The annual Service Unites convention has come to Atlanta this year. Formerly called the Conference on Volunteering and Service, the event brings more than 2,500 nonprofit, government, business and civic leaders together to talk shop. Atlanta-based Points of Light is the main host for the event and it just so happens its on their home territory this year. “Igniting Civic Culture” is the theme for this year and features an impressive array of speakers, from former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords to NBA star (and former Atlanta Hawk) Dwight Howard.
It was with this in mind that Dentons and goBeyondProfit put together a panel discussion Tuesday evening that featured some national leaders in the service community. Eric Tanenblatt, renowned political advisor and Global Chair of Public Policy and Regulation of Dentons, hosted the panel. The panel consisted of:
· Neil Bush, Board Chair, Points of Light;
· Barbara Stewart, CEO, Corporation for National and Community Service;
· Rick Jackson, Founder, goBeyondProfit and Chairman and CEO, Jackson Healthcare;
· Ann Maura Connolly, President, Voices for National Service.
The conversation covered an array of topics in the short time Tuesday evening ahead of the Global Reception at the World of Coca-Cola and the Civic 50 Gala at the Center for Civil and Human Rights that were part of the Service Unites festivities. Tanenblatt spoke a little about service is part of the Atlanta and Georgia ethos. Of course it is the home of Dr. Martin Luther King but Atlanta is also one of the top cities for non-profit headquarters. Service is part of the regular curriculum in schools and there is this idea of service as “paying your civic rent.”
Bush spoke briefly on when Points of Light moved out of Washington D.C. and to the hometown of its then-president, Michelle Nunn. Points of Light had gotten so bogged down in the “inside-the-Beltway” thinking, worrying about impressing and getting funding from Congress but forgetting that the central theme needed to be service.
Stewart talked about the importance of partnering with the corporate world to take advantage of their expertise in different areas. Her organization runs the AmeriCorps program – which includes the VISTA program originally proposed by President Kennedy and begun by President Johnson. VISTA stands for Volunteers in Service to America and can be thought of as a domestic sister to the Peace Corps. Stewart said her programs rely in part on the “intellectual capital” of corporations and her groups can provide the manpower.
Connolly echoed this theme. Corporations and their expertise are critical in helping get supply chains up and running in a disaster and non-profits can partner with the private sector to expedite solutions. Asked about a proposal years ago from then-Georgia Senator Sam Nunn on requiring national service, Connolly liked the idea but believes it simply politically non-viable. Americans have an ingrained sense of not being required to do things but she, and others on the panel, are hopefully that a cultural expectation for service is developing.
Responding to a question about how small businesses can be involved – as opposed to the world giants of Dentons and Points of Light, Jackson discussed some of his philosophy around service, by relating a story about a young Mitt Romney during his BYU days. He was concerned about his duties cleaning up the stadium after a football game. He was part of a team assigned the task and asked “how are we ever going to get this done?” His advisor responded, “you take care of the aisle in front of you and it’ll take care of itself.”
