Don't Die at Your Desk

Stress in the real deal for people working in the social sector, especially for people that run organizations.  We often work too many hours, personally take on too much of the stress from injustice in the world, and don't listen when our bodies are telling us to take a break. I have heard too many stories of nonprofit executive directors that die in their 50's or even 40's from stress related diseases. Many more burn out from all of the pressure and if they don't leave the field entirely, they stop contributing to their organizations and the issues that they are about at the same level because they have nothing left to give. I am not immune to this phenomenon.  This fall I ignored the crappy way I was feeling and continued with 3-5 meetings a day, in addition to my regular workload because I thought it would be too much of a hassle to cancel my commitments. After doing this for a few weeks, I was completely knocked on my butt by some sort of virus that had me coughing like a seal for a month and a half and eventually losing my voice. 

We need to stop treating our careers like they are a 40 year sprint. Balancing times of reflection and self-care with times of intense output and general career kickassness will leave you with a greater impact and the ability to actually enjoy that impact, rather than sitting in your bed with the flu for the 5th time this winter. Let's all stop trying to be the hero and instead be people who can actually make it through this race.

12 Ways YOU Can Stop Ferguson from Happening Again

There has been a lot of community-wide frustration about the situation in Ferguson and a recently released video of possible police brutality in St. Paul when a young African American man was tased while trying to pick up his children from daycare. A friend of mine made a great suggestion that people stop being frustrated and do something about it, so here are 12 suggestions for African Americans and allies that would like to do something to end the huge racial disparities that we have in Minnesota and get rid of a culture of police brutality against African Americans:

1) Help close the huge economic disparities we have in Minnesota by supporting African American owned businesses. The website  Tuloko is a searchable database with reviews of local African American businesses. 

2) Help young African American men who have been in or are at-risk of being a part of the criminal justice system by buying your coffee from Brotherhood Inc. Take it a step further by encouraging your business to hire Brotherhood, Inc. as their coffee vendor.

3) Send a gift to the African American Leadership Forum. AALF works to create a just and healthy Minnesota that works equally well for everyone, regardless of race.

4) Donate school supplies to Harvest Prep. Harvest has completely closed the educational opportunity gap. 

5) Write a letter to your mayor and police chief requesting body cams. A recent op ed by the Denver Chief of Police outlines why body cams are a useful tool for law enforcement. 

6) Financially support or volunteer for Communities United Against Police Brutality. Their Stolen Lives project lists people in Minnesota that have been killed by police officers

7) Think about how diverse your circle of friends is and expand your network. A recent study found that 75% of whites do not have a single nonwhite friend and that percentage is increasing. 

8) Sign up to be a mentor through the President's My Brother's Keeper Initiative. 

9) Order gifts or office treats at Cookie Cart. Cookie Cart provides job training for young people in North Minneapolis  

10) Become a member of Urban League and NAACP. Both are civil rights organizations that work on these issues long after the press coverage disappears.

11) Speaking of press coverage, write your local newspaper when you see inappropriate reporting about the African American community. A very clear recent example is the difference in coverage of Chris Lollie's arrest. Especially the photos that media outlets decided to use. Compare the Pioneer Press photo and the Inquisitr photo.     

12) If you are White, have a conversation with another White person about Ferguson. It is critical that this is just not a conversation happening in the Black community. Here is an article about why that is important. 

This is just a top of mind list, so please add your own ideas in the comments section. Also add links to ideas for other communities besides Minnesota. I have created this list in the spirit of solution finding and not finger pointing or race baiting so I ask that you do the same with your suggestions. As the every thoughtful Dr. Seuss said "unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." 

Fast Forward with Phil Buchanan

In my role at the Minnesota Council on Foundations I'm hosting a new video series called Fast Forward. The first interview was with the foundation evaluation superstar Phil Buchanan from the Center for Effective Philanthropy. Phil chatted with me about effective practice in philanthropy, the great tools that CEP offers, and advice for foundations that are interested in increasing their effectiveness. You can see the video below.

Stop Loving the Problem

Below is a short clip of a speech about how social sector leaders can be futurewise and getting out of the space of loving the problem, rather than working on solutions.

A little note to foundation staff

Hi there philanthropoid,

You work at a place that gives away money to make the world a better place, I can’t think of a better job in the world. Along with that, comes great responsibility to never believe the hype. We are not as smart, pretty or as funny as grantseekers would have us believe. We just have access to resources.

 Don’t ever believe  that you’ve got this all figured out or that you have enough expertise or resources to solve any of our community’s problems alone.

We need each other to do this work. Every success that I have had in this field has been because of the people that I’ve gotten to know through organizations like MCF, EPIP, and ABFE. Talk to each other, compare notes, talk about the grant that went really bad or the database conversion that never really converted over coffee. Help each other do better. It’s the only way we are going to make a difference. 

I'll jump off my soapbox now,

Trista