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What do Tiger Woods and many wealthy and powerful men in the world of finance have in common? Golf. I have asked myself about the correlation between moral and ethical weakness and the game of golf. Although anecdotal, I believe there are strong grounds for drawing direct connections between membership at elite country clubs and the nation’s moral and economic weakness.

Tiger Woods we know about. I have had the opportunity to observe firsthand how individuals who pay upwards of $250k each for multiple golf club memberships (really!) then show themselves to be incapable of making decisions -especially decisions that involve taking a moral stand. This deficiency gets compounded because these men are involved in both the philanthropic and financial spaces. They get to harm children, old people, grassroots civic initiatives, and entrepreneurial efforts that create products of value to more than their CDO markets.

I have a solution. Legislation should be enacted that limit people to spending no more than $500k on golf club memberships in any one year. They should also be prevented from using private planes or helicopters and be forced to drive (well, you know, have a nice car and a driver). Now I know some may feel that this would be an infringement on democratic freedoms but these guys really do need more time to reflect. You can’t do that if you’re being flown everywhere.

The other part of my plan has to do with requiring that any man eligible for a bonus and a bailout volunteer as a Scout master, to train in a combative sport (boxing, judo, etc.), and attend a two-week long survival course in an uncomfortable part of the world. As Teddy Roosevelt implored, a man must be decent AND strong and “not admire virtue of a merely anaemic type…I want to see him too strong of spirit to submit to wrong, and, on the other hand, ashamed to do wrong to others.” We’re a long way from this and I just know that fancy country clubs have something to do with it.

If you’re a member of more than one of these clubs I’d love to hear back from you on what effect you think this has had on your personal and professional conduct.

I will probably get out another post tonight or tomorrow on something a little lighter but I wanted to highlight this piece by Frank Rich:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/opinion/10rich.html

Rich states that our desire to believe that everything will soon be ok, is misplaced. “Rational self interest” and “greed is good” are systemic and will continue to predominate. There are threats, foreign and domestic, that can only be dealt with by an informed and courageous populace. Our current education system does not encourage either of these traits. It is unfortunate that our economic and educational fortunes are held hostage by the “lethal largesse” of philanthropic pirates.

What’s the best way to create a countercultural movement that can fight back against the greed and cowardice of so many in positions of power?

Tomorrow will be my last day as the Executive Director of Boys & Girls Harbor and as the Head of School for the Emily N. Carey High School(which I founded). I will be joined by the Director of Development, the Assistant Director of Development, and the Deputy Director/CFO, who have also submitted their resignations in protest. With responsibility for children in college and private school, and a school that I started and support for poor girls in India, I will definitely miss my six-figure salary. I will not miss the false bonhomie, the air kisses, or the careful commitment to mediocrity from so many members of the Harbor’s board of directors.

I will be able to breathe easier now that I will no longer be surrounded by the collective wisdom of Masters of the Universe who packaged mortgages for Bear Stearns, counseled Lehman Brothers and the Boys Choir of Harlem into failure, invested with Bernie Madoff and Marc Dreier,and who had the leadership insight to promote people like E. Stanley O’Neil to positions where they could work their “magic.” These were people who were confident in providing me with their opinions on human capital and business efficiency.

These are the people who expected me to remain silent while they planned their “investments” in the youth of my community-the community where I have spent over half a century. We were supposed to be happy with the crumbs that fell from their table and to compliment them on their generosity. They talked up the value of Midnight Basketball and dance programs and rejected a school that was positively effecting dozens of teens who had dropped out of their public high schools. The lives of all those young people from the high school who are now in college or serving their country, give lie to the value that others placed on their lives.

Well, I have turned my back on the “bread and circus” initiatives. It will be a tough financial go but I know whatever happens, my children will not be embarrassed by my path. I have learned a lot about friendship and people of action and the quicksand of “process.” I will continue to speak out about entitlement from wealth and the conveyor belt of education that poor children are relegated to by people in positions of power and wealth. My anger comes from a familial place of faith and history.

I thank all those individuals and foundations who really “got it.” I hope to work with you in the future.

“Cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’ Expediency asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’ But conscience asks the question, ‘Is it right?’ And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but because conscience tells one it is right.” – Dr. Martin Luther King

In the end, I am left with pity for those who will never feel the pull of that conscience.

The forum will be different but the discussion will continue.

“To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.” – Theodore Roosevelt

This letter to my father from Dr. Martin Luther King and the quote from one of my favorite presidents, provide me with some perspective for my current adventure. They also help me to remember why I respect men/people of action versus those who worship the gods of reason and “process.” I have seen how devastating a lack of character and a lack of courage can be.

I am happy in the knowledge that there are people and places that don’t look at the presence of passion as a trigger for invective. I am comforted by the belief that there are people battling for justice and against inequality and not just a world where having to delay joining yet another country/golf club constitutes “hardship.”

I have that letter and my memories of my parents fighting for people who others regarded as losers. I know that the example that I have set for my children will serve as a guide for their right action. I pity those whose only proof of legacy will be cancelled checks to charity and myths that rely on the passage of time to not be called out as lies.

These are my holiday thoughts. After the New Year I will provide more of my cautionary tale about the world of nonprofits and the next steps I will be taking.

Do you have people/stories/history that have shaped you? What battles are you fighting? What hopes and fears are you holding for the New Year? I look forward to talking with you ALL again.

“Be nice until it’s time to not be nice.” Dalton – Road House

The past several years have given me some interesting insights into some New York nonprofit boards.  I have heard that it is different in other parts of the country – I really hope so!  What I will be sharing in this and future posts are my own insights and those of some honest, caring people who have keys to the club.  I know I will continue to make enemies by sharing these insights – in fact, I have been warned that I will have a hard time finding employment in New York if I continue – but in the best tradition of my family I will continue to speak truth to power.  Some of this is penance for my own naivete.  There are exceptions to what follows and I hope you have the good fortune to work with/for one of them.

My main takeaway  is that there are too many board members of youth development organizations who don’t care about the organization’s mission.  Of course there are exceptions but as a rule people join the boards of a lot of  nonprofits to socialize with others of their ilk.  The desire to balance their selfishness on some universal ledger also comes into play. They like to dress up for annual galas and share how committed they are to the downtrodden .  They usually combine their support for the unfortunates with something more refined like support for the ballet or a museum.   Minstrelsy and basketball are safe options to pursue if you are an executive director looking at strategic directions for one of these youth organizations.  Meaningful change and the necessary investment are usually not allowed to be put on the agenda.

If you head up one of these organizations, and happen to be a person of color, be careful if you also come from the community that serves the target population.  You will be viewed with suspicion.  If you remind these board members that, “you have a right to your own opinion but you don’t have a right to your own facts,” they will dislike you for your militancy.  You can buy a certain level of presumption with the right educational pedigree but this will only heighten their sense of outrage if you act “uppity” and do things like point out that the strategies that made the “successful” on Wall Street might not find the same success when working with human beings.

For any young person looking into this line of work, please contact me so that I can provide you with tips for success.  I mentioned my commitment to the “Long Defeat” in an earlier post.  That commitment has been strengthened.  It is matched by my strengthened belief in the virtues of courage and honesty.

Jai ho!

Hmmm? I wonder how much I can make as a farm hand in Nebraska?