Check out this piece on Venture Philanthropy Partners that highlights six years of hard earned successes in building local community institutions in Washington, DC using a venture capital-like approach. Mario Morino is a friend of Acumen Fund and an extraordinary leader. I share the article with you because it captures so many lessons that are relevant to building and scaling nonprofit institutions. I share Mario’s letter to his community because it reflects the kind of leader that he is - one who moves from a place of humility and inclusion and is always asking questions rather than believing he has all the answers. We need more leaders like him at all levels of society. Our hat is off to Mario and his entire team and there is much to learn from the work of VPP.
Mario’s letter:
I’m writing to share with you a piece on Venture Philanthropy Partners and our work that appears in the July 21 issue of the Washington Business Journal.
While the article was very complimentary and makes it clear that VPP is having success, far too much of that success is attributed to me personally. The fact of the matter is that the real credit goes to a number of people who care deeply for VPP and what it seeks to achieve. Our “success” is only possible as a result of the bold, and at times difficult, actions that have been taken by the leaders of our nonprofit partners, for they are the ones on the frontlines doing what it takes to give children and youth the opportunities they seek and need. The very core of our work is driven by the strong leadership of Managing Partner Carol Thompson Cole, the great team of people that make up the VPP organization, our Board, Executive Committee, advisors, and the entire VPP network. For without their dedication and commitment, VPP would not and could not be effective.
Similarly, VPP would also not exist if it were not for the generosity and faith of VPP’s 29 founding investors. They bet on VPP when it was nothing more than a concept. The leadership by VPP’s two other co-founders, Gov. Mark Warner and Raul Fernandez, set us on a course of success and both have pledged their financial and personal support for VPP’s next phase.
And, others have joined the Governor, Raul, and me and stepped forth–like Jack Davies, Richard and Pam Hanlon, Josh and Michelle Freeman, Gabriela and Doug Smith, Jean and Steve Case through the Case Foundation, Bill and Patricia Smith Melton, Kathy Bushkin, and a growing list of others who are doing even more as we look to VPP’s mission ahead and serving as an effective agent of change.
Though at times the article depicts VPP as sterner than we really are and our approach more controlling than we may like, overall it is a highly effective piece that will help our efforts and those of our nonprofit partners going forward. And, as the column concludes, “five years from now, we’ll be toasting even greater success. Cheers to us.”
Cheers, indeed, to all those who have helped make VPP’s first six years so effective.
My best,
Mario Morino
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