Postcards from the Global Pro Bono Summit: Teresa Coles, CreateAthon

We’ve asked corporate and intermediary leaders who participated in Taproot Foundation’s Global Pro Bono Summit to share the insights that they took away from their experience.  This convening encouraged participants to develop a shared vision to make the talents and skills of the business community accessible to organizations working for our collective good. Our next postcard comes from Teresa Coles of CreateAthon.

Being generous has nothing to do with having a lot of money. Generosity isn’t 

It’s perhaps the greatest life lesson my father ever gave me. What matters most, he said, was being aware of the needs of people around us, responding to them with simple moments of grace, and putting the talents we have been given to help ease their plight.

I have carried this thought with me my whole life, and I know without question it has shaped my belief in pro bono. It came back to me in a new and different way when I had the privilege of attending Taproot Foundation’s Global Pro Bono Summit.

I found myself surrounded by people from all over the world who knew and believed in this thing; this notion that cash is not the sole currency of kindness. Rather, that contributing our professional talent and expertise might just help the world get to the bottom of some serious social issues.

So there I was; daughter of a gentleman farmer; interacting with emerging pro bono leaders from France, India, Japan, the Netherlands, and more, brainstorming on how we might move pro bono from a nice-to-do movement to a sustainable industry worldwide. And with them, pro bono evangelists in the US who work every day to connect skills-based volunteers and nonprofits in a way that can create meaningful change.

The energy in the room around pro bono was palpable, but what struck me even more was the sheer humanity of it all: that these people from disparate countries and cultures had come together to forge relationships around the idea of mobilizing professional skills for good. I saw it manifested in outstretched arms, clasped hands, swapped business cards, and the promise to connect and collaborate.

Then it struck me:

Doing good in the world has nothing to do with where you’re from.

What matters most is that ONE TRUE THING that binds our hearts and moves us forward.

I think Daddy would agree. 

With a heart for social good and a brain for marketing strategy, Teresa Coles combines the two to provide counsel to nonprofits around the country. She has been a lead strategist at Riggs Partners since 1992. Teresa’s additional reflections on the Global Summit can be found here.