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What is local?

September 5, 2009 in Ecomomies, Food, Green, Local, Nonprofit by Kirsten | 1 comment

When I say local I’m referring to a store that is in walking distance from my house and food grown in my backyard.  I go further out when what I need is unavailable.

Think of local like a bulls eye.  You and your home is the center.  You only go outside of each ring if necessary.  There are varying sizes of the ring, but once you reach 100 miles away from home you are outside of local.  Why 100 miles? Well the people of the 100 mile diet used that number and their argument sounds reasonable.

When buying locally the things I need, the first consideration is what is best for the environment (non-toxic, low footprint, little packaging) and and second how close can I get to home?  I’m not talking about close to home as in a store in your town.  I am referring to one that is locally owned and independent.  Businesses such as large retail stores, restaurants and hotel chains are typically not local.

Local ownership results in 68% of the money spent returning to the community compared with 43% spent at a non-locally owned store.  For the Andersonville study- where I got those numbers- click here.  But enough about that: there will be more information on why buying local is important in another post or you can check some information out now at Pioneer Valley Local First.

Just remember that while in many ways the definition of the term is based on personal decision there are some things that according to the dictionary, local is not.

Local is not widespread or general.

Local is unique and gives you a taste of an area’s culture that you can’t get everywhere.

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Board diversity – easy? I hope not!

July 31, 2009 in Nonprofit by Kirsten | No comments

The final section of the Harvard article stated that “a very diverse board is much more difficult to lead than a homogeneous one.”

Diverse people have diverse backgrounds, lifestyles, cultures, experiences that they bring to the table. On the other hand, a homogeneous group is more likely to have the same backgrounds, lifestyles, cultures, and experiences. Assuming that the board is representative of the community, a homogeneous board is not a problem. In the case that the board does not represent the diversity of the community that it seeks to represent, then the organization is operating without a true perspective of the missing part of its community. I would expect and welcome the challenges of a diverse group since that would more realistically represent all possible opinions.

Right now while building a board for EarthThrives I am seeking a representation of the community so that all voices are heard. In this I am thinking about asking for board nominations from the community so that my choice is not ‘hand-picked.’ Will this work?

For another time:
- the challenges of diversity for diversity sake
- perspectives on social identity and why diversity matters for environmental justice

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Gender or common sense?

July 29, 2009 in Nonprofit by Kirsten | No comments

Recently while reading The Harvard Business Review blog I came across a post on the influence of women in Norwegian boardrooms. I found the blog interesting, however, I feel that there are some important points and distinctions that were overly generalized or not quite fully thought out.

First, I feel that when talking about a situation it is too generalized to say ‘women’ or ‘men’. More appropriately this gender barrier can show challenges that we all go through. So instead of looking at how ‘women’ handle a situation such as entering a board, can’t we identify certain leadership styles or approaches and how they are best worked with? I say this because there are men that embody characteristics that are traditionally thought to be feminine and vice versa.

Considering the section that begins “most women need support to enter the board successfully…” Does that mean that women need support but men don’t? Shouldn’t most people get support when entering a board. I remember from my studies that a common cause of problems within boards was that they weren’t made fully aware of their duties or expectations beforehand. To me this indicates that all board members should be supported when they join in any effort regardless of gender.

How do you feel about gender generalization? What I mean is making broad statements that apply to all women or men.

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More than Founder’s Syndrome.

June 26, 2009 in Nonprofit by admin | 1 comment

Recently in discussion over a particularly difficult organization issue, I was told that “what we have is more than founder’s syndrome.”

FrustrationThe founder in question had recently admitted to thinking that he had Founder’s Syndrome with another steering committee member. The two had been in discussion about the negative behaviors for months before this admission came about.

What does that mean? Founder’s Syndrome describes the behaviors of a founder that negatively effect an organization. The specific behaviors range in severity, but their impact holds an organization back, often because change and growth are stifled.

For example, statements in steering committee meeting such as “I’m going to do what I want to do, because I want to do it” were not rare. Those statements typically arose almost any time the founder was asked to share more information about plans made or actions taken without the consent of the rest of the steering committee. Pullinghairout

Actions such as taking over duties that were assigned to others, happened frequently. This resulted in duplicated efforts and additional time needing to be spend ‘cleaning up the mess’ as one steering committee member phrased it. In one case, the founder’s email to a donor that someone else was working with resulted in a check for $100 when the potential was $1000 plus media support.

Needless to say these actions as well as many others by the same person were frustrating to the other organization leaders.

eatingcomputerFounder’s Syndrome is a typical problem in any small organization (and even some larger ones.) The energy and exuberance that helps to launch an organization are not necessarily the same qualities that continue its success once it is time to build more structure and organizational capacity. Change is difficult, throw into the mix someone who is incredibly passionate and may feel ownership over the organization, and you have a mess. How big is the mess? Well that depends on how the change and transition are managed and how difficult the founder.

While it always results is some kind of limit of capacity, in some cases Founder’s Syndrome can result in the failure of the organization. So, is it really possible to have ‘more than founder’s syndrome?’

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