Inspiring + Activating the Next Generation of Philanthropists through UNICEF’s NextGen Program - Casey Rotter

5:16PM Apr 15, 2022

Speakers:

Becky Endicott

Jonathan McCoy

Casey Rotter

Keywords:

unicef

people

ukraine

casey

children

organization

next gen

community

countries

world

nonprofits

support

philanthropy

global

raise

mission

rabid fans

donors

helping

work

Today's episode is sponsored by feather feather provides digital marketing tools and strategies for nonprofits of all shapes and sizes, including the Humane Society of North Central Florida. Stick around for the break to hear how feather power their $300 digital ad campaign that raised nearly $6,000 In just one day. Hey, I'm John. And I'm Becky. And this is the we are for good podcast,

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So let's get started. Hey, Becky, full hearts here.

Oh, hearts today. I mean, it would be a gross understatement to say that we are so humbled and honored to have UNICEF in the house today here at mom's kitchen table as we have just what I hope is a really hardwired conversation today. I mean, if you've been in the community for any length of time, our company has really leaned into the crisis in Ukraine. And really, we're just talking about the humanitarian and refugee crises that are everywhere. I think Ukraine is such a ubiquitous one right now. But we really want to have a big global conversation and we want to get activated. And so we're just really feeling so blessed. And lucky today to host Casey Rotter. Who is the global lead for UNICEF. Next Gen. And this is going to be such an incredible conversation talking about how do we activate the next generation of philanthropist and what UNICEF is doing through this next generation program in a very global way. But I want to give everyone a little background, I know I probably don't need to introduce UNICEF. But this is just one of these incredible global organizations working in over 190 countries and territories to save children's lives. I mean, hard stop. And UNICEF is going in and doing this hard on the frontlines work to defend the rights of children, help them fulfill their potential. And I mean, it really starts from early childhood all the way through adolescence, and one of the things I love about their mission, and that's threaded and all of their messages. So I gotta give an and comms team a brilliant, just props as they say. And we never give up. And I really just think that is such a mantra and a heartbeat for nonprofits and the way that we just keep soldiering through the sludge. But I really want you to get to know Casey Casey is a force for good. She is the founder global lead for next gen and next gen is this fundraising incubator, and a thought leadership platform. And it's so it's engaging leaders from the ages of 21 to 45. And they're going in and they're just really taking this passion from these kids around the world. And they're funneling it into a way that is really going to power frontline movement. So we're going to have Casey dive into that. I think the thing I love so much about it, it was born out of Casey's graduate school capstone project. So I love the way that you have taken this concept, Casey and just kind of wrapped your your life around it. She was a superstar. Over at the University of Wisconsin, Madison was John and I've actually been there together we go badgers love that campus. And yeah, she's just a recipient of New York City's 2020 Distinguished Public Service Award. And I mean, there's a host of other things that she has earned. But we really want to get into this project. So Casey, thanks for being here. Gosh, thanks for UNICEF and all the things you're doing. Becky, thank

you so much. And thank you, John, for having me and having UNICEF on here. We truly appreciate it.

Oh, absolutely. I just you know, we've been talking about this for several weeks. And just wanting a place where people could feel like they would understand what's going on right now and how they can pour into it. But before we get into that, we want to get to know you, Casey. So can you just tell us a little bit about your story where you grew up? And what led you into this work?

Absolutely. Yeah. I grew up in Chicago. And I grew up kind of with UNICEF in a sense, I grew up trick or treating for UNICEF, which was just a campaign that we've it's been the original kids helping kids campaign around Halloween where you go door to door, asking for support for UNICEF with those little orange boxes you might remember. And also my family supported UNICEF so I kind of always knew of UNICEF and what their mission was and how I wanted to help children around the world. I also then graduated I went to University Wisconsin Madison, as you mentioned and focused on international studies with folks It's an African African cultures. And from there, I went and went to NYU. And so I think we can kind of jump into my thesis a little bit later. But I went to NYU to get a master's in nonprofit management. And that was an evening class. And so I started interning at UNICEF during the day, I think I actually applied to every position that was potentially open

at UNICEF at the time. Yeah, Casey.

I actually got a call from HR that was like, I don't think you're qualified for any of the positions you applied for. But would you like an internship? But I was like,

yes, yes. That's awesome.

Yeah. So I've just loved it. And I think I personally think we're the best at it. We're the best at what we do as an organization. And so I'm just honored to be a part of an organization doing such work good work globally?

Well, I think I mean, obviously, what an incredible like journey to get in the door. But the next part of your journey is what you've done, since you've gotten in the doors, because I feel like the programs that you launched will give space to that in this conversation today. But tell me what drew you to UNICEF. And in that, could you just paint a picture of the history and mission of this organization? We all know it by name, but tell us the heartbeat of like what is driving in the day to day work? How is it showing up?

Absolutely would love to so UNICEF is the United Nations Children's Fund, it was established after World War Two to help children who are displaced by war, we realized that there wasn't a global organization that was focusing just on children specifically, it's been around for 75 years. And it works for the rights and well being of every child. It's a huge organization doing such good work. It's got 16,000 staff members globally, working in conflict ridden zones, reaching the hardest to reach, and in the hardest reach locations to reach every every child. Thanks to donors and partners, we've also saved more children's lives in any other humanitarian organization in the world. And then UNICEF USA specifically advances the global mission of UNICEF, by rallying the American public to support the world's children as well. So together, we're working towards a world that upholds the rights of all children and helps every child survive and thrive. So I hope that's something we can all get on board with. Right?

Oh, my gosh, who could not rally around that. And it's, I mean, just the scope of the problems and the cultural differences. And the politics, it just seems like such a big problem. And I just love people who are fearless and innovative, and they dive toward those projects. And I would love for you to just talk a little bit about your programs and kind of the scope of your work. Because when I think about it, it just, again, seems so overwhelming to kind of get your arms around it. But you all have done it beautifully. And I'd love to hear just how that's accomplished.

Absolutely, thank you. I think it is hard. I mean, when you think about UNICEF, it is so big and it does so much. So I think a lot of times people know that it helps kids and they know we do something good. But I don't know if they always really understand what that is and how that works. And so we work in over 190 countries and territories, providing health care, immunizations, safe water and sanitation, nutrition, education, emergency relief, and, and so much more. So pretty much everything in between. I joke I meet with different supporters all the time. And no matter what someone I've been with the organization for, like 15 years, and no matter what someone always asks me a question like, What is UNICEF doing in cybersecurity, or, and I will be like, you know, I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure something. So I'll get back to you. And I ended up finding out that we're leading and anti bullying and you know, in cybersecurity for children, and so always, always something new to learn. But I would say basically, to get your like head around it. We were working were in these countries before, during and after an emergency. And we work in partnership with the government and by invitation of the government, which helps make our program sustainable and scalable. A lot of people think of us as an emergency relief organization, which we definitely are. But I would actually good to say we're so much more in terms of development. And it's funny I think of us is kind of working to go out of business, it would be a dream world if we didn't have to have a UNICEF where it's supporting, you know, children because that means every child would would be surviving and thriving and loved and cared for and there wouldn't be poverty, there won't be climate change issues and so on and so forth. So, but with it when you think of us in the emergency, situation setting, we are shipping life saving, we can ship life saving supplies almost anywhere in the world within 48 to 72 hours. Because we have a humanitarian warehouse in Copenhagen, which is actually the largest in the world. And it's wild. I've been there. It's imagine the size of seven soccer fields like kind of imagined like walking into an Amazon warehouse but knowing that everything around you is life saving humanitarian supplies. Gosh, it's really special and like looking around knowing that that's a tent that will be sent to a refugee camp in some area or you know, knowing that this refrigerator might be, you know, storing life saving vaccines and we actually vaccinate half of the world's children annually. If you think about the scale and reach, and we're the largest procure and supplier of, you know, ready to use therapeutic foods, so it just kind of shows you the scale of our malnutrition work. And so what's really awesome also about that is because we are so big, and in so many countries, we're actually able to bring costs down for a lot of these countries for the supplies that they're having, that they're using to help children in these countries. So it's a pretty incredible overarching program. So I'm happy to dive into any of those with you too, and that we can talk a little bit more about Ukraine also, if that if that's helpful. But in the US, which is a little bit different. If you think about it, you UNICEF, USA, we also have over about 800 UNICEF clubs, in more than 40 states, which we're where we empower American teens and college students and young professionals to advocate for children's rights and raise funds for UNICEF as well.

Wow, I mean, the footprint, it's just hard to wrap your mind around. But thank you for painting some of those pictures, because I think it does start to put context of what it looks like to really step in as such a vital player in these things that we're all trying to interpret. How can John and Becky and Julie in the middle of Oklahoma, you know, help the things that we're seeing that have rolled out and we do want to talk about Ukraine today, because it's captured our hearts it's captured? Are you wanting to plug in and find ways I can't wipe the images out of my head, I have kids by themselves, you know, leaving the border and kind of in a refugee situation or down in the subway systems trying to like have life and trying to survive? What's happening? What is it look like there right now? What is UNICEF? Involvement been and kind of connect us to how can we, you know, actively get involved in that work to from giving perspective or other ideas?

Absolutely. You know, it's, it's kind of, it's an unprecedented emergency, which sadly, I feel like I keep on saying. And he said that with the COVID 19 pandemic. And now, again, in this situation, it's just so rapid. And so quick, UNICEF and partners are working 24 hours a day, to meet the rapidly escalating humanitarian needs. That can include anything from emergency medical supplies, critical medicines, health supplies, and equipment and equipment, safe water and drink it for drinking and for hygiene, shelter and protection for people displaced. So our in country teams are actually scaling up their health programs, which include routine immunizations, that children might have missed from back home, while they kind of are displaced internally within the country and or fleeing the country. And so, you know, it's sad, but in situations like this, often, outbreaks of diseases that we haven't seen for generations come back, measles, polio, and so on, and so forth. So we have to kind of get ahead of that and make sure that we're children are getting routine vaccinations even if they're on the move. We're also working with nutritional support and urgent health supplies. Safe Water is a big issue, sanitation and hygiene to you know, to prevent other outbreaks of things that happened during when so many people are in a small setting, playing and then trading partners and infection prevention and control, including COVID-19, which is sad, but some, you know, everyone seems to have forgotten about that while they're focusing on other things. But that's still a huge issue. And especially without, with a big cohort of people together in small spaces. We've begun humanitarian Cash Transfer Program, which is supporting 52,000 of the most vulnerable families in Ukraine, so actually giving them cash inside the country that they need during this time. And in terms of supplies, it's really been incredible to see what the teams have been able to get into the country and the surrounding region. We've I think they just dispatched something like 114 trucks with emergency supplies in the country in the boarding region, which helps over 8 million people inside Ukraine, and two of the 2 million of that are children. And so that'll include medicines, vaccines, all the kinds of things that I was saying before, but it also includes, we do these kits at times of emergencies, like a hygiene kit, which kind of gives you everything you might need in that moment, education kits and early childhood development kits, think of preschool kids, bleeding and, you know, kids that are out of school, and this seems to becoming more of a protracted emergency. So if you have to kind of also think how do we get kids back to some sort of normalcy even in the shelters that they might be in. We'll also be transitioning kind of to more edge access to education through recreational activities and informal learning or integration into the systems into the new countries that they might be going into. And one pretty cool, interesting way is also what we could talk about our blue dot centers, which I don't know if you've heard but we can, we can speak to that as well which is a pretty cool one stop shop for children and families on the move.

You know, I just have to compliment you guys because you are listening so well. You you have your finger on the pulse of what is happening on the front line and I have to just share Our personal story because something you said, really hit me in the heart with me even with this cash infusion. We know a family in Kyiv right now who just in all accounts would be a very normal family. You know, mom, mom works for the government. Dad is currently on the front lines serving, and they sent their three children under the age of 12. To go live with relatives, John, I'm saying this for you as twin dad with there's a set of twins here. And they literally ran out of money. And she's not getting paid by the government at all. And they had to send the kids back to Kyiv. Because there was a high risk of trafficking with refugees, which I don't know, I haven't seen that talked about very much. But it is apparently a very real threat. And so these kids are living in bunkers. And they have family members here. And people that house them during foreign exchange here in Oklahoma that are literally sending them, cans of meat and cans of vegetables, and cash because they have no money for fuel. They're on a limited water source. I mean, I just think all of us cannot even begin to understand the levels that people are having to climb, to survive to protect their children. And I just want to thank you so much as that has been so heavy on our heart and my child is pouring in to that cause and her middle school. And I just thank you for listening and doing things that to me may seem a little unorthodox. And for donors who think that that could be maybe a not a good investment. Gosh, guys, if you trust your organization, if you believe in the integrity of your organization's in your passion missions, give that unrestricted gift, let them do what needs to be done, because we want them to be able to move quickly when they start to assess these needs. So I just wanted to share that. And thank you so much for doing that. That

good. Thank you for saying that. I mean, it's so important, especially in times of emergencies, where situations are changing at all times to trust an organization and know that you trust them and say, Okay, here's my, here's your here's your donation, use it where the need is greatest because those that greatest need changes from day to day and an emergency that's escalating like this. And so that's why it's so important to give unrestricted it when you can. And I appreciate kind of even just recognizing that. So thank

you. I want to talk about UNICEF, USA, next gen, you have built something so extraordinary. Casey, we are geeked out about this program. So I want you to talk about this volunteer community. It's got young leaders, creatives, philanthropists, it's sort of in this age demographic. And they're they've just kind of stepped up and said, I'm dedicated to supporting UNICEF. And I'm just going to, I'm here to work for children. And I'm here to show up. So tell us about this Inception story. And tell us what the impact looks right now. Because you have people all over the world who are involved in this.

Yes, thank you. So yeah, I guess my UNICEF connection journey actually started about 15 years ago. I joke I was 10 when it started, but that's not true. But as it was, we were talking about earlier, I was interning at UNICEF, USA and writing my graduate school thesis at NYU, and how to engage your next generation of supporters. And so I was doing the research. And at the same time, I was noticing that I had friends who are traveling around the world and starting their own social good companies and nonprofits, which is wonderful. I'm not bashing that in new way. But I also personally believe that I think we have too many nonprofits. And instead, I'd love to see more working together or collaborating. And I think a lot of people start it because they want to start something which is so wonderful, but like where maybe there's a missing outlet for them to find an organization that was doing good work that they could support in their own unique superpowers of a way. And so as I was also interviewing people, I began to realize that UNICEF is actually the prime organization for our generation. We're the world's leading humanitarian organization for children. We're tackling the exact issues that our generations are concerned about right now from mental health, to climate change to inequity and so much more. And so I believed then, and I still believe that if our generation really knew how efficient and innovative UNICEF was, and is, it would be the exact type of organization that they would want to join in support. So I did my research and UNICEF was kind enough to let me interview millennial or Gen X donors and supporters who were already within the UNICEF family at the time. And one of those people were Jenna Bush, Hager. She had interned with you and yeah, really special she was she had actually interned with UNICEF for a lot 11 months in Panama, and wrote a book about her experience called Anna's story. And she had just finished that experience and I was interviewing her just kind of saying what would you want from an organization like UNICEF? How would you want to be engaged? What would you want to give back? And she looked at me and she said, if you do this, in the end, I want to do this with you. I never actually thought of I was handing my research paper to someone, I wasn't actually thinking that I was going to do anything tangible with it. And so we both wanted to really create this nexus where the next generations like influence resources and networks married with UNICEF's reach expertise and access could actually literally solve some of the world's problems if we've joined forces together and create change for the future at countrywide scales for generations to come. So with Jenna's kind of impetus, I presented my thesis as an opportunity with the organization and then the President and CEO of UNICEF, USA at the time, let me run with it. She had asked me to write my own job description, and then she actually made me apply for it. Qualified, I was qualified. Yes, exactly. And luckily, I got the job. And together, we launched our first next gen board, which is 3030 members at the time, but fast forward 13 years. And now we have an organic global community of creatives, influencers, philanthropists, and leaders who are all working together to advance the rights of children worldwide. And as you said, at the beginning, we're a fundraising incubator and thought leadership platform, with a global board, five boards across the US a pledge program in the US and Vietnam and leadership communities in the UK, Italy, Thailand, Vietnam, Norway, Ireland, with Germany, Germany and Austria in a research and development phase now. And I'm really excited to share that we've mobilized over $50 million for UNICEF's work worldwide, supporting an array of projects. Yes, thank you. Yeah, so from from maternal and neonatal health programs in Ethiopia to supporting Syrian refugees to malnutrition programs in the Horn of Africa and so much more. It's really been remarkable they are members have added so much and provided such incredible insight to the organization from volunteer consulting opportunities, advising on certain areas of expertise and creating awareness and fundraising campaigns and really just connecting us to powerful networks for good. We have an action member in Congress and others who've gone on to start their own businesses and lead global businesses impact investing firms and family offices. And what's really special as they kind of are in a global network really helps to position investing in unit and children as a non negotiable and a top priority in business, philanthropy and development.

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Taking a quick pause from today's episode to thank our sponsor, slingshot group, our friends over at slingshot group partner with nonprofits to recruit and hire great leaders build remarkable teams and unleash your missions potential. You know, we talk often about how much your organization's culture matters, especially today. And not just being a place that attracts talent, but also becomes a magnet to connecting donors to your mission. Slingshot group is the organization we trust to help you do just that. It's so much more than a staffing and executive search firm. Slingshot group goes deep and gets to know your culture so they can help you find the leaders and staff who will take your mission to the next level. Sound like slingshot group might be a fit for your organization. Learn more today at slingshot group.org or follow the link in our show notes. What an incubator Casey, I mean, we're just taking a step back because you were doing this, you know, 15 years ago, like laying the groundwork and I love that it is thriving now and even entering this new chapter with this new leadership team from nine different countries like how cool is this to see the fruition and that you can speak to what happens when you made that conscious shift to invest in younger people that have creative ideas, visionary, you know, take take this passion and channel it to whatever way that makes sense for you. You were doing that you know before I feel like it's of the moment so so ahead of your time. What's it like trying to herd creative Sue, I just need to know this because around the world, I'm gonna be really bought into some big ideas because I know there's going to be a lot of ideas coming to the table. What did you learn through that? And I'm just so curious.

Oh, absolutely. I've learned a lot. I would say you No, I think the more you educate people on what actually is needed from a UNICEF perspective and what you know, I think we have to we have to do our we have to do our homework internally and funneling and educating and but once people really understand and get the explanation of what's actually needed, and then we let them go with their, you know, have their creative juices flowing, I think that the way that we've, we've been able to unlock these superpowers in a way that actually is helpful to UNICEF and kind of pulling all these different creative ideas, but it's also pushing the needle, it's getting us to be to think differently as an organization to be more innovative, to think of different impact investing vehicles, and crypto, you know, now we are we do have UNICEF has the first crypto fund as part of the UN and so it's really, it's, it's really helped us kind of think about the future and jazz it up a little bit. But I've learned a lot about just millennial engagement and philanthropy and how people are want to be engaged by organizations to which is exciting. And then I'm just studying different cultures now to like, I'm learning a lot, I was really good. I was focused on the US for my first kind of like, 10 years, and I get it, I know how to run a board meeting, I know how to do engagement in the US. And now I'm learning a lot in different ways of working with people in South Korea, or a culture is in Sweden, and Switzerland, in Iran, and so on and so forth. So for me, it's really exciting. I feel like it's still learning, but there's always a there's like an underlying way that people do want to be engaged. And I would say it's actually more so Polly Capitole, we talked about now, which is an interesting way where people want to be used, you want to be seen as a whole human as your time talent and treasures, not just what do you have to give us in terms of money right now. But what do you have as a whole person in terms of your networks, your influence, your unique added value that you might want to bring to the table and of course, your funds and resources and things of that sort as well. So it's been an interesting learning lesson and kind of a shift in how we look at what philanthropy

You guys are so smart. I mean, we we are seeing this after, you know, 250 something, episodes on this podcast, we're seeing the rise in the potential of millennials and Gen Z years. And I think you're so wise to think about their involvement in something more than just capital or donations. And I think that's been the thing that has stymied, you know, nonprofit and kept us, you know, kind of from moving forward and accelerating quickly, is you can't look at someone just from their donation potential. There is so much potential in this digital revolution that we're experiencing. And I just think you're so wise the in to invest in that early on. It's just really forward thinking. And I have to tell you like our eyebrow corked up when we saw your leadership board, because we were connected to you through a good friend Jody pagkain, over at the skin who used to work with us. Hi, Jody, we love you. But I want to talk about this leadership board. And you mentioned two countries that are near and dear to John's and I's hearts. I mean, clearly, I love my Italian family. And John flipped a year in Thailand, and just the global nature of this is really impressive. So talk to us a little bit about those members and the leadership team that you launched from these nine different countries. It's just really fascinating.

Thank you. Yeah, so I've been working on this for a while. But usually how we've worked is we've created leadership communities within respective regions or countries. So I mentioned the other countries that we're in right now. But in January was the first time, which is a pretty monumental and special time. For me personally, in this in this journey for that we launched an actual global board. So we have nine members representing Colombia, Brazil, Portugal, South Korea, Sweden, UK, Italy, Switzerland, USA, and Iran. Some of them have dual citizenship. So I said more than nine. But there, it's an invite only small working group of people between the ages of 21 and 45, who have unique influence. And it's a platform that allows our members to use their poly capital, as we discussed in ways that create valid valuable support for UNICEF at a high level, next gen gatekeepers for value line communities and partners. So they work as a global team to engage and unlock new sources of support for UNICEF. And we do this kind of in two ways, as we talked about, which is the same model as our next gen community in general, where we talked about being a fundraising incubator and the thought leadership platform, internally for UNICEF and externally, where we champion UNICEF value as a partner to our generations leaders, hoping and aiming to make UNICEF submission as an essential value for next gen leaders, peers, communities and families and it's working, which is amazing.

Yeah, it's working. It's smart, it's intuitive, it's human. It puts the child at the very front and so the ego is totally absent. The I feel like you know, we talk about just even the Savior ism complex that exists in funding Raising we if you release that, and you put the kid up at the front or the mission, you're just going to be able to move so much more quickly. I

just think it's brilliant. Yeah. And just the diversity of voices. How beautiful is that? So I think we want to transition you know about activation, I mean, this amazing program that you've built, how can you know the average listener get involved with this work that you're doing? And definitely, I think the model and I, you could turn this into a course of just listening to the mindsets that you had from an organization to engage, and how you kind of did this, I think everybody can lean in and learn from how you've organized this. But I'm curious how can people get activated with UNICEF's work? Specifically through your next gen or other programs?

Thank you. Yes. So there are different ways. I mean, I think it also depends on where you are, or what country you're in. But in the US, I would say start by joining the UNICEF next gen pledge program. It's a low entry point that just loops you into our next gen family and community. And from there, you'll get advocacy actions, ways to ways to continue to fundraise to support, you'll get invited to UNICEF briefings, we've been having a few different briefings with our staff on the ground and Ukraine kind of sharing the you know, real time updates. But we do that throughout the year. So the all the different emergencies that are going on, or any different issue that might you might be interested in, whether it's mental health or climate change, we host different briefings. So definitely want to educate you. But then we also we talk a lot within UNICEF, next gen family is kind of choose your own adventure, we really try to get to know you. And that's when we what I was saying before with Polly Capitole. Like I just feel like people don't see philanthropy, or in our generations don't really see philanthropy separated out into its own lane anymore. It's totally infused into the whole human and every aspect of your life. And so people are changing their jobs, because they care about purpose being a part of the companies that they work for, or they infuse it if they're running a company infuse it into their and so also how they want to raise their families and talk about their families and bring their parents or bring their children in along on the journey. And so we really kind of get to know some of the people and decide and learn more about how they might want to infuse maybe UNICEF CSR business policies into their own businesses that they might be running, or just again, be a sort of evangelists for our cause, like if you want to go out and speak on behalf of UNICEF, we can equip you with ways to learn and, and to really get to understand our work and so that you can kind of bring us to other avenues that we might not be reaching. Through our own means or through our own resources, we have limited capacity and staff and, and so I would say just start by joining our pledge program, or even just come and check us out on UNICEF, next gen on social media, to just see we post some different advocacy actions and ways for you to register for briefings from time to time, but join our UNICEF family and community that are in there. And then there are leadership boards in the US, we have five leadership boards in Los Angeles, in the Bay Area in New York, in Atlanta, in Chicago, blanking on one or two. So there are ways to get even more involved in that way. And then if it is global, we'd love to have you as well, I think my job now is to kind of figure out in rollout where we go, and I named some of the countries that we're in. So there's definitely opportunities to plug and play into those specific countries. But we will be hopefully rolling out to additional countries, once we kind of do a little bit more feasibility studies and make sure that we have the capacity to manage all the creative and wonderful ideas, networks that come to us for sure. But yeah, start with next gen in the US if you can,

I I'm just thinking, Casey, like you are ready for this moment that hit with COVID. You are ready for this moment that hit with Ukraine, because you've been building on this for 15 years. And I just have to tell you, as someone sitting in the crow's nest, we have seen a tremendous amount of people come into our community in the last year alone, who left for profit, had that sort of existential crisis of what am I doing with my life, I want to chase purpose. And we also have a lot of young professionals in here. So if you're someone that's listening to this right now, and it has touched your heart, if it is awakened something in you please go check out next gen. We're definitely going to put the links in the show notes. And I I just think because of what you've done in the inroads that you've created, and the forward thinking way that you have built it. It's ready for this moment. And for people who are wanting to align with causes that are steeped in what's really progressive, what's innovative, how are we getting aid quickly, how are we helping more quickly and so I just want to compliment you on that. And I hope you'll let me go back to Ukraine just a little bit because it's a little heavy on my heart. And I want you to talk about Ukraine in relation to next gen how have you witnessed this group of young Leaders respond to the crisis in Ukraine and then like to the many ongoing crisis's that are that UNICEF is tackling and responding to around the world. Can you give us some examples or even a story?

Absolutely, I'd love to I've actually been absolutely blown away by next gen xers response and activation around Ukraine I, I thought that I couldn't be more surprised by what people want to do. But I really have been with Ukraine specifically, I'd say even just with the global principles, which we launched in January, we launched in January, Ukraine kind of picked up towards the end of February. So it's pretty fairly recent. And some of these people are completely new to our organization. And so they came together within a month. And they they decided they wanted to raise enough funding for UNICEF Blue Dot centers, and I mentioned this briefly before, but there are, we've reinstated Blue Dot centers along kind of the migratory routes where most people are going through from when they're leaving Ukraine, and it's mostly women and children. And then they're set up along the the bordering countries. And they're kind of one stop shops for respite for mothers, psychosocial support for children a place to play place to find out where where social services are. Where do you go next, what you're going to do next, vaccinate vaccination campaigns. But also, as you mentioned, trafficking, that's a huge concern of ours right now. So many children are being displaced, and separated from their families. So this is a really these blue dots centers are great spaces to really to do family tracing to do do reunification, and register children that are unaccompanied and coming through and hope, hopefully find their mothers that are at another another family member that's at another blue dot location. So these are really special places right now. And so, next gen had just felt falling in love with this concept and idea and decided they wanted to find three blue dots centers and raise $450,000. And just give it a try. Within three weeks, they had surpassed that goal raised with it was able to support three blue dot centers. But then they also were able to raise $4.1 million for global emergency response in general.

Next, Next Level,

was within like three weeks, and it was just wild, it was just incredible. And they did this by personally reaching out to their networks. So educating people on UNICEF's work, you know, reaching out to every impact group, they are a part of like Nexus or young investors organizations, they got UNICEF invited to share briefings on the situation in Ukraine to family offices to anyone kind of that was out there that they could reach out to, and they could just reach out and said, I'm a part of this, I care about this, this is what we're doing. Can I tell you more about it. And so they did they secure their own speaking engagements, they spoke to companies on our behalf, and even wrote some articles just wherever at whatever outlets they had access to, and they reached out and, and social media, we have some that has done some really incredible awareness, raising campaigns and stuff and from social media. And I must say, I see this continuously. It's not just for Ukraine, but I see this for things that people are personally passionate about. And we have some members that kind of run with a specific project we have one that has worked, is really passionate about street children in India who've done a really wonderful work because she's created something called Project lion with UNICEF. And it's just been really remarkable to see people take what they know and learn from our organization and say, Okay, I know how to make unlock support for this. And let's work on this together to do it. And specifically with Ukraine, it's just been wild. It's, it's, I guess, it's it's such a complex situation with mostly women and children playing that for some reason. And this is my opinion, like, I felt like the world realized that the power of an organization like UNICEF, is what who's best equipped to do the most good and have the largest impact and reach during an emergency like this, the support we've seen for Ukraine has just been unparalleled. And I think people are starting to realize, like you do need an organization like UNICEF, who's on the ground already, who can negotiate humanitarian corridors to get the supplies in, and who really are experts at this and know and are bringing together all the partners on the ground to which is really wonderful, like in emergency situations. But I'd say I know, I was earlier talking about how we need to collaborate more. But I actually think on the ground, organizations collaborate beautifully. And so our part, you know, we partner with all the other organizations that are on the ground as well and figure out who's doing what and who should have been for what and kind of figure out who's leading child protection, which UNICEF usually is leading on child protection, but we kind of work with others, to make sure the best work is being done by the best organization that's equipped to do it on the ground. And so it's just been it's beautiful to see on the ground in emergency situations, but also just the fact that the world's woke up and it's like, yes, let's all come together and support the people of Ukraine and in the country's neighboring has been really like I've just been so inspired.

I mean, I love that you shared that and we're like so leaned in because to us like that happened and I think the headline would be like people can band together and raise all these million $2.02 weeks or whatever it was. But to us the story, like tracks back to that you have been steadily building believers of your mission. UNICEF did that for you and your own personal story, right? That's what led you to there. And then you've been cultivating these relationships that people believed in what you're doing for 15 years through next gen. And they were ready to be activated. And we got to think in our own missions, who who have we been cultivating that are warm to that and they're ready to go. They trust you. You have those tentacles, we call them rabid fans, we talked about in our intro of the podcast, how do we activate these rabid fans that want to be pointed in a direction? And so kudos to you for building that this is the long game? UNICEF is a

great case study? Yeah,

thank you. Yeah, we want I mean, we look at it as this is the beginning of your UNICEF journey, and we plan to have you as a part of our family for your whole life. And so that's how in our next gen community, that's what we look at. And so it's not about short term. It's not about what we can get or money right now. It's about let's talk about our journey. And where do you where do you want UNICEF in your impact journey, and we hope to be there forever, or until UNICEF can go out and kill you can help us get UNICEF to go out of business, because we're taking care of every child, I just

think for anyone out there who's looking at your donor data and saying, Oh, we really need to target that top 1% That, you know, 50 to 70 year old. No, here's an example of a really smart strategy of looking maybe as low as 21 years old, who can be activated to raise $4.1 million in three weeks, because they believed so deeply in the mission. And I just have to tell you, thank you for talking about that reunification process, because I have to tell you, everyone knows in our little community, how much I love Reddit. And I have been heartsick watching the Ukraine subreddit come out. And there are photos people have, and I'm gonna get choked up as a mom, there are photos out there of children who have their names, and their parents phone numbers written and pin on their back. And parents are sending kids to borders. And I just, I've been thinking about that in my head over and over. And I've been thinking about what I take my two daughters that are eight and 11, and write my phone number and my email on the back and send them up to Canada. Like I, I can't fathom it. And the fact that you took that piece, import into it tells me I'm about to go make a gift to UNICEF, Ukraine right now, because I am very passionate about that. And I'm so glad that there is a solution for it. So I just want to thank you for that.

Well, thank you. Thank you so much. Yeah, I mean, I think we hear that from our colleagues all the time, the situations and things that they're seeing on the ground are things are unfathomable, that are things that we wish on No Child and no mother, and no family. But we're lucky that there are organizations that are on the ground that are looking out for these children and doing what we can to get them back into some sort of family and finding and re re Unifying them. And honestly, I think I encourage everyone to go check out more about the blue dot centers, because I think they're just it's an incredible model. And it's doing so much good right now.

We believe in the power of philanthropy. We've seen it in our personal life, how it transforms us as the givers sometimes, and sometimes the receivers of the impact. Is there a story you would lift that's really moved your heart in your journey? Could they be through UNICEF or it could be something else completely, like we're just kind of all ears?

I'm sure I have many UNICEF stories. But I think I for some reason, the first thing that came to mind when you said that was more so just like a philanthropy, like why I care about philanthropy in general. And I think that takes me back to my NYU Nonprofit Management days. The head of my program was the legendary Naomi Levine. I don't know if you guys have heard of her. But she raised she's no longer with us, unfortunately. But she raised $2.2 billion for NYU. And she's just a powerhouse woman. And I remember I wasn't sure originally if I wanted to go into fundraising, or I was thinking of international law or nonprofit law. But during the interview, there was a new program at NYU, a master's program. And during the interview, she and she convinced me of the power of fundraising by asking me to imagine what New York City would look like, with no museums, no theaters, no central parks, and kind of just like painted this picture. And she opened me up to the power of fundraising. She was like there was a fundraiser behind each and every one of those and you know, some people have fear of asking for money or feel weird about it, or this or that. And it just totally changed my perspective on what philanthropy and fundraising is and does and I just wanted to be a part of that ecosystem and learn from her and I know that I'll never I'll just never forget that moment. And I truly and wholeheartedly believe in the power of fundraising and philanthropy to do so much good. So when I think of that, like aha moment for me, it's usually it's used

to get spin time under a legend like that, that just differently has to be

she just puts it, you know, in such simple terms, and the challenge is so great. I love that you're kind of picking up the torch of her legacy and continuing on in your own way. So Casey, we in all of our conversations by asking our guests for a one good thing, what's a piece of advice that have it? Maybe something philosophical that you want to leave with our community today?

That's so nice. Such a special tradition? I'd say. Of course, my brain has a few things now. One good thing, how about three, a few good things. Tradition. I remember I once had a colleague that told me to assume the best, which is something I always tried to do, especially now working remotely, it's just kind of assuming the best in people and I'd say more apropos to kind of my work is a quote from Audrey Hepburn, who was a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, she actually has two quotes that are always in my brain. One, she said, Nothing is impossible. The word itself says I'm possible. And then she also said, as you grow older, you'll discover that you have two hands. One is for helping yourself and the other is for helping others. And I think I fully I believe in that. And I live by that. And I think next gen and and our UNICEF supporters really embody that as well.

The queen of classy with like the most brilliant little nuggets of wisdom. Love that. So

good. I mean, okay, how can people connect with you, Casey, I have loved this conversation. I've grown in so much respect and understanding of just the work at such a bigger context that UNICEF does, how can people get connected to you and to the work that's happening?

Join next gen would be my number one thing to say, you can go to UNICEF, next gen on Instagram, if you want to kind of check it out and scope us out in and see where to join. That's a great place to start to connect with me to connect with our community. And also just kind of see the lay of the land and the different countries and the different ways that you can get involved. Because from there, kind of we we push out in the advocacy actions, you can connect with us and tell us more specific ways that you might want to get involved or specific programs you might want to learn more about. So I'd say that's like probably the simplest and easiest way to start. I'm also on Instagram become searchable and private, but would love to still connect and my name is searchable under Casey otter too. So more than happy to speak with people from there. And go from there.

Casey with a C and we will drop those links into our show notes. And just Gosh, keep going, Casey we are rooting for you. And if there are any ways that we can help amplify or uplift what you're doing, we are here for that and so is this community.

Thank you so much, Becky and John, just thank you for having me and providing this outlet for us to speak about UNICEF. We're really grateful. And I know my colleagues in Ukraine are truly grateful to and grateful for all the listeners and just the global community that kind of is stepping up and, and thinking about children right now. So we're just really, really, really thankful and just really honored to have the opportunity

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