This weekend’s opening events included a “Queens of Jazz” concert at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis with Grammy nominee Ann Hampton Callaway and St. Louis’ own jazz queen, Denise Thimes, and the Opening Ceremony on Saturday. The Opening events had players draw colored scarves to determine their pieces for the opening round. They also hula hooped while playing chess, made moves with life-sized chess pieces, and participated in ‘bounty blitz’ matches! Two-time U.S. Women’s Champion Anna Zatonskih impressed crowds by defeating 5 challengers simultaneously – while blindfolded.

Rounds began Sunday, and continue through October 13th. Rounds begin daily at 2 p.m. at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, 4657 Maryland Ave., St. Louis, Missouri.

This morning, the club’s founder and chess advocate Rex Sinquefield joined his coach, Woman Grandmaster Jennifer Shahade on the Charlie Brennan show on KMOX. Listen to hear the interview on the Women’s Championship, Chess events around the city and the benefits of playing chess:

[pro-player type="MP3"]http://www.pelopidas.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/RS-and-JS-on-Charlie-Brennan-KMOX-10.6.09.mp3[/pro-player]

Today marks the first day of public school in the newly-inspired Innovation Concept Academy.  The St. Louis community, and America-at-large, owes a lot to the courage of one man – Judge Jimmie Edwards.  In less than six months, he has embarked on what others might say would be nearly impossible:  1) to assume ownership of a new community school that exists outside the lines of a public school, 2) to unite a diverse coalition of public and private interests together to enrich the learning environment, and 3) to lobby for real, no excuse community change for youth who need it the most.

From a political perspective, the Innovation Concept Academy hits on all five of the recommended steps on which now Governor Jay Nixon campaigned last year.  His five points were:  to invest in public school options using public-private partnerships, to recruit talented teachers to challenged districts, to reduce class size, to re-establish local community support, and to make sure that alternative schools are available and effective.  The Academy seeks to challenge all of the obstacles facing those children who often get lost in the public school system without effective mentors, dedicated instructors, and guardian engagement.

This Tuesday, we accompanied Rex Sinquefield with Judge Jimmie Edwards on a walk-through of the Blewett school facility.  We are excited to report that the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis will be partnering with the Academy to build a dedicated room to teach chess with its curriculum.  It is our hope that students can improve their math, science, reading, and critical thinking skills using a life sport like chess in a variety of environments (for classroom instruction, after-school partnerships, supplemental learning, and as a means to connect to our greater community).  If successful, such a model might provide a road map for urban progressives, mayors, governors, and civic patrons to do the same around the country.

In the coming months,  Room 103 will transform itself with the opening fall classes into a dynamic place to learn the game of chess.  Public school teachers, including educators as part of the AFT Local 420 Teacher’s Union have agreed to fill the classroom with ambitious goals of instruction (and smaller class size).  The Metropolitan Police Department of the City of St. Louis are moving in a sub-station to assist the facility with mentoring and community needs.  The community arms have even opened to accept other instructors from a wide variety of parish school environments. The manner by which so many organizations, from MERS Goodwill to local celebrities, have come together, can help pave the future of new school design.

Good luck Judge Edwards and Innovation Concept Academy.  Our children, our entire community, and our nation of neighborhoods, needs your model to succeed.

Rex A. Sinquefield with Judge Jimmie Edwards

Judge Edwards shows new classroom monitors to Rex Sinquefield

Future Chess Salon

]]> http://www.pelopidas.com/philanthropy/brave-education-st-louis-public/feed 0 http://www.pelopidas.com/philanthropy/how-missouri-lobbyist-can-use-all-for-good http://www.pelopidas.com/philanthropy/how-missouri-lobbyist-can-use-all-for-good#comments Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:49:11 +0000 admin http://www.pelopidas.com/?p=533 By Travis Brown

This week, First Lady Michelle Obama launched awareness for serve.gov. Thanks to the Google volunteer programmers that work 20% of their time on free form ideas, there’s now a new website rolled out called: www.allforgood.org (makes you wonder what the Microsoft Bing executives are doing to compete too, doesn’t it?).

An important role of a state or federal lobbyist can be sharing ways to expand charity in targeted areas, preferably around client priorities and/or the legislative districts of your colleagues in public service. That used to mean that your time and/or pro bono advocacy was limited to your physical presence traveling to a corporate office or a policymaker’s district. Today, thanks to open source API technology like All for Good, you can find creative ways to link community advocates, volunteers for political action, or small donor philanthropic patrons much easier.

Here’s how this can work. Suppose you had a healthcare lobbying client that wanted to sponsor some kind of senior outreach in Mid-Missouri, like Jefferson City, MO or Columbia, MO. On their site, you can see a search tab to enter location. When you do, you will first see a google map showing successful activities with active listings. In this example, item D in my location search sends you to volunteer match in Boone County.

The good news is that the collaboration also screens by issue, too, in your given location. This enables you to target lobbying for specific things, like public education. Suppose I want to find school partnerships in St. Louis, MO. In my search, it identifies, maps, and connects item G, Loyola Academy of St. Louis.

Obviously, the idea here is to link, share, facebook evite, tweetup, blog, or somehow promote an efficient way to give back to your targeted neighborhood. If it takes off anything like they hope, it could become a tremendous research for legislators, event planners, philanthropists, lobbyists, association managers, and engaged citizen leaders.

Quotes from a few individuals who supported the site that got us thinking:

“All for Good makes it easier for Americans to find a way to help others — to give someone a break — in a new spirit of volunteerism,” said Craig Newmark, Founder and Customer Service Representative, craigslist.

“I have been impressed — and inspired — by the way the people behind All for Good are putting their expertise in technology and the new ways we communicate at the service of service. By connecting those who can help with those in need, All for Good is an exciting step down the road of turning our impulse to serve into acts that reduce the human suffering that has been exacerbated by the hard times we are facing. Now, more than ever, we must mine the most underutilized resource available to us: ourselves. And All for Good can help us do just that,” said Arianna Huffington, Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief, The Huffington Post.

Long before I ever pondered the blurred careers as lobbyist, fundraiser, and promoter, I enjoyed my boyhood days on our family farm in Southeast Missouri.  We grew up walking soybean fields, baling hay, and adjusting to the natural seasons along the ole man river, the Mississippi.  I didn’t realize back then how much our lives ebbed and flowed due to the river’s edge.  Nearly every other spring, at some high water mark, we had to move our machinery and equipment out of the fields for fear of rising flood waters.

My mother, to this day, sees water as an encroachment, somehow bound to interrupt her way of life from time to time.  She lobbied against anything playing in the water, mainly because she was raised managing its limiting moves.  I had always heard about the great flood of 1973, when the levee adjacent to our bottom land broke under pressure to invade over 20,000 acres of crops.  I remember my father describing a levee hole nearly 100 feet deep and several hundred feet wide, littered with debris. It took bulldozers months to reform the banks.

Most years, flood damage was a commercial nuisance, not an immediate threat to our lives.  However, I witnessed the awesome force of flood surge truly in the Missouri flood of 1993, when an alleged 100 year event (just 20 years later) hit our entire region hard.  Since our home farm was in the Ozark foothills, we helped sand-bag the levees, rescue neighbors, and manage the anxieties.  However, my father was on the island the day that the levee broke.  It took less than six hours to fill up an entire 20,000 acre island with nearly sixteen feet of Mississippi River.

The story of tragedy always seems easiest to tell at the climax of its terror, rather than the loneliness it often leaves behind.  At the peak of Missouri’s flood pressure, armies of volunteers, Dan Rather CBS News, and the American Red Cross all joined our advocacy efforts.  However, the untold story that hangs with me now are all of the community faces that chose never to return.  Without a house on stable foundation, our neighbors’ heirlooms never were rebuilt.  Many retirees, the keepers of our local culture’s memories, never came back to Kaskaskia Island.

One year prior to this experience, I recalled the last lines of the movie “A River Runs Through It,” that seemed to sum up the immortality of my campaign for meaning:

“Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters.” – by Norman Maclean

9th Ward June 2009

Empty Lot

Recently, we saw the hostile water’s undertaker downstream in another town known for triumph over misery – New Orleans, LA.  We toured the Lower Ninth Ward extensively with a retired New Orleans police officer.  He rode out Hurricane Katrina with his dog just fine, but later had to evacuate by helicopter from his attic due to the federal flood protection failure in more than 50 places.

On August 29 this year, it will have been four years since our nation was humbled by this disaster.  I was stunned to learn just how far behind the politicians, wards, and school buildings were so long after our federal government tried to respond.  The pictures and video links (see video here) in this article remind me how important individuals, not institutions, are to restoring human progress.  Still today, the plight of each block varies dramatically by the conditions that each plot of land were dealt.  An estimated 40% of local citizens in this ward still haven’t returned.

New Orleans has never stayed completely down for too long, however.  I was inspired to witness the advocacy of many celebrity philanthropists, working with local charities and neighborhood associations.  At ground zero, a new concrete levee buttresses the new home construction of “Make it Right Foundation New Orleans.” Thanks to Missouri native Brad Pitt stepping forward to give voice on Larry King Live, the Charlie Rose Show, and the Today Show, new innovative storm-resistant structures are being erected.  Ellen DeGeneres is running a MIR homes challenge that even has a “Missouri Cares” team.

Musician's Village

Fats Domino Home

Even with such strong celebrity brands advocating for community change, in person you can see how many battles still lie ahead.  Less than five houses from Fats Domino’s personal residence, many homes remain in disarray.  The conception of musicians’ village, by Harry Connick, Jr and Branford Marsalis, has shown wonderful color and progress touring down Alvar Street.  However, many basic homes remain without targeted remodeling.

As an outsider to New Orleans, it’s plain to see how more celebrity giving could do more from individuals speaking candid about remaining needs on the ground.  Locals will easily offer up how frustrated and cynical they are waiting for a government institution to solve the problem.  To the other professional athletes, entertainers, & publicists wondering if this should be your cause, your brand advocacy is needed now more than ever.

It’s hard not to be bothered by observing such a stark gap between what America is, and what we believe it always should be.  So, it’s left us thinking about small ways that we can maintain a call to action.  Back in St. Louis, maybe a cajun crawfish boil meetup supporting these foundations?  Already in the works in less than a month.  Reaching out to educate others about today’s state of events – happening now.  A return visit to New Orleans with volunteers?  Definitely if we can swing it for a worthy local coalition.

Perhaps the water’s haunt can serve as our own personal reminder to always give back to others, regardless of who is watching.

Harry Connick Jr. Homes

Empty Chair Memorial

Future Pumps of NO

Ground Zero

The masterpiece by Shel Silverstein entitled “The Giving Tree” reminds us of some important lessons in non-profit leadership, philanthropy, and fundraising in general.

First and foremost, all of us enter our charities, campaigns, and causes thanks to somebody living prior to our existence.  Someone, something, or some act or deed that, because it was already there, made it possible, likely, or probable that your work would follow.

Perhaps a teacher or mentor moved you to consider your career field.  Maybe an experience afforded to you from a parent or donor gave birth to your campaign.  Whatever the drive, it was your personal giving tree that you trusted in a time of uncertainty.  We all must remember those who gave us the chance to find return over our risks.

As your opportunities and challenges grew with life, your needs from those around you evolved as well.  Volunteers on your board are no different.  They too, will change their forecasts of what is possible, as the economy churns, as their personal lives balance, and as your cause matures.

Too often, we act more like the little boy making new demands, and less like the giving tree looking creatively for how to serve.  In times of economic contraction, now is the time to become more flexible with partnerships, not fearful of changes that could spell crisis.

Thinking that donations to your efforts must act as they have done before may be the greatest myth facing your organization.  Have you considered how to get more bang towards your mission using creative technologies to deliver your message?  How seriously have you explored changing the venue, tempo, and board outreach to meet your campaign’s next year goals?  Furthermore, have you considered how your “Giving Tree” donors are adapting in their own life cycle, to manage their goals?

Your most dedicated donors ultimately have limits to what they can provide.  Perhaps that is one reason why many donors are choosing to go anonymous with their gifts.  A recent Chronicle of Philanthropy news update by Ben Gose cites that, “During the past 10 months – a period that included a steep plunge in the stock market – the proportion of gifts worth $1 million or more that have been made anonymously far exceeds historic patterns…”

With less than one third of nonprofit groups having built their own in-house social networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace) to bring online supporters together to discuss a specific cause or issue, is there any wonder for why revenues there remain small?  Fundraisers of the future must find new ways to connect their giving trees much earlier in life.

A missing element throughout social network giving is not efficiency, but personal trust.  People give support to people that they know well.  The challenge of our day, therefore, may be maintaining trust through transparency, accountability, and frequent contact.  Technology can help us achieve that, but not solely without the human condition of mutually-earned trust.

How would the giving tree story have ended if the boy never returned, or if the tree’s location was lost?  Despite our struggles, all of us must forge ahead together, hopefully with the strong shoulders from high trust relationships carrying us with everyday contact.  Don’t give up on your giving trees, and always try to sow more seeds for the next generation.

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet.  Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” -  Helen Keller

State budget cuts, however, are only an insurmountable problem if we are shortsighted enough to think that only government can fix our problems. State-run services are only one way that Missourians meet the needs of our communities. Philanthropy and charitable giving levels increased substantially in 2006 (3), and charitable giving levels in the last decade have tended not to decline nearly as sharply as household incomes during economic downturns (4). Most importantly, perhaps, U.S. charitable giving as a percentage of GDP is more than two times as high as its closest competitor, the United Kingdom (5).

One significant aspect of philanthropy is its ability to adapt to a changing ecology of needs, influences, political and social factors, and even to shortcomings within the philanthropic community. One new trend and buzzword in the world of charity is Venture philanthropy, or philanthrocapitalism, a model that takes practices and principles of venture capitalism and applies them to philanthropy as a way to increase effectiveness (6).

Venture philanthropy is characterized by experimentation, a deeper level of interaction between donor and recipient, and a stringent focus on measuring progress. Many examples of Venture philanthropy also target structural changes, targeting the roots of harmful trends to ideally create a ripple that will multiply the effect of a gift.

As Missouri tackles a constrained budget, legislators would be wise to take stock of existing philanthropic endeavors in the state not just to get an idea of the levels of service that exist outside of government institutions, but also to observe “best practices” and how philanthropy has been able to itself adjust to the economic downturn and social or cultural changes.

For example:

LiveFeed is a St. Louis grassroots organization that uses the local music scene as a forum for raising funds for two local food pantries, Operation Food Search and Food Outreach. Through events with a built-in following and the support of local bands, LiveFeed educates audiences about hunger issues in St. Louis and raises dough while rocking out.

The Monsanto Fund and The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center are two examples of how the Missouri biotech industry has changed the face of philanthropy in Missouri to pair the advances in biotechnology to target nutritional, environmental and global hunger and development needs. In addition to helping to make Missouri an attractive destination for new biotechnology business, it targets the causes of hunger and malnutrition instead of the symptoms.

The Today and Tomorrow Educational Foundation has given over $20 million in scholarship assistance to low-income families who want to attend St. Louis area Catholic schools but lack the means. The St. Louis Public Schools’ loss of accreditation has made these scholarships even more helpful for St. Louis city families who traditionally have not had educational choices. Missouri’s charter schools have also taken on the conundrum of meeting the vast array of learning needs without the cost. Many Charters focus on students who are not well-served by their local public schools: some target students who have dropped out, students with disabilities and students who would like to focus on a particular career path.

Microfinancing Partners in Africa serves as a conduit between the St. Louis community and existing microfinancing programs that offer small loans that allow impoverished Africans to build self-sustaining businesses. Microfinancing’s innovative and effective method of combating poverty has made it a buzzword with the socially conscious. Rather than re-create a microfinancing organization, MPA helps connect donations with micro-lenders that provide a certain level of involvement such as insurance, business training and health service, as well as helping communities get connected with microfinancing organizations.

Most, if not all state or federal government programs have their counterpart in the charitable sphere. The flexibility that philanthropic work provides to measure success, provide research and respond with agility to changes is something that state governments typically can’t accomplish. Perhaps Missouri’s biggest challenge in this economy is not how to meet all the needs of every Missourian, but how to foster the community of giving and innovation that is also working toward that goal.

Lewis Reed, Shameem Hubbard, Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield and Rodney Hubbard at the St. Vincent's Christmas Benefit 2008

Lewis Reed, Shameem Hubbard, Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield and Rodney Hubbard at the St. Vincent’s Christmas Benefit 2008

Saint Louis, MO, December 12, 2008–A good time was had by nearly 400 guests and more than $50,000 was raised to benefit the St. Vincent Home for Children at the second annual St. Vincent Home for Children Benefit Christmas Party.

The event, which was held Thursday, December 11, at the Chase-Park Plaza Hotel was hosted by Missouri-focused philanthropists Rex Sinquefield and his wife, Dr. Jeanne Sinquefield, Travis Brown and Rachel Keller Brown of Pelopidas, LLC, an advocacy management company and Laura Slay, president of Slay & Associates, Inc., a marketing and public relations firm.

Rex Sinquefield has had close ties to the organization since he and his brother Jerry lived at St. Vincent’s in the 1950’s, after their family fell on hard financial times, following the passing of their father. St. Vincent’s, at that time, was a home for orphaned children.
During the evening’s program, Rex spoke of the fond memories of his experiences, “The love, attention and good guidance that we received from the sisters who ran St. Vincent’s and from our basketball coach Ron Holtman, made an indelible and very positive impression on us. Our teachers and coach Holtman, provided us with all the tools that we needed succeed as students, win the 1958 basketball championship and become successful adults.”
Guests at the $50-per-person celebration were greeted with lavender colored Cosmopolitans, feasted on a vast selection of appetizers from Missouri-focused food stations and danced to music by Motown-sound band, Arvell & Company. Special recognition was given to three student residents of St. Vincent’s, now a 24-hour care and treatment center for youth with behavior disorders and other special needs. The students created Christmas-related artwork, which was used in the event invitation and displayed at the event.

Those in attendance included Mayor of the City of Saint. Louis, Francis G. Slay; former Saint Louis Rams football defensive stalwart Pastor Aeneas Williams and his wife, Tracy; KSDK’s Rene Knott and his wife Marla; Kevin Short of Clayton Capital Partners and his wife Patty; Bobby Kersee, Olympic gold-medalist trainer (representing Jackie-Joyner Kersee who was keynote speaker at a track conference in Las Vegas); St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley; John and Alison Ferring; Ellen Harschman, St. Louis University John Cook School of Business; Keith Kirk, Pelopidas; Nancy Rice; Robbyn Wahby of Mayor Slay’s office; John Chickey, board chairman St. Vincent Home for Children; Lee Ann Taylor, executive director of the organization; Larry LeGrand of Plancorp and his wife Dot; Alderman Lyda Krewson; incoming State Representative Tishaura Jones, Show-Me Institute’s executive vice president, Joe Haslag; Vince Mannino of RG Ross and his wife Patty; Jack Naudi, Slay and Associates; Earl Simms, Children’s Education Alliance of Missouri; and Tony Rich, Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.

“The holiday season reminds us of how important community charity is to our most vulnerable, especially in challenging economic times. We are honored to host so many advocates that want to give something back,” said Travis Brown.