#85: Restore

I wanted to share the writing Brynne created for her and I a couple weeks ago when we spoke at Restore’s annual gala.  It was such a fun night as we brought many Community For Change people and we have come to know so many more in the Restore community.  Restore has been a flagship relationship for the Community For Change for about 5 years. 

Brynne’s comments strike at the heart of how we all practically make lasting change…  pip

Brynne Thompson     brynne@respireenterprises.com 

RESTORE

Almost six years ago, Pip and I sat in a building in lower Manhattan right after Hurricane Sandy.

We were there in our deserted office to host a meeting with two leaders from an ambitious three year old non-profit taking on a very dark problem.

I had reached out them because I was an analyst at an investment firm that studies change for a living, and one way we do our work is to study all types of change so we learn to identify patterns.  

When Jimmy Lee and Dave Hung, Restore’s executive director and Board chairman, walked in we found thought partners who were hungry for serving this mission with excellence and strategic power. 

We were hooked. 

PIP

So why were we hooked? What do an investment company and a young non profit have to do with each other? 

For 15 years, I had been studying change. So when we heard sex trafficking, we knew this was a high degree of difficulty problem, not just to change it, but to even communicate about it. Change starts with truth telling, and these weren’t truths that were known in our culture yet and for many, it’s not a topic we’re comfortable talking about. 

But we noticed Restore was not afraid to tell the truth. Years before our culture put this spotlight on violence against women, Restore was sharing the truth about the horror of sex trafficking taking place right here in New York, and not just the outer boroughs but in all our neighborhoods from the Upper West Side to Tribeca and the most hipster parts of Brooklyn.

Through working with Restore we went on to create a specific arm of Coburn Ventures called the Community for Change. We aim to make a difference to difference-makers by inserting a burst of problem-solving when it matters most. 

But this can’t be done with just any organization. What works about this partnership is the student-mindedness of the Restore team, and their dedication to always learn and improve in service to Survivors. 

We’re both interested in change: understanding it, identifying it, making it. 

BRYNNE

So let’s talk about that, about making change. 

We start cultural change by telling the truth. 

But what we know from studying cultural change is that there are early adopters who live their truth. That truth can be like a burden or rock that is too difficult to move. Today, that truth is that trafficking is alive in our city. Those truth-tellers show us the way to abolishing it, but they are few in number. After that, more of us can come in and push that rock up the hill, standing with these leaders and moving that rock. Finally, the observers start to see that momentum is on the side of change. They follow, and the rock moves over the hill. A shift is felt. A change has occurred. 

We’re here tonight to make this happen. When we do, we will all look back and say “remember when sex trafficking was rampant here in new york, 

Remember how we came together, brought the truth to light? 

The leadership, staff and Survivors of Restore’s community, you are our truth-tellers. Tonight, we walk out of this room having pushed the rock further up the hill, so close to never turning back. 

Thank you, Jimmy and Dave for taking our meeting six years ago. Thank you to all of you to coming here tonight to become our own Community for Change for the mission to end sex trafficking in New York. 

Brynne's first-person bio: 

After ten years working as an analyst at Coburn Ventures, I co-created the Coburn Ventures Community for Change with Pip. The Community for Change aims to deepen the vitality of the existing community of professionals, learners and creatives who come together by virtue of Coburn Ventures activities and services by offering opportunities to lend insights and energy to organizations and leaders changing the world. 

Now that we are a few years in, we know more clearly that the Community for Change is about making a difference to difference-makers. I'm happy to be able to spend my days in service to great leaders while playing with ideas of my own. In addition to my work with the Community for Change, I consult with a number of organizations and social enterprises in efforts to enhance their strategic and development efforts.

Mission Statement: To lead from a spirit of service. To inspire a community of trust that comes together to turbo-charge each other's initiatives to change the world.