| Building Circles and Teams that last |
Posted 3/5/2010 by Scott C. Miller, CEO |
Building Circles and Teams that Last
March 5, 2010
 We are learning in our partnership with the United Methodist about the nature of teams—how they function and what makes them successful over a long enough period of time to transform organizations and communities. There are three types of teams that do different kinds of work:
Directional teams do governance work and they are typically large bodies of stakeholders that come together every so often to help us understand what direction we should be going. Big View meetings and large Guiding Coalition meetings do this kind of work.
Operational teams are comprised of three to twelve people who are going to work together over a long period of time to solve ongoing challenges. They do adaptive work and need to spend at least 8 hours a month in contact with each other. These are our leadership teams that set and support Circles initiatives. It can be any one of the five Guiding Coalition teams that take up the responsibilities of customizing Circles for their community.
Task teams typically do ongoing routine tasks, or short-term assignments. Weekly meetings teams will have sub-teams that are assigned the tasks of holding meetings, overseeing childcare, ensuring good meals, and facilitating Getting Ahead classes.
It is important to not mix these teams up. Giving a directional team adaptive or task work won’t work, because there are too many people whose purpose is to give input and direction. Recruiting people who want to do tasks onto an operational team will frustrate them because they are not looking for adaptive work. And people who want the challenge of adaptive work should not be underemployed by a task assignment.
In most communities you will find most people wanting to join either a directional team or task team. We find that those who are good at adaptive work gravitate towards the leadership team that ensures a healthy guiding coalition is in place making Circles run as smoothly as possible.
Last week in Jackson, Mississippi we built a statewide operational team comprised of Circles coordinators from the three Circles pilots, two state-wide staff and a team of national and state consultants who are going to help build out 1000 Circles throughout the state.
Our national consultant, Craig Robertson, Executive Director of Spiritual Leadership, Inc. helped us build a covenant that would allow us to have an effective, high-trust team. Below are examples of the covenant principles that we developed. We each signed 12 copies that were circulated around the table so that everyone had a copy with everyone else’s signatures.
– We all are responsible for our own behavior/intent/feelings and each others
– Eliminate poverty, not mitigate – not satisfied with less
– Loyal, faithful, Loving, - Live Love – this is the spirit of our work
– We desire to be inclusive
– We start meetings with good news and end with appreciation
– We treat deadlines seriously and renegotiate when needed
– We don’t use this environment to convert people to our belief system
– Communication responses by email within 48 hours
– Attendance / Participation is critically important
– We have an obligation to present possible conflicts with our covenant
– To speak directly and honestly to people not behind their back
– Find language to express when we are hurt
The light bulbs went off in my head as I thought back on my most difficult times with our work. Each memory led me to moments when unspoken expectations went unmet. We did not develop a covenant, nor did we have an agreement about what we would do if one were broken. Instead we assumed are expectations were “obvious” only to be disappointed when people did not live up to these hidden rules.
Life is one big classroom. Rather than ask myself, “why did you not know this already?” I am grateful for the learning experience. The new tools and information strengthen our work at every level of the circles Campaign, from the Circle leader and his or her team of allies, to our local Guiding Coalition team building, to state and national leadership teams.
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| Humanity and its Priorities |
Posted 1/21/2010 by Scott C. Miller, CEO |
Humanity and its Priorities
The current media coverage of the tragic devastation in Haiti is bringing the unimaginable suffering of an already downtrodden people into our living rooms each and every day. What strikes a deep sadness in me is the reminder that prior to the earthquake Haitian parents had been feeding their children mud cakes to alleviate the pangs of starvation. Meanwhile, middle and upper income Americans like me fall easily into our incessant world of consumerism, worrying about our shrinking portfolios, our high cost of living, as well as which new electronic gadget to purchase next. If we connect with our humanity and take stock of our priorities, here is how it would look:
1. Ensure all human beings in the world have enough clean water, food, and adequate shelter
2. Ensure that those are ill or injured have access to decent medical care
3. Nurture our children with love, guidance, and education
4. Build a happy and meaningful community life
5. Pursue personal transformation to become the high-level beings we are capable of being
Notice what is not on the list:
1. Rack up my credit card to fill the vacuum of friends and meaning missing in my life;
2. Watch and listen to hours of hate-filled TV and radio pundits endlessly spin political events;
3. Work 50 plus hours a week in order to create a superficial lifestyle that leads to family stress, disconnection from loved ones, and personal isolation.
4. Spend hours in front of a computer screen or texting friends.
5. Fill in your favorite distractions _________.
Can you imagine what it would be like to have a personal commitment to the top five priorities? Such a purpose is so right that the full joy of being alive would well up in each one of us!
All American citizens wield enormous global power because of our privileged position as the world’s only superpower. Each and every one of us has instant entitlement to this power. Do not underestimate the personal power that you have been given by the good fortune of being an American citizen.
Let’s use our political and financial resources to change the priorities of the human race. Haiti deserves help in rebuilding its infrastructure and it deserves a 30 year partnership from the US to rebuild its society in ways that ensure that children are never fed another mud cake in order to keep the feelings of starvation away. The 1 in 6 children living in abject poverty worldwide deserve this commitment from the US as well. We can do this! We can make this kind of commitment. We don’t need earthquakes and tsunamis to remind us of the horrible disparity that we have allowed to grow on our watch. Americans have good hearts and generous spirits when crisis strikes. Let’s build on these qualities and commit to ending poverty.
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| Get Organized for the New Year |
Posted 1/10/2010 by Scott C. Miller, CEO |
Get Organized for the New Year
Creative chaos seems a misnomer. Clarity is our friend and confusion is not. Chaos in one’s office seems especially counterproductive. It can contribute to feelings of overwhelm and “dropping the ball.” If we can’t find things, it takes extra time and energy to look for them.
I have been working with a personal organizer for the past 6 years and she has made a huge difference in my life. We do much of our work now over the phone since I have moved from Iowa to New Mexico. My office space is uncluttered and a joy to come into each day. Everything in my environment supports me in staying focused, organized, and effective with my work.
Here are the tips I have learned from my Certified Professional Organizer®, Mary Sigmann, www.organizer-coach.com.
- Start with subtraction. Only have in your office what you need for your work. Get rid of the junk that is cluttering up your space.
- The first step is creating an office environment that is clutter-free and organized.
- The next step is cleaning up electronic and hard files.
- Finally, take a fresh look at your calendar and how you are managing your time. Only have activities that will move your agenda forward.
Clutter is like a screaming child demanding your attention. Do yourself a favor this year and get organized. Even if you are really organized, there is always a next level.
Scott
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| Our D.C.Trip |
Posted 11/18/2009 by Shelly Greathouse |
Our D.C. Trip
 WOW would have to be the first word I use to describe our trip to D.C. First, let me say that I have never experienced anything like it in the 30 years I have been on this Earth. A road trip, through mountainside and colorful bliss and I got to share the experience with an amazing group of men and women. There was rarely a dull moment in the entire trip. I got to know everyone a bit more than I had before which was interesting in the least.
When we arrived in D.C. one of the first things that we saw was Union Station and the food there was great. I had the juiciest hamburger ever if you’ve seen the pictures you are well aware of that! The sites that we saw are enough reason to say WOW, but of course there was much more to it. The preparation for the poverty simulation in that very nice ballroom, the continental breakfast the morning of the simulation and the bang up performance of our team during the simulation were all very heartwarming and at times even breathtaking.
Then to top it all off I was standing within steps of the Senator of West Virginia, Rockefeller was tall and not just in height! He also started out as an AmeriCorps VISTA if that isn’t a hope shot for us all. The Horizon’s are limitless! I would have to say that this trip is one that will be everlasting in my mind. To anyone who hasn’t been to D.C. I would say that this should be one of those family vacations that you plan. Yeah Disney Land is flashy, and Sea World is fishy, but D.C. from my experience is one of those heart and soul tapping places that will touch you in a way beyond belief.
I am truly thankful to Carlos, Karin, Tim, Tracy, Sonya, Sherry, and Danielle for sharing this experience with me. I am also speechless in thanks to CareSource and Roll Call because without their commitment to each other, and the people and their faith in Think Tank this opportunity would have never been possible. Most of all the sparkle in my little girl’s eyes when I showed her the pictures and told her of my adventure made it all well worth it.
Someday I hope to be able to take my children to D.C. and share with them the history of our nation the way it was so freely shared with me. THANK YOU again to all who made this possible.
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| Trip to D.C. |
Posted 11/18/2009 by Carlos Guajardo |
Trip to D.C.
 The trip to D.C. was awesome. It started off with me in the office till three in the morning getting all the last touches on things that we, the Think Tank team, had been preparing. I ended up staying the night at the office on the couch and that was actually a good idea due to the fact that we were leaving from the office at five in the morning.
I had this idea that I would fall fast asleep on the ride to D.C. and get plenty of rest before we got there. That plan didn’t work out the way I thought that it would. I did however, get a little bit of rest which Tim, the VISTA from Dayton, so kindly took a picture of and posted on Face book! I have to admit that I had a great time riding with all the people that went and getting to know them and just spending time with them. I believe that road trips gives people a chance to really get to know each other.
So when we got to D.C. it was a lot of what I thought it would be like and at the same time, some things were a lot different than I expected. I mean I had a good feeling that the sightseeing was going to be a blast, and it was. The monuments were defiantly a sight to see. I really enjoyed the Lincoln Monument. We got to stand where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his ‘I have a dream speech’ and if anyone knows me well enough, they know that besides Jesus Christ, Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most respected historical leaders ever to me. It was awesome! I was a little shocked when I saw the White House though. I mean after years of seeing it on television, I somehow thought that it was all back somewhere on its own. It was literally right off the side of the road. Of course there were guards and the road that it was off of didn’t look like it was used too often but it was just kind of surprising to me.
Also something that I got a chance to do was visit the Holocaust Museum. Now before I say anything about this at all I want to say that I believe that everyone, I really mean it, everyone should see this place. I have heard lots of stories, read books, and have seen lots of movies but nothing has come close to comparison to being at this museum. Four of us went into the museum but we all quickly kind of went our own way. I had a lump in my throat from the very beginning. The top floor was dedicated to the time to when Hitler came to power. As I went through I saw so many things that I didn’t know about. I learned about the burning of the books, about all the raping that took place there and how women were treated like dogs. I don’t say that as a metaphor either, I really mean that. I learned that some of the women that lived through that period were walked through the streets naked and the men that were walking them would hold them by their hair. I also learned that when the men would stop to talk to someone, the woman would have to sit on the street while the man held her by the hair. I learned about what a ‘ghetto’ really is and where that word came from and if that wasn’t enough I went into a room where there were shoes everywhere. These were the real shoes of the people that were in the prison camps. I wish I could remember the exact words on the wall but it said something to the effect like “My shoes were made of leather so they kept them, but my body that was made of flesh and bones were thrown into hellfire.” I couldn’t believe it. I looked down and saw the shoe of a little girl and totally lost it for like ten minutes. I am really glad that I went into the museum but I really don’t think I will ever go into there again.
I don’t want to end this on a sad note so the last thing that I would like to add is the part that we were there for to begin with. The set up was nice and I think that most of the people that were expected to show up did. I had the opportunity to facilitate the simulation and I feel really good about it. I am hard on myself when it comes to these kinds of things because I want to do a good job, but I really feel as if I did well on this one. The people that participated in the simulation seemed to have had a good time with it as well and I feel that they all get something out of it.
After the simulation Senator Rockefeller came and gave a speech. There were people from all over and from the looks of the room, there were elected officials and other people with important jobs and titles. When Senator Rockefeller got to the podium the first thing that he said was “Where are the VISTA volunteers?” We raised our hands and then he said to us right there in front of everyone “That’s where I started, it all started at VISTA for me.” I was, and still am, very inspired by that!!
I have no idea where all this is going to lead me but I do know this and believe it with all of my heart. As long as I keep doing the next right thing and stay connected with God, he will put me right where I am suppose to be. I kind of think about it like this. There is no way that I will be able to reach everyone, but at the same time, there will be people that I will come across that only I will be able to reach.
Thank you all for the opportunity and chances that you have given me. I have years of experience of living in poverty and I know what it’s like. I feel a feeling that I can’t explain every time I get a chance to teach someone or help someone about something that I have experienced and that’s because there are people like you that have dedicated your lives to making change possible. Never think that your work is not paying off because I am living proof that it is!! ?
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| Washington D.C. was amazing! |
Posted 11/18/2009 by Sonia Holycross |
Washington D.C. was amazing!
 Washington D.C. was amazing, to say the least. I felt like I was a child who had found the North Pole. To think of all the great people who dedicated their lives to making this country, a place where people of all races and backgrounds can come together based on one commonality, the desire of Freedom. Freedom has a lot of definitions but I believe freedom starts with an opportunity to be heard. We waged wars for our right to be heard despite our differences. From anti-Semitism, slavery, women’s rights, we have proven that we are a country of diversity and everyone despite our differences will be heard.
It was the courage of people like Abrahram Lincoln; who showed not every white man wanted a slave, or when we heard a neighboring country was exterminating others due to indifference we fought back, because we wanted the world to hear that it’s not okay to do. Even with respect to women rights, someone had to go against the grain and say we (women) deserve more! D.C. to me was a wonderful reminder that we have the strength, capability, and a history to change our world when it is necessary.
We were given a chance to be heard that day. People in poverty. You and me. The different ones in the crowd, for that I have to say my deepest thank you to Care Source who in case you didn’t know, was founded by Pam Morris, one of those” different” people who heard the voice of the under/un-insured. She has not only produced more than adequate health care; she continues to provide opportunities for the people she insures to be heard. Another “different” person, Senator Jay Rockefeller from West Virginia, a former VISTA who stood up and very emotionally spoke out for Health Care Reform attributing a lot to his experience in working with the poor and hearing their voices, made me so proud to be a VISTA.
I must say it feels good to be heard!
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| The D.C. Experience |
Posted 11/18/2009 by Tim Zecchini |
The D.C. Experience
 Me in Washington D.C. for a couple of days, who’d’ a thunk it… It was absolutely awesome to see the nation’s capitol… I could have skipped the eight hour drive there and back though… Maybe next time we can get one of those private jets we saw coming and going the entire time non-stop to and from the airport… I got to see some really cool stuff like the actual flag that was the inspiration for “The Star Spangled Banner”, Dale Earnhardt’s racing helmet, Kermit the frog, and Archie Bunkers chair… The Poverty Simulation went off without a hitch and all those involved ran it like professionals… We even got to meet Senator Jay Rockefeller…
Besides all of the stuff I got to see in The Smithsonian I got to see more monuments in one day than I have seen in my entire lifetime… Even got to meet a news anchor from CNN at one of the monuments, but I still have absolutely no idea who he was… Don’t watch the news much it is too depressing… Now if it was John Stewart or Steven Colbert them I know… I swear we did so much walking that I believe I’m an inch shorter now from grinding off the bottoms of my feet… I saw White Houses, Capitol Buildings, and all sorts of other historical buildings but my favorite would have to be the NY Deli… They make the most incredible Coney I have had to date and the Brooklyn Lager wasn’t too shabby either…
Thanks to Care Source for bringing us out with them to run our Poverty Simulation… They jumped right in and helped us out with participation like they had done these for years… By the way when do you want to go back and do another one… Every one who was involved was awesome… We even had someone crying by the end of it… Either they were moved or Sonia is one mean employer… Carlos gave directions and spoke from the heart like he has been doing this since birth… I know this made an impact…
It was really inspiring to meet Senator Jay Rockefeller… He started out as a VISTA just like me and now he is a US Senator… That’s when it hit me that in this country I really can be and do anything… It was an epiphany (oooh fancy word)… Suddenly I realized with God there really are no limits on what I can be in this country… Now I’m not saying I could get the job because I don’t have the money or connections it takes “YET”, but I realized I can do the job… He also taught me that lobbyist’s are mostly evil, you know like Emperor Palpatine darkside evil (sorry for the Star Wars reference, but I got to see C3-PO too)… He also talked about how it took him 30 years to get running water to the town he started in… That kind of passion to improve peoples lives is awesome and makes me want to improve Dayton no matter how long it takes because I now know it can be done… I can’t wait to go to Washington D.C. again…
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| MTM Update |
Posted 11/13/2009 by Scott C. Miller, CEO |
MTM Update
•Please go to www.movethemountain.org and see the new video produced by Think Tank in Springfield, OH. You can circulate this throughout your community to get the word out about Circles. If you want your own website promoted at end of this clip to use locally, let us know.
•A new group of trainers was certified by Michelle last week in Phoenix. Here is one quote I received: The Train the Trainer in Phoenix was great last week. There are some great people involved in this work around the country.
•We have hired Dr. Alan Rice from NC to coach communities on individual donor fundraising, Carol Erickson from Wash DC (who was one of the first staff hired by Gates Foundation and now a private consultant) to help us build national foundation partnerships, and Julie Rice from San Diego to help write grants and streamline materials. Let us know what you need.
•I spent the week in Mississippi to begin working out five-year plans to organize for 1000 Circles using the full partnership of the statewide United Methodist Church office. Both Indiana and Mississippi now have a formal commitment to 1000 Circles. I believe this might be a useful model for all states.
•In partnership with MS UMC we are developing a Circles kit which will be delivered on jump drives. It will be packaged so that any organization in your community can participate in Circles and will include powerpoints, Getting Ahead scholarship -sponsorship materials, recommended weekly meeting agendas, and sample job descriptions for all guiding coalition team members.
•This week’s planning led us to think it could be possible for any church of any size to provide 3 allies, $50/month, and meals for one month in partnership with 11 other churches that would do the same. That would sponsor 12 GA investigators a year and provide allies for their subsequent Circles.
•Dr. Alan Rice from Rural Faith Development and I meet with heads of churches in Texas next week that have up to 10,000 members and can create large Circles initiatives within their own world.
•We have been planning with a private sector and education training company that has 1M end users to develop a web-based training and support system for allies, GC members, and Circles coordinators and coaches. I meet with them in Austin this coming week.
•I began conversations with Shorebank www.sbk.com to provide us with banking kits that we can use in our communities to encourage banks to be friendly to helping people out of poverty.
•Check out www.CFED.org to see how your state is doing with policy related to building assets and income for people struggling to get out of poverty. This is a new partner that provides great Big View frameworks.
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| New Blog |
Posted 11/5/2009 by Scott C. Miller, CEO |
Statewide Guiding Coalitions for Circles and Bridges: Ohio and Indiana Precedents
I am excited about the precedents that Ohio and Indiana have established by creating statewide coalitions to approach funders as a collective and to learn and support each other in this pioneering work.
Ohio formed a coalition of Circles communities and approached the Community and Faith Based Office of the Governor for funding last year. They have succeeded in securing an initial $750,000 from the Governor to provide funding to 6 communities over the next 18 months.
I just returned from Indiana last night. About fifteen organizations in Indiana have formed the Indiana Bridges and Circles Alliance, a statewide coalition committed to helping 1000 households out of poverty. The ten lead organizations are:
• The John H. Boner Center (Indianapolis)
• Citizens’ Energy Group (Indianapolis)
• Clarian Health (Indianapolis)
• Dress for Success (Indianapolis)
• Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana (Indianapolis)
• Scott County Partnership (Scottsburg/Austin)
• South Central Community Action Program (Bloomington)
• St. Joseph County Bridges Out of Poverty (SJCBOP) (South Bend)
• TEAMwork for Quality Living (TQL) (Muncie)
• Bridges Collaborative Group of Southern Indiana (BCGSI) (Evansville)
This is a formidable collaboration of partners who are well connected and able to bring things to scale. I came in for two days for a series of meetings with potential funders including: the Secretary of Indiana Family Social Services, the Director of Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, the Director of Medicaid, representatives from the Lilly Endowment Fund, The Indiana Grantmakers Association, The Lumina Foundation, the Nina Mason Pulliam Foundation, Clarian Health Organization top management, the CEO of Cook Pharmica and the group of 25 leaders from our Alliance partners and potential partners including central Indiana’s United Way and Community Action Partnership.
Molly Flodder from Teamwork, acting as the training director for Circles, pulled together the logistics and prepared a document outlining our Alliance members, resources, and overall approach to helping 1000 families. The round of introductions with funders will be followed up with more back and forth about our approach and available funding opportunities. MTM is providing follow-up grantwriting support through our national fundraising team with matching support from Alliance members.
The Indiana Bridges and Circles Alliance is here to stay. The announcement of their presence and purpose resonated loudly with all funders. You can follow this precedent and link with other communities in your state to build a more compelling presence for Bridges and Circles with your legislative bodies, state agencies, college networks, businesses, and foundations. Call us if you want to discuss this further. I am really excited by the possibilities and opportunities that these alliances can yield.
Let’s end poverty!
-Scott
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| Report from the Worldwide Opportunity Collaboration on Ending Poverty |
Posted 10/21/2009 by Scott C. Miller, CEO |
Report from the Worldwide Opportunity Collaboration on Ending Poverty
What an amazing experience! Over 200 very bright and able people working throughout the world gathered in Ixtapa, Mexico for five days to help each other increase the world’s capacity to end poverty. I am grateful to our sponsor for encouraging me to attend and covering the registration fee for the Opportunity Collaboration conference. Well worth the time and effort! Here are some of the highlights for me:
Big View
- Whatever national Big View issues emerge, they can be framed as policy and program planks for a real bridge from poverty to self sufficiency. Because we are using “Bridges out of Poverty” and focused on helping people achieve self-sufficiency, the bridge imagery is a good one. We are building an educated constituency of allies from all income levels who can help remove policy disincentives that make it scary and unnecessarily difficult to go from welfare to self sufficiency. For example, asset disregards for public assistance are too low.
- Bob Friedman is the founder of CFED and the one responsible for bringing the nation matched savings programs (individual Development Accounts). CFED can provide the Circles™ Campaign with its state- by- state scorecards on assets building, as well as policy analysis regarding the bridge from poverty to self-sufficiency. Big View teams can access not only their reports, but the extensive research and analysis provided by CFED. This is a bi-partisan resource committed to increasing wealth among those in poverty.
Microfinance
- Helping people develop their own businesses is an important strategy to bring incomes up to self sufficiency levels. I met with the directors of both Accion USA and Accion Texas, the largest micro-financers in the nation. Follow-up conversations are underway to form partnerships that will provide Circle leaders who want to start their own business with the opportunity for necessary training and loans.
- I also met an amazing entrepreneur in Austin, Texas who wants to help people start a business (I assume anywhere in the country) teaching Yoga. He has classes in Austin attended by 7000 people and wants to talk about how they can become allies. Let us know if this interests you.
Going to Scale
- Criterion Ventures consults large national systems like AARP and Lutheran Social Services on scaling tasks. The founder, Dr Joy Anderson, is very competent and creative about how models expand to new places. The key is “ease.” By its nature, both Bridges and Circles involve hundreds of organizations that are connected to national networks. I have already written a small grant to a family foundation I met at the conference to hire Criterion Ventures to help us build a new business model that can analyze how to scale within various faith-based networks, as well as other systems over time. This will be necessary to reach critical mass of commitment in this nation to really begin the end of poverty.
Banking Partnerships
- What would it look like to have a national banking partner with a bank dedicated to empowering people out of poverty? A big community-minded bank that we could consider placing investments in and knowing that those deposits were being used to make loans to low income people everywhere? And what if this bank also had an incubator to help communities develop this kind of bank model elsewhere? Welcome to Northshore Bank. I think we have a partner who can also help us develop ending poverty kits for our banking partners. I have follow-up meetings underway to structure this opportunity.
- I also met with the founder and board member of Calvert Social Investment Fund. Great guy, as in one of the warmest people I have ever met. He also sits on Ben and Jerry’s Board. I think this relationship can also be continued towards some future partnership.
Foundations
- I met several more people who work in foundations, or who sit on boards of foundations, or know people on foundations. It became clear to me that raising money from these foundations is a much longer-term development proposition than it used to be, and best done in a partnership with someone who already gets funded from them. We provide a social capital garden for their ideas and services. They are going to get better results with us. I was told by a former staff person from the Gates Foundation that it might take 10 years to get in the door with them. I did collect names and will follow up. Given all of this, we are going to develop a couple of direct foundation relationships but put most of our attention on building effective national partnerships with those who are already connected to national foundations.
Circle Leaders being Allies to women in Africa
- I sat in on two workshops regarding worldwide women’s empowerment and support programs. A magazine known as World Pulse provides a beautiful magazine for women to share their stories and set the stage for the full emergence of women (which we desperately need if we are going to have a sustainable world). They have a website for women to communicate across nations which is a terrific idea for a Circle leader and her allies to consider doing. If you are interested in organizing a US circle of support to someone in another part of the world, let us know and we will begin the discussions.
- Along these same lines, I sat in on Adventures in Giving which helps women in the US visit women overseas, e.g Africa, Haiti, Dominican Republic to better understand what is happening there and how they can help. I suggested that women interested in these trips could join a domestic US Circle as an ally and then the entire Circle could become allies to a family or village overseas. This idea got exciting for all of us and we met again to advance the idea forward. Let me know if this interests you!
Other good ideas
- FeelGood is a one grilled cheese sandwich at a time campaign to end world hunger—chapters are set up in universities. They are fun, inspiring, and maybe just the right idea for someone(s) in your Circles initiative.
- Downtown Streets Team Someone has figured out how to pay homeless people food and shelter for their efforts in cleaning up the streets. T-shirts, brooms, and dustpans are giving people a sense of purpose and belonging. It is very positive, respectful, and a great idea for first step work in ending homelessness.
- Everyone Counts works on the election process, designing online and elections that are inclusive to the poor, blind, and others who are often disenfranchised from the election process.
A different perspective on the value of Bridges and Circles
There were a number of people more adept at geek-speak than me. The word “platform” was used regularly in conversations and workshops. What if we saw ourselves as a platform that could support best practices from anywhere and everywhere that could help people out of poverty? As a national platform, we can bring a number of compatible and complementary organizations who have ideas that simply need picked up and done locally. I approached all of the above examples with that mindset. We have a unique asset. Circle and Bridges communities are organized to do something about poverty. No one I met had this kind of wonderful social capital network to tap into. This may be a big part of our new business model for expansion and sustainability both locally and nationally.
Next Year
I think Opportunity Collaboration is a good partner for us and we should figure out how to have a team from our Bridges-Circles network participate next year, if they decide to do it again. Let me know if you want to figure out together how that can happen.
It is possible to end poverty if we all get serious about doing it. That was reinforced by all of the young, middle-age, and elders at the conference.
-Scott
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| Managing overwhelm |
Posted 10/3/2009 by Scott C. Miller, CEO |
Managing overwhelm
Due to the economy, many of us are experiencing more overwhelm than usual. Working with people struggling in poverty we are putting ourselves in the midst of our community’s overwhelm. It’s good to take a look at what we do when we begin to feel like life is all of the sudden too much. Do we ask for perspective from our own Circle of Support or do we isolate?
Sunday I came home to find my bicycle, the one I purchased to participate in triathlons, gone and a much cheaper version in its place. That’s right, someone rode up to our home on this quiet Albuquerque cul-de-sac, saw our garage door opened and upgraded their bike for mine. This isn’t Kansas (or Iowa) anymore Dorothy. No. We are in the wild west where stealing is just a way to say, “Hey, you left your garage door open!”
While the police and I filled out the report, my neighbor’s daughter came over and said her mother, whom my wife and I have grown to love in the short time that we have been here, wants to call it quits! What? She doesn’t feel good, the economy still stinks, and the politics are more vicious than ever. What’s the point of hanging on? After the police left I went inside to catch up on emails and there was a disturbing story from a friend about their financial crisis.
I was facing a decision: to give into the feelings of overwhelm that were building and indulge in complaints, worry, drama-making; or to simply manage the overwhelming feelings. It’s a matter of perspective and since I have a circle of friends, I asked them for perspective. Isolating is not good for most of us, myself included. After getting some helpful support, here is what I did:
- I chalked up the bike episode as a lesson in being less naïve of my surroundings. I went on line and ordered our own personal tank to park on the lawn. (Just kidding… it’s really just a Civil War cannon… ) Still kidding. We did, however, order a security system to sound an alarm if our windows are broken. One of our neighbors suggested that the homeowners association invest in three video cameras that would monitor our street. We are doing some research.
- I then took the bike that our thief had left behind and rode it to the most visible corner near us to see how long it would take for that bike to be stolen. Somewhere between 1 and 5 hours. I have to admit, that was fun and I was glad to be rid of it.
- We extended our support to our neighbor, involved four other neighbors in an immediate circle of support, helped her get to the doctor and thankfully she is feeling much better now. My wife Jan is organizing regular game nights as a way to keep all of us better connected.
The skills we use in our Circles work are there to be used by all of us. I have appreciated over and over again how well they work. I hope you are finding the same to be true for you in your life.
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| The poor will always be with us - America's favorite excuse for indifference to those in poverty |
Posted 9/7/2009 by Scott C. Miller, CEO |
“The poor will always be with us” — America’s favorite excuse for indifference to those in poverty
One of our colleagues from the south said that the quote from Jesus that “the poor shall always be with us” is a major stumbling block for people getting involved in helping people out of poverty and focusing on an end to poverty.
Let’s put the quote in context: a simple google search on “the poor will always be with us” provides the situation in which the quote was given: Jesus is at a dinner in Bethany and Mary anoints him with a costly scented oil. Judas criticizes this gesture, claiming the money would be better spent helping the poor. Jesus replies with his famous statement, "The poor will always be with you."
What is the message?
1. Be indifferent, it’s a hopeless situation.
2. Let Mary anoint me with the oil. (it is an important event for her)
Seems that we use the first interpretation because (a) the enormity of social issues such as poverty can seem overwhelming, so we need an excuse to not act, or (b) we are afraid to interact with people who have a lot less or a lot more money than we do. Too often, it is easier to blame others than it is to take responsibility. We would simply rather have better poor people than look at how we personally might be keeping poverty in place. From my point of view:
Our communities generate poverty.
Our schools cause poverty.
Our tax codes cause poverty.
Our corporations and economic system cause poverty.
Middle and upper income people cause poverty.
People in poverty cause poverty.
And most of all, our collective ability to normalize poverty causes poverty.
I think the proper response to the statement, “the poor will always be with us” is to say, “I don’t think so. I believe Jesus meant that there is no excuse to keep someone from expressing their love; the problems of life (poverty included) are not an excuse to not be authentic in the moment.” I do not believe he was advising anyone to be indifferent to the poor. And I am sure that he would agree that poverty is an immoral condition, and that we should each do whatever we can to alleviate the suffering caused by poverty. He certainly did.
The fact is – for many reasons – some people need to hold on to their indifference. I would suggest we simply let go of trying to change them and continue to be the change we want to see happen. Focus on people who are ready to join our efforts.
Click here to read another article, Will the poor always be with us? by Bryant Myers.
-Scott
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| Bringing fun to the equation |
Posted 9/5/2009 by Scott C. Miller, CEO |
Bringing fun to the equation!
Four days of working intensely with Teleos Institute on my transformational leadership skills has brought me to a new clarity about how to lead Move the Mountain and the Circles™ Campaign…and it all involves having more fun! That’s right, lighten up…loosen the bolts…laugh longer, harder, and more often! Oh, but this is such serious work. Yes, it is. I don’t have a problem taking it seriously. I have a problem of taking it too seriously. So serious can I be that I wake up in the morning and I am bombarded with stray thoughts about work this and that’s. These thought bullets go right into my solar plexus until I get up out of bed, jot them down and begin my day.
Here are the warning signs that I need to lighten up:
1. My neck gets tight and the restricted rotation of my head has me calling out to Dorothy, “Oil me!”
2. My wife tells me I have that DS look on my face---deadly serious.
3. I have a pile of urgent flagged emails that upon review were never really urgent to begin with.
4. The sound of the phone ringing begins to sound like a fire alarm.
5. I have not used all my vacation time and it has suddenly become December 25.
6. It seems important to work on the weekends.
7. It seems important to work rather than take my morning walk with my wife Jan.
8. It seems important to work rather than visit family.
9. I fret…
What is wonderfully clear to me is that leading a transformation can and needs to include bringing self care, balance, and fun to the equation. I can lead a national movement, help leaders raise funds, initiate new Circles around the country, and build national partnerships while having an enormous amount of fun doing it. I am already pretty good at it. But…these past four days I have seen more clearly than ever that if I want to be really effective, less is more. By placing even better boundaries around my work time, and giving myself the best personal life that I can dream up, I set the conditions for using my work time in the most productive, high impact ways possible.
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| Being a Transformational Leader |
Posted 9/3/2009 by Scott C. Miller, CEO |
Being a Transformational Leader
I am doing transformational leadership work with the Teleos Institute for five days. The best way I can describe what happens for me when I work with Teleos is that my primary motives come from the center of my being, not my mind. What does that mean?
Good question.
For example, I say what say without wondering if I should say it.
I use my intuition to guide my actions. I don’t suspend my judgment or reason, but my decisions are swifter and have more confidence because they come from deep within.
I have a strong vision of what might be, such as the complete elimination of poverty, and I fully trust that the vision is there for me to pursue. I am unattached to the results and instead am focused on pursuing the vision with integrity, trust, and enthusiasm.
When working with Teleos I am reminded that I am entire human being, fully equipped with the ability to feel. Men are often socialized to feel happy or angry, and to avoid anything that might elicit tears—sadness, grief, disappointment, deep gratitude, joy, etc. But alas, the full spectrum is still alive in me and as I give myself permission to feel all of it more fully, I find that my mind and body both seem lighter and I am able to sleep much better. I even find that I do not want to eat more food than I really need.
Being a transformational leader means being fully present to NOW. I don’t hold onto things from the past and I don’t jump into the future and spin scary or rosy tales of what might happen. I certainly make plans for the future, and I review the past to learn from it, but these are intentional acts for a specific set time, and I return my attention to the PRESENT MOMENT.
In this particular session, we are exploring the shadow self where all of us have stuck “unwanted” experiences and qualities out of reach, or so we think, from others and our self. But in truth, these shadow qualities find their way into our lives, and they drain off crucial energy that could be used to fuel our leadership work. By making more peace with my shadow, I free myself from using energy to suppress thoughts, urges, compulsions, etc. Shadow thoughts, memories, urges, etc can arise and I can relax because I am not making them wrong. The paradox is that the more I let go, the more control I over unwanted impulses.
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| News and Appeal to Get out of Isolation |
Posted 8/17/2009 by Scott C. Miller, CEO |
News and Appeal to Get out of Isolation
I am just getting back from a trip to Cheyenne, WY. I told our Circles Coordinator, Stephanie Pyle that she is in leadership heaven. United Way and the Women’s Foundation have provided a combined $100K/year for the first two years of Circles, and she has other support from a state grant. We had a series of the most supportive meetings you would ever want from local leaders. The Mayor spent 45 minutes with us and offered to support a Getting Ahead class with city employees. The community college President provided similar support and green lights to pursue whatever partnership ideas made sense. Over 110 people came to the Circles meeting Wed evening and many signed up for the varied tasks that are on our new “Let’s Organize Circles” checklist. We finished with a terrific meeting with the United Way President and her top team. It was a great site visit!
Leaders from Ft. Collins, Boulder, and Greely CO came up for the Wed event and to spend some time asking questions of me as well as Circles members in Cheyenne.
The District Superintendent of the United Methodist Church in Mississippi and I had a discussion about my coming to their state in the fall and beginning Circles Campaigns in the most distressed areas of the Delta and coastline that was hit by Katrina. I fly to York PA for their Circles launch in early September and then five of us present at the Community Action Partnership national conference in Philadelphia later in the week.
It was exciting news to hear that the Mellon Foundation awarded $300,000 to Westmoreland Community Action for Circles. It also looks like we are close to beginning Circles in Albuquerque. The stars are also lining up for an initiative in Reno, NV. The twin cities up in Minnesota have also announced they are officially joining the Circles Campaign.
While all of this is wonderful, nothing is better that hearing stories from people who are able to use Getting Ahead and Circles to change their lives for the better. If we only help people out of their isolation, it is plenty. If you are feeling a need for more support, model that behavior and ask for it. It can make the difference between feeling misery and feeling hope. Provide others with the opportunity to give.
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| The Pennsylvania Political Train Wreck |
Posted 8/7/2009 by Scott C. Miller, CEO |
The Pennsylvania Political Train Wreck
The Pennsylvania Democrats want to raise taxes and the Republicans want to cut programs. Neither side is apparently making concessions towards a resolution so the budget remains in limbo leaving one of our lead agencies with an unpaid state bill of $1.5M! They have announced that they are shutting their doors until the budget is passed and the cash flow crisis is put to an end. People who want out of poverty will be largely on their own without the services that the agency is budgeted to provide, but unable to access due the Governor and legislative “differences.” It is not expected the legislature will pass the budget until October or November, maybe as late as December.
George Washington had deep regret that political parties grew out of the opposing forces within his administration and he strived to keep the best interests of the Union at the forefront of lawmakers. It seems that having two parties creates a “polarity” within our lives that is ultimately unnecessary and unhealthy. We identify with one part or the other and then we make each other wrong at every turn to reinforce our identities to one choice or the other. When being right is more important that doing what is right, we have the evidence of a dysfunctional two-party political system. Being re-elected, remaining in power, and having the final word are goals of the smaller part of being humans. These are goals that only serve to massage our egos and have no business in leadership decisions. We elect people to represent the best interest of our communities, families, and neighbors. I hope Pennsylvania closes the loopholes that allow the two-party polarity system to shut down its government.
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| How to set up Circles funding...new lessons |
Posted 7/21/2009 by Scott C. Miller, CEO |
How to set up Circles funding...new lessons
What we have learned this year is that any initiative using only one or two sources of revenues is extremely vulnerable in recession times. Diversified funding both engages more people from the community in the business of ending poverty, and its builds a more sustainable future story for your initiative.
Move the Mountain has helped communities generate over $5M in new commitments in Circles initiatives in the past 12 months. In every case, these funds are coming through local relationships with foundations and government agencies. In pursuing the major national foundations we have learned that they are universally moving towards place-based funding rather than national association funding. Therefore, our strategy is to help sites get results, establish more diverse funding, and increase the national visibility and credibility of Circles™ through new national partners like the United Methodist Church and Goodwill.
The Community Foundation of Western Nevada has collaborated with Move the Mountain to develop a new process for financing Circles. Here is one way to build the right conditions for success with a Circles initiative:
- Staff investigates and “vets” Circles—they talk to other communities, review website, talk with MTM. They have genuine passion for the approach and share that with members they feel will have a similar passion.
- Next 30-60 days: Foundation staff share Circles approach and story, our national brochure, Bridges out of Poverty and Until It’s Gone book with their board members and key committee members—all of whom who have high levels of personal resources.
- Foundation convenes small group of key board members and members who might be interested to meet with me directly. Can be done on phone.
- MTM develops a five-year budget and foundation pursues a five-year commitment from base funders using a bell curve with expectations that at least four other diverse streams of revenues be developed for sustainability (see below)
- Next 30-60 days: Foundation staff continue talking with their board members and set up a follow-up presentation hosted at the home of one of foundation board member’s home. In Reno example, I presented to 20 potential investors plus the Mayor and his spouse. Care is taken to let people know that we know they have people they need to talk to and that they probably could not give a specific commitment or number tonight, but that we are looking for a sense of interest and potential commitment. Foundation President hands out pledge cards that ask for the following information:
a. Are you interested?
b. Would you like to consider pledging?
c. Can you tell us a range?
d. If interested, can you tell us if you would like to begin pledges now, in 60 days, a year from now?
- Potential investors who could not make the first presentation are convened the next morning before I fly out of town.
- Foundation staff follow-up with potential donors to put together the full amount of five-year base funding.
- Foundation refer potential lead agencies for interviews with MTM for the selection of lead agency. Criteria:
• Track record of raising money in the community: donor programs; foundation grants; government contracting, internet campaigns, and fundraising events.
• Appropriate budget and fiscal management capacity. We look for organizations with a minimum budget of $1M. Larger is preferred.
• Strong credibility with local funding institutions and individual donors.
• Strong credibility with political offices.
• Mission statement that aligns with ending poverty.
• Agreement to move the culture of the organization towards community engagement.
• Strong commitment and buy-in from executive director and board president that Circles will be used as a tool to transform the entire community towards a commitment to end poverty.
• Executive Director who has been in place long enough to assure the above.
- Contract begins with MTM. Build in resource development consulting assistance from professional grantwriters and fundraisers and Immediately begin resource development plan with targets in four new streams of funding so that the five year base funding is completely replaced by year six (again, see budget below)
View Sample Budget for Circles Pilot.
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| Ending Poverty—what is the role of the Circles™ Campaign? |
Posted 7/7/2009 by Scott C. Miller, CEO |
Ending Poverty—what is the role of the Circles™ Campaign?
The final solutions to ending poverty will come to fruition when we believe that we can and should end poverty and back those beliefs up with actions. The Center for American Progress reports that raising children in poverty is costing our nation $500B a year in healthcare, crime, and reduced productivity in our workforce. Approximately 12.9 M children were officially in poverty when the report came out (April 2007), each child representing about $37,500 a year in fallout costs.
About two children are being raised in poverty per each family we are supporting through Circles™, representing approximately $75,000 in fallout costs per year. As mentioned, this fallout is devastating to all strata of our society. The goal of the Circles™ Campaign is to organize Circles in 1000 communities. If we succeed in helping 30 children in each community out of poverty and move them onto a path of economic well being, we will be helping 30,000 children and have an estimated impact of over $1B. In other words, by establishing only 15 successful Circles per community and we will generate a “big-bang” impact that will launch, I predict, a multitude of new solutions across America (including much needed policy changes).
Having an impact of $1B is obviously newsworthy and will invite even the most jaded non-believers to consider the great potential we have to finally end poverty when we join together to support this goal. Historically, whenever the few join their voices to stand against inequality, their truth ultimately prevails. Therefore, the Circles™ Campaign will be coordinated with a well organized media attention. People will hear hundreds of success stories through every media outlet available to us.
While having a $1B impact is a small percent of the $500B challenge, it will launch a wide variety of comprehensive and complementary solutions to clean up the balance. When government begins holding its programs accountable to helping people achieve 200% of poverty guidelines, everything will change. Programs will become holistic, comprehensive, flexible, and utilize informal supports like Circles™.
When we tell ourselves that we can and should end poverty, public policies will change to accommodate new goals to achieve the metrics that go with such a goal. For example:
- Major new investments will be made in early childhood development to maximize the phenomenal brain growth of this age and prepare all children to learn;
- Communities will work with public schools to produce 100% high school graduation rates (perhaps learning from the many charter schools that are having such great success with children from disadvantaged backgrounds) ;
- Business and communities will work closely with post secondary institutions to ensure high retention and completion rates that translate into jobs that pay 200% of poverty guidelines or more;
- The nation will pursue 100% financial literacy rates so that everyone understands our money system. Words like “assets” and “liabilities” will no longer be mysterious to the average middle and high school student.
Poverty is our modern-day slavery. We ended slavery in the 19th century after reaching a critical mass of understanding that it was immoral and that society and our economy could go on without it. There were huge economic implications for ending slavery that led us into the Civil War. The good news about modern day poverty is that ending it will only produce positive economic changes --$500B of positive changes (not to mention the potential in research, technology, and other intellectual gains we cannot even foresee by giving a hand up to each child to realize his or her potential to give back to our country). In essence, this is an easier challenge than ending slavery was.
Move the Mountain convened a national team of 25 people last month in Ohio to discuss what it would take to scale Circles™ up to 1000 communities. We have the general outline and will be working out the details over the next couple of months. I personally now have more clarity about what my new job will look like. As Craig Perrine, an internet marketing expert and one of our new partners told me, “you can’t grow Circles to 1000 communities the same way you grew it to 40”. We will be relying much more on local training centers, videos, media, and professional fundraisers.
I do believe that we can and should end poverty and I will continue to align all of my actions with that belief. Let’s no longer do half measures or band-aid solutions. I hope to embolden you to believe in and support this goal as well. We can and we should end poverty!
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| Having a Personal Mission Statement |
Posted 6/16/2009 by Scott C. Miller, CEO |
Having a Personal Mission Statement
Years ago when I first refined my mission statement to “inspire and equip communities to end poverty”, I noticed a shift in the quality and impact of my work. A clear mission statement is like having a quality filtering system. Only the ideas that are most likely to help you achieve your mission are going to be considered.
I am very aware that over 80,000,000 people in our country are struggling –really struggling--financially. The lack of resources generates intolerable and crippling levels of frustration, anxiety, and despair. In order to end poverty, I need to be focused on strategies that have the potential of eventually reaching those 80M in some way. What are these strategies? The largest and most powerful strategy is to challenge and influence the attitudes we hold about poverty. If we think the poor will always be with us and therefore nothing can really be done about that, then we condemn one out of every five Americans to a bleak reality. The American Dream cannot happen for the. (And keep in my mind that “one of them” is not just one of the numerous homeless or service individuals we meet daily, but could be a friend, a relative, or a colleague).
But if we believe that poverty is both immoral and costs our society immeasurably (as in $500B worth of fallout a year), then maybe we don’t throw up our hands and write off 80,000,000 people.
So, what can I do in any given day to pursue my mission to inspire and equip communities to “end poverty?”
Well, today I wrote to a very successful couple and asked them to join us in ending poverty. They have demonstrated their deep interest in giving back and I am being networked into their world through new friends and partners. I also wrote my first internet letter asking people to join the Circles Campaign as donors. I worked through a draft of an expansion plan to take Circles to 1000 communities, got notes ready for a million dollar proposal to expand Circles in North Carolina, prepared for a meeting next week with people around the country on how we can expand Circles, did some coaching with sites in California and Wyoming, spoke with a foundation officer and United Way board member in Nevada about a presentation I am making to funders there next month for a five-year campaign on ending poverty, revised our new Ending Poverty Kit, and prepped with a partner in New Jersey for a meeting tomorrow with Washington DC officials at the Department of Labor. I also tended some necessary administrative tasks like our monthly agency budget review, worked with our webmaster to tweek the website, and finally joined twitter…at least I think I did. Still new at the tweet thing.
I believe we never get more than we can handle in life if we are pursuing our life’s purpose. A day like today would have overwhelmed me a year ago. Today it feels full, but not too full. And when it does, I have my own circle of support to call on to put things into perspective. Sometimes all I need to hear is that things will be OK. And that I don’t have to do it all overnight. One of my biggest supports however, is having a clear mission statement: Either I am inspiring and equipping communities to end poverty or not. That is my daily compass. I highly recommend developing a mission statement of your own. If you like this one, take it. Just think how much more we can accomplish if we join forces!
Scott Miller
P.S. Subscribe to MTM and get a free ending poverty kit!
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| Move the Mountain Leadership Center's new blog |
Posted 5/29/2009 by Scott C. Miller, CEO |
Move the Mountain Leadership Center's new blog
Welcome to Move the Mountain Leadership Center’s new Blog. MTM is a national nonprofit organization established in 1992 to inspire and equip communities to end poverty. If you have read Until It’s Gone, Ending Poverty in our Nation in our Lifetime you know that I believe that it is possible to end all forms of poverty in our nation. The large brushstroke steps are: 1) change of attitude; and 2) action steps to end it. Let’s talk first about attitude.
1) Change of Attitude: Poverty is not normal... Poverty is not normal… Poverty is not normal…
I live in Albuquerque and perhaps you read in the news recently about the Mom here who suffocated her toddler and buried him in the sand in a playground. She was raised in poverty, brought a child into the world, became homeless and decided she could not and would not raise her child in such a hostile world. So she killed him. THIS SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN. There is nothing normal about poverty.
Once you make this shift in your mind, the world changes. This process of shifting attitude happened in the mid-1800s when more and more people started to question slavery. Slavery is not normal…slavery is not normal…slavery is not normal…We have to get rid of it. And we did! Can you imagine someone introducing legislation today to bring back slavery in our country? It’s never going to happen because the attitude shift was complete enough to permanently eliminate it.
The same can and I predict, will happen with poverty. We will eliminate it from the world and replace it with a new reality. Our first step will be to get very clear that we do not need it. Poverty does not have to be the natural result of some societal bell curve nor the necessary consequences of bad life decisions. Poverty can be as devastating as war and torture. Were the natural consequences of an isolated mom in Albuquerque who ends up killing her 3-year old mom helpful to us as a society? No. Poverty serves no one. Everything that we might think is important about poverty, or normal about poverty are simply very outdated assumptions. Let them go…Let them gooooo…
The Center for American Progress, working with Georgetown University, Northwestern University and the Urban Institute testified to Congress in 2007 that the cost of raising children in poverty is now $500B a year! If you divide the 12.9 million children official in poverty that year into $500B you get $38,759 per child per year for the rest of their lives. We are spending $160B a year on extra crime, $160B extra on healthcare, and $170B on reduced productivity in our workforce. It’s mindboggling.
One last thing about the attitude shift. We cannot assume that government programs are handling poverty. Nor can we assume the local pantry, churches, social service agencies, schools, United Way, etc are handling poverty. Poverty has not been reduced since 1973. A critical mass of people like you and me have to commit, first in our minds, and then with our action, to the assumption that we can and should end poverty.
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