New year, new challenges for RIF CEO Neil Steinberg, including an ambitious effort to boost corporate engagement.

STEPPING UP: Rhode Island Foundation CEO Neil D. Steinberg says when RIF sees a need outside its door, it seizes the opportunity, such as establishing the "Make It Happen Rhode Island" forum in 2012 to get people together to brainstorm ideas for economic development. The forum resulted in initiatives such as Buy Local RI and The College & University Research Collaborative. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
STEPPING UP: Rhode Island Foundation CEO Neil D. Steinberg says when RIF sees a need outside its door, it seizes the opportunity, such as establishing the "Make It Happen Rhode Island" forum in 2012 to get people together to brainstorm ideas for economic development. The forum resulted in initiatives such as Buy Local RI and The College & University Research Collaborative. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

“I’m a big believer that everybody can be a leader. Leadership is not anointed … it’s opportunistic,” said Neil D. Steinberg, Rhode Island Foundation president and CEO. “People are leaders because they want to help … we need everybody engaged and everybody engaged positively.”

His call to action as the foundation embarks on its second century serving Rhode Islanders underpins his involvement this year as founding member in the Rhode Island Partnership, a group of top executives from some of the state’s largest companies convened to address key issues facing the state. It is also reflected in the foundation’s refocusing of an annual $300,000 Innovation Fellowship to a civic-engagement theme.

Can you describe being the president and CEO heralding RIF’s centennial celebration last year?

It was truly an honor and a privilege. We’re stewards and the Rhode Island Foundation has been around for 100 years, and we’ll be around in perpetuity. We’re like the classic, ‘let’s leave it better than we found it’ [mindset].

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We’re of, by and for the state of Rhode Island, so when we looked at what we wanted to do to commemorate our centennial, we quickly arrived at the concept of giving back. … We carved out $500,000 above our regular grant-making for centennial grants in all 39 cities and towns. They applied for $5,000-$15,000 grants to improve life in their city or town, whether it was a band concert or a basketball court or a library. As a signature project … we wanted to do something a little different than what we do every day [and] Roger Williams Park became a big focal point. We engaged an engineering firm … to look at what it would take to restore the park. They came up with a $5 million plan to restore buildings, waterways and paths … [and we] decided we wanted to form a $5 million endowment that would manage it and support this conservancy. That’s our gift back to the state, and … we’re a little [more than] $8 million toward our goal.

Why was it important to commemorate the centennial celebrations?

Our vision is to lead, transform and inspire. To provide leadership to help transform the state and to work with the state to enhance leadership with public-private partnerships and elected officials. As we look forward, we look at the strengths, the assets, the opportunities. We all know there are challenges, but there are challenges everywhere, and we’re very encouraged.

Looking forward, what do you see as the foundation’s agenda?

We need to adapt to and embrace change [by] not doing the same things the same way. … We want to be change agents. Our priorities are public education, primary health care, economic security and building a better culture of philanthropy in the state. … Would we love it if the needs of the social-service side went down, if the safety net was reduced? Yes. Not reduced because it can’t meet the needs, but reduced because the needs go down. We feel strongly, if we work collaboratively bettering education, health care and getting people jobs, training and [learning to be] self-sufficient, need goes down. Idealist? Yes. Aspirational? Yes. Achievable? Yes.

How do these goals differ from the current agenda and do you foresee the foundation’s priorities shifting or changing as new elected officials take office, or different social movements gain traction?

I don’t think those broad priorities are going to change in the long-term. How we get at them, how we tinker with them [will change]. We don’t work in the timelines of elected officials, but obviously we partner with our leaders and work very closely with the governor, the legislature and local elected officials getting things done. … One of the new initiatives we … will be implementing this year is the Roger Williams Initiative … a program to give out $20,000-a-year scholarships to people who can demonstrate an [appreciation of] … Roger Williams’ principles: religious freedoms, tolerance and the democratic process – all things we still think are important.

One area we will enhance going forward is the state’s cultural diversity. It’s no secret the population is evolving and changing and we, collectively, need to adapt. We need to support it, and it needs to be more inclusive. When we say we want better economic security, we mean for everybody, not leaving out populations. Same with education.

How would you describe the state of philanthropy in Rhode Island?

Strained. We’re philanthropically undercapitalized. One of the reasons is because we’re lower on per-capita giving than other states. … We need to increase the generosity of donors [and] we need to engage them. Philanthropy is more efficient than taxes. … Through our funding of nonprofits, we touch everybody in the state. … If you play basketball at the YMCA, if you go to the library – everybody uses nonprofits. Our goal is long-term, positive, systemic change. We can’t ignore what’s going on outside our door.

As a communal convener on myriad topics, the foundation must follow a set of community metrics. Can you describe what goes into choosing which subjects are supported?

It goes back to meeting the needs of Rhode Islanders and addressing the issues of today. When you look at our strategic initiatives; better education, healthier population and improved primary care, and economic security; I don’t think a lot of people would argue with them … when you look at what we need in this state. We do long-term and short-term plans, but when we see a need outside our door we’re going to seize those [opportunities] to the best that we can, within our resources. If we see something not being done, we’re willing to step up.

One of the ways in which the foundation worked to improve the state’s lethargic economy was by convening the “Make it Happen Rhode Island” forum in 2012 and committing more than $1 million to its resulting projects. Why do you think these meetings, which brought to life The College & University Research Collaborative and Buy Local RI, were as successful as they were?

They were successful because they weren’t forced. When we did “Make it Happen,” we, by design, didn’t have any sage on stage. We didn’t bring in experts to say ‘here’s what you have to do, here’s what’s done [elsewhere].’ It was organic. We had for-profits and nonprofits, small businesses and big businesses that collaborated there. In many cases, those initiatives that we funded were designed, conceived and originated by four people meeting in a hallway.

I’m always enamored with the fact that you just need to get people in the same room. You can’t assume someone from Warren knows someone in Woonsocket, knows people in Westerly – even in this small state. On the other hand, we can get people together in an hour if we call right now.

I love that we’ve got Taco Comfort Solutions, Hope Global and Alex and Ani, which have embraced Rhode Island, stayed in Rhode Island, grown in Rhode Island and adapted. We need to balance that. … We need to plant a lot of seeds [and] we don’t know whether it’s going to be cybersecurity, or food, or advanced manufacturing [that will be] the next growth areas.

We still think education is the ticket. General Dynamic Electric Boat needs kids in third or fourth grade right now to finish their [current manufacturing] contracts. If we don’t train these kids, if we don’t provide an adequate education, if we leave groups behind – shame on us.

Did the foundation create “Make It Happen” because it saw a leadership void?

One of the reasons we got into economic development a couple years ago, not something a community organization would typically do, was because we saw the need. … We stepped into the leadership opportunity to get people together to brainstorm ideas.

When the economy suffers, the needs in the community go up and the resources go down – philanthropy gets stuck in the middle. We want to see a vibrant economy where resources increase and the needs are reduced. We can’t rely on the same people all the time – we need to be inclusive [of] underserved communities and give people a voice.

Do you think the foundation plays a more effective role in birthing projects such as those that came out of “Make It Happen” than do governing bodies or local chambers of commerce?

We’re just different. We’re open to new ideas … that’s part of our makeup, being change agents and innovationists. We put $1 million up, and there’s not a lot of organizations that can do that. We have resources that we can commit, and we’re nimble and flexible.

Is there a 2017 iteration or similar follow-up forum planned?

I don’t know. I would say the spirit lives on. We did a follow-up a couple years ago [and] we’ll continue to go on the path that was set there. Whether we’ll do the exact same format or not [depends on the people involved].

Do we need a repeat forum?

I don’t think so. There’s no doubt in my mind that we’re leaning in the right direction, but our feet need to catch up with our head. A lot of these announcements take time, buildings need to be built and employees need to be hired, but the activity level is higher [and] we need to keep up with innovation.

The foundation is also a driving economic-development force – isn’t that something elected officials and the business community should be doing? Do you feel like you are filling a void when it comes to developing an economic-development strategy?

At the time of “Make It Happen,” we thought there was a void so we jump-started a lot of things. Since then, we’ve had the opportunity to work with different leaders, and I think it’s a different environment now. You have a governor and a legislature that have been focused and motivated on the economic-development front. Whether it took achieving the highest unemployment in the U.S. I don’t know, but that’s history, this is going forward.

We were big supporters and very involved in Brookings Institution’s “Rhode Island Innovates: A Competitive Strategy for the Ocean State” report that was done in January 2016. … Brookings provided a backdrop for a lot of programs being done at the state and local levels and a lot that we can embrace. We’re very comfortable being brokers, conveners and partners. Is there a big-business attraction effort going on? Yes. Has the governor been successful in bringing in some brand-name companies? Absolutely. [Although] a lot of attention needs to be paid to the companies that are here and how small businesses, the backbone of Rhode Island, start, grow, thrive and sustain themselves.

In December, the Partnership for Rhode Island was formed. The nonprofit, whose goal is to promote economic growth, is notable for the initial four officers, which aside from yourself include CVS Health Corp. CEO Larry Merlo, Hasbro Inc. CEO Brian Goldner and IGT Global Solutions Chairman Don Sweitzer. How were you able to bring such corporate star power to this group and what do you expect it to be able to do?

We needed to reinvigorate the engagement of leadership at the top corporate level. … It’s fantastic we’re the headquarters for CVS, Textron, Hasbro and IGT, but over time their leadership has had big jobs, traveling all over the country or internationally, and we needed a way to get them more engaged. In fairness, the governor has done a great job in cultivating those leaders over time to become more active in the community.

[The partnership] is in its infancy. There will be a board with probably eight or 10 different companies, we’ll hire an executive director, make financial commitments, address key issues and provide support. It’s fantastic engagement by some of our largest companies. It’s a vote of confidence on their part in the state.

Might this organization take some of the onus off the foundation in promoting economic development?

This is a perfect partnership. It makes sense for us to help shepherd it, but we’re one player of many. … We think public, private and philanthropic, all combined, hopefully, [means] one plus one plus one equals five. We can get more out of it that way.

Innovation fellowships have been offered through the foundation for the past six years – are you satisfied with the pace of progress with those projects?

Personally, I’m never satisfied with the progress of innovation. Yes, I think that particular program, sponsored by John and Letitia Carter, opened up ideas and people came forward from all over the state. This year we’re doing it differently … this is the first time we’ve focused on the topic of civic engagement. That [change] is not politically motivated, it is motivated by the fact that we need more people talking with each other and having civil and civic dialogue.

A study last year by Third Sector New England forecast a looming leadership vacuum for nonprofits. Rhode Island data showed 63 percent of leaders and 61 percent of board members surveyed had no succession plans in place. Are local nonprofits facing a leadership crisis and, if so, what can the foundation do to help?

I don’t think it’s a crisis. It’s the same generation change you’re seeing everywhere – baby boomers are getting older and we need to backfill. A lot of nonprofits have founders’ syndrome or long-term-executive-director syndrome, [when] passionate experts who have been [leaders] for 10-15 years decide to leave [and there’s no plan in place].

We’re training leaders through the Initiative for Nonprofit Excellence [but] organizations need to do what they can. The vast number of nonprofits are small, so it’s not like they have a clear No. 2 and a pecking order. We can help with training programs and initiatives around leadership, fundraising and finance – that’s the best we can do.

How will you define progress in Rhode Island in 2017?

It’s, how do we up our game? How do we take education opportunities to the next level? How do we make sure we’re starting to close the achievement gaps for English-language learners and kids who don’t have access to resources? How do we make sure chronic-disease management is reducing, so we can identify obesity or diabetes earlier? On economic security … how do we make sure people have access to the training programs they need, workforce development? How do we lift up and give opportunities to people who want them? •

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