Net Change Week 2010 – Robert Egger keynote from MaRS Discovery District on Vimeo.

My charity rocks, it’s a rooting tooting, awesome, knock em dead, rock and roll, sweet baby James of a charity. Maybe not his exact words, but Robert’s genuine passion, sincerity, pride, anger and commitment flowed through every word he uttered in his keynote.

I was guest blogging at the Net Change Week and was lucky enough to sit in on a speech that altered my view of the social benefit sector and has re-stocked my own passion for change in my community.

Robert Egger is the Founder and President of the DC Central Kitchen, the nation’s first “community kitchen”, where unemployed men and women learn marketable culinary skills while donated food is converted into balanced meals. Since opening in 1989, the DCCK has distributed over 20 million meals and helped 700 men and women gain full-time employment.

I think his message was a bit like the Matrix movie. Take the blue pill and continue believing that the non profit (he hates that term – as I do) sector is just fine. Take the red pill and see how the non profit sector has being convinced into believing that’s all it can be and should be, as after all, it’s the business world that really counts.

Robert told his story from start to the current moment. He put a challenge into the room. He implored us, as representatives of the non profit or 3^rd sector to wake up and stop accepting that it’s OK to continue as if it’s business as usual.

His presentation contained historical, sociological, political, cultural, demographic and economic references. He has done his homework well and armed with this awareness he put forth his challenge. Take the red pill and see the past for what it was and move forward with that awareness to build a true equitable and inclusive community were the weakest, most marginalized and forgotten people are brought in from the margins to fully participate in the community.

Here is a short list of semi quotes I quickly scratched out on my notepad – apologies in advance for my possible misinterpretation:

• Division between dot com and dot org is what keeps us apart. In reality it’s a foolish wall and nothing but a tax structure;
• Went to India and discovered that division kept the Indian people oppressed;
• We can no longer use the mantra “give back” We cannot ask this generation to give back as this generation is inculcated in giving back;
• We are on the verge of transformation away from grant cycle model;
• Demographics spell out that we have a generation that is in great need, our senior population;
• Face of hunger in America is a single mother –feeding people is not enough;
• Non profits have no say in local governments; We need to demand that our politicians present their vision for our sector’s role in the building community;
• The 3^rd sector (non profit) is susceptible to governments who sees us a charity
• Non profits have a vital role to play and politicians need to present a detailed plan to tap into the innovativeness and talents of it’s people.
• Politicians and the media are not informed and don’t make effective judgements about the non profit sectors;
• Let us (non profits) own our economic value; the general public wants what we want; we can use new media to express our position;
• We have a younger generation – completely bent towards doing good by merging work, spirit, leisure;
• How is that we have all this power and we don’t own it.
• The dot com model was designed to divide, but that was then ….we can now break open the model ; we are on the brink of  a powerful time and some of us won’t make it;
• Look to Britain and Estonia as effective models of bringing people from the margins into the centre;
• Women forced into the charity world; by the dot com world; they were put on a short leash and told to that they could “do their thing” for the poor.

Robert has helped me see my terrain in a new light. I’ve swallowed the red pill and I think I’ll put the pills in the muffins at my next community planning roundtable.  I look forward to having the video of Robert’s presentation so I can share it with my colleagues and networks in my my community of York Region.

Thanks NetChange for choosing Robert Eggers as a key note speaker.

Brent MacKinnon

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