Pro Bono Junkie's Blog
May 2010 Archives
By Aaron Hurst on
May 26, 2010 2:06 PM
| Permalink
| Comments
(1)
This weekend, I took my four year old daughter to a play in Soho. We arrived a little early and decided to poke around in some of the stores.
Standing in front of one of the boutiques, she asked me, "how they make those people" pointing to one of the mannequins in the window.
I confessed that I wasn't sure but laid out my best guess. I then asked her how she thought you made them.
"You kill a person. Paint them with nail polish, and then chop off their head," she said matter of factly.
It was clearly upsetting to her as five minutes later she followed up with- "what does it feel like to kill someone?"
"Yikes, kid- I don't know. I've never killed anyone," I replied and then paused. "Terrible, I suppose. Very sad."
It is amazing how people fill in the blanks when they lack information. It had never occurred to me to look at mannequins through her eyes and realize they could be seen as dead people, much like the stuffed zebras and bears at the Museum of Natural History.
Someone in our office recently shared that when her team lacks information from Taproot's leadership, they often fill in the blanks with the worst case scenarios. Hearing how far my daughter took her imagination, her hypothesis- really illustrated that a lack of information is often more dangerous than too much information. It makes a great case for management transparency.
That said, this all gives me an idea for a movie script starring Ben Stiller- "A Night at Barney's." I'll let you fill in the plot line.
Aaron Hurst is the President and Founder of the Taproot Foundation.
By Jaime Hiraishi on
May 19, 2010 1:19 PM
| Permalink
| Comments
(0)
I recently attended ABA's Equal Justice Conference as a presenter for the Back to School: Tapping into Law, Graduate, and Professional School Programs workshop. During the conference I was able to attend many panels and workshops focusing on pro bono. While there were many intriguing conversations over the four days, one especially caught my attention with talk of "those Gen Ys."
During the Q&A section of this workshop, an audience member asked, "but aren't you talking about Gen Y?"Aren't they selfish and entitled? How do they react to pro bono?"
The room was immediately buzzing. Hands flew up.
Pro Bono Coordinators from law schools across the country spoke about their first hand accounts with students. It turns out Gen Y is not only willing to do pro bono work, but they want to do pro bono work, and most importantly, they expect to do pro bono work.
Pro Bono Coordinators from law schools across the country spoke about their first hand accounts with students. It turns out Gen Y is not only willing to do pro bono work, but they want to do pro work, and most importantly, they expect to do pro bono work.
Why? Gen Y has been raised volunteering. At the very least they started volunteering in high school, and have continued service and community involvement throughout their college and now post-graduate careers. No one in the room could speak to any Gen Y students refusing to do pro bono work, or not enjoying it. In fact, this generation is so willing to get involved, the largest obstacle they face when creating pro bono programs is gaining the support of school administration to dedicate resources to these ventures.
If all of this is true, why does Gen Y have such a bad reputation? What can we do about it?
If you're interested in reading more about Generation Y's desire to make a difference and how universities can best train these students, check out a recent blog post co-authored by Taproot President Aaron Hurst and City Light Capital Managing Partner Josh Cohen on the
City Light Capital blog.
Jaime Hiraishi is a Recruitment Coordinator at the Taproot Foundation. She also leads the Taproot Foundation's efforts to promote the pro bono ethic in professional schools.
By Natalya Matusova on
May 12, 2010 5:50 PM
| Permalink
| Comments
(0)
If
you're a current Taproot Foundation pro bono consultant, you may have
noticed a few changes in your profile pages once you sign on to your
account on our website. We've added a number of new features that are
helping us to connect our pro bono consultants and staff so they can
share their wisdom and expertise directly with one another and be a more connected community. As the
community's moderator, it's my job to make sure all our staff and pro
bono consultants know how to take advantage of these new tools.
"So
what?" you might be thinking right now. Well, have you ever tossed and
turned at night wondering whether or not you should email your Taproot
Foundation Program Manager with yet another question about wireframes?
Have you complained to your mother, your friends, and the checkout
clerk that you don't have peer suggestions for an interview process
that's stuck? Or maybe you have a project management idea that could
revolutionize the way things are done at the Taproot Foundation? Well,
now you have somewhere to turn.
Our spot coaching feature
allows you to post questions to your fellow pro bono consultants and to
Taproot Foundation staff and browse discussions started by others. And
our handy dandy suggestion box gives you the opportunity to provide
direct feedback about our programs, process, and documentation.
The next time you have a question, log in and
ask our network. They'll answer. Or next time you
have feedback for us- no matter how big or small- post it to the
suggestion box. We've already implemented
this great suggestion requesting sample deliverables from projects, and there's more to come.
And this is just version 1.0... just wait to see what we've got coming up next!
Natalya "Natasha" Matusova is a Product Development Fellow at Taproot Foundation.
By Kate Wilson on
May 7, 2010 2:38 PM
| Permalink
| Comments
(1)
| TrackBacks
(0)
Thanks to the incredible enthusiasm of our pro bono consultants and clients, and the support and leadership of our sponsors, partners and advocates, yesterday Taproot Foundation was honored to receive the California Social Innovation Spotlight Award. This award is California's most prestigious award for volunteer service, given to an "extraordinary organization that is innovative in how they invest in service and volunteerism" as part of the Governor and First Lady's Medals of Honor for Service.
This recognition comes on the heels of the completion of our 1000th project, and has given us yet another reason to celebrate the traction gained in spreading the pro bono service ethic beyond the legal profession to the fields of marketing, design, strategy, human resources, and IT. An excited group of Taproot staff and board members traveled to Sacramento to attend the award ceremony (and of course, catch a glimpse of Austrian Bodybuilder-turned-actor-turned-Civic Leader, Governor Schwarzenegger.
It is a privilege to receive such an honor in California, the first state to elevate the role of volunteering and service to a cabinet-level position. As First Lady Maria Shriver put it, "when you sit at the Governor's table, people take you seriously - they listen." In the Bay Area and Los Angeles, Taproot Foundation has been fortunate to capture the attention of thousands of business professionals eager to give back to their communities by donating their professional skills. We've worked with hundreds of nonprofits in these regions to ensure that we are providing the solutions they need most - and have been privileged to form partnerships with the foundations and companies who have been inspired to make our work possible and begin their own pro bono programs.
The First Lady co-presented the award with the nation's first-ever Secretary of Service, Karen Baker, who praised Taproot for "bridging a crucial resource gap by allowing professionals to apply their talent in service to their community." Taproot President Aaron Hurst was on deck to accept the award, fresh off a flight from New York- a town which was in need of some "California love" when he moved there to lead the pro bono movement in Taproot's first east coast office.
In his acceptance speech, Aaron spoke about his inspiration for launching Taproot Foundation: The frustrations he faced early in his career while working with countless organizations with brilliant ideas, extraordinary motivation, and the audacity to want to change the world. But, "they fundamentally lacked the resources to do it." So he asked himself, "Where is the greatest place for innovation in the --" and before he could finish the sentence he was headed west to California (as a fellow east-coast convert, I can identify with this sentiment.) As Aaron put it, "California stands out as the place with incredible innovation, and also incredible hope- which is what drives innovation."
Less than ten years since awarding our first Service Grant here in California, to be on stage with those critical players is an enormous honor for Taproot Foundation and all our partners in the pro bono service movement. This monumental accomplishment underscores not only the tremendous impact of pro bono service on California's nonprofit sector, but also the meaningful work we've done in shifting the paradigm of pro bono service beyond the legal profession to be an integrated part of all careers. We are so excited and honored to have been selected.
Taproot in Suits! Taproot of staff and board members at the awards ceremony!
California Governor Schwarzenegger delivers a speech.
Taproot President Aaron Hurst delivers acceptance speech alongside California Secretary of Service and Volunteerism Karen Baker and California First Lady Maria Shriver.
California Secretary of Service and Volunteering Karen Baker talks with Taproot Executive Director Western Region Joel Bashevkin.
Kate Wilson is a Western Region Senior Development Associate at Taproot Foundation.
