Everyone’s voices should be valued: words of wisdom from Dr. Helene Gayle

Posted on October 16, 2018 by Abby Rolland

Dr. Helene Gayle and Dr. Una Osili discuss social impact, diversity, and philanthropy at the first event of the Diversity Speaker Series. — Dr. Helene Gayle and Dr. Una Osili discuss social impact, diversity, and philanthropy at the first event of the Diversity Speaker Series, sponsored by the Mays Family Institute on Diverse Philanthropy and the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

This article was originally published in the Philanthropy Matters e-newsletter.

CEO and president of CARE, a pediatrician, HIV/AIDS expert with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CEO of McKinsey Social Initiative, and current president and CEO of Chicago Community Trust.

The list of leadership career positions reads long for Dr. Helene Gayle.

On October 4, she shared her experiences in these positions and words of advice for students, faculty, staff, and the general public as the first speaker in the Diversity Speaker Series, sponsored by the Mays Family Institute on Diverse Philanthropy and the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Throughout her visit, Dr. Gayle touched on issues of social impact, diversity, and leadership, as well as her personal experiences fostering social change all over the world.

A physician by training, Dr. Gayle realized early in her career that public health, specifically HIV/AIDS, was wrapped up in social factors.

“Around the world, people with HIV/AIDS are some of the most marginalized, stigmatized people in our communities. I discovered that social determinants of health, or the non-health aspects of disease and health disparities e.g. class, race, etc., were issues that I was very interested in,” she said. “Throughout this time, I developed a passion for social equity and justice and discovered the great benefits that result when people come together for social change.”

Dr. Gayle determined that philanthropy acted as one mechanism for creating and fostering positive social change and a way to fight the issues of social and economic inequity. As the current president and CEO of Chicago Community Trust, she discussed why community foundations must be the “eyes and ears of the community,” while also explaining that all three sectors (public, private, and nonprofit) must work together and innovate in order to solve the world’s most pressing problems.

She also shared the importance of being intentional about diversity, inclusivity, and equitability, and that it’s vital for organizations to address several questions about those topics.

“Numbers are necessary, but insufficient. We have to ask ourselves, ‘are we creating the kind of environment that allows for diverse voices? Are we acting in truly sensitive ways to create that space?’ Everyone’s voices should be valued for what they bring to the table,” Dr. Gayle said.

Dr. Gayle also stressed the power of people and communities in telling their own stories, identifying their own needs, and coming up with relevant solutions. She described “On the Table,” an annual event where individuals from various communities gather together to share ideas and discuss issues: “We need to continue to foster these key conversations about important, and often divisive, issues.”

These annual forums have inspired other cities and communities to model talks after them as well.

Through her service in a government agency, a nonprofit, a social initiative, a private foundation, and a community foundation, Dr. Gayle’s passion and focus has been on service to others. She encouraged others to find out “what makes them tick” and pursue those passions wholeheartedly.

“Prepare yourself well to do the things that are most aligned with who you are as a person,” she said. “That will give you a sense of meaning and purpose that will drive your life.”

The next speaker in the Diversity Speaker Series will be Jim Moore, president and CEO of the University of Illinois Foundation on October 30 at 6 p.m.

Learn more and RSVP here

Co-sponsored with Lake Institute on Faith & Giving and Christian Theological Seminary, the third event in the Diversity Speaker Series will feature Reverend Starsky Wilson, Dr. Brad Braxton, and Aimée Laramore discussing faith, race, and philanthropy on November 6 at 7 p.m.

Learn more and RSVP here

‘Give whatever you have to whomever needs it most’

Posted on October 11, 2018 by Ann Boyd-Stewart

Maureen Hackett speaks after receiving an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Indiana University at 2018 Commencement — Maureen Hackett speaks after receiving an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Indiana University at the 2018 Commencement.

Today, the world is taking an important step in removing cultural biases that affect how we think about, talk about, and address emotional well-being and mental health. October 10 was World Mental Health Day, and on October 11-12, the Global Summit on Mental Health Culture Change will discuss these important issues in London.

Lilly Family School of Philanthropy lifetime board member and former chair Maureen Hackett will be joining other Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute (MMHPI) board members from Texas for this summit dedicated to collaborative discussions on mental health in the UK and USA.

Ann Boyd-Stewart, assistant dean of development and alumni relations, had the opportunity to discuss the motivations for Hackett’s philanthropy. You can also read about Hackett’s transformational gift to create the Hackett Mental Health Center.

Q: The Lilly Family School of Philanthropy will be mounting photos of all of our named chairs and donors. You and Jim were the gracious donors of the nation’s first endowed chair in women’s philanthropy, the Eileen Lamb O’Gara Chair in Women’s Philanthropy, which you established at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy in 2012. Help us to capture the story of the gift and who Eileen Lamb O’Gara is.

Funny you should ask. One of nine children, I have five siblings who have graduated from Purdue University, all of whom question why I would ever do something like this for Indiana University.

The motivation behind the gift was my mother, Eileen Lamb O’Gara, for whom the chair is named. All my life, I saw my mother as an outstanding philanthropist, and I wanted to recognize and honor her in a way (and at a place) that would preserve her legacy for years to come.

Way ahead of her time, my mother put herself through college, graduating with a business degree from Purdue University in 1936. She married and subsequently started a family that would ultimately include nine children. As the sixth child, I never knew my father to work during my lifetime. He suffered with depression and alcoholism, so my mom returned to work in her 50s.

While raising the children, she had to work to cover all family expenses. Times were tough, but she was extremely savvy. She mortgaged the house I grew up in four times and made ends meet no matter the effort. Amidst everything, she founded an employment agency and executive education school for women.

Through her school, she hoped to leverage her skills and life experience to help other women of no-to-moderate means find a place in “corporate America” so they could provide for their families. She knew what it took, and she wanted to empower other women to succeed.

She couldn’t afford to give away any money, but my mom’s philanthropic spirit was manifest in the wisdom, compassion, faith and trust she shared with so many during her life. Fortunately, that same spirit is within me.

As a young girl, I volunteered at a Northwestern University Hospital, where I one day walked into what was termed a “crisis center,” just to see what they did. I didn’t realize then, but my initial curiosity about a mysterious wing of the hospital would eventually be the foundation for my passion in mental health.

At that crisis center, I learned about depression, alcoholism, and the way both can affect an entire family and community. I developed a much greater understanding and appreciation for what my dad was going through and the strength it took my mom to overcome the daily struggles of his disease without ever belittling him for it.

Endowing her chair at the Women’s Philanthropy Institute was an absolute honor. I have known no better model of philanthropy, and I am so pleased to have been blessed such that I can share her legacy with others through the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

Q: Did your father get to see what you were doing for mental health?

No. He died in January 1988 at the age of 73. The month prior, my family and I flew to Chicago for a Christmas visit, where I had probably the most intimate conversation ever with him. As though he knew his days were numbered and what the future would hold for me with respect to my own philanthropic journey, he said, “you’re like your mother — you try to feed all the squirrels. You don’t need to do that. You don’t have to be charitable to everyone. And that guy you’re married to who’s always climbing that corporate ladder. Why don’t you get in front of that guy some time and climb that ladder? Why don’t you take that first step?”

He was literally telling me his story with his wife, and hoping, like many parents, that he could offer advice for a better life for me. Even today, as my family and I discuss strategic philanthropy, we call to mind his last words to me as a reminder of the importance of impact in giving: “Don’t try to feed all the squirrels!”

Q: Have you transferred your philanthropic values to your own children?

Yes, we have. Jim and I have been married for over 40 years. We’ve moved our family a lot, and we’ve worked extremely hard. It’s because of our financial blessings that we’ve been able to give back, and we’ve always believed we must do just that.

Having been raised with the example of my mother and father, and their deep faith and community giving, there has never been a question that it is our duty to be equally giving of our blessings. From a young age, no matter where we lived, I always involved my children in my volunteerism to instill in them the same sense of responsibility.

It was equally important to me that they learn how fulfilling it can be to give back to others. Now in their 30s, each of them volunteers in a number of areas (e.g., mental health, education, religion, law, screenwriting, and more), and the next generation is starting to learn the ropes too. My three grandchildren are very aware of their blessings and have such generous and kind hearts. I can see my mother in all of them.

Q: Will you pass this giving tradition down through the Hackett Foundation?

The honest answer is, “I don’t know.” We are at a place in our lives where we are trying to determine the long-term plan for the family foundation. My children and grandchildren are more than capable of managing the foundation, and I have no doubt they would do a great job. However, I don’t want the legacy of the family to be something bound by the legal constraints of a foundation, something that only manifests itself in the monetary grants made around a board room table a couple of times each year.

More important to me is that the giving tradition and legacy of our family be captured in everyone’s spirit, every day. Whether it’s through monetary gifts, expertise, or one’s time, I want my family to focus on generosity of the soul. Give whatever you have to whomever needs it most. Share your blessings.

Q: Is there a stigma within your friends about mental health?

I wouldn’t say there’s a stigma. Prior to my work in the area, my friends were simply uninformed. I see it as my role to provide them with enough information to make a reasoned and fact-based opinion about research, treatment, policy, etc. Now, I have more coming to me for help and wondering how they can get involved.

I don’t like the word “stigma.” It holds more power than it should, and it’s self-defeating. I like to flip it to the positive. Let’s stop talking about what might be holding us back and instead focus on what can push us forward. I’m working in policy to make significant changes with respect to access to care and children’s prevention, and I’m hoping to inspire others to do the same.

Q: What would success look like in this work?

Truthfully, I think the greatest success would be to have a collaborative conversation on a global level, resulting in a platform or model that could work across states, seas, and borders that provides humankind with knowledge of the brain and the need to keep it healthy.

If we can create a model in Texas providing information, care, funding, and proof of successful impact that can then be translated to the next state, and the next state, and eventually, the entire country, that’s what I’d like to see. Success would be talking about it with the facts and understanding the role of each and every individual to make this better. It takes leadership, informed courage, and energy to carry the fight forward. Quite honestly, it takes an army.

We created the Hackett Center because I’ve worked in this niche as an advocate and volunteer for 35 years and I know what it’s like to feel like you just can’t get to the finish line or you can’t even get close. So, I thought, this is it, we need hard data, research, and facts to put together a model that truly makes a difference. That kind of success is something for which I am more than ready to fight.

Psychologizing generosity

Posted on October 10, 2018 by Abby Rolland

In January, April, and July, we introduced you to six Science and Imagination of Living Generously (SILG) grantees and their research on generosity (SILG was a regranting program conducted by the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and funded by the John Templeton Foundation. Additional program details are available at GenerosityForLife.org).

In this article, we’re diving into the last two research projects, which were authored by psychologists studying generosity, in this case among older adults.

Charitable giving and mortality among older adults

Molly Maxfield, Ph.D., is a psychologist at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) who studies older adults, how individuals cope with the knowledge of mortality (also known as terror management theory), and age differences in response to reminders of mortality.

“I enjoy working with older adults because they have a different perspective on life,” Maxfield explained. “According to some researchers, that’s because older adults have a more limited time perspective, which creates a push for them to clarify their priorities and goals, and sharpens their focus on aspects of life that they find rewarding.”

It occurred to Maxfield that one priority for older adults could be charitable giving. One of her previous research studies focused on older adults and how they value leaving something for future generations.

“Based on those findings, I wanted to see if attitudes would translate into behaviors,” she said. “In other words, would older adults give to others in need if reminded of their own mortality?”

She organized her study to include adults of all ages (18-85+) from UCCS and the surrounding community. Every individual was given $15, and then asked a series of questions about different personality traits and tendencies. Half of the individuals were randomly assigned to respond to open-ended questions about how they thought and felt when they pondered their own mortality, while the other half (the control condition) answered similar questions, but with a focus on their thoughts about experiencing dental pain and visits to the dentist.

After the study was completed, Maxfield and her team told the participants that they were running a charity drive in the lab, and asked if they wanted to donate.

The findings illustrated that older adults followed their words with actions.

“Older adults (aged 65+) who were reminded of mortality donated significantly more to charity than older adults in the control condition who thought about dental pain,” Maxfield said.

“Middle aged individuals (ages 40-64) didn’t differ in their giving at all between the two conditions, while younger adults (ages 18-39) actually donated less when they were reminded of mortality, compared to reminders of dental pain in the control condition.”

By statistically controlling for income, Maxfield and her team were able to eliminate the possibility that older adults donated because they have more income.

“Overall, older adults appeared less interested in saving the money for themselves and more interested in giving it to charities,” she said. “They want to give to future generations, and appear to do so even more when reminded of the finite nature of life.”

Maxfield views these decisions by older adults to donate more when reminded of their mortality as potentially impactful for nonprofits and how they handle discussions around planned giving.

“If you think about this concept within estate or financial planning, then how can nonprofits frame that planning so that they encourage individuals to make financial decisions that fall in line with their personal values?” she asked. “It’s a chance for nonprofits to frame planned gifts as an opportunity. How can staff members use these conversations to discuss legacy with their donors?”

In the future, Maxfield plans on continuing to study older adults and how they cope with aging. “I’d really love to learn more about values-based financial planning, and how that impacts us; knowing that we are mortal creatures who won’t be around forever.” With this in mind, she hopes to study investigate larger scale charitable giving, in the form of charitable bequests.

Relationships and generosity

At Michigan State University (MSU), psychologist William Chopik, Ph.D., studies close relationships, how they change, and how people in them change over time and across the lifespan. His interest in generosity stems from analyzing the benefits of relationships: “Relationships make us feel better – they help us enact healthier behaviors, including making us more prosocial.

“In this study, we examined where generosity comes from and the outcomes of being generous,” Chopik said. “So we thought about how others oftentimes compel us to do things, whether we like it or not. Part of that is they compel us to do more generous things, and maybe by investing more in prosocial tendencies, we become happier and/or healthier.”

For the study, Chopik and his team used existing data to answer some of their questions.

“Even though these data already exist, people hadn’t thought of generosity as something that links couples together,” he said. “The existing data, which follows 4,000 couples over eight years, worked well for studying personality.”

Similar to Maxfield, Chopik also studied older adults, but focused on how generosity acts as a way to link older couples together.

After controlling for a variety of factors, he discovered that while your own personality affects whether you volunteer, the personality characteristics of your partner also matters.

“If you’re paired with someone who’s more conscientious, more agreeable, warmer, nicer, more industrious, etc., that affects the ways in which you volunteer your time,” he said. “In that case, you’re more likely to volunteer and as a result, you engage in healthier behaviors, such as being more physically active. You’re healthier if you’re more active, and you’re more active if you’re volunteering.”

Building on this study, Chopik and his team are now working on tying generosity to mortality.

“We found that our partners’ personalities, as well as our own, can force us to behave in more generous ways. So the next step is to try to determine if people stay alive longer because they’re more engaged in their community through activities like volunteering and acting in prosocial ways,” he said.

In the long run, he hopes to situate generosity and couples within a lifespan framework.

“Generosity is a route through which individuals can achieve healthiness and happiness,” Chopik said. “I hope to learn more about how volunteering or charitable giving changes over time, and how those behaviors are affected by individuals’ and couples’ personalities.”

How did these emerging scholars benefit from working with the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy?

Chopik: “The feedback given at our annual meetings with the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy research team and the other funded researchers was incredibly helpful. It made the project stronger by having this community of intelligent people share their thoughts and ideas about generosity.

“The grant also funded a student’s education here at MSU. By working on the project, he was also able to gain experience and earned a job right after graduating.

“In addition, there are a lot of things we don’t know about regarding generosity, so it’s an encouraging and exciting time for this kind of research.”

Maxfield: “I found the opportunity to participate an incredible experience. It helped me learn about charitable giving not only from diverse psychological perspectives, but from economics and sociological lenses as well. The school also connected me to additional research that’s occurring in this particular field, and helped me explore different concepts of giving and generosity.

“I’m very happy to have had this opportunity.”

‘With my education and experience, I can be a positive light’

Posted on October 8, 2018 by Abby Rolland

From l-r: Kellie Waring, Pamela Clark, and Justine Oppelt support the Water Lillies team at the 10th annual IUPUI Regatta

By Kellie Waring

Philanthropic Studies B.A., Minor in Community Health

I remember coming to IUPUI for a retreat during the middle of my high school career. We loaded a 15-passenger van with teenagers and volunteer navigators. All of us were very different and came from different backgrounds, including what school we went to, what we were interested in, and what our personalities were like. However, we had something very in common: we made up P.U.L.S.E. of Noble County.

Kellie Waring

This is an organization supported by The Dekko Foundation that is a student-run, adult-guided youth pod in Northern Indiana. It’s one of only a handful across the nation.

P.U.L.S.E. stands for Philanthropists Utilizing Lifelong Service and Education. Each month, we held meetings and put on a fundraiser or service project for our community. The process to join is long, and due to the fact that we can only take one student out of three schools, it was tough.

A student is able to apply the end of seventh grade and if chosen, becomes a member the summer they go into eighth grade. This is a huge commitment because the student will be a member until graduation. I never thought I would become that member. Being shy was the only thing I was good at. Little did I know that by my senior year of high school, I would become the President of P.U.L.S.E. of Noble County. During my tenure, I ran meetings and made difficult decisions when needed.

This group is the entire reason I knew about IUPUI, the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, and the nonprofit sector in general. Bringing knowledge of grant cycles, obtaining sponsorships, and fundraising into college has led me to become even more passionate about classes for my major.

Being a part of the philanthropic studies program has completely changed my life. Not only are my professors inspiring, but so are my classmates. They are working in the field and have real-world experience.

Philanthropic studies classes have shown me an endless amount of opportunities for my future. With the skills and connections I am making, I can go anywhere. This past summer, I shadowed at Parkview Regional Medical Center under the Volunteer Coordinator. I conducted my own interviews and helped place volunteers in what area they would be best suited. I am already utilizing what I’ve learned in fundraising and what motivates volunteers.

Now that I am a sophomore, I have a year of school and office work. Being able to assist the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy has granted me the ability to see what life after graduation can be like. From working as a front-desk receptionist to aiding the Women’s Philanthropy Institute and communications and marketing team as an assistant, I have grown tremendously as a person.

Not only have I had amazing work experience, but I’ve volunteered as well. I have received the opportunity to shadow in hospitals and health clinics because of my major and community health minor. This has given me the chance to explore different areas of the nonprofit sector. I love getting to know the people I work with and the community that we are growing together.

I strongly believe that we are lucky to be living in the state where the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy calls home. The amount of guidance, love, and friendship I have gained from being here is more than I could have ever imagined. I am not afraid to go into the world because I know that with my education and experience I can be a positive light.

Recognizing and moving past (implicit) bias

Posted on October 4, 2018 by Abby Rolland

Tiara Dungy provides context to the second workshop

By Dana R.H. Doan and Tiara Dungy

Since November 2017, two first-year doctoral students (that’s us!) began working on a small project to explore bias with IUPUI staff, faculty, and students.

Our objective was to raise awareness about implicit bias and, ideally, facilitate action that could help IUPUI with its goal to enhance diversity and inclusion on campus. This blog post sets out to share the results of that project, including recent discussions with leadership and faculty from the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy who are currently engaging with the proposed recommendations.

The key project activities included two workshops on implicit bias, which were designed and facilitated by Peace Learning Center, an Indianapolis-based nonprofit organization. The workshops took place in early February and attracted staff, faculty, and graduate students from the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, the School of Social Work, and at least 10 others schools or departments on the IUPUI campus. Before, during, and one month after the workshops, participants were invited to provide feedback and share personal experiences.

Prior to the workshop, registered participants were asked to share personal or professional experiences with bias. The vast majority of respondents acknowledged the existence of bias in their respective school, department, and university. One respondent shared, “I have been told I spoke well for my race by a teacher,” and that “people have made assumptions that I have certain positive qualities due to my gender,” or “you would be surprised by the amount of judgment and exclusion (not drinking) actually creates among my work colleagues.”

A third respondent admitted that “I struggle with assisting students who prioritize finances and prestige over all other parts of a career. I mentally know that it is not a bad thing … but when in a one-on-one advising appointment, I really struggle with how to assist them with their plans.”

Meanwhile, less than half of the respondents reported that they knew how to reduce the bias.

Pre-Workshop Feedback (68 percent response rate)
	Disagree	Neutral	Agree
Bias exists at IUPUI	0%	12%	88%
Bias exists in my school/department	4%	19%	78%
I know how to reduce bias	24%	35%	41%

At the end of both workshops, participants were asked to provide their immediate feedback. At this time, nearly all participants reported that the workshop helped them better understand bias, and almost 90 percent said it helped them to recognize their own biases.

Several respondents noted, some with a hint of surprise, that “The workshop was not a guilt-trip, (it) was presented in a constructive way,” and “There was zero shaming language, but the message was there.”

And others spoke up about the need for such occasions and opportunities “to acknowledge judgments – mine, yours, ours” and “to take steps to understand one another, better hear one another, and realize that we are stronger together.”

End Workshop Feedback (84 percent response rate)
	Disagree	Neutral	Agree
Helped me to better understand bias	3.0%	1.5%	95.5%
Helped me to recognize my own biases	1.5%	9.1%	89.4%
Helped me to ID actions I can take	3.0%	1.5%	95.5%

One month after the workshop, participants received yet another survey and about a dozen were asked back for a one-on-one interview. From those responses, it was clear that the workshop message was not lost. Seventy-four percent of survey respondents said they took at least one action to address bias, personally or professionally. And 65 percent said they already recommended—or were planning to recommend—an action to their respective school or department.

Individuals shared personal stories about actions they were taking, or planning to take, such as staff who are reviewing and adapting internal processes and procedures, as well as rethinking their approach to external communications, and faculty who are revising—or planning to revise—their course syllabi.

The vast majority indicated a need for additional support on this topic, in the form of trainings, conversations, and access to expertise for themselves and for their colleagues.

A motivating aspect of this project, was the invitation—before the project even got started—to present the results of this work and subsequent recommendations to Dean Amir Pasic and Chief Operating Officer Marilyn Kuhn of the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

Given that nearly 30 percent of workshop participants represented the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy (including 14 staff, six faculty, the dean, and a handful of graduate students), there was substantive interest in the findings.

After sending the initial report to participants, partners, and advisors, and processing their feedback, the following three recommendations were submitted to Dean Pasic and Kuhn in late August for consideration:

Incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion into the core curriculum.
Encourage and incentivize staff and faculty to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion at the school.
Provide regular access to training and/or support for students, staff, and faculty that empowers them to take action and move past bias.

One week after presenting these recommendations to the dean and COO, we were invited to present the results and recommendations to faculty and staff of the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy during a joint luncheon. Following our presentation, a number of staff and faculty provided feedback, encouragement, and advice, both in terms of what they hope to do at the school and also what more we could all think about doing on the IUPUI campus.

Meanwhile, there have been a flurry of related activities taking place at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and across the IUPUI campus since August, such as communications and upcoming events by the newly launched Mays Family Institute on Diverse Philanthropy, an IUPUI campus diversity soiree, workshop on job descriptions, and White Racial Literacy Project, which will host talks and trainings and offer advice to faculty throughout the 2018-2019 academic year.

While these activities and initial feedback are positive and important, there remains a great deal of work to undertake for any one of the three proposed recommendations and also to ensure that other important work on campus receives substantive support, including human and financial resources.

This work will need to be promoted and shared among many and coordinated across invisible and visible boundaries. We remain grateful for the opportunity to get involved in these initiatives and we look forward to continuing to support collaborative efforts at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and efforts by members of the greater IUPUI campus this year and into the future.

Learn about how these workshops first started