Legacy and Leadership | Rebecca Byrne Part 2

Part 2 of David's conversation with Rebecca Byrne.

David was fortunate to sit down with Rebecca Byrne, a longtime voice for improvement in Mobile, Alabama.  She has solid advice on leadership and humble thoughts on legacy.  More on her background below.  Enjoy!

Rebecca Byrne has been serving as the President & CEO for the Community Foundation of South Alabama for twelve years, leading the foundation in its mission to bring together and direct philanthropic assets to make southwest Alabama a better place.  The Foundation has grown to over 500 funds and has awarded over $98 million in grants and scholarships throughout the eight counties of southwest Alabama since its inception in downtown Mobile 50 years ago. To support community dialogue and connect organizations, CFSA offers its community center as a convening place for nonprofits, businesses, and civic groups and hosts community events. 
  
Rebecca has served in leadership roles for numerous civic, cultural and church organizations, including serving as Chair of the Mobile Public Library, Downtown Mobile Alliance, Beckwith Camp and Conference Center, and Baldwin County Trailblazers. A member of the Society of Sponsors of the United States Navy, a graduate of Leadership Alabama and Leadership Mobile, Rebecca is a member of Mobile Rotary Club and a Paul Harris Fellow. 
 
Rebecca and her husband Bradley enjoy their involvement in the community but most of all their time with their four children and three grandchildren.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to Legacy and Leadership. I'm David McKee. Join me as we talk to leaders in their field regarding their thoughts on leaving a legacy and impact in their families and in their community. I'd love to shift the conversation a little bit just to talk about philanthropy in general. Broadly speaking, do you see uh philanthropy as as having a larger role in our community, or do you think it's kind of been been minimized or does it does it come and go economically? How how do you see philanthropy broadly speaking in our community currently?

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Um I think it has grown over the years. I think that the community um is in a has a, you know, we've talked over and over again about the potential that we have in this area.

SPEAKER_02 0:50

Right.

SPEAKER_00 0:51

Um and I think we're now living in truly a a land of opportunity that it is coming to fruition. Right. It's not a matter of potential, it's a matter of this is it. Um so I think our our future is brighter. I think it's gonna enable us to have an opportunity for even more philanthropy.

SPEAKER_02 1:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:08

I think we've done the best, you know, you you work with the cards that are dealt with you.

SPEAKER_02 1:13

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:13

You know, and so you try to plant seeds. I know the big part of of getting people to be charitable is you plant seeds with them and you hope that it comes to fruition. You hope that it does blossom. And sometimes, and it takes time. Those things don't happen overnight, they're not quick. Right. It can take years. Um, I know that you know that part of my success has been about the foundation that was laid for me by previous leaders. Right. I'm, you know, I I have, you know, I've been on this on their shoulders. Right. Um, and they set uh this foundation in place. We're celebrating our 50th anniversary this year. So a lot of a lot of effort was gone into creating a foundation um early that those were, I'm sure, very challenging, harder times to get something going.

SPEAKER_02 2:06

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 2:06

Um, but I think that our future is brighter. Um I think we have even more potential, and I think that we have a lot to look forward to.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

Yeah, that's great. It's it's my understanding, and please correct me if I'm wrong, that that some of the the ph philanthropic growth um can be adversely impacted by the economy. Is that a fair assessment? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 2:26

Yeah yes. Um, you know, we're a vehicle for charitable giving. Um, and so we grow through both new contributions and through investment.

SPEAKER_02 2:39

Right. Right.

SPEAKER_00 2:40

Um the two work hand in hand. So our model here at the foundation is that we we have donors who come and they establish funds with us.

SPEAKER_02 2:48

Right.

SPEAKER_00 2:49

And you mentioned early on in the introduction, we've grown to over 500 funds.

SPEAKER_02 2:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:54

And we take those funds and we collectively invest them. And with the income that's that comes about through that investment, we put them back into the funds, which make those funds grow, and it gives people that have the advisory capacity with those funds to have that much more to give back out to the community. So absolutely the economy plays a key role. It's out of our control, right? It's um, you know, but we have found that if you let things go, things will come back. Right. And so even in those years that we may have been down years, um, the economy rises back up again. And over time, you're back to where we were.

SPEAKER_02 3:37

Right.

SPEAKER_00 3:37

We have the philosophy here is that um our goal is to achieve an 8% return over time, over a period of time.

SPEAKER_02 3:47

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

Um, we have a 5% spending policy for those funds that are in doubt, those that are set to last in perpetuity. Right. So that 5% can be given out on an annual basis. The remaining 3% goes back into the fund so that even if you never give any more to the fund, it will grow. That is proven to be true. And even in those lean years, 2008, for example, and others, we've been able to sustain organizations that have endowments with us.

SPEAKER_02 4:19

Right.

SPEAKER_00 4:20

Because we have been able to have growth, continue to have growth, and be able to give, still be able to sustain them in those lean years because it's based on a rolling average over 20 quarters. So they're not major, you know, ups and downs, peaks and tops.

SPEAKER_02 4:36

Right.

SPEAKER_00 4:37

So, yes, the economy matters, investments matter.

SPEAKER_02 4:41

Right.

SPEAKER_00 4:41

Um, and so um we we do depend on that, but recognize that in the long run we'll be good no matter what. We have over 70% of those 500 funds are endowed.

SPEAKER_02 4:55

Wow. That's great.

SPEAKER_00 4:56

So we know that no matter what happens, yeah, that at least there's something will be here for this community for a future generation, yeah. So what we're trying to do obviously is to grow that.

SPEAKER_02 5:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:10

So there's even more to be here for the community for in years to come.

SPEAKER_01 5:13

Yeah. You you mentioned that that the economy and some other things are outside of your control. How that's true in from my perspective, in almost any leadership role. How have you as a leader helped navigate your team through some of those difficult circumstances or through dealing with situations that are outside of your control?

SPEAKER_00 5:33

I think you share with people the history. You're able to go back and look and see what our investment summary performs or what it the has has shown and demonstrated that you, you know, that you will continue, if you keep the course, say the course, you will continue to be, at some point, you will get be successful. Um and not to be bogged down by the down years or the lean years, and to know that that over time it will it will write itself. I know that I mean, our country, we see that they're tough years and then they're successful years, uh fruitful years. Um, so I think we just have to know with have that knowledge in place and to be assured that you've got to stay the course.

SPEAKER_02 6:19

Right.

SPEAKER_00 6:20

And you have to remain steady with it and not to let that completely, you know, destroy your um your goals, your ambitions, and you continue to work. And it will, you know, it'll come, it'll come out on the long run, it'll come out okay.

SPEAKER_01 6:34

To not get too high or too low, right? Yeah. And just steady, steady plotting.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

Steady is the key.

SPEAKER_01 6:40

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So what what would you say to others that are in philanthropy that are that are maybe stuck as a leader and and and trying to move the ball forward? Can you maybe remember back to a time that that that you felt stuck or or like you were in in uh quicksand or or mud and and how you move forward there as a leader?

SPEAKER_00 7:01

You always have to stay positive. You always have to know that um if you continue to do the right thing, um things will work out.

SPEAKER_02 7:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:10

Um, not to be Pollyanish about it. I'm not suggesting that people don't have um setbacks or they're not things that are that are serious in nature. Um, but but but you know, you have to keep moving, keep going, keep moving, and and like I say, move with other people and continue to remain strong. Um, you know, just put your head down and keep working, staying positive, um, working towards something. Put one foot in front of another. You know, when when one door closes, another one opens.

SPEAKER_02 7:42

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 7:42

And maybe you're thinking that that's not the path I really wanted to take. And it's not the path, but oftentimes we find that those things that are difficult make us stronger on the other end, on the other side of things.

SPEAKER_02 7:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

Um, and make you make us better equipped to handle adversity the next time it happens.

SPEAKER_02 7:59

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 8:00

And it it makes us grow to be more sustainable, more to be better at coming out and being stronger.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

Absolutely. You gotta have that long view and not just so short-sighted. Yeah. I love that. I love that. What was there one person who has had the most impact on your leadership style over the years?

SPEAKER_00 8:17

I've had a lot of great mentors. I think the the one person that clearly has been uh the most influential in my life has been my mother.

SPEAKER_02 8:28

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 8:28

Um, she was a very strong woman, a very independent woman. Um she um was very positive, a very and she had reasons not always to be positive. Um mom was a um social worker, so she had to balance, she balanced her responsibilities as a social worker with her her growing and nurturing a family. I was one of six, right? She was the matriarch. She lost my father when he was 56.

SPEAKER_02 9:01

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 9:01

And so, and I was 13 when I lost my dad. And so, but mom remained extremely positive. And she certainly, it was not easy. Um, it was, it was, it was tough.

SPEAKER_02 9:14

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 9:15

Um, but I saw that she, because of her positive nature, she made it through. And we never really felt and not until much later as I was older that I look back and go, wow, how did she do that?

SPEAKER_02 9:28

Right. Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:30

And it's because she was very independent, she was assertive, um, she was strong, she remained positive, she did not let it go down. It was the way that she was able to make it through. And that taught me. It taught me that you can, in adversity, you can you can still make it, and you don't let that get you down.

SPEAKER_02 9:50

Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:50

So she was she's been my my role model. Um I'm at a at a time too in in her generation that that having a career, a very successful career, was was really a a great thing for me to say as a as a as her youngest child to see that you can do both.

SPEAKER_01 10:11

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:12

And that was, correct me if I'm wrong, perhaps at a time where um uh uh women in the workforce is not as prominent as it is today.

SPEAKER_00 10:20

Yeah, that's true. Yeah, that's true.

SPEAKER_01 10:21

Absolutely. So is there one principle in leadership that stands out in your mind that is always true no matter the circumstances?

SPEAKER_00 10:29

I think uh that integrity is key. Um I think that so much of what we do and moving forward needs to be based is based on trust.

SPEAKER_01 10:44

Mm-hmm. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 10:45

Um, and that you need to, and to be successful, people need to trust you. Yep, yeah, and see that that your actions um mimic your words, that they can count on you to to to do what you say you're going to do. Certainly with with regard to the position that I'm in now, people entrust us to be stewards of their money.

SPEAKER_02 11:11

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 11:12

And we take that very seriously. I mean, that's an awesome responsibility. And so I think maintaining integrity and a leadership role is key.

SPEAKER_01 11:24

Yeah. Yeah, I love that. You you mentioned trust, and and to me that's such an important part of being a leader. Um, and and you mentioned actions matching your words and integrity. What are some other things that when you think of trust very practically as a leader, uh define that word other than those two things that you mentioned?

SPEAKER_00 11:44

Well, I'm gonna go back to the empowerment.

SPEAKER_01 11:48

Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:49

Um, I trust my team. I on the other flip side, I trust my team to do good work. I trust them to to be the best that they can possibly be. And I, you know, we we trust each other, but I I have complete trust in them that they can do um whatever it is that they set out to do. And so um I think I've I've I've been able to enjoy the fruits of the labor that we've done together and see that it works. Sure. That if you have trust in others, um it things will will lift themselves up in a way that it's not possible otherwise. You can't fulfill a mission if there's not trust.

SPEAKER_01 12:34

Absolutely. So you you really take the first step in that with those that you work with and modeling that trust by placing trust in them from the beginning.

SPEAKER_02 12:44

Right.

SPEAKER_01 12:45

Yeah, that's great. That's great. Tell us your your thoughts about legacy. What does the word legacy mean to you?

SPEAKER_00 12:53

Legacy is what you leave behind. And I think, you know, I'm I've thought a good bit, because you know, we we talk a lot about that we're a place where people can leave a legacy, right? And so I think keep thinking, what does that mean for me personally?

SPEAKER_02 13:08

Right.

SPEAKER_00 13:08

Um, I have a a view of what I can leave on a personal, from a personal standpoint and also from a professional standpoint. I know that from a personal standpoint, my family is of the most importance to me. Um my my husband, my children, my grandchildren. Um, I just this last weekend um we celebrated Easter at our house. We had 30 people, extended family in our home. And I've I thought about it later, and I remember thinking it felt so great to recognize that that my children are strong, capable, competent, fun, engaging, adventuresome people who are instilling the same values that we instill to in them to their children, our grandchildren. I could see in my grandchildren even that they're got all the right stuff that's gonna enable them to be productive, great individuals. Um, we had this great competitive Easter egg hunt, and it was like it demonstrated to me, yep, they've got the right spunkiness. They're gonna be great, and it was so rewarding to know that that that will continue.

SPEAKER_02 14:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:33

So um, so that was it on a personal level. Um professionally, what I hope to leave behind is a positive influence on others by doing things um in the community that we hope will instill others to have a brighter future, to provide opportunities for others that they can be successful.

SPEAKER_02 15:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:02

The ripple effect of that is extraordinary. Yeah. Um, I know that, you know, I think it was last year I was in the grocery store. You know, a lot of things happen in the grocery store. You see people, you talk to people. It's a great litmus test to see how you're doing. Yeah. Um, but there was a young person who came up to me that I had worked with years ago in another position, and um saw him as someone I thought, wow, this guy's, he's gonna be a great leader.

SPEAKER_02 15:31

Right.

SPEAKER_00 15:31

And I did reach out to him and ask him if he would take on a role in in my job at that point in time, if he would take on a leadership role.

SPEAKER_02 15:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:40

I mean, he did a great job. And it's what, I mean, I a sense that, you know, he had the right stuff, right? Yeah. But he came up to me uh in the grocery store, we were talking, great guy, fun, funny, smart, all those things. And he said, I, you know, I need to tell you is that that you you came to me at a point in my in my my life. I would I had just recently moved here. I didn't know a lot of people. And I didn't have a lot of confidence. I didn't really know how I was gonna do or what I was gonna do. And, you know, you reached out to me. And I thought, wow, if he hadn't told me, I had no idea.

SPEAKER_02 16:18

Right.

SPEAKER_00 16:18

And I wouldn't have really had expected that coming from him because he I thought he he had all the right stuff, and I had no idea that he was where he was at that point in his life. And I think it was a nudge to me to remind myself that it starts with one person. Yeah, that you make a difference in the life of one person.

SPEAKER_02 16:42

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 16:43

And that that's how you get started. We we yearn here in this office to have a broad community impact.

SPEAKER_02 16:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:50

We hope that you know we're gonna, you know, make a difference in our whole community.

SPEAKER_02 16:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:56

But you can make a difference in one person's life that will exponentially grow to affect that many more people.

SPEAKER_01 17:05

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 17:06

So that's that was the lesson that I learned that day in the grocery store.

SPEAKER_01 17:10

I I love it. I it it reminds me of some uh something uh a former pastor of mine and and still a good friend to this day says do for one what you wish you could do for all. Yeah. And I think that that really encompasses what you're talking about, right? Is reach out and impact that one employee or coworker or whoever and um and really put your heart into it.

SPEAKER_00 17:34

So I think it's well you hear I you know hear all the time it's a simple act of kindness.

SPEAKER_01 17:38

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 17:39

Um what you you never know what you say to somebody, right? Or where they are at that point that you're saying something, how it's gonna affect them.

SPEAKER_02 17:47

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 17:47

But nevertheless, you remember, you know, we should always do the right thing. We should always be mindful of that maybe what we see is not how somebody else is truly feeling.

SPEAKER_02 17:59

Right.

SPEAKER_00 17:59

Or that they're in a place where you don't know that there's profound hurt.

SPEAKER_02 18:03

Right.

SPEAKER_00 18:04

Um, we you know, we go to church and we think all the people around us are perfect, right?

SPEAKER_02 18:10

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 18:11

Well, that's not true. We're not we're sitting in church because there's pain.

SPEAKER_02 18:15

Yeah. Sure.

SPEAKER_00 18:16

And there are others around us that are experiencing things that are very serious or in a place that um is maybe of despair or whatever.

SPEAKER_02 18:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:26

Um, but I think it's important that remembered that that it it starts on a one-on-one basis. But you're right. It's it's nice to think that it it it spreads.

SPEAKER_01 18:36

Absolutely, absolutely. I I want to go back to when you were talking about just a moment ago, the the personal part of your legacy. Um my daughter uh is a senior at UMS Right, and she is leaving the nest here soon. And I was talking to a friend several weeks ago uh uh who was older and has had several kids leave the nest, and he said, David, you want to create an environment such that your children want to come back?

SPEAKER_00 19:03

Yeah, yes, right? Yes.

SPEAKER_01 19:05

And I can't help but but notice that that you as a mom, as a parent, have obviously created that environment such that 30 people showed up to your house on Easter. So how how have you as a parent and as a mother and as a leader helped foster that environment at home such that they want to come back?

SPEAKER_00 19:31

Every chapter in my life has gotten better. I so keenly remember where in the chapter in my life where you are today. I do. I remember as though it were yesterday. It hasn't been that long, but I do remember that I've sensed, oh my gosh, you know, my children are leaving the nest. And I don't know what that means, right, where they're gonna end up. Um, but I have found that that they're in their youth, we created a bond. We created a strong, really strong family ties.

SPEAKER_02 20:09

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 20:10

Um, we did things with our children, we exposed them to things. We I mean we had fun times with them, we had adventures with them, we took them to the beach, we took them to the mountains, we exposed them to opportunities, we we uh we we tried to lift them up to be strong individuals. Yeah um, but we had fun doing it, it was engaging, it was fun, and I have found that they still yearn to be with each other, yeah. That my adult children are now friends that in a different way. There's an intense love now that that I had experienced with them. It's a little bit different from when they were children, right? But it's better. Yeah, it's better, and then they bring you grandchildren, even better. And it is really great. Um but we we all enjoy being with each other. But you're right. I I realized after Sunny goes, this this this is great. This is great. I you know, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:14

I'm I'm learning to embrace each stage of the journey and and not live in the past and and look too far back, but but just enjoy the moment and and realize that that at each stage there are different things to love about uh each stage.

SPEAKER_00 21:27

Well, it's very comforting too, because you realize for me, it's proven that every chapter gets better. It gets deeper, um, it gets more meaningful, uh, it changes somewhat, but you build on the previous chapter so that it is better.

SPEAKER_02 21:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:41

Um, and so even now I'll I'll look and go, wow, it's just gonna get it'll get better. Yeah. And I'm I'm not saying that not there are not moments of challenging moments of times that you do feel um it's not the way you want it to be.

SPEAKER_02 21:55

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 21:55

Um, but but overall it's still moving in a in a In a positive direction. I mean that you have each other to lean on in times when it's not as good. And you find that that bond is very, very critical to ensure that that strong foundation that you provide for them that they know that they they have something that they can count on. Um so I don't know, the family, the the family ties, I mean I learned that as the youngest of six. It it made me learn how to deal how to work with other people. How to work with other people of different ages, how to deal with people at different points in their life. Yeah. And I think that's the value of family, is that it teaches you to be a better person as an adult in the community because hey, you you've had siblings that that beat up on you, or you know, that that you get mad with and you learn how to deal with anger. You're they're but on the same time you have fun with them. Um so you you learn that becomes uh a real training ground for you as an adult.

SPEAKER_02 22:57

Right.

SPEAKER_00 22:57

Right. Um, and I think that's why the family is so critical for people, I think, being successful in their lives. And I yearn for others who may, and you know, different families are structured in different ways now, but there's still just that unit that is important for people to draw strength from. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:18

Last question. You alluded to this from a familial perspective, but I'd love to understand how you do this in the workplace. How how do you create that that camaraderie that you alluded to in the family?

SPEAKER_00 23:30

I think it's very important in a work face um place to create a culture where you want to balance. Um where you want people to know that work is important. At the same time, there's nothing more important than making sure that their family is taken care of. And so we have a balance where I want people, if there are moments where we have flexible times for them, if they need to be away, they need to be with their family, by all means. No questions ask if there are moments, whatever. But we allow for that flexibility. So there is that balance. So they're never feeling like, I don't want to work, or this is not good for me, it's not good for my family. It's important that there is the balance of that work and play and family. Um, and so I remember how hard it is when your children are young. I remember how painful it is. I I marvel at how people can balance all of it now. Um there was a point in my life where I actually took off to raise family. I had the benefit of doing that. Now it was a little bit leaner, and we, you know, we tightened the belt somewhat at home, but it was important. But I remember what it was like thinking, how am I going to balance all these plates? So I try to be flexible with with the people around me and making sure that that they can do the best they can and do the best they can both at work and at home. And at home.

SPEAKER_01 24:57

That's great. Well, Rebecca, thank you so much for taking time out of your schedule to to spend with us. And we're we're so grateful for your insights and uh also for your your leadership in our community. So thank you for that.

SPEAKER_02 25:10

My pleasure.

SPEAKER_01 25:10

I sincerely hope you're able to grab a few nuggets from today's conversation that you can implement in your day-to-day life. Uh please know that we are constantly looking to improve the show. So if you have any ideas or suggestions, please feel free to send those to us. Thank you for watching.