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In collaboration with the Drucker Institute, we are proud
Kyle Zimmer worked as a lawyer in Washington, DC and also volunteered her time tutoring children at an inner-city soup kitchen. She soon discovered the disparity in resources available to low-income populations — the children she tutored had no books to read. She realized that these children were our future workforce, future parents and citizens — and they were eager to read and learn, but the tools to do so were not available. “A teacher recently told us that she asked her class to bring in a book from home and 3 of her students brought in the phone book because it was the only book they had,” explained Kyle, who decided to leave her career in the corporate world in 1992 and founded First Book, a social sector organization that provides new books and resources to the children who need them the most. That first year, First Book delivered 12,000 books to local community programs serving children in need. Now, more than 65 million books have been delivered to preschools, after-school programs, tutoring programs, classrooms, and shelters across the United States and Canada.
An innovative leader in social enterprise, First Book borrowed a page from Muhammed Yunus and created a hybrid model to address the need by aggregating the purchasing power of programs with limited resources. In 2004 they launched the First Book Marketplace, which offers low cost books and educational materials for 50 - 85% off retail prices to organizations and classrooms serving children where at least 50% are from low-income households. The success of the First Book Marketplace has confirmed a profound need. “We knew the need was enormous and the programs were dramatically underserved, but even in these earliest years of the First Book Marketplace, book purchases have doubled annually,” Kyle said. The First Book Marketplace is revolutionizing the way programs at the bottom of the economic pyramid access affordable resources. And that’s not all. “With this revenue-generating model, First Book will become self-sustaining at scale and therefore able to permanently break the barriers of access to highest quality educational materials for kids in need. Furthermore,” Kyle explains, “we can directly link local donors and foundations to their communities and allow them to create credits on the First Book Marketplace so that programs can continue to select books for free.” As a revenue-generating subsidiary, the First Book Marketplace advances a unique triple bottom line: it provides books to children in need, generates funds to expand the mission of First Book and deliver even more resources, while opening new and viable markets for children’s publishers. Donations to First Book – www.firstbook.org/donate – allow individuals to directly provide new books to children from low-income families. Books are selected by the programs from First Book’s wide and rapidly expanding selection that will soon include digital resources. To learn more about First Book, please contact: Joan Sahlgren 1319 F Street, NW, Suite 1000 jsahlgren@firstbook.org Leader to Leader Journal Excerpt A Compelling Personal Commitment
Enduringly successful people serve the cause — and they are lifted up by its power. People who seek to build long-term success by their own definition — builders — insist that success may never come without a compelling personal commitment to something you care about and would be willing to do with or without counting on wealth, fame, power, or public acceptance as an outcome. Builders mostly toil with every ounce of their energy and persistence, with heart and soul, for their whole lives. They become lovers of an idea they are passionate about — for years and years, creating something that continually seduces them into obsessing over every detail, losing track of the passage of time. In a real sense, it's something that they'd be willing to do for free, for its own sake. Quincy Jones wouldn't give up music if it wasn't popular, nor would Nelson Mandela rest until apartheid was crushed. It's hard to retire from an obsession. Jack Welch is no more likely to stop teaching his brand of business than Maya Angelou is likely to stop writing poetry or teaching. They do it because it matters to them. Due to hardship, genes, or both, many of the builders we interviewed lacked the kind of confidence you might expect in a leader. Many were tentative, even nervous, introverts. But when they talk about what really matters to them, it's like watching shy, mild-mannered Clark Kent step into a phone booth--and a moment later out leaps a superhero. Become a member and receive one year of the Journal
The Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University is a think tank and action tank whose purpose is to stimulate effective management and ethical leadership across all sectors of society. It does this, in large part, by advancing the ideas and ideals of Peter F. Drucker, the father of modern management. “The purpose of the annual Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation is to find the innovators, whether small or large; to recognize and celebrate their example; and to inspire others.” This year, the first place prize is $100,000. For more information about the Drucker Award, please visit the Institute website at druckerinstitute.com. For questions regarding the application or award process, please contact award@druckerinstitute.com.
It is this essential social sector, in collaboration with its partners in the private and public sectors, that changes lives and builds a society of healthy children, strong families, decent housing, good schools, work that dignifies, all embraced by the diverse, inclusive, cohesive community that cares about all of its people. |
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July 17, 2009
 RESOURCES
New Member Benefit for Nonprofit Organizations
Dialogues in Leadership is a 12-part series, beginning in September 2009 with a dialogue between Leader to Leader Institute Chairman of the Board Frances Hesselbein and author Jim Collins. World renowned executive coach Marshall Goldsmith will be our second guest on the program. A schedule of dates and thought leader speakers will be published in the View a sneak peek as General Gale Pollock (U.S. Army Ret.) talks about giving hope to those blinded in battle. Other Dialogues will be available at www.leadertoleader.org PUBLICATIONS
 The Organization of the Future 2 offers insightful wisdom on the most important issues facing any organization today.
 The award-winning journal, Leader to Leader, offers cutting edge thinking on leadership, management and strategy with contributions by today’s top thought leaders.
 The Five Most Important Questions is a tool for self-assessment and transformation; answering these five questions will fundamentally change the way you work. |
“Never before has man had such a great capacity to control his own environment, to end hunger, poverty and disease, to banish illiteracy and human misery. We have the power to make the best generation of mankind in the history of the world.”
President John F. Kennedy
The problem of access is pervasive. In the U.S. alone, there are an estimated 250,000 community programs and 1.3M classrooms serving children in need. For this population, simple access to educational resources is a critical problem. “The reality is this: 80% of preschools and after schools serving children in need do not have a single book for the children they serve,” said Kyle. “In low-income neighborhoods, studies confirm that there is on average only one book for every 300 kids. This is a problem we can fix with a scaled up supply system.”
When you feel pressure to pursue the elusive outcomes of traditional success, that pressure is often driven by the burden of making a living, pleasing others, or achieving status. Ironically, it appears that success often will fade, vanish, or become the dungeon of your soul unless it is not your primary objective. 
