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Nonprofit Leadership Podcast
What Does It Take to Mobilize Gen Z into Changemakers?
00:31:30
In this episode, Rob Harter speaks with George Tsiatis, CEO and co-founder of the Resolution Project, about how to inspire and empower the next ...
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- [00:02]
Dr. Rob Harder
This is Dr. Rob Harder with the nonprofit leadership podcast Making youg World Better. What does it take to be an effective nonprofit leader today? What are the biggest challenges? What are the biggest obstacles? How should nonprofits fundraise in an economy that is constantly changing? All of these reasons combined led me to start this show. And it's my hope that through this series people can learn not only what it takes to be an effective nonprofit organization, but to hear from effective leaders who are successful successfully making a positive impact in their communities. We hope you enjoy the show as together we hear how they are making their world better. Welcome to the nonprofit leadership podcast Making your World Better. Thanks so much for tuning in. Always good to have you here. So today's topic, Generation Z and specifically the change makers within Generation Z. You know, there's been a lot shared about this generation. A lot of it is, I would say, frankly, you know, misperceptions that are very negative, you know, comments and ideas. Ideas like this generation is soft. It lacks grit, lacks resilience. My guest today will tell you, and he's worked extensively with Generation Z change makers and he would tell you this is not at all what he's experienced. He's seen people that are not soft. He's seen leaders that are very resilient and very ready to move towards solution driven action. And so his argument would be in fact that many of us who are not incorporating perhaps enough of this next generation into our own organizations, whether it be nonprofit organizations or for profit businesses for that matter, we're really underestimating the power and the impact this next generation of students can have on our organizations. And so if you're trying to figure out how to you incorporate more volunteers, more staff members from Gen Z, I think this is exactly the conversation you want to listen into and hear what George has to say. He's been able to grow this organization quite large. It's called the Resolution Project and he's combined with Enactus as well and they're really serving a great need for this next generation and then how they're turning around and really making a huge impact around the world. So I'm so glad to have Georgia on the show and as always, thanks for tuning in. Now on to the show. This podcast is sponsored by Donor Box. Donor Box. Helping you help others with the best donation forms in the business. Well, welcome to the Nonprofit Leadership Podcast. So good to have George C. Addis with us today. He's going to share a bit of his journey and a bit more about how we came can utilize and work with Gen Z. So, George, thanks so much for being on the show today.
- [02:40]
George C. Addis
Thanks for having me here, Rob. I'm really excited for the conversation today. It's what I'm passionate about and excited to get into.
- [02:45]
Dr. Rob Harder
Yeah, you do a lot of good work. And so we're going to focus a bit on the movements you're helping to create and to foster, but also specifically this next generation coming up. So maybe it's been a while. Well, I'll say this. It's been a while since I've had someone talk about not just their organization itself or maybe the nonprofit sector, but movements and really how to create movements within the nonprofit sector and within society for that matter. And this is your area of experience. This is your area of leadership. So maybe we could start with that about, in your opinion, what does it take for organizations or movements to really mobilize a global movement and specifically with your experience among Gen Z change makers?
- [03:24]
George C. Addis
Rob, that's a great question. I think, you know, some people go out to start a movement and some people really focus on connecting with other people and finding where that passion is, where that spark is, and realizing that they're not alone in that journey. Right. And so once you do realize that you have that common purpose, you have that spark building a movement, it's, yes, about motivating and, and energizing groups of people, but it's also about giving some real thought to how the systems need to move and change and evolve to help people move beyond that. Because you can have a movement that's built on rage and frustration, right? Or you can have a movement that's built on, on building, on creating, on, on joining together and in creating value, creating opportunity and creating transformation for parts of our society, our world, our lived experience that are ready for a change. You know, I think for us at Resolution Project and with our, you know, with our integrated organization with Enactus now, you know, I read just a few days ago in the Times that about 70% of Gen Zers are open to public service. Right. That's a huge number.
- [04:43]
Dr. Rob Harder
Right.
- [04:44]
George C. Addis
And so that tells you that there's such an appetite there for changing the way people experience society, the way that they experience their life in the United States. And we found that to be, in fact a global case and bringing people together to learn, to connect, to shape, giving them the agency, the power, and even just a small set of resources can help unlock what's possible and really give them that common purpose to drive forward.
- [05:12]
Dr. Rob Harder
That's a great point. Much has been said about this upcoming generation and some of it, I would say there's some negative misperceptions of this generation generation that include the ideas of this next generation being soft or lacks grit or resilience. You know, so you've, you've heard all of those things I'm sure as well, with your work with this generation and from your experience, how have been able to turn youth complacency on the one hand about the state of the world into solution driven action? Because I think that's where you've really created a niche there, if you will, and been successful at it. So talk a bit about how you've done that.
- [05:44]
George C. Addis
Yeah, I'd say it's, it's not been our experience. Right. You know what, what we've done is we've presented these, you know, we've presented Gen Z students with a question, right. What's a problem in your community and how would you solve it? And what we find is energy, drive, push ideas, brilliance really. Right. And so I think we're, we're sort of, we might be pointing the finger at ourselves when we make these accusations that we want them to struggle through the same things that we did in the same way. And they're, they're thinking how can we do this better and how can we make sure that our, our kids don't need to go through this too? And so we really haven't experienced that, that sort of complacency. But we've also shown up with support and resources and encouragement for the ideas that they have. And you know, I think that's, that's a great way to, to meet that and see, in fact, you know, is our are feeling that this generation is soft. Well, challenge them. See how soft they really are. In my experience, they're some of the toughest people out there.
- [06:48]
Dr. Rob Harder
Thanks for sharing that. I'm so glad you've had such a good positive experience. I'm glad for my listeners to hear that. Because you do so much with this generation. Why do you think adults often underestimate the power and importance of students? And how does this oversight really hurt our ability to address these global challenges that this next generation is very eager to help solve?
- [07:07]
George C. Addis
Yeah, Rob, it's a good question. You know, you're very familiar with the power of biases, right? And you know, sort of that we, we have so many biases. Proximity and you know, and recency and all sorts of other biases. I don't so much think that students are underestimated maybe a bit because they're still Students, and that means they have teachers, and so they have things to learn. And so we sort of, you know, push those things together. But I think on the other end, I think those of us with a bit more experience often overestimate the value of our experience. And. And that's a bias. And it's not, you know, it's. It's not to say that there isn't value in experience, there's a ton of value in experience, but just in the same way that there's a ton of value in having, you know, sort of more flexible modes of thinking about problems. Right. And fewer imposed. Like, that's just how it works. And so, you know, we find that, in fact, the best. The best power that we have as a. As a community, as a country, as a society, as a world is when we bring those things together. People bring a flexible mindset. They bring a learning approach, a learning mindset to those challenges. And they say, hey, young person, the maybe has just learned a few new things and has some ideas and has a different outlook on this. How would you approach this? Right? And they turn around and they say, well, I'd try. This person on the other side says, you know, I've got 20 years of experience in this arena. The industry's been changing so rapidly, really. The. The past two years have been the most relevant. And when you sort of look at those things side by side, the. The student that's been learning and practicing for two years and doesn't have the baggage of the other 18 years of experience, and the person who's got 20 years of experience, 18 years, which presents really interesting analogies, but isn't necessarily relevant forward. And those two years of experience, instead of thinking of them as like one has more to offer than the other, it's really, how much value can we unlock when we bring those together and we go after these problems together? And I think that's really a big. A big part of this. I mean, we're facing existential crises in society. Why would we put the demographics between 15 and 24 on the planet are about 1.2 billion people. That's 16% of the world's population. Why would we put 16%, these young people that, by the way, we're investing in with education, we're investing in with a lot of resources. Why do we put them on the bench? Why wouldn't we bring them to bear against these things? Right? So it's about. It's about changing some mindsets on that. You know, not so much in. In underestimation. Overestimation. It's about, it's about what we all bring to the table and, and creating space for, for innovation, for ideas and, and for new ways of solving old problems.
- [10:03]
Dr. Rob Harder
Well, like you said, that. And I think when it comes to innovation specifically, you know, you think about innovation of any type, you know, whether it be in technology, sports, the arts, they often do emerge from the upand cominging generation. So from your perspective, why is youth led innovation really key in your mind to solving some of these worlds, some of our world's most pressing problems?
- [10:23]
George C. Addis
You know, I just encourage everyone listening to this podcast, spend more time with young people, ask them questions, just try to, try to get a sense of how they look at the world, how they see the world. It's different. It's different. And, and innovation, you know, sometimes it's born from just ongoing trial and error and years and years of working on a problem and, and, you know, getting there, but sometimes it's also born from just a brand new perspective and letting go of a lot of the things that, that we assume that we know or that we assume that we understand. You know, look, the data on this is pretty significant, right? If you are in your mid career and you start an enterprise, it's more likely to succeed. Okay? That's data you can get from, you know, from the Small Business Bureau and, you know, and from other sources. But what that is also, you know, sort of coding for is that you've built a network at that point, you maybe have a house that you can borrow against, right? You have a different set of resources and assets to tap into. If you can adjust that for young people by showing up with resources, showing up with expertise, helping them hack those two decades, you can unlock some pretty incredible things. We've had fellows that have achieved unicorn status in their early 20s, and we've had ones that have created nonprofits that are scaling and impacting hundreds of thousands of people in their early and mid-20s. And this is not the sort of, you know, the sort of young founder myth. These are young people who got to work, who asked a lot of questions, who were obsessed not with the solution. They weren't obsessed with what they had figured out. They were obsessed with the problem and the energy that they put into learning, understanding that, being part, part of the community, testing things tirelessly over and over. You know, that's an energy that's hard to find in the middle of, in, you know, in the middle of your career, in the middle of your life. And what we've seen them be able to unlock has been absolutely transformative.
- [12:42]
Dr. Rob Harder
So interesting. And, you know, I often ask my guests a question. What is giving you hope these days? So when I ask it just a slightly different way. In a world that often can feel pessimistic at times, what advice do you have for my listeners on staying hopeful and how does investing in this next generation play a role in being hopeful?
- [13:02]
George C. Addis
Yeah, Rob, I mean, it's. It's an important question. It's. It's one that I think. I think asks us to do something that we've moved away from as a society. And that's just to connect with people, to, to talk to young people. It's to ask them questions. It's to, you know, ask them what energizes them. You know, we think that we may think that we, we sort of know what's on young people's mind because of what we read in the media or sort of what we, what we come across in, in a recent survey or study. Listen, those things have value, but there's nothing like connecting with and talking to young person and understanding what they're excited to wake up for tomorrow. What's driving them? Because, look, I mean, if I'm lucky, I've probably got, you know, 40 years left on this planet, right? You know, what does somebody with 60, 70 years left on this planet have that excites them, that energizes them, that pushes them forward. And, you know, even more than that, I think investing in young people can take a lot of forms. And I think it is truly something that every single person can do, right? That can be talking to a young person and asking them what they think and giving them that platform, that agency that, you know, that. That support that, letting them know that their, their thoughts and opinions matter. It can also be a positive word of encouragement. It can be writing a small check to a founder of a nonprofit or, or, you know, or an enterprise. It can be buying their products and services. It can be, you know, it can take so many forms. It can take investing in organizations like ours, but also in many, many other organizations focused on supporting young leaders, whether it's in your local community or more globally. And with so many little actions that you can take, from a kind word to a big gift or donation to an investment in a business, or to being a big client for a young person's business. These are all things that I find give me a tremendous sense of optimism. And I know with that sort of range of opportunities, anyone, anyone listening to this podcast can take at least one of those steps. And, and I know you'll be buoyed by what you find.
- [15:21]
Dr. Rob Harder
Yeah, now well said on that. I do encourage my listeners to do exactly that. What, I guess in your experience, what is, what keeps people from doing just that? Having conversations, asking questions, reaching out to young people. What keeps them back? You think?
- [15:36]
George C. Addis
You know, I mean, look, our society has gotten into this really polarized space and you know, the, we sort of have a bit of a fear of connection. I think some of that has also come out of COVID and you know, a little bit of the, the collective tough experience we had from a social perspective. But yeah, I mean, I mean like we're our own worst enemies in these things usually, you know, just, just take the first step. Right. Don't assume that, you know, be curious, be, be kind, be generous in, in your thinking. Go into these with, you know, with, with an interest and a curiosity rather than, than feeling like you know it and you're, you're ready to teach and, and you'll, you're just going to find incredible positivity on the other side.
- [16:22]
Dr. Rob Harder
We'll be right back. Are you looking for an easy and effective way to boost your nonprofits donations? Look no further than Donor Box, the online fundraising platform that streamlines your fundraising efforts, maximizes donations and simplifies giving for your supporters. With Donorbox, you can create beautiful donation forms, accept digital wallet payments, track donations, and send auto receipts. And the best part, there are no setup or monthly fees and no long term contracts required. So what are you waiting for? Visit donorbox.org today to get started. That is donorbox.org hey friends, thanks so much for listening to the Nonprofit Leadership Podcast. Many of you know that I provide leadership and life coaching. With my 30 years of nonprofit experience, I know firsthand how hard leaders like you work. I also know how important it is to have someone you can call on and to get help with the barriers and leadership challenges you will face both professionally and personally. I really want to help people thrive and become all they were meant to become by providing coaching and consulting services. And it's been so much fun working as a coach, working with clients who are leaders just like you, looking to grow personally and professionally. What you may not know is that I also provide consulting services. Currently, in fact, I'm working with an organization to help them create a clear strategy and plan to raise $3.5 million to expand their organization. So perhaps you're an executive director and you sense your organization has hit a lid on growth and you need a strategy as to how you can scale your nonprofit. Or perhaps the culture you set out to create is not the culture you have currently and it's impacting your staff retention. Or maybe you're facing a major resource challenge and you don't know what to do. That's where I can help. I come alongside leaders and organizations to create strategies to grow their organizations and maximize their impact. If your nonprofit needs help with fundraising strategy or operational effectiveness, reach out today. You can simply email me@robparter.com you can go to my website, robharder.com or you can call me 435-776-5173. I would be happy to provide a free sample coaching session or a consult to see how I can best be of help to you and your organization. Well, thanks again for listening. Now back to the show. Well, changing gears just a little bit from focusing on Gen Z to scaling one's nonprofit organization. We've talked a lot about that on the show. You've had tremendous experience about scaling organizations. What have been some of the biggest challenges and key strategies as you look back, that helped you build this nonprofit from, from the ground up, really? And now it's become one of the world's most influential organizations when it comes to youth social entrepreneurship. What are some of the things you learned along the way that you could share with my listeners?
- [19:16]
George C. Addis
Yeah, Rob, it's been a pretty, pretty intense journey and I think, you know, sort of scaling a nonprofit is a bit of a strange thing because, you know, nonprofits are designed to basically run down to zero every year and start from zero every year. So, you know, right. Building, building is, is challenging. But you know, I think we never set out to, to start a nonprofit. We set out to, to really galvanize a community around this. And I think, you know, beginning with community, beginning with a values aligned and value oriented community with shared values with, you know, with an emphasis on how can we, we create value together really was the origin of it, really was the source of it and really has been our strength because, you know, when things get tough, if you're, if you're alone on that journey, you know, you don't have anyone to turn to and you, you need partners on this journey. And so we found that that sort of community orientation has, has led to pretty much all of the success we've had even in partnering with other nonprofit organizations. Right. When I'm talking about a community, I mean, I mean the individuals that have been with us, the volunteers that have been with us on the journey, but that community's been bigger, it's been institutions, it's been other nonprofit organizations. And in fact, you know, we set out very early on. We did sort of this, my co founders and I, we came from the private sector and we sort of did these, you know, sort of SWOT analysis and competitive matrices and things like that. As we were putting things together and we were like, this just feels wrong. What if we change this competitive analysis and look at it as our potential partners? And that shift in mindset and perspective, you know, led to us partnering with hundreds of of organizations in the social sector. And ultimately it led to this integration with Enactus, which, you know, combined the Resolution Fellowship platform with the global Enactus community, which serves about 50,000 students a year. Right. And so, you know, really being community and partner minded gives you a lot of leverage to grow in a, you know, in a system that doesn't exactly favor growth. And so, you know, that's been a big part of our journey and our learnings along the way.
- [21:40]
Dr. Rob Harder
That's interesting. Coming from the for profit sector, would you say collaboration and then really not trying to reinvent the wheel, but also working with others that are already doing similar things or at least have a common mission. Was that one of the key things for you to really scale your organization and grow?
- [21:56]
George C. Addis
Absolutely. I mean, look, even in the for profit sector, you do it, but you spend too much time thinking about competition. Right. If you're a business, you've got your vendors, you've got your clients, these are your community, and you're not in competition with them. You've got this value chain that you're building, but you think too much about the competitors that you're competing against for the business of the clients. And I think again, you know, sort of there's, there's a lot for us to take away. Even, you know, I think the most analogous private sector work to what we do, I think you could call it venture, our work, venture philanthropy. You could look at sort of the venture capital systems, I mean, venture capital firms, you know, going on deals together all the time. Right. And the sort of the diligence folks and the legal teams and everybody else that's around that. Right. It's an entire system. And, you know, I think we spend a lot of time as nonprofits thinking about and talking about the scarcity of resources out there, that we're sort of competing for resources from funders. And look, I don't want to make light of that, but all you need to do is look at how much money is still invested in donor advised funds in the country. And you know that there's enough resources to go around. It's more that we need to. It's our job to get out there and show people the urgency and the necessity of the work that we're doing. Right. And in that partnership goes farther than any single individual or organization does. So, yeah, I mean, it's been a huge part of, I think, our learnings, but also of a set of mindset shifts that are really pretty powerful.
- [23:34]
Dr. Rob Harder
Okay, let's talk about leadership development. You've done a good job. It seems like from what I've read and learned that you fostered a culture of leadership development. So how do you foster that culture of leadership development among young social entrepreneurs and what lessons can be learned from your success stories?
- [23:53]
George C. Addis
Yeah, so when it comes to the young people in our program, I think a few of the key things that we focus on with them are to encourage them to build self awareness, to build accountability mechanisms, and to really spend a lot of time building learning into every aspect of their work. I think, you know, there's nothing groundbreaking there, but we also really encourage them to spend a lot of time in community learning from one another. Right. Again, nothing that groundbreaking there, but I think the piece that sort of circles back is that we as nonprofit professionals, as leaders in these organizations ourselves, we need to do the work too. I was fortunate enough to be part of the Allstate Foundation's executive leadership program a couple years ago at the Kellogg School at Northwestern. It was a fantastic program, you know, and brought me back to basics on a lot of things and also, you know, helped expand my, you know, my perspective on a lot of these things. But, you know, I just underscore, especially as we, as we do this work for longer and longer, it's important to take those times to refresh ourselves and to, to, to dedicate that effort that we're encouraging others to for ourselves. You know, I think one lesson that I'll share that I've always gotten a kick out of is, you know, one of our fellows, she's done incredible things. She's got a, she's got a brand that's out in Whole Foods and has become really quite successful. And you know, we. She had a meeting with her mentor very early on in her journey. She's been at this for, for a bit, but she had, she had a meeting very early on in her journey. She might have been 21, 21 years old. And you know, they were going over organizations that they could try to sort of sell into and network into, to sort of navigate to a decision maker to move things forward. And they'd gotten a list down and they sort of put a pin in it until the next, the next meeting. They came back the next meeting, and, you know, the mentor said, well, let's, let's pick this up. And she was like, well, I already emailed the CEOs and I got a few responses. Right. And it's that sort of. We, I said it before. We can be sort of our own worst enemies. Sometimes we can sort of block ourselves or censor ourselves or tell us we're. Tell ourselves we're not good enough. We're not ready for it. We just need to do something else. And, you know, this is always a reminder like, you know, don't lose your naivete and sort of don't, don't talk yourself out of the big swing. And those are some pretty powerful lessons along with dozens of others that I've learned from, from these young people. But, you know, one that I'm very happy to share.
- [26:32]
Dr. Rob Harder
Yeah, no, well said there. Well, as of this interview and this recording, we're about two weeks away from our national election. As someone who's seen the impact of youth leadership firsthand, what would you say is key for the next presidential administration on how to better support the next generation of change makers? What would you say to that person, whoever wins the presidential race?
- [26:55]
George C. Addis
I tell them the same thing that I've been telling everyone, you know, throughout this, this conversation. You got to talk to young people. You got to involve young people. They have so much at stake. They care so deeply and so profoundly. I mean, 70% of them are ready to do public service work. I mean, we, we haven't had a generation like that since, you know, World War II. Right. Like, I mean, that, that's. And would we call that generation soft? I don't think so. Right. So you've got a group of young people that are just, they're waiting for their number to be called. They're waiting for their chance. Right. Create resources, create opportunities, Give them a chance, talk to them, ask them what's important, find out what's stressing them out, what's keeping them up at night, what's concerning them, what they're worried about that they're going to have to deal with in 40 or 60 years without us. Right. And I think if you engage in that, if you really view young people as, not just as a set of stakeholders, not just as future voters, but as really stakeholders and partners in this work forward, I Think it's a pretty powerful message that can be sent to young people, a pretty powerful statement that can be made to our society as a whole and, and just a way to unlock an immense, immense amount of potential in our system.
- [28:20]
Dr. Rob Harder
Well, maybe a closing question would be. Before we hit record on this, we were just talking about, I think a lot of questions for nonprofit leaders is how do I recruit this next generation, this Gen Z generation to my nonprofit? What advice would you have for people that are really looking to add diversity and really bring this next generation into their staff? What would you say is the best way to do that?
- [28:42]
George C. Addis
Yeah, look, lead with purpose. Lead with purpose, right? And understand, you know, the concept of work life balance is a bit dated at this point. Work is part of life, so it's just life. Life is what we have. Life is what we're doing. Life is how we're living. It's nice to sort of put up a dividing wall between work and life, you know, but we don't always get to make that decision. And embracing people for the fullness of themselves, for everything that's going on in their life, good, bad, ugly, you know, and recognizing their potential and their agency and what they can bring, you know, really leading with purpose, elevating that purpose, anchoring in purpose and bringing people in fully is going to help you get a lot farther with this generation. And you're going to find they're going to have a much richer experience collaborating, working with these, with these folks in that way.
- [29:35]
Dr. Rob Harder
Yeah, I love that focus on lead with purpose. Everything I've read about this generation, and I think it's for many generations, actually. And that's what the nonprofit sector is, right? It's a purpose driven, mission driven sector. So I love that reminder and that emphasis. So as people are listening to this, they want to find out a little bit more about you, maybe find out more about your organization. Where would you send them?
- [29:55]
George C. Addis
Yeah, Rob, visit resolutionproject.org it's spelled exactly as it sounds and you know, you can follow us. Probably the most active places on social media are Instagram and LinkedIn. So definitely those three channels are a great way to connect. You know, anybody listening to the podcast, if you reach out to me on LinkedIn and just note that you that you heard me chatting on here, I'll be more than happy to respond to and connect that way.
- [30:19]
Dr. Rob Harder
Awesome. Sounds good. Well, George, thanks for all you're doing. Thanks for taking time too to just share a bit of your insights on this next generation, how best we can incorporate them into nonprofit organizations.
- [30:28]
George C. Addis
Awesome Rob. Thanks so much for having me. It's been great to chat and really look forward to seeing exactly what these young people continue to do.
- [30:38]
Dr. Rob Harder
Hey friends. Well I wanted you to know that this podcast can be found on itunes, Spotify, Amazon, Google Podcasts and wherever you listen to other podcasts. I also want to encourage you to like subscribe and share this podcast with others. This will actually help us get get this great content out to more nonprofit leaders just like you. You can also join the Nonprofit Leadership Podcast community, find other resources and interviews of past guests all on my website, nonprofit leadershippodcast.org well thanks again for listening and until next time, keep making your world better and don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel, the Nonprofit Leadership Podcast. Go to YouTube and look up Nonprofit Leadership Podcast. We'll see you there. This podcast is sponsored by DonorBox Donor Box, helping you help others with the best donation forms in the business.