By Capital Development Services
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The podcast currently has 11 episodes available.
Mary Thomas
Chief Operating Officer
The Spartanburg County Foundation
The Spartanburg County Foundation:
The Spartanburg County Foundation was established in 1943 by Walter Scott Montgomery and seven key business leaders who saw community philanthropy as a way to address issues in the area. As the oldest community foundation in South Carolina, the Foundation recognizes a rich history of innovation, philanthropy, engagement, and community impact. Over the past 75 years, the Foundation and its donors have granted more than $161 million to nonprofits serving the needs of Spartanburg County and beyond. Today, the Foundation manages more than $200 million in assets and nearly 1,000 charitable funds that will sustain positive change in Spartanburg County.
Bio:
Mary L. Thomas has over 25 years of experience in the nonprofit sector. She currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer of The Spartanburg County Foundation where she is responsible for the day to day operations of the organization and leads its mission, vision, and strategies while translating the Foundation’s goals into the overall program of work. Prior to joining the Foundation in 1998, Ms. Thomas was the Executive Director of The Bethlehem Center, a ministry that serves families in the Highland community of Spartanburg, SC for 11 years.
Ms. Thomas is a graduate of Winthrop University, and holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in French and Communications. She was an exchange student to France through Lenoir-Rhyne College in 1983 and is a former French teacher in Spartanburg District 7 schools.
Ms. Thomas is a very active leader in the Spartanburg community and has held extensive leadership roles with a host of organizations throughout the area and beyond. She currently serves on the Apella Board of the Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System, Converse College Board of Visitors, the Northside Development Group Board of Directors, and the BMW Community Advisory Panel. Her past board service includes: The Southeastern Council of Foundations, The Rotary Club of Spartanburg, CF Leads, Women in Philanthropy, AFL Advisory Board, the Mary Black Health System Women’s and Children’s Advisory Board, the Mary Black Health System Board of Trustees, and SC ETV Advisory Board. She is also a former Commissioner for The South Carolina State Housing and Finance Authority. Ms. Thomas is a graduate of Leadership Spartanburg, Furman University Diversity Leadership Institute, and Spartanburg Regional Fellows. She is a Past Chair of The SC Grantmakers, the Spartanburg County Consensus Project, and Spartanburg Communities in Schools.
Ms. Thomas’ many honors include but are not limited to: being named Top Three Distinguished Grantmakers by the Council on Foundations in 2014 and, in 2006, being the first African American to win the Council on Foundation’s Robert W. Scrivner Award for Creative Grantmaking established by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund of New York. She took her prize money of $10,000 coupled with numerous gifts from the Spartanburg community to establish the Mary L. Thomas Award for Civic Leadership and Community Change. This award is managed by The Spartanburg County Foundation, and a deserving leader is recognized annually for his/her leadership on critical issues in the Spartanburg community. Other honors include Junior League Sustainer of the Year, the James E. Whitmire Meritorious Award, the Sunrise Civitan Good Citizen Award, the Mary McCloud Bethune Trailblazer Award (presented by the National Council of Negro Women), the 1998 Piedmont Area Girl Scouts Woman of Achievement, and a 1997 YMCA Black Achiever. She was ordained as a minister in 1986 by the Rocky River Baptist Association and is the second female to have that distinction in the Association. She is a member of Cornerstone Baptist Church where she serves as an Elder and Ministry Advisor. Ms. Thomas is the daughter of Mrs. Louise Thomas and Fred Thomas of Spartanburg, SC and is the eldest of three children. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, decorating, cooking, and sports.
Allan and Clare interview Tom Lawrence, President, The Leon Levine Foundation
Name: Thomas W. Lawrence, III CFA, CPA
President, The Leon Levine Foundation
L&L Management, Inc.
6000 Fairview Road, Suite 1525
Charlotte, NC 28210
704.817.6502
The Leon Levine Foundation:
Created in 1980 by Leon Levine (Founder and Chairman Emeritus of Family Dollar Stores, Inc.), The Leon Levine Foundation’s mission is to improve the human condition by creating permanent, measurable, and life-changing impact throughout the Carolinas. Based in Charlotte, N.C., the foundation invests in nonprofits with strong leadership, a track record of success, and a focus on sustainability in the areas of healthcare, education, Jewish values, and human services.
Juan Austin:
· Juan has been with Wachovia + Wells Fargo for 33 years
· Covering 4 states (NC, SC, VA, MD) and DC
· Economic ramifications of the virus – financial services industry is working hard to restore the health of the economy. CEO thanks team and customers of Wells Fargo as we all face challenges. “The only way we get through this moment is together, with flexibility, resolve, and collaboration. We’ll do our best to adapt to the needs of our communities… expedite grantmaking to ensure that nonprofits receive their grants quickly
· $175 million committed in response to COVID-19 by Wells Fargo: to address food, shelter, small business and public health needs (ex: $1M to Feeding America) – repurposed all of 2020 budgets = $27M+ to this region by providing “highly flexible funding”
o Opened grant portal on rolling basis thru end of August – encouraged past nonprofit partners to apply before May 31
o Especially want to serve diverse and under-served communities
o Also supporting small businesses with lending, advisory services, financial health and counseling
o Have some bandwidth to consider nonprofits who are pivoting to address COVID-19 community needs
· “As a corporate funder, the best thing that we can do is be flexible and nimble to support our nonprofits when they sorely need it.”
o Pausing all site visits
o Suspending in-person volunteer activities thru end of April; hope to resume
o Allow organizations to repurpose 2019 grants to use in the way the makes the most sense for them
· Proactive in reaching out to grantees (partners who’ve received grants over the past 3 years) – encouraged to get grant proposals in quickly, using a new “short-form” grant application process
· Past 3 giving priorities are still applicable to current needs – 2 examples:
o NC Grantmakers Network: call with Gov. Cooper on 4/15 – funders need to continue focusing on their mission
o WSJ article about PPP: work in past with disaster recovery prepared Wells Fargo to ramp up support in preparation, especially for small and minority-owned businesses, driving resources to those most in need at this time
· His team meets weekly to talk about impact: “silver lining is that funders have become true collaborators”
· “We’ve seen nonprofit organizations really step up to fill gaps.”
· Value of financial education work of past is coming into play now
· Communication with partners: grant funding cycles around 3 priorities have changed with the 2020 acceleration – “We want to give nonprofit partners a chance to breathe.” In Q4 will assess and have conversations with grantees in preparation for 2021
· Grantees reach WF primarily by email now, which works best and WF can be most responsive
· Generosity example: proactively reached out to grantees in March by email to notify them that WF stands with them and would be flexible with them throughout this year – one of the responses expressed great thanks and personal appreciation back to the WF team, in thanks for “strategically looking out for the nonprofit community.” Short notes of thanks are meaningful.
· Juan expressed his thanks for “resolve, endurance and ability to have a can-do attitude”
· Roy T. Bennett quote from “The Light and the Heart” – Attitude is a choice… kindness is a choice… giving is a choice… whatever you choose, it makes you, so choose wisely
· Wells Fargo loan portal is open
o Stimulus payments started today – WF pausing any collection of negative balances for 30 days from the date of those stimulus payments
o Donating fees associated with PPP loans back to communities
Note: Allan Burrows and Juan Austin served together on board of the NC Center for Nonprofits.
Bio:
In his role with Wells Fargo, Juan provides leadership to: all Corporate Philanthropy and Employee Involvement activities in North Carolina, (Exception: Greater Charlotte Region) South Carolina, District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. Austin’s primary focus is delivering strategic and brand/reputation building corporate philanthropy. Areas of emphasis include consulting, strategic analysis, training, budgeting, forecasting and proposal review & approvals. Since joining Wachovia in 1986, Austin has gained experience in several areas of the bank including Auto Dealer Finance, Retail, Business Banking, Community Lending & Investment, Commercial Banking and Wealth Management.
Juan is a native of Greensboro, NC, where he now lives with his wife; they have two adult children. He has been with the company since 1986, and holds a B.S. in Wealth & Trust Management from Campbell University, as well as Corporate Social Responsibility Certification from Boston College.
He is a current Board Member of the following: NC Community Foundation; Campbell University Business School Advisory Council; Mount Zion Baptist Church, Chair Finance Committee; and a past Board Member of: NC A&T State University Board of Visitors; NC Business Committee for Education; NC Center for Nonprofits; NC Public School Forum; Liberty Street Community Development Corporation; Youth Focus, Inc., Big Brothers & Big Sisters of Greensboro, Reading Connections, Inc.; N.C. Community Development Inc. - Initiative Capital
· Importance of public policy at this time: Policy Brief email alerts from David Heinen – now available beyond only Center members
· Advice to be: timely, relevant, mindful – sharing curated information on www.ncnonprofits.org COVID-19 Resource page: https://www.ncnonprofits.org/resources/pandemicresources
· Consider what is necessary today (in this response phase) à recovery à rebuilding to follow
· What staff leaders need from board leaders at this time: transparency, support, call on leaders for help when needed
o Board as champions, ambassadors – have resources and can activate and ask for resources
o Board members are working from home too and want to be accessible and useful
o Help with problem-solving, especially re. finances
o Increased transparency = increased engagement
· Funders and foundations are offering greater flexibility and understanding at this time
· Volunteerism has changed from hands-on to virtual, especially professional-level volunteers
· Generosity example: the way people in the sector provide caring for others, especially human service providers who immediately connected by email in this crisis to put together a feeding program, “the soul of the nonprofit sector”
· Concern for nonprofits: as small businesses nonprofits could be severely financially damaged – need support of philanthropic community in public and private support, recognizing importance of the role of the nonprofit sector
· Opportunities for collaboration and back-office support – more to be seen as crisis evolves
· Concern for inequities in access to capital and resources – need to further address
· Respond à Recover à Rebuild
· Communications for the nonprofit sector: “think tank” forming to strengthen role of the nonprofit sector around access to communications
Bio:
Jeanne Canina Tedrow became president & CEO of the North Carolina Center for Nonprofits on August 1, 2018. Prior to joining the NC Center, she co-founded the Passage Home Community Development Corporation in 1991. Through her 25 years of continuous leadership there, Passage Home grew from an organization helping a couple of families a year to one that serves over a thousand individuals leveraging $3.8 million of housing and support services annually in Wake County. She has served on boards and committees past and present the NC Martin Luther King Resource Center and Celebration Committee, Southeast Raleigh Assembly, NC Community Development Initiative, Solidarity Capital Group, NC Housing Finance Agency Housing Partnership, Justice Theater Project, Affordable Housing Task Force, and Garner Road Redevelopment Committee, more recently the Raleigh Area Land Trust (RALT) and National Council of Nonprofits.
She’s been recognized with the Neighborhood Hero Award, “Pro Ecclesia Et Pontifices” bestowed and blessed by the Pope in the 2000 Jubilee Year, Triangle Business Leader Woman Extraordinaire Award, NC Black Women’s Empowerment Award for Community Partnerships, Triangle Business Journal 2017 Women in Business Award, and was named a 2015 Goodmon Fellow.
She has completed the National Development Council and UNC School of Government’s community development programs, NCSU Executive Coaching certification program, Grinnell Leadership Program, and Harvard Business School Executive Education. She earned a BA in urban and community development from the University of Massachusetts, and MA in public policy from Duke University as a Z. Smith Reynolds Fellow.
Raised in Boston, Jeanne has participated in a mission trip to Guatemala and has traveled to the Caribbean and Europe including Italy, England, Scotland, Copenhagen and Sweden. As part of a ZSR sabbatical, she traveled with her family throughout Italy and to the small village in Calabria from which her grandparents migrated. She has been married for 41 years and has two adult children and been godmother and mentor to a few. She enjoys walks on the beach, with her dog, playing golf, reading and writing and sometimes yard and garden work.
Rhett Mabry:
· Advice: be patient, safe, focus on basic needs of recipients
· Focus on healthcare grantee needs
· Help is on the way (stimulus, and private support); Duke Endowment’s first-ever specially called meeting to provide support in NC and SC in response to the coronavirus crisis
· Response – Recovery – Rebuilding: have usually focused on 2nd two phases, but this time more focus on needs in the 1st phase – Response (hurricane metaphor); like to use intermediaries to get resources where needed
· Board engagement: nonprofit leaders need to reach out to their board leaders for their thoughts and perspectives in this time
· Brene Brown on 60 Minutes: humans need each other, need to stay connected
· Duke Endowment is hearing from grantees; Spring is busy time for grantmaking recommendations in each of their 4 focus areas – now scheduling zoom calls with grantees to check-in on possible changes in their priorities and flexibility in spending current resources
· Areas identified by Mr. Duke in 1924 are still relevant today: education, healthcare, churches, children; “challenges and opportunities are still there”
· Education: all 4 colleges The Duke Endowment supports have gone all online
· Healthcare: effect on hospitals can be counter-intuitive due to foregoing elective surgeries at this time and its negative on revenue due to shifting their service mix to focus on virus relief, “creating a cash challenge” especially for rural hospitals
· Churches: also mostly online, and many rural churches are not equipped yet for online giving
· Children: nurse home visitors are moving to telemedicine for consults; crisis could lead to Medicaid funding improvements in reimbursements
· An epidemiologist in NY Times wrote about re. past pandemics changing life going forward – there could opportunity for improvements from this; “I’m optimistic that we will learn from this.” – such as working on an after-action review with the NC/SC institutes of medicine to analyze and better prepare
· Generosity: Mary Semans – “She was a saint.” Shared example of a pre-med student who Mary inspired to become an actor and sent to London for theater training, and he now has a Tony from his work on Broadway.
UPDATE:
The Duke Endowment Awards $2.5 Million in COVID-19 Relief for the Carolinas
Grants Focus on Statewide Response Efforts Aimed at Addressing Critical Needs
file:///C:/Users/Clare/Documents/CapDev/Marketing%20Materials/Podcast/Grant%20News%20From%20The%20Duke%20Endowment%20-%20COVID-19.pdf
Bio:
A native of Greensboro, N.C., Mabry joined the Endowment in 1992 as Associate Director of Health Care. He became Director of Child Care in 1998, was named Vice President of the Endowment in 2009, and became President in 2016. Mabry holds a Master of Health Administration from Duke University and a bachelor’s degree from UNC Chapel Hill. Before joining the Endowment, he was a manager at Ernst & Young and HCA West Paces Ferry Hospital. He has served on the North Carolina Governor’s Early Childhood Advisory Council and the board of the North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research. He is a past board chair of the Southeastern Council of Foundations, and serves as an Observer to the Duke University Board of Trustees.
Madeleine McGee:
· TogetherSC, Allies for Good, is the statewide network of nonprofit leaders, has been around for 23 years, and is about 800-members strong
· Philanthropic partners: United Way Association and the SC Grantmakers Group have come together for first time in the past year to work on the Census, and now re. coronavirus with weekly calls à 2 weekly calls convening now (nearly 150 people on those calls this week)
· General advice: you have to believe that change can happen… for the good; “if you like problem solving, this is a great time to be doing our work;” reimagine in the face of change; stay positive; consider how we do it differently
· For members: communications plan – Good Connections every other Monday, sharing a section on reimagining to share positive things people are doing, inspiration, resources (esp. from Business Partners); also sending weekly email; strengthening advocacy allies network (such as a letter to the Governor re. nonprofits’ needs and regulatory changes needed)
· Surveying nonprofits’ needs to formulate responses
· Literacy Association taking training online, as an example of a benefit for good happening at this time
· “If we do this right, it really could help alleviate some of the underlying inequities… to wipe away the cover of what should have been in plain sight, which was immense inequities in rural communities” (citing Hurricane Hugo as an example)
· Now exposing lack of internet in our rural households: 193,000 (10% of households in SC) have none or have insufficient internet
· Role of the board: most EDs are in their roles because of their passion, not because they love management (80% have budgets under $750k) à opportunity for business people on boards to lend their expertise to help in scenario planning and thinking through options and making decisions; need to lean in and provide counseling, technical advice and crisis strategic thinking; crisis management could be rewarding for board
· Recommend: weekly calls with board leaders
· Boards: 1. Ask the Chair to “lean in” and customize the ask to each board member for how they can help; 2. Confirm their ability to engage; 3. Fully engage leadership pipeline now
· Very important to have a good Treasurer now
· Not the time for board to “play devil’s advocate” right now; responsible for “nurturing” EDs as part of their board role – ask insightful questions, bring cheer, partner with senior leadership
· Advice re. foundation relationships: power dynamic between funders and nonprofits needs to be evaluated and put aside at this time – need to be able to make shifts in use of funds as needed in crisis, staying in close communication with funders; “speak honestly and get ahead of the curve”
· Example of generosity: recent willingness of Business Partners to “lift the pay-wall,” helping pro-bono and helping nonprofits access resources and services, even if they can’t pay right now
· Just concluded 3 days of Summit, talking about racial equity in early March – now is the time to make change to allow racial equity à in pandemic: “must find a way to continue to do this work through a racial equity lens, using resources to lift up and create opportunity”
· Summit: Heather Hackman, “Facing Whiteness” – important speaker program to be shared soon; esp. good for the white majority to learn SC’s full history and our advantages in our systems
Bio:
Madeleine has served South Carolina’s nonprofit community for more than 30 years. She’s led start-ups like the downtown revitalization program in Georgetown, SC, as well as established nonprofits like Coastal Community Foundation of SC that she ran for 10 years.
A fierce believer in the power of collaborative partnerships and a committed community advocate, Madeleine has also provided consulting services and worked for both local and state governments.
Since her appointment as president of Together SC in 2011, Madeleine has helped build South Carolina’s network of “Allies for Good” to effectively serve more than 800 member organizations and the state’s entire nonprofit sector.
Fueled by her lifelong passion for the work of South Carolina’s nonprofit community, she works closely with Together SC’s board of directors to provide services that strengthen the sector and the communities they serve.
Madeleine received her bachelor’s degree and MBA from the University of Virginia. She’s helped build Habitat houses and is a Big Sister with the Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring program. Madeleine is a native Charlestonian, a SC Liberty Fellow and served on the Town Council for Sullivan’s Island, where she resides with her husband, Bunky Wichmann, three amazing children, and two Boykin Spaniels.
The podcast currently has 11 episodes available.