There’s a big difference between eliminating short-term suffering — vs fixing the underlying issues that cause those problems in the long term. That’s an important lesson our guest this week learned in his quest to help an impoverished community near his home. Now, he’s using those lessons as he leads one of the largest nonprofits in Oregon, which is gaining national recognition.

This episode is part of our holiday “giving back” episodes. This week, we’re talking with Brad Ketch. A global advocate and former tech CEO, Brad steers both grassroots and executive efforts on poverty, justice, and reconciliation initiatives, catalyzing community rebirth internationally, and now within Oregon’s poorest community, through a profound fusion of “bottom-up” and “top-down” methodologies for transformative change. He’s also the author of “The Flourishing Community.”

Tune into the full episode for more on why poverty is so pervasive in some areas, what regular people can do to help alleviate it, the importance of identifying with the people you want to help, ways to support Brad’s organization, more about the work they’re doing in Oregon, and more.

Here’s a Glimpse of What You’ll Learn:

How Brad flipped his idea of what it takes to tackle poverty — from coming at it from a place of wealth, to directly identifying with the poor
More about Brad’s “call to go deeper” when it came to community involvement beyond just writing a check
The difference between eliminating human suffering and stimulating human flourishing
What it means to “find your own Calcutta”
The difference between relief and development
Some of the resistance that Brad experienced after he started his organization, and where that resistance came from
More about the “poverty industrial complex” and “poverteers”
How the COVID pandemic ended up helping Brad’s organization continue its work at a higher level
The difference between outcomes and outputs — and more about both, after the work from Brad’s organization
How Brad measures success with his organization, plus how listeners can support the important work they’re doing

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

The Flourishing Community website
Community Development Corporation of Oregon
Rockwood Community Development Corporation
Brad Ketch on LinkedIn
Community Development Corporation of Oregon on LinkedIn
“Community: The Structure of Belonging” by Peter Block
Buy a copy of “Lost at CEO: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Strategy” by Carl J. Cox
40 Strategy
Contact 40 Strategy
Carl J. Cox on LinkedIn

“Giving Back” Episodes: How to Repair a Broken Community 37:15 Share

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“Giving Back” Episodes: How to Repair a Broken Community