaper articles. But we have created something that these children might not be able to get away with, even if they go on to do really amazing things, something as simple as that article. And that photo essay can change the trajectory of their future, even though the organization is positioned to help them move away from the light that they may have had when they got in trouble that one time. Right. And so I think sometimes well meaning intentions, right? That's well meaning it was well meaning. But it comes with the potential for a catastrophic outcome for children that are not old enough to make their own decisions just yet, except being excited that they will on social media, okay, my
brain is exploding. And I feel like in my, in my head right now I'm going through it like a Rolodex, trying to think back to the times that I mean, probably all of us have been storytelling, and we have not thought about it through the lens of this long term impact. And I will tell you, and I don't know if this makes me incredibly ignorant, or negligent. But when I thought of the word at risk, I thought a poverty. And so the fact that you are talking about it, that this level of specificity has already starting to rewire my brain, about how we use these words. And to John's point, words do matter. And the digital footprint that is left online right now is for forever. And so the responsibility that is in our hands just becomes monumental. And if we're not listening to your point, if we're not allowing and giving someone space and holding court for them to say how this makes them feel, and and I think the most brilliant thing you said was looking at their face, like pouring into those soft skills of self awareness. Emotional intelligence to understand is what somebody's saying, translating to how their body is reacting, how their face is reacting. These are really important conversations. I'm just feeling really blessed that you're lifting them because we need to be having them and we need to be holding each other accountable. In our organizations. It's not just up to Kimberly to call us out when she sees it. We need to be gently and kindly but you know, assertively elevating all of the bar for how we engage and how we begin to storytel these issues in these missions.
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I'll add that on the storytelling piece. Because I think sometimes we forget that having people tell their stories, depending upon the work that we do, having people tell their stories is revisiting their trauma over and over and over again. And so I think we also when we are in leadership positions, and we're thinking about marketing, and we're thinking about how we do tell the awesome good that we do the awesome changes that happen within our our client and customer and just community space. How do we ensure that we're doing that and maintaining honor, for the people that we're serving, it's one thing when people are free and want to share. And I don't think that's a negative thing. But I don't think we should approach it and have someone revisit that over and over again. And I'll give you an example. That is not even from
a client base. It was actually the founder of an organization that we first worked with in my incubator. And she was pitching, but the first time so I trained organizations and small businesses on how to pitch their organizations in front of an audience. And my first question is always, how much of your story? Are you willing to share? What is the limit? Because I think people assume that someone a founder who had a personal experience, that wasn't the best experience, but it's what led them to creating their organization, there still is a limit and what they may want to share over and over again, because it's still personal to them. And it's still a wound. And so do they have to rip the scab off the wound each and every time they want to sell the organization to someone or tell them about it? No, they don't. And so I think we have to remember to do that, with the people that we serve in the community have, it might be as simple as asking or it might be what we will never do is ask people to revisit the harshest parts because that's all we do. So it's understood that that's what we do. So let's highlight the positive things that have happened, the role that they've been able to take because the organization is what it what it is. But I'd rather highlight the positive than having people revisit the negative just to get to the positive. To get a check. I want people to know about the goodness of the community. And so we have to retrain our thinking sometimes, to ensure that we don't believe that we have to sit in tragedy and trauma in order to bring the light to community and help community to solve some of their issues. Because also it's heavy for staff. His staff is dealing like this one person dealing with their own issues. But when that one person becomes 100 people, and I am responsible for engaging with them, especially when it's maybe children or women or some level of abuse any vulnerable community, seniors, people with disabilities, whatever the case may be, that's heavy. And so I don't want to revisit the pieces that we don't need to revisit every single day. In order for me to do my job and explain to people how important we are. We shouldn't have To do that, we're not a movie. We're impact, folks. So this is not Hollywood. And our concentration is on protecting the people, the places and the things that are mission addresses first. And then we figure out the most respectful way and telling the narrative about our work and the people. And I will say this, I think we all have to start somewhere and understanding, right, because we don't know until we know, right. And so and I think about an organization in San Diego that I work with, and it is when I truly, I thought I was sensitive and empathetic to people on the journey to sobriety or that were sober, curious. But it wasn't until I started working with an organization that focused on that, that I, I realized just how much I didn't know same. And I think that's what we have to focus on. Because for me, I listened to my client. And then I listened to my client's personal story. And then I listened to my client, talk about the people that she serves. And then I listened to the people that my client, tell me about the people that helped her. And so there were very key moments where this light bulb I'm training on capacity building. And there are these moments for me that I even learned more about, not necessarily any biases or anything like that. But just how certain terminology that I wouldn't know, it would be offensive, I just wouldn't, because that's not the journey that I've been on. But that's what this education process is about. When we pay attention to our stakeholders. We're not all going to get it right, we're not. But when I get the lesson, I can no longer say I didn't know. That's where we have to shift and change. When I get the lesson. I have to pay attention to it. I can't say well, that that doesn't make sense to me. Well, he wouldn't. Because that's not my that's not my journey. But it is someone else's journey. And I'm going to respect what I have heard. And it's going to make me operate a lot differently. And at the end of the day, it makes me a better advocate within the community. Because now I have tools and additional language and a different level of sensitivity to correct people when I hear them saying something they shouldn't be saying simply because no one has ever really said that we shouldn't be saying that, like we just shouldn't be doing that. I can now answer and tell them why. It's not just we shouldn't be doing it. I have an answer. Because I worked with someone that helped an educated me in a way I would have never known before.
Yeah, I mean, just such a calling to be in community with people that will call you out on to unite with love with love with. With love. I'm sitting here just like I'm jealous of all these people that get to be in your incubator. How
do I get in there? How
do we get in there? Talk to us about it's called studio, right? So give us the story we need to hear about this studio is
my baby. Born almost seven years ago, well, actually seven years ago, and October 2014. We launched in January of 2015. A good friend of mine who is now deceased is why cos sudio exists. She was a breast cancer survivor, and a hurricane Katrina survivor. And we met volunteering to be honest, and I remember her coming to me one day and say, I want to sit down because I have this nonprofit idea. And I want to serve caregivers, because her daughter who was in the entertainment industry had an opportunity to go off and do her thing. And when she first was diagnosed the first time with breast cancer, her daughter didn't go she stayed to serve her mother. And it had it ate her up on the inside. And so she launched she wanted to launch this nonprofit that served caregivers. And so I remember saying to her, I remember saying to her, Well, you can't afford me. And I'd rather you whatever you are going to invest in me. I'd rather you invest that in this idea. She said my brother is giving me the consultation with you as a birthday gift. So when do we meet? And when we met, I remember walking away and said there has to be something for someone like her who has this idea that most nonprofit training is not geared towards nonprofit startups, right. It's geared towards people who can go back to work and get that information and learn on the job the next pieces. And so literally I walked away from that meeting, and that Friday, there was a newsletter that came out for the startup community in Dallas. And in there was a pitch competition for social impact organizations and companies. And the deadline to submit your application was at noon. Right? This is all the same week, right? So it's all this is what we should be doing. And I submitted, and I got it in by noon, that Wednesday, I got the call that I made it into the top 16. And I was pitching on that Saturday, for this project that had not been fleshed out.
You thought you were just going to a barbecue that weekend. You're working on this.
I trained organizations how to pitch so and they gave me until the next day to turn in my pitch deck, which didn't exist. So I got a pitch deck. And I did not sleep for the next few days, but three minutes, I probably said it no less than 1000 times. And I came in second only because when I finished pitching the bell for the three minutes went off. And I was literally getting ready to say thank you. So I had not finished at the three minute mark, which was fine. Because that money is what Launchpad studio I came in second cost studio launched. With the funding that I got, we did a six month incubator. Our goal is for me it was very simple reduce the number of failing nonprofits in North Texas, right? One out of every two new nonprofits fail every year at that time 85,000 nonprofits in North Texas, with the majority of them having budgets under $100,000. organizations that do not cross $100,000 have a higher probability of failing, it was very simple success to us was helping people to dissolve success to us was helping people to scale success to us was helping people to understand that maybe this is a for profit idea, you should just go make money, and then donate money to different initiatives that will achieve the exact same thing. And so we ran a three year incubator process. So they were with us nine, nine months out of a year over the course of three years, but you had to be invited back every single year. So we only did that in person, and in 2019. So then I started working with the young lady in, in San Diego served up solver with Sherry, Sherry Hampton. And I realized there's a greater way that I could serve people. And could this work virtually. So we started piloting in 2019, just based on what I had been doing with Sherry And what I had been doing in person. And we plan to launch virtually the incubator in a virtual concept right at the beginning of the pandemic, but then the pandemic happened. And so we are now launching our incubator concept and more of a training way out for nonprofits. So we can serve more nonprofits around the country. And so we have just launched a Patreon community. So people can tap into Patreon at different levels starting at $49 a month, they get a lesson for me because I'm a professor at the end of the day, they get resources, and then each level gives them additional benefits, to be able to get a little bit more hands on support in a peer environment. And we also are launching in the beginning of next year, a six month leadership circle, under cause studio where organizations who are a little higher functioning, their capacity is at another level, and they need help getting over the next hump, then we'll be working with leaders over a six six month period in core areas. And so cost studio has I never wanted to do it. I really just said there's a solution that's not there. And I built it to give away. I built it to give it to another organization I did not want I didn't need another thing. But I knew that I would keep it if I didn't think someone else would do right by it. And it was still needed. And so we launched as a nonprofit fiscal sponsor, nonprofit initiative, we have since converted into for profit, which gives us a lot more flexibility and how we can build it. And so by the end of next year, our goal right now we're concentrating on black LED nonprofits. And so by the end of 2022, my goal is to bring at least 250 Black LED nonprofits around the country two points of sustainability. And that sustainability is has an asterix because it's going to be defined not just by money, and it's also going to be based on what the organization's need. But we're also not limited to serving black LED nonprofits. This is just the area that I have noticed where there are a lot of solutions. And there are a whole lot of people from the committee. You need that not a part of it. And so but there are a whole lot of black LED nonprofit organizations that have been around for a long time. They have great data, they just don't know how to use it to position themselves a lot differently. And unfortunately, many of the founders are actually taking money out of their own homes to run it, which means I always say we can if you don't have disposable income, we can't address a problem a financial problem by creating another one. So we want to get these organizations to a very different point. And we have served through the incubator, we had the hands on incubator, but we've also done training around the country. We've done collaborative conferences in Washington, DC and Atlanta, we do an annual summit here in North Texas, we have served more than 3500 people since we launched in January of 2015. Not necessarily that three year hands on incubator, but without more structured training. And so by the end of next year, I think we can potentially double that number just in one year going in this virtual format and and more collaborative initiatives as well. So that's what cause studio was about just ensuring that we respect smaller nonprofits that need to be there. And we recognize the economic impact of the smaller nonprofits, because we also don't pay attention to that. Nonprofits are not just here to solve problems, nonprofits, keep taxpayers from paying a lot to take care of their communities, because if they all left, by tomorrow, who's going to take care of the community, the government, so we need to honor nonprofits for what they bring. They're just as powerful as corporations, the journey to getting there is just very different.
And you talk about the season of legacy. It's like, look at that incredible impact that you're having. I mean, how phenomenal.
I mean, my jaw is on the floor, you are like the Steve Jobs of creative thinking in the social good space. I just keep thinking about I mean, how many nonprofits need you need these mindsets need these tools need the straight talk of what it is, and I just, you're sitting here telling this just shockingly amazing, wonderful story. And I just keep thinking, like Kimberly, all she does is fight for the little guy tough, like all she does is fight and see the littlest, the quietest among us back in the corner, and you pull that person out, and you make them feel seen, and you find the specialness that's within them and bring it up. What a gift that is that you have and what a gift to the world, I just, I just would love to pour some gasoline on this idea and figure out how we could replicate it well beyond North Texas. The goal?
That's the goal, Becky, the goal is, you know, and the thing is, there are so many, there are other people like me around, we just have to be comfortable as communities and allowing them to speak. Because when we are not, we are not reaching our greatest potential with community whenever we talk about community issues by but somebody is working on that. Well, no one is yes, there are plenty of people working on it. But do we find value in who they are? We can't talk about how people look, we can't talk about what people have. We have to remove ourselves from all of these stereotypes that people have, regardless of who is talking. If we just pay attention. Is it that we want the best for our community? If the answer is yes, find me the people that can make these issues go away. And those are the people that I want to talk to. And don't be offended. Because it's not who you think it should be. I want the best. I want the people that have connections to community. I want the people that aren't afraid to tell you the truth. And they don't have to do it in a way that's harsh. Some people have the kindest, quietest approach to saying the exact same things. I have a very good friend in North Texas, and she and I fight for the same things. But she's very quiet. And it makes you listen to her a lot differently. But sometimes you can look at someone like her and not recognize her power, because she is very quiet in her approach. And I always say those are actually the people you need to watch out. Because those are the people that are paying attention a lot differently. People expect me to say something. That's no question. They expect me to course correct what's happening, but if she does it, her voice is that much more powerful, because people aren't used to hearing her say it. And so we have to pay attention to everybody that has something to say the loudest, and the quietest voices. And those people and I always say this, the people with the largest pockets should not be the ones making decisions for community, especially when they're not a part of it, you can contribute to, but you cannot make a decision, if you not are not attached to the community in some reasonable and rational, rational way that will allow us to really see change.
Yeah, I mean, we're geeking out completely on this episode. And just love all the wisdom that you're sharing and feel challenged and you know, one others like step away and really process through what you've shared today. But you know, Kimberly, we, we believe in the power of story, we learn through story, we grow our hearts growing empathy through story. And you've been involved in so much philanthropy in your life. Is there a story of philanthropy that stuck with you today that you could share with us?
The greatest story is from my greatest mentor in this space. And it is Darryl Greene. And it is why his foundation existed in the first place. Moved from Houston, just a country boy from Houston to play professional football. And he would just drive around and his Volkswagen, and he would see kids on the street with nowhere to go, he wasn't used to that. And so he started driving around a van and picking up kids. Now I know we can't do this now. But think about the 80s. When he would pick up kids here we have this pro football hall of famer that would take pick up a van and go pick up kids and take them to the park, which sparked Darrell Green Days. And it was an annual Day of just having fun bringing out community to have fun. And he and his family then adopted, basically, a great grandmother who had a number of children with a number of challenges. And the great grandmother ended up being the guardian of her grandchildren and great grandchildren. And the youth Life Foundation sparked out of that. And until I left in 2007, he still served that family, he still went to the apartment complex, he still went to check on the great grandmother, he knew everybody's name. In the very beginning, he and his wife were paying for private school education for the children so that they could get a different education. And for me, having the background that I have from my parents and my mom specifically in doing this direct community work to see someone use their celebrity, their name to impact community without one expectation of a return, except for making sure the community was better is probably one of the greatest stories that has impacted me because it is truly what has helped me to shape my approach to doing my work. I still talk to him, I still support him. We still do charity events and activities for for him. We've restructured what his foundation looks like. Now he's older, he's a grandparent. And so we have a seven figure organization. So this is a professional athlete with a seven figure organization because he got out the way and paid attention to the mission and only asked me, I just want you to tell me what it's about to burn down. Only thing I need you to tell. But everything else is your responsibility. And so watching Mr. Green, and his approach to community, he would say one thing, and this one thing is how I live my life in this bass. Football was my job. Just like anybody else that has a job. My job was showing up to play football, but who I am, is not backed. And football was a conduit to allow me to do this community work. And when you hear him say it, and then you actually see him do it. It makes you approach giving back and community a lot differently. So one of the things that he taught me was every business owner, giving back should be a part of your business model, not an add on I part of your business model. So for me, it really made me pay attention a lot differently when the kids that they started out with before I came on board started coming back and they had gotten their bachelor's degrees and master's degrees and they were teachers. The ultimate goal was to change the trajectory of those children's lives and he did it. But I don't always share that I've worked with Darryl Greene. I never really knew use his name to anchor anything and the work that I do. But when it comes to stories of goodness, I have to share about him, because he's taught me so much about how we need to do this. Because if we all approached giving back the way that he does, we'd all be in a much better place. And that's just Darrell, we just happen to play football. That could be anybody. And this, to me, the the moral of that is, when people are authentic and giving back, the magic can happen and change within communities. And we have to always look for those people, because they are our guiding stars, and they will lead us authentically into what we need to change. But the ending is, are we ready to receive that? And if we are not, we have to do better.
world needs more Darryl greens. And I honestly think about like just the founder if they can give up that control and have total trust and to empower their team. I just think about how much faster we could run community. With community. No kidding. Okay, Kimberly, we end all of our conversations. Were asking our guests if they would share one good thing with our audience, we want to know what is your one good thing could be a piece of advice, a life hack? What do you want to give to our community today?
My one good thing sleep is underrated. And everyone needs a good nap every single day. Um, so that is my one good thing. It was my gift to myself when I transitioned from working in government. You know, we have this society where we think that you know, we can go go go, and we don't need sleep. Sleep is underrated. So the good thing that I'm leaving is take Naps. Naps are good for you. And they actually make you more productive. And so I just want everybody to take naps. Go back to what I mentioned in the beginning self care.
Oh, that was a great way to end and all about mental health caring for yourself.
Thank you. Absolutely. Okay, Kimberly,
we've fallen in love with you through this conversation. I know our community is gonna want to reach out how can people connect with you find you online and get connected, tell your classes.
I am just Kim online everywhere on social media. You can also follow pod studio and giving blueprint on social media. And then Kimberly O'Neill dot com as a more direct way to reach out to me as well.
It's been a complete honor. Thank you for the space and all your wisdom today.
Well, thank you any opportunity to spread the message. It's always a good day for me. So thank you for allowing me this time and space to share with your audience because it's it's not always easy to get but with people, but I'm always grateful when I'm able to share. We're honored
to hold court for it. Thank you. Thank you.
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