Notes from the Left Coast

Drummond Pike’s Blog

Today, I write about the interrelated topics of justice and compassion. First, justice. Normally, I find myself railing about the plight of the disenfranchised and the powerless, but this piece is about the powerful and how remarkably unjustly they are being treated – the leaders of the great financial and now auto companies whose collective imminent demise is being prevented by the intervention of the federal government that is infusing, or considering the infusion of, public tax dollars to prop up their enterprises. Without argument, almost all of the managers still in charge of these failing institutions remain in charge, and tax dollars in the now famous TARP program are all that may prevent a disastrous devolution of the economy into depression and massive unemployment that will drag down the global economy as well. What is unjust about all of this is that they are NOT being held to account; they are not being dismissed for having failed the interests of their shareholders or employees; and they are not being permitted to learn the lessons of their terrible decisions. 

Like a child caught cheating on his or her homework, failure to apply sanctions may consign them to a future of many more bad decisions. It’s a terrible thing to miss the important lessons of life, and the heads of Goldman Sachs and General Motors should be permitted to miss the experience. After lifetimes of espousing the wisdom of free markets, they rode that wisdom to the brink of social disaster. Wouldn’t it also be a fine thing to have them realize that free markets need to be checked by appropriate governmental regulation? It is not a minor matter that taxpayers will end up getting the short end of things as well if these people remain in power. Shouldn’t bailout funding of these failed enterprises be driven not only appropriate public ownership, but also by enterprise based commitments to social goals: the financing of renewable energy or the development of highly efficient vehicles that must be developed for our climate’s future if humans are to survive? But I digress. In part, my plea for more just treatment of mega-failed managements of these mega-businesses – such as firing them lock, stock, and barrel – is, oddly enough, born of compassion. Without such treatment, they risk a future where their moral compasses and analytical tools will not connect the dots between their failed judgments and their failed institutions.

If they were in high school, it would never be possible to escape that connection between behavior and outcomes. In the words of a classical parent, they will be better for the experience. Speaking of compassion, I must refer you to a most remarkable 3 minute video on the internet inspired by one of the TED prize winners from this past year, Karen Armstrong. It could, and hopefully will, change your life: http://charterforcompassion.com/.

Just traveling back to SFO this morning after a great meeting of the Tides Canada Board in Vancouver. Wow. They are doing great! We helped establish our northern sister organization about 8 years ago under some not insignificant pressure from our friend Carol Newell and her sidekick Joel Solomon at the Endswell Foundation – an active funder of the British Columbia environmental community. As they have on and off and now on again made a commitment to spending out their endowment (truly the highest minded stewardship in my view), they wanted to leave an institutional legacy that supported progressive philanthropy and initiatives in the region to which they are so committed. And, boy, have they delivered. The founding ED, now CEO, Tim Dramin, has done a great job putting the organization on the map and developing a parallel to Tides Center – of which there are NO parallels in the entire country. But programmatically, they are rocking.

Here are some highlights:
• Tides Canada has been at the center of an incredible effort that brought together timber companies, First Nations leaders, environmentalists, US funders and, most remarkably, the Provincial Government in a joint effort to preserve the Great Bear Rainforest – 25% of the world’s remaining temperate rainforest is now permanently preserved while simultaneously a $120 million fund has been committed to support sustainable businesses in First Nations communities. Amazing stuff for an 8 year old institution.

• They have hired their first President to run things day-to-day who was the leading organizer of the Great Bear effort. Ross McMillan hails from Tofino on the west coast of BC, but now is in Vancouver helping to keep up with this rapidly growing enterprise.

• A recent draft strategic plan indicates Tides Canada will be aggressively launching into areas of social justice, climate change, and social finance. There was a long discussion at the Board Meeting about the critical state of low and moderate income housing in all of Canada’s major cities. Vancouver especially, it seems, has seen rental housing replaced by highrise condos that are largely held as investments and unoccupied. Lots to sort through on this issues, for sure.

On top of all this, CEO Tim Draimin is leading a policy initiative to establish program sponsorship and development - done up there by Sage Centre, a parallel to Tides Center - as an accepted and well developed way of doing business. No mean feat, I can assure you, given the complexities of the Canadian tax system.

All in all, I’d say our northern sister organization is in GREAT shape and continuing its innovative ways. Check them out!

The Key Element of a Strong Organization:
Establishing a Management Capacity
As many of you know, Independent Sector hosted its annual conference in Los Angeles October 21-23 , 2007. I was there with Heidi Gatty, as well as 1,000 philanthropic and nonprofit leaders from across the country.

I moderated a session for CEO’s titled, “The Key Element of a Strong Organization: Establishing a Management Capacity“. Have you seen the recent Independent Sector Conference publication: Principles for Good Goverance and Ethical Practice (PDF)?

Heidi led a hot topic roundtable on the role of fiscal sponsorship, a great way to extend the reach of the National Network of Fiscal Sponsors network Tides is building under Heidi’s leadership.

Join the National Network of Fiscal Sponsors E-newsletter to stay up-to-date on best practices, and aspire to ensure responsible use of the tool of fiscal sponsorship.

The Inaugural Gathering of NNFS
Tides, as the largest fiscal sponsor in the nation, has taken leadership in organizing a National Network of Fiscal Sponsors (NNFS), in order to improve the practices, capabilities, and awareness of fiscal sponsorship through education and advocacy. This work is aimed at increasing funders’ and the publics understanding of the benefits of fiscal sponsorship to increase the use of fiscal sponsorship as a key strategy to support forward-thinking social entrepreneurs, activists, and philanthropists. Last week, on Oct 18 and 19, Tides Center hosted the Inaugural Gathering of NNFS at the Biltmore in Los Angeles, under Heidi Gatty’s leadership, with seamless logistical support from Luba Palionny, and under Jane Levikow’s wise guidance.

50 participants from 30 organizations from across the country participated to share information about best practices, understand the similarities and differences across fiscal sponsorship models, and promote fiscal sponsorship as an important tool to strengthen the progressive nonprofit community. Participants identified opportunities for collaboration, including development of a website to help the sector understand fiscal sponsorship, guidelines for responsible practice, and case studies to showcase the important work fiscal sponsors do. Heidi reports that participants left the meeting energized, with a renewed sense of purpose and deeply grateful to Tides for its commitment to convening and connecting such a diverse group of practitioners.