Ignoring the Obvious
Willful blindness. I have always loved this term—far more descriptive than some of its legal synonyms: ignorance of the law, willful ignorance, contrived ignorance. No, this says it all: a person glanced, didn’t like what s/he saw, so s/he suddenly becomes blind and can no longer see the behavior or the suggestions of that wrongdoing.
Earlier this week, a parliamentary committee investigating the wire tapping scandal at Rupert Murdoch’s media empire said that Murdoch was “not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major Read more
May 4th, 2012 0 CommentThat’s a Philanthropist
Regular readers of this blog know that I worry a lot about the future of philanthropy: are we raising children to embrace and understand philanthropy? Will there be philanthropists for tomorrow? What are nonprofits doing to secure their philanthropists of tomorrow? What are the unique challenges of raising children to be philanthropists in a country) where advertisements regularly suggest that everyone can have anything s/he wants, regardless of its cost; where instant gratification rules?
But of late, I’ve come to realize that I shouldn’t be worrying Read more
Introverts Unite…Separately
The second half of last century saw the spawning of research that uncovered the differences in how boys and girls learn. It revealed the ways that most teachers encouraged boys’ learning and discouraged girls’. As a result, enlightened educators and schools changed and adapted curriculum, pedagogy and more.
During this same time frame, we also came to understand the unique needs of adult learners, and pedagogy shifted yet again. Having male and female and adult and traditional-aged learners in the same class became, and remains, a Read more
We’re NOT #1
Rosie the Riveter is spinning in her grave. I’m just spinning.
Newsweek’s cover story for its March 12 issue was entitled “The Rise of China’s Billionaire Tiger Women,” written by Yale’s own “tiger mom” Amy Chua. Of the four women featured, three were aided in their rise by their husbands’ position, wealth and knowledge. But I’m truly not taking anything away from them. Back home, there are certainly American female billionaires, but Newsweek didn’t highlight them, preferring to examine America’s women’s standing in other proficiencies in Read more
Waking up the Brain Cells
Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You can learn what is right
And be off and away!
You have brains in your head.
Yet dumb stuff you say.
You can do yourself harm
You can steer yourself
Any direction you choose.
But you might crash and burn
If your mouth leads your brain.
Oh!
The stupid things smart people say!
Thank you, Dr. Seuss and “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”
One of the things some professors do as a semester draws near its end, and they are immersed in grading papers and exams, is to share “would you believe” Read more
Not the Supreme Court
Founders of nonprofits are special people. They have vision. They have sufficient charisma and/or connections to get that vision off the ground. Some may even have the ability to help sustain that vision. But they are not gods; they are not infallible; and they are not United States Supreme Court Justices, appointed for life. There comes a time when every founder has to go. Completely.
While I have known a few founders who have recognized when it was time for them to go in order to Read more
March 29th, 2012 0 Comment Don’t Lose your EPBMs
One of the most common complaints that I hear is how hard it is to find good board members, meaning they can’t find the bodies. My comeback always is, if you do it strategically, the right way, it isn’t hard. On the other hand, it can truly be one of the more off-putting processes for that EPBM (eager, prospective board member) seeking GNB (great nonprofit board).
One of the most frequent complaints I hear from individuals seeking a board position is that they don’t know how Read more
March 23rd, 2012 0 Comment We Don’t Have the Money
I was never a big fan of the circus, and it had nothing to do with the clowns. It was the tightrope walkers that caused me angst. While, everyone was looking up, and I’d be looking at my shoes.
Today, many of my peers are sharing my angst over tightrope walkers, but they are the ones on the rope. The economy of the last three years has thrown into vivid relief the paucity of most nonprofit salaries. Not that it was hard to see this before. Read more
March 16th, 2012 0 Comment Wrongful Death
I read with great sadness about the death of Hull House in Chicago, after 122 years. If you studied sociology, women’s studies, social justice, social work, or any related field, you quickly came to learn of Jane Addams and Hull House, which she co-founded with Ellen Gates Starr), and the legacy that each gave to this country. (Although little was ever mentioned of Hull House’s co-founder).
To most, I am sure, this is merely the closing of yet another nonprofit. Big deal. To others, however, this Read more
March 9th, 2012 0 Comment A Title on the Door
Over the years of writing this blog, I have spent many a word “defending” the for-profit sector, singing its praises for what the nonprofit sector needs to learn from it, while also pointing out what the for-profit sector should learn from us. But no more. I have increasingly realized that the for-profit sector does not “do it” as well as they would have us believe; and I absolutely am beyond exasperation with the arrogance—and the simplicity of thought too often wrapped in that arrogance.
Take, for Read more
