Support for the 419.

A WG original celebrating Northwest Ohio is provided by the University of Toledo, preparing graduates who contribute to our workforce, advancing research that addresses our region's challenges and caring for our community through the region's only academic medical center.

We are the University of Toledo.

Work spring.

Work spring helps businesses and clients with HR expertise, workforce training, employee wellness solutions, and personalized support to help make work life easier, workplaces, healthier, and themes.

Brown, rose.

Learn more at work.

Springborg.

Tata, now in its 56th year of delivering public transportation to Lucas County and Rockford through its fixed route service, Tata Move Paratransit and Tata Flex on demand.

More at Tata.

Destination Toledo.

Discover something new in the Glass City with local favorites, upcoming events, dining and things to do.

It's easy to plan your time in 419 at Visit toledo.org.

And know the 490 with Gretchen de Becker, Matt Killam, and Kevin Mullin.

Oh.

Welcome into the 419, I'm Kevin Mullin.

Gretchen Becker might kill him.

We've got a fantastic show today.

Absolutely.

Our friends from Work spring are back.

And then we're going to have some Megan Casiraghi.

Paige Johnson will be joining us talking about all the great work that they're doing.

Legends.

They are also back as a supporter, sponsor of the show.

And so we'll have some regular guests from them.

In last season, we focused on wellness, but we'll do a little bit different because quite frankly, the work they do is a lot broader than just wellness.

Also.

The stigma I think of HR is interesting to talk about, right?

People usually think of meetings with HR as particularly problematic as opposed.

To just in my experience.

As well as it should be, and a preventative or a support system, which what works.

Do you feel that way about meetings with Megan is like just mostly like painful?

Well, I know.

They're in the green room right now watching, so I can't say honestly.

Okay.

Yeah, but you're not wrong.

Kate Sommerfeld.

Yes.

The I, I think I can still say new.

New ish.

Yeah.

Although I think she's been there for well over a year now, but in case I'm with Greater Community Foundation, it's going to be joining us.

We've been trying to get her on the program.

She's got a big writer on her contract.

That's right.

Yeah.

We had to buy gummy bears and all these weird things to get her to come in.

The hardest part was adjusting the height of the all of the chairs in the green room to be the exact height that is.

Actually, I think it was a Pavarotti like writer request is that the the couches had to be this particular height.

You're kidding me.

Yeah.

Chef Pavarotti, that made the.

That's right.

Just kids pastas.

Yep.

That's exactly right.

Yeah.

The dinosaurs friend.

Well, that's.

Dino pasta.

And then we're going to be talking 20 under 40.

Yeah.

And so Karen Fraker, retired marketing executive from Fifth Third Bank in Sanford Lubin, the former owner of Toledo Business Journal, the creators of 20 under 40 will be joining us to talk about the history of this award.

I. Have you have you received the 20 to 40?

I have, I have.

I have as well.

Yeah.

Me too.

Matt, how about you?

Well, here's the thing.

I know there's a new season, and we're supposed to be positive, but this isn't a front.

Everyone in this building is one that's reward.

Except for me.

So.

But it's only because you're Agent Talent.

That's it.

You know what I mean?

I think we've long had this conversation about it, and we've talked about this before.

About about your awards that I haven't received.

They're all about the need for recognition for folks that I mean, you you did incredible things.

But most of your younger career years were outside of Toledo.

Yeah.

All kidding aside, you know, we have talked in previous episodes and seasons.

Actually, I think this was a subject matter when we were first doing this, you know, practically in a cave.

About brain drain, right.

So, and we also the premise of the show is to celebrate who we are as opposed to who you're not.

And these are young leaders that are doing a myriad of things, and they need to be celebrated.

So this is a great awards.

You were one of the first people that received this, right?

I was in the first class.

In 96.

It was 98.

Okay.

All right.

So 30 years.

So this is significant and it's exciting.

We get to celebrate it also.

And we're going to our plan throughout the season is to have the 20 honorees join us.

So we get a chance to tell some of their story, learn from them and really join in 20 under 40 in highlighting the young, up and coming leaders.

Movers and shakers in our.

Maybe I'll be able to hold your guys trophies.

It's going to be a big year for me.

So we should.

Yeah, fine.

Let's put them on.

Yeah, we'll put all three of.

Ours.

In the car, all run out and get it right.

Mine's on a gold chain, so.

Oh my goodness.

All right, let's take a break.

When we come back, we'll dive into work.

Spring with our friends Megan and Page.

So back on the 419.

Yeah.

Support for this season of the 419 comes from work spring.

Work.

Spring helps businesses and clients with HR expertise, workforce training, employee wellness solutions, and personalized support to help make work life easier, workplaces healthier, and teams.

Learn more at work.

Springborg every day.

When you.

Left with us, you learned with us.

We made sure your childhood was special.

Memories that could only be provided by PBS.

For generations, we've given you programs that made a difference.

Programs that entertain, informed and inspired.

And today is no different.

This is WTE public media in Toledo.

It's where you belong.

Welcome back into the 419.

We're joined now by our friends from work.

Spring.

Megan Paige Johnson, welcome back to the program.

Come back.

Thanks for having us.

First of all, thank thank you guys.

I mean, we've talked about this season one, we had so much fun, over 350 guests, a lot of great conversations.

You guys helped bring in a number of those.

But we really appreciate the support.

And for you guys coming back to us with season two as well.

Thank you.

Oh you're thank you.

We we're really happy about doing it.

We're especially happy for you guys.

With the expanded listenership and viewership out there.

Expanded audiences with W, GT and the partnership with WB, you moving to channel 30.1.

We're in.

High definition time.

We're kind of a big deal.

Studio.

Yeah it's really great.

Yes, yes.

Really great.

So I mean you guys are a big deal as well.

I mean, I know we talked to in season one a lot about wellness, but you guys do a lot more than that.

If people aren't familiar with work spring, maybe the right place to start is just catch us up on sometime in the next 2.5 hours.

What all does work spring to?

We're going to need every bit of that 2.5 hours.

Yeah.

So work spring is a member association.

We help companies of all sizes around the state of Ohio with their human resources, with their people.

So we do fractional human resource work.

We do employee training and workplace wellness and pages.

Our workplace wellness director does a fantastic job.

And we've got about 650 members across the state, mostly in northwest Ohio.

But that's that's what we do.

I know you've rebranded, and so I don't want to keep beating the dead horse of like, the old.

But folks are familiar with the employers association.

That's you guys, right?

It's rebranded as Work Spring.

Yes.

About two years ago, we rebranded as Work Spring.

And we we were the employers association for many, many years ahead behind.

We started in 1950 and we rebranded two years ago because there are actually quite a few.

What is the cause?

They make fun of me for.

All the time.

I see.

Yeah.

I said nothing.

You did not as much as you said everything.

Yeah.

Please continue on.

Yeah.

So, so we rebranded because we wanted our members and our companies to to know that who we are and the employers association.

There are just there are actually quite a few in Michigan with the same name.

And so we wanted to differentiate ourselves.

And is there any rivalry with the players association in Michigan and Ohio?

No, not at all.

Actually, no.

No, we have in fact, we just hosted the Employers Association of America, their national conference.

We were hosts virtually last week, and so we had employers associations from Hawaii to the East Coast.

About 160 people joined us.

It was it was great.

I want to talk about the similarities and differences originally, but I will tell you, I, I don't know if this is shared by your audience or not, but there is a stigma to some degree about HR, if you will.

You know, it is if you are a part of onboarding and you feel it mints amount of paperwork or there's a lot of red tape, or you're with HR for a punitive reason, the world has always been a challenging place.

So I don't want to suggest that this is something that was just birthed within the last 10 or 15 years, five years, 20 years.

But there does appear to be a intentional balance between making workplaces better, right?

Yeah.

Can we talk a little bit about the stigma of HR and why works?

Bing's approach is different and what what a work environment should look like.

Sure.

Thank you for that question.

It's actually it's a very important subject.

And you say actually does sort of cheapen hours of work I did to.

To prepare that question.

To ask.

That question.

Yeah.

That's why Matt's been in the HR office a number of.

That's right.

That's why my office has been involved by that.

That's right.

So, We work with our with employers, and many of them don't have human resource professionals on staff.

Some of them do, but many of them don't because they're small or midsize.

And I think part of the reason might be because of the stigma of HR.

Stigma might be a harsh term, but when you think of HR, you might think of red tape or you're in trouble or something like that.

So what we want to do is work with our employers to set up a good processes and good communication with their teams, so that it's not just getting called to the principal's office, if you will.

So when you when you start with a company, you know what's expected of you as an employee.

And the employer will set out what their expectations of you are as the employee.

And so, we work with our members to try to help alleviate some of the pressure and to help the folks who are doing the HR in the office.

It's very busy and time intensive.

It can be full of regulations and those types of things and work.

Spring will come in and help help out a company with the larger projects, like hiring or doing a handbook or setting up policies.

The things that really take a lot of time.

And honestly, if you are only trying to do the day to day, you don't have time to really think about what the future is or your people plan.

You think about strategic plans for a company.

We would like to think about people plans and what you're doing with your team's planning for their compensation and what their benefits are and what are the expectations.

So that's where we help.

Can I ask, pardon me, Kevin, a prying question that certainly appears to be a hot topic of AI sending us into the abyss, right?

But we talk about things that are the red tape oriented, are sort of process oriented, and AI is, I guess one of the things that can be said as a positive is it might eliminate some of that to provide more time, I would think not just similar to GT, as it's expanded its audience throughout.

This is a subject matter that either the people that you work with are thinking about or should be thinking about, right?

How are you tackling that on a daily basis?

Not necessarily selling its positives or negatives, but just having the discussion.

What's out in the ether quite literally about this subject matter?

Well.

I think.

It's really hard with AI because it's still so new and there's so many different nuances with it and how you're using it.

To interpret.

We've been trying to replace Gretchen with AI just.

For you can't do it.

You definitely.

Can't do it.

Yeah, you already have.

Yeah.

That's right.

Claude can't get your fast enough.

No.

Yeah.

We started calling her Claude.

Oh, yeah.

It's just an easing into it.

Yeah.

See, LAW.

D oh, that's right.

I don't want to infringe on.

Yeah, they're copyright infringement.

Yeah.

Forgive me.

The the hard thing with AI though with HR especially is it's a people first.

So that's why one of the things that we like to do is it's a great tool and you can utilize AI really well, but you also have to have different policies in place and regulations.

And that's where our team can help come in and say, hey, here are some different things that you can do and here's appropriate ways to use it as an assistance tool.

But you still need that person on the back end because as you know, we've all used chat.

And Claude, it does say like this is not factual information all the time.

So they have all those disclaimers in there that we really are the ones that can.

Fact check, and that.

Is that I think that's the balance that is to be pushed.

Right.

It's the balance of efficiency and humanity.

Right?

Those are the balance between those two things.

Makes a great workplace.

I'm curious and to put you both on the spot here, if you could pick a singular characteristic that is that is intrinsically valuable to a leader of an organization, it can only pick one.

What would it be?

I think it's I think it's communication.

It's having the conversation person to person.

Yeah.

You can't replace that.

With right with AI, even with the, you know, the personas and the fake people that you see on there.

It's just I don't know, I despite the fact that Gretchen is.

On.

Her way out.

Yes.

Yeah.

I don't think the show is going to be the same without her.

Yeah, it'll be better.

So, But, yeah, communication is my thought.

I think it's also understanding.

So making sure that you can see other people's points of view, the communications a big point, but also being able to put yourself in other people's shoes and be able to talk through some of the things together, but also trying to see another person's for you, which can be hard.

So I think that's a really important piece.

And one of.

You guys have got a big event coming up, mid November.

We do focused on executive executive leadership.

Yes.

So Doctor Michael Brown is going to be with us for two sessions.

The first one is on November 18th.

He's going to be talking about leadership and it's hosting at The Pinnacle.

But it's an opportunity for leaders of companies to get together to talk with other leaders in a room where, you know, because you can't necessarily share everything with your team, and you might want to just have conversations with folks in similar positions.

So Michael Brown's going to guide this conversation.

He was just our guest speaker at our annual meeting.

Which was wonderful.

Thank you.

Thank you for including us.

Thank you.

Absolutely.

It was Michael Brown is very inspirational.

And we have this partnership with him and his team that is very beneficial for our members.

It's just it's very refreshing.

And it's it's not ordinary stuff.

Right.

You know, it's well said.

Yeah.

I'm curious.

You just mentioned having a virtual, sort of Tom Hall of you will from people all across the country in noncontiguous country.

But thematically, do things come in waves?

In terms of things that are being seen in the workplace?

You know, I talk with our, our partners here at the W GT who are now involved a large portion of the state and what people might be interested in one place might not be in the other, of course, but I was wondering if there are some similarities that are truly nationwide that you're seeing.

Well, one of the biggest.

Things that we were just talking about at our EAA is really just the communication of problems is one of the things that we really talked about.

And problems in this instance would be.

Like, what.

Just in an organization or things where you're trying to like AI, you're trying to problem solve on how to handle that, or you have some different HR issues, or how do you really address just the different things that are going on in the world and even acknowledging the cost of gas or acknowledging just inflation and all these different things.

So we talked a lot about that on how you approach it.

And DMV actually did a session at our full conference as well.

On just making sure.

That the.

Matthews Band.

No, that would be that would happen.

It would be cool.

Yeah, sure.

Where we really just talk through some different things of addressing some of the issues that are happening and being really direct with those.

And he gives a lot of good leadership tips on how you can handle some different sticky situations that come your way.

And then when you get put in some of these hard conversations, you're able to handle those a little bit better and see a vision on how you can grow your organization in really uncertain times.

There's so.

You mentioned, you know, gas prices and the cost of groceries.

There's all these outsized outside forces that are always on employees, which necessarily would trigger, I mean, trickle over to a concern for employers.

But I would.

I would argue that's.

Particularly for working women.

Who.

We know still, you know, carry the bulk in many situations of that at home stuff.

Right.

And so you are both women and you're both leaders in your organization.

What are you hearing from women who work employers that want to try to develop this work life balance for their women in leadership?

Yeah.

Good question.

We and page and I are both moms.

We have a number of moms and dads on our on our team, pet parents as well.

Oh, my God.

It's true, it's true.

We we're we're dog friendly at work.

Springs.

Sure.

But it is important.

And I think from our perspective at at work spring, as a company, we really try to have an environment that is flexible to the greatest extent possible.

We try to be understanding because life does happen.

And I like to my, my theory here is that it does not have workplace doesn't have to be the way it used to be.

And it's a choice.

Not not every workplace is the same and can make the same choices.

So I want to acknowledge that.

But at work spring we've got 24 people on our staff.

Half of us are remote, half of us are in the office.

We do.

We still have kind of a hybrid schedule, but if you know someone has to bring in, a child because maybe school was delayed or closed, that's okay.

If you have to take your mother in law to a doctor's appointment in the afternoon.

That's all right.

There's an understanding that you're going to get your work done, and we want to be supportive, because what I don't want to do as as an employer, is to have an environment where my team is stressed out about these things, and then the not focused on our members because they've got other stuff.

So if we can be supportive in that way, they don't have to have that extra pressure.

That's very important to me.

We we really do try to set that up.

We are a small employer.

We try to give the best benefits possible.

What our financial, situation is.

And the fact that we have, we are dues paying membership association.

But I think flexibility is.

And understanding is very important.

It's at the top of top of the interview.

You know, that you guys do a lot more than wellness.

Season one.

We focused on wellness.

Every Wednesday we had wellness topics.

This season we're going to be expanding that to more workplace, conversations and issues and challenges.

What are some of the types of things that are viewers and listeners can expect to hear from us on Wednesdays throughout season two?

One of the we are really.

Excited because we have a vast amount of members that really make an impact in this community, so we want to make sure we're bringing people that have a lot of value, but can also talk to things that are going on in the community and things that really tie back to all of the work that we do together.

So one of the great things, just like Megan was saying, with the flexible work policies and those types of things, we write a lot of those.

We do a lot of fractional HR work for a lot of companies as well.

And with that work, we've been having really good relationships with members in the community that are able to bring some of the cool things that they do to talk about.

Should be great.

Kevin, we're wrapping up quickly here, but it's Halloween time.

Favorite scary movie of all time.

The Shining.

I don't like scary movies.

Hocus Pocus okay, we'll take it.

It's pretty scary.

Scary to my five year old.

Thanks for being here.

Thanks for having us.

Thank you for the support.

We appreciate we look forward to every Wednesday having another workplace topic conversation.

Certainly thanks to our friends at work spring.

Thank you guys.

We take a break.

When we come back, we'll be joined by Kate Sommerfeld with Toledo Community Foundation.

We'll be right back on the 419.

Support for this season of the 419 comes from work spring.

Work spring helps businesses and clients with HR expertise, workforce training, employee wellness solutions, and personalized support to help make work life easier, workplaces healthier, and teams from.

Learn More at work.

Springborg families explore Lucas County from A to Z. Apples to zebras w gt e is creating short videos for every letter of the alphabet, each one featuring an iconic Lucas County landmark.

Learn the ABCs and explore the places that make our region special.

Visit.

Zebras to see the latest videos in the series or check them out on the GT app.

Watch for Apple events for families and teachers.

Made possible by the Board of Lucas County Commissioners.

Welcome back into the 419.

Despite all of her best efforts to avoid coming on the program.

We finally worn her down, and she's here.

Welcome to the program, Kate Sommerfeld Total Community Foundation.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So good.

To be here.

Finally, finally.

It's about time.

350 guests.

Leader I referred to in the intro.

I said that, you know, you're still sort of new to Community Foundation.

I feel like at some point in time that that new title wears off.

No, you got to keep rocking that for as.

Long as.

You can.

Right?

Then people's expectations increase.

That's right, that's right.

How long have you been at it?

Yeah, just over two years.

Okay.

Oh my gosh.

That's new.

Yeah.

That's new.

That's right.

Well, I do think it's interesting.

And this is a good tip probably for those who don't know the history of it.

Comparatively that is new right.

Yeah.

So can you walk us through the origin not just of our community foundation, but conceptually, what does a foundation of this caliber?

What does it mean to do?

Yeah.

So we are a place.

Based foundation.

There are about 1000 community.

Foundations around the country.

It's really interesting.

The origin.

So in the early 1900s, philanthropy was always done at the individual level.

And so we think about the greats Carnegie and Rockefeller, these individuals, that and families that really founded a lot of America and institutions.

And it was in 1914 that Rockefeller was getting ready to leave Cleveland.

He had been incredibly generous to the Cleveland community.

He was getting ready to move his business from Cleveland to New York.

And there was a gentleman that was working with him that really understood and was uniquely positioned to understand the impact that Rockefeller leaving Cleveland negatively would do to the Cleveland market.

So all of a sudden he said, hey, wait a second.

Why does philanthropy or giving or love of humanity, why does that have to be individually?

Could we collectively do that?

And so that's the origin of the community foundation, this idea that folks of all walks of life, socioeconomic status is gender, class, that we could come together and create a community endowment and give collectively.

It's also a very interesting opportunity to for some, for people with smaller amounts of money or smaller people of all levels to to afford to give.

Right, because the community foundation does all of the setup.

You manage the money, you do the investments, you do all the paperwork.

You give the gifts out that they want.

Can you talk a little bit about that process and how people can give money to the foundation, set up, set up a fund to that can then be given to the community?

Yeah.

Well, we talk a lot about time, talent and treasure.

So certainly money is important and helpful, but it's also people's ability to serve on boards and to roll up and do volunteer projects.

So that's what makes Northwest Ohio great.

But we work with donors of all kinds.

So individuals, family foundations, corporations, and we help them understand and really explore what they care about.

It could be environmental issues.

It could be housing or education.

And so we have a thousand different fund holders.

And each of those funds started with a different passion or cause.

And then we work to connect those individuals, companies, businesses, other foundations.

We help facilitate a lot of different types of philanthropy with nonprofits and causes they care about.

I think I mean, a lot of the what you talked about, Gretchen, are services that, you know, there's other organizations that offer those same services, right?

I mean, there's banks that that you can create funds with and spin off endowments and do all of this.

I think what's unique about, at least for me, being in this fundraising space in northwest Ohio, when I look at Community Foundation, is you've also got, you know, tentacles into this community really, you know, paying attention to and watching what's happening, but also like providing support to these organizations and moving donors together to say, here's an opportunity for us to make a difference in the region if we come together around this.

Right.

I think about education, environment, housing, housing, the arts.

I mean, there's all of these things you guys have been involved in.

I mean, GT is a good example, right?

Is an organization that has went through, certainly some some federal funding challenges.

And to have the stability of an organization like Community Foundation behind local public media, that makes a difference.

If I could pin a question on onto that great leadership, and there's no reason to pretend that we're not friends and I'm a big fan of yours.

Don't tell anybody.

And I pronouncing that right is pronounced Kate.

I've been called worse.

You know, you have to vacillate between the macro and micro and any form of leadership, but I'm curious.

And I hope this doesn't put you on the spot.

But when you look at the the macro.

Right.

Look at.

Well, I'm not necessarily the city that we are currently or, but that we want to be.

Where do you do your benchmarking or where do you where do you go to tell people say, we're doing this, but we might want to look into this space for the greater.

Can you talk a little bit about sort of national benchmarking or leadership in that way?

Yeah.

So collectively a lot of the organizations in Toledo, we've been marked against about nine different cities, and these are cities that are our size and or of a region, but a little bit aspirational.

So you look at folks, places like Buffalo as an example, Grand Rapids, their population is a little bit larger.

And so how do we get aligned vision around that work.

But being able to to look at other cities.

And the beautiful thing is we don't have to recreate the wheel.

That's right.

A lot of communities have done that and we are excelling on a lot of fronts.

I think also it's about telling our story right, and that you guys do a great job at that here.

How do we tell our story?

And obviously we've got more to do.

But there's incredible work happening here and our job really, Kevin, to your point is how do we help people love where they live and give us where they live?

And that's one of the focuses of your support of our show.

And we work with a great member of your team, Sarah, who helps us, helps us get guests to start telling the stories of some of the great organizations and institutions that you guys support.

I wonder in your work how you know, I have like a plan when I win the lottery, I know exactly what I'm going to do, how it's all going to work out, but that's probably never going to happen.

How do you not, get overwhelmed by just the need, the need in the community, the need of organizations, the need of people, and knowing that that pot of money is probably never going to be enough.

How how do you how do you keep going every day in this work that's so important?

Knowing that there's always going to be there's always more need.

Yeah.

One of the things that we've done, and really we see our job as helping to celebrate philanthropy at large.

So we sit as a community foundation, the more complex gifts.

So as an example, if a donor wants to donate a piece of real estate, maybe they have a favorite local small food pantry, but that food pantry can't take on a real estate gift.

We help facilitate that transaction.

So part of what we're doing in kind of macro sense is looking at our collective generosity.

And one of the things that we're really talking a lot about is the amount of strength that we have in this community.

So we look at the total giving across the region.

This is not just the community foundation or Metroparks.

The art museum, collectively, and for almost $464 million was given collectively.

So I think for us as a community, it's moving from.

Sometimes we feel like we don't have enough money, and yet there's incredible wealth.

And so how do we tell that story as partners?

How do we get alignment on our vision and then articulate it and every time our community rises to that occasion?

So how do we do that.

More of that in partnership.

What's your message to someone that has never been a donor?

Yeah.

What what what what what should they do?

Yeah.

They want to start thinking about that.

It's so interesting.

I think it's generational too.

We're seeing certainly shifts in generations and how they give.

Find out something that you care about.

A lot of our folks and we facilitate a lot of conversations with multi-generational families.

So it might be grandparents, parents, kids, you know, what was the origin of of their upbringing?

Sometimes that's education, that there was a teacher that gave someone, you know, that opportunity to think about what their future can look like.

I've long heard this man.

I don't know if it's accurate or not, and I almost don't really care.

But I've heard ten dentists.

That's right.

But but I've heard people say that we have more nonprofits per capita in Toledo than Chicago.

I don't know why that would even matter.

I don't know if it's even accurate, but I've long I've often heard that as an indictment on the number of nonprofits we have.

I like to think it's it's more of a testament to the heart of our community that we've got the generosity to support all of that.

You talked about all the dollars that are raised.

Where is that trending?

Right?

I mean, is that is that up from years before?

Is that down?

Is it flat?

How how are we doing to meet to Gretchen's point, the the rising needs.

So we are seeing increases in giving.

And over the next 10 to 15 years, there's this transfer of wealth that a lot of folks talk about.

So baby boomers are going to sell their companies.

A lot of them are going to be able to transition that to the next generation.

So we are in this moment in time, the next 10 to 15 years, where we have an opportunity as a community to talk about what is the vision, get folks inspired about what that looks like.

And Kevin, I think to your point, you know, we do have a lot of nonprofits, but that's a strength, right?

And so we're going to use our pulpit to talk about the great work that's happening.

Certainly there's more collaboration I have never seen in my 15 years of being in this community, more collaboration.

Right.

It seems like there's just a synergy and a desire.

To center.

I'm sorry, Gretchen, I'll ask other questions.

Is the center for Nonprofit.

Leadership still housed at the Community Foundation?

Yeah.

So we we we imagine that.

So we're launching actually next week.

So it's the center for Nonprofit Excellence.

Okay.

And the fabulous ally Sterling.

Yes, is joining the Community Foundation team and is leading.

That's a good segue into my question.

I know a little bit about the great works of the prior years to your your leadership.

And I know that you talked about your team and standing on, pardon me, on the shoulders of of that legacy, but new leadership, you know, it's a new time.

As you talk about generational changes, you have to constantly evolve.

Talk to me a little bit about the new plans that have been put in place and sort of the strategy that you and your team are adopting.

And this is a good kickoff.

I think I know a little bit about this, which luckily, because I think it's such a brilliant move, but talk to me about the hierarchy of the strategic change that you've made strategically.

Yeah, that's a word.

Okay.

Strategically this early in the morning.

Anything.

So we're So yeah, I mean, first and foremost is how do we inspire more generosity.

And so that's supporting nonprofits and being able to have really strong fundraising plans and to be able to capture legacy gifts.

We're often the backbone and behind a lot of things, and we do that very quietly.

So how do we help folks, both donors and nonprofits, be able to capture and overall generosity and philanthropy and do that?

Well?

How how did you find your way into this work?

You guys are rapid fire, all the things.

So my my parents were foster parents and I was adopted.

And so my whole life really was given opportunities that a lot of certainly my siblings, but other folks and kids don't have.

And so for me, it's a very passionate and personal to be able to connect to this work.

There is a lot of need and there always will be, right?

And that is a positive or negative statement.

But I do think and excuse this, analogy, but when I think there's borrowed from Army snipers, right.

If you am small you miss small.

If you aim large, you miss large.

So, No pressure.

Right?

That's the focus, I think, here.

And it's not excluding a wealth of work.

We just talked a quite a bit about all the things that are happening.

But I do think it is important in an area of the country that is not on necessarily the uptick in terms of gaining more wealth.

Right.

But there's a focused energy here.

And again, this isn't a detriment to the prior thinking, which was immensely successful.

But I do believe that there's a little bit more focus, with the current leadership.

Do you mind talking a little bit about the focus and sort of the why of that?

Yeah.

So, so greater generosity.

How do we inspire more?

How do we create a vision that's collective across the community and whether that's in the environment or housing, really get alignment with partners and be able to articulate that and then track those.

Where are we making progress?

Where do we need more focus?

And then finally, for the entire nonprofit sector, how do we make sure that the infrastructure is strong, that they have what they need as funders?

Often there's a power dynamic.

And so we're really trying to become more proximate to community, to ask nonprofits what they need and be able to support that in a way that's.

Well said, Kate.

What's a real, real dumb thing you do when you're not working?

That's like a guilty pleasure type thing.

So I'm a sports mom and I've got a ten and 11 year old, and so it's a chaos.

It's volleyball innings, it's baseball innings.

There is a beautiful chaos and frenetic energy that you're just trying to to manage schedules and and keep it going.

Yep.

All right.

Buckle up.

We gave, you know, heads up.

This is coming.

But we're going to do it anyway.

It's now time for Gretchen.

Gretchen's wacky quiz.

I'm asking you for rapid fire questions.

Do the best you can.

If you had the chance to be in the Olympics.

Which sport would you compete in?

Bobsled.

Love it.

Really cool runnings.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

All right.

If you could be any sea animal, what would you be?

An otter?

Yeah.

Is that a C?

I don't know.

That's okay.

Sorry, sorry.

Yeah.

You're on.

You're on the right show for us to not be sure.

Yeah.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Oh, Mayor cash, right?

Yeah.

That's a good guess.

It's a good answer.

That's a good guess.

Sure.

And then what do you say when you answer the phone?

How do you answer the phone?

Can I guess.

Yeah, I guess yellow.

So this I we have a grew in my family where we say yeah well yeah.

Yeah.

All right, I'm close.

It is the season.

So I'm going to ask you a question to take on this.

What's your favorite scary movie?

Oh, I agree, I don't like scary movies.

But we've been doing a lot of Addams Family.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Between.

Before you go, we do require that you bring us a gift.

So what do we have here?

Well, what?

Can we guess what this is?

We've already.

It looks like a a a a weapon.

It's like a plunger for very small toilets.

That is the best answer.

I've heard.

It's a it's.

A bidet plunger.

Oh.

That's good.

So we do a lot of golf outings.

You know, our non-profits love a good golf outing.

So as you're reaching out your balls on the the, course, and you're instead of falling out, you can actually just pick it up.

That didn't work.

Yeah.

And there.

You go.

That is genius.

Yes.

And it's magnetic.

So.

And it's I love it.

Thank you so much.

All right.

Thank you.

That's our first golf ball picker upper.

Thank you.

You know what you call the best person in business for nothing, folks.

You're so good.

They're just giving those 2040 away.

Thank you so much for coming on the program.

Thank you for everything that the Community Foundation absolutely does in this community.

Certainly everything you guys do for GTA and for this program, we believe, like you do, that local matters and that public voices matter and public media matters.

And so this doesn't happen without you guys.

So thank you very much.

And we'll see you weekly.

At 645.

Yeah.

We'll just come to your home.

Let's make it happen.

All right.

We take great.

When we come back, we're talking 20 under 40 with the creators of this incredible program.

Sanford Lubin and Karen Fraker will join us.

I'm going to the side of the break.

We'll be right back on the 419.

GTA Public Media's Educational Services Department provides outstanding programs, services, and resources to enhance learning outcomes for students, educators, and learners of all ages.

We GT Educational Services Department teaches parents, caregivers, and educators how to utilize educational media, children's literature, and engaging activities to help prepare young children for a happy, healthy, and bright future.

From PBS kids programing specifically designed to support the development and creativity of young children.

To individualize lesson plans, standards aligned curriculum, professional development classes, community events, and family fun movie nights right here at.

Our Educational Services Department shares the tools you need for you and your little ones to feel like you belong.

W GT public media where you belong.

Welcome back into the 419.

One of the premier events in Northwest Ohio highlighting young leaders.

Maybe the premier event is 20 under 40.

It's been around for 30 plus years.

We're joined now by the originators of the 20 under 40 program, Sanford Lubin Karen Fraker.

Welcome to the 419.

Thank you.

Good to be here.

Let's go back to the early days.

When did the conversation first start?

I know, you know, 1996 I think was the first year of the award.

But when did the conversation really start about creating 20 under 40?

Very early in 1994.

So it took us two years to get to launch.

But, the effort was worth it.

It was not an easy effort to get started, but very much worth it.

Why did you want to do it?

My best explanation is that I didn't grow up in Toledo.

I'm a transplant.

I finished graduate school, got hired with a big corporation here, and didn't know one person when I moved here.

But I was so amazed at the set of assets that this area had, and I didn't.

I didn't move here knowing that, but periodically, somebody would be in a conversation and I'd hear negative things about Toledo and, it surprised me, and I didn't really I didn't know how to deal with it, but, that was that ended up being part of the motivation for getting this started.

Back at that period in the 90s, there was an issue that was really prominent called Brain Drain, and it was all over the media.

It just was regularly a point of conversation and also was, in my book, a negative conversation.

Sure.

So I had the good fortune of having a career with a large corporation.

I made a decision to change it to an entrepreneurial move, and ended up having my own business.

And and the business lent itself, toward doing a number of things that I wanted to do.

And one was to be able to, I'll just simply say highlight and spread the word about the set of assets that were in this area, so that those were big motivations for what was behind getting this started.

So where did you move from?

Moved here from Charlottesville, Virginia.

Okay.

Grew up down in Tennessee and Arkansas.

So down south and very much had a different accents than I have today.

Sure.

I don't I don't want it to be glossed over.

Your entrepreneurial journey was leading to Little Business Journal, which was an incredible publication.

And we, you know, certainly we share the passion for telling local stories of of incredible individuals leading in industry and community.

Certainly, I miss that.

I miss that publication.

Are there any newspapers in Arkansas ever?

I'm just kidding.

Yeah.

But I had to think.

I'm not sure.

You know, when when we started this program.

Karen, you know, in season one, we had over 350 guests on the program.

The naysayers, when we started and said, we're going to do this every day, said, you're going to run out of guests.

You're gonna run out of interesting people to talk to in the community.

I imagine there were naysayers in the very early days of 20 under 40 probably saying something similar.

It could be, but we have many nominations every single year.

Yes, ma'am.

We had about 302 applications, which means there were more nominations that.

But these are the people who decided they really wanted to move forward and fill out an application.

That's a lot.

It is a lot.

Maybe it's let's talk a little bit about the process, right.

So, you know, as we look at the award program today, if I recognize an individual under the age of 40 that I think is doing incredible things.

What what do I do?

What's that process from?

From start to finish.

We make it very simple.

You go to our website 20 under 40 toledo.com.

And it's the numbers 20 and 40.

And you simply put your name and your contact information, and you put in the name of the person you want to nominate and a phone number, a business.

And that's it.

And then we contact those individuals and they're given the opportunity to become a candidate by filling out an application.

So it's very easy.

I do like this process.

I know I've had, you know, for different athletic Hall of Fame and things where I'm asked to nominate somebody and then I've got to try and regurgitate their entire, you know, resume and accomplishments.

And the reality is we want to make this a celebration of the individuals.

And so why not let the individuals tell us what they've done right and, and give them a reason to, to brag about it.

I've had the privilege of being nominated and selected just to continue to cope with that.

It's it's awarded.

But it is, you know, every every year.

It was an opportunity for me to reflect on what I've done and the service that I've provided to the community and chance for me to be proud of it.

I had the privilege of being nominated a lot of times, and I remember and I certainly appreciate Karen.

My very first nomination came from you, and I and I appreciate that.

That was a moment for me to go, oh, wait a second.

Maybe, maybe what I'm doing matters, right?

And it was a motivation for me to keep doing it.

But I loved going to the event every year.

I would bring my now wife, my parents would come, and it wasn't about them being there to watch me win the award.

It was to watch me in a room.

Thankfully.

That's right.

But it was to be in a room with incredible leaders in our community and I. It is my favorite event of the year because I leave whether I was a awardee or not.

I left feeling better about the region.

I have a question to both of you.

It's not profession based.

Certainly.

Right.

It's not medium based necessarily, but if you were to define what you think leadership looks like, how would you define it?

What does that what characteristics does that individual have?

Well, one of the things I really like about the program is that you don't have to be the CEO of a company.

Yes.

Ma'am, to be awarded.

That's right.

And so it's anyone who excels in whatever they do, whether you're a volunteer, whether you're a teacher, you know, whether you work in the public sector or the business sector, it doesn't matter.

You know, if you've excelled and you're doing good things, that's what counts.

So how about you?

Yeah.

Also, I'll just use in terms of the judging session.

There is an, a focus on impact to.

So it's with and Karen mentioned 300 plus applications.

The actual nominations many times are over 500.

Just think about that.

And so coming to a decision on 20.

So sometimes, the importance of impact is, is critical.

Sure.

Yeah.

Share some stories.

Of all the years.

Have you guys been involved in this?

You know.

Is there a is there a moment that you realize that, like, you know, the work you've put into this has been worth it or that, like, this is what the region needed?

I think every year at the end of that program, that's how you feel.

Yeah.

It's just rewarding to know that there are that many people out there doing so many things.

And we can only award to the 20.

Right.

And there are so many other people that are certainly qualified for that award, but you can't war them all.

Yes, ma'am.

You have a similar comment.

It's my favorite day of the year.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Just imagine yourself in a large auditorium at the Valentine Theater.

The lights go dim.

An MC comes up, Chris Petersen, who's incredible, and you get to hear 20 stories of individuals who've made the decision to instead of leaving our region.

They made the decision in the commitment to stay, stay and develop their careers.

Stay and develop their their communities and to sit there and listen to that, as you said it is, I walk away.

It is inspiring.

It is inspiring because you're, you know, when the resume and Chris Petersen does such a good job reading the you know, it's sort of a obviously it's a surprise announcement, but they start reading the accolades from the person and you're like, good Lord, what have I been doing?

You know.

You know, this person is doing all of this stuff.

I got to go.

I got to go and get involved or more out there.

Yeah.

And so that's that's the real inspiring part.

In addition to, as I've gotten older, seeing all the young faces and and that it's continuing, you know, that that so many people continue to contribute.

It is it is really an inspirational day.

What's the future look like for the organization moving forward?

You see this event going into perpetuity.

You're still getting good nominations in.

We certainly hope so.

Yeah.

As long as we get the nominations, because that is key to this whole program.

If no one nominates, we don't have a program, right.

So we have to keep that going.

And I think a program like yours, you know, talking about this and hoping getting more people interested in that, don't know about it will help us.

What's the footprint for?

You know, if I'm, you know, again, I'm, I'm watching this program from Bowling Green, from Lima, from Ann Arbor.

What's the footprint for being considered to be a nominee?

We say northwestern Ohio and southeastern Michigan probably don't go as far as Lima quite as far as an arbor.

But, we want to recognize those people in those smaller communities outside of Toledo.

It's not just a Toledo program.

Which city has the worst candidates?

We didn't have any bad.

Didn't have any bad ones.

What's your good lady?

What's the date of the event this year and where?

How can people find more information about how to get tickets and things?

It's November 9th.

It's a Monday.

You can go on the website again.

20 under 40 to leader.com.

And there's information.

And so we hope people will do that and come and join us and see what this is all about.

Let's take the people out of it just for a second, which is not my nature of the nature of the show.

Mr.

Lubin, you mentioned the many great things about our region.

At the risk of teeny both up to talk about, I. Karen, you and I have known each other for longer than you would have wished.

But are there agencies, cultural institutions that, if asked to pick 1 or 2 in Toledo, that you think make us truly world class or unique?

First, I could talk for quite a while.

There's just incredible.

So, We have a. Not too long ago, I got into sailing.

Okay.

Only because we're sitting here on one of the greatest, the Great Lakes.

That's right.

And let me just tell you, the number of people that I take up to the dock that are just amazed going.

I had no idea that this.

It looks like you're down in the Caribbean.

And that's just a few miles.

And I could keep going on and on this stuff.

I keep finding things, but I could list lots of incredible stuff.

That's that's a great example.

You know, I grew up here, and it wasn't until moving back that I discovered that we were a river town, and then the lake from downtown Toledo was only, you know, as a crow flies a mile away.

Right.

We we could be both of these things.

That's a great example, Ken.

Well, and we're making the waterways much more prevalent.

I moved to Toledo in 1962.

I knew Toledo was on the river, but I never could see it, and I never could see Lake Erie.

And so now, especially with the Metroparks, we're able to do that.

Everybody's able to do that.

Karen, where did you move from?

Wasn't Ohio okay?

Absolutely.

I know both you and Sanford have poured an incredible amount of of time and talent and treasure and passion into this, but I also know that you guys don't do it alone.

So before we wrap up, I do want to give you an opportunity to talk about some of the other folks that have helped make this happen.

The the companies and the partners, both in the nonprofit, for profit sector that have that have helped bring this event to where it is today.

I want to do that.

We have wonderful sponsors.

Eastman Smith is probably our longest running sponsor.

It is Plant Moran, Fifth Third Bank, the Andersons, University of Toledo.

We added two new ones this year.

We have Moser Construction and we have Zoe.

And I hope I didn't forget someone.

So each of those sponsors contributes in some way to the program, and we have to give Julie payoff from the Andersons as much credit as anyone, because she's a behind the scenes person that works really, really hard.

Talking about Italy, Jim.

But Eastman and Smith probably does more for us.

In their own they do the name tags.

I mean, they do they order the plaques.

They are very committed.

That's real.

But yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Other people, other sponsors do what they can do.

Also plant Moran, for instance.

And now we have the Toledo Community Foundation behind us as our 501 three, which has been an awesome partnership.

Incredible.

What what do you hope people leave this year's event thinking or feeling?

I can't skip your last question.

Yeah.

In the first year we a decision was made as impacted this whole 31 years.

And that was the selection of an emcee.

And I can't give enough credit to Chris Peterson.

Yeah.

She's.

She's she's fine.

She is.

She's been a huge, huge.

I just had to make certain.

She makes the event amazing.

Everything.

She lives and breathes this event.

She loves it.

And it shows when she's on.

On stage.

Yeah, yeah.

November 9th.

Yes.

20 under 40.

We will have, the 20 honorees are going to join us throughout this season.

Wow.

On the program to highlight the incredible work that they're doing.

We couldn't be more excited to be a part of this.

Karen and Sanford, thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay.

Find more information about 20 under 4020 under 40 toledo.com.

Head on out to the Valentine Theater on Monday, November 9th.

It's an incredible evening.

You're going to feel better about our region.

We'll take a break.

When we come back, we'll wrap up this edition of the 419.

I'm putting.

It in my.

It's time for season two of The Local Thread, a community series uniting voices and storytellers from across the region in partnership with Toledo, Lucas County Public Library, Toledo History Museum and powered AI, Toledo Free Press and La Prensa.

The local thread brings you stories and conversations that connect our community.

Listen to it weeknights at 7 p.m.

on FM 91, with early access on podcast platforms every morning.

It's season two of the Local thread only on GTA.

To me, community means connecting to others.

I'm Donnie Miller and welcome to the point.

I love it.

We're community.

Committed to education, discover new ideas, dive into exciting subject, and engage with the world around you.

I would send them personally a t shirt.

Crime doesn't pay in the old West End.

Pass it on.

That's how we cleaned up the neighborhood.

Vision loss for people is not.

The end.

It's the story.

It's the next chapter.

WD Public Media invites you to get out and.

Play day.

The 419 7 a.m.

on YouTube.

3 p.m.

on FM 91 and 6 p.m.

on GT connect.

It's the 419 powered by W GT.

WD.

Where you come to watch, listen and learn.

Welcome back into the 419.

As we wrap up this Wednesday edition.

Another jam packed show.

Incredible people doing great things.

Always good to have Megan and Paige back on the program.

I'm excited for the partnership with work, spring and everything that they're going to bring to this program in season two.

Certainly what Kate is doing at Community Foundation, is is unbelievable.

And so that organization, the impact they're having in the community, again, is a great organization.

Before Kate got there, and I think and I really feel like she's taking it to another one.

Totally agree.

Kate's very humble.

It's one of the reasons I was difficult to get her on the show.

And she would, I think, wanted it to be said, just as you've articulated that obviously a tremendous legacy that she has to pick up.

What?

That's an additive amount of pressure.

Right?

It is.

How do you improve on a good thing to great thing.

And they are making it great.

And I was pleased to hear her talk about it so candidly.

Certainly a lot of things on the horizon and a good segue into 20 under 40, right?

It's sort of certainly making our region better or different, but it's made so by a collective as opposed to individuals.

I've long said that a great team is not measured by who's on the field, but who's on the bench.

Right.

Is that the best teams have the best people on the bench?

I feel that way about 20 to 40.

Man, if we live in a community where you're not a 20 under 40 winner with everything that you've done.

Wow.

Yeah, sure.

You know, and so I think, you know, certainly you've you've earned that those accolades and done some incredible work.

But this is a great a great organization and a great day.

And we're excited to be a part of it.

If you missed any part of today's program, you can catch it weekdays, 5 p.m.

on GT e HD channel 30.1 or 6 p.m.

on W GT connects channel 30.4 3 p.m.

on FM 91.

Of course, it's 24 over 7365 online at w gt.org.

Thank you so much to all of our guests, and thank you for being a part of the 419 support for the.

419 a WTE original celebrating Northwest Ohio is provided by the University of Toledo, preparing graduates who contribute to our workforce, advancing research that addresses our region's challenges and caring for our community through the region's only academic medical center.

We are the University of Toledo.

Work.

Screen work spring helps businesses and clients with HR expertise, workforce training, employee wellness solutions, and personalized support to help make work life easier, workplaces healthier, and teams stronger.

Learn more at work.

Springborg.