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Becky, what's happening?
I tell you what, you know, we are so humbled on this podcast to storytel and to find incredible missions that are doing things so innovatively. So empathetically. And today we have just got a treat for you have it in spades? Well, we do we have it doubly in trains, because we have two people today joining us from Hope for Haiti, which is just an incredible organization serving 1000s of children, parents and grandchildren in southern Haiti, through these direct investment, investments in education, health care, water, sanitation, and economic development. And you better just buckle up listeners, because Hope for Haiti is about to knock your socks off with the passion that they're going to bring to their mission. And we are blessed to have Skyler bad knock, who is the CEO, and also Christina Baptist, who is the economy Program Manager. They started at the same time, so they are kindred spirits walking through leading this organization. And the thing I love, I want to start with just a little bit of background on Skylar, that he was a donor for nine years before he was ever hired for the organization, which I think is super cool that he was invested so early on, and Schuyler worked for build on where he just spent 10 years managing participatory school construction in places like Haiti, Nicaragua, Malawi, and he just helped to raise you know, about $10 million and build 500 schools in rural villages in the developing world. So you know, he has a passion for international relief, seeing all people wherever they are, which is just wonderful. He was in the Peace Corps. And he's currently living in Arizona. So a little shout out to our Arizona friends. And Christina is a Haitian American sociologist, which is super cool. And it sounds right. Right. Right, right. And so she's been collaborating with just numerous entrepreneurs across Haiti to help them get grants and loans or technical technical support to grow their business. And she has administered over $750,000 in grants and loans to small business owners that are working in these industries like agribusiness, clean energy technology, food security, health care, I mean, all I mean, it's such a huge issue when you're talking about something like this. And so they are great people, we had just a little bit of a time to talk with them. And I just want to welcome Christina and Skylar to the podcast. Thanks for being here, guys.
Thank you. Thank you for having us.
Oh, it's our joy. And I I'd like to start I think with Skylar, tell us how you got connected to this organization. And yeah, how that donation first started, I think it's very interesting.
Yeah. Well, it happened really organically. You know, I was, as you mentioned, I was working for build on which at the time really, it was, it was my dream job. At the time I graduated from graduate school, you mentioned I served in the Peace Corps, and build on hired me right out of right out of graduate school, from GW are studying international development. So as a perfect job for me, and part of my annual tradition was to go down and, you know, build schools in Haiti and break ground on schools in Haiti every January. That's kind of how we started the year. And and so when we were running this participatory school construction projects, what I found is when we built schools, that was one thing, we would help communities build schools, but there's, as we all know, there's a lot that goes into, you know, education. So there's, you know, teachers and teacher training and the view, that pedagogical framework that goes into really helping provide education to students and and so while I was down in Haiti living, I ran into the organization Hope for Haiti. And the two leaders at the time were Tiffany keener and her soon to be husband, Mike Stewart. And Tiffany was the granddaughter of the founder of Hope for Haiti, and we became really good friends. And it became very clear to me that there was a natural fit between our work and we we developed a partnership between build on and Hope for Haiti we were build on would build schools and Hope for Haiti would come in and, and run their multi dimensional model for development, which would support leaders in improving systems of education and health care, access to clean water, economic opportunity, and so I really loved seeing the impact and Hope for Haiti. was making and so I just started, you know, donating and supporting. And then, you know, in 2010, I flew down the day before the earthquake, and was staying at home for Hades guesthouse with my friends and the earthquake happened. And we all were there, and we experienced it. And we rushed to the epicenter, and we tried our best to be first responders and lived in in, you know, really, really challenging circumstances down in in Port au Prince and Carrefour right near the epicenter of the earthquake. And that just for me that that solidified my relationship with Hope for Haiti, because we really helped each other during that time. And I got to see Hope for Haiti as leaders respond. And, and we're, by the way, we were a bunch of construction people. So we probably were particularly unqualified to be first responders, but we just found ourselves in that situation, and Hope for Haiti really led the way and showed us how to do this kind of development work by empowering others to specifically doctors and nurses in Haiti, Haitian doctors and nurses to make a difference during the time of the earthquake. And, and, you know, since then, I've just been a huge fan and supporter, now the CEO of the organization. And, and so for me, it's, it's about the belief in the mission. But I've seen it, you know, I've seen it, I've, I've seen the work, I knew that a lot of the team members before I even joined on. And so that made it really easy to, you know, just come into my role as the chief executive officer, and know that it was a good organization, wonderful, committed Board of Directors, dynamic staff, really diversified funding sources, and that has made it really wonderful place to work.
I love it. It's like reverse Undercover Boss. I mean, you get to experience the mission before you, like work for it. I mean, what a beautiful thing. And
I mean, I am trying to wrap my head around, being in the middle of a natural disaster of that scale. And I mean, we live in Oklahoma, and I, I've actually had the opportunity to be down at the after a tornado in the middle of the epicenter, but it was like a day after, it wasn't moments after. And I just think that we talk so much about in development, trying to connect people to the impact and to your mission. And it just takes it to the next level, if your CEO was actually feet on the ground, has eyes on what was actually happening and has an experience that that's just amazing. I'm so glad that you're okay. I would love to just hear Christina from you about how you got connected to this organization.
So interestingly enough, my story is almost the same with Skylar, but years later, so I'm Haitian American. And I grew up going to Haiti actually spent the first few years of my life in Haiti. After grad school, I decided to go out my family and their business in Haiti. But in doing so I was doing a lot of research in emerging markets and the effects of impact investing. I saw I was just looking around at different organizations in Haiti, so I can volunteer there, and I saw that Hope for Haiti had an economy program. And so I actually went down to Haiti, knowing that I was going to reach out to them to volunteer, but then Hurricane Matthew happened literally a week after I got there. And it really devastated the South. And so I again, I was like, hey, Hope for Haiti, I'm here, whatever you need. I'm here to volunteer because there was a lot going on. And so I volunteered with popery for a good three months, before actually became the economy Program Manager. And it was a lot of just translating and going into the communities helping with distributing any type of food that was needed water, clean water, and then it kind of shifted into guys, I'm actually interested in your economy program, I would love to learn more. They're like, well, the position is open. If you'd like it, like, I would love it, I want to learn more like this is what I am looking into. And I just got my master's in nonprofit management. So it was just perfect to kind of segue myself into hope. It wasn't a disaster, like the earthquake, but the Hurricane Matthew 2016, was a really devastating one for the south of Haiti.
I mean, it just takes your mission to the next level when two of your top leaders were actually started as volunteers. That is how much the belief is that strong in the mission? I mean, I think this is an extraordinary story already.
I love hearing your stories of how you both you know, just were pulled into the Mission of Hope for Haiti, where you give us kind of just a, you know, high level view of what are all the programs, how do you show up and serve throughout the country today? through different programs?
Yeah, so for the last 32 years Hope for Haiti has been working to improve the quality of life of the Haitian people, particularly the Women and children. And we've been doing that by incorporating a holistic model for development. And this model was really developed in 2010, after the earthquake after the organization received a significant amount of funding, really in response to the ability to respond and make a difference during the worst natural disaster I think our hemisphere has ever seen. And the model specifically is designed to help communities alleviate poverty, and solve significant problems as they relate to community education, access to health care, access to clean drinking water, vital community infrastructure and economic opportunity. And so as an organization, we work in the southern part of the country, we work specifically with 24 partner communities at the school level. And we focus first on education in supporting teachers by providing teacher salary stipend or sub subsidy, we partner with organizations that help us train the teachers in our network, which we have about 484. And that, that support 7000, about 7000 students. And we provide support and assistance at the school level so that kids can, you know, aren't, don't face any barriers when they're going back to school. So we have a back to school fund. And then and then that really dovetails well into our health program, where we do run a bricks and mortar infirmary in the southern capital of the chi, all staffed by Haitian doctors and nurses. But we have a public health team that goes out to rural communities and our 24 partner communities. And they integrate public health education, and teach young students about how to prevent all types of diseases communicable non communicable include including things like COVID-19. And so that public health component really works well into the education component and how we, we empower community leaders to improve their systems of health care, we do run mobile clinics. So some of our public health team they they pack up their trucks or pack up a boat if they have to. And they go out to some of the most remote and isolated communities in the country in the south. And they liaise with community health workers that we have on our team, which we have, I think about 24 right now. And they help provide vital education and health education to communities to lift up their health systems. And, and then we bring in to support all these efforts we bring in Well, last year, we brought in about $18 million in medication, medical supplies and medical equipment, through our gifting kind program. So we have big organizations here in the United States, who donate very critical medication, asthma, medication, diabetes, medication, blood pressure, medication, deworming, medication, you know, medical supplies, lots of PP last year, so that we're stocked Our team is stocked in that they have the ability to not only see patients, but provide the right type of treatment and access to medication, medical supplies, obviously, we don't use all the 18 million, that's a lot. And so we've developed a system where we support now 35 different health care partners, government, non governmental partners, where we're essentially taking the medication, medical supplies, medical equipment distributed to us. And we're redistributing them so that we're lifting up the entire system. And we're doing it in a transparent, accountable way. We do a lot of we do some construction. So we help build schools, we help build sanitation blocks, we have a clean water program that's really focused on helping families access clean drinking water, because we know that that's one of the best ways to, you know, help people lift themselves out of poverty is is help them find clean drinking water. So we've last year alone, we distributed more than 12,000 water filtration systems to families all throughout the country. And, and then lastly, we have our economy program. And Christina is the head of that. And she's out there bridging the opportunity gap for businesses and entrepreneurs by supporting micro small, medium sized businesses with grants and loans and providing business education. So that it's not just about providing the finance, but it's about you know, building a community, a network of organizations and like minded individuals and businesses that are that are about supporting and building up the patient economy, specifically in the south. And then, you know, all of these programs run for us. We have to be running these programs with the highest standards of accountability, transparency, and good governance. And that's, that's really important to us. And, you know, it's reflected in our audited financial statements. And we're fortunate to get the GuideStar you know, platinum seal and the Charity Navigator four star rating. But those are things we really work hard on we know that we can't we have to we have to do those things first, so that we can do the programs. And so they really go hand in hand there that that commitment to transparency and doing it right so that we can account for every single dollar that every donor donates to us is really important. I just
you can't hear anything like that. And does not have a full heart of gratitude for what you were doing. And I think the thing that resonates the most with me is you get $18 million in gifting kind, and you can't use it all. So you spread it around. This is the difference between nonprofit and for profit in many ways. If you have an abundance mindset, you don't care who gets the credit. You just want someone to be well, to live a vibrant and abundant life. And I love that you are partnering in any way to get all of that out. And that is just extraordinary.
You know, one of the things we definitely wanted to talk with y'all about is just the values of the organization, how that really informs a lot of what you do from a program deployment standpoint, but also, in every aspect, strategic planning and the events that you put on and all like that. I'm curious. I mean, I'd love to hear a little bit about the values you have as an organization and, you know, threaten, what are those that really stuck out to you? Obviously, you're both so accomplished, talented people you can plug in and a lot of places, but there's something about Hope for Haiti that stuck out to you that said, Hey, I actually want to invest my life here. What, you know, what are those values that drew you in?
love that question. And I always I go back to when I first started, we kind of did, we did a quick SWOT analysis. And one of the things that our team identified was that we didn't have a set of core values that we were using on a daily, weekly, monthly yearly basis. And so that was an easy project for us to do. So we what we did was we asked our team in Haiti, of which we now have like 70, full time staff members. And and so we asked our team, we said, What are the what are the things that you were what what are your the core values that you identify with, and we did a survey and they came up with, like, 50. That's a lot. That's a lot. board retreat in Haiti, we took those 50. And we asked our board, which one of those 15 really resonated with them, and we whittled it down to like 10. And when we had that final 10, then we took it back to the team, and we said, Hey, vote on the vote on the five best, that really resonate with you. And so when when we did that, we came up with resilience, empowerment, accountability, collaboration, and hope. And those to me, they were like, they were perfect. And they were perfect for us, because we could explain them. And when we explain them to our team, because core values are so much internal, right? They're they're not something external, that you're projecting in other people, but they're, they're really what drives our organization internally. They made it this beautiful acronym reach. So resilience, empowerment, countability collaboration, and hope and hope from there, they really just caught on and we started using them. In our weekly meetings, in our monthly meetings and our strategic planning calls, we would ask the question, or our team, like, hey, what, what goal did you accomplish, that you're most proud of this week? And what core value did you use most? And, and so we what I loved about the core value exercises, not just collaborating with the team and making sure that people had a voice to come up with our collective core values as an organization, but that we didn't just like, do it, and then set them in a cabinet somewhere, and then maybe dust them off for like, some, you know, staff meeting, but we use them strategically, we use them intentionally. And so I love that I love that part of the core values. The other thing that I really like is how they're not embedded in the organization. And we asked the question of our teams that will, how can we use these core values? You know, better. And, and one of our team members, her name's Jessica Grillo came back, she said, Well, what if we created reach cards, and that would allow members of our team to award or to recognize other members of the team who have exemplified the core values. And so she created this really cool reach card that we're all using, and we give out and some people give one out a week, we give them out, sometimes, I give one out a month, because I feel like I want to save my I want to I want it to be special. And and so it's not just coming up with core values that that really embody who we are as an organization who we are as individuals, but it's about using them and finding ways to use them that is meaningful to us and drives us and inspires us in our work.
But then last so I the last person I gave him each card to his or her coworker Sarah, and Sarah Potter's. She's ever gonna listen to this high side. But um, I gave her reach card to Sarah. And it was we get to choose which one of our values our core values that really was exemplified, and for her I gave, I gave both collaboration and hope so too, and collaboration for me is that because I'm within the economy program, she was able to find partners for the economy program. And so recently, we partnered with an organization here in the states that wants to partner with us for an economy challenge that we do like a pitch competition that we do every year. And so she found that partnership, and through that partnership, we just went through six business trainings for 20 different businesses. And so that was a collaboration. And I also put hope, because the feedback I've been getting back from the entrepreneurs is that they could not have imagined going through a training this way. And they've learned so much, and they're so ready to grow their business. And I think that is just hopeful for them, they know that they can grow their business, having gone through that training. And so I that was one of the last speech cards that I gave just a couple days ago.
Okay, we need to like not pump the brakes, we need to hit them very, very hard right now. Because what what we just heard in the last five minutes was a masterclass to everyone listening on how to have culture that is nurturing, that is grounded in the things that matter most to you. And it's a way to incentivize people to be kind to pause to look around to lift up others. And I just have to applaud you for a couple things. One, that you made your values an entirely family centric, it wasn't just the staff, it wasn't like board LED, we all hate it when the board tells us exactly what they want to do. Without asking us our opinion. It was a total family movement, and everyone poured into it. And I also want to say that I love that hope is your last one. Because there's a very famous quote that goes around that says hope is not a strategy, okay? Hope is not a strategy. But to me, it is the great equalizer. And it allows people to dream, it allows them to be creative, it allows people to be motivated to keep going and seeing vision and the fact that you added that because I've never heard that as a value, like makes me rethink, maybe we are for good needs a ninth value or something, I just think that what you just described there shows the power of what you can do when you bring everybody into this conversation and you empower them, it's almost like armor, we're walking around with these values, we know who we are, we're grounded in them, and everybody owns it. And because of that ownership, we are so interconnected in this mission, and everything flows through it. I mean, I cannot imagine just the harmony. And I mean, I'm sure you have issues with your staff, but the fact that you're all together in this just makes me see how you could build such a robust culture within your organization, Bravo,
you know, but but that also makes it easy. If we ever run into an issue, you know, with with a team member, we can always go back to the core values and say, you know, are we all living up to these, you know, and that's the, that's also the beauty of the core values, it's, it can be used to, not only, you know, recognize, but it can also be used to help redirect people and say, Hey, listen, you know, we need a little bit more collaboration here, or, you know, accountability. And, and even though and I'll tell you we use help a lot, by the way, you know, and we define it as the fundamental belief that there is always a pathway to a better life, regardless of the challenges. And, and so we use hope a lot, because there's a lot of challenges. Yeah, there's a lot of challenges in Haiti, there's always a lot, a lot of challenges when you're doing this type of work, especially in the fundraising, you know, world here know a lot. So you have to keep that you got to keep that hope alive and know that, you know, it's, it's about being resilient, and in being resilient in your hope.
I love this topic. And you've hit on, you know, how values have just kind of lit up and activated your mission. And I was thinking to a conversation we had in season one with Bridget Zorn, who walked us through values, but she said how much confidence it gave her in fundraising. Because if you can align with someone's values, it just makes the conversation a completely different type of conversation. Because if you're connected with people that value resilience, and value hope, I mean, you can put your strategic plan in front of them because it's it's gonna register on all those fronts and your team is locked in. So it's just it really is the secret sauce, but it's not enough people do it. So I love the challenge of living this out and leading the charge on that. Can we talk a little bit about your vision? I mean, where where do you go in the next 10 years? I know y'all are kinda geeks about strategic plan, which I love. And so I'd love to hear your process and what you're dreaming of right now.
Yeah, so that The vision for our organization really actually came about during a board retreat, we were all together at our board retreat. And we were spending a lot of time thinking about, you know, what is our what is our vision statement, because we didn't, we didn't have one, essentially. And so our board helped us come up with one that I think is just beautiful. It's our vision for Haiti is joyful children, healthy families, thriving communities, in the resources to make it so. And that's the, that's the vision statement. And we've been using that internally and externally in our communications to our donors. But we haven't, for a while revisited our 10 year vision document, our 10 year vision plan. So the vid, there's the vision statement, but then, for me, there's also the plan that goes along with it. And so what we've decided to do is embark on another we did it we organization did a 10 year vision strategy. But before Christina and I joined on so, you know, we were working with one that has been a little bit it's a little antiquated now. And we felt like it needed a refresh. And so what we decided to do was use the same exact process that we always go through, just like with our core values, and that is engage our team in a 10 year vision exercise. And so what we did was we divided our team, our core leadership team into about six different sub teams. And I set forth a, you know, pretty robust set of questions, a survey, if you will, that we asked the team to ask that related to all aspects of organization, and how our team would like our vision to look over the next 10 years. And so that exercise actually being completed, it was completed a few weeks ago. And so now we have all this incredible information from all different team members about where they would like to see the organization headed over the next 10 years. And we're going to synthesize, synthesize that information, put it into an outline document, and put forth a rough draft so that the board can look at it. And the beauty of this 10 year vision is that it's really there to guide our strategic plan. And the strategic plan is something we do every year, right, it's a, it's a two to three years PD Plan, we're in the process of making, you know, modifications, adjustments, taking some things out, we were able to accomplish, you know, check off. And, and so the vision is really going to be this high level document that informs our strategic plan. And the way our organization is going to go about doing our work, accomplishing our mission, accomplishing our vision, holding true to our core values. And in all of our areas of operation in our culture in HR, which is always the first page of our strategic plan. Most important, I think, all of our programs, how it's going to guide our programs and our programmatic model, which is, you know, it's all about building comprehensive development and investing comprehensively in communities. And and then also, how do we at what, what's going to what's going to guide our systems and accountability and good governance, what's going to what's going to guide our fundraising model for the next years, 10 years, as well as our ability to market and communicate our mission externally. So the 10 year vision, it's a, it's a big lift. At first, I was like, I think we're gonna do this in a month or a couple months. And now that I look at it, I'm thinking we're probably gonna have something towards the beginning of the fall. But But I think the reason why it's taken so long as we want it to be collaborative, and we want people's voice and opinion and buy in, before we just, you know, rush to say, Hey, we did a 10 year vision document, this is what it is. And, and I think I would I think what we're going to have at the end is something that we can take to our stakeholders take to, you know, maybe interested donors, and say this is what we are going to try to accomplish as an organization, collectively. And we would love for you to join our community and be part of this. And so my hope is that it's going to be an external document that we can fundraise off of, but it's also going to guide our strategic planning process.
I love these exercises, I always love getting in a group with some of my co workers, we don't all always work together. And this one was very interesting because we my group had like a logistics manager, a doctor and and our chief chief impact officer. And so we don't really work together all the time. And so to be in that group was really interesting. And we became like this woman empowerment group too, because though we spoke about all of our programs, it got down to one, let's try to redefine, like the theory of change for our sustainable communities. But then let's also talk more about women and children's health, economic opportunities for women and it kind of came down to that and again, I really love these exercises and especially this one because it shows how aligned our value again, our values are with our core Workers in knowing that we can have this conversation and also have this vision that we all like okay, yeah, no, this, this is definitely what we want to see, we definitely want to see more health care for, for women in our communities, we definitely want to see our women thrive in our communities. And so yeah, that's why I said that this
is something we do almost every year, not the 10 year vision, but like getting together and, and really understanding our process. Taking a quick pause from today's episode to thank our sponsor, who happens to be one of our favorite companies virtuous, you know, we believe everyone matters. And we've witnessed the greatest philanthropic movements happen when you see an activate donors at every level. And virtuous is the platform to help you do just that. It's so much more than a nonprofit CRM, virtuous helps charities reimagine generosity through responsive fundraising. And we love it because this approach builds trust and loyalty through personalized donor engagement. Sound like virtuous may be a fit for your organization, learn more today@virtuous.org, follow the link in our show notes.
I just have to say that, and I don't know that we even said this at the beginning. But your staff is all over the world, almost. I mean, you're in the United States, you're in Haiti, they're spread out everywhere. And the thing that is not lost on me is that there is such a homogenous feeling of connectivity between all of you. And I really think these values and the way that you treat people, the way that you see everyone and value that everyone matters, is kind of the base of that. And I really have to applaud you for that. And I'm really curious about, you know, the Haiti earthquake, everyone remembers that and just wherever you were in the world, I mean, and just the constant media attention in the in the photos and the videos and the way that it made our hearts feel just so sick. And we felt powerless in the places that we were, Christina, I'd love for you to talk about what is the state of Haiti right now? And how is Hope for Haiti coming in? and filling? What are? What are the biggest problems you're facing right now? And what are they
a good question, the state of Haiti right now, is, I want to be the troubled one. At the moment, because of the political unrest, there is a lot of that going on. And so when you have a country that's unstable, it trickles down to the way businesses function. it trickles down to the you know, if there are protests, you have the kids who are not going to school and sometimes for weeks, almost months, maybe that they're not going to school. And so it's hard to it's sometimes hard to talk about, I believe it because a lot of people are struggling. But this is where hopefully, he does come in within communities that we can't speak for the entire country. We are situated in the south. And for me, as the economy Program Manager, I am focused on helping entrepreneurs grow their business, because there are a lot of business who businesses who function within the Euro, the US dollar, but in Haiti, you have to be with Google, but it's devaluating. So it really hurts businesses. And so we do try to come in and try to you know, give loans and grants so that businesses can continue to function. And, you know, parents are still able to send their kids to school and put food on the table. We're bringing some of that hope, again, you know, you know that word to really help families within the communities that we work in. Because I don't know if you wanted to add anything.
No, I think you captured it, Christina, it's been a challenge. When we look back, I think over the last maybe 24 months, 18 months, it's been a really challenging time, actually, in some ways. I think that there is something called the pay lock, which was where, you know, the country essentially just locked down for months on end, I think that was probably even even more than the earthquake. That was a it was different. But it was really difficult for our team. And you could feel it in our when you would talk we would talk to our team members, we couldn't even go there. Because it wasn't safe. And they your team is like Don't you know, and that was a first and ever I think our team knows like how risk adverse met. We don't we're not we're not going to shy away from going. But when you hear somebody say, you know, just don't calm it's not safe right now. That's worrisome. And you can hear it in their voice. And and you know, it was very concerning. And it at one point, we were having conversations like what what do we do if this thing even gets worse and escalates. And so it's been a challenging, I'd say two years trying to navigate political unrest, obviously COVID right, this fluctuations in the exchange rate was like the upper cut, you know, to to all of this, it just sort of piled on. And to our team's credit, you know, and I would say we were fortunate to get some incredible donations that came in so that it allowed us to invest in Safety and Security and dude, do the work throughout all of this. And we're just looking back and reflecting on a big grant that we were able to close out last week. And we exceeded every single goal of this grant and our team on the ground. But when I say we, it's like, the majority, the people who are doing the work are doctors and nurses and educators and our team in Haiti. And they were able to figure it out and navigate, you know, these really challenging times. And, you know, give the whole team a reach card, they all embody hope and resilience and empowerment. All that. So, Christina, I think you captured it, though, it's a very challenging place to work, complexity is high. And you just got to find your place. And so that's what hope rate has done, we found our place in the south, and we just try to do our best to be part of the solution to the problems.
Well, I mean, I can't think of a better core value of resilience, or a country that has just gone through so much in such a short span of time. And I appreciate your vulnerability of just that. There's times when things are just not okay. And it's I mean, we need to talk about that. And I think the awareness level, especially here in the states that can be insulated from a lot of realities outside of our borders. I appreciate that you're honest in that and lean into that. Could we talk a little bit about fundraising, I think y'all have a unique mission. Because, again, like I said, it's hard to get people, at least in the states to stop and have a reality check moment of what it's like, a lot of people haven't even left the borders of the states. Definitely not recently. But how do you, you know, connect with donors, we talked a little bit before we started about some innovative ways that you've engaged people around your values and, you know, actually doing things to raise money, I'd love to hear you talk about some of the innovative approaches y'all have employed.
You know, first, we're blessed to have this core group of donors that have been with Hope for Haiti since its founding, since Joanne keener founded the organization. And that has really helped build this incredibly solid foundation. I'd also say, and I think this is an important part of the discussion is that our board was very forward thinking, and making sure that we had the right financial policies in place so that we had reserve funds, ready to go if anything ever happened. And so it feels like and this is this has been my experience in over Haiti, that we're not really fundraising in a position of desperation. But we're fundraising in a position of strength, we're fundraising in a position of a vision, and putting forth ideas and programs that can really improve people's lives. And I think having that in place is has been one of the most beneficial parts of our fundraising strategy. And not saying, hey, if we don't get this money, we're not going to be able to make payroll like, we never have to say that. We haven't had to say that. And we're fortunate. And, and so when our team goes out, one of the things we want to do is we look at is how do we diversify revenue, because we don't want to be just dependent on, you know, the the incredible generosity of donors who've been there every single year for the last 32 years. But we want to bring new people into the organization. And so we've been intentional about diversification of revenue. And, and so, you know, like, in many organizations, a lot of our revenue comes from individuals, corporations, foundations, special events. But within those buckets, we are focused on diversification. And so we've done we've put in place a few things that have helped us tap into new revenue streams, especially during these last year when all of a sudden we couldn't do special events, right. So, you know, what do you do that. And so, with the use of technology, we focused on first building community, and making sure that people know our donors or prospective donors, that they knew that we're still doing the work that we're, you know, our team, and especially because we do healthcare work, we're on the front lines, not just running our infirmary and treating 10s of 1000s of patients, but we're also supporting the system, government systems and other nonprofits. And and we wanted to be able to convey that to our donor. So we use zoom calls, we did virtual site visits, we did we spent, we developed something called the info session. So we would, you know, we developed essentially, like a pitch deck that we, we've ran people through over zoom, and Christina, or a lot of any of our other colleagues would hop on and provide that voice of like, Hey, this is what we're doing. This is what we're focusing on. We can have these types of discussions about what are the real challenges, and that that has helped connect our donors, whether they're existing donors, longtime donors, or even prospective donors, got to connect people to the mission got to connect people with the work and technology has really helped with that. The other thing that we've we've done is we've taken advantage of new fundraising streams. So we bought 18 months ago. Our board agreed to accept cryptocurrency as a form of donation. And so we might feel like we weren't, we weren't early early adopters, we definitely weren't late to the game. And we've partnered with this terrific organization called a giving block that helps nonprofits accept cryptocurrency and they also provide education around the cryptocurrency ecosystem and the philanthropy that's involved in in all aspects of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. And they've been really helpful to us. And so last year, we received three Bitcoin, our policy, by the way, which is to liquidate immediately because of the volatility, and but now it would have been, still received about $30,000 in cryptocurrency, right in the middle of COVID. In while we were scrambling to, you know, protect our team and our community, that was a that was a big lift for us. And then we've been engaging even with with video game players. I mean, believe it or not, right now we're in our we're running a campaign where we have a group of people who are incredible fundraisers, very passionate about what they do there in like three days, they raise $50,000, to support education programs, by playing video games and engaging their community. And that wasn't a revenue stream we had, we've we've even thought about,
you know, over the last three years, because it wasn't something that was really mainstream. So we want to be in these spaces where we're thinking about what are the new inventive ways that we can bring in new revenue and create new revenue streams to support the organization diversify? So those are just a few examples. But I will say before I before I stop is just that. We're also very fortunate to be supported by large donors, you know, and we have a donor that's been with us since the earthquake, the Bob and Renee Parsons Foundation, they found us on Charity Navigator, and, and have been supporting our health care programs ever since I would say, to the tune of more than $10 million. Wow. And to have donors like that. Yeah, I mean, that that I was talking to their I met with their executive director for lunch the other day, and I was saying, you know, we were able to do all this work, because we had the foundation, you know, we had a team in place that that was built up with the support of the bob Renee Parsons foundation. But we have these types of donors, you know, that have had have really stepped up in a big way. And the big gifts make it they help you build that foundation, build the stability, so that you can even start having a discussion around revenue diversification.
I mean, if there's a thread for this conversation other than hope, I would say it's community and I love so much the way that your team and your board is. So they embrace risk and creativity and trying new things. And you say you're not the first to to market on trying to grab cryptocurrency. But I have to tell you, if you were taking it last year, you were definitely among the first innovators that I've heard of. So that's so wonderful. And I think like even the live stream gaming, you know, or virtual reality. I mean, those individuals are grounded in community, they're all playing together. And why not give them something to talk about to fight for? I mean, we've had a couple of conversations with people who have also leveraged the gaming industry to fundraise. I know St. Jude did it really well, last year year end and raised a couple million dollars. So I just I really want to commend you and your board for just being having the creative freedom to try some stuff. And it really does make us such a progressive and innovative organization. And I want to kick it to Christina, because one of these events was a live stream pitch competition for women in Haiti. Can you talk a little bit about that process and what you learned?
Yeah, so last year, we're we held the gun all women's economy challenge. And it is thanks to you know, today's technology, because we started planning, weeks before we really understood the impact of COVID. In Hollywood, in fact, our lives in the first conversations in late March, was about postponing. But then, you know, we would keep asking our questions. The question was, what if we're postponing until when we don't know how long this will last? And so we thought, Well, if everything else is moving virtually, we should at least, you know, try to see what that what that process looks like. So our application process is already online. But we have an issue with electricity and Wi Fi in Haiti. It's not steady. And so our first thing was okay, let's hold the info session to let everyone know, that we're still going to go through with it is going to be online. So it was kind of our little trial and error, hold it info session. If We can hold up online for an hour and have people come and join in on Facebook Live, ask questions, and let them know how to apply, we can go to the next step. And then we got a few, we got over 100 applications. And we did bring it down to 10 finalists. And then we held a one day zoom training for them, again online. Also another, you know, trial and error. Let's see how this holds up. We gave everyone some data we like, we're like, just just hop on, take this business training, it went well. And then we finally got down to the actual pitch day. So this is live on Facebook. But what we did in our office, we set up computer like computer stations, so that the final five finalists could pitch, we had backup Wi Fi just in case anything went wrong. And it went off without a hitch like, and we could not even imagine that 10,000 people would have tuned in for this event. No Wi Fi issue, no electricity issue.
It was just amazing. I'm starting to get the nervous sweats of like when you're at your gala, and the mic isn't working at the moment that you're trying to make your ask or something and you have all the anxiety in the world of people. And in my head, it's only 600 people looking at us 10,000 people around the world tuning in, you really are finding ways that you have to be innovative, and I just commend you for it.
One of my favorite stories of the pandemic, we got this beautiful grant from the Government of Qatar, not $1.9 million. And it one of the one of the deliverables on the grant was to import over a two year period $45 million in in medication, medical supplies, medical equipment, pp. And so we were doing that before COVID hit. And we had like 100,000 masks on hand when the pandemic was like everybody was just, you know, it, it, we had to stop everything. And everybody was really scared. We needed pp. And they were it was hard to come by. And we have 100,000 masks. And so you're like, well, how many do we need? Like 20,000? Like, all right, well, how do we get the 80,000 out to our community? And so we distributed the 80,000 masks out to the community. And we had some of our partners come back, like, yeah, how much? How much should we owe you for these are like, the free. They're free. This is part of the grant. And and it felt so good to be there for our community and our partners. During that time, you know, that and that was it was this like, right time, right place, right donor, we were there. We could we could help. And you're to your point. Yeah, we that's, that's why we're in this that's why we're in this this game, you know, to do the best we can and and build the community that we've been able to build and do it together, not just do it alone. That's why collaboration is one of our core values, too.
Of course, he tied it back to the core values, all the values
are just thready. I see in every part of this. What's funny, we're about to ask you about a story. So that was a perfect story. Christina, what's the story of philanthropy that you've seen? We just we know how it changes us. And there's moments in life that just stick with you. Is there a Is there something that sticks out to you how philanthropies and that
was something like I there's probably many, but when that just kind of popped in my head just now there was there was a school that were partnered with I don't remember the exact community at the moment. But an email went out to all the staff For free stuff, like hey, we need some extra hands. They're just like submit bags and just building equipment that are needed. And we do not have enough people to to help the community with this, or is anyone on this app able to volunteer? I just kind of raise my hand like okay, well, I don't have a big workload tomorrow and the rest of the week. I'm down to go to, you know, the community to help you know, our community members. Next day comes around and they're our staff from like, almost each program, boots on shirt on like, okay, we're ready, let's go, let's go bring all of these school materials and building materials and help the community. It sounds just normal, like anyone can volunteer, but we all have other tasks, we all have our specific positions and tasks that we're doing. And we we all just was like, okay, we can take two three days, put our tasks to the side and just go help this community like and we saw how the community was just like super thankful. Like, we just didn't have enough people to help bring this up the hill. You guys are here. So thank you and I was like, No, thank you. Thank you for allowing us to to help in this way. So that's the one I could just think of at the moment.
That is incredible that you told a staff story that is so powerful, and I have to tell you, I that would not happen. This is just my theory. That would not happen if You are not an individual that's working in an organization in which you fundamentally believe in the mission, you believe that everyone matters. Because if you can see everyone, you understand that it doesn't matter who gets the credit, it's that we just got to get the job done. And it's a very, all hands on deck approach. And when you are hard wired, to be that selfless, to be that giving it probably I mean, you You didn't even think you just did that. That's just who you are as an organization. And to me, again, that flows from your values. And I just, I want to give a shout out to the entire Hope for Haiti team for what you're doing. I mean, I want to shout out to Taylor, who connected us Taylor hibel, who connected us to your wonderful organization, and I just could not love you guys more and what you're doing in the world. That's just fantastic. So our last question that we ask everybody is, what is your one good thing? It could be a life hack or a mantra, something that a quote that inspires you? Let's start with you, Skyler, what's your one good thing,
I always think of the quote that always inspires me is, is that intelligence and ability are equally distributed throughout the world, but opportunity is not. And we see it every single day, you know, that many of us have been blessed to have had incredible opportunity and privilege, right. But others who are just as smart, just as intelligent, maybe have not. And so, for me, it's something that that I think about almost every day, like, how do we bridge that opportunity gap? And if you know, if the question is, you know, what's a piece of advice or good habit, you know, or something that we can do today, it's empower others, right, like, empower other people to climb up that ladder life, you know, I had a, I had a, I have an incredible mentor. And one time she said to me, he said, You know, there are people in this world who will climb up the ladder life, and they'll reach their hand down and yank the ladder up. And then there are people in this world who climb up the ladder life, and they'll they'll reach their hand down, and help others up. And, and this is she told me this, and I was 18 years old, and it stuck with me ever since. And it's it's, it's To me, it's empower others. And it's not just about, you know, how do we empower other people in the communities that we serve in Haiti? But I think to like, how do we empower our team members? And I'm so that's one of the reasons I'm so glad we have Christina on today. Because, again, we started at the same time, and I'm blown away at how much she's grown professionally and personally, and, and, like, just so proud to be her colleague, and see her success. And every time you know, we have this pitch competition, or we make a loan like I that that's the juice. That's, that's something I really get excited about to see other people succeed. And it feels good, that feels good.
So great. I just think your organization's awesome. I love how you love each other.
Christina,
what's your one good thing.
And I usually think of this in the context of Haiti, but it is global. So it's learning about people's stories and personal stories. And I think it was Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who has a TED talk about the dangers, dangers of a single story. And so that, that is my one good thing that you know, maybe someone can take with them is just always learning about people's stories. When I say in the context of Haiti, a lot of people can watch the news and just hear that want context of Haiti. But when you're hearing the stories of the people in Haiti, you have a different mindset are you you learn just more about Haiti through the stories of different people. And I know I Hope for Haiti, we'd love to do that to just kind of understand or hear the the stories that our our community members tell us and we'd love to share that or at least I love to share that because it's never just one story. When you hear so many different ones, you've got you understand the community and how they think and what their values are, as well.
I love that you tied it back to values. And as the resident Storyteller here, I have to tell you that that was such a great one good thing and I want to give Julie, our incredible production, Hiro a little shout out right now, because Julie spent three of her spring breaks in college, going to Haiti. And to your point, Christina, I mean, as she's telling us about some of the things that she experienced there, my view of Haiti just begins to shift and shape because you're right, the story and the color and the people are the things that matter. And if we're employing that cognitive diversity by hearing other people's stories, it can change and sharpen our view of what's actually happening in the world and give us an opportunity to see how we can pour into it. So thank you for that.
I love to Well, guys, it's been an amazing conversation. How can people listening connect with you both personally and with the organization where's the best place to find you guys online
Think email, you can email me at Skylar at Hope for Haiti calm, Christina, I'm going to give your email out to Christina. But also, people can email our Info Box info at Hope for Haiti calm, and I can guarantee you, we will respond within 24 hours. And I can make that guarantee because I'm the guy that managed the infobox.
And I will also point people further to the head of Facebook, they're on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn Hope for Haiti is everywhere. If you want to see the cutest smiling faces of the most darling children, please get on there. And it'll really connect you to the mission. So I just want to thank you both for not only coming and giving us this time today, but just for what you're doing to pour into people who need someone to reach down the ladder and pull their hand up, which was just such a beautiful story. And we want to be a community that does that. So if you're someone that's been listening to this episode, and you feel incredibly connected to this organization, I really encourage you to go to their website, look them up, connect with them, they have a great spot on their website that says take action. So you can do that in a way that works for you. We all have some thing that we could give to another person who needs it. So appreciate you guys.
Thank you so much.
Thank you Have a good one.
Thanks for listening to today's conversation with Skyler and Christina diving into living out the values of your organization. You probably hear it in our voices, but we love connecting you with the most innovative people to help you achieve more for your mission than ever before. We'd love for you to join our good community. It's free. You can think of it as the after party to each podcast episode. It's our own social network and you can join today at we are for good calm, backslash Hello. One more thing if you loved what you heard today, would you mind leaving us a rating and review? It means the world to us and Your support helps more people find our community. Thanks friends. I'm our producer Julie Confer and our theme song is sunray by Remy Boris boom thanks for being here.
