Millennials + Boomers = Great Team? Yes!

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Jennifer Bosk

We saw this article on 99u.com by Nathanial Koloc with the title “Why Baby Boomers and Millennials Make Great Teams” and thought…oh yeah….we have to blog about this. So Ashley, a Millennial, who is our Community Impact Director and Jennifer, a Boomer, who is Vice President of Marketing and Communications decided to share their thoughts together in this post! Note that in spite of their age difference, the two share a love of pop culture and reality TV!

Basically the article said that each generation, while seemingly opposite, had great traits to bring to the table: Millennials are tech-savvy and idealistic while Boomers have skills, knowledge and wisdom. Millennials have potential, Boomers have experience.

Here’s how we see it:

Ashley:

Things that I have learned from the Baby Boomer generation:

1. Experience is everything. – As a Millennial, I definitely don’t know everything, especially when it comes to the workplace. Though sometimes you will catch me professing that I do! However, when paried with someone from the Baby Boomer generation, I know that they have been where I am and probably where I want to be. Baby Boomers are great for building mentoring realtionships as well as a listening post when my views of the “real world” haven’t gone quite the way I planned. This group brings so many life experiences to the table when having key discussions taht everyone around the table listens.

2. It’s okay to be dedicated to a job/cause/etc. – So yes, my generation has a tiny tendency to be flaky with jobs. In a report done by Future Workplace “Multiple Generations at Work” survey in 2012, 91% of Millennials are said to remain on a job for less than three years. This means by the time I am retirement age, I will have had, in theory, 20 jobs!!!! Now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing as I will gain experience from all the jobs and have the freedom that I want to “spread my wings”. The downside is that with this freedome that I so desperately want, it will not help me gain financial security as my generation is the worst in this area more than any other generation in the past 50 years. Also, jumping ship does not teach mea bout having longevity and understanding true workplace dynamics.

3. Working hard always pays off. – Work ethic is critical to any job, no matter age, genration, etc. People of the Baby Boomer generation have showed us “young people” that sacrifice is needed when trying to accomplish a goal. Though being consumed with work can sometimes be daunting, there is always a means to an end. With a sense of independence, which my generation seems to forget from time to time, Baby Boomers are confident and self-reliant and are not afraid to challenge the status quo. Because of their hard work, Baby Boomers are more ready to give their opinions to situations at hand.

Jennifer:

So, here are the things I don’t get about Millennials:

1) Failure is okay. Huh? People tell me they grew up as the generation who, although on a losing team, still received a trophy. In my day it was black or white; one winner, all the rest were losers.

2) Their job isn’t their top priority. Huh? My son told me one time that if he needed to leave work early to pick up his child from day care then he’d get up and walk out of a meeting because his daughter came first. Well my kids came first too but leaving work early to get ‘my kid’ as my excuse never sat well with the boss.

3) They want to know what’s-in-it-for-them when it comes to their job. Huh? It’s called a paycheck – what more do you think you should get? What’s this personal growth and development stuff?

So, here’s what I’ve learned from Millennials:

1) Failure is okay. Sigh…what a relief! Millennials have shown me I can try and fail and try again without punishment or repercussions – just so I keep trying to achieve!

2) Their job isn’t their top priority. And mine shouldn’t be either – because there is so much more to a balanced life. Millennials have shown me through their priorities of work and play and varied interests and learning opportunities, they can easily recharge themselves and bring in fresh ideas, more creativity and a positive attitude to the office. Beats the old days of trying to recover from burnout!

3) They want to know what’s-in-it-for-them…and now I do, too! Because while a paycheck and benefits are vital…so are things like an opportunity to be a part of an organization with a great mission or great corporate social responsibility I can get behind; chances to attend classes, seminars and conferences to expand my knowledge and branch out into new arenas; and the time to become a part of a work team that collaborates in an atmosphere of trust and who all want to move their company to a new level.

Here at United Way of the Triangle it is a new day and rather than work in side-by-side departments, we are now each part of collaborative teams that tackle issues and challenges together…each bringing not only our expertise to the table but also the traits of our age group (Millennials, Gen X, Gen Y, Boomers) to shine a light on multiple ways to approach our work.

That new way of working also helps us with our community collaborations throughout the Triangle and the diverse audiences we engage with every day. When we keep an open mind to all who share, no matter what age or background, we can continue to learn and understand and personally grow.

It’s different, it’s exciting, it’s challenging…but most of all IT’S WORKING!

What Sesame Street, my son and others have taught me about “food insecurity”

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Jennifer Bosk

In my day it was known as plain old ‘hunger’. What’s up with “dressing up” the issue by calling it ‘food insecurity’? It seems like now I’m hearing that term all the time. So I started thinking that maybe I didn’t fully understand ‘food insecurity’ and it turns out it is much more than just hunger.

I started learning about food insecurity from my son who is an elementary school principal at a Title I school where the majority of children live in families with little to no income. While he knew that most of the children would qualify for free lunches, he was apalled at how hungry they were. When it dawned on him the children would only eat that one meal each day at lunchtime at school, he implemented free breakfasts for the students as well as provided backpacks filled with food for the weekends from his local Backpack Buddies program.

Another time I learned about the ‘food insecurity’ issue was in a Sesame Street special featuring the new muppet, Lily, who comes from a food insecure home. She’s a pink muppet in a blue dress and she is hungry. She goes to a community garden for food where she meets Elmo and Grover and shares a bit of her story on how her rumbling tummy is about much more than hunger. Continue reading →

How can you compete with a billionaire?

Posted on April 23, 2013 by mrodgers

Do you know who Warren Buffet is? Bill Gates? Of course you do. How about Patrice and Precious Motsepe? Not ringing a bell? Well, Mr. and Mrs. Motsepe are a couple from South Africa – and they also happen to be among the wealthiest individuals and families in the world.

Another thing they have in common with Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, and most recently Richard Branson, along with another 101 billionaires (so far!) around the world is they have pledged to donate half – or more – of all their wealth to charitable causes during their life or immediately upon their death. They have all embraced a philosophy of philanthropy created by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet called “The Giving Pledge”.

At the core of the pledge is this affirmation: “We are inspired by the example set by millions of people who give generously (and often at great personal sacrifice) to make the world a better place.” Each donor decides how much they will ultimately pledge, and to what organization and causes.

According to the National Philanthropic Trust, 81% of the high net worth individuals in the U.S. that donate to charity cite “giving back to the community” as their chief motivation for giving.

But all of this is only for “high net worth” individuals, right? Well, according to the same report 65% of all households in the U.S. give to charities. And while the average amount of all donations was $2,213, the middle amount given was only $870. You don’t have to be a “high net worth” individual to donate $870.

And in 2011, 73% of all charitable giving came from people – like you and me. And while billionaires can easily afford to pay someone to research the 1,080,130 charitable organizations to decide where to donate, you don’t have to.

United Way of the Greater Triangle supports many successful and vital programs in the Orange, Durham, Johnston and Wake county area. Eighty-seven agencies and 162 programs that focus on hunger and literacy, safety and well-being of children, single parents, homeless and more provide services for the 1.4 million people of the four counties.

That’s a powerful reach that helps “make the world a better place.” And while you may not have the money of a billionaire, your money, along with your neighbor’s and mine, can have a powerful and lasting impact on our world right here in the middle of North Carolina.

Go to http://www.unitedwaytriangle.org, look around our website and see the ways you can help. If you can’t donate money, there are plenty of other ways you can give – donate your time, advocate our mission to help others, tell someone about 2-1-1. Just know that we’re here to support your community, and a better community is better for you.

Listening to Community About Health Needs

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Jennifer Bosk

Sarah Tencer is a UNC student pursuing her masters while interning for our Community Impact Department at United Way of the Greater Triangle. She wrote this about her experience interning with us.

With the passing of the Affordable Care Act, health service providers are required to conduct needs assessments (figuring out what the PEOPLE think the problems are) in their communities. In Wake County, our wonderful service providers are doing something we love here at United Way : Collaboration! Hospitals, health clinics, and others have come together and, with the help of the UNC Institute for Public Health, are finding out the health needs of people living in Wake County.

As an organization who works with all different types of partners, United Way has been asked to have a presence at the table! I am an intern here in the Community Impact department, and have been fortunate enough to accompany my supervisor to these steering committee meetings and have even had the opportunity to go out in Wake County and talk to people about their opinions!

This group went out door-to-door and conducted surveys with all sorts of people, have analyzed data that other groups have collected, and are in the process of conducting focus groups. It was such a neat experience to go and knock on peoples doors not to sell anything, but to find out what they THINK. People were surprised that our only agenda was to gather ideas and to LISTEN. You don’t get that much anymore!

While not everyone was receptive or maybe didn’t have the time to talk to us, I learned so much from the ones I did get to talk to! People care about the health of their community; they just need a place to talk about it! So let’s keep talking! That’s the first step in making a difference!

Image from sprudge.com

Kick in the gut…

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Jennifer Bosk

If you’ve been there – then you know it is a kick in the gut. If you haven’t been there – then it’s a lesson in deep frustration and extremely educational. No matter how you come to be at one of our Poverty Simulations, you will NOT leave untouched!

A participant in one of our Poverty Simulations.

The Poverty Simulation is a unique tool that educates everyone about the day to day realities of life with a shortage of money and an abundance of stress. The participants role-play the lives of low-income families, from single parents trying to care for their children to senior citizens trying to maintain their self-sufficiency on Social Security.

The task of each family is to provide food, shelter and other basic necessities during the simulation while interacting with various community resources staffed by volunteers. These resources include social workers, loan officers, employers, grocers, utility collectors, police officers, teachers and more.

It is a powerful way to help citizens understand what it is like for people who live in poverty. It opens people’s eyes and provides insight into the state of chronic crisis that consumes so many working poor families.

During the simulation, participants are seated in family clusters with community resources located at tables around the perimeter of the room. To start the exercise, each family is given a card explaining its unique circumstances and a small amount of money. Although it uses play money and other props, fictional scenarios, and time limits, the Poverty Simulation is not a game. It is a simulation tool that enables participants to view poverty from different angles in an experiential setting.

Interested in having a Poverty Simulation at your workplace, warehouse, place of worship? Fantastic! Contact Stan at (919) 463-5023 to arrange for one today!