Scanning for good opportunities to do good, recognizing social change entrepreneurs, and providing focused support at the right moment (and then getting out the way) is an art and a science. Like any investment strategy, it requires a combination of experience (pattern recognition), instinct, and basic research and networking.
The Furthur Foundation wants to pass this practice on to friends and family (so we started with family).
When Andre Carothers suggested we bring in our kids (or the relational equivalent), the room lit up. Bobby and Natascha in particular. Monet, Chloe, Trevor and Gabriel were on hand a month later to begin the process of looking at projects and thinking through how to be of service.
The best part was watching all the veterans try to explain their thinking to the teenagers. It turns out we had lots of different approaches—all synced up, after a quarter-century of doing this together, in a way that was basically invisible, particularly to us. — Mountain Girl
The teenagers had opinions, it turns out. Powerful ones.
Says Andre, “I brought a project I thought would be well-received, and I made the case to the group. There was some polite back and forth, and then Monet said, simply and directly, that she didn’t get it, and she didn’t think her friends would either. She preferred doing something much more direct. Gabriel agreed, and then Trevor fell in line, and we realized that they were right.”
Fresh eyes, fresh thinking. We are back on our toes again, it seems.
