Next Generation

Why You Need to Apply for an MCON Scholarship Right Now

Posted on by Case Foundation

The following was originally posted on Achieve’s blog to share my experience as an MCON 2015 scholarship recipient. Applications are now open to attend MCON 2016. APPLY NOW

What is better than attending the premier millennial engagement conference of 2016? Attending it for free.

In April of last year, I read an article from Achieve President Derrick Feldmann about activating the millennial generation (born 1980-2000). At the time, bringing my generation into the fold was something I was very interested in, but had very little idea how to do. Derrick’s article stood out to me in the obvious depth of knowledge about the topic. Perhaps even more exciting, his article mentioned an upcoming conference called MCON devoted to this very topic.

At the time, I was working for a small, but growing nonprofit, so I was incredibly fortunate to receive an MCON scholarship because the conference is designed for people just like me—millennials that want to better understand what drives our generation to give and get involved, but wouldn’t otherwise have the resources to attend. I knew I needed to be in the room with these thought leaders, but I don’t think I was quite prepared for how much I’d learn and take away from the experience.

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When I walked into the Chicago Museum of Art last June, I was blown away by the buzz and energy that filled the room. Though I knew that engaging the next generation of cause leaders was important, it was incredible to see so many people in one place who were as excited as I was by the extraordinary potential for global change that the millennial generation holds.

As I checked-in and grabbed my conference badge and (awesome) swag bag, I could already hear nearby conversations of people explaining their different reasons for attending MCON. Some people, like me, were working for nonprofits and were there to learn how to engage millennials in their work. Some were starting social enterprises and wanted to be sure they knew how to best integrate the issues that millennials care about into their products and programs. Others still were from large corporations that wanted to better understand how to attract and retain millennial talent through corporate social responsibility. No matter the specific goals, it was clear that we all shared one thing in common: we cared, A LOT, about social good and changing the world, and we knew engaging millennials in our causes was key.

unspecified-2At the conference I heard from a wide variety of speakers—from foundations and nonprofits that were using innovative ways to reach millennials, to businesses that were going beyond cause-marketing and integrating a social mission into their long-term business strategy. I learned how the Knight Foundation is investing in public art projects as an urban revitalization technique—helping to deepen the sense of place and connections across demographics in cities—and how millennials, with their propensity to live in proximity to city centers, are key to this work.

Another session that stood out to me focused on how one nonprofit, Baltimore Corps, is utilizing the energy and talents of the next generation to strengthen Baltimore through fellowships aimed at scaling promising solutions to persistent problems.

It wasn’t just the speakers that made me really happy that I attended MCON. Networking with other attendees was invaluable. Discussion groups were a common theme, and many of the people I spoke with were struggling with the same issues that I was.

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When I got back to DC, I was able to use what I learned at MCON to develop a millennial engagement strategy for the nonprofit I worked at. I was better equipped to put together programming and communications to reach this vital audience. I was also motivated to join the newly formed Year Up Young Professionals Network, an effort by Year Up National Capital Region to engage millennials in their vital work. Attending MCON has made me a significantly better member of this network, able to provide input and insights from the conference to help shape and strengthen this new initiative. And I was even driven to become more deeply engaged than that, seizing an opportunity to come work for the Case Foundation, the lead sponsor of MCON and the Millennial Impact Report, when a job opening arose.

This year, I am so excited that MCON has come to my own backyard in DC. I often say that one of my favorite things about living in DC is how passionate everyone is about something. You may not always agree with the cause they care about, but just having a city full of people who give a damn is exhilarating. I can think of no better place to host such a vibrant conference, and I hope that you’ll join me at MCON 2016. If you, like me, care deeply about changing the world and growing your network with leaders, activists and entrepreneurs, then don’t miss the chance to be inspired at MCON. Scholarship applications are now open, so what are you waiting for?

Scholarships MCON 2016

5 Tips for Attracting (and Keeping) Millennial Employees

Posted on by Case Foundation

Millennials (those born between 1980-2000) are now the largest generation in the U.S. workforce and represent more than one in three workers according to Pew Research Center. And while this generation is growing in size, influence and power within the workplace, many employers, managers and HR departments still find it difficult to recruit and retain next gen talent.

For many leaders at organizations around the country, the challenge is in more effectively engaging Millennial employees and in understanding that their passions, interests and ideas are part of their identity—not just at home or with friends, but also at the office. Through the Millennial Impact Project, we have learned that one key way employers can tap into those interests is by integrating them into the organization’s cause- and service-related issues and projects, which resonate well with this generation. The 2014 Millennial Impact Report, which focused primarily on Millennials’ preferences in the workplace, identified the linkage between a company’s cause-related efforts and the interest of and desire by their Millennial employees to engage in those efforts as part of their employment.

In the newly released report by Achieve titled, “Cause, Influence & the Next Generation Workforce – Six-Month Research Update,” researchers built upon their 2014 and 2015 surveys of Millennials and engagement in the workplace and looked specifically at data on company size and cause work programs as a means to foster workplace engagement. Researchers wanted to know in this six-month update: how participation in company cause work programs are influenced by the existing and structuring of such programs; why companies should consider incorporating cause work initiatives earlier in an employee’s tenure; and the importance of companies preventing participation fatigue. (Note: Reports referenced above are sponsored by the Case Foundation.)

My big takeaway for organizations interested in deeper engagement is that offering service opportunities alone is not enough. Organizations that take their engagement a step further and tailor those opportunities with and for next gen employees are more successful at engaging Millennial employees over the long term.

Based on the findings of this research, here are five practical tips that any team manager or leader who wants to better engage their next gen employees can put into practice—today:

Tip #1: Companies should look to establish service initiatives and volunteer opportunities for Millennial employees—not only to be a socially responsible company, but also to foster a service oriented culture that can align with the employees’ passions and will ultimately help to retain Millennial employees and managers.

Tip #2: Executives and managers should make sure to promote the service-related opportunities and foster awareness about those programs available. This will help to ensure that Millennial employees have the opportunity to be fully engaged.

Tip #3: Consider offering incentives to those who participate in the service-related programs. Make sure that they are incentives that would be appreciated by the employees and managers alike, and are aligned with the service opportunity (e.g., time allowances for staff to volunteer with an organization of their choice).

Tip #4: Consult team members at all professional levels to ensure that the organization’s engagement strategies and offerings resonate with the next gen employees. Suggesting employees donate to an organization selected by the company—without input from the staff—could likely result in disinterested participation and lackluster support from next gen team members.

Tip #5: Engage with employees and involve them early on during their careers with your organization (e.g., orientation or within the first few months). When leaders did not engage employees early on, it often took one to two years for employees to become involved with cause related activities led by the employer.

And finally, as noted in the report: “To truly engage—and retain—their Millennial employees and managers in cause work initiatives for years to come, employers must take the time to learn about what causes employees value, how they want to make an impact, what influences them and what challenges them to continue participating.”

Do you have a tip for how to attract and retain Millennial talent through service related activities? Share it with us on Twitter using @CaseFoundation and #Millennials.

My (too) Close Encounter With Virtual Reality and How it Sparked Imagining VR for Good

Posted on by Case Foundation

In the spirit of learning, one of our staff ordered a Google Cardboard virtual reality (VR) viewer and brought it to a recent staff meeting for us to experience. The story we were watching to test out this new technology was The New York Times’ groundbreaking three-part series on the plight of refugee children, a series that I had previously read about, but had not yet had the chance to view. In “The Displaced,” viewers follow along on the harrowing journey of Chuol, a South Sudanese boy (only two years older than my eldest child).

In my excitement to try out this storytelling tech, I threw my hand up like an enthusiastic fifth grader would. My colleague reached across the conference room table to double check that I was holding the iPhone and VR goggles correctly as I adjusted the headphones and hit play. Immediately I was walking through a room, presumably an intro to the NYT VR series. I looked all around amazed that it really did feel like I was in that room, then the article title came up and I was thrust into Chuol’s story. It felt like I was really there, floating in a roughhewn wooden boat in the middle of a swamp under cloudy skies, and it suddenly hit me that I knew what the surrounding reeds were hiding: women and children in flight from unspeakable atrocities.

My pulse soared, my breath grew instantly shallow, my eyes burned and I began to sob. The virtual reality of Chuol’s actual reality was so vivid that it overwhelmed me. I pulled off the headphones and apologized through tears to my coworkers, some of whom had been trying to capture a fun video to share about our first collective experience with VR. Instead I’m sure they recorded my face unfolding in horror of what I knew lay ahead for that little boy.

It was too close for comfort, but maybe that was the point. My head and my heart were already hooked by the story that had received widespread coverage in the days leading up to this experience and the VR experience sealed it inextricably. I’ll never forget that moment of “seeing” through Chuol’s eyes. Short of a plane ticket and dropping into a conflict zone, the experience could not have been more authentic.

Marketers of all stripes will undoubtedly tap into this possibility of authenticity to attract, engage and retain their target audiences. But my hope is that we will also see VR storytelling as a method to win hearts and minds for good.

The 2013 Millennial Impact Research report found that 70 percent of Millennials are willing to raise money for causes they care about. What better way to capture a broader group of donors than to let them have a virtual experience around a cause? Potential donors could “explore” a pristine marine reserve before it has been destroyed to understand why it matters. “Listening in” on a prognosis meeting for a cancer patient might help articulate the intricacies of fighting that disease. Perhaps hearing a VR testimonial of a client that benefitted from post-incarceration training to land a new job might convey the need to support an effort typically difficult to fund.

Likewise, given the ubiquity of mobile technology around the globe and the exquisite simplicity and lower cost of a cardboard viewer (as one of many VR methods), imagine the possibilities for good beyond donations of money. A business owner in an emerging market could virtually walk the storeroom floor and peer around the globe to get some ideas on how to improve sales rather than examining floor plans; a student could augment their studies of ancient societies by “traipsing” along timeworn streets without needing to afford overseas studies; a homebound person could “climb” treacherous trails to visit impossibly constructed temples on mountain ridges. By using VR, people’s lives could be enriched by having access to knowledge and experience that was previously out of reach.

My incredibly visceral and brief experience with VR was more than enough to convince me of the power of this technology as it begins to enjoy widespread use. I can’t wait to see what the clever do-gooders of the world do next with this medium. Though, next time I strap on a VR viewer I might choose a less heartrending topic.

Interested in using #VR4Good? Share your ideas for this emerging technology with us on Twitter.

Header photo credit: Flickr user Nan Palmero, used via Creative Commons.

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