Transcript Episode 172 – Creating Collaborative Environments for Social Change with Topher Wilkins on The Prosperous Nonprofit

[00:00:00] Stephanie Skryzowski: Welcome to the prosperous nonprofit, the podcast for leaders who are building financially sustainable and impactful nonprofits and changing the world. I’m Stephanie Skrzewski, a chief financial officer and founder and CEO of 100 degrees consulting. My personal mission is to empower leaders to better understand their numbers, to grow their impact and their income.

On this show, we talk to people who are leading the nonprofit sector in new ways. Innovative, disruptive, and entrepreneurial ways creating organizations that fuel their lives, their hearts, and their communities. Let’s dive in.

Hey everybody, welcome back to The Prosperous Nonprofit. Thank you so much for being here. I am really, really excited for you to listen to today’s episode. I have Topher Wilkins on The show with me today, he is the CEO of [00:01:00] Opportunity Collaboration and Opportunity Collaboration or OC as we talk about it is a global network of leaders dedicated to building sustainable solutions to poverty and injustice.

So it is a community and it is a conference. It’s a three day summit that is held in the Caribbean every single year where almost 400 people from 40 to 50 different countries come together to meet, to connect, to network, to have really important conversations, to forge alliances and advance social impact initiatives.

It’s an unconference. It’s not your typical sit in a fluorescently lit gray conference room with no windows and listen to experts. Super collaborative. It’s a community and I got to go last year for the first time and it was unlike any other conference experience I have ever been to. So let me tell you a little bit about Topher.

Topher has been hosting people in collaborative [00:02:00] environments for the purposes of social change for two decades. And I love that he shares his origin story around building community that starts even before those two decades. It goes all the way back to his childhood. So I’m gonna let him tell the story, but it’s a good one.

In terms of his career, he started out, um, as a teacher and, you know, thinking that that that was his path to building community and, and being in community with people, but through a winding journey, as all of our journeys are, he landed with Opportunity Collaboration, um, OC, building this global community of leaders working to create positive change.

So his purpose is to convene and connect. Nonprofit leaders, for profit social entrepreneurs, grant makers, impact investors, and all other agents of positive change building the ecosystem for the social sector and creating greater opportunities for international, social, and economic justice. And you know that we spend a lot of time on this show [00:03:00] talking about how leaders are working in new, innovative, disruptive, or entrepreneurial ways in the nonprofit sector.

And I think that OC is the epitome of disruption and innovation. So we talk a lot about OC’s unconference model and the way that it is intentionally created to build genuine, lasting connections. And I can, I am like a testament to that. I get frequent messages on WhatsApp from people that I met at the conference last year.

Um, I keep calling it a conference. It’s really an experience, but I think about one of the most impactful conversations I had was bobbing in the beautiful Caribbean sea in the waves, talking to somebody for over an hour, just, you know, sort of floating around in the water and talking about really important things.

It’s just an incredible experience the way that they facilitate that. And what’s really interesting to me is how they facilitate this, um, spirit of community, but at scale. This is [00:04:00] not an event with 40 or 50 people. This is an event with over 400 people from 40 to 50 different countries. And it still feels like such an intimate experience where you can create really meaningful connections with people.

So, um, This is a beautiful conversation. Topher and his team, Opportunity Collaboration, are really doing things right and creating this amazing network. And I asked him to share some of the impact stories of like, what has happened as a result of all of this. And he has some really good stories. So stay tuned.

You have to listen all the way to the end to hear the impact of his work and of the organization and of the event. So without further ado, let’s go talk to Topher.

Hey everybody, welcome back to the prosperous nonprofit. I’m really excited to be here today with Topher. Topher Wilkins who runs [00:05:00] opportunity collaboration, and I can’t wait for y’all to hear exactly what OC is and the impact that it has. And I I’m sure I’m going to be singing its praises through this whole episode, but Topher welcome.

I’m so excited to chat with you today. 

[00:05:14] Topher Wilkins: Thank you, Stephanie. It’s absolutely a pleasure to be here.  [00:05:17] Stephanie Skryzowski: Awesome. Well, let’s start with, let’s start with talking about your journey. I would love to hear a little bit about your work and what the path has looked like to bring you to what you’re doing today. I know you’ve been hosting people in collaborative environments for the purposes of social change for two decades.

And so talk to us, tell us about what that journey has looked like. 

[00:05:39] Topher Wilkins: Yeah, great. Thanks, Stephanie. Actually, um, it starts with my mom. So, um, So I grew up in a small New England college town, uh, Hanover, New Hampshire. And he actually was born in Middlebury, Vermont, but, uh, for those of you who know, so there’s Middlebury college in Middlebury, Vermont, and then there’s [00:06:00] Dartmouth and, and Harris.

So you’d expect, uh, either one or both of my parents to be academics. Neither were, but my mom was a teacher, uh, nonetheless. So she was actually a teacher at my elementary school. Um, and also at my middle school. Um, Uh, she was mostly an English teacher. She also taught sex ed, which is always, 

[00:06:21] Stephanie Skryzowski: Oh my gosh. I was going to ask in middle school, did you love that?

Or did you hate that until you said sex ed? And I’m like, I can’t imagine you loving that. 

[00:06:29] Topher Wilkins: Also, here’s the thing. I mean, obviously totally awkward and embarrassing at some level, but also. The reason why a lot of my professional asks or links back to mom is that he was an incredible builder of community.

Um, so she, she was almost like a second mother to a lot of my peers. Um, and she started like the first all women’s soccer league, uh, in that area. And she was like a prolific, uh, ceramicist and built a lot of community [00:07:00] there. Um, so she was just constantly out there in the world, forging, forging connections for people, um, and really holding that space for.

For community to arise where there wasn’t community in the first place. So building off of her legacy, I got involved in this world of, of convening for impact, um, shortly after earning my master’s in experiential education. So actually in undergrad and shortly after, after, after undergrad, I kind of thought I was going to be a teacher just like my mom.

And I wanted to start a school specifically in the world of alternative pedagogy and sort of curriculum approaches. In other words, I had an experience in undergrad where I was able to go to the east coast of Africa for about three or four months, um, on this incredibly immersive experience. And it was then and there that I realized I was an experiential learner and this is when I was 20 years old, by the way, a little late in the game, but that also there are, there [00:08:00] must be plenty of other people who would prefer to learn this way as opposed to the four walls of the classroom.

So got my master’s in experiential ed. I taught at Montessori schools for a while. Yeah. Then shortly after my master’s, um, that’s when my wife and I got involved in the world of social entrepreneurship and specifically creating communities. So we started an organization in Boulder, Colorado called the Highland City Club.

Um, still around today, uh, there was a business model behind it, which was a coworking virtual office business model. So for the 200 folks who are quote members of the club, they could use the facilities to have meetings, um, you know, check wifi, get a free cup of coffee, that kind of thing. Uh, but importantly, we were hosting a ton of events for these folks, like different types of social and civic and educational events, um, all the way from like private box to large, like community wide, um, receptions to, you know, setting up different, like speaker series throughout, throughout the city of Boulder.

So we were really [00:09:00] rolling up our sleeves. This is, this is again, about 20 years ago, looking at the power of. Meaning and community creation as a tool for for leveraging impact. A lot of the folks who are who are members of the organization and active engaged were Folks that you and I interact with on a consistent basis, steps of people who run foundations or nonprofits or for profits, social enterprises, et cetera.

So it was really building from that experience of creating this type of organization of Boulder that we got involved in opportunity and collaboration. There’s a little bit of twists and turns there around moving to Mexico for about eight months when our first kiddo was born and then coming back to the Southwest corner of Colorado and running a super high end all inclusive luxury resort for about a year and a half.

Which also lent well to opportune collaboration since we hosted an all inclusive resort on the Pacific coast of Mexico, usually, but a lot of my path revolves around this idea that, um, Just like my mom, I saw [00:10:00] myself in this role of like community builder from a very early age. 

[00:10:04] Stephanie Skryzowski: That’s amazing. And I love that that theme sort of weaves through your entire journey, even though it’s looked differently along the way.

And I feel like probably all of us have that to some degree, there’s some sort of like deep underlying theme that sort of weaves everything together. How do you go about like Understanding what people need, you know, so you are, you’re really good at bringing people together in an environment where people feel welcome and feel like this is home.

This is where I need to be. How do you create that? How do you understand what people need and then shape a community around that? 

[00:10:44] Topher Wilkins: Yeah, I mean, I wish, I wish it was like an easy,  [00:10:48] Stephanie Skryzowski: easy answer, yeah,  [00:10:51] Topher Wilkins: plug and play. Uh, I usually just leave it up to AI, honestly, just kidding. Um, so, so, I mean, [00:11:00] and the real answer there is, um, I go out of my way in the context of OC, I go out of my way to try and connect with virtually everyone who’s coming to the event one on one before we, before we arrive at the event itself.

Um, for example, I had a call this morning with A woman in Burundi who is working with recycling organic and plastic and glass waste to create organic fertilizer and also like building materials out of the recycled plastic and glass, and then she’s working with the community to ensure that they’re using less of these.

I may have chosen the front end, but also working with smaller farmers to understand how they might use organic fertilizer versus the typical chemical fertilizer and boost their crop yields and boost their livelihood as a result. Um, this one’s coming to OC. It’s, you know, we’re having this call and so I’m asking her a lot of questions around what’s the work she’s doing, what’s the impact she’s trying to have.

And in most cases, the most important question I ask folks like this is who are the people you [00:12:00] really want to be interacting with, given the fact that we have all these amazing people coming from all around the world to opportune collaboration. And then based on that information, specifically around like the different types of people or categories of folks that.

That people want to be meeting in the context of attending the event. That’s when we can start to really curate the community building and and start to weave that web of connectivity for each and every attendee. So I mean, the simplest form of that answer is definitely it’s a it’s a listening tour. You know, it’s a function of making sure that I understand as granularly as possible, but each and every person is hoping to get it to be in there.

[00:12:39] Stephanie Skryzowski: Yeah. So actually I’m going to say something and then I went back up and I want you to tell us exactly what OC is, but I was sort of blown away when I went to register for, um, for OC last year, 2023 was my first year. And you’re like, okay, you’re registered. Here’s my calendar link to schedule a call. I’m like, Wait, what we’re talking like before [00:13:00] the event, you’re going to know who I am, because that’s not typical.

And it’s not like this is, you know, a small event of 30 people. There’s hundreds of people from all over the world that, that come together. And so the fact that you take the time to. To speak with everyone one on one, I think just makes the experience. Um, so incredible. Do you find that you’re a natural, um, are you a natural connector or do you have like a really good database or spreadsheet or something that you’re using, or does this, or, or maybe both, does it come natural?

I feel like it’s got to come naturally to you. 

[00:13:33] Topher Wilkins: I mean, Like I think one of the biggest superpowers that I was gifted through, um, my mom and my dad was the ability to remember everyone’s name most of the time and and then and then like a few key details. So yeah, there’s some, I don’t know. There’s some gift that I have, I guess, when it comes to connecting people, um, simply by Remembering and internalizing who they are and a little [00:14:00] bit about each and every one of them.

And I will also add that I use LinkedIn like every single day, almost every single hour of every single day that I’m awake. It’s for me, it’s the most useful tool or platform that I’ve ever found. Uh, that allows me to see especially like common connections with other folks and also search to find the types of people I’m looking for and reach out to people who haven’t met yet.

I mean, it’s I’m not even like a premium user. I just I just use it. all the time. 

[00:14:34] Stephanie Skryzowski: Yeah, I love that answer. There’s a bit of a natural gift, um, which I absolutely love. I, I wish I had that gift. For me, it comes with a bit more work and I love that there’s the like, for those of us that maybe it’s not a natural gift, it’s the strategy is LinkedIn.

Spend some time on LinkedIn. Yeah, I love that. I’m always just amazed where, you know, you’re having a conversation with someone and you bring something up and they’re like, [00:15:00] Oh, I know exactly the person you have to meet. Their name is blah, blah, blah. Here’s what, where they live. Here’s their company name.

Let me send you their phone number. And I’m like, wait a second. It would take me like two weeks to figure out who is that person again. So I love that you’re just. You’re in the perfect role. Let’s back up. Cause I want our listeners to hear about what opportunity collaboration is. So can you tell us, um, tell us what is OC?

[00:15:25] Topher Wilkins: The biggest sort of tagline here is Stephanie is OC is a global community of people who are building sustainable solutions to poverty. Yeah. But that, but that sink in it’s a global community of people building sustainable solutions to poverty. Um, now there’s a few layers, uh, sort of underneath that. Um, the first layer is where this wacky unconference that we host every year, uh, for these leaders on, uh, you know, on the beach somewhere in the Caribbean historically.

Um, and this is, this is worth [00:16:00] a little bit more explanation. So, uh, Most conferences, you know, you show up, like you said, you register. There’s very little sort of like, uh, outreach on behalf of the organizers. Maybe you get an email of like here, you know, show up at this time, get your name tag, and here’s the first opening plenary, um, and then it’s a lot of sitting in rows of chairs typically like staring at the quote unquote experts up on the stage and you.

And then uh, and then you’ll have an opportunity to like interact with folks the other during like the reception or the coffee breaks in between those panels or plenaries or keynotes, uh, and then like if Yeah, if you’re like me You’ll go back to your hotel room somewhat exhausted at the end of the day not really understanding what that was all for um, so, you know, that’s a Relatively cynical view of the of a very standard sort of top down boring and dare I say like ineffective conference model Uh oc by contrast is entirely rooted in this notion that [00:17:00] we we go to these events Not to necessarily learn from the quote unquote experts or like gain inspiration Um, but instead to actually connect with each other and to find those relationships Um, and so, and so we’ve built the entire convening model around this premise that it’s, it’s connection over content, whereas most conferences will, will prioritize the content over the connection.

Um, now I can get into the weeds there, Stephanie, around how that shows up, how that works. I mean, you probably have your own version of, of that experience that you could share with listeners, um, but let’s just leave it at this for now. It’s a very different way of interacting. With people and so so we convene this global community of of people building sustainable solutions to poverty every year with this unconference approach and that’s That’s been the basis of OC ever since its inception in 2000.[00:18:00] 

[00:18:00] Stephanie Skryzowski: Yeah, I, I love that. And when you explained this to me last year, before I went to OC, I went because a friend of mine, and then I looked at the list of attendees and I saw like, At least 15 or 20 people that I knew, but I went on the recommendation of a friend and I really had no idea what to expect. And for somebody like me, who is an introvert, sometimes a conference, there’s good and bad of like a typical conference.

The good part is I can just blend into the background. Um, I don’t have to talk to anybody and I can just remain sort of unseen and just like be there. Um, but on the flip side, as an introvert, it’s really hard to meet people, um, and have those genuine conversations at a conference where everybody is just, it almost feels like sort of a hustle during the breaks to, to meet people and network.

And it just. Doesn’t feel like super aligned for someone like me. Who’s like, I’m not a hustler. I’m not going to go like into a group of people and stick my hand in the [00:19:00] center and say, hi, I’m Stefan. Just join a conversation. And OC, you almost have to connect, but like in a good way. And so I was a little intimidated, a little bit nervous, like, okay, well, I’m sort of forced to participate in a way that I never have before at a conference, but.

What happens is that it’s actually beautiful for somebody who’s an introvert because you have opportunities to form deeper connections and have, you know, more meaningful conversations, which is, I would rather have three meaningful conversations than get 30 business cards. Like that doesn’t do anything for me.

So I think the way that you facilitate the sort of meaningful connection piece is unlike any other type of event of that number of people. That I have ever been to. And I just remember walking away on that last day being like so sad that, that I had to go. I’m like, I feel like I’ve just started my friendships with these people.

I need another three days at least. So it’s [00:20:00] really phenomenal. And you know, I think it feels, it feels very different and I, it sounds like that was very intentional. 

[00:20:07] Topher Wilkins: Yeah, for sure. No, actually our, our founder. So, uh, to be clear for the listeners, I’ve been the CEO for a long time, but I’m not, not the founder of this organization.

Our founder is this gentleman named Jonathan. And he had a big background in the world of micro finance and micro lending. And he built a global network of folks who were similarly involved in like economic development, social justice work through initially his that lens of micro finance. But it was because he attended enough of the standard typical.

Conference models that he realized there must be a better way to do it. And then I’ll never forget this. He, he showed me when I was first getting involved, this, what they call the bug list, like all the things that pissed them off around the way it was like rubber chicken dinner and like, you know, oppressive [00:21:00] fluorescent lighting with no, no windows in the conference room or like, Yeah, exhausted at the end of the day or 15 minute coffee break was the time I actually got to talk to talk to people.

So I don’t know, it feels like to me, Stephanie, like, um, like, we’re just, we’re just ready for a new way of, of bringing people together a new convening model, especially coming out of the pandemic where a lot of us are craving those, those in person moments to form those relationships. It feels like an industry that’s ripe for disruption.

Right. 

[00:21:35] Stephanie Skryzowski: Absolutely. And that’s something that I love talking with leaders of, you know, in the nonprofit sector in the social impact space about like, how are you doing things differently? How are we disrupting this sort of old school way that we’ve always done things that may or may not be working really well.

Um, and so I love that this is just such a different model. And I think what’s interesting about OC is that you’re. [00:22:00] You’re sort of disrupting things, but you’re also doing it to scale. Like this is not a 50 person event. And I feel like this, the sort of unconference model where you’re building connections and things would be easy.

I mean, easier when like there’s, you know, 20, people, but how many people attend OC? It’s a lot. 

[00:22:20] Topher Wilkins: Yeah. So it always depends on the venue ultimately, because we take over an all inclusive resort as a venue. So we’re confined to the number of rooms that that resort has. But on average, we’re somewhere around 400 to 450 people.

So yeah, it’s a good size. 

[00:22:39] Stephanie Skryzowski: Yeah. Like that’s a big conference to do this sort of model at like at scale. Um, just, yeah, it’s, that’s really incredible.

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What are some of the, I’m sure you have hundreds of sort [00:24:00] of success or impact stories from people that have connected at OC, um, and that probably did so because of this sort of community based collaborative model that you have. Can you share like a couple impact stories with us? 

[00:24:17] Topher Wilkins: Sure. My favorite impact or outcome from OC is we’ve seen a couple Uh, weddings,  [00:24:23] Stephanie Skryzowski: you  [00:24:31] Topher Wilkins: know, direct outcomes when it comes to solutions to poverty here.

But, but I, I do always point to that Stephanie to illuminate, like the fact that OC is such a different place that really does focus on the relationship building and for the lucky few who found like true love in the context of this type of community and this type of convenience. I don’t know. It’s a powerful indicator that we’re doing something right.

[00:24:56] Stephanie Skryzowski: Yeah.  [00:24:57] Topher Wilkins: So maybe a [00:25:00] more expected answer. Um, let’s see. I mean, we’ve seen countless examples of organizations partnering together up and down the sort of like supply chain, if you will, the nonprofit slash social entrepreneurship ecosystem. And by that, I should be clear, like big dynamic, uh, that is very alive and well at OC is their funder fundee.

Dynamic, right? So we don’t shy away from the fact that the exchange of resources, monetary or otherwise, is ultimately how this ecosystem works. I. E. The folks creating real change on the ground in their communities need resources in order to continue to do that work or ideally scale it up. And there are always a healthy cohort of funders at O.

C. And quote unquote practitioners. And the relationships that we see time and time again, where resources flow from the funder [00:26:00] to the fundee or the funder to practitioner are some of the relationships most needed and most desired when it comes to folks participating in O. C. So innumerable examples of an incredible nonprofit leader or social entrepreneur finding, finding a funding partner and therefore being able to continue or expand their work on the ground.

Um, but we’ve also seen. Programmatic partnerships, like, for example, um, like a network of low cost, uh, private schools linked up with a network of clean water providers such that every every one of those low cost affordable private schools at clean water for the for the students and the faculty, those types of partnerships are just as equally powerful as the as the funding partnerships.

We also hear time and time again about. Uh, sort of harder to measure outcomes. Like someone will say to us, Oh, I came to O. C. And I, and I completely changed my leadership style. And now I’m now much more invested in individual [00:27:00] relationships, which is with each of my team members. Whereas before I used to Rely solely on my C.

O. O. To handle that. And then I kind of lost touch with with the team as a result or, um, or I no longer feel on the verge of burnout. You know, we can all recognize that this is hard work. Um, it can be lonely work, uh, and for a lot of us, you know, finding the energy and the inspiration to continue to do it is it’s hard to come by.

And we hear a lot of folks happen to come by that, that outcome that it was CIA. They’re rejuvenated. They’re ready to roll up their shoes again and get back. Um, and then, and then lastly, uh, you know, this idea that that community is the answer. I always, I always quote Margaret Wheatley here, um, whatever the problem community is the answer.

So. The fact that folks do forge these lasting friendships with each other that that can persist over years and years and years, even after attending OC once is a really, really [00:28:00] powerful outcome, because it means that that web of support that web of resources, whether it be monetary or otherwise, is that much stronger support the incredible leaders who come through this thing.

[00:28:13] Stephanie Skryzowski: That’s yeah. That’s amazing. I mean, all of that is like worth the price of admission and then some, um, I mean, you know, just go ahead. My testimonial right there. Um, well even thinking about like, as you were talking about the people that have met and then gotten married, um, after meeting at OC, I mean, I think that you bring together people that are successful.

So passionate about the work that they’re doing. And so that already is like a huge common ground, because I would imagine that like, you know, aside from friends and family, like the work and the, the impact that, you know, the attendees are trying to have in the world. Like, that’s probably like one of the most important things in their life.

And so to find someone else who’s equally passionate about something, I feel like [00:29:00] that already you’ve got this, you know, really, um, strong bond there that. That, um, I can easily imagine how that would, how that would turn into love and marriage. And 

[00:29:12] Topher Wilkins: babies too. We’ve even seen a couple of babies as a result. [00:29:16] Stephanie Skryzowski: Amazing. You know what I think also, I think is really, um, interesting and different is the, um, not just the global community that you bring together because you, there are attendees from roughly how many countries that come to OC?  [00:29:31] Topher Wilkins: Somewhere, somewhere between 40 and 50 countries every year are represented. [00:29:35] Stephanie Skryzowski: 40 and 50 countries. I mean, to be at a conference and meet someone, meet people from 40 or 50 different countries is such a unique experience. And you really make it not just okay for people to bring their families, but like strong, not, I wouldn’t say necessarily strongly encouraged, but strongly welcome to bring their families.

And so I chose to bring my two daughters, um, last year, [00:30:00] and I don’t usually bring them on work related trips because it’s It’s challenging to do that in their kids and that’s not that fun for them, but they loved it. They met and played with children from all over the world. And I’m like, what a beautiful experience for the kids to have as well.

And they were so excited to go back and tell their teachers. I have a new best friend from India. Like it was so amazing for them. Um, and what sort of led you to that model where it’s like, yeah, please, please do bring your family. I mean, it was, incredible for my girls. 

[00:30:33] Topher Wilkins: I’m so glad to hear that. Stephanie.

Um, seriously, I love that. Uh, so well, first of all, um, my wife and I Showed up to the first version of oc in 2009 um upon the founder’s invitation Uh, with our, at the time, two and a half year old and six month old kiddos. We now have three stinky teenage boys. They’re 17, 15 and 13. Uh, as we were [00:31:00] getting involved in OC in the early years, uh, recognizing that we’re going to have to bring our kids every year to the event.

Cause it’s not like we could, we’re going to leave them home. We wanted to make darn sure that OC was family friendly to, to anyone who wanted to bring their, their families with them. As leaders in the space, we are incredibly beholden to and often our identities are wrapped up in are the organizations we we lead, right?

Um, you know, the work we’re doing is so important, not only not only for the planet and the people, but also for our own sort of sense of self worth. Those two identities are personal and professional can often get intertwined in the world of impact. However, a lot of us are also parents. A lot of us are also.

Air takers of some kind of form or or we, you know, we have different roles that we we occupy throughout the course of our lives. So make sure that O. C. Is a place where we can show up as our [00:32:00] whole and all of our humanity as our as a whole human being, not just our professional personas, but everything else that makes up who we are is a really important.

Facet of this of this model and to the extent that we don’t even list like organizational affiliations or titles and name tags. For example, it’s like we’re trying to we’re constantly trying to reinforce this idea that, um, no matter who we are, where we come from or how we how we get to O. C. O. The work we do.

We are all, we’re all human beings, first and foremost. And sometimes that means being parents and bringing the kiddos with 

[00:32:35] Stephanie Skryzowski: us. It’s so cool. As a mom and as a business owner, I am often, I feel very, um, I, I really tend to keep everything very simple. separate. Um, and I often feel torn when I’m with the girls, I’m like, Oh, I wish I had a couple more hours to work.

When I’m working. I’m like, Oh, I wish I could be with the girls 24 seven. And it is a constant battle that I thought [00:33:00] as my girls have gotten a little bit older, they’re only seven and four. They’re not that old. But. I thought that would have gone away by now. And that poll has not gone away at all in seven years.

And so to be able to, like you’re saying, show up as my whole self to a conference, to an environment where other people care deeply about the work that they’re doing, like I do, and also show up with their little kids. And we can have this incredibly meaningful conversation about the work that they’re, that we’re doing.

While our kids are like playing on the beach next to us is like, that is the coolest thing in the world. And I just like, I, I could like, it like kind of brings tears to my eyes. Cause it’s just, it’s so cool. And it’s something that, um, I just don’t get to experience often. And it was almost like a relief of that constant hole that I feel like.

Literally every single day. Um, and I imagine I’m not, I’m not alone in that. So 

[00:33:57] Topher Wilkins: I got to say this to Stephanie. It’s this, and this is probably the [00:34:00] obvious one. Um, more than anything else, which is, aren’t we doing this for the children in the first place?  [00:34:06] Stephanie Skryzowski: Yeah, right. Right. Yeah.  [00:34:09] Topher Wilkins: Like, isn’t it that generation and their kids who were trying to build a better world for us?

So what an, what an amazing real time reminder. Yeah. Of why, why it is we do this difficult work of social change, how to get us there. 

[00:34:22] Stephanie Skryzowski: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. It’s, uh, it’s just, it’s so beautiful. I have not yet. I’ve registered myself. I need to figure out flights for my children to come again. I really want them to come with me, but so far it’s just me coming, but I would like to bring them again.

Um, The other thing I wanted to, um, just chat with you about before we begin to wrap up our conversation is your transition to community ownership. Tell us a little bit more about that. 

[00:34:48] Topher Wilkins: Yeah, sure. Happy to Stephanie. Um, well, so, uh, back to our founder. Uh, again, he was a huge believer in, in the world of like micro lending, micro finance, micro credit.

Uh, and for [00:35:00] those listeners who are familiar with that world, you’ll understand that this is, this is a quote unquote market based approach when it comes to economic development, i. e. As opposed to giving somebody money and no expectation around return of that money, you’re giving them a small loan, and then they’re responsible for, um, creating some sort of, uh, economic value so that they can repay that loan plus a tiny bit of interest.

That’s the basis for microlending and microfinance. So, to the extent that our founder was a big believer in this market based approach to solutions to poverty, he was also a pretty powerful, cynic, and, uh, Uh, of the quote unquote, nonprofit philanthropic industrial complex. Uh, yeah, and the reality that for a lot of nonprofit organizations, essentially, they were reliant on again, his words, lumpy, irrational cashflow from donors, right?

So as opposed to a business that can, that can create a product that has value and that people are, are services value and people are willing to pay for it. [00:36:00] Nonprofits are constantly creating this service, this value, but then expecting donors to give money to it. So when he was creating OC, he made sure that we are ourselves were a little self sufficient social enterprise based almost exclusively on revenue from registration fees alone.

So we, we never had any sort of like corporate sponsor. Or like foundation underwriter to cover the cost of operations every year, we had to essentially solely survive based on revenue from the registration fees. In other words, make darn sure we’re creating a valuable experience so that people were willing to pay for it.

Um, embedded in all of this is that he, you know, Launch OC as a LLC registered in California, limited liability corporation registered in California. So with that as the backdrop here, Stephanie, I mean, um, I suppose I can pat myself on the back with one hand and be like, good job, Topher, CEO of this little like [00:37:00] social enterprise, like, We operate in the black every year.

Everyone seemed to like the event, creating some impact there, doing all the things that were expected of, of a for profit, uh, entity for profit ownership and governance model for profit incentive structure. Now around, this is like five years ago. So, uh, 2019 books were starting to come out and conversations are starting to be had in the impact ecosystem.

Uh, like, uh, a non gargadier does winners take all. Or agro Vilna wave is decolonized wealth and the criticism there was that the world of impact, social entrepreneurship, impact, investing, even philanthropy and nonprofits, uh, we’re trying to create change based on the same models that were responsible for, uh, the, the problems in the first place.

Right. Um, and I started to pay attention and examine the fact that. [00:38:00] Here we were as an organization, an entity that existed to create more sustainable solutions to poverty out in the world by meeting all these incredible leaders and unfortunately, it’s wonderful relationships and partnerships, collaborations.

So we had this very explicit external goal of solutions to poverty. Meanwhile, because of the, of our LLC, we were operating in such a way that was antithetical. The solution is the poverty and to be clear in the LLC. There’s a group of owners. There’s a group of partners in the LLC. This is a small group about five or six individuals.

Um, no one really knew who these people were, uh, so it’s sort of an opaque group. And at the end of the day, it was these owners of business of the LLC. We’re seeing all the economic benefit that OC was creating and had all the decision making authority at the end of the day. So we were inadvertently replicating the same, uh, the same [00:39:00] ownership and governance dynamics that are responsible for poverty in the first place, i.

e. a small, opaque group of people who own everything and therefore have all the power and all the economic benefit. Um, so nothing like a global pandemic and a pause on in person events for a while to provide the opportunity to really examine this. This sort of mismatch or this disconnect between our internal DNA and our external values.

Um, and hence, uh, we are now Stepping into this world of community ownership. So the the very basic premise here stephanie is that As opposed to the small, opaque group of, um, individuals owning the LLC going forward and and seeing all the benefits, the community itself will be the owners of opportunity collaboration.

So So if our business creates any sort of economic benefit, profit in a given year down the road, we will redistribute that to the people who attend. And then also we have [00:40:00] launched a newly elected So, um, uh, Advisory Council, a group of folks who were who were put forth nominated by the community and voted on by the community to represent the community.

So we have a new governance system that is reflective of the community itself, as opposed to, again, the owners of the LLC having all that decision making authority. So the big picture here, Stephanie, is that. We are aligning our internal sort of operating governance legal model with our external values and and unhinging ourselves from these types of structures that at the end of the day, for us, with each with ourselves, have Largely been responsible for these, for creating the problems that we’re trying to solve.

[00:40:44] Stephanie Skryzowski: That’s so interesting. And I, I feel like that’s, I don’t want to say it’s a, it’s a trend because, but, but I will say that’s, that’s a weird thing to say, but I am seeing, um, several organizations moving towards this model. Like you’re talking about of like. [00:41:00] Um, of shifting our structure, our leadership structure, our management structure, our operating structure to better reflect the values that we talk about.

And I can think of like at least three organizations, three clients of mine who, you know, are doing work in say, East Africa, or, um, Another part of the world. And that’s where all the operations are. That’s where the programs are yet. Somehow there’s a CEO sitting in New York. Like, how does that make sense at all?

And so I’ve seen a lot of, um, several organizations in, you know, the past five years or so moving key leadership to the areas where we’re actually running the programs. Like, why CFO sitting in New York when all of the finance activity, aside from literally just transferring Money is happening in a different country.

Why is leadership sitting somewhere else? Um, and so I’ve seen this shift a lot and I, I love that you’ve moved to, you know, shifting to this model as well [00:42:00] to, to better align with your values. And it’s, um, I think it’s disruptive in itself, um, for sure, but I am seeing more of it, which I, which I love. 

[00:42:09] Topher Wilkins: I am too.

I, I really think that this is, it almost feels like Uh, like when he was just getting started in 2009, this whole world of like social entrepreneurship and in fact, investing is sort of starting to bubble up and become more and more, um, more and more mainstream. And it almost feels like this, this is sort of that next wave, like the, the attention to, to the, the models that we’re building the actual ecosystem on.

Is is it feels like 15, 20 years ago when social entrepreneurship impact investing, we’re just getting started. Like, like a few people are starting to pay, pay real attention to it and see it as a very, um, very viable path forward for creating the impact that we all want to see, I mean, for example, um, for those of you who paid any [00:43:00] attention in the corporate world of this Patagonia announced about a year and a half ago, um, that Yvonne Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia was Essentially gifting his voting and non voting shares to what’s called a perpetual purpose dress.

In this case, it’s called the Holdfast Collective. And lo and behold, a perpetual purpose dress is the exact same legal entity that we’re using at OC to make the shift to community ownership. And these are relatively new legal models that are available, especially here in the United States. Some of them existed in an European context and other contexts for quite some time.

But it’s, it’s early days and I’m, I’m also very pleased Stephanie to see that it does seem like more and more folks are paying attention. 

[00:43:47] Stephanie Skryzowski: And do you see like, is, is this the future? Do you see this as a, as a trend that’s going to become a wave and, um, really shift the face of the sector?  [00:43:57] Topher Wilkins: I’d like to think so.

Yeah. I mean, I, I, [00:44:00] I’d like to think so. Yeah. Like any good wave or any good movement, it needs a lot more people to be aware of and experimenting with and. And believing in the power of these these new legal models to create the change. Um, and frankly, it’s kind of boring in some ways. Right. You’re talking about, like, all these different, uh, legal systems and legal structures and the incentives that get built around those as opposed to You know, let’s go out and actually create the impact on the ground.

So it’s uh, it’s hopefully going to gain the momentum it requires to be much more commonplace, but it takes a takes a special breed to get really excited about like That type of uh that type of plumbing shall we say 

[00:44:52] Stephanie Skryzowski: Yes. Yes. Fair enough. Well, if our listeners are interested in having conversations like these and [00:45:00] thinking about things differently, OC is the place to be.

And it’s not, you know, it’s not boring. It doesn’t have to be boring. Um, well, oh my gosh, Topher, I feel like I can continue to talk, but I want to wrap us up with just two more questions. One question is what does a prosperous nonprofit look like to you? 

[00:45:22] Topher Wilkins: I love that question. Um, well, let’s let’s go back to this.

This part of the dialogue, uh, Stephanie and that I think a prosperous nonprofit is one that is very well networked, uh, very collaborative with other entities in the ecosystem and very true to the communities that is trying to serve. So, uh, We all know the types of nonprofits that have incredible marketing budgets and and big name people on their board, and they’re able to tell a great story and bring a lot of resources, [00:46:00] but I would, I would venture that are truly prosperous nonprofit is one that’s actually in community with other nonprofits and in real community with the communities it’s trying to serve as opposed to having a big number on its balance sheet.

[00:46:18] Stephanie Skryzowski: I love that. I love the well networked piece. I’ve worked for organizations that are very insular and don’t really put themselves out there because they’re like, well, we’re doing everything the right way and we’re good. We don’t need anybody else. And then I’ve seen the opposite of that, um, organizations that are really collaborative and are very well networked.

And I just see, um, They are very financially strong and the impact that they’re having is huge. And I’ve, I’ve seen the difference. I love the way you phrased that, um, very well networked organization. Amazing. Okay. My last question is where can our listeners learn more about you and, you [00:47:00] know, about OC specifically, um, where, where can we go?

We’ll put all the links in the show notes, but tell us where we can find you. 

[00:47:06] Topher Wilkins: Great. Thanks, Stephanie. Uh, well, as I shared, I’m a pretty rabid LinkedIn user. So. You find me on LinkedIn. Uh, Topher Wilkins. I don’t think there are too many other Topher Wilkins on LinkedIn. It shouldn’t be too hard to find me.

And then ocimpact. com is the website for opportune collaborations, by far and away the best, uh, aggregate of info around OC. Um, we also have Facebook and Twitter, or I should, I should say X and Instagram presences. Um, But our website’s definitely the best, the best starting point, the best platform. Go see impact.

com. 

[00:47:42] Stephanie Skryzowski: Awesome. Yeah. Thank you so much. And I love the fact that you have the 2024, um, delegate roster posted. And so I have been able to go through, I know I just, I, I saw myself and I saw, saw, So many people from my small group last year. So it really excited to reconnect [00:48:00] with people. And, um, yeah, I’m just, uh, so, so incredibly grateful that I found you, that I found OC and, um, yeah, it’s been amazing.

Um, so Topher, thank you so much for our conversation today. Just super grateful for you and for the community that you and the others have built at OC. It’s been, um, fantastic and I’m grateful to be a part of it. 

[00:48:22] Topher Wilkins: Oh, it’s amazing. I’m so glad you’re part of it, Stephanie. And, and kudos to you for keeping this work up on a weekly basis to spread the word around what prosperous nonprofits are.

It’s, it’s really meaningful. 

[00:48:34] Stephanie Skryzowski: Yeah. Thank you. Thanks. All right, everybody. Thank you so much for listening. We will catch you next time. Before you go, I just want to thank you for being here to access our show notes and bonus content. Visit 100 degrees podcast. com. That’s 100 degrees podcast. com. And I’ll see you next [00:49:00] time.