Episode 55 Kristi Gustavson - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Kristi Gustavson, Chief Executive Officer of the Community Foundation of North Louisiana, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:

 

0:32 1. As I was preparing for our discussion, I came across an article where you were talking about a story you once heard about a professor walking into class one day and announcing to the students that there would be a pop quiz. The teacher then proceeded to hand each of the students a piece of paper with a black dot in the middle and asked the students to describe what they saw. Each student described the dot: its size, color, and/or location on the page. Not one student described the space around the dot.

 

Reading this story I couldn’t help but think about one of the recurring themes of this podcast – which is how do we move from a “ME” community to more of a “WE” community? Or in other words, how do we focus more on those around us and this community we are all a part of and that we all share.

 

At community foundation, I think you do this as well as anyone. So, let’s start here today. Could you share some guidance or thoughts on how we get more people to move from me to we?

 

3:49 2. Kristi, you serve as the Chief Executive Officer of the Community Foundation of North Louisiana, one of the single most important organizations in our community. We will focus on some of your specific initiatives over the next hour but for the lay people out there who may not know what the Community Foundation is, could you briefly describe its function and its role and responsibility as you see it for our community?

 

6:18 3. One of the aspects of Community Foundation I most admire is how data driven you are in your approach to understanding where our community needs you the most and prioritizing the grants and initiatives you oversee to tackle our most pressing and complex issues.

 

One of the key tools in your approach is Community Counts, an annual report card on the quality of life for the Shreveport-Bossier area. Data is tracked and collected in six categories – Population, Economic Well-Being, Human Capital, Health, Social Environment and Physical Environment – and compared to 9 other peer communities similar in size and geographic location as well as the Monroe MSA. Those communities are Jackson, MS, Chatanooga, TN, Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR, Lafayette, Huntsville, AL, Kileen-Temple, TX, Montgomery, AL, Columbus-GA-AL and Roanoke, VA

 

Talk to me about the Community Counts process and how you use the data it provides to make resource allocation decisions.

 

11:06 4. One of the biggest days of the year for you is Give For Good. Tell me a little about Give For Good, how it works and when it is this year.

 

16:03 5. Community Foundation of North Louisiana brings people and resources together to solve problems and enhance our community. In the last few years, you have done some extraordinary work to address some of our community’s challenges and shortfalls around early education.

 

You once said, ““Early childhood education is critical for a young person’s brain development…We know now from research that 90 percent of a child’s brain develops before the age of 5.”

 

You established the Early Childhood Education Fund to expand access and enrollment in quality early childcare by providing scholarships for children ages 0-3. Thanks to generous donor support and a 1:1 match from the state of Louisiana, you have secured over $2 million for this initiative.

 

This was a transformative achievement. Tell me the state of the fund today. Is the state still providing a match and do you have the funds you need to provide all the scholarships requested?

 

35:59 6. The Early Childhood Education Fund was a major undertaking, a major focus of the Foundation since you became the CEO and has been a major success.

 

Talk to me about some of the initiatives you have your sights set on now.