The video speaker reflects on his experience in social impact work, particularly focusing on education reform and fighting poverty. Initially feeling disillusioned and burnt out, he draws inspiration from the Washington National Cathedral, realizing the power of long-term dedication. This insight leads to a shift in perspective towards building lasting legacies rather than seeking immediate results or personal accolades.

The speaker advocates for transformative changes in how society tackles complex social issues. He emphasizes changing our mindset to see the systemic roots of problems, such as poverty and lack of access to essential services, rather than blaming the people experiencing them. The video also calls for shifting the focus of philanthropy from mere donations to impactful investments, highlighting the importance of supporting organizational infrastructure and long-term commitments.

Main takeaways from the video:

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. ethereal [ɪˈθɪəriəl] - (adjective) - Extremely delicate and light in a way that seems too perfect for this world. - Synonyms: (heavenly, celestial, otherworldly)

I remember running down this one street and turning and stopping because I saw this glowing, ethereal building.

2. providence [ˈprɒvɪdəns] - (noun) - The protective care of God or of nature as a spiritual power. - Synonyms: (fate, destiny, divine intervention)

I took this picture mid run to try and capture whatever magic and providence that I felt in that moment.

3. epiphany [ɪˈpɪfəni] - (noun) - A moment of sudden and great revelation or realization. - Synonyms: (revelation, insight, discovery)

And if you're thinking, okay, this is the epiphany right then and there, absolutely not.

4. idealism [aɪˈdiːəlɪzəm] - (noun) - The practice of forming or pursuing ideals, often unrealistically. - Synonyms: (unrealism, utopianism, romanticism)

The grand idealism that served as the bedrock of my early career seemed fleeting, almost naive.

5. cathedral building mindset [kəˈθiːdrəl ˈbɪldɪŋ ˈmaɪndˌsɛt] - (noun) - A long-term, generational approach to creating something lasting and meaningful. - Synonyms: (legacy thinking, foresight planning, generational mindset)

Can we embrace a cathedral building mindset?

6. philantropy [fɪˈlænθrəpi] - (noun) - The desire to promote the welfare of others, expressed especially by the generous donation of money to good causes. - Synonyms: (charity, benevolence, generosity)

Specifically, let's talk about philanthropy.

7. semantics [sɪˈmæntɪks] - (noun) - The branch of linguistics and logic concerned with meaning. - Synonyms: (meaning, interpretation, significance)

Now, am I standing up here saying the solution to these ridiculously complex social problems is a matter of semantics?

8. infrastructure [ˈɪnfrəˌstrʌkʧə] - (noun) - The basic physical and organizational structures and facilities needed for the operation of a society or enterprise. - Synonyms: (framework, foundation, underpinning)

Investing in impact means funding nonprofit operations because strong staff that have access to high quality infrastructure and tools can create and deliver exceptional programs and services for those who need it.

9. anecdotes [ˈænɪkdəʊts] - (noun) - Short amusing or interesting stories about real incidents or people. - Synonyms: (stories, tales, narratives)

Investing in impact means you focus on the outcomes that an organization creates, not the anecdotes they communicate.

10. vilified [ˈvɪlɪfaɪd] - (verb) - Speak or write about in an abusively disparaging manner. - Synonyms: (defamed, criticized, maligned)

I have vilified the people experiencing the problem instead of actually calling out the problem.

Let's Build Cathedrals - John Dunavant - TEDxMemphis

The world that inspires me is one that I might never see. A few years ago, I was on a run in Washington D.C., I'd spent the day working on education reform, as many previous teachers do. When you work in social impact, there are days where you make no social impact. And this was one of those days. I remember running down this one street and turning and stopping because I saw this glowing, ethereal building. It was the Washington National Cathedral and it literally stopped me in my tracks. I took this picture mid run to try and capture whatever magic and providence that I felt in that moment. And if you're thinking, okay, this is the epiphany right then and there, absolutely not. Just took the picture and kept running out of breath and kept running. Which sort of defined the next few years for me. My career progressed. My focus shifted from reforming education to fighting poverty. Because that's what I felt like. The real challenge was that's what I wanted to solve. And despite having an unwavering commitment for that work, I was frustrated, I was tired, I was burnt out. The grand idealism that served as the bedrock of my early career seemed fleeting, almost naive.

I got into social impact to reach the summits and I was just stuck in the valleys. Until one day, going through my phone, looking at old pictures and I see the cathedral. 83 years. That's how long it took to build that thing. From first stone to final stone. 83 years of painstaking dedication and trusting the process. The ambition that such a monument takes is extraordinary. So let's talk about that ambition. And not the ambition that it took to build this, but about our ambition, our collective contemporary ambition. Because here's the problem as I see it, as ambitious folks, we want to win. We want to lay the final stone. We think that we, not our predecessors, have earned that privilege. That as the selfless main characters in this story, it's only right that we get to be featured in the final scene. But what if we were more focused on building cathedrals than finishing them? And to be clear, I'm not talking about churches. I'm not even talking about religion. I'm talking about thinking in generations. I'm talking about setting someone else up to succeed. I'm talking about doing what it takes to become a great ancestor. Because here's the harsh reality. When it comes to solving our society's greatest challenges, we're not going to be there for the finish line. If there's a victory parade, we won't see it. Which begs the principal question. Can we marry these long term aspirations with These short term actions. Can we embrace a cathedral building mindset? I believe that we can. And based on the last 10 years that I've spent in social impact, here's how.

First, building cathedrals starts with your mentality. So stop thinking that people experiencing the problem are the problem. What do I mean? I mean, stop thinking about troubled youth and start thinking about kids that don't have access to safe and stable housing. Stop thinking about poor adults and start thinking about adults who suffer from unemployment because they don't have reliable transportation. Now, am I standing up here saying the solution to these ridiculously complex social problems is a matter of semantics? Of course not. What I'm telling you to do is to reframe the challenge you're trying to solve, to make sure you identify the issue and humanize it.

Second, building cathedrals cost money. Let's talk about that. Specifically, let's talk about philanthropy. And before some of you tune out, a philanthropist is somebody who gives $10, $10 million, or anywhere in between. As a nonprofit leader, I often hear some version of the phrase donate to a good cause. That phrase deeply bothers me. It deeply bothers me because we should be far more focused on measurable results than righteous intentions. That we should be much more excited about investing in impact than donating to a cause. So what does it mean to invest in impact? Investing in impact means you focus on the outcomes that an organization creates, not the anecdotes they communicate. I love a heartwarming story as much as the next person, but when you hear these success stories from organizations, consider and explore if they represent the standard or the exception. Investing in impact means funding nonprofit operations because strong staff that have access to high quality infrastructure and tools can create and deliver exceptional programs and services for those who need it. Investing in impact means multi year commitments. We're not going to fix these problems in one year. It means unrestricted grants. Trust the people doing the hard work and give them the ability to dream beyond the next payroll cycle. We're not going to donate our way to building cathedrals. We're going to have to invest in them.

But it's not just about money. Which brings me to point number three. I think you need to delete your definition of volunteering. Here's some context. My organization studies the effectiveness of nonprofits. We measure their impact and identify opportunities for them to improve. We work with organizations focused on education, housing, healthcare, workforce development, you name it. Last year alone we identified over 300 opportunities for these organizations to get better, for them, to move the needle. And so we took a step back and we asked, what's the theme within these opportunities? What skills would it take to help these organizations get a little bit better? You know what we learned? The same skills that drive profits for businesses are the same skills it's going to take to drive impact embedded in those opportunities. Data analysis, Data collection, Customer engagement, Client experience, Marketing, Sales, Project management, Change management. Sound familiar? It's what we do to make money every day. So what? Why does that matter? It matters because your company's pick up the trash day to clean the community isn't good enough. I'm glad you do it. I want you to keep doing it. And it's not good enough for folks that will volunteer at food kitchens over the holidays. Thank you. I hope you keep doing it. That's not good enough. I want you to ask yourself, are my unique skills and strengths being optimized for social impact? And if they are not, recast what it means to volunteer. Find a cathedral you're passionate about and go help build it.

Now let me step back. I have been critical so far of ambitious folks, of nonprofits, of companies, of businesses. I've been critical of folks picking up trash. So what gives me the right to have that take? It's because I'm part of the problem. I have donated with my heart instead of invested with my head. I have vilified the people experiencing the problem instead of actually calling out the problem. I haven't had the courage to volunteer my own skills and strengths. So many of us are doing good. My rallying cry is that we just get better at it.

I'll close with this. Jacob Riis was a social reformer and a photojournalist in the late 1800s, early 1900. His focus was on highlighting the abysmal living conditions of those New Yorkers who were experiencing poverty and living in certain housing projects. The following quote is attributed to Riis. When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the 101st blow, it will split in two. And I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before. Let's be stone cutters, committed to something far greater than ourselves. Let's become great ancestors to people we will never meet. The world that inspires me is one that we might never see. So let's go build cathedrals. Thank you

Social Impact, Philanthropy, Leadership, Education, Inspiration, Poverty, Tedx Talks