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Hello, I'm Sheryl Coulman, Managing
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Director of the Wharton Social Impact
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Initiative. We're being joined here by
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Jim Gibbons, President and CEO of
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Goodwill Industries International, and
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we're going to talk about their their
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really successful hybrid model for
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their business. So, welcome, Jim. It's
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great to be here. Good to have you here.
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I know you're you're talking to a lot of
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folks about Goodwill, and and one of the
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things that I think is really
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interesting for our audience to hear
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about is Goodwill is one of those sort
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of highly recognized brands. So, you
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guys have been around a while doing
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great work, but why don't you, for the
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audience, tell us a little bit about the
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core of your work? Cuz I think a lot of
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people may know the name more than they
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understand what your business is. You
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know, it's great. It It's great to be a
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part of Goodwill. It is a household
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name.
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Uh, there are more than 3,200
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Goodwill stores throughout communities
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all over the place.
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Uh, and a lot of people do know the
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mission. More importantly, they know
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that it's a brand that they can trust.
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Uh, but our real focus is not uh, the
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thrift industry. Our focus is really
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revolves around job creation and job
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training and working with individuals
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and families uh, so that they can
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achieve their own personal economic
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success. And I think that's an
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interesting point, cuz I think for most
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people when they're they're aware of
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Goodwill in the the stores, um, the
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thrift stores, and they probably have
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this tendency to see those as an end in
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themselves, that you have the store so
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you can have money. Tell the how tell
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the audience how the the stores help you
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do your mission.
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Oh, well, the that's it's really
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twofold.
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So, we have this network of Goodwill
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stores.
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Each are community-based organizations
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uh, that provide a wide range of other
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community services.
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Uh, but the the retail store model uh,
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serves two functions.
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One, that entire business infrastructure
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to the tune of about $4 billion
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is an infrastructure that's fully
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leveraged uh
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to create job opportunities for people
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with disadvantage and conditions. So, it
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could be transitional employment, it
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could be first-time opportunities, it
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could be job training programs,
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uh but really working to create an
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inclusive
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uh work environment so that uh
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individuals with barriers to employment
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get a shot. And we are just as happy
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when we have a talented team member
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leave us for a new and a bigger and a
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better opportunity
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uh as we are to have them on the team in
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the first place.
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Uh and then secondly, uh
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if uh those Goodwill stores are run
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successfully, and they are for the most
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part, uh
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all of the earnings before incremental
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mission activity
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uh
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are then plowed back into that community
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uh for other programs and services
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uh to sustain that organization and to
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meet the specific needs of the community
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where that Goodwill is. Yeah. And you,
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you know, you mentioned that that word
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sustainability. And I know for many
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social enterprises, either for-profit or
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or nonprofit, they really are trying to
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focus on sustainability. How do I How do
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I make sure that I can keep doing the
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mission that I want to do?
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Mhm. And how do I get the capital and
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resources to do that? So, your thrift
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stores provide a really uh successful
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example of how that happens.
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Yeah, we um
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you know, we're fortunate in many ways
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that the model has been able to uh
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create resources
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to
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support and fund some incremental
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growth.
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But, still uh capital for anybody in the
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not-for-profit space is always a
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difficult thing to come by. We've got an
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innovative initiative uh
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that we call the Goodwill Job Creation
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Fund right now that has been launched by
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Goodwill Industries International in
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partnership uh with three founding
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investors, the Kresge Foundation, the
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Casey Foundation uh and the Ford
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Foundation. And what's really exciting
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about it is it's it's a loan fund to
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Goodwills to build out the social
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enterprise.
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But its measure of success certainly
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uh calls for repayment of the loans,
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which happens 100% of the time.
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Mhm. Uh but more importantly has a very
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social impact-oriented scorecard uh so
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that we can connect the dots uh between
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uh
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the economic or capital outlay and the
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social impact that's derived from that
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very specific investment. So let's help
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uh talk about this a little bit and and
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bring it down to example. So if I'm a uh
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local community
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uh CEO of my local Goodwill Mhm. I can
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go to this fund if I want to sort of
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make a bigger store. I can go to this
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fund and get uh money to make an
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investment that way. Is that how I use
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it?
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So for expansion
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Mhm. uh
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you know, and it's got it's a you know,
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we uh currently have one kind of product
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offering uh in the mix, but we're
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looking to expand that cuz like you said
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earlier, uh right now we haven't fully
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demonstrated the the full sustainability
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of this process. It's working
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economically, but is it going to bring
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enough value from a capitalization
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perspective
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uh
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uh to make it sustainable, but we we
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have uh we're very optimistic about it
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and it looks as if the model's going to
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work really well.
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Yeah, and I think that this this kind of
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innovative financing is so um
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important for the nonprofit approach
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because even if you're even if you've
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got a strong steady donor base, there's
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so much fluctuation and change in the
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nonprofit industry that looking for
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different revenue streams becomes
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increasingly important. So, it's I think
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it's great to see good you know, brand
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names like Goodwill figuring out how
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they can be innovative around this.
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Yeah,
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it's great.
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so are you loaning money out of there
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yet or is it just
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are. It started with about a 10 10
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million-dollar initial round
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and almost the entire
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amount has been uh
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has been committed at this point.
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You know, the the most interesting thing
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about this whole sector is
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when you have levels of economic
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stability, you can actually focus on the
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community needs and then put plans in
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place to meet them.
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And that's really the key to a social
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enterprise model or a sustainability
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model. Yeah, and I I think that it's
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impossible to you know, under
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overestimate how important that is cuz
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for many nonprofits, there isn't that
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kind of stability and they're really you
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know, having to scrape by each year. So,
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anytime you can get some stability and
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get some vision into the future, you're
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able to do things a lot a lot more
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effectively. Yeah, interesting enough
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our founder from 1902
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uh many of the words
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uh he said in his time are words that we
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are all using today whether that's
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really the importance of reclaiming the
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value of both lives and of things
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uh all the way to this notion of being
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dissatisfied with the status quo. So,
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he's
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and he was quite an environmentalist uh
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then too and we're really connecting the
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dots between our model and environmental
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impact now as well.
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So,
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in that not being satisfied with the
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status quo,
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how does an organization like yours
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established great brand name, you want
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to protect the brand and make sure that
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you're, you know, really doing the good
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work that you've continued to do it. How
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do you get innovation going? You've done
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it obviously in the financing area, but
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how do you get new ideas happening? Are
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you top-down kind of guy? Yeah, well,
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you know, you know, there are moments
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that sometimes it'd be nice to be
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top-down, but we're not.
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Uh so, we actually are designed and
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structured
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uh as a networked organization of 165
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uh
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independent community-based
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organizations uh in the United States
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and Canada and then 14 other countries.
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Uh but what that actually results in is
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165 plus
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innovation labs, test laboratories,
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where Goodwills will try new things and
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if they work, we share. And then it's
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really about rapid replication. Mhm. Uh
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so, it's innovate and replicate. Uh and
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then, you know, there's never been a
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replication where you don't have to
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customize that innovation to your own
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community needs uh because we're in the
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human services business. So, you kind of
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got to you got to make it work within
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your community. Uh but that that's one
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big one, but the other one is we have to
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have a real open mind up for
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self-disruption right now.
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Uh
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Those are words business students love.
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Yeah, well, the competitive the
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competitive landscape, technology, new
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markets
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uh all are things that we're uh staying
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right on top of. Uh eBay. eBay? Is eBay
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a disruptor to the Goodwill model?
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Probably.
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But Goodwill embraced that and that we
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have our we have uh not only a great
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partnership with eBay, but we also have
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a
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ShopGoodwill
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uh auction site that has grown rapidly
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over these last several years. Uh so,
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innovating uh embracing those
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disruptions is really key to everything
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that we try to do.
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And when you're thinking about how
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you're going to, you know, uh expand
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these these disruptions in your ability
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to respond to them.
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What role do corporate partnerships play
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in this?
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Well, corporate partnerships are really
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important. Uh
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they're important both from a cause
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marketing perspective and a building the
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brand,
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but they're also important from a uh
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acquiring
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uh
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resource and energy within community.
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Uh
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and so as as corporations are trying to
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build more substance
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more substance, so moving beyond the PR
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component of corporate social
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responsibility,
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uh and really trying to have impact for
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the
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uh investment they make, whether that's
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economic or talent or
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uh
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their own team members volunteerism,
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uh
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they want to know that they're they're
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having an impact. And so for Goodwill,
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we have that like great model that
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allows our partners to have great
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employee engagement,
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uh have a great cause, and then, you
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know, at the end of the day, benefit an
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entire community by strengthening the
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workforce that that those corporate
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partners work in. That sounds great.
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So, we've covered a little bit around
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financial innovation. We've covered a
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bit around, you know, innovation and and
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new models and new approaches. We hit a
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little bit on on the kind of corporate
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angle. So, let's turn quickly to things
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around HR, you know, because I think
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that one of the things for for those of
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us who have worked in the in the
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nonprofit sector, there's always tension
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around wanting to get really great
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employees and give them a career path,
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right? Have them find a way to not just
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be good in the job that they have, but
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to be groomed for the other job. How do
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you think the either Goodwill itself or
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the nonprofit sector
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has to get better at doing that? What
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are some ways? You know, I think talent
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acquisition in the not-for-profit space
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is, you know, is a top three challenge.
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Uh
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so, acquiring top talent uh
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is
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is an area that I think everybody across
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the sector has to pay attention to.
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What we try to do
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uh is bring in talent at Goodwill
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Industries International by
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uh really
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affecting a culture within Goodwill.
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Uh that is a culture that people want to
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be a part of.
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Uh an interesting thing uh
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that people always ask me is, you know,
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can you bring people who want to, you
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know, give back?
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And, you know, we really want to hire
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people who want to engage
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and bring their talents, their skills,
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and their willingness to work hard to
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make a difference.
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So, if it's a mindset of just kind of
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doing a favor, it's probably not a great
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teammate.
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Mhm. But, if it's a mindset of working
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hard and bringing your full intellectual
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and work ethic fortitude forward, then
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you'll probably work real well in our
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culture.
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Uh and we try to be very uh
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uh
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very excited and clear about the kind of
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work
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uh that we do and the kind of culture
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that we try to create and hold each
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other accountable for. Sounds good. Are
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you able to um work with the local
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affiliates? Do you promote people up
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through the local affiliate into the
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into the uh international?
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You know, across the national kind of
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network organizations, we probably have
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uh
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I've not actually not benchmarked it,
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but I would say that we have one of the
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more comprehensive uh
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leadership development and management
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training programs. So, we have
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um
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management training
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that we use a train-the-trainer model
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with, so with local affiliates to help
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their workforce grow. We have a social
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enterprise certificate program so that
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all employees have an opportunity to
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build a stackable credential.
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We have retail 101 train-the-trainer
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programs. But most most uh uh
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excitingly, we have opportunities for
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people to go into uh senior leaders
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programs so that they can grow into more
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senior positions uh as well as a
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executive development programs for
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people to
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uh strive to to lead a
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to lead a a Goodwill. Great.
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So, we're nearing the end of our our
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segment.
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Be a little visionary. What do you see
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going on for the the nonprofit sector?
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Well, I think that, you know, we have a
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uh a society
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where uh many people of wealth
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want to create
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their own not-for-profit.
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And they want to do it to have impact,
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but also control. Mhm.
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And what I see happening across the
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not-for-profit spectrum
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uh sector, as well as with uh business
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and government is we've got to get
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better in the world of collaboration.
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So, we got to get clear on roles and
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responsibilities.
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We've got to get better at measuring. We
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got to stand tall on common goals and
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objectives.
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And when we get all of that done we'll
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be able to drive collaborations in a way
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that have the impact that we're all
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striving for. But I think uh I think
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it's going to be a balancing act between
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control and collaboration.
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Uh and finding that sweet spot is where
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we're going to find the impact. That's
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great. Thank you so much. This is
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talking to Jim Gibbons, president and
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CEO of Goodwill Industries
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International. Thank you, Jim. Thank
00:15:17
you.
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Hey.
