Elevate AZ | April 2015

National Bank of Arizona

the

of y p o r h t n a s l i y a h p w g Z n A in surprisi surges

Power Lifters

Elevating the state to new heights

APRIL 2015

A Knock-Out Partnership

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Special thanks to The Duce in Phoenix for hosting our Celebrity Fight Night photo shoot + to R & R Surplus for providing wardrobe.

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in this issue

FEATURES

8

Power Lifters

Meet three Arizonans elevating the state to impressive heights

12

he State T of Giving

Arizona’s philanthropic bent is surging in surprising new ways

DEPARTMENTS

2

What's happening here

4

Shred of Hope

5

PUBLISHER National Bank of Arizona EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Mark Vance, mark.vance@nbarizona.com MANAGING EDITOR Amy Was, amy.was@nbarizona.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR, NB | AZ Nick Bradshaw, nick.bradshaw@nbarizona.com

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Michelle Jacoby, michelle@pb-jcreative.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR, PB+J CREATIVE Pamela Norman, pnormandesigns@me.com PRODUCTION MANAGER Chris Adams, cwadams@me.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Sally J. Clasen, Bruce Farr, Rebecca Rhoades, Susie Steckner PHOTOGRAPHER Mark Lipczynski, mark@marklipczynski.com

Elevate AZ magazine may contain trademarks or trade names owned by parties who are not affiliated with National Bank of Arizona, Zions Bancorporation, or its affiliates. Use of such marks does not imply any sponsorship by or affiliation with third parties, and National Bank of Arizona does not claim any ownership of or make representations about products and services offered under or associated with such marks. Articles are offered for informational purposes only and should not be construed as tax, legal, financial or business advice. Please contact a professional about your specific needs and advice. © 2015 National Bank of Arizona.® All rights reserved. Member FDIC. Elevate AZ magazine is printed on 100% postconsumer waste fiber and is manufactured with windpower.

@NB | AZ

and now at National Bank of Arizona.

AZ Works

Tempe nonprofit fosters empowerment through employment

trailblazers

Rise to the Top

K2 Adventures tests the limits while exploring the world

6

Grade AZ Shine On

7

Arts & Culture Raising the Barre

Phoenix charter school aims to transform K-12 education

Staying in step through community outreach programs

16

E xperience AZ A moment at the Yavapai County Courthouse in Prescott

NATIONAL BANK OF ARIZONA Corporate Center 6001 N. 24th St. Phoenix, AZ 85016 602-235-6000

ON THE COVER

PB+J CREATIVE content + photography + design 2040 S. Alma School Road, Suite 1-312 Chandler, AZ 85286 602-821-9164

As the sun sets on the Colorado River in Parker, a lone swimmer enjoys one last splash. Because of its proximity to the river, Parker is a popular destination for Arizona’s water adventurers.

Photo by Mark Lipczynski.

WELCOME

Rock Solid

ing of Arizona and its people. Whether it is education, affordable housing, community services, arts and culture, health and human services, neighborhood revitalization and stabilization, or economic development, the issues facing our state are real.

To support those addressing those issues, NB|AZ is proud to announce the formation of NB|AZ Charities. This is the next logical step in the evolution of NB|AZ as a community builder. But we’re not alone.

This issue of ElevateAZ is dedicated to all the “Power Lifters” in our state who, through their passion and dedication are creating a better future for our children.

These heroes are doing some of the heaviest lifting possible in both the nonprofit and for-profit segments of our economy. We celebrate their spirit of community building and encourage every Arizonan to follow their model.

Nick Bradshaw

NB|AZ has donated the Grand Canyon Experience to the City of Phoenix for use in the development of Margaret T. Hance Park.

FOR MORE THAN 30 years, National Bank of Arizona has been a part of communities across the state. We work to provide Arizonans and Arizona businesses with banking and financial services that help ignite the entrepreneurial spirit and fuel the backbone of a strong economy—small to mid-size business lending. It’s what we do.

We do, however, believe that our business is much less about building a portfolio and more about building a community.

Since our founding in 1984, much has changed. The nation has experienced thrilling victories and devastating losses.

Our state has weathered severe storms, both natural and manmade. But through it all, through great economic times and the Great Recession, one thing has remained the same—our commitment to Arizona.

Now, as we enter our next 30 years, NB|AZ is just as committed to the well be-

“The mission of NB|AZ Charities is to provide support and resources to nonprofit agencies that are dedicated to improving lives in Arizona.

NB|AZ Charities is a result of the history, evolution and heart of NB|AZ.”

TEAMWORK

Community Builders THE FACES SMILING back at

you from the corner of Jefferson and First streets in downtown Phoenix are those of the 2015 Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee staff. These are some of the people who, over the past two and a half years, have done all the heavy lifting to successfully bring Super Bowl XLIX and its thousands of fans and millions of dollars of business stimulation to Arizona.

NB|AZ was proud to serve as a partner with the Super Bowl Host Committee and worked very closely with the staff to bring the Grand Canyon Experience (pictured left) to Super Bowl Central to the delight of thousands of visitors to Phoenix

Keith Maio NB|AZ President

during Super Bowl week.

In fact, the staff from the host committee is pictured standing on the very spot that our rock climbing wall attraction transformed an empty parking lot into an iconic representation of Arizona’s Super Bowl success.

That success has a legacy, too!

NB|AZ and NB|AZ Charities has announced the donation of the custom built rock wall panels that comprised the Grand Canyon Experience to the City of Phoenix for use in the development of Margaret T. Hance Park. Serving as a gift to the citizens of Arizona to commemorate Super Bowl XLIX, the NB|AZ rock wall, will be operated by the Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department.

Pictured: (back row, left to right) Jamie Santiago John Hogg, Joe Hickey, Tina DeNicole, Brian Roberts, Kyle Hedstrom, John Bridger. (Front row, left to right) Dana Repp, Nan Ater, Devney Preuss, Jay Parry, Mackenzie Fitzgerald, Mandi Wimmer, Cheryl Kelly.

the power of four

Elevate AZ, an NB|AZ Publication

Elevate AZ | April 2015

corporate citizenship

fundraising

employee engagement

citizenship and employee engagement, NB|AZ Charities is concentrating on the critical issues facing Arizona and will bestow grants on a semi-annual basis beginning in 2016.

“What we are most excited about is the level to which our employees across the state will be involved in the grant process,” says Deborah Bateman, NB|AZ Vice Chairman. “A dedicated employee advisory group will provide recommendations and input to the grant committee. This aligns so closely with our core values and supports our already active community reinvestment initiatives.”

“Beyond the grant advisory role, our employees will be active year round and across the state,” adds Joy Antolini, NB|AZ Executive Vice President of Human Resources. “We take very seriously our commitment to corporate citizenship, and our employees will be participating in numerous charitable activities all under the umbrella of NB|AZ Charities. This includes an inaugural Statewide Volunteer Day on April 18, as well as volunteer efforts planned in virtually every community we serve.”

giving

FOCUSED ON THE four pillars of giving, fundraising, corporate

3

4

E shred of hope

WORKS

Tempe nonprofit fosters empowerment through employment

ds e r h s ASDD

0 0 6 er p , a p f 2 ons o t a year

ACH WORK DAY, the staff at ASDD Document Destruction in Tempe process upwards of 10 tons of paper. The documents, which come from individuals and businesses small and large throughout the state, are hand separated (white, mixed and garbage), shredded and then sent for recycling where they are turned back into consumer products such as paper towels, toilet paper and even drywall.

The giant bales of paper that line the floor of ASDD’s shredding room are imposing, while the constant roar of machinery and blur of activity from people and forklifts create a sense of industrial urgency. But while this busy operation—the fourth-largest shredding business in the state, and the official document shredder for the State of Arizona and the state division of the IRS—may at first appear to be a typical money-making venture, a closer look at its employees reveals a much more altruistic purpose.

ASDD is just one of the many programs of The Centers of Habilitation (TCH), a nonprofit organization whose goal is to provide services that support, care for and empower adults with developmental and physical disabilities.

Founded in 1967 by a group of parents with disabled children, TCH has over the years evolved into an organization with 13 group homes in the greater Phoenix area, three in Tucson, and onsite and community-based employment programs that provide paying jobs for more than 200 disabled individuals who live in those group homes with their families or on their own.

“Our mission is to find creative and innovative ways to provide hope and purpose to individuals with disabilities,” says Shana Ellis, president and CEO of TCH. “For a lot of people with developmental disabilities, if they weren’t in a day program or they weren’t employed, they’d be sitting home alone. And we know that with any population, being isolated has all sorts of dramatic effects on the psyche, on the body, on everything. We really contribute in a huge way to the quality of life of our employees and of those in a day programs.”

That quality of life is evident on the floors of the shredding room. Each training associate is provided a job that suits his or her physical abilities. Whether they’re simply separating white paper from colored paper (all employees work at their own pace; no demands or quotas are placed on them) or—for one associate who is blind—removing paper from books, or emptying recycling bins or stacking boxes of paper yet to be processed, each associate feels a sense of pride in his or her work—and in his or her own self. Smiles and self-confidence abound.

Elsewhere in the Tempe offices, other associates assemble Arizona Parent Kits that are provided to parents of newborns through First Things First, or packing and shipping custom shirts for Paper Clouds Apparel, among other jobs, all of which are paid positions.

High-functioning individuals can even gain employment in the community. Businesses such as Bashas’, Dave & Buster’s, Medtronic, Sunrise Preschools and St. Luke’s Medical Center contract with TCH and provide jobs for those able and willing to work outside of the TCH offices. TCH has also developed projects as part of the federal government’s AbilityOne Program, providing maintenance, food service operations, custodial management, and more at military bases throughout the state.

“The unemployment rate for people with disabilities is double what it is for a typical person, so the population is very hard to employ to begin with,” says Ellis. “Some of our associates have never had a job in their entire lives. These programs really provide a sense of purpose.”

ASDD provides shredding services to both businesses and individuals, and all of the income generated by the shredding business is used to fund TCH’s other programs and group homes.

Volunteers are also welcome, whether its an individual who wants to spend time reading to the associates or teaching them how to paint or a company that would like to adopt a group home and host dinners and holiday events. Rebecca Rhoades

ERS

An ascent to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro with a group of blind climbers inspired Kevin Cherilla and Kristen Sandquist to start K2 Adventures.

rise to the top

K2 Adventures tests the limits while exploring the world

S

UMMITING MOUNT Kili-

manjaro is an amazing accomplishment for even the most skilled athlete.

For international climbing expert Kevin Cherilla and nonprofit organizer Kristen Sandquist, a trip to the top with eight blind climbers in 2009 proved to be more than a just another notch in their proverbial climbing harness. It became an experience that altered their lives—and work—ever since.

Following that climb, and a visit to a local school for blind and albino children, Cherilla and Sandquist combined their skills and built what is now known as K2 Adventures Foundation, the goal of which is to care for individuals with disabilities and to provide them with resources

Going the Distance The K2 Adventures Foundation goes beyond borders to help people in different parts of the world.

Cusco, Peru

and adaptive equipment that oftentimes insurance companies cannot or will not furnish.

“Disability is a very broad statement,” says Sandquist. “It makes it easy for us to help everybody.”

From medical necessities such as wheelchairs and catheters, to custom-made equipment that allows disabled children and adults to explore the world beyond the confines of their wheelchairs, if it can be imagined, K2 will try to make it a reality.

For 7-year-old Hunter Pochop of California, spina bifida kept him pursuing his one dream: surfing. While specialized weighted boards that won’t flip over are available, the cost of one was prohibitive to Hunter’s family. Thanks to K2, he now has his own surfboard—and specialized surf lessons with famed therapy dog Surf dog Ricochet.

Disabled students at the CEBE Nuestra “Senora del Carmen” school have received wheelchairs and medical devices, as well as walkers, canes, clothing, computers and school supplies.

Then there’s Kyle Maynard.

The 28-year-old was born without arms and legs, but that didn’t stop him from becoming an accomplished athlete. When Maynard announced that he planned to ascend Mount Kilimanjaro, he reached out to K2 for assistance in developing equipment that would allow him to tackle the mountain without the aid of prosthetics.

“Kyle was the biggest challenge for us because we had never worked with anyone without arms and legs,” says Sandquist.

“When you’re dealing with someone who has no arms and no legs, and their goal is to get adaptive equipment, nobody wants to do it. There are custom fittings, but no insurance is going to cover it.

It’s considered a luxury item.”

K2 teamed with Phoenixbased Orthotics Specialists to create carbon graphite caps, or “shoes,” compete with Vibram soles that fit on the ends of Maynard’s arms and legs. Flagstaff manufacturer Kahtoola then designed crampons to fit the shoes. Both companies donated their time and equipment.

In January 2012, Maynard bear-crawled his way almost 20,000 feet to reach the summit,

The foundation has partnered with the High Altitude Mountain Workers Welfare Association, which helps workers minimize risks and provides assistance to those who have been injured or disabled because of their work.

Kathmandu, Nepal

the first quadruple amputee to complete the climb. Later that year, he was awarded an ESPY for his feat. Today, Maynard is not only one of the faces of K2 Adventures Foundation, he’s a member of its board.

One of the ways the foundation raises money is by offering guided expeditions to such extreme destinations as Tanzania, Peru and Nepal through its partner company K2 Adventure Travel. In addition to customized treks, each trip includes a few days of community service at one of three orphanages to which K2 provides services, equipment, medical and dental care, and monetary aid.

“To be told over and over again that you can’t do something because you’re in a wheelchair, that you can’t do that because you’re paralyzed, that you can’t do that because there’s no equipment for you, eventually you’re going to believe that you can’t do anything,” she adds. “We’re here to show you that you can. We can fix it.

We can make it work.” Rebecca Rhoades

Moshi, Tanzania

For the Mwereni Interated School for the Blind, the foundation has provided Braille writers, magnifiers, canes and a computer lab with 30 new computers. They have also organized a free medical and dental clinic.

Elevate AZ | April 2015

TRAILBL

5

StarShine Academy founder Trish McCartney (center) looks to change the way children are taught——mind, body and soul.

az

GRADE

Phoenix charter school aims to transform K-12 education

E

MPOWER. THINK. CREATE. DO. Sound like a

start-up venture? Guess again. Those are the concepts driving StarShine Academy, a public charter school in Phoenix started by corporate-world veteran Trish McCarty, who set out to transform K-12 education.

More than a decade later, StarShine boasts awards, participation in international peace programs and a great challenge ahead: a worldwide competition focused on the ambitious goal of creating a mobile application that helps people teach themselves basic math, reading and writing skills.

“Our mission is to eradicate illiteracy in Phoenix and then spread that to the rest of the world by using technology and brain science,” says the former banking executive. With an entrepreneurial spirit, she started StarShine Academy in 2002 following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Her goal was to change the way children are taught—mind, body and soul.

“I think that children are either taught how to hate or how to love, and 9/11 was an outcome of people who have been taught how to hate,” she says.

“I just thought, ‘We’ve got to teach children how to be powerful, how to love and how to be loved.’ ”

The newly-designed StarShine Academy, at 35th Avenue and McDowell Road, aims to fill critical needs in the community. The school serves students who are economically disadvantaged and struggle academically. Fewer than 400 kids attend the school and come from varied ethnic backgrounds.

McCarty says the StarShine model promotes empowerment and entrepreneurship, peace building and resilience, critical thinking and compassion.

Technology, as well as arts and culture, are woven throughout the school. The experience is rounded out with activities such as gardening or athletics.

Music plays an important role, led by McCarty’s song-writing, guitar-playing, rock-and-rolling husband Steve McCarty.

McCarty has grown her StarShine concept to include campuses in both Phoenix and Santa Fe, N.M. StarShine also provides educational and training materials to schools in other countries, and McCarty says she travels to schools around the world offering educational leadership training.

In the coming years, StarShine will be focusing on a global learning competition from nonprofit XPRIZE, which fosters high-profile competitions that encourage innovation and help solve “grand challenges” facing the world. The competition challenges teams around the world to develop open source and scalable software that enables children in developing countries to teach themselves basic reading, writing and math.

McCarty is thrilled to have StarShine students join the competition.

“What fun [it is] for kids to connect with other kids around the world,” she says. Susie Steckner

&CULTURE

ARTS

I

raising the barre

Ballet Arizona stays in step through community outreach programs

ballet by the numbers

35,000

Number of Valley residents Ballet Arizona’s community outreach programs touch

Elevate AZ, an NB|AZ Publication

7,000

Number of children that enjoy a free student matinee

15,000

Number of adults and children that attend a Ballet Under the Stars performance

$0

Ticket price for a Community Angel Night performance

Elevate AZ | April 2015

NTIMATE OUTDOOR PERFORMANCES. Imaginative matinees.

World premieres before an enthusiastic crowd. Ballet Arizona has been bringing all this and more to audiences since it began in 1985.

But the organization is also dedicated to reaching a much wider audience as part of its community outreach program.

“Ballet Arizona has a mission to teach, create and perform outstanding classical and contemporary ballet, and to serve our communities through superior educational and outreach programs,” says executive director David Thompkins. “At the core of [our outreach is] the idea that the quality of life in Arizona is enhanced by building community through dance.

“Because access to dance and ballet performance and training of the highest caliber can be limited by many factors, Ballet Arizona strives to make the joy of dance attainable for all, with our comprehensive community programs,” he continues.

Ballet Arizona’s outreach program has evolved over nearly three decades, beginning with matinee performances for schoolage children in 1988. Today, the wide-ranging program reaches more than 30,000 people each year with a variety of unique and engaging programs.

One of the most popular ways the ballet reaches out to the community is through performances, such as Ballet Under the Stars, which has been bringing free, family-friendly performances to outdoor public spaces around the Valley for 18 years.

Through Angel Nights, the company provides free tickets to children and families served by nonprofit organizations and from underserved schools. The company also offers pre-performance chats—giving ticket holders the opportunity to learn more about the ballet being performed—and student matinees that provide the opportunity for school children to attend a live performance as part of a field trip.

The ballet also engages the community through dance instruction programs. The Class Act program, for instance, pairs professional dancers with students as they create an all-new ballet from start to finish.

Ballet Arizona’s programs don’t stop there. This year, the company introduced two unique opportunities to reach even more children and adults. The Adaptive Dance program is designed for children ages 8 to 15 with Down syndrome who are interested in music, dance and self-expression. And through Dance for Parkinson’s Disease, participants enjoy a stimulating mental activity that connects mind to body, boosts flexibility, instills confidence and breaks isolation.

Ballet Arizona funds all of its outreach programs through the support of individual donors, foundations, corporations and government funding. This year’s outreach budget totals more than $500,000.

The benefit of this community investment is easily seen in the faces of enthusiastic audience members, particularly aspiring dancers. Ballet students in an after-school enrichment program serving the Osborn School District in Phoenix are proof of that. In many cases, those children have never attended live ballet, nor have parents who chaperone field trips to performances, says Camden Lloyd, a ballet instructor who oversees the enrichment program.

“For ballet program participants, such enrichments are invaluable in encouraging their own efforts and perseverance,” he says. Susie Steckner

7

8

Meet three Arizonans elevating the state to impressive heights

POWER LIFTERS Some people casually invest in the human condition by donating their time, money or influence to elevate their fellow citizens. Others shoulder a bigger responsibility, committing themselves in profound ways to affect change.

These are the power lifters, an elite class of civic “athletes� who help raise our community to new heights. Here, we profile a few: STORY Sally J. Clasen PORTRAITS Mark Lipczynski

As chancellor of Maricopa Community Colleges, Dr. Rufus Glasper is the strength behind one of the largest community college systems in the country.

DR. RUFUS GLASPER

Chancellor, Maricopa Community Colleges The potential to lose more state funding doesn’t rattle a trained numbers guy like Rufus Glasper, Ph.D., CPA, CGFM, chancellor of Maricopa Community Colleges (MCC). As the chief executive officer of one of the largest community college systems in the U.S. for the last 13 years, he’s fixed on the educational big picture.

“I manage and maintain a view of the whole, and make sure we maintain partnerships and a seamless transition across the P20 continuum,” says Dr. Glasper, who prior to being chancellor was executive vice chancellor for human resources and administration, and vice chancellor for business services/CFO at MCC.

9

10 That’s a monumental task given that MCC serves 262,000 credit and non-credit students in 700 degree programs across 11 colleges. Helping MCC students effectively transfer to state universities and private colleges is a passion of Dr. Glasper’s, who served from 2005 to 2009 as co-chair of the P-20 Council, a collaborative K12-gradauate school initiative to develop a sustainable statewide system of quality education and support that enhances delivery and value in the education pipeline.

And based on MCC numbers, the student-success approach is working. Approximately 13,000 MCC students have participated in partnerships that allow for a smooth transition into bachelor programs.

“It saves parents and students money, and students stay on track,” he says.

Glasper, who serves on many national boards to advance higher education goals, also is determined to extinguish the negative “junior college” perception by branding MCC in a different light.

“I want people to think of MCC as a compre-

hensive community college system with an important role in building economic strength,” he says.

“We’re the largest provider of workforce training in the state and have been the answer to the recession. We’re helping to rebuild economy by putting people to work.”

MCC also remains invested in economic development and entrepreneurial endeavors through the Maricopa Small Business Development Center Network, Arizona’s largest and most accessible statewide resource for small businesses.

In 2014, it bolstered that commitment with the launch of the Maricopa Corporate College at GateWay Community College, which provides customized technical training to local employers.

A division of the corporate college is the Center for Entrepreneurial Innovation, an 18,000-square-foot, mixed-used incubator for startups including those in biotech and manufacturing.

“We need to find sustainable funding sources,” says Dr. Glasper. “This helps us look and act more like a business.”

HOPE OZER

Chair Emeritus, Valley Youth Theatre

A true power lifter (she's won medals for competitive power lifting), Hope Ozer built Valley Youth Theatre from a fledgling production group to one of the country's premiere youth arts programs.

The last time Hope Ozer performed on stage was as the lead in her high school production of “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.” Her acting career was short-lived, but it didn’t stop Ozer’s passion for theatre—or for becoming one of the biggest supporters of the arts in Arizona.

In 1989, when her young daughter was performing in a local fledgling production group called Valley Youth Theatre (VYT), it didn’t have a permanent home, a board or a budget. Ozer made some suggestions and was eventually running the show.

As a volunteer, she built stages, sent letters to everyone she knew and “accosted strangers in the supermarket checkout line” to drum up money and interest in the youth theatre. Eventually, Ozer helped secure a facility, a board and staff for VYT, all while recovering from breast cancer.

“I tend to be a rescuer. I find a need and I fill it,” says Ozer, whose eclectic background includes finance, marketing and public relations.

Today, VYT is recognized as one of the premiere youth arts programs in the country, launching many famous hometown careers, among them Emma Stone and Jordin Sparks. With VYT in sound shape, Ozer embraced a new challenge in 2002 and became the founder and publisher of the free, local community newspaper TheTatumSunTimes, now the CITYSunTimes. She knew nothing about publishing, yet had a successful 12-year run.

Though she sold the newspaper in 2013, she continues to be involved as publisher emeritus and writes a regular column called “Musings of a Distractible Mind.”

While the newspaper was a 24/7 venture, the irrepressible philanthropist had time to pursue competitive power lifting, winning medals at age 64.

Ozer still lifts for strength, sits on several boards, runs a consulting business for small businesses and nonprofits, and makes frequent trips to NYC to visit her granddaughter, who just happens to love the theatre.

And, as chair emeritus of VYT, she is still asking people for money as the organization’s No. 1 fan and fundraiser.

“I have a strong belief in the value of theatre and am dedicated to the development of youth— whether it’s on stage, in the audience or behind the curtain,” says Ozer. “Children come out of VYT with a sense of self and are better prepared, no matter what they choose to be in life.”

NB|AZ CHARITIES WILL ACCEPT PROPOSALS THAT BENEFIT AND SUPPORT:

1 Affordable Housing

2 Economic

Development

3 Arts and Culture

4 Education 5 Community Services

6 Health/

Human Services

7 Neighborhood Stabilization

EDMUNDO HIDALGO

CEO & President, Chicanos Por La Causa Inc. When you get a 30-minute notice that the President of the United States wants to visit one of your community projects, the commander-in-chief’s only local stop, you clear your calendar.

“It was a highlight,” says Edmundo Hidalgo, CEO of Chicanos Por La Causa Inc. (CPLC), of Barack Obama’s request to visit Nuevo Villas, CPLC’s affordable housing development in south Phoenix in January. The presidential attention is no coincidence: CPLC is the lead applicant in a national consortium of high-capacity, nonprofit affordable housing developers awarded a federal grant to revitalize 15 urban and rural markets in eight states.

CPLC, which started 42 years ago to address Latino needs, now serves disadvantaged citizens regardless of ethnic origin through education, economic development, housing, and integrated

health and human services programs. Under Hidalgo’s leadership the regional community development corporation has experienced doubledigit growth in the last eight years.

A native of San Luis, Ariz., Hidalgo started as an intern at CPLC then left to pursue a career in banking. He returned to the nonprofit agency as the chief financial officer before becoming the CEO in 2008.

“We look at ourselves as a small business,” he says of the 700 employees that address social and economic issues in urban and rural areas. “We try to match problems with community opportunities.

Our key to success is establishing networks and referring to others who can help. The ultimate goal is to work ourselves out of a job. ” Solving complex community issues, however, goes beyond a calendar date, according to Hidalgo.

“We’re invested in a long-term relationship with the community. It’s a triple bottom-line: Chicanos

NBAZCHARITIES.ORG

Por La Causa, our partners and those we serve,” he says. An ability to connect need with resources in that equation has earned Hidalgo, who sits on several boards and commissions, tremendous recognition including being named as one of 25 Most Influential Minority Business Leaders in 2014

by AZ Business magazine.

With a finance background, it took time for Hidalgo to feel comfortable with his role and title, especially the need to balance the emotions associated with providing assistance to low-income and under-served citizens.

“I had to learn an extra strategy working at CPLC,” he says. “We tend to fall in love with the enterprises and programs that we create. We’re fixers but we also need discipline to know that some things don’t work out.”

Elevate AZ | April 2015

Once an intern with Chicanos Por La Causa, CEO Edmundo Hidalgo oversees the organization's work, which has been serving disadvantaged Arizonans for 42 years.

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Arizona’s philanthropic bent is surging in surprising new ways.

the state of giving despite the economic peaks and valleys we’ve experienced over the past several years, it’s reassuring to know that charitable giving in the U.S. remains a part of the bedrock of our country’s character. In fact, in 2013, individuals, corporations, foundations and bequests totaled $335.17 billion, up 4.4 percent from 2012, according to The Wall Street Journal.

What has changed significantly is the nature of our philanthropy, namely how we choose to give.

Historically, charitable support in Arizona (as in most other states) involved a straightforward transaction: a company or individual found a charity or cause that they liked, opened their checkbook and filled in a dollar amount. But that’s no longer the case.

Today, Arizonans are discovering creative new approaches to reach their philanthropic goals. New ideas and tactics for supporting charities, nonprofits, foundations and other similar entities are changing the “giving” landscape and the results are promising.

The Ethical Corporation

To raise anew a highly publicized maxim of the last presidential campaign, corporations may indeed not be people, but, fortunately for us, they can mirror some of the best qualities of humans: integrity, humanity, generosity. By all observations, CopperPoint Mutual Insurance Company in Phoenix is doing just that.

Founded in 1925, CopperPoint calls itself “Arizona’s premier provider of workers compensation insurance.” But almost more important than the good work the company does to advance the cause and culture of workplace safety, CopperPoint is serving as a model of active corporate responsibility. Over the past decade and a half, it’s been praised as much for the support work that it and its employees are doing in Arizona communities as it has for its leadership in the insurance business.

CopperPoint’s rationale is forthright.

“We believe that corporate responsibility requires active engagement in the communities the company

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BruceFarr

serves,” says Rick DeGraw, the company’s executive vice president and chief administrative officer.

Fifteen years ago, DeGraw explains, when the CopperPoint leadership decided to operate as a private entity and no longer remain under the umbrella of state governance, they reckoned that highly visible community involvement could help them along that path. Since then, working through sponsorships, economic development and employee volunteerism, CopperPoint has become a model of active corporate responsibility and the good that it can engender.

The company’s employees’ generosity stretches well beyond its doors and into the heart of the Phoenix metro area and further. Of its 327 current employees, 288 of them are involved in the community, and more than 70 percent are active participants in the United Way. The company funds the largest Big Brothers & Big Sisters school-based program in Arizona, and 29 of its employees see their young “brother” or “sister” at least once a week at an inner-city elementary school.

In 2013, 64 percent of the CopperPoint workforce recorded more than 5,100 hours of service to nonprofits, schools and community agencies across the state. Meanwhile, 21 CopperPoint executives sit on the boards of 54 Arizona nonprofits.

“What we found,” says DeGraw, “is that not only did we as a company enjoy being engaged in the community, but our employees loved the company better because of the opportunities they were given to participate in the community. That, to us, was good business.”

CopperPoint employees’ volunteer work is as diverse as it is meaningful. They roll up their sleeves to cook dinner for families, they mentor students and sort food for the hungry. They walk to raise money and awareness, shop for school supplies for underprivileged kids, and bag goodies for charity events. They even serve as foster families for homeless dogs and cats.

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Pamela Norman

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“We don’t make grants.

We develop partnerships.”

As DeGraw points out about his company’s policy, “We don’t make grants. We develop partnerships.”

Community partnerships like CopperPoint’s often reflect very quiet incidents of support that, taken in sum, have a meaningful and lasting impact on the city and its residents. DeGraw relates a story about how, not long ago, CopperPoint supported the first mariachi opera ever performed in the United States.

“One of the students, a 15-year-old boy who had never seen an opera before, later asked his teacher, ‘Why did that make me cry?’” DeGraw says. “That kind of breakthrough—that art is a part of the larger community and can have an impact on you personally—that’s a big deal, and so we strive to use our company dollars to expand the reach of nonprofits, art and culture into parts of our community that wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity.”

Donor-Guided Giving

Companies like CopperPoint that, in addition to offering financial support, are encouraging and empowering their employees to play a more direct role in supporting nonprofits and other causes are becoming more prevalent. It’s one facet of a growing trend called “donor-guided or “donoradvised” contributions, in which companies and individuals are helping to steer where and how their financial endowments are actually being directed.

The practice is being widely embraced. But, according to Carolyn Sechler, a Phoenix-based independent CPA who works exclusively with nonprofits, it has to be administered carefully and under the right conditions. As she points out, financial donors who try and dictate precisely where and in what manner their money is being used can sometimes create problems both for themselves and for the receiving organizations.

“People who feel as though their dollars should directly go to support a certain child, for example, haven’t run a business before,” she says. “They don’t understand how much administration and development it takes to support an organization that can deliver on their promise to a community.”

And those on the receiving end of donor-guided funds can run into other difficulties, Sechler says.

“Larger organizations have the ability and wherewithal to handle [donor-guided programs], but smaller ones often find themselves in a position where they have a lot of donor-advised money [that is targeted for specific uses] and then find themselves lacking the funds to run the back office.”

Sechler does point out, however, that the growing practice is proving to be successful under the right conditions.

“It’s definitely an opportunity for organizations— especially larger ones—to identify alternative ways to attract dollars to their programs. But you just have to be really careful,” she cautions.

‘The Power of Many’

One large organization that is having great success with donor-directed giving is Phoenix Children’s Hospital (PCH).

Dana Jirauch, director of annual leadership giving for the hospital’s foundation, oversees all of PCH’s annual giving programs. Eleven years ago, the foundation launched its Phoenix Children’s Hospital Leadership Circle to offer hospital donors a more direct means of getting involved with the hospital and its mission to treat and heal young patients. Each year, through a highly competitive grant process, Phoenix Children’s Hospital physicians, researchers and administrators meet with Leadership Circle members to make a case for support of their particular programs or equipment. At an annual spring luncheon, Circle members vote to determine how their funds will be prioritized and allocated throughout the hospital.

“In this process, we’re actually pooling all these member/donor funds…and then all the members have the opportunity to rank them and vote where they want their money to go,” Jirauch explains.

“We call it ‘the power of many,’ because all of these individuals come together and they have a voice as to where their funds get allocated.”

The funds typically go to innovative research, programs or projects that otherwise wouldn’t fall under the normal scope of funding through the hospital’s more conventional channels, Jirauch explains.

Last year, the Leadership Circle voted on and funded a three-dimensional heart printer, a device that enables physicians to “print” an exact 3-D replica of a child’s heart or other organs. Surgeons then use the replica to help them describe and discuss their young patients’ conditions with parents.

In years past, other funded projects included bedside sleepers, which have enabled parents to remain in their childrens’ hospital rooms overnight, and a “cooling cap” therapeutic device that aids oxygen-deprived premature babies.

The Leadership Circle has grown significantly since its inception. On average, the Circle can claim 235 members who have raised more than $2.8 million in funds over the past decade.

“The critical thing—what makes this program unique—is that 100 percent of these donations are going directly to support the grants that we’re funding,” Jirauch points out.

Putting Arizona First

Some Arizona-based giving organizations, like the Arizona Community Foundation, exist almost exclusively to help grow, guide and direct their clients’ philanthropic donations.

Megan Brownell, the ACF’s chief business development and brand officer, says that her company facilitates charitable giving for individuals, families and businesses.

“We steward their assets, professionally managing them for growth and growth strategies that the donors can choose from depending on their goals,” she says.

Using a portion of the donors’ investment returns, ACF makes grants on their behalf. Like other organizations of its kinds, ACF offers its donors different levels of involvement in helping to guide their philanthropic contributions.

“It’s all the way from no involvement, which is when they just turn over the fund to us and let us run it, to remaining directly involved, as with a donor-advised fund, where they’re personally recommending the ongoing grants from the fund and we’re performing the due diligence to ensure that the grant recipients are viable and in good standing,” Brownell explains.

The investment earnings on the ACF’s endowments are significant, amounting to millions of dollars that each year get awarded in grants and scholarships to nonprofit organizations, government agencies and educational institutions.

At present, the ACF is controlling more than half a billion dollars and over 1,400 individual funds.

Since 1978, it has doled out more than $500 million in grants.

The grants that ACF administers offer a pure example of how directly the ACF philanthropic funds are serving to advance and enrich Arizona and the lives of its residents. Grants are made in five critical areas of the state’s ongoing strategic growth and development. They include: quality education, arts and culture, community improvement and development, environment and sustainability, and health innovations. In the arts category, for instance, the ACF is funding the Arizona Cultural Data Project, a Webbased collection tool designed to collect and disseminate a variety of data to help organizations work more effectively. And in Community Improvement and Development, the ACF is helping to create more affordable housing and support veterans and their welfare.

Like the Phoenix Children’s Hospital has discovered, donor-directed funds have found a receptive home at the ACF. “Donor-advised funds are really popular vehicles,” Brownell says. “Our donors want to make more than a donation—they want to make a difference. So they remain engaged in how their charitable dollars are used in the community, and the donor-advised funds provide a really nice option for that.

“We really enjoy having active donors who are engaged with the fund. The ACF is 37 years old, so a lot of our donors are still living, and there are many creative and exciting things that are donors are interested in doing. Our job is really to be their partner, and help them do precisely that.”

Phoenix Children's Hospital, CopperPoint, Phoenix Art Museum, Ballet Arizona

— Rick DeGraw, executive vice president & chief administrative officer, CopperPoint

wThanks ho tobenefits. donor-guided giving,

nonprofit organizations all over Arizona can meet the needs of the communities they serve. From medical advances, to children's programs, to arts initiatives, these organizations work to improve the lives of people every day.

To see how your donations are being used, visit CharityNavigator.org.

This free site rates charities based on accountability, transparency and financial performance.

Prescott

YAVAPI COUNTY COURTHOUSE

Like courthouses across America, the Yavapai County Courthouse epitomizes a true sense of place. It is where the community can gather to learn news of the day, connect with their neighbors, and celebrate their right of freedom of expression.

Photo by Mark Lipczynski

Elevate AZ, an NB|AZ Publication

Elevate AZ | April 2015

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WE SEEK TO PROVIDE SUPPORT AND RESOURCES TO NON-PROFIT AGENCIES THAT ARE DEDICATED TO IMPROVING LIVES IN ARIZONA.