We spend a great deal of our professional time discussing, educating, and innovating on the idea of culture fit. While much of this effort extends outward to our clients and associates, we are equally focused on the dynamic culture within the walls of BSG. With a team of professionals located throughout the US, we find remarkable the distinct and varied merits and virtues of our organization. To that end, we decided to wrap up 2019 by marrying two ideas—enjoying and celebrating the unique interests of our team members in conjunction with our annual charitable giving goals.
Many from our team volunteer and have commitments to nonprofit organizations outside of our work here at BSG. To recognize and reward those passions, BSG leadership launched #GiveBack2019, an end-of-year charitable giving project. Our goal here was not to flippantly give ourselves a “pat on the back”, check a box, or display corporate self-promotion, but rather to display the vast array of deserving causes that exist from the passions of a small sample of connected and giving employees in a small company.
We’d like to share a particularly moving story from BSG Principal Lori Gleeman that spotlights her charity of choice and exemplifies exactly why we chose this method of identifying charities to support this year:
Upon consideration, I would like to donate to the 501(c)(3) non-profit Don’t Hide it Flaunt It (www.donthideitlfauntit.com). DHIFI was started by my dear friend, Meg Zucker. Meg was born with a condition called, “Ectrodactyly,” leaving her with only one finger on each hand, shortened forearms and one toe on each foot. She thought her difference was due to medication that her mother took when pregnant with her. However, Meg and her husband John discovered that her difference was genetic and something she would pass to Ethan and Charlie, two of her three children. They adopted her third child, Savanna.
Meg has achieved much professional success as a lawyer and is a Managing Director at a global investment bank. She is extremely extroverted, dynamic and warm. After Ethan was bullied on the playground the first day of elementary school, Meg started Don’t Hide it Flaunt It to empower children to celebrate their differences, both visible and invisible as well as create empathy in the classroom. Among many programs for people of all ages, DHIFI partners with Scholastic Inc., the children’s publishing company, and runs “Kids Flaunt” annual curriculum for teachers and students to write essays and create art inspired by a theme Meg developed, “The Things that make me different make me, me.” http://www.scholastic.com/flauntit/ Kids Flaunt provides students a chance to turn their differences into a source of pride. To promote the program now available nationwide in all public and private schools, Meg and all three of her children speak at schools encouraging students to participate and benefit from DHIFI’s valuable SEL/empathy-driven programming. DHIFI has corporate sponsorships and many celebrities have chipped in to use their visibility to draw attention to her program.
-LG
We gained much relational value in learning about our colleagues’ passions from the list of charities below. We hope to educate and inspire others on new ideas for giving of their own in 2020. This is ecumenical... not Christian, or Jewish, or Hindu... it’s just the spirit of “human.”
We welcome you to enjoy the “charities of choice” from BSG’s team and look forward to hearing about those that inspire you!
This Year, BSG supports
Special Olympics
https://www.specialolympics.org/
The mission of Special Olympics is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.
The Arrow Fund
https://thearrowfund.networkforgood.com/
The Arrow Fund helps provide emergency, specialty veterinary care to the animal victims of torture, abuse, and extreme neglect, while helping us to educate the public about the prevalence and severity of animal cruelty in our society.
Our Neighbor’s Table
https://www.ourneighborstable.org/
Our Neighbor’s Table grocery programs provide groceries, fresh foods, and toiletries to more than 500 households from 12 cities and towns a week across 4 market locations, and deliver groceries and hot meals to home-bound individuals in 3 towns.
The Posse Foundation Boston
https://www.possefoundation.org/sites/boston
Posse and its partner institutions empower diverse groups of leaders who transform communities, this country and the world.
American Cancer Society
http://www.cancer.org/
ACS is on a mission to free the world from cancer. Until they do, they’ll be funding and conducting research, sharing expert information, supporting patients, and spreading the word about prevention. All so you can live longer — and better.
Stephen Ministries
https://www.stephenministries.org/default.cfm
Christian caregiving ministry that provides spiritual and/or emotional support to parishioners across the country who are experiencing overwhelming distress in their lives.
Fredrich’s Ataxia Research Organization
https://www.curefa.org/
FARA's Mission is to marshal and focus the resources and relationships needed to cure FA by raising funds for research, promoting public awareness, and aligning scientists, patients, clinicians, government agencies, pharmaceutical companies and other organizations dedicated to curing FA and related diseases.
Gary Sinise Foundation
https://www.garysinisefoundation.org/
GSF serves our nation by honoring our defenders, veterans, first responders, their families, and those in need.
Down Syndrome Community of Puget Sound
https://downsyndromecommunity.org/
DSC’s mission is to empower people with Down syndrome and their families through life-long learning and experiences, while building an accepting and inclusive society.
Coalition for the Homeless
https://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/
For more than 35 years, the Coalition has developed and implemented humane, cost-effective solutions to New York’s homelessness crisis.
Massachusetts Branch of the International Dyslexia Association
https://ma.dyslexiaida.org/
Our mission is to support and encourage study and research into the nature of dyslexia and related disorders as well as all aspects of the acquisition and mastery of written language, including, but not limited to, reading, spelling and writing. We also promote the appropriate and early diagnosis and treatment of dyslexia and related disorders.
Father Bill’s & MainSpring
https://helpfbms.org/
Our first goal at Father Bill’s & MainSpring is to prevent homelessness. They provide a range of services and programs designed to help families and individuals at risk of becoming homeless avoid shelter and remain in their homes.
Don’t Hide it Flaunt It
http://www.donthideitflauntit.com/
Don’t Hide it Flaunt It is as an outlet for children to celebrate their differences, both visible and invisible.
The Duxbury Education Foundation
https://www.duxburyeducationfoundation.org/
The DEF receives, administers, and disburses funds for educational, scientific and charitable purposes to be used to develop, support and assist programs which benefit the students, teachers, and staff of the Duxbury public school system.
Gwen Knapp Center for Lupus and Immunology Research
https://www.uchicago.edu/research/center/gwen_knapp_center_for_lupus_immunology_research/
The research program in the Gwen Knapp Center for Lupus and Immunology Research takes a multidisciplinary approach to studying autoimmunity and successfully coordinates basic science with translational and clinical research.
PANDAS Network
http://pandasnetwork.org/
PANDAS Network is dedicated to improving the diagnosis and treatment of children with PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections) and PANS (Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome).
