The Doing Good Podcast

Common Sense & Collaboration

• Kainos Caribbean • Season 1 • Episode 5

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 49:26

"Doing good" is a two-way street, but how do we ensure the traffic flows effectively? In this practical and eye-opening episode, Karen Philip welcomes Deidre Osei, Founder of Talawah Impact, to discuss the art and science of Common Sense Collaboration. We’re peeling back the layers on how nonprofits and businesses can build partnerships that actually work for everyone involved.

We’re moving beyond the "preaching" about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to look at the tangible mechanics of collaboration. Deidre introduces the "asset inventory"—a game-changing tool that helps nonprofits recognize their true value beyond just asking for a check. This episode is a roadmap for any organization looking to move from transactional handouts to transformational partnerships.

In this episode, we discuss:

  • The Asset Inventory: How to identify your organization's unique value and use it to negotiate stronger, more equitable partnerships.
  • Demystifying CSR: Understanding corporate budget cycles and why "no budget" doesn't have to mean "no support."
  • Creative Capital: Exploring the power of in-kind support, employee volunteering, and shared platforms as high-impact alternatives to cash donations.
  • Sustainable Synergy: Building long-term relationships between the private sector and social development organizations that drive community-wide change.

Whether you are a nonprofit leader seeking new resources or a corporate professional looking to deepen your social impact, Deidre’s expertise provides a common-sense guide to working better, together.

About Our Guest: Deidre Osei is the Founder of Talawah Impact and a specialist in corporate-nonprofit partnerships. She is dedicated to helping organizations in the Caribbean and beyond maximize their impact through strategic, mutually beneficial collaboration.

Connect with Deidre:

Connect with The Doing Good Podcast:

Subscribe & Review: If this episode resonated with you, please subscribe and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your feedback helps us reach more do-gooders across the globe!

SPEAKER_01

I'm Karen Phillip, a passionate advocate for doing good. I always knew I was gonna have a career helping people, but I wasn't sure how. I've met some amazing people who seem to understand the what and the how of doing good. We often hear about their work, but who are they? I decided to have a space where they could share about their work and common sense steps to doing good back. So today you're tuned in to Common Sense Steps to Doing Good. I'm with my guest DeJre Ose, who is a Jamaican who lives in America. Deidre, feel free to introduce yourself to everyone.

SPEAKER_00

Most certainly, and thank you for having me as part of this podcast. Um, as Karen mentioned, I am Deidre Ose. I am the I would say formal term founder, CEO of Talawa Impact Consulting, but as I call myself an impact alchemist. Um and what that means to me is that I look I work with businesses, nonprofits, government entities, and what are the different ways that they can work together to, I would say, for lack of better terms, the greater good. Because if we don't work together as individuals, businesses, nonprofits, then we can't be able to move forward. It's not going to take one person or one entity to be able to do it. And sometimes it's just seeing the strategy and the big big picture moving forward, and that's where I hope to be able to help. So that's what I do through my company, through education, consulting, and any resources that I can share.

SPEAKER_01

And for those who don't know what talawa means, could you just could you explain it? Explain the name.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, talawa is a Jamaican term. Um that I'm not sure if you've ever heard the phrase um um miliko but metalawa, which means I may be small, but I can do great things. And it really shows the impact that you as an individual can contribute to bigger things, and it's also what I believe in that with my company, I'm not going to grow it into this big conglomerate. That's not my vision for it. But I believe the small things that we can do can contribute to bigger things, and I think anyone can relate to that on a personal and also on a professional level.

SPEAKER_01

And I definitely know that phrase. I got I have quite a few people use that phrase to describe me. So I was very tickled when I saw the name of your business, and also I've never heard anyone call themselves an impact alchemist. You want to just dig into that a bit, how you came to that title and what does that mean?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so an alchemist is usually you think from a metal standpoint, putting different alloys together to make essentially merge into one thing that is stronger. And as like, as I was reflecting on the work that I was doing, I was like, okay, strategic partnerships, as you know, these traditional words I was coming up with. And at the end of the day, I'm trying to drive impact that we're moving the needle somehow, that we're making change. But I'm doing this by putting all these different pieces together. So whether it is, for example, I worked on the Barbie brand and it's finding a nonprofit organization that you can bring girls together and role models and inspire them to believe in themselves. But that connection, if I didn't bring the connection between Barbie and um Inspiring Girls International, then you won't see the movement of connecting with those girls and the impact that they're able to make together. So that's where I see my strengths and the strengths of the company is seeing those opportunities to put pieces together for a greater impact.

SPEAKER_01

I am a huge Barbie fan. I saw that movie one too many times, and I have to have my Barbie tumbler next to me. So I think we were destined to meet too many things overlapping. Right? I I've always loved Barbie's. I had I don't even know how many I had, but I had a lot. I spent a lot of my allowance money on them. On Barbie. What do you like most about Barbie? I love that she could have done anything. That that it was a different wheel, that she could have. And then I could just escape into my own wheel and and create a new a new world to exist and to to to just have fun. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And that also can do anything.

SPEAKER_00

Precisely. And that's their theme. Like, you can be anything. And then how you take that message into actually driving impact for girls who don't believe they can do anything and be anything. Because, as you say, you can be on the beach, or you can be a doctor, or you can be a vet, like, whatever it is through Barbie, you can explore that imagination and how you bring that to the real world is uh one thing that I'm proud to be able to help that brand with is bringing those opportunities directly to girls specifically.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and as you say that, so like how did you have this vision of doing good and contributing good? Like, what led you to this point?

SPEAKER_00

Um I would say it was all planned, and I had my five-year and 10-year goals, but that would be a complete lie.

SPEAKER_01

Um I was gonna say you were really lucky.

SPEAKER_00

And you know what? Life never ends up like that. So my story actually started in high school. I went to Immaculate Conception in Jamaica, and when we were studying economics, specifically macroeconomics, and talking about poverty and lack of education, you know, you read in the books and you say, but it's simple, like just X, Y, Z, and we can solve these, but that's just not how society is. But I truly believe that there was a way that we can do it, and I wanted to dedicate my life to doing that. And I would say, on top of that, funny story. I thought I was going to study economics, going on that path, um, but they didn't have the courses that I wanted to study. Okay. Management and marketing. Went through my courses, I volunteered while in school, so still wanting to give back, and then come to the end, and I'm just like trying to apply for jobs, not getting anything. Listen, even to be a Walmart greeter, I was trying to get jobs. Um, and fast forward, I decided to sell everything that I have, order barrel to come back to Jamaica, and I went in for an interview for this company that they said they were starting some give back department, and I got interviewed and an offer for the job on the spot. Um, so and that was the beginning of my journey within social impact, starting uh with the charity management department, Alexander.

SPEAKER_01

Wow, that is amazing. That's a normal story that you will hear. No, it's not, and it's also interesting that I mean, so you said you wanted to do economics, but they didn't have so what did you do in the end?

SPEAKER_00

What cost I ended up doing marketing and management. Um, so I did a dual course and focused on that. So I had that marketing background and business mindset of how are businesses going to be promoting their services and um their products, which has helped me in this point in time that if you're going to promote your products, how can you also use social impact to build your brand even more and get better value for the products that you're serving? So I think that background that I had in management and marketing served me so much more than I think economics would have to be in this space that I am right now.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I mean there are quite a few, you're calling it social impact, but I think in the Caribbean we normally refer to it as corporate social responsibility, and then there's the whole discussion around the ESG. Um yeah, and so there is I I could see the usefulness of having and a lot of these CSRs are placed in marketing departments in the region, from what I understand. But like how explain for those who don't know, how having this marketing and and and being corporate, how does that equate to social good?

SPEAKER_00

So from the marketing background, your role is to you're essentially the brand keeper, um, for lack of better terms. However, the brand is showing up to society, to consumers, to customers, you are essentially that gatekeeper. So whether it is from just buying the product itself, how the product is showing up, how it is packaged, that's essentially your responsibility within the marketing department. Um, and then the social good part comes into that as well because it is also how you are seen to society. And I said, I think, especially now with our generation and even generations um after us, there's a need and a want to see companies do more good for society. We're seeing that increase more and more. So, how is it that marketers are making sure that they're positioning their company to support community in a very authentic way? So that marketing background really helps with that mindset of how you're positioning the company in an authentic but positive light, whether it is through the product and service directly or it's through social impact or a corporate social responsibility.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, that's interesting. And like what are like one of the touching or experiences that you had since you because you've been doing this for quite some time now, that you've had that on this journey that makes you know that this is the journey for you. Like this is this is how I want to do good, this is how I want to impact the world.

SPEAKER_00

I would say there there are always uh moments that you're like, why am I doing what I'm doing? You know, when you're pushing to try and get some good done, and you're getting pushback from the company. I think there's always going to be that tug and pull, but there are moments in the midst of all of that that reminds you why you're doing what you're doing. So, one of the I would say biggest accomplishments or examples that I always share was when I was with Alex Anani and we worked with Living Water International, and through that partnership was able to sponsor a corporate mission trip. So we got 10 employees to be able to go on a trip to Haiti, to Nicaragua, to Guatemala, and they stayed for a week in the country with the community, building well so that that community could have access to clean water. That's amazing. Like the the impact that you can make from that perspective, not only directly on that community, but for so many of those individuals who went on the trip, it's the first time they even left the country. Not even leave the town that they were on, they were so focused on their area, so they got exposed to so many things from that perspective. They got exposed to a different culture because if you go from the US to Haiti, um, in Capacia, Haiti, and it's not like a commercial area, you're going in rural areas that don't have access to water. That's a cultural shock, but it's also a whole new awareness and appreciation for what you have in the US as well. Um, so it's it's moments like those that it's doing good in the community, but the people who are also doing that good and giving up themselves, you see the evolution that they have made and how they want to continue to do it moving forward. So it's this ripple effect that essentially or domino effect that happens.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, tell me more about that. Like, because you thought when you said ripple effect, I hear like a joy in your voice. You want to expound on that. Like, what do you how how do you see that? But to me, it's that's a that's a bit of an intangible joy because you're not necessarily gonna see that ripple. But yeah, that's what motivates you. That's what I'm that's what I'm understanding.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and I feel like especially within this space, um, an important part is the qualitative impact that you're having, right? You want to be able to track that impact and measure it, but there's also or the the quant quantitative impact, I should say, where you can track it, you can put the numbers, we've been able to impact this amount of people, but the qualitative impact is also important. And being able to go back to individuals and say, how did this change you? Like, how did this experience impact your life? I feel like we don't capture some of those stories as much. And those are the ones that we need to lean into even more because, especially us within this space, those are the things that are going to keep us motivated that you touch the life of a person in St. Mary, Jamaica, but you also touch the life of somebody in Kingston corporate um setting as well, because they are seeing a whole new perspective of like individuals around them. And it also just changes the way that they approach life. So I think that that feeling that they go through just expands beyond themselves, and then they want to just continue doing good. And I think that's why employee volunteerism and employee engagement is growing within companies as well, because people want to do it. They don't just want to go to work and just say, all right, a punch in my time, and that's it. They want to feel that they're being a part of something.

SPEAKER_01

Is that an American fact that it's growing, or is that based in Caribbean research? Because I feel like in my, I feel like listening to my friends in the Caribbean who are incorporate, they're like getting people to volunteer is very hard.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I think it's going to depend. I would say one thing about Jamaica when you look at the World Giving Index, Jamaica has always been within the top 10. So I think that's also a nuance when you look at different countries of where they fall within giving. So not necessarily giving money, but helping a stranger and volunteering, Jamaica's always been within the top. And that's why you see like the 5k runs and walks, like you always have so many people who sign up for something like that. You see, companies like Sagikor and the the support that they give for these, um, you see that involvement come up even more. So I think it just depends on I would say the nuances per country. Um, even if I go outside of the Caribbean, Japan is huge on volunteering. So that is something that if you say buy this product and a percentage go back, then don't care about none of that. But if it's volunteering, then support that company even further.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, interesting. I never thought about that like it. How do you volunteer? So I'm I'm curious. You talk you referred to the research body index. Can you tell me a bit more about that? Because I've never heard of that.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so it's uh I think it's an annual index that they look at various countries, and it also depends on how the countries participate, but they interview individuals within these countries on a scale of uh um willingness to help a stranger, willingness to donate money, and willingness to volunteer time, and you're ranked. Um, so like a country like the US has been high across um all three areas. You may have you have countries like Malaysia, they're always in the top one or two. Um, so that's also like because of the global work that I've been doing and trying to interact with whether it is distributors and trying to have give back happen in Japan or Australia, there are always going to be nuances per country. And I use that as a guide to know what is the right way to approach that country um based on what individuals are sharing of how they give back, how they naturally give back.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, so then you use that to shape the the programs based on the strategy align to which brand would have what type of program.

SPEAKER_02

Correct.

SPEAKER_01

So you see, your way of doing good is completely different to my way of doing good. I'm over here reading proposals, evaluating proposals, helping with project management, helping with embedding for people to, as you said, to measure what is your quantitative, how many people are impacted, but you're doing your your big picture is not necessarily tied to the sustainable development goals as much as it's tied to these other types of research. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_00

It's tied to the sustainability development goals when you look at like the company's like causes that they're supporting. Like, how does that ladder up to the greater good? But I think how I use the world-given index, if a nation, and obviously these are averages, so if a nation is more tuned to donating money, I'm not going to tell a company to build a corporate social responsibility strategy around volunteering. Yeah, I'm not going to help them build that because that's not going to work. That's not what their customers and consumers want. They want to be able to have an opportunity to donate money. So, how can you do that? Can you put a little thing at the cash register for them to drop in a couple of dollars here and there? Um, is it a percentage of the sales of a product that they know that they're contributing to good? Um, but if it is volunteering, what are things that you can show that your employees are supporting the community, but you also have opportunities for your consumers or your customers to do a beach cleanup with you, for example. So those are ways that I look to see what is the bigger picture first for that country, and then uh what are your goals as a business and how can we match that? So that's where the alchemist thing comes in.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, definitely. I get it now. I get it because it's these different things that are coming together to allow you to do good, and it's it's it's it's a new weight for me to learn about doing good, and that's what this whole podcast is about, right? Like that we don't have to be in a cookie cutter, like you have to do social work, you have to do um development studies. I mean, you're doing you did marketing, and you're still thinking about the social impact and the and the footprints that these corporations have. Like that's amazing. But do you have any challenges in executing your doing good?

SPEAKER_00

I say yes, there are definitely challenges in the work, specifically in corporate social responsibility. Um, and one of the biggest ones is finding the balance between a company's desire to make a positive impact and the need to meet business goals. Because at the end of the day, whether it is your head of marketing or just your CEO, there are financial pressures that arise, right? Um in as you evaluate budgets are cut. And a lot of the time it's the marketing budgets that are cut first, um, outside of any other part of the business. So sometimes when a business genuinely wants to contribute to the social cause, they have to ensure that they look at their broader financial objectives first. Um, and I think uh when working with nonprofit organizations, that's a realization that we have to make sure that we share. That yeah, one year I may donate X amount of dollars, but I might have to cut it the following year because I have to rework my budget overall. Um or I may not be able to do financial contributions, but I'm going to see if we can volunteer resources or employees can contribute to your marketing, um, helping you with marketing instead of you taking on that responsibility. So I think those are things that I've had to do to navigate those challenges and working with nonprofits that are at least open minded to look in different ways. They can get support.

SPEAKER_01

But how do you deal with that frustration? Because, like, if you get a like you get accustomed to working with a non-profit or you have your plans to work with a non-profit, and then the budget is just cut. Like, how do you deal with those frustrations?

SPEAKER_00

You just have to deal with it. I feel like it is part um of the course that uh everything is never going to be streamlined. And I think once you have that understanding, um, what I am always uh thrilled that I'm able to do is uh work from a very frugal perspective. So if I've had companies come to me and say we don't have any money at all, but we want to do something. They want to build this whole website. So it's like, okay, you want to use your people's resources and you want to put educational materials out there, we can do that because there's no additional investment that you need to make. So I think it's all right, if the budget is cut or there is a reduction in the amount of resources, what can we do to still get the greatest impact out of that knowing that you still want to do good? Because it's not, it's not like you're saying that you don't want to do it whatsoever. You want to do it, but there are other circumstances that are impacting you. So it's always being flexible and adaptable as much as possible.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it's not like you're super innovative, um, making nothing, making something happen out of nothing. And then also I like the fact that you talk about like the end kind because I know one of the issues that we struggle a lot in the Caribbean with at first when social media came out, they're like donors were like, We're not giving you any money, giving these nonprofits money, because anybody could do social media. Now social media has evolved into a beast, and students don't necessarily manage them anymore in corporate and big development agencies, but unfortunately with NGOs, they still they still don't have that training. And that is something like I'm sure if if nonprofits are allowed to be adopted by a marketing agency to be like, we'll just handle your visibility and communication because you know we don't use marketing, we're visibility and communication. They would like that is because I've heard people suggest, oh, you just ask accountants to do your audits or registered accountants to do your audits, but I've never thought of a marketing team providing that that um visibility and communication to nonprofits, and I don't know how, but I feel like I need to figure out how to get that done in the Caribbean because it's it's a need, it's a great need. A lot of us don't have, and during the pandemic, um organizations were very willing to give subscriptions to nonprofits, but now that we seem to be post-pandemic, it's not easy. I tell I tell persons I'm like, oh, just go to this organization and and they have the program just and you'll be able to register. Like literally, they follow the steps I give them an instant decline. So they're stuck with the they're stuck with the free version, which doesn't really give them that flexibility to produce quality or high quality with to stand on their own. And it's always like this chicken and the egg situation when it comes to visibility and communications, right? Like if I don't spend money, and I feel like I talked about this in another episode, but it's such a it's such a real thing. If I don't spend money on a project and I spend the money on marketing and communication, less people are being affected being helped in this moment, but in the long run, I'm gonna attract more donors, hopefully, and therefore more people could get help. But it feels it feels uneasy to be like, oh well, I just I would only help 10 because five persons money has gone to my visibility budget.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah, you're you're looking at how are you impacting the community and beneficiaries at the end of the day when you're pulling money away from them, yeah. Um, and I think that's tough coming from a nonprofit space and something that I try to work with nonprofits on, especially when they're approaching businesses. I'm not sure if you do this from your perspective, is they say create like an asset inventory of think about everything that you have that could be a benefit to a non-profit organization. The reach of the beneficiaries, the communities you serve is an asset that you have within itself. Yeah. Um, maybe it is your leaders, maybe it is like just think about everything that could be even in the slightest um way a benefit. And then also look at what are all your needs. It's not just money. So, to your point, the communications and visibility, what are all the things? And then you see what are different ways you can approach a company based on your needs, knowing that you have this, you can repackage what you have to offer to them.

SPEAKER_01

Can you go into that asset inventory? I've never I think I know what it is. I I love that you're teaching me so many new terms. I think I know what it is, but I I want to be correct. So if I use your term next time, I'll be like, no, I know what I'm speaking about.

SPEAKER_00

And it's one of the resources I'm going to actually have on my website as well of like a quick step-by-step and a few examples of like what assets, but events, like if you put on an event, um, if you have connections with doctors, so if you're in like the health space, like your connections to doctors is also an asset. Um, again, as I was saying, with uh um if you have a large group of individuals or beneficiaries that you support, those are as like they are assets as well. Um, and I hate putting them in categories. If you work with children or parents, they are assets. So um it's these things that you don't necessarily think about. Um, maybe you have a large social media following, that's also an asset as well.

SPEAKER_01

It's kind of it's kind of like your stakeholders putting your stakeholders in categories, and then also talking about your the that intangible heritage that most nonprofits have that they've been doing this week for how long?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so it could be so, in terms of assets, a lot of nonprofits, at least in the US, they think about from an accounting perspective, like furniture and uh whatever from that perspective that you're going to put in your balance sheet. That's not what I'm thinking about. When you're thinking about assets, it could be where you're located is an asset. Maybe you're in a central area that you can like a company can use your space to do a community event and get to be connected with other people. Okay. So you see, you have to look at it from a different perspective that you just naturally have this. Yeah. But it could be your other partners that you are connected to a certain partner and another group who wants to work with that partner in some format or another. So that's a way that you can do it. And I can give an example. I was working with um the Pan Mask Challenge. They do a bike ride. Okay. Um, they're a nonprofit organization, but because of the partners they work with, the Red Sox, which is a baseball team, some people can't sponsor the Red Sox directly, but they can sponsor the Pan Mask Challenge and have like a dotted line to the Red Sox. So those are the different ways that you can find that you have these little benefits in your back pocket, and it's really digging into finding those benefits to know all right, this is what we can offer you and present it to your potential partners.

SPEAKER_01

That's really interesting, and thank you so much for teaching me once again. Learning so much today. Okay, so my next question to you is you talked about your grandmother bringing you up in a way of keeping clothes and your community and and also the talo or making that difference. So it seems to me that community means a lot to you. Could you describe like what does community mean?

SPEAKER_00

Okay, to me, community means I'm gonna say from a very basic standpoint, togetherness. But there's I was having a conversation with a friend, and she said, you as an individual, you have your voice and you can make change. But when you talk to other individuals and all your voices come together, then you are able to make a movement. And that stuck with me so much because it's true that um going back to what I believe in, you as one individual can do so much. But when you come together, that's when a movement starts. That's when you can really make change, and that's community at the end of the day. Um, so they even say it takes a village to raise a child. It's not one person, it's not just up to the parents to do it, it's the teachers, it's the community members around all looking out for that child. And I think that's the impact that we want to make. It's not up to just the government to do something, it's not just up to one individual or one nonprofit. Everyone has to contribute to something if we really want to see the change that is happening. Um, I love when I see, like the other day, um Bartlett Industries put a call out that they need to see other companies supporting the education sector. That they know they support it, but they know that they can't do it alone. Um, and I think that is so important that companies know the causes that they're supporting, but try and encourage more companies to join in, lead by example, and I want to see more of that happening. And I feel that a lot of companies they want to do it, but just don't know how to go about doing it. Or you see these big companies as a medium-sized company or an SME, you see these big conglomerates doing it, and you're like, I don't have those dollars, I can't do that. But it's sometimes just simple ways that you can do it. I see some small businesses, they might help a child get back to school supplies, or they might contribute to a drive that the church is running for back to school program. It's those small things that eventually contribute to something bigger.

SPEAKER_01

And I think um when you talk about making that movement, that's something that always feels a bit hard because it feels sometimes, at least to me, that we are facing the same issues but just a different timeline, yeah, and it could get discouraging.

SPEAKER_00

But you're saying that when you're in community, they could encourage you and then also encourage forward movement, yeah, correct, and you're all bringing different resources to the table, and I think that is the powerful thing, like you know your strengths, but someone else will come in in an area that you may not be as strong as, and they are helping to push it even further. So if we lean on the power of again community, how can we make sure that we're pulling our pieces together? Um, if you look on a very individualistic perspective, I may be good at organizing and might not be as good as baking, but we want to put on this fundraiser for the school. So I'm going to lean on you to bake, I might lean on somebody to help with cooking, someone else with arts and crafts. But when we each all come together, we can actually put on an event, but individually, there's no way that can come together. And then it's the same thing. If we take a lot of the personal things that we're going through and apply it to this CSR space, I think we can see so much work happen. It might be the very positive mindset of uh in my mind.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, I mean, it is positive, and I I do want to ask you how we could join your community because you mentioned a website earlier, but before we get to that, how do you know how to play your role? Because, like you just said, I know that I'm organizing, but I can't bake, so I need to find somebody who can bake. How do we how do we, when we're doing good, know how to find our partners in doing good? Because a lot of the a lot of NGOs don't know which corporate social, um, which organizations have corporate social responsibility and corporate social responsibility versus government agencies or internet, um, like how what advice would you have about finding your community?

SPEAKER_00

I'm going to start off by saying it's not easy. So it's not something you can like quickly Google and search. It takes a lot of networking and connecting and speaking to individuals. Um I would say, even from my perspective, I'm based in the US and I want to be able to bring a lot of my work into Jamaica because I see the opportunity that's there. I see that it's starting to flourish, and I wanted to be able to educate even more. And what I'm doing is looking at different businesses, like doing the research. And I know, for example, not many medium businesses are going, but I'm looking for those nuggets of ones that are doing good and how they're doing good, and tracking what causes are there they are supporting. And I'm seeing women, education, children are coming up, and climate change coming up more and more and more. So I know that's an area that a lot of people are focused on, right? And I think that's across the Caribbean as a whole because those are areas that are close to our hearts, right? Um from there, as we mentioned, a lot of these uh um uh roles fall within marketing. How can you connect with marketers within that space? And sometimes it's just to ask a question like, what are you guys doing in the community? Like sometimes it's just a casual conversation that you have. Sometimes you go on LinkedIn and you message just like, you know, I saw XYZ. Is there anybody I can talk to just get to know and find out more about the work that you're doing in the community? I think so many times, especially where when we're in this space, we put on this hat that we have to get the information that we need versus coming in as individuals and just learning first and listening, and then we can take that information to build a like formal proposal, but just listen first. And I think that step is missed so many times to build that network, build a relationship, and get the information that we need.

SPEAKER_01

Listen, phrase, listen and then ask. Listen and then I think that is that is a very huge nugget there. And I and it takes bravery. And I mean, we became internet friends because you were brave enough to send me a message on LinkedIn. Um, because I've certainly never done that to any other, any person. I mean, I've walked up to persons in in in real life, but not necessarily on the internet. Yeah, so I mean, I think those are two big nuggets that you put there, and that's something I probably will have to put into practice with building networks of of just reaching out to persons and and then listening to what they have to say, listening to what the causes that they they want to support and how there's a possibility of aligning, but most of all because they're humans and that they deserve to be listened to. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

All right, I used to use this analogy when building relationships in the very early part of my career is that when you're working in the CSR space, it's like a marriage. In the beginning, when you're starting to talk with each other, you're in this dating phase. You know, it's awkward in the beginning, you're not sure, but you get to know each other what the business is passionate about in terms of causes, what your assets and what opportunities and benefits you can provide, and you try and find what works for you guys. And then eventually, when you get that partnership, you enter into a marriage, but you still need to work towards it because you're still growing and getting to know each other, and things will have to evolve in that marriage. But I always used to say just think about it from that perspective when you're just getting to know somebody, it's awkward, you're not sure how to approach this, you might be nervous in terms of what are the right questions to ask. It's almost something very similar because this CSR space is very subjective. We have to understand that and realize that, and it's very personal for a lot of us. Um, and uh we need to bring that piece of us into these relationships in a way that will help again the impact that you want to make at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_01

It's also another similarity because for me, I love to my example of a grant proposal is that it's a love letter, and you're talking about this being a Mars, is the fact that it's a love letter to a person that you've never actually seen, and you need to bear all your information, who's your organization, what do they do, what is this issue that you're facing, and how you plan to face this issue alongside them and solve it. Correct, correct, and you're saying CSR is like a marriage, you have to go through the getting to know who's the marketing person, what are they, what are the issues that are dear to their heart, and how they can be a possible alignment. So it goes back to the fact that humans run the show, doing good is about humans, trying to make it good for other humans, and nobody wants to be treated like a cash cow.

SPEAKER_00

Correct, correct. That's what it is at the end of the day. So, as if you are on the nonprofit side and you keep that in mind that at the end of the day, you're talking to individuals who are just trying to do their best with whatever resource that they have available to them. Um, and from the company side as well, that you recognize that these nonprofits are working their butts off to try and do so much because there's so much need out in society. Um, once we have that understanding from both sides, then we come together as just individuals having a conversation of how can we make this the best partnership that we can make it together, and that's it. Definitely. I think there's so many complications, but if you simplify it as much as possible, that's what it comes down to.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah. And I think if um fundraising is fundraising resource mobilization is an art as much as it is a science, and I'm not saying that art is just by the whim, but it takes time, it's not something that could be done overnight. Because if you listen to fundraising, which is like major gift fundraising, they talk about figuring out who your donors are, mapping them. If you talk to grant writing, it's the same thing. Who are your donors? When are the calls coming out? And now you're telling me for CSR. Find out who the people are, find out what they care about, and that's the only way that you could go forward.

SPEAKER_00

It's the right time to approach them. Um, when are they discussing budgets? When are budget time already passed? Like, are their fiscal year January to December? So that you need to be talking to them by September, August, September before their budgets close. So that timing is also important, but it's getting to know them and understand them as quote-unquote individuals. You're looking at business as individuals, and then knowing you can then tailor what you have to offer to benefit them, knowing that you are getting a benefit in return as well.

SPEAKER_01

All right, that is so true. So, how do we get become part of your community? You just like drop that you had a website and you moved on. But how how could we find your website? What is your what is tell me, tell me more. I want to learn more.

SPEAKER_00

Of course, so Talawaimpacts.com is my website. Um, so you'll be able to go on there to um learn more about the work within the CSR specifically, but there are also resources that are there um in terms of guides from the nonprofit side. How do you look about creating this asset inventory? Um, how do you go about finding the corporations or companies that you want to approach? So, one of the strategies start with those that are within your inner circle. So, whether it is um employees that they may be connected to a friend who works at X Company, like how do you look at that? Um, and then from the corporate side of how you structure and you think about the causes. So, very just some guides and toolkits, but I'm also looking at what are examples of like medium or SMEs that are doing good in the community so you can also see from the nonprofit side who you can potentially approach, but also from the company side and business side, who are some companies that you can look up to and to be inspired by as well.

SPEAKER_01

And and now you know I have to ask it if it's going to be tailored to the Caribbean sector, if it's just straight up American, because it's too long.

SPEAKER_00

So I'm specifically looking at I would say right now Jamaica, um, as my as the examples that I'm sharing. So I'd say um one of the first blogs is on canopy insurance. Uh um they were created by Grace Kennedy and the Musan group. They're just approaching their five year, but they've already started incorporating giving back in their community, working with Sal, you know, Salvation Army and um donating products and going out in the community and being there directly with children. So um Yes, all the work is there's some inspiration from what I've done in the US and what could be used within the Caribbean, but all the examples that I'm going to be sharing is starting off with that sound amazing.

SPEAKER_01

Amazing, and I can't wait to check it out. And then I have a question that I asked all the guests what advice do you have for future do-gooders?

SPEAKER_00

For future do-gooders, um, the biggest advice, which I feel we touched on so much within this, is building genuine relationships. And um, in the Caribbean, which we saw, community is everything, and that same spirit applies to um corporate social responsibility and overall just social development work. So, whether working in a business or nonprofit, connecting on that personal level and on our understanding your partner's goals is really what's going to drive that success. So, you by building these relationships, you're building trust, which if that doesn't exist, then there's no relationship, there's no partnership whatsoever. And you're getting an understanding of how you can really build an authentic collaboration. So, genuine relationships, um, not being afraid to show up as yourself, as your authentic self, and try and understand individuals, I think is also going to be important. And don't be afraid to think creatively. I think this space needs innovative solutions. We need fresh approaches on how to talk about things. So please, like if you have an idea, explore it. Um, bring it forward to your team. Um, just think of different ways. And if it's something that you can't act on immediately, that's okay. But at least don't stop exercising that mindset of thinking outside of the box.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I smirked when you said innovative because I feel like that's that's one of those ways that everybody's like, we need innovative thoughts, and then we're gonna wake up again. We need innovative thoughts, and we are doing the same thing. So, what is innovation to you? What do you mean by continue to be innovative?

SPEAKER_00

I think when all right, from my perspective, innovative can be something small. I think a lot of times people hear innovative and it has to be something brand spanking new. You could look at the workshop and maybe you add a something a little different into a workshop, like a get to know your like a little bonding, just something different in it. So, what is it that is a little nugget that you can add to what's already existing? You don't have to necessarily come up with something brand new because I think that scares people. Something that is too drastic, change is going to impact individuals in a different way. So, what are small incremental ways that you feel that you can make a change to the work that you're doing to keep it fresh and new for people who are experiencing it?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, keeping it fresh, and it's not easy, that's not easy, anyhow, because humans are creatures of habit, and once we get comfortable, once we figure out this works for us, that's it. But you're pushing us to step out of our comfort zone to make honest friendships with people, and then also to think about new ways that we could do good, no matter how small it is. That's a big challenge.

SPEAKER_00

Believe that we can all do it if we try and just push ourselves a little bit, just one thing, one goal that you have, I feel that we can do because I've seen it work for myself. Um, I'm an introvert, and the fact that I'm out here telling people to go there and build relationships, and I'm reaching out to random people on LinkedIn and building relationships that I'm now on a podcast. Um, it makes a difference, and we're seeing it live here. So because I've experienced it and I've pushed myself out of my own comfort zone to get to where I am now, that's why I preach it so much. Because outside of that, I would still be probably that 13-year-old girl sitting in the back of the classroom, never raising her hand and never seeing anything. But like putting yourself out there, really believing in what you are passionate about and talking about it. Um, once people see that passion in you, that rises a passion in them and it builds relationships from there. So share who you are, is what I say.

SPEAKER_01

And I think that's the best kind of advice, advice that you actually listen, and you could acknowledge that it's hard advice, but it's useful advice. So I thank you so much for sharing that because as a follow introvert, it is not easy going out there and trying to network. No, nope, it is not. All right, so thank you so much for being on Common Sense Steps to Doing Good. And we look forward to having you again and probably even doing a masterclass with you as we learn how to do good in various aspects of our lives.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you so much for having me and looking forward to hearing all your guests and all the great that you're doing within the world.