"Kevin and Elizabeth Phillips, a couple in their 20s, have materially helped reinvent the economy and culture in Guilford County by employing their family’s foundation to support programs that put every local kid through college, built a $78 million performing arts center, reduced chronic homelessness to zero, and established a modern nursing school...
...Thinking across their family’s entire platform was exactly what Kevin Phillips, 29, and his wife, Elizabeth, 28, had in mind when the Dallas couple moved back in 2012 to his native Greensboro, N.C., to take charge of the family real estate business and its newly funded Phillips Foundation, which has $60 million in assets.
Elizabeth, a Southern Methodist University graduate with a background in philanthropy, and Kevin, a Goldman Sachs analyst, took on the roles of executive director and president, respectively, at the family foundation, which was focused on supporting the local community.
Realizing that they had to get the older generation of Greensboro civic leaders to buy into their multifaceted approach, they first courted the community through listening sessions.
“We decided not to take a top-down approach—this is what our family cares about—but rather to see what themes were boiling up from all our meetings and see where we could jump in and make a difference,” Elizabeth says. This approach made a difference. Kevin, with most of his attention focused on the family real estate business, immediately noticed how “all these older people looked at [Elizabeth] and said, ‘Hey, we need this younger generation involved in these issues.’ ”
In the five years since the couple returned to North Carolina, the Phillips Foundation’s policy of making only substantial, needle-moving grants (from $500,000 to $5 million) has helped make Greensboro and the surrounding Guilford County a place where every high school graduate is guaranteed funding for college, thanks to a partnership with New York–based Say Yes to Education.
The Phillipses have also helped put the county on the road to reducing chronic homelessness to zero, have contributed to building a massive Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club center, and backed a state-of-the-art nursing school. What’s more, they acquired land and rights of way connecting a planned greenway bike and jogging path.
But it was the first priority to arise from Elizabeth’s community meetings that put the Phillips Foundation, and the young couple running it, on the local map. For many years, Greensboro had discussed building a performing-arts center to anchor its downtown revitalization plan. It was, the Phillipses realized, a once-in-a-generation opportunity. But there was a problem: The project’s earlier backers had “been laughed out the door,” says Elizabeth, for promising to raise $20 million, a then-unheard-of sum in Greensboro.
She jumped in, contributing $3.5 million to launch a capital campaign. “It’s a millennial mindset to be all-in for something you care about, instead of just writing checks,” she says. “We decided to take a big and bold approach.”
With two co-chairs, she formed Generation GPAC (Greensboro Performing Arts Center) and took a multipronged approach to mobilizing “everyone under 50.” They held private fund-raisers, networked with young professional organizations in the community like synerG, and launched advocacy and education initiatives. From an initial 300 members, GPAC grew to nearly 600, and along the way, “We changed the face of the project, from ‘old people who like the symphony’ to ‘this matters for the future of downtown and our community at large.’”
The fresh energy behind the project encouraged new donors to step forward, including outlet king Steven Tanger, who acquired the naming rights to the now $78 million project, which includes some $40 million contributed by nonpublic donors.
The Phillipses have moved the project far beyond the initial $20 million goal that was ridiculed as way too high. The landmark limestone and glass Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts—with its soaring Phillips Hall lobby—is slated to open in 2018.
The moral here: Competence isn’t the exclusive privilege of those who have a lot of life experience. It can also show up in those just starting out in life."
http://www.barrons.com/articles/family-foundations-millennials-take-charge-1481346318
Guilford County didn't and isn't going to put every local kid through college
They haven't built "a $78 million performing arts center"
Guilford County hasn't "reduced chronic homelessness to zero"
...Thinking across their family’s entire platform was exactly what Kevin Phillips, 29, and his wife, Elizabeth, 28, had in mind when the Dallas couple moved back in 2012 to his native Greensboro, N.C., to take charge of the family real estate business and its newly funded Phillips Foundation, which has $60 million in assets.
Millions of which were promised to Say Yes Guilford,
which hasn't recieved all the money yet
Millions of which were promised to "a $78 million performing arts center",
which hasn't recieved all the money yet
Elizabeth, a Southern Methodist University graduate with a background in philanthropy, and Kevin, a Goldman Sachs analyst, took on the roles of executive director and president, respectively, at the family foundation, which was focused on supporting the local community.
Realizing that they had to get the older generation of Greensboro civic leaders to buy into their multifaceted approach, they first courted the community through listening sessions.
“We decided not to take a top-down approach—this is what our family cares about—but rather to see what themes were boiling up from all our meetings and see where we could jump in and make a difference,” Elizabeth says. This approach made a difference. Kevin, with most of his attention focused on the family real estate business, immediately noticed how “all these older people looked at [Elizabeth] and said, ‘Hey, we need this younger generation involved in these issues.’ ”
With their money, which avoided estate taxes,
which they can lobby and bully local pols and bureaucrats with
In the five years since the couple returned to North Carolina, the Phillips Foundation’s policy of making only substantial, needle-moving grants (from $500,000 to $5 million) has helped make Greensboro and the surrounding Guilford County a place where every high school graduate is guaranteed funding for college, thanks to a partnership with New York–based Say Yes to Education.
Not true
Ask the charter school students and parents
Ask the undocumented
The Phillipses have also helped put the county on the road to reducing chronic homelessness to zero, have contributed to building a massive Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club center, and backed a state-of-the-art nursing school. What’s more, they acquired land and rights of way connecting a planned greenway bike and jogging path.
Thanks
But it was the first priority to arise from Elizabeth’s community meetings that put the Phillips Foundation, and the young couple running it, on the local map. For many years, Greensboro had discussed building a performing-arts center to anchor its downtown revitalization plan. It was, the Phillipses realized, a once-in-a-generation opportunity. But there was a problem: The project’s earlier backers had “been laughed out the door,” says Elizabeth, for promising to raise $20 million, a then-unheard-of sum in Greensboro.
For a performing arts center which looks to be financially unsustainable,
funded by money which hasn't shown up yet
as the Phillips and others are giving the money over time
which set the project back for years
She jumped in, contributing $3.5 million to launch a capital campaign. “It’s a millennial mindset to be all-in for something you care about, instead of just writing checks,” she says. “We decided to take a big and bold approach.”
Kevin and Elizabeth Phillips have not contributed $3.5 million.
They pledged it over a series of years,
just like the money promised to Say Yes Guilford
which Say Yes Guilford doesn't have yet
With two co-chairs, she formed Generation GPAC (Greensboro Performing Arts Center) and took a multipronged approach to mobilizing “everyone under 50.” They held private fund-raisers, networked with young professional organizations in the community like synerG, and launched advocacy and education initiatives. From an initial 300 members, GPAC grew to nearly 600, and along the way, “We changed the face of the project, from ‘old people who like the symphony’ to ‘this matters for the future of downtown and our community at large.’”
"our community at large" won't be able to afford to go,
as the site sits in the depths of one of the poorest areas of North Carolina
which most likely doesn't have the disposable income to blow on overpriced shows
which Kevin and Elizabeth appear to understand relatively little about
considering the wealth they grew up with
The fresh energy behind the project encouraged new donors to step forward, including outlet king Steven Tanger, who acquired the naming rights to the now $78 million project, which includes some $40 million contributed by nonpublic donors.
Which is not in hand by the project
Last I heard, they had a little over $5 million in hand to fund the construction
The Phillipses have moved the project far beyond the initial $20 million goal that was ridiculed as way too high. The landmark limestone and glass Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts—with its soaring Phillips Hall lobby—is slated to open in 2018.
The cost of the project should be ridiculed
as a trophy for Greensboro's upper crusties to congratulate themselves over
as the rest of the community is losing relatively higher paying jobs
which somehow isn't a focus of the Phillips Foundation
We need good paying manufacturing jobs,
not a performing arts center most won't be able to enjoy
The moral here: Competence isn’t the exclusive privilege of those who have a lot of life experience. It can also show up in those just starting out in life."
Total ass kiss piece for a couple who inherited a give away machine
without making the money themselves at the expense of taxpayers
who have to make up for the taxes not paid on the money
so these silver spoons can get nice write ups to show their friends
http://www.barrons.com/articles/family-foundations-millennials-take-charge-1481346318
