Foundry Magazine | Winter 2019 by Jordan Geisert-Folsom

Winter 2019

Featuring: The LPS Foundation's Fund a Need Program, Nebraska Appleseed's advocacy for vulnerable Nebraskans and a look back on Mayor Beutler's legacy of philanthropy.

LETTER FROM

Randy

Winter 2019 Your story starts here.

table of contents

Mayer Beutler by Spencer Creal

The Foundry Member Spotlight by Molly Paez

LPS Fund a Need by Hannah Trull

Giving a Voice to All Nebraskans by Spencer Creal

Leading the Good Life by Hannah Trull

the team EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Randy Hawthorne MANAGING EDITOR Spencer Creal GRAPHIC DESIGNER Jordan Geisert MARKETING COORDINATOR Molly Paez CONTENT STRATEGIST Hannah Trull PRODUCTION INTERN Parker Reil CAUSE CAMP INTERN Porscha Colville

A few days ago, a young woman was sitting in my favorite chair in the coffee shop. I like it because you can see down the sidewalk to the south but also see the reflection from the other way. It’s great for people watching. She had become a new regular, so I sat down in the chair next to her and asked what she was up to and why she chose The Foundry, of all places, to work. She answered as if I had planted her in the crowd. She said (I’m paraphrasing), “I’m at a new place in my life and I’m coming here to recharge and regroup and figure out my next thing. There’s just the right amount of quiet time and there’s a community of people to meet.” My eyes—and grin—probably got freakishly large as my heart welled. At that moment I felt our dream realized. We’ve captured the essence of what we set out to do with The Foundry. We wanted to build community: a community of people doing really cool things to make Lincoln better. My new favorite thing to do in the space is push tables together to exchange stories around shareable food and drink. We’re continuing to develop our menu to have the element of storytelling behind every item. And the stories we share in this magazine may also inform future menu items. I’m especially grateful that Mayor Beutler has shared his reflections on his tenure and how Lincoln works together to take care of causes that matter to us. The city of Lincoln has been so supportive of our venture, and so have you. Thank you so much for allowing me to do what I love—to make connections and get people to their next big thing. My offer of treating you to the beverage of your choice (which is so much easier now) always stands. Tell me your story and I’ll be sure to fill you in on all the things happening between our four walls.

Randy Hawthorne EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

The Philanthropic Legacy of Mayor Chris Beutler by Spencer Creal

Mayor Chris Beutler

hen considering the legacy of long-time Lincoln mayor Chris Beutler—who will depart from office, and perhaps from politics altogether, later this year due to recently passed mayoral term limits—it’s necessary to use a holistic approach. He has, after all, served our city, our state, our nation and our world through a variety of positions over the past several decades. After graduating from Benson High School in Omaha, Beutler attended Yale University in New Haven. After completing his degree, he served in the Peace Corps and in the United States Army, where he climbed to the rank of First Lieutenant, before returning home for law school at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. By age 30, Beutler made it clear that serving a greater purpose was an elemental part of him. Before being elected Lincoln’s 51st mayor, Beutler served over 20 years in the state legislature, fighting for the rights and safety of all Nebraskans. A term limit rule, this time in the unicameral, disqualified Beutler from running for re-election, which ultimately led him to decide to seek the Lincoln’s mayorship in 2007. And what a wonderful decision that was. Chris Beutler’s mayoral tenure, which, come June, will have spanned more than 12 years, is bursting

at the seams with successful projects, initiatives, expansions and campaigns; we could produce an entire magazine dedicated to Lincoln’s urban development under his leadership. And while Mayor Beutler is perhaps most celebrated for bringing a state-of-the-art arena to downtown Lincoln and developing the areas surrounding it, it’s his enduring sense of philanthropy that we want to fill these pages. “Lincoln is blessed to have both an outstanding nonprofit community and a very caring and generous population,” Beutler said. “Several local nonprofits have reported an increase in donations despite a change in the tax law that reduces the incentive for giving. That reflects a general public attitude that dates back to our pioneer days—we step up to help our neighbors in need.” One way Lincolnites have helped their neighbors, and what’s also a great example of the collaboration between city government and nonprofits, is Lincoln’s Community Learning Centers (CLCs). They provide supervised before- and after-school programs, summer enrichment programs, mental health services and more for people of all ages. The city helps supplement services like CLCs through its Joint Budget Committee, whose contributions have increased 11 percent under Mayor Buetler’s administration.

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Among Beutler’s most cherished causes are Lincoln’s parks and green spaces and the arts— areas he’s been deeply immersed in since his first term. “I am a huge proponent of our Parks and Recreation system,” he said. “The green space, playgrounds, trails, pools and rec centers are a tremendous resource for our community.” He’s especially excited about the Prairie Corridor on Haines Branch, a long-term effort to develop a 10-mile area of tallgrass prairie and trails from Pioneers Park to Conestoga Lake. Beutler said he’s a strong believer in growing culture through visual and performing arts, and credits some of Lincoln’s nonprofits for making that possible. “I support the efforts of Public Art Lincoln...and I am proud of the work of the Lincoln Arts Council in supporting our local, visual and performing artists,” he said. “The Lincoln Calling music festival continues to grow and focus more attention on our thriving local music scene.” Mayor Beutler has had the opportunity to witness a number of nonprofit projects during his tenure, all of which have shaped Lincoln into the place it is today. Among the most notable are the Lincoln Community Foundation’s “Give to Lincoln

Day,” which has brought millions of dollars to Lincoln’s nonprofit community, and Prosper Lincoln’s efforts in the areas of early childhood development, employment skills and innovation and entrepreneurship. He’s also proud of the work of The Career Academy, Rabble Mill and The Foundry (he may have felt obligated on this one). As he prepares to leave office, Mayor Beutler urges us to continue progressing the “Lincoln Way,” by bringing all sectors of the community together to move our city forward. “I am always reminding residents that government alone can’t do it all,” he said. “We must continue to form the public-private-nonprofit partnerships that have resulted in our success. Most importantly,” he added, “we must make sure that everyone has an opportunity to share in Lincoln’s prosperity.” It’s hard to imagine that Lincoln would be where it is—record-low unemployment, among the best places to work and raise a family, a prosperous, supportive nonprofit community—without Mayor Beutler. He spearheaded some of Lincoln’s most groundbreaking efforts with grace and style; he prioritized the safety and prosperity of Lincoln’s citizens; and, perhaps most importantly, he showed us what it looks like to serve something greater than yourself. For this, we owe him our thanks, if not our praise.

THE FOUNDRY MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

FEONIX MOBILITY RISING by Molly Paez For most of us, it’s a given that our car will be sitting in the driveway every morning, just a key turn away from taking us where we need to go. We often forget how much of a luxury it is to have transportation at our fingertips. Valerie Lefler and her team at Feonix Mobility Rising are reminded every day that having transportation in and around a community isn’t something everyone has access to. Feonix Mobility Rising enhances transportation options for vulnerable and underserved communities. Jessica Seuferer, an account manager, describes Feonix as “Kayak but for ground transportation.” They’re not only dedicated to finding and providing transportation for these populations; they’re a voice of advocacy in the communities they serve. Eighty percent of missed medical appointments are due to not having transportation. I was humbled by this statistic and my conversation with Lefler and Seuferer as they walked me through what it means to

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provide this service in communities that have needed it for years. Valerie began her journey as the Executive Director of Feonix in March of 2018, working out of a cubicle at The Foundry. “We would not be here without The Foundry,” Valerie said. “We started with just a couple people, and we’ve grown to a 20-person staff. Having a space with resources and meeting rooms gave us a launching pad to become what we are today.” Feonix operates by three core values: innovation—the belief that solving global challenges requires state-of-the-art technology; access—that your ability to live a healthy life is determined by your access to healthcare, jobs, education, food, housing and loved ones; and impact—that data is only useful if you apply it correctly. Feonix employs a software program called QRyde, which aggregates all systems of transportation in an area and provides the time and prices of transportation options. QRyde’s software has been around for over two decades, helping countless communities across the country. “We provide basically every service needed to get the transportation software up and running in a community,” Seuferer explained. “We start by researching statistics about different areas with high poverty rates, or areas surrounding medical facilities with no good public transit systems.” After reaching out to a community, Feonix helps get the mobility program up and running.

“We help communicate with a team in the area, provide insight and support, help set up new volunteers and points of contact. We also assist with training on the software and marketing help.” Feonix is proud to serve communities in five states, ranging greatly in size—from a population of 800,000 in South Carolina, to communities of less than 100 in Texas. No matter how big or small, Feonix meets their needs. As the organization grows, Valerie has high hopes for the future. “I would love to see us expand into 75 new communities and in other countries,” she said. I could feel the excitement in her voice as she explained why the success of Feonix is so important to her and her team. “My favorite part of our work is, without a doubt, the people we help. It’s so cool to hear the success stories from passengers, saying things like, ‘My life has meaning now’ or ‘I don’t have to miss another medical appointment.’” Thanks to Feonix, refugees have found work, seniors make it to their medical appointments, single moms get to therapy because they’re struggling with domestic abuse—the stories go on. “Each story is unique,” said Seuferer. “Knowing that we’re making a difference every day across the U.S. is really powerful.”

lps fund a need by Hannah Trull If you think GoFundMe changed the fundraising game forever when they launched their online crowdfunding platform in 2010, think again. Lincoln Public Schools has been using their remarkably similar Fund a Need program since 2003, providing classrooms with everything from field trips, to mariachi ensembles, to pet bearded dragons. The program aims to expand learning beyond the regular, day-to-day curriculum while lessening the burden on teachers’ wallets. The process is simple: teachers, principals and parent groups can submit forms for individual needs not covered by grants on the LPS Foundation website. Once approved, the requests appear on the Fund a Need page, complete with a live tracker of fundraising progress. Then, members of the community—you guessed it—fund that need.

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In charge of the approvals is Gary Reber, the Development Officer for School Communities for LPS. He works as a liaison between the LPS Foundation and schools to make sure they have the resources they need. As overseer of the 400+ funds and 60 schools in the district, Reber can confirm that the city truly cares about the future of education, which makes the Fund a Need program and all other fundraising endeavors so worthwhile. “Lincoln is a supportive community, bottom line,” he said. “No matter what you’re doing, Lincoln cares, which helps tremendously with our success in campaigns like these.” When Reber came to the Foundation in 2015, he spearheaded an overhaul of their existing Fund a Need site, which had barely been changed in its 12 years of existence. The old website was groundbreaking for a nonprofit at the time, and was even named “Internet Fundraising Program of the Year” by the Association of Fundraising Professionals in 2005, but it was clearly time for an update. The LPS Foundation partnered with a branch of Nelnet called FoundationGIVE to build a simplified, modern new site from the ground up.

“The big benefit here is that it can help replace some of that personal money they’re spending and fund some of the fun stuff they couldn’t do otherwise,” Reber said. Fund a Need has raised money for a wide variety of “fun stuff”—field trips, niche clubs, new instruments, gym equipment, iPads, T-shirts, books—you name it. This creativity allows students to break free from the traditional classroom setting and digest material more easily. “The school day in most classrooms is very regimented. There’s a lot of curriculum to pack into a day,” Reber said. “Fund a Need helps provide a learning experience that might turn on a light bulb for a kid that otherwise wouldn’t have in a regular day, or put some of the curriculum in a context that’s a lot more fun to absorb.” Though the program has been successful, Reber said it lacks one big thing: advertising funds. As of now, teachers are entirely responsible for promoting their individual projects, and there’s no marketing for the website as a whole—something he’s hoping for in the near future.

Since the new website launched in 2017, donors have met 100 classroom needs by raising over $110,000, bringing the 16-year fundraising total to over $1 million.

“It’s not a money making venture for us. It actually costs us money to do it,” Reber said. “And that’s okay—we see enough value in the program that we don’t see it as a loss. But it would be nice to someday make up funds in other areas to better promote campaigns on a wider basis.”

This money allows teachers to enhance students’ learning experiences like never before. Teachers at LPS, like most other school districts in the nation, only receive a couple hundred dollars per year to maintain and update their classrooms. This barely covers the basics and forces them to pay out-ofpocket for everything else. That’s where Fund a Need comes in.

But even without this, the incredibly ahead-ofits-time Fund a Need program has streamlined the giving process for donors, provided financial support for teachers and, most importantly, showed thousands of LPS students that there are countless ways to learn.

Giving a Voice to All Nebraskans by Spencer Creal

ny native Nebraskan can tell you that our winters, especially after the first of the year, are wildly unpredictable: 60 degrees and sunshine turns into a half-foot of snow in a matter of hours, only to be melted away by another unseasonably warm day. It’s crazy and frustrating, often stumping even the most tenured meteorologists. But for those of us who’ve endured Nebraska’s erratic seasons, we know it comes with the territory; you just gotta roll with the punches. Nebraska Appleseed has been rolling with the punches—whether they’re thrown by mother nature or Nebraska state politics—for over two decades. And for them, the turning of the calendar represents a whole lot more than haphazard weather; it means the beginning of a new legislative session in Nebraska’s unicameral, and thus a new fight to represent the vulnerable populations of our state. It’s what they’ve done since 1996, when Appleseed was run by a handful of passionate, unpaid, part-time workers. Twenty-three years later, the organization has 37 full-time staff members, including attorneys, social workers, program coordinators and more.

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Appleseed achieves its mission—to fight for justice and opportunity for all Nebraskans— by channeling their efforts into four primary programs: Economic Justice, Immigrants and Communities, Child Welfare and Healthcare Access. Under each of these umbrellas are countless issues facing children, immigrants and low-income Nebraskans. “Our role in the community and the state is to look at issues that affect these populations and determine how laws and policies affect social problems,” said Becky Gould, Appleseed’s executive director. Gould has been with Appleseed since 2001, when she was a staff attorney in the Economic Justice program. Soon thereafter, the then-founding executive director decided to pursue a different career path, allowing Gould to serve as the interim and then permanent executive director. As a Nebraska native, Gould is well accustomed to the state’s volatile conditions—both meteorologically and politically. “I was born and raised in Nebraska, so there’s some additional joy to be able to give back to the state in ways I know are working,” she said.

election, but their job didn’t stop there. They continued their efforts by educating voters on the importance of Medicaid, leading to a successful outcome in November. Now, they’ll work with legislators and the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services to make sure the expansion comes to fruition. Medicaid expansion is just one example of Appleseed’s comprehensive involvement in the issues they fight for. They don’t stop when bills and ballot initiatives pass; they’re involved every step of the way, from advocacy to implementation. Appleseed is also fighting to change Nebraska’s child welfare policies from being largely reactionary to preventative, a policy initiative that’s been in the works since before last year’s legislative session. They’re also focused on food security, immigration reform and community development, all during a session with a budget shortfall. It’s no small feat, by anyone’s standards, but Gould is still optimistic that positive change is on the way.

“We have a really broad and deep perspective,” Gould said. “We look at a lot of issues and we stick with them until they get solved and policies are implemented.”

For the next several months, Appleseed employees and volunteers will spend much of their time in our State Capitol, lobbying senators to sponsor legislation to help underrepresented populations. The 2019 legislative season is going to bring some unique challenges, including the implementation of an expanded Medicaid program after a successful ballot initiative last fall. Appleseed workers helped gather enough signatures to get the expansion on the ballot during the midterm

“Part of how Appleseed accomplishes so much is by working with unlikely allies,” she said. “If we only talked to people who agreed with us, I think we’d have a really hard time moving issues forward. When you can start to work together on something, anything, it opens up the ability to work on the stuff you don’t agree on. That’s crucial to problem solving, and that’s exactly what we’re doing at Appleseed.”

Leading the Good Life by Hannah Trull

It’s incredibly important that members of our community be recognized for all the good they do. Of course, they wouldn’t dream of recognizing themselves, so we’re going to do it for them. Each quarter, The Foundry will feature an outstanding leader from the community to be featured. We’ll share some coffee and talk about how they’re Leading the Good Life each and every day. This quarter, we were honored to meet with Kiersten Hill, Executive Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters Lincoln.

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Kiersten Hill Kiersten Hill has always thrived in environments where she was able to network, get involved and make a direct, positive change in people’s lives. After trying her hand at corporate life, she learned that only a career in the nonprofit sector could provide her with the altruistic, community-minded climate she needed. As the executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters Lincoln (Formerly Heartland Big Brothers Big Sisters), Hill is able to make a lasting impact on the city’s youth while maintaining the flexibility and social aspect she needs to flourish in her career. After college, Hill and her husband started fresh in Hastings. She never seriously considered nonprofit work as a career until she took the first job she was offered at United Way. She figured it would be a good way to get to know her new community. It didn’t take long for her—and her colleagues—to realize she was a perfect fit for the nonprofit sector. After working as an assistant for just one year, the executive director position suddenly became available, and they turned to her. “They just kind of looked at me and were like, ‘Well, why don’t you try it?’ I was really lucky,” she said. Hill led four successful fundraising campaigns with United Way before she left to test out the for-profit world as a pharmaceutical sales rep. After all, she said, she was only in her mid-twenties and felt she would regret never experiencing corporate life. “I tried corporate jobs but learned I’m not made out for them,” she said. “I’m too far removed from being the decisionmaker, from being able to create change. I love that now I have that freedom and flexibility to really mold the kind of job I want.” And that’s why Hill has fallen in love with running BBBS Lincoln since 2016. No two of her days are the same, as she’s constantly fluttering between board meetings, collaborations with other nonprofits, budget planning, grant applications... the list goes on and on. Every year, Big Brothers Big Sisters Lincoln hand-matches 150-200 children ages 6 to 18 with a positive role model, or “big,” to be present in their lives when other adults aren’t. Fifty percent of littles have an incarcerated parent and 90

percent qualify for free or reduced lunches. The kids they’re helping, in short, have been through more than most. The majority of children in the program are recommended by their parents or guardians, but sometimes diversion offices and schools refer littles as well. Bigs who want to get involved should be prepared for a serious background check, from multi-layer local, state and federal records, to motor vehicle records and even an in-home interview. “Safety is the number one priority, so our screening process is intensive,” Hill said. “After all, our bigs are picking them up, driving them in their cars and taking them home. We want to do everything we can to make sure our mentors have the best of intentions.” Through the intensive screening and personalized selection, these relationships have quite literally saved lives. Hill said tests like the ACEs study have shown that trauma has a direct effect on the health of a child. From heart disease, to high blood pressure, to mental and behavioral disorders, “toxic stress and trauma are a public health concern,” she said. “But all it takes is one caring adult to turn it all around.” Big Brothers Big Sisters, as the largest and most wellresearched mentoring organization in the country, has the facts to back these claims up. Compared to their peers, littles are 47 percent less likely to use illegal drugs, 52 percent less likely to skip school and 78 percent more likely to volunteer regularly. “These kids are the future Rotarians and church leaders and PTA presidents,” Hill said. “We’re building the next volunteer base because they see someone in their lives volunteering every week, and they want to do it, too.” After graduating the program, over 90 percent of littles say they’d like to become bigs themselves. Hill plans to help serve more kids than ever in 2019, especially those in areas the organization hasn’t reached out to before. “To be able to watch more and more kids interact with their mentors, learn coping mechanisms and adapt to be resilient to their surroundings with the support of an advocate—it’s amazing,” Hill said. “Those are the kinds of benefits you get at a nonprofit job that I don’t think you can get at other places.”

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