Hey , I'm John .
Speaker 2And I'm Becky .
Speaker 1And this is the we Are For Good podcast .
Speaker 2Nonprofits are faced with more challenges to accomplish their missions and the growing pressure to do more , raise more and be more for the causes that improve our world .
Speaker 1We're here to learn with you from some of the best in the industry , bringing the most innovative ideas , inspirational stories , all to create an impact uprising .
Speaker 2So welcome to the good community . We're nonprofit professionals , philanthropists , world changers and rabid fans who are striving to bring a little more goodness into the world .
Speaker 1So let's get started , Becky . Oh my gosh , we're like the rabid fans today , right ?
Speaker 2We are the largest rabid fans of this person . This is like having Beyonce on the podcast for us today , right now .
Speaker 1She looks better . The king is in the house . I guess We'll revise that . But I mean , what an honor to be in the presence of Ami Dar . If you don't know him , if you don't follow him , stop what you're doing , don't listen to this podcast any longer . Go find and follow his work on LinkedIn and just pour into this idealism movement that he put a flag on the ground so many years ago and that he is so kind , so thoughtful , so intentional with how he shows up in the world that he has been a beacon to us personally , but he's also a beacon to our sector of what's possible .
Speaker 1So I'm going to do the introduction a little bit different than what we typically do , because we ran across this kind of like storyline of Ami when we were doing research . He was named Nonprofit Pro of the Year a few years back through Nonprofit Pro , so thank you for that recognition . But our friend Nute wrote this about Ami . We thought it was just so beautiful that we wanted to share it here . Ami was conscripted into the Israel army At the age of 19, . He was stationed at the Syrian border . It was then he had a revelation the people on the other side of the border are not his enemy . Though divided by a border , there are probably people on the other side willing to share socks with him . It was because of this he imagined a world that was not divided by manufactured borders and boundaries , but a world where sock sharers would be on the same side working together to build a better tomorrow .
Speaker 1I'm already tearing up yeah , I mean , we read that and we feel so connected of the world . We've been called toxic optimist in our career . We're kind of this resident idealist here . We call ourselves that too , but we see the world the same way . That's the impact uprising that we describe around here of what's possible when we come together . Instead of look at what's our differences , figure out the commonality in our shared humanity . So you've been doing this for a long time .
Speaker 1On me , I look back at idealistorg that now supports over 150,000 organizations around the world every country around the world , more than 1 million registered users . This is an organization that's connecting people to resources , to volunteering opportunities , to nonprofit careers , to management Guys the ripple of this organization . Because Ami decided to say hey , we all have the same needs , we all have the same goals at the end of the day . So it is an honor to sit in your presence today , my friend . Thank you for saying yes to the podcast . I can't wait to hear more of your story . But , Ami , welcome to the we Are For Good podcast . Thank you so much .
Speaker 2Can I just say something else ? That is , we were talking about this before Ami got on , but Ami came into our lives within a week of each other all three of us in different ways and so Julie had found Ami through something on idealistorg . I had read something on Reddit about Ami . I went directly to LinkedIn on September 9th you can go back and check this out . Ami and I wrote you this little message and I just thanked you for the way that you look at the world and the beauty that you put into it , and we had a dialogue like about two months ago . And on the same week , john read something and all three of us said we got to get this person on and we'd all had intersections . So we have this Slack channel , literally in the we Are For Good Slack called Godwink , when the universe is trying to tell us all something . Ami , we are so glad that you're here . It felt like you were being led to us . We're going to have a great conversation today .
Speaker 1Thank you so much for having me . Well , I mean , you know this podcast . We want to get to know the human behind the story . I've shared a little bit of the story , but you're an ultimate storyteller , my friend . Would you take us back ?
Speaker 3I mean , take us a couple of things First . Let me , if someone first of all , thank you so much for having me here . I have , like the kindest four eyes looking at me right now like a really nice feeling .
Speaker 3You're so welcome . I think that you said something about you know , people across the border who would share their socks . Somebody who's never heard this before might be like why is he even talking about socks ? It sounds weird . So the background to that was that I was on the border , basically serving in the army 40 years ago I'm not young anymore and I was looking across the border and I had realized that in my unit , my little platoon , there were some guys who would share their last pair of dry socks with me if I needed it , and there were others who might steal my last pair of dry socks if they needed it . So I realized I sort of very , in a very young way I was , you know , 18 , 19 years old and I thought you have these like sock thieves and sock shares out there and I realized one day that across the border that same division might , might be the case probably , and so I thought you know , this fence is running the wrong way Like this makes no sense . It'd be much more sense for all the sharers to get together than this weird sort of accidental division . So that's so . It's not some like sock fetish . It's about . That was the story Everyone wondering when you introduced me . It's like you know what's the deal with socks ? Well , sharing anything , basically the world of sharers . So , thinking back , I think one . So , yes , I was .
Speaker 3I was born in Jerusalem and then we moved when I was seven , we moved to Mexico for eight years and I sort of grew up in Mexico city and I think , sorry , when I was probably eight or something I'm not sure why or how I was like this little social justice freak . I basically I started asking my parents why , um , there are kids my age out in the streets begging when we have food at home , and I'm sure you know I have my own kids now . I'm sure that the first time I asked was very cute . And by the fourth time , like , what do you tell a kid who keeps asking , you know , why is there this obvious injustice out there ? Why are these kids begging when we have food ? So that was , I think , the first sort of sense of I want to do something . I'm not sure what to do as an eight-year-old . You know , what could I do by the time I was 10 , I think I was dreaming of revolution , but no one wanted to follow me to the hills .
Speaker 2So I was like let's go . You would have been such good friends on me .
Speaker 3So , yeah , so I waited . So then , yeah , so you know , I grew and saw more things and I did not like school when I was a kid at all . So when I finished my compulsory service , you know three years went traveling for a while in South America in the 80s . I started meeting sort of lots of people , both local and travelers , who wanted to do something about what they were seeing around them environmental stuff , poverty , whatever . So the mid 80s , there's no web , there's no . I know it's hard to imagine a world where your mom doesn't know where you are and can't find you , like I mean , there was no , you know nothing like that no life 360 on your phone .
Speaker 3No , no phones right like I would . I would call my parents once a month to tell them I was alive now , and then they wouldn't know until a month later if I was alive or not . So I thought you know what can I ? I was 24 and I , what can I do with my life ? And I , I don't want to go to college . That's not going to happen . I just really did not like school , so I dropped out of high school when I was in 11th grade . College is not going to happen . Uh , what can I do ?
Speaker 3And I thought there has to be a way of connecting good people around the world to each other and to ways of doing good . Uh , how I haven't defensed this idea . This was 1985 . There was the beginning of fax machines and like pcs . Um , I don't know how , but there has to be a way of doing this . Uh , I'm meeting all these people . It's funny I mentioned your eyes earlier . I'm meeting all these people as I'm traveling that I can see in their eyes immediately that they're the kind of person that I would take to a you know island . If I have to spend a couple years on an island with 30 people like I would take you I know it's . You're not going to steal my food . I'm able to grow some together . So these people , there has to be a way of connecting them . And the question was how ?
Speaker 3And I had no idea , so I went back . I went back to israel . I was , I was a waiter , I was a translator . Uh , started working for a computer company in front of mine , started a software company and he hired me to be his um international marketing manager because I could in English . That was my big asset at the time . So did that for a while , came here , started his subsidiary in the US in 92 , 93 . And then the web was invented and the first time I saw a website very much at the beginning it was just like green text with like a little shiny word .
Speaker 3Oh yeah , I remember , and I thought , oh my God , with this thing I could actually do what I've been dreaming about for years . So in a sense I was predisposed to the moment when the web came along , which is why we launched Idealist in 95 . It was the same year that Craigslist and eBay and Yahoo 95 , 94 , 95 was the first year where you could do a search , you could connect a database to the web so you could track your FedEx number or search for something . So that led us to Idealist , led me to Idealist , and then that was that so long story . But that's your question , I guess to some degree .
Speaker 2It's like you were literally building the network before there was a digital network , and that's what I love so much about the Ide idealist story and ps . I'm totally as you're talking . I'm hearing the aol dial up like going , like putting in the ass jeeves like how do , how do I do impact work , you know , with people ?
Speaker 3we're trying to get uh funding for it and it was very hard . And a friend told me you're trying to sell the idea of tv guide to people who don't know what a television is and that's essentially impossible . Right , how ? What you know web directory and people like what's the web ? Like what are you talking about ? Well , it's this thing anyway . Forget it .
Speaker 2Yeah , so you just leave the meeting like whatever it's just such a cool story , and so it started out like , as this action without borders and you know , turned into idealistorg . And then I think about , like in 2000 , you get this $100,000 grant that basically doubles your budget and you took off from there and as a recovering major gift officer , I'm like , oh my gosh , $100,000 gift comes in . You just feel like like you have the world in your hands , but really you were able to scale that and do something truly transcendent and beautiful and you were building digital community before people knew what digital community was , and so I'd love for you to just talk about ideal like take us to this vision for this platform and how has it evolved over time .
Speaker 3Yeah , well , I mean some very long stories . I'll try to keep it short . First , the name . Just I , you know , we had to name this thing somehow and I had this terrible idea , which I'm so happy that the URL was taken , taken because so I thought that a good idea for trying to do would be the word catalyst , but with an eye , so you know , a , you're catalyzing something .
Speaker 3But it's a list of things right with you , we're with you , yeah so thank god it was taken , because pretty bad name , but the thing stayed with me . And then , like a couple weeks later , I was walking in the street and I thought , oh my god , in english , idealist is like idealism , but it's also an idea list , and it's a list of ideas , right , an idea list , and so it's ah . So I ran back to the office and this was 96 and the URL was available , which is sort of amazing . And then I'll tell you one quick thing , because you mentioned your Godwink Is that what you called it , your thing ? And then I'll tell you one quick thing , because you mentioned your Godwink .
Speaker 1Is that what you called it ?
Speaker 3Slack channel . So we registered the URL on August 22nd 96 . That's the date . If you look it up , you'll see that our URL is registered that date , so 15 years later or more .
I am a very late bloomer and I got married for the first time 10 years ago .
Speaker 3And this is relevant because when I met my wife 12 years ago in Spain , she had a daughter who was 10 . And so at some point her daughter's birthday came up , and it was August 22nd . So when I met my wife , I had a baby and she had a baby , and both babies were born the same day . Idealist .
Speaker 2You have twins my wife's daughter , who is now my daughter , and both babies were born the same day , idealist . My wife's daughter , who's now my daughter .
Speaker 3They were not born the same year . You know , my daughter was born in 2004 . This was born in 96 . But they're both August 22nd babies , which is sort of bizarre if you talk about like Godwinks .
Speaker 2It's almost our birthday too . Is that not weird ? Weird for good . It's really close August 20th . Is that not weird ? Weird for good . It's really close , august 20th , the 5th of August .
Speaker 3There you go , so yeah . So we launched the site at the beginning , no money , there was nothing like it . So we just created this little site on a PC , basically , and said people , come , register , you can have a presence on the web for free , create a record , create a page and start posting things gradually . Now , this is all I mean this . It took tremendous patience for five years , I think , from 96 through 2000, . Where the staff of three , an annual budget of a hundred thousand dollars for the whole organization I was , I was still working for my friend , so I was volunteering . I was in this office in New York where in one room I had these two people doing a deal list and the rest of the office was this other people . He pay my salary , bless him , and he gave us this room to work from , and so these two people had to pay them somehow and survive for five years that way , somehow , until this first hundred thousand dollar gift came in . And then , yeah , and then we sort of took off gradually from there . But it's been a very long .
Speaker 3Um , you know , I've met hundreds of people in the last few 20 years who have this dream of something they want to create and you get a sense very quickly . They want their dream to work out in a month or two or six months . You feel immediately that the and things usually don't happen that way . I can't stand it Like I don't understand why Rome wasn't built in a day . Right the moment that you imagine Rome , you want it built in a day , like ah . But you realize that most things in life , most good things , take time Very few . There are very few overnight successes , and so you need to be patient , or stubborn , as my mom would say about me , but you need to basically stick around .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 1I mean thanks for sharing that , because I think it's really easy , especially listening to podcasts . You hear of the highlight reel or you see the highlight reel , but taking us behind the scenes of it was community building , one relationship at a time , years at a time . That just compounds to this impact you've had today . So we'll definitely connect up . You know everybody that's listening . I hope you can go and check out all the resources . We'll link that up at the end . But I'm talking to you today . I wanted to talk about this idea of living out . I mean , you know , not just um saying we're idealist , but you try to channel this . You know I , I follow you and I think that your , your posts often , like provoke a lot of deep thinking for me personally too . But I mean , after years of leading idealist , how do you continue to stay connected to your own sense of idealism when the world feels so painful , so divided most days ? You know , I don't .
Speaker 3I don't know that . I have a choice . In other words , I , I , um . You know , it's funny if , if I , if I look at Becky and I say , becky , you know , you've had a long life so far . I mean you , you've been around for a while , how do you continue being a woman ? I mean , like , how do you do this ? You know ? Like you know , get up and like you know , and it's like it's just , it's just who Becky is right , this is who you are right , and I think that that in my case , it's like asking a writer are very hard .
Speaker 3I mean , this past year , you know , with what's happening in Israel and Gaza , I've been also much more active on social media than before . Just to keep my sanity . I began tweeting a year ago in a way that I never did before , some posts on LinkedIn here and there , and it's hard . But then what's the alternative ? To become just like an angry cynic and I'd rather be dead , I mean . So in the end , you revert back to hope . I can't live any other way . I don't ? It's funny . It's a really interesting question , john . I don't know how like , I don't know how to be like some snide . You know , cynic , and I mean I can be very cynical , I can tell cynical jokes , I can be cynical at moments , but to stop believing the better is possible , then what would be the point ? Plus , I think , one last thing about that that's serious is that I think most of us , I think almost all of us , we know the better is possible for , I think , two really important reasons that I think most of us have seen In our lives . We have seen , I think all of us , a school get better , a street get better , a town get better , a park get better . And we're not dumb , we can extrapolate from that . Right , If one street can get better I mean New York in the last 30 years , oh my God , right . So we can extrapolate from that . Right , if one street can get better I mean new york in the last 30 years , oh my god , right . So we can , we can extrapolate , and so we can say , well , wait , if one school can get better , why can't every school get better ? Right , like we could do that . And then the other thing , I think , is that most of us not all of us , but I think most of us have experienced being part of a group of people , of a team that has been sort of unleashed to do something awesome together , and we've had that experience of like doing something awesome even just for an hour , and so , again , we can extrapolate Like , if we can do that once , why can't we do awesome things all the time ? So , yes , of course we can , and you see it , I think people tend to focus on bad things .
Speaker 3But sorry for the long answer , but I think that several years ago , when Bloomberg was mayor of New York , he had you know the guts to to to come out and say people will no longer be allowed to smoke in bars , restaurants , and I was like you're crazy , who's gonna ? You know whatever ? And he did it . And now , all over the world , you go to a bar or restaurant in many places and people don't smoke anymore , and it's awesome and like that changed right . So , of course , change is possible . We just need to focus on also what's good . The news tend to focus on what's bad and that takes us down , but we need to look around and like there's so much beauty , there's so much good . Anyway , enough with the preaching , but yeah , there is a lot of good out there .
Speaker 2I was going to say how often do we just get to sit here and talk about how revolutionary and understated kindness , civility and hope are , because it's easy to be a cynic right now . It's really easy got to take us back to , like the North Star of we Are For Good , which is an impact uprising . And it's this belief that if we can get more people involved in the act of generosity , philanthropy , helping in some way , not only is it going to benefit the person on the back end , but it benefits us y'all . Like there are literal , physical , emotional , mental positive effects to this . And I want to keep going on this because I do think that inspiring idealism is not just like your legacy . I think it's something that all of us can own as a legacy and it requires choosing those things .
Speaker 2So you are on this . You know what we would call like this revolution , to really build a global coalition of kind of the kind and of the responsible , and you shared kind of like with everything that's happening around the world . It's time for the world's idealists to come together , to rise up and to unite , and I want you to talk about this vision of building this global coalition and how can we be a part of it and PS , I'm at the front of that line little eight-year-old Becky , who also does not understand why people don't have enough to eat or clean socks . I think of this movement as being the young and the old and everyone in between . Talk to us about it . Yeah , so this ?
Speaker 3is really what I said has driven me since the very Like there , I think of this movement as being the young and the old and everyone in between Talk to us about it . Yeah , so this is really what I said has driven me since the very beginning , right , like I said , I was , I was , you know , 24 and I thought how can you connect good people to each other and to doing good ? I mean , that was the thing , and I think that , in fact , most people , you know it's fascinating , some there's some things that everyone has in common , right ? So , for example , every human being I've ever met wants to be respected , even the most disrespectful people want to be respected , right ? So it's funny , like everyone wants to be treated well , even those who don't treat others very well , right , those who cut in line don't like it when other people cut in line , like it's . It's a weird , like people , yeah , no one . I mean , there are things that everyone hates , right ? So I think that that , given the opportunity , people very often will do the right
thing .
Speaker 3And I think , just to close the thought from earlier , I think the way , and I , you know , I don't complain about the same , or just , of course , you know , the newspapers , the media . They have to focus on exceptional events . That's their job , right ? So a headline that would say , you know , 40,000 airplanes landed safely yesterday would be a very weird headline . The headline that would happen is a plane crashed yesterday somewhere in the world , right when that happens , and yet 40,000 airplanes landed safely is the reality . I mean , the reality is that you know , 3 million people took the subway this morning in a hot day not today , but in the summer and there wasn't one single fight among them . 3 million people sweating and no one had a fight Like , oh my God , like you know , it's like an astonishing human achievement , right ? So lots and lots is possible .
Speaker 3So what are we trying to do ? So I think , yes , start at dlsorg , build this website . But I think we can do much , much , much , much more than that , and I've been . I'll send you something at some point . I'll send you something soon to take a look at , and it's a 10 minute presentation you can sort of read and maybe link to when you publish this . But basically , after lots and lots of years of obsessing about this , it's come down to , I think , something that can be described in three sentences . I feel that . So , just again , what wants to back ?
Speaker 3The challenge comes down to agreement , right ? What can we all or many of us agree on ? When human beings agree on something , you can do amazing stuff , right ? If we all agree to go out and clean the streets tomorrow , we'll do that . Right . If we all agree to elect Becky governor of Oklahoma , well then , we'll work on that and we'll make it happen . Agreement releases energy .
Speaker 3The problem , though , of course , is that the world is very diverse , and so it's difficult to come to agreement on many things , and what we believe now , what I believe is that if we many of us can agree on just three very simple things , we can unleash something amazing . Uh , the first thing is is is conceptual . It's just a very simple set of values the idea that we would all like to build a world where more people , or all people , can lead free and dignified lives . So more freedom and more dignity for more people , and I want to do that in a spirit of generosity and respect . So respect , generosity , dignity and freedom as starting values . You can add to that joy and peace and unity and many other things , but it feels like we've been experimenting with it for a long time a world of more freedom and more dignity , with respect and generosity . That seems to draw great people and also draw the best in them . So that's like a big vision .
Speaker 3Second , a very like technical , practical thing declaring that one day a month you know how in the US . Just take an example any date In the US , march 7th , 3-7 . 3-7 is March 7th . In Britain or in Europe it's actually July 3rd , right ? The only days of the year where that's not true are 3 , 3 , 4 , 4 , 5 , 5 , 6 , 6 . We noticed that a few years ago . So we're going to grab those 12 days of the year , 1 , 1 through 12 , 12 . We're going to call them idealist days and we're simply going to declare once a month , on idealist day , 7 , 7 , 8 , 8 , 9 , 9, .
Speaker 3Come out and do something good for something or someone that you care about . So bake a cookie for your neighbor , or propose an idea for something big and wonderful , or have a debate , or invite people to think about building a new school , whatever you want , invite , share . Now it's not 12 MLK days . The action doesn't have to happen that day . It's one day a month to celebrate and shine a light on everything that is happening and propose more . So I'll give you a simple example media . You guys have a television station in Oklahoma . That television station , probably on Thanksgiving and Christmas , goes and does a cute little story about a cute little org that's helping someone do something . How , about once a month they actually did something cool , and and so on .
Speaker 3Idealist days go and run a story about a local organization doing fantastic work . Just do it right . Um , and so companies can invite people to speak . Uh , schools can open themselves up to people coming to organize the kids and speak with them . The mayor can close streets so people can come out and do cool stuff . And the more people do , the more people will do . Right , because it just feeds on itself and it's just a gimmick .
Speaker 3If you remember , there was a thing called Take your Daughter to Work Day . That was one day a year and just by declaring that day you give people permission to do it and you make it not weird , right ? If you tell your boss well , it's take your daughter work day , I should bring my daughter . If you say , any other day it doesn't work , that day it works , and that day he or she are like jerks if they don't let you . Right , so let's do some cool stuff , so , so by . So that's so .
Speaker 3We've been experimenting with that for a while . We're going to start with that this year . So one one we're going to just get going around the world with at least you know happy idealist year or or whatever , and like let's just keep going and then mount on that so give people ideas , give people ways to do it , social media , etc . So instead of values , and once a month let's go , and that , I think , is like a backbone that will lead to many things , right , because you can imagine how , if in the city , people like the idea , a team or a group will form to promote that idea , right , which will then lead to many other things . An ecosystem can build on those like you know thing .
Speaker 3And the third one is this is , you know , sort of optional .
Speaker 3Whoever wants it can take it is that I think it's important to be seen everywhere . I think we need to sort of see and be seen , and so we're going to take this , uh , this little sort of logo that we've been playing with for a long time now , and we're going to tell people this is your logo . Essentially , take it , this yellow , green and blue circle and do whatever you want with it . Basically , you're doing some cool stuff . That logo can sort of represent freedom of dignity , and it can also represent action on those days . Use it , take it , paint it on a wall , wear it , tattoo it , do whatever you want , basically representing this movement of idealism coming together . So three simple things segment values , a monthly day of action and celebration and a way to be seen and to be shown , doing that without needing words . Right , you can see somebody anywhere in the world flashing that sign and you know that they're one of you and you're one of them . So that's where we're going next're one of them , so that's where we're going next . I hope .
Speaker 1Well , that's where we want to go next okay , as your marketer disguised as fundraiser graphic , resident graphic designer . I'm so here for this , I think . I think , if it's like , almost like looking at the clock and it's the 11 11 make a wish . It's like you see that date on your calendar and I do think , over time , as people understand and recognize , that it does trigger something in you to be like , oh , how can I channel this moment of kindness right now ? So I love the way that you're really integrating . I'm curious what you think about . How do you see young people coming into this movement , future leaders ? How are you really passing the baton ? I mean , some of these ideas are . Are you already open hand to this ? But how ? How can we inspire young leaders to embrace this idea of idealism in their own working lives ?
Speaker 3Yeah , I think for young people , especially if I think of really young people , so all the way down to basically high school , middle school even , but certainly college . I think that all over the world , in almost all cases , young people are incredibly underestimated . I think once in a while a young person gets an opportunity to do something amazing . It happens in emergencies , it happens in , maybe , like you know , political campaigns that don't have a lot of money , so they get some intern who's 17 and the intern starts running everything . Young people can do amazing stuff and you see it wherever they're given opportunities . It's interesting .
Speaker 3You know the I had many , many , many years ago . I had a girlfriend who had a 12 year old , uh , son and he was playing one of those , um , big video games that they play , you know , with with lots of people together . And I asked him I don't , I don't play that , I'm not a gamer and I sat beside him to sort of watch him playing and it was incredibly complex and I imagine having the thought like he was choosing from you know , 100 different swords and like you know shields , and all these like amazing stuff and I thought to myself someone's aside , this 12 year old is too young or too immature to learn about . You know , civic to learn something , and this kid has mastered this thing . That is so much more complex than the us government and so I think truly I mean it is truly has like hundreds of moving parts , conceptually right , and these kids completely are on top of this stuff and they get , they get dismissed , they get um , we , you know , we used to get many more . Now I mean we're we used to get calls and emails from people who basically say you know , I'd love to volunteer and help out . I mean , we used to get calls and emails from people who basically say you know , I'd love to volunteer and help out , I'm 16 . I was told to come back when I'm an adult . Like , they just get you know and there's no way , I think , in most cases , for kids to actually feel they can make a difference or there's nothing that happens to them , which is also horrible . They get shunted off to like know , youth work , like , go work with other youths and like no , I actually want to change climate change , I don't want to work with other kids about kid stuff .
Speaker 3So I think that that opening us up and saying , no matter where you are , no matter how old you are , no matter , you know you can , you can actually do something that day as well , uh , in school or wherever you want . I mean , now I know I , I , I look old , I am old . It's a long story , as I said earlier . Now I know , I , I , I look old , I am old , it's a long story , as I said earlier . But now you know , I have a 20 year old daughter who I said I met my wife . She had a 10 year old , now she's 20 . And we have a four year old now as well , which is a longer story .
Speaker 3Uh , yeah , and and this was yeah , it was one of my plans to you I talk to her and you listen to this four-year-old and she has a moral sense of the word . I mean , she will tell me five times a day that is not fair . And she gets it and most of the time she's right , and so I think that kids can absolutely make a difference . Anyway , long answer . I think that lots of opportunities for kids to suggesting . Also , you know , sometimes cliches are cliches because they're true . The future is theirs . You know , in , in 2050 , uh , I'll be either long gone or , you know , 89 , she'll be 30 . I mean , the future is hers , and so she should have a huge ownership stake informing the future that she'll have to live in . So , yeah , they should be invited and given the tools to do lots of cool things .
Speaker 2I agree with you a hundred percent and we , we have been hanging our shingle on the fact that we believe not just Gen Z but Gen Alpha . I have a daughter that's , you know , in that same age range as yours , and there is something about this age range y'all that is to me the great unlock of idealism , of justice , of love , and the way that they are able to take these basic principles respect you talk about that integrity that we've taught them and turn them back on us in questions . And I got to shout out a couple of organizations who are taking kids and using them to do incredible things in the world . I think of In a Perfect World Foundation mobilizing kids .
Speaker 2I think about Miracle Messages out of San Francisco , the 776 Foundation , who is taking fellows from age 18 to 22 and giving them $100,000 to solve climate change in really creative , interesting ways .
Speaker 2And it's because I think the benefit is they are not looking at the world in the way that we are through our cynicism , through the rejection that we've all received , and I do think that there is some great unlock there with idealism and I have to say , just as a marketer , the dreaminess of having the kid leading the adult is really a disruptive notion that I am here for , and I just think your story is so beautiful I mean , I think , the way that you tell it and it's funny to me like you apologize for going so long and I'm thinking please speak more , please keep going and double-clicking on that .
Speaker 2But we really do honor story here and we believe that storytelling is the heartbeat of connection . It's the thing that helps us connection , it's the thing that helps us relate , it's the connective tissue that binds us . And I'm wondering if there's a story in your life that you would share with us of a moment of philanthropy , of generosity , of kindness , of something that's come into your world and it was so profound that it stayed with you . Do you have one that's kind of percolating ?
Speaker 3um , I think I want to say two things .
One just to complete the thing from earlier about the kids . Recently , on twitter about a couple weeks ago , and then on facebook , more a longer time ago , I asked sort of a community of people um , when was the first time in their life that they , how old were they ? And what was the first time where they saw that they , how old were they , and what was the first time where they saw something that felt like an injustice to them and that they remember ? And what's fascinating is that on Facebook I think we had like a thousand replies and on Twitter maybe like a hundred a couple of weeks ago , and the consensus of the forms is that between six and eight years old basically kids six to seven to eight is when this memory of I saw something that felt deeply wrong to me in terms of how someone was treated . This time on Twitter there were three or four people saying the same thing of how my dad treated my mom . Basically . There was someone who was very specific who said my dad and mom worked in the same factory and had the same job and when they came home , every night dad sat at the television and mom had to make dinner every night , and that felt wrong to me at six years old . So that person said right . So I think people , kids know , and I think what happens is that as parents , we have a choice for what to do with that . And I think that people and I hope it's okay to just add a little bit more to this , people , I think minimize the power they have to shape their kids right .
Speaker 3So your daughter comes from school and she says you know , mommy , something weird happened today , that the teachers had something really weird to Jenny , right , and you , as a mom , you can say , oh , that sounds bad , let's call Jenny's mom and ask if she knows , or let's call the teacher , or let's find out more . Right , you can sort of go for that . Or you can tell your daughter did she tell you anything bad ? And you're like no , well then mind your own business and just stick to your thing and nothing bad happened to you and don't go around . Whatever blah like , whatever blah , blah , blah . Right , and you can imagine you know people that would give both answers and in that moment you're like squelching that little girl for life , right , if you say , oh , mind your own business , she would never help you . You know all those horrible cynical answers where you take a little kid and turn her into a cynic just in that moment . Oh , my mom told me to mind my own business , or you can actually encourage that . So I think , yes , kids can be amazing . I think parents , adults , play a huge role in encouraging that or in squelching that . It's funny .
Speaker 3You said an act of philanthropy . I'm going to be very literal with that . A few years ago I got a call from someone , a young person , that worked for a foundation at a company that she was . She had convinced the CEO of this , of this bank in New York , that they should have some kind of philanthropic impact arm and that she should be the one to do it . And he sort of allowed her to . You know , launch this like in-house micro foundation and just like all kinds of stuff .
Speaker 3So they were interested in education . So she called me up one day and she said you want to have breakfast with me to pick my brain about ? You know stuff , and , as you know , as a nonprofit as a small nonprofit you don't say no when a funder you know says that . I mean , the power differential is such that if a funder asks you out for breakfast , you go , and it's not necessarily fair , but that's life , right . And so I went and she was very nice . We had this conversation , it was great .
Speaker 3And I went back to the office and like , whatever , if this happens , you know , once in a while , okay , I helped her , you know , with some ideas about things that she was considering that nothing to do with us , um , and then a few hours later , I'm in the office and I get this little sort of online report uh , it's very seldom that we get online donations , idealist and and there's this little report that comes through my , my , my screen that someone just gave us a five thousand dollar donation and I was like what ?
Speaker 3This is weird that this has never happened to us online credit card . So I go in and I look and it was her . And so I wrote and I said you know what was that ? And she said well , I took an hour of your time and I think that we should pay for that . And so I told my boss that I'm not going to go out and talk to people If he doesn't let me , in advance , pay them for their time , their organization , not them . And so it was wonderful that she didn't say a word . She just went and did it , and I wish more funders behaved that way . It was literal philanthropy , without being asked , without being prompted , and it was this beautiful surprise , and they weren't a big foundation that was just getting started .
Speaker 1And it was this like beautiful surprise , and they weren't a big foundation that was just getting started but they felt , you know I , I took an hour of your time and and your nonprofit should be compensated for that , and it just your words . I remember , following along the comments of you asking about the first injustice . Like I would say , we'll link that up in the show notes because it's one of those things that I think everybody wants to think back on . But just to read that shows you probably a lot of reasons why we're in this work . You know it stitches us together . It's early moments in our life that make us want to fight for good in the world and different capacities . So thank you for your wisdom .
Speaker 3We're going to ask you for a one good thing .
Speaker 1This is a piece of advice . It could be a habit , it could be a mantra . That's true to you . What would you want to share with our community as a one good thing ? We start to wrap up .
Speaker 3One piece of advice . I'll give you one piece of advice that maybe no one has given your community , maybe , because I'm sure they all you know . I'll say one thing . I think that that maybe I shouldn't , but I will anyway .
Speaker 3People say , you know , always if you have a dream , go for it , and I'm all for that . I've been doing that my whole life . But if you dream or if your idea is a bad one , uh , find out as soon as possible and don't do it . In other words , I'll tell you what I mean by that . I think that I think that , um , sometimes we all have ideas that feel amazing to us . That's the whole point of you know , your idea feels great to you .
Speaker 3Um , go around , ask some people that you , that you trust , and and it's true that very often a new idea will seem weird to many people Many people will tell you , oh , that's never going to work . But not everyone Usually . You know , jeff Bezos , you know , tells a story of how , when he was starting Amazon , he needed to raise a million bucks and in those days the web was so weird and there was no e-commerce and stuff , so he had to work really hard in Seattle to convince 20 investors to give him 50K each , and that's how he assembled his first million bucks investment , and so he tells it as a story of how hard this was and whatever . Yeah , dude , but you did get 20 people to give you 50 . In other words , there was something , what you were saying , enough to inspire 20 people to part with 50K and give them to you . So your idea wasn't actually insane , and we know that it wasn't . So I think there's something about if every single person you trust tells you that your idea is between crazy and stupid and won't work , then maybe there's something to it .
Speaker 3If you find at least one or two people who believe what you're doing , that's a huge difference with zero and so there are many ideas out there and pursue the ones that seem great to you , but don't also waste too much time pursuing something that maybe won't work . That's one . Now I'll add a positive note to that , which is I think that if you have an idea , way too often people spend lots of time figuring out how to fund it before doing anything right . So , for example , if you want to start a mentoring program for girls in Oklahoma , it's like well , I'd love to have you know , 100 girls get mentored , so we need to raise a million bucks , and if we don't raise a million bucks , we can't do it . How about you start mentoring one girl in your kitchen table and then also raise the money ?
Speaker 3There's something about , there's a certain mentality , and I think you've met the kind of person who , basically , is not going to do anything unless they raise the money to do the big thing . Start doing what you can , where you , where you can and where you are , and then it'll also you'll find out if your idea makes sense or not . Right , like if , if basically , after mentoring that girl three times in your kitchen table , she hates your guts , well then maybe it's not a great idea and it's not going to work right . So I think there's a huge , I think , advantage in just starting . Just go , go Try it . What's going to happen , right ?
Speaker 3And I think in your case , for example , you're such a great example of this because in a podcast , everyone wants to have as many listeners as Joe Rogan , maybe , but your first edition is not going to . And so what do you ? Do Not tape the first podcast , because it won't have a big audience . That makes no sense . The only way your 20th podcast will have more people is if your second podcast have more than the first one . I mean , there's no other way , and I think people would love to be at the 20th podcast without doing the third one . Well , it doesn't work that way , unfortunately , you know .
Speaker 2I'm talking about pilots , y'all . I mean , it is a site in San Francisco only .
Speaker 3And no one else in San Francisco had ever heard of this , because it was a San Francisco site . And then in 2000 , 99 , 2000 , they decided to open their second city and they came to New York . They sent someone to like scout New York and for some reason they came and they met with us , met with me , and I remember distinctly telling the guy this sounds very hippie in San Francisco , this is never going to work in New York . And the thing is so , here am I , you know , having told someone that Craigslist is not going to work right , and so I learned my lesson , and I will never again tell someone their idea won't work . I'll ask questions , I'll probe , I'll say you know what about this ? Or have you thought about that ? Who am ? I'll probe , I'll say you know what about this ? Or have you thought about that ? I am . Who am I to say this won't work ? So it's not . It's about finding people who say oh my God , this is awesome , build things that you would use , right .
Speaker 2I mean , I love the way you see the world . It's just unlike anyone else and that's what makes you the idealist , and I think you can . You're also showing that you can be an idealist and still be a realist about a lot of things , and that they can meld together . So people are going to want to connect with you . They're going to want to connect with idealistorg .
Tell us where you hang out online . Where's the best place that people can get connected in to your work ?
Speaker 3So I'll tell you it's pretty simple . I think idealistorg , yes , so the website idealistorg . Uh , the I'm on Twitter , um , I still call it Twitter at um uh twittercom slash Ami Dar , a-m-i-d-a-r .
Speaker 3And then my email address . It's Ami at idealistorg and I have no problem , you know , sharing it here dropping an email . I may not respond immediately . I'm always going to read your email and I'll get back to you sooner or later . Maybe not in 10 minutes , but I'll get back to you . And so I'm EAMI at Adealorg . I'm here , I'm not going anywhere , yeah .
Speaker 1I mean showing up generously to the very last minute of this podcast . Thank you , Thank you for your .