Was it hard getting board support on AIDS and teen pregnancy in a conservative town like Flint?
Flint really is not a conservative town, if you think about it being the spiritual birthplace of the United Auto Workers. In some cases we’re very progressive, very socially forward; in others, we’re very regressive. I say it to any foundation if you can get your board out to listen to stories from the heart on Main Street, if you can listen to people right on the ground where they are, all of those labels conservative/progressive are going to disappear pretty fast, and it’s going to be one human trying to help another. I remember one board meeting where a staff member was throwing condoms down on the table and another staff member was throwing Bibles back at him figuratively, of course. Our board realized that teenage pregnancy is a fundamental problem, so we have supported some of those programs. In light of all Flint’s local problems, was it difficult convincing the board to take on international grantmaking? Actually, it was a Flint-based board that made the decision to go internat
