Fearless Focus: Mario Morino

In our journey to Be Fearless and champion a fearless approach to tackling social challenges, the Case Foundation team will spotlight leading changemakers across sectors that have embraced fearlessness. Our spotlights will provide personal accounts of why these changemakers adopted a fearless approach, how they overcame hurdles, and how taking risks, being bold, and failing forward led to quicker results and deeper impact.

This week, we are featuring Mario Morino, Chairman of Venture Philanthropy Partners (VPP) and the Morino Institute, and author of Leap of Reason: Managing to Outcomes in an Era of Scarcity. Jean and Steve Case along with the Case Foundation are founding investors and long-time supporters of VPP, a philanthropic investment organization that helps great leaders build strong, high-performing nonprofit institutions in the DC region.Since co-founding VPP in 2000, Mario has been a leader in applying venture and growth principles to the nonprofit sector to build stronger, high-impact organizations. Previous to VPP, Mario was a software entrepreneur and civic business leader in the DC region, and more recently in Northeast Ohio.

What do you think it means to Be Fearless in approaching social challenges?

A fearless leader has the courage to periodically look in the mirror to face that difficult question, “Is our hard work truly adding up to great results for those we serve?” And if the answer is “no,” a fearless leader acknowledges shortcomings, reaches out for help from others, seeks relevant information on how to improve, and then takes bold (even painful) steps to get on a more impactful course. In my work with Venture Philanthropy Partners (VPP), with other nonprofit organizations, and in my business career, I’ve made more than my share of mistakes, sought help, and then course-corrected. But let me offer a better example of fearless introspection which I learned about this past year. In the early 1990s, Youth Villages (YV) CEO Pat Lawler kept hearing through the grapevine about young people who seemed to be on a good path after discharge from YV’s residential treatment facilities and yet had ended up in prison or in other forms of crisis. This prompted Pat to start collecting more information to find out what was really happening to those kids. The results were disappointing at best. Instead of hiding the bad news from stakeholders, Pat and his team openly acknowledged that they were falling short of their aspirations and then spent several tough years reengineering the entire program model. Today, 82 percent percent of the kids in YV programs across the country are rising above their challenges. They are finishing school, earning a living, and contributing to their communities. That’s literally twice the rate achieved by comparable programs. And Pat’s program costs one-third as much as competitor programs.

Tell us about a time when you and your organization were Fearless.

In all candor, I don’t see myself as fearless, as I’ve had the luxury of time and resources to be able to take thoughtful, measured risks (at least most of the time). For instance, I never viewed co-founding VPP as being fearless, nor did I see the choices we made in our philanthropic investments as fearless, since they were grounded by deep analysis. Having said this, in my business and philanthropic life I have consistently done what some would regard as bold or even on the edge: I have sought to recruit leaders to my boards, advisory groups, and management teams who know more than I do and from whom I can learn. For example, recruiting Carol Thompson Cole to serve as VPP’s CEO would feel pretty risky to some organizational founders. Carol is an exemplary leader who commands deep respect and could steal a founder’s thunder. But to me, being able to recruit outstanding talent-talent that could (and should) take me out of a central decision-making role with the organization-is essential. I believe leaders of organizations have to be fearless in recruiting and/or developing the strongest talent they can for the boards and organization-even when that talent is better than they are.

What did you learn & what advice would you give other organizations facing a similar decision point?

I think the hardest thing to do is to question your own performance and that of your organization. It sounds trite, but being honest with yourself is critical. It’s easy to say you want to recruit strong talent to your board and organization until you are confronted with the fact that these same strong people will have strong views and opinions, modes of operation, etc., that are different from yours. That’s when the rubber meets the road. As long as you are philosophically and culturally aligned, are you ready to step back and give others the latitude to speak out, to differ, and to lead? Much easier said than done. There’s a follow-on, which is to have to courage to admit when a people decision you made was wrong and then act to rectify it. As one of my bosses and advisors told me, if you hire someone and they leave or they don’t work out in the first year, it is squarely your mistake. You either didn’t do the right due diligence up front, or you inadvertently set the person up to fail.

What inspired your organization to Be Fearless?

I don’t mean to dodge your question, but as I said earlier I don’t see myself as fearless. Writing columns, giving speeches, and supporting others doesn’t exactly take nerves of steel. But running a community health center, intervening with gang members, negotiating with a drug dealer to stay away from your school-now that takes a fearless leader! Therefore, I feel much more comfortable speaking about nonprofit leaders who, for very compelling reasons, are truly fearless in their work-and they have to be to succeed. What always inspires great nonprofit leaders to be fearless is the passionate, unyielding desire to do the most they can for those they serve. Great leaders can’t sleep at night when they don’t know whether they’re on course to achieve the results they seek. They’re obsessed with finding ways to do better for those they serve. And as a result, they are willing take big risks to get there.

Learn more about Mario Morino here. Read more about our Be Fearless campaign. Know someone that we should spotlight for Fearless Focus? Let us know here in the comments or tell us on twitter @casefoundation using #befearless

Fearless Focus: Diane Melley

This post was written by Diane Melley on behalf of the Case Foundation:

In our journey to Be Fearless and champion a fearless approach to tackling social challenges, the Case Foundation team will spotlight leading changemakers across sectors that have embraced fearlessness. Our spotlights will provide personal accounts of why these changemakers adopted a fearless approach, how they overcame hurdles, and how taking risks, being bold, and failing forward led to quicker results and deeper impact.

This week, Diane Melley, Director of Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs at IBM, is our guest blogger for Fearless Focus. IBM has been a fearless company since its founding 100 years ago – in society and in the ways it has innovated. From providing equal pay for women in 1935, and then-President Thomas Watson taking a bold stand against segregation in the American South in 1956, to being one of the first American companies to include sexual orientation as part of its nondiscrimination policies in 1984, IBM has consistently set the bar for responsible business practices. IBM has also led in product and service innovation. It holds more patents than any other American company, and many of its inventions and ideas have changed the world: electronic tabulating machines, bar codes, e-business and cloud computing, and of course Watson, the computer that won at Jeopardy. IBM is again leading by example through its pro bono programs, which have provided more than $250 million worth of skills-based services from its employees to nonprofits all over the world.

First, I want to congratulate the Case Foundation on 15 years of innovation and bold action. The organization has provided extraordinary leadership while tackling some of the thorniest issues in the US and around the globe. Whether experimenting with new models and partnerships to create sustainable solutions, or leveraging technology to empower social entrepreneurs, Case has provided a true example of acting fearlessly.

To me, being fearless in approaching social challenges means being willing to step out of the safety of the crowd and go into uncharted territory. Attempting new approaches often means being willing to stand alone, at least initially. And while we at IBM are not afraid of being outside of the pack, our accomplishments – certainly those on the Corporate Citizenship front – are largely in part thanks to the partnership of both the public and private sector. Many of our programs, such as Supplier Connection and P-TECH, would not be possible without the support of our outstanding partners.

Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs at IBM has acted fearlessly over the past several decades, being willing to completely transform itself as an organization.  Historically, the IBM Foundation looked to donate cash to local causes. During the past 10 years, under the aggressive leadership of our Vice President Stan Litow, we have undertaken a substantial shift, broadening our portfolio to align more closely with the strategy of IBM. For example, when our Smarter Cities strategy was announced, we fused the idea of IBM’s business strategy to our citizenship strategy. We looked at how we could assist cities and municipalities from a social perspective. While we will always be interested in education and workforce development, especially as it pertains to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) curriculum, we are now much more willing to look across IBM for opportunities where we can leverage the expertise of our parent organization and our best asset – IBMers – in service to the communities where we live.

During our transformational journey, we learned many lessons: the importance of being strategic, thinking and planning for the long term, and engaging strong partners. To the first point, it is not enough to be reactionary – the best improvements are those that are thoughtful and deliberate. Second, whatever is created should not just be for the moment, but should be architected in a sustainable manner. Finally, in the social sector, partners are essential – so many of the issues we are trying to resolve are complex and multi-stakeholder – therefore we need to engage cross-sector in order to create and affect true change.

At IBM, we take risks because it is part of our heritage. Our founders and our culture encourage being visionary and at the forefront of what is possible, whether it was hiring our first black employee in 1899, a mere 34 years after the end of the Civil War, hiring our first female employee 20 years before women won the right to vote in the US, or in building Watson, the breakthough natural language Deep Q&A system in 2011. Our inspiration comes from our roots, and our hope is that each IBMer is inspired to act fearlessly and to take risks every day.

Learn more about IBM’s corporate responsibility programs here. Read more about our Be Fearless campaign. Know someone that we should spotlight for Fearless Focus? Let us know here in the comments or tell us on twitter @casefoundation using #befearless.

Fearless Focus: Max Wallace

In our journey to Be Fearless and champion a fearless approach to tackling social challenges, the Case Foundation team will spotlight leading changemakers across sectors that have embraced fearlessness. Our spotlights will provide personal accounts of why these changemakers adopted a fearless approach, how they overcame hurdles, and how taking risks, being bold, and failing forward led to quicker results and deeper impact. We spoke with Max Wallace, CEO of Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure (ABC2), a nonprofit organization that uses entrepreneurial approaches to bring innovative new treatments to brain cancer patients. ABC2 was created in 2001, shortly after co-founder and Chairman of the Board Steve Case’s brother Dan Case was diagnosed with brain cancer. Dan, his wife Stacey, and Steve and Jean Case established ABC2’s singular focus to find a cure for brain cancer. ABC2 supports translational research in targeted therapies, drug delivery, cancer stem cells and using biomarkers for early detection and prognosis. The organization operates in honor of and in celebration of Dan, who passed in 2002. Max says “ABC2 is, in essence, a special operations team in the war against brain cancer.” Previous to joining ABC2, Max was an entrepreneur building research-driven biopharmaceutical companies.

You can watch Max’s answers to our questions in the video above, or share each segment individually:

What do you think it means to Be Fearless in approaching social challenges?
Of course I’d like to think we are fearless in our fight against brain cancer. Every day we fight an implacable, complex, dangerous disease for people whose lives are at stake. If fear is “a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil or pain,” it is a daily part of our world. John Wayne described it:  “Courage is being scared to death … and saddling up anyway.” We saddle up every day and take as big and audacious a swing at brain cancer as we can. It may not be truly fearless – but it’s pretty darn close.

Tell us about a time when you and your organization were Fearless.
We worked witih Genentech to tackle risks and, in an unprecedented step, ABC2 provided funding for Genentech to do the required brain cancer studies. The result: in May 2009 the FDA granted accelerated approval for Avastin to be used to treat brain cancer – the first new brain cancer drug approved in over a decade. This pioneering project has set the tone for all that ABC2 has done since.

What did you learn & what advice would you give other organizations facing a similar decision point?
Steve Jobs said that he was trying to “make a dent in the universe” and we agree with that approach. Trying to dent the universe is risky business and we often operate in unmapped territory (in fact, our job is to send back maps). We know there will be failures, but that is not a reason to hold back. And, if we do fail we want our failure to be both fast and forward.

What inspired your organization to Be Fearless?
In 2001, Dan Case was 43 and on top of the world. Then Dan was diagnosed with brain cancer. Counseled by many to focus just on his own life, Dan chose to take a different path and ABC2 was born. While Dan did not survive his cancer, every day we work to be as caring and courageous as he was.

Learn more about Max Wallace here. Read more about Be Fearless campaign. Know someone that we should spotlight for Fearless Focus? Let us know here in the comments or tell us on twitter @casefoundation using #befearless.