Be Fearless

Changing the World – One Code at a Time

Posted on by Case Foundation

Identifying organizations that make big bets and tackle pressing social issues is an important part of our Be Fearless mantra here at the Case Foundation. Our work across the United States has helped lift up and fund extraordinary changemakers and their programs. This year the Case Foundation hosted the first-ever Aspen Scholars pitch competition at the Aspen Ideas Festival at which we awarded more than $25,000 in grant money to competing Aspen Scholars. The grand prize winner was Kristen Titus of Girls Who Code. We are thrilled to work with this new organization as a grantee and a partner.

Girls Who Code was launched in 2012 in an effort to close the gender gap in the computing and online fields. Its programs have earned the support from top Fortune 500 companies and have delivered more than 3,000 hours of intensive instruction to young women and high school girls. Each participant is equipped with the skills and resources they need to pursue careers and opportunities in the computing field. From mobilizing top executives, educators and engineers, to developing a new model for computer science education and launching eight immersion programs spanning five cities – Kristen and the Girls Who Code staff have worked to catapult young female minds into the tech sector.

The Case Foundation sat down with Kristen to chat about Girls Who Code and their work on the heels of her Elle Magazine debut naming her one of the “11 Women Who Just Might Change the world” and Business Insider’s 2013 nod for one of the “30 Most Important Women Under 30 In Tech.” We could not agree more, Kristen and her girls who code are on their way to big things in the tech world.

Our Interview with Girls Who Code

CF: What goals are you working towards at Girls Who Code? How will the Case Foundation’s funds help you achieve that goal?

KT: Girls Who code has set out to tackle what we believe to be one of the most pressing problems facing our generation: the gender gap in technology. We’re starting on the ground by inspiring, educating and equipping high school girls to pursue technology through our Summer Immersion and after-school Club programs. The Case Foundation is supporting the scaling of these programs, and helping us bring computer science education to girls across the country. Each girl who goes through our programs represents one step closer towards gender parity in technology.

CF: Tell us about a moment when you failed in life and how you used that as an opportunity to fail forward?

KT: Last spring, Girls Who Code launched our first ever after-school program pilots. We had a very successful model for an intensive summer program, and we were eager to find out how to replicate the program in a format designed to scale. One model we tested involved having our graduates organize clubs and teach their peers. This model just did not work, and it was disappointing because it held much potential. We were, however, able to incorporate successful components of the model into what we have ultimately found to be the best format, and are now in the second phase of testing of this program. We can’t wait to see how the program grows.

CF: How have reached outside of your bubble or your sector to raise awareness or perhaps funding for your organization?

KT: Increasingly, computer science skills are relevant to industries outside of what we typically think of as the tech sector. From fashion to medicine to banking, companies rely on technologists to do business, and we absolutely look to these corporations as partners. What’s more, we incorporate the experiences of engineers at companies that, traditionally, would not be considered to be technology companies in order to expose our students to the incredible variety of opportunities available to those with a CS background. 

This is the first in a series of four articles featuring new grantees of the Case Foundation who have won awards in our 2013 pitch competitions. Check back for our next feature on the Rid-All Green Partnership, an urban farm in Cleveland, OH.

You’re Never too Young to Be Fearless

Posted on by Case Foundation

This post was written by Beth Pann, NSHSS Director of Development & Outreach, on behalf of the Case Foundation. 

When Claes Nobel, senior member of the family that established the Nobel Prizes and co-founder of the National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS), first learned of the Case Foundation’s Be Fearless campaign, he shared his own reflections on what we can accomplish when we overcomes our own fears, “The qualities of love, truth and compassion have been the guiding stars of my life and continue to give me courage. The World Betterment Legacy of my uncle Dr. Alfred Nobel inspired me to pursue my passion for Universal Peace and Environmental Sustainability. It is my hope that young scholars today find the inspiration to bravely fulfill their dreams.”

NSHSS scholars, whom Mr. Nobel believes will one day be the next Nobel Laureates, are pushing the envelope on changing the world for both themselves as well as for others around them. NSHSS is pleased to have been selected by the Case Foundation to team up on a program aimed at celebrating fearless role models during the Back to School season. Part of the foundation’s larger “Be Fearless” initiative, the campaign aims to honor these inspirational figures by inviting participants to share their own stories of who taught them to be fearless with Instagram video.

To participate, simply visit the Case Foundation’s Facebook page and enter.

The more than 900,000 scholars from 160 different countries who have been inducted into NSHSS since 2002 inspire us daily, and we recognize how they regularly teach us to be fearless in new and unexpected ways. These scholars embrace the core principles of the Foundation’s Be Fearless campaign by making big bets, experimenting, making failure matter, reaching beyond their bubble, and letting urgency conquer fear.

Two of our scholars wanted to share their own stories about who taught them to be fearless with you today: NSHSS Scholar Alec Urbach, CEO of Alec Urbach Productions, and founder of Giving from the Ground Up, a 501c3 public charity, knows a thing or two about taking bold risks. Reflecting on fearlessness,

Alec says: My brother taught me to be fearless when, already renowned as a violin prodigy, he began traversing the country for the sole purpose of performing Concerts for a Cure to raise money to fight pediatric neurological disease. This wasn’t something that people did, but he did it anyway because he believed it was right. My response to “fearlessness” is that there is something to be said for respecting our fears. We should respect the fear of failure; it will teach us to succeed. We should respect the fear of rejection; it will teach us to accept and bounce back. We should respect the fear of not knowing; it will teach us to learn.

For Loren A. Morris, an NSHSS Scholar from Schertz, TX, and St. Mary’s University freshman in San Antonio, being fearless was not an attribute that she experienced as a young child. Loren shared:

Each new day began with the fear of my biological mother not being home to care for me and my siblings. My young life was so full of fear and instability that I was always afraid and angry. Once taken from my biological mother, I was moved from foster home to foster home before finally ending up in a children’s shelter. I lived in a place that erased all my identity and disconnected me forever from my sisters and brothers. It was not until I was adopted into a wonderful family that my new parents, Grady and Juanita Morris, began to instill in me the will to truly “feel” again. At first, I refused to let them love me because I could not understand why they cared so much. Through them I learned to face my fears head on; to embrace new challenges with excitement; and to dare to dream. Their continuous love and support has literally dared me to be “fearless” and live again. They always say, “Loren, follow us as we follow God.” And, this is an awesome “fearless” journey.

These scholars have already found “the inspiration to bravely fulfill their dreams” as Nobel hopes all young people will one day through their fearlessness.

Inspired by the Case Foundation’s efforts to encourage changemakers to take risks, be bold and make failure matter, NSHSS is proud to announce that it is establishing the NSHSS #BeFearless Scholar Award this fall to inspire more young leaders who demonstrate outstanding leadership, scholarship, and commitment to their communities to Be Fearless. Learn more at www.nshss.org.

Fear less: A National Geographic Explorer’s Story

Posted on by Case Foundation

This post was written by Heather Greenwood Davis on behalf of the Case Foundation: 

In 2012 National Geographic Traveler magazine announced their new Travelers of the Year initiative. The honorees were a group of fearless boundary breakers who explored the world with passion and purpose, inspiring others to expand their horizons, ask big questions, and seek new answers. One of those fearless travelers was Heather Greenwood Davis, a freelance travel writer based in Toronto, Canada. She took a year-long journey with her husband, Ishmael; and sons, Ethan and Cameron (then 10 and 8-years-old), and chronicled their yearlong, round-the-world adventure on globetrottingmama.com. Nominations are open for the 2013 Travelers of the Year awards here.

I’m going to share with you the biggest secret I’ve discovered about fearless living: 90 percent of the things you fear melt faster than the Wicked Witch of the West did when Dorothy doused her with water, once you confront them. The mere action of “doing” usually erases the fear, showing the uninformed foundation it stood on. I know this firsthand.

I know this because for 12 consecutive months – from June 2011 to June 2012 – I travelled around the world with my husband and two sons under the age of 10. We visited 29 countries on six continents and carried the fears of our family, friends, and a lifetime of being raised on a fearful continent with us.

At a recent National Geographic Live presentation, my family and I shared our journey with an audience of about 200 people as one of National Geographic Traveler Magazine’s 2012 “Travelers of the Year.” As I got up to join other winners on the stage, the host introduced me as “fearless.” I quickly corrected him. I wasn’t fearless, I was afraid – before we left, at times on the road, and even when we returned as new people in an old world.

I was afraid but we did it anyway. We weren’t fearless but we did fear less the more we traveled.

Looking back, our first step to fear freedom wasn’t the one that put us on a plane out of Toronto, it was the one that led me to start www.globetrottingmama.com – the blog we used to tell the world we were planning to do this crazy thing. When we launched the site months before we left, it was the equivalent of signing a contract in our minds. By telling the world we were doing this, we would have no choice but to follow through.

The telling made the leaping easier but the fears continued when we finally set out months later, until we recognized a pattern.

We would enter country after country, city after city, carrying the weight of the fears and then, slowly but surely as we met people in the places we were visiting, those fears would disappear. Every single time.

One particular moment that sticks in my mind happened during the latter part of the trip. We were trying to decide whether we should visit Egypt. A friend in Kenya asked what we were afraid of, and as I pondered that question I received an email from home. Attached without comment was a list of the ten most dangerous places in the world to visit. A quick glance showed that we’d visited about half the list and a few more remained on our planned itinerary. We read the concerns and advice for destinations where we had enjoyed wonderful evenings out, met new friends, and never once felt unsafe. It was proof that what people think of a place can never compare with what you know once you’ve seen it yourself. We’d visit Egypt, we decided, and continue to see what the world had to offer. It was one of the best decisions of the trip.

I want to be clear. I’m not saying the world isn’t a dangerous place. I’m not suggesting that you should venture to all places with reckless abandon. Not at all.

What I’m telling you is that not venturing somewhere – in the world, in your career, in your life – because you perceive it to be frightening is never a good way to make a decision. Our 12 months in the world have shown me that allowing your life to be dictated by fear will only leave you with a less fulfilled existence. It’s only by jumping in with both feet and getting as close as you can to the roots of your fears that you’ll be able to determine their validity. Fears stand strong from afar; you have to get close enough to throw the water if you want the witch to melt.

What’s been happening at our Fearless Forums?

Posted on by Case Foundation

This post was written by Michael Smith on behalf of the Case Foundation.

“You’ve got to act. You’ve got to be willing to fail. You’ve got to be willing to crash and burn.” – Steve Jobs, Apple

Ever since the launch of our Be Fearless campaign last year, we have been talking about experimentation, big bets, urgency, and yes – failure. The topic of failure in the social sector is filled with language to make it seem less intimidating. People talk about a “learning experience,” “work in progress,” or “opportunity.” It’s rare that the word failure will come up when discussing grant proposals or creating a new organization, as it carries with it unpleasant memories of frustration, struggle, and maybe even embarrassment. We want to change that. We want to embrace the fact that failure happens and allow people to talk about it openly and honestly. Anticipating failure, admitting it, and then moving forward with new knowledge comprise what philanthropic consultant Lucy Bernholz terms “failing forward.” It is only through direct conversations about failure that we can all truly learn from it, grow as a result of it and fail forward together.

As part of our Fearless Forum series, we have been collecting stories of failing forward across the country. Since the beginning of the year, we’ve hosted seven Fearless Forums, bringing together speakers and panelists to share their stories of fearlessness, innovation, and of course, failure. Speakers from Campbell Soup Foundation, DC nonprofit Mary’s Center, PBS, Conrad Foundation, GOOD/corps, Levi Strauss Foundation, our CEO Jean Case, and many more have spoken about their work to bring fearlessness to the social sector. It is inspiring and enlightening to hear social sector leaders willing to discuss their successes, failures, and dedication to disrupting stale and stagnant silos where tired social solutions have failed to succeed.

Earlier this month, we held a new style of Fearless Forum at the Council on Foundations conference in Chicago. We partnered with GOOD/Corps to host “Liquid Courage,” a happy hour “fail fest” with food, drinks, music, and an open floor for brief stories on failing forward. In an hour and a half, nearly one hundred COF conference attendees heard 15 stories of failing forward in philanthropy from their fearless colleagues — some pre-selected and some who volunteered on the spot. It was inspiring and humbling to hear personal stories of failure from Grant Garrison of GOOD/Corps, Rahsaan Harris from Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP), Chris Gates from Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE), Daniel Lee from Levi Strauss Foundation, and many others. One of my favorite quotes came from Kristin Lindsey at the Global Fund for Children, who said, “Somebody has to say that every once in a while a grant goes bad.” It turns out that many of the stories were incredibly common, but seldom shared in public.

To see more quotes and tweets from Liquid Courage and Be Fearless at COF, check out our Storify.

Another highlight of the year so far was a session our CEO Jean Case held at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University as part of our colleague Ambassador Doug Holladay’s Leadership Residency “LIFE ENTREPRENEURS: Bringing Meaning and Contribution to Business and Politics.” Through stories, case studies, inspiration breaks with Warby Parker founder Neil Blumenthal and City Year co-founder Alan Khazei, a FearlessFactor quiz, and roundtable discussions, Jean guided the students through an interactive exploration and conversation on the role of fearlessness in business and social innovation. Discussion ranged from anxiety about pursuing non-traditional career paths such as startups or social-purpose business to knowing how to innovate in naturally (and sometimes necessary) risk-averse cultures like finance and government.

We were fortunate to have a full recording of the session made by Echo360 and available online through our YouTube channel. View Jean’s entire session, or take a few minutes to watch some quick one-minute highlights from the day.

Most recently, team members Allie and Jenna traveled to Minneapolis for the Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC), where they both spoke about failure in their respective sessions. In a plenary panel moderated by Beth Kanter, Allie shared some of the Case Foundation’s fail forwards and encouraged funders to lead the charge in taking risks and making little and big bets on ideas and people that are doing fearless work to change the world. Read the Storify from that session here.

There is plenty more to come from Be Fearless and our Fearless Forums this year! Stay tuned for event announcements and a new page on casefoundation.org//befearless where you can keep up to date on Fearless Forums, and hopefully you can join us at one of them. And be sure to follow us on Twitter @casefoundation, and join the #befearless conversation every day.

In the meantime, please keep telling us about new fearless stories, fearless changemakers and examples of foundations and nonprofits putting a fearless approach in practice. Let’s Be Fearless, together!

What’s been happening at our Fearless Forums?

Posted on by Case Foundation

“You’ve got to act. You’ve got to be willing to fail. You’ve got to be willing to crash and burn.” – Steve Jobs, Apple

Ever since the launch of our Be Fearless campaign last year, we have been talking about experimentation, big bets, urgency, and yes – failure. The topic of failure in the social sector is filled with language to make it seem less intimidating. People talk about a “learning experience,” “work in progress,” or “opportunity.” It’s rare that the word failure will come up when discussing grant proposals or creating a new organization, as it carries with it unpleasant memories of frustration, struggle, and maybe even embarrassment. We want to change that. We want to embrace the fact that failure happens and allow people to talk about it openly and honestly. Anticipating failure, admitting it, and then moving forward with new knowledge comprise what philanthropic consultant Lucy Bernholz terms “failing forward.” It is only through direct conversations about failure that we can all truly learn from it, grow as a result of it and fail forward together.

As part of our Fearless Forum series, we have been collecting stories of failing forward across the country. Since the beginning of the year, we’ve hosted seven Fearless Forums, bringing together speakers and panelists to share their stories of fearlessness, innovation, and of course, failure. Speakers from Campbell Soup Foundation, DC nonprofit Mary’s Center, PBS, Conrad Foundation, GOOD/corps, Levi Strauss Foundation, our CEO Jean Case, and many more have spoken about their work to bring fearlessness to the social sector. It is inspiring and enlightening to hear social sector leaders willing to discuss their successes, failures, and dedication to disrupting stale and stagnant silos where tired social solutions have failed to succeed.

Earlier this month, we held a new style of Fearless Forum at the Council on Foundations conference in Chicago. We partnered with GOOD/Corps to host “Liquid Courage,” a happy hour “fail fest” with food, drinks, music, and an open floor for brief stories on failing forward. In an hour and a half, nearly one hundred COF conference attendees heard 15 stories of failing forward in philanthropy from their fearless colleagues — some pre-selected and some who volunteered on the spot. It was inspiring and humbling to hear personal stories of failure from Grant Garrison of GOOD/Corps, Rahsaan Harris from Emerging Practicioners in Philanthropy (EPIP), Chris Gates from Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE), Daniel Lee from Levi Strauss Foundation, and many others. One of my favorite quotes came from Kristin Lindsey at the Global Fund for Children, who said, “Somebody has to say that every once in a while a grant goes bad.” It turns out that many of the stories were incredibly common, but seldom shared in public.

To see more quotes and tweets from Liquid Courage and Be Fearless at COF, check out our Storify.

Another highlight of the year so far was a session our CEO Jean Case held at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University as part of our colleague Ambassador Doug Holladay’s Leadership Residency “LIFE ENTREPRENEURS: Bringing Meaning and Contribution to Business and Politics.” Through stories, case studies, inspiration breaks with Warby Parker founder Neil Blumenthal and City Year co-founder Alan Khazei, a FearlessFactor quiz, and roundtable discussions, Jean guided the students through an interactive exploration and conversation on the role of fearlessness in business and social innovation. Discussion ranged from anxiety about pursuing non-traditional career paths such as startups or social-purpose business to knowing how to innovate in naturally (and sometimes necessary) risk-averse cultures like finance and government.

We were fortunate to have a full recording of the session made by Echo360 and available online through our YouTube channel. View Jean’s entire session, or take a few minutes to watch some quick one-minute highlights from the day.

Most recently, team members Allie and Jenna traveled to Minneapolis for the Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC), where they both spoke about failure in their respective sessions. In a plenary panel moderated by Beth Kanter, Allie shared some of the Case Foundation’s fail forwards and encouraged funders to lead the charge in taking risks and making little and big bets on ideas and people that are doing fearless work to change the world. Read the Storify from that session here.

There is plenty more to come from Be Fearless and our Fearless Forums this year! Stay tuned for event announcements and a new page on befearless.casefoundation.org/ where you can keep up to date on Fearless Forums, and hopefully you can join us at one of them. And be sure to follow us on Twitter @casefoundation, and join the #befearless conversation every day.

In the meantime, please keep telling us about new fearless stories, fearless changemakers and examples of foundations and nonprofits putting a fearless approach in practice. Let’s Be Fearless, together!

Your Input Needed: Survey on Failure, Risk, and Innovation in the Social Sector

Posted on by Case Foundation

This post was written by Kate McElligott and Sara Telzer on behalf of the Case Foundation. 

American University’s Social Enterprise program assists students in acquiring the knowledge, skills, and mindset necessary to launch a new social entrepreneurial venture or play a key leadership role in an existing one. The Case Foundation has partnered with AU to help gather critical data on the landscape of fearlessness in the social sector.

The social sector is changing at a rapid rate, and it is time for leaders to initiate bold and audacious solutions to some of our world’s most intractable problems. In response to this need, the Case Foundation launched its Be Fearless campaign to encourage the social sector to rethink traditional models, act with urgency, make failure matter, and take bigger risks. The Foundation asked us to develop a survey that will help reveal key trends on innovation, experimentation and risk-taking to better understand the state of the social sector today.

We welcome you to join us in our research to gather opinions from nonprofits and foundations on the challenges and opportunities they face in their work by taking a 15 minute survey.

Your participation is critical to providing a balanced perspective. We’re excited to get your input, and we ask that you complete the survey by Tuesday, April 30.

The intended participants of this survey include executives and staff working at foundations and nonprofit organizations. We hope you will add your voice and take the survey before Tuesday, April 30.

By completing this survey, you will also be entered into a drawing for a chance to win one of five $100 Network for Good gift cards.
American University’s Social Enterprise Program will analyze and publish the results in late summer, and we want to make sure your voice is heard. Please click here to take the 15 minute survey before Tuesday, April 30.

Thank you,

Kate McElligott and Sara Telzer
Masters Candidates, American University’s Social Enterprise Program

TEDxMidAtlantic videos: Reach Beyond Your Bubble and Be Fearless

Posted on by Case Foundation

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” – African proverb

Partnership, collective impact, shared value—no matter what you call it, collaboration is the key to reaching beyond your bubble, overcoming fear, and creating new possibilities. At TEDxMidAtlantic in October of 2012, more than 40 speakers from around the country came together to talk about what being fearless meant to them. They admitted that it can be scary to break away from the established path and start a new journey. It might feel like you have to rely on yourself (and no one else!) to achieve your dreams.

But speakers like Kakenya Ntaiya, Barbara van Dahlen, and Jessica Ladd told us that this isn’t true. Reaching beyond your bubble spreads knowledge and deepens impact. Watch the videos below and share them with people you know who are reaching beyond their bubble.

Kakenya Ntaiya (recently named a CNN Hero) reminds us that it’s okay to ask for help and when you accomplish your goals, you can change an entire community. Kakenya was the first girl in her small village in Kenya to attend college in the United States. Her entire village came together to help her take that leap, and today, her dream is to return home and give back.

Barbara van Dahlen, psychologist and founder of Give an Hour, further adds that being fearless can come from a sense of duty, like soldiers who fight because they believe in a shared mission of protecting their country. In the aftermath of military service, PTSD is a pervasive problem, and cultivating relationships with friends and family is pivotal for overcoming its challenges.

Jessica Ladd points out that the spread of sexually transmitted diseases can be eradicated when people are honest with each other. Jessica created a website to help individuals communicate with their previous sexual partners without dread or embarrassment. By tackling our fears one person at a time, entire communities can benefit.

Are you ready to be fearless? Take a pledge to reach beyond your bubble, collaborate with others, and start something new. To learn more about the amazing speakers at TEDxMidAtlantic Be Fearless, watch all of the presentations here.

Into Fearless, Uncharted Territory: The Brain Cancer Expedition

Posted on by Case Foundation

This post was written by Max Wallace on behalf of the Case Foundation: 

We often say that Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure’s role is like that of Lewis and Clark — we go out into the wilderness, create new trails, and send back maps for others to follow. In our case, the wilderness is brain cancer. This year, our small expeditionary and experimental team will build the first model system that will enable a large number of patients to have their brain tumor fully profiled and then use that information to help them get the most state-of-the-art treatment for their exact tumors. We’re calling it the “Precision Medicine” project and we believe it’s a disruptive innovation that can revolutionize the field.

Today, 41 people in the U.S. will die from the most common form of brain cancer called glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). This happened yesterday and, unless something changes, it will happen again tomorrow. Sadly, we are still using the same basic treatment tools and techniques that we have used for decades and, in spite of our best efforts over that time, the average life expectancy for a GBM patient is still about a year.

However, brain cancer research is about to change dramatically thanks to advances in technology, and it’s our moment to let urgency conquer fear. Genetic information and robotic and nano processes are intermingling and leading us into a new era of genomically-informed “precision” medicine. Our understanding of the genomic basis of cancer is increasing at an exponential rate. We now know that not all cancers are the same, even those which arise in the same organ. More and more people are being treated with new therapies targeted at changes specific to their individual tumor.

We are also beginning to understand that one type of cancer may use the same types of biochemical pathways as another type of cancer. This raises the possibility that a drug that works for one (e.g., melanoma) can be selected and quickly adapted for use against another with a similar molecular profile (e.g., GBM).

Not long ago, it cost tens of thousands of dollars to have a tumor profiled and you could only do it in a handful of academic laboratories. These technologies are being standardized and the cost of doing a tumor profile has now dropped to around $5,000 (and will continue to fall). Even at current levels, we can begin to integrate tumor profiling into regular brain cancer care.

Our “Precision Medicine” project will bring together researchers, clinicians and, most importantly, patients to take advantage of these new opportunities and help develop the most state-of-the- art personalized treatments. If the system works, we believe that we can transform research approaches and clinical practice. If we can do that, 12 months of survival might become two years, and two years might become four, and so on and so on. At that point, brain cancer will no longer seem like such an impenetrable wilderness.

Max Wallace is the CEO of Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure, an initiative co-founded by Jean and Steve Case.

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