On this episode of Butternomics, our host, Brandon Butler, sits down with Milton Little, President & CEO of United Way of Greater Atlanta, for a conversation about legacy, leadership, and the work that still needs to be done. Milton shares what it means to lead one of Atlanta’s most impactful nonprofits, how he thinks about equity at scale, and the moments that shaped his approach to change. From his roots in New York’s civil rights era to leading billion-dollar initiatives in the South, this episode unpacks what true service looks like, and why leadership without community is just ego.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I've got a personal philosophy, and that personal philosophy is
be compassionate, be transparent, be present, and act boldly. And
that's worked for me for my entire professional life. It's
about how you show up for people. You got to
be compassionate with the folks that you support, but also
people in the community that you're also trying to assist.
(00:22):
But you also have to be bold innovations not led
by the folks who are sitting back waiting to see
what's going to happen here.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Everybody, Welcome to ano episode of Butter. I'm your host,
Brandon Butler, founding CEO of Butter atl and today got
a special guest in the building. I've seen this brother
in multiple, multiple spaces, from sitting down with him in
his office to just the other week we were walking
down the street celebrating the.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Four or four to eight parade.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
But I would like to introduce you all too, mister Milton,
little CEO of the United Way of Great Atlanta.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Milton, how you're doing, sir.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
I'm good. I dressed up for you. I got to
tie on today, I got a white shirt, so you
know you have earned this, my friend.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
I appreciate it. You know, this is they call this
my life uniform.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
I optimized for simplicity because there's only other things going on.
So I dressed like a cartoon character most days. But
I appreciate, you know, putting it together. Because last time
I saw you, man, you was out there relaxing a
little bit.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
I had my hat on, had my Livy nighted t
shirt on. It was a warm Saturday, and it was
a great parade. Congratulations to you for pulling it off,
my friend.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Man. Like I said, that was a you know, four
or four day. It was an amazing weekend and that
parade was my baby. But the team did an amazing job,
and I was just, you know again, we were so
happy to see the whole city come out and celebrate.
That's an idea that I had. I always kind of
joke and tell people. I will not joke, but I
used to ride up and down p Street Street when
I was growing up and kind of like say, I'm
gonna do something in these buildings one day. So like
(01:50):
I told you, man, I shop a little thug t
here out there. When I saw people lined up, I
saw it.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
You were walking around like a new papa yeah, you know,
the only thing missing was a cigar.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Oh you know what next year? That's next year.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Well look, well I appreciate you pulling up. Man, CEO
of the United Way of Greater Atlanta. Let me start
this off and ask you. A lot of people know
the title of CEO, but like when people ask you
what that is, what do you say you do?
Speaker 1 (02:16):
I have the awesome responsibility of leading if not the
largest and one of the largest United Ways in the
United States. It's an organization that's built around the idea
that ordinary citizens can be the architects of a just
and equal community if they pull their vision together, pull
(02:38):
their dreams together, pull their energy together to solve the
community's most important challenges. People know us for the Workplace campaign,
but that's how United Ways have raised money. That's not
exactly what they do. And what they do is really
build strong communities. And my responsibility is to engage with donors,
to engage and lead the staff to do the important
(03:01):
mission driven work that inspires us every day.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Yeh man, that's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
But look, I've seen some throwback photos that you have
more house now, so we got to talk about how
you got here in that path but like, what was
young Milton like back then, because you're not originally from Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
I'm not originally from Atlanta. And here's what I tell
young people all the day, every day. I was not
born in this suit. And so yes, you know I
was a young man like everybody else. I grew up
and was born in Queen's raised in Brooklyn, and the
family moved to Roosevelt Long Island, the home of Julius Irving,
Howard Stern, Adie Murphy. And so those are the folks
(03:40):
that we all knew growing up. And you know, I
played ball like everybody else. I was a really good student,
so I always did well in school. But you know,
if my mama was still alive, she'd tell you I
was a knucklehead like every other kid. I got more
spankings than the law would allow today. You know, they
(04:00):
called daifus or defects on my family. But you know
it was a strict family. You know, father's roots were
West Indians, So you know, Jamaicans don't take nothing from
knucklehead kids. And I gave them plenty to work with.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
And you said you mentioned like your parents were involved
in the Civil rights movement. A lot growing up, Like,
how did that influence who you became?
Speaker 1 (04:21):
You know, you know, there was a northern civil rights
movement that most folks don't pay attention to. My father
and mother were actively involved in the NAACP and the
Congress on Racial Equality. If the meetings weren't happening in
my house, they were happening nearby. I'm old enough to
have made signs for all of the people who were
(04:43):
leaving Long Island going to the march on Washington. And
so that's the presence that we saw. My parents really
understood unions in New York that were not integrated, They
understood school systems that did not serve black people well,
and they were actively involved in working there. So as
(05:04):
a young man, I saw it, I was exposed to it.
They taught me the principles of social justice. Uh, and
they become part of you know, my DNA.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Yeah, I think, you know, again, getting exposure to that
kind of stuff early on, it's it's always interesting because
you don't really realize how much it might influence you.
And you know, I think exposure just in general is
really important for kids. I always kind of give the
example of you know, even if it just comes like
a house, right, Like, you don't know a big house
until you've seen a big house, right exactly.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
And guess what, there's probably a bigger house even somewhere else.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
So you have to have to like expand that vision
and even in those moments, you know. I know, for me,
that's why I bring my kids with a lot of
stuff that I do. Like they sit there and they
play their phones and their games, but they they're around it.
And my hope is that you know, they're seeing these
moments and it's like slowly kind of building something into
them and understand they can do a lot of stuff
out here. So it seems like you have a very
similar kind of exposure I do.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
And you know, I tell people all the time. My
mother told me something when I was eight years old.
She leans, she got on her knee and she looked
me in the eye and she said, whatever you do
in the world as an adult, make sure you try
to help somebody. Yeah, And I don't know that she
thought that that was going to become sort of my
my mantra over my life, but it was one of
(06:16):
those things that had that pivotal you know, meaning for
me and every career decision I've made has been viewed
through the lens of is this ultimately about me? Or
is it about me helping somebody that's great? Man?
Speaker 2 (06:32):
So what brought you to Atlanta was Morehouse? The first thing, like,
did you decide to come down here for Morehouse?
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Was the first thing that that got me here A
long long time ago. I never applied until after I
was accepted. You know, Morehouse saw that I had been
accepted to every other school, and somehow somebody found me
and told me that I was automatically enrolled. If I
decided to come, I could fill out the application later.
Most folks have never heard that story. Yeah, and so
(06:59):
that was a long, long, long time ago. It was
a great experience. But I never thought I was coming
back and way a I never thought i'd stay for
graduate school or professionally. And then once I left, I
was never sure i'd come back to live. I was
always coming back here to work, to visit, to see people.
But you know, when I finally got here eighteen years ago,
I wondered what took me so long to get back.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
You know, it's interesting a lot of people who come
down here, especially for the AUC. I mean, I spent
time there as well. And I always kind of noticed
the difference between people that grew up in Atlanta versus
people that'd come there. Like I think when you grew
up in Atlanta, you see a lot of this stuff.
And I mean even with based on you know, the
way you grew up, you definitely got exposure to some
you know, levels of like black excellence, just amazing things happening.
But Atlanta's a really special place. Like what did you
(07:42):
notice when you first came down here to Atlanta? Just
about the auc and just Atlanta in general, especially coming
from New York.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Well, let me tell you this. When I got on
the plane at Kennedy Airport, thinking that I was going
to go to a place where I wouldn't know anybody,
there were kids that I had gone to camp with
who were on the plane coming to Spellman, going Clark
go to Morehouse. I said, oh Lord, okay, this is
I'm not going to be a stranger. I got to Morehouse.
First first thing I saw was a camp counselor who
(08:09):
was a guy played against in summer leagues on the
basketball court. And so it was a familiar place because
so many people I knew were coming here. It was
a welcoming place because it was the first place I
had ever come where strangers would say, hey, what's up.
You know, they'd all not say hello, and I was like,
who you're talking to? Because in New York you don't
(08:30):
talk to strangers, and here everybody was sort of just open.
When I came back here eighteen years ago for the
job and realized how many folks were in Atlanta from
someplace else, it was a reminder of both how welcoming
Atlanta is but how important people felt it was to
(08:53):
have you feel a part of the community as quickly
as possible and to get engaged as quickly as possible.
It was then and it has always been for me,
a place of welcome and a place of expectation that
if I got a skill or a talent, you know,
here's the place I can deploy it and have it
(09:15):
deliver its highest and best good.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Yeah, man, that's so the hospitality thing. Like I do
only trust anybody that doesn't give me a nod if
I'm walking down the street.
Speaker 4 (09:22):
Right, No, absolutely, you're right, you're right.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
So look, United Way is celebrating one hundred and twenty
years and that's a big thing. Like, you know, what
goes through your mind when you think about that kind
of legacy, especially as the CEO of United Way of
Greater Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
You know, one hundred and twenty years started off by
a young attorney named Joseph Logan in nineteen oh five,
in the middle of an ice storm, got a bunch
of his friends together to help people who were shut
in from this ice storm at risk of death. And
so it was the reminder that one person can make
a big difference.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Yeah, and in the.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Company of friends and others who share the same values,
share the same passion, you can make a big difference.
And that's the tradition that I feel inspired to maintain.
How do I get folks like you, Brandon and others
to feel like the United Ways a place where they
can be their best selves and deliver value to the
community and be inspired by other folks who have the
(10:29):
same kind of motivations. And so you can't help but
feel good about getting up for that mission and putting
your head on the pillow every night knowing that somewhere
somebody across Greater Atlanta is better off for something I
had a part in being responsible for that day.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Yeah, And I mean, you're the first black CEO of
United Way in Atlanta in Atlanta, and you know you've
made all these great things. One thing I wonder about,
especially when you reach that level, is I always say,
you can only kind of connect the dots looking backwards, right,
Like correct, what Steve Job said that when you think
about it, right, Like, how did you end up in
(11:08):
this role in the first place? Like how does a
person end up as CEO of the United Way of
Greater Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
See long time ago, I said I wanted to run
a large nonprofit. I was agnostic about what kind of
nonprofit it was. But then I looked back and say,
you know, to the point, we just made everything I
did previously led me here. I worked in New York
City government, so I learned how government works. I worked
(11:37):
in public policy feels and learned how the levers of
public policy and legislation work. I worked in corporate philanthropy
and understood philanthropy, but also understood how corporations define how
they want to engage in community, inspire the volunteerism of
(11:58):
their employees, unemployee giving programs, and so when you look
at each one of those individual skills, they're all a
part of what United Way is all about. So it
feels like I've been apprenticing for this job for a
very long time.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
And it just you got the opportunity to finally cause again,
like a lot of people don't even necessarily.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
I think that doesn't come up often.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Like people might say they want to be a CEO,
but you sound very intentional about wanting to be a
CEO of a large nonprofit.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
What inspire that?
Speaker 1 (12:25):
You know? I was always inspired by change agents. I
was always inspired by organizations that were serving the community.
I knew that I did not have the spirit or
the capability to be a direct service person. I'd done
some of that when I was in grad school, and
that's hard work. And I was too easily frustrated by
(12:49):
my clients not seeing the world that I wanted them
to see or behaving the way I wanted them to
behave as we charted a path from where they were
to where they hoped they wanted to be. But could
be in an organization whose responsibility was to create an
environment in which those direct service people could be their
best selves and accomplish their personal missions. And so it
(13:12):
moved me to organizations that were doing that kind of work.
When it was a National Urban League or whether it
was a United Way in Boston or here in Atlanta.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
And as the CEO, you know you're responsible obviously for
the organization, but also really like the strategic visions, yes
of the organization, like what footprint? What thumb print did
you already want to leave on United Way of Greater
Atlantage when you came in, you said, I'm going to
come in, I'm going to get in this role, but
my impact is going to.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
Be what United Ways have been operating in the United
States since eighteen eighty seven and for more than seventy years,
have really placed their priority on workplace campaigns. People in
workplaces like Delta or Coca Cola, who would give in
(13:58):
an employee campaign. The world's changing. Companies are changing, and
workplace campaigns are changing. So the thumb print that I
wanted to leave was could I be part of an
organization that was making strategic shifts in how it positioned
itself in community and how it raised money to be
(14:21):
relevant to a world that is very different from post
World War Two when the workplace campaign was at its heyday.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Now right now, Atlanta's ranked fiftieth in economic mobility. And
that's a pretty tough stat to kind of hear. But
will you sell those numbers? How did it hit you
for the first time?
Speaker 1 (14:40):
You know, it was the United Wlates done great work
in Atlanta. We have raised lots of money, We have
supported great organizations. Each one of those organizations made a difference.
But that statistic that if you're born in Atlanta poor,
you've got less than a five percent chance to escape
poverty by adulthood. The promise we make to poor kids
(15:02):
in Atlanta is, if you were born poor in Atlanta,
you stay here, you gonna die poor. Yeah, And I
that was just not something I could handle. That is
just not something United Way could stand behind. And so
you know, we've pushed the organization to try to be
at the forefront of the community's change agenda that gives
(15:23):
more than a fighting chance to poor kids who look
like you and me primarily, and who deserved the same
chances that you and I had to be the best
people we could be doing the best work we can
do and do it for others.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Now, people always joke and say Atlanta we full Yeah,
you know, I tell about the traffic. I don't know
it's getting closed but there's a lot of people down here. Again,
as somebody that grew up out here, I could definitely
tell the difference when I get on the freeway, he's
just like man, rush hour keeps starting early and earlier.
And you know, even with that, like, United Way has
evolved a lot with Atlanta, But like, what are some
of the things you've seen organization do to shift alongside
(16:02):
the city's growth and challenges over the years.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
You know, we have expanded. You know, when United Way
first began, it was a downtown organization. It's now in
thirteen counties across Greater Atlanta, and roughly half the state's
population is covered by the work that we do, and
so that geographic spread is wide. You know, it's a
much more racially, ethnically and gender diverse organization. We've got
(16:27):
LGPT staff, We've got LGBT affinity group that works with
the United Way, and so we try to be as
present in the community as it evolves as we can
be and represent that diversity at the board level, at
the staff level, at the volunteer.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Level, and tell us about Career Ready, Like, I know
that's a big program that you all have, Like what's
the goal behind that program and how does it help
shift these mobility numbers for Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Career Ready is one of the important strategies that's in
place to address that social mobility issue. You know, there's
a lot being said about college being unaffordable for most people,
or that not every person needs to go to college,
and both of those are true, but that doesn't mean
that folks need not be prepared for careers and career
(17:19):
advancement and opportunity. And so career Ready is designed to
provide youth apprenticeship opportunities for young people basically between the
ages of eighteen and twenty four, but some of the
kids are younger than that, to give them opportunities in construction,
in IT and cybersecurity, in future forward jobs with career
(17:45):
ladders and high paid potential. My favorite example is when
we started this, we started with a group of kids
in foster care who are leaving foster care. If you're
in foster care three years out, you are more likely
to be I'm going through human trafficking, homeless, or unemployed
than you are likely to have a job. Wow. But
(18:06):
the kids that went through Career Ready were now in IT,
they were in cybersecurity, they were beginning to raise their
own families, they were buying homes, they were making upwards
of seventy five or eighty thousand dollars, the same kids
who would have been unemployed were it not for this program.
That's the promise of Career Ready, and that's what we're
(18:27):
trying to make more available to thousands of kids across
Greater Atlanta.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
No, that's great.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
I mean, I know for myself, I grew up and
I was in a program called Inroads growing up, and like,
I really believed that that was one of the things
that gave me a lot of opportunities and just exposure
I wouldn't have traditionally gotten. Right, I was able to
get internships at companies like Semens Energy and Automation, and
and you know, it was funny when I look back
on it, you know, when my friends were you know,
I look at my summer jobs.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
I used to work at Sears some shoes. I made
good money at Seri Shoes too.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
But right, the opportunity to kind of work in that
space earlier, I think kind of really kind of help
get me on my path and technology back then a
lot earlier, and so those programs are interesting and really important.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
But what you said is key. It is about opportunity, right,
you know. It's people will say that kids are lazy,
they don't want to work. Kids will rise to the
level of the opportunities given to them when you put
a kid. I just saw some kids last week who
were doing construction, moving heavy equipment and ground, who are
(19:29):
doing power transmission lines. You know these are kids eighteen, nineteen,
twenty years old. It's about giving the kid an opportunity
and they'll show you what they're capable of doing.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
What are some other programs that United Way have greater
Atlanta has and maybe people don't know about or you
think and also are also super impactful.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
We have been a pioneer and lots of what the
regions been doing around early learning. How do you help
kids between the ages of zero and four make sure
that they're ready for kindergarten? And we have done this
work the nineties and I'm excited about the partnerships and
I'm excited about what we have seen as we have
tried to be part of that vanguarter folks that are
(20:09):
making sure that kids are reading on grade level by
third grade, performing maths appropriately, and ready for graduation. We've
also been the backbone for the Regional Commission on Homelessness
to address the unhoused challenge that exists across Greater Atlanta
(20:30):
and especially in the City of Atlanta, and so on,
the big issues that we as community people face every day.
United Ways been at the forefront of most of the
public response to them.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
That's great, man.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Now, when it comes to running organization, obviously, the CEO,
you're responsible the culture of the organization. But I got
to ask, especially as a leader, because I've done a
lot of leadership trained over the years, but I also
know you're in the jazz now. Yeah, so when it
comes to your leadership style, you know you like more
Miles Davis, more coal train, Like, how would you kind
of define your leadership style in a relation to jazz?
Speaker 1 (21:16):
That's a that's a great question. You know, I'm probably
a little more coal train. Okay, then Miles Miles would
get on the stage and turn his back on it
and cuss you out, even if you're an audience and
pay an audience. So I'm not going to do that.
But I'm more to try to, you know, organize her
choreographer of the movement of United Way but also trying
(21:41):
to be innovative, like and a little bit avant garde,
like like.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Train was okay, okay, And how do you inspire your
team to kind of stay motivated? Like what's your you know,
how do you inspire people to kind of act and
stay hopeful, especially with kind of work you're doing. I mean,
because again, that could be tough on people to face
some of these stats and some of the challenges that
people deal with.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
So how do you inspire your team?
Speaker 1 (22:02):
So I've got a personal philosophy, and that personal philosophy
is be compassionate, be transparent, be present, and act boldly.
And that's worked for me for my entire professional life.
It's about how you show up for people. You've got
to be compassionate with the folks that you support, but
(22:23):
also people in the community that you're also trying to assist.
But you also have to be bold. You know, the
world has not been innovations, not led by the folks
who are sitting back waiting to see what's going to happen.
They're folks who are willing, like you, with this parade
and the other stuff you've done, willing to stick your
(22:44):
neck out and take some risks, and so boldness is
something that you and I need to use our platforms
to try to inspire the folks who pay any attention
to what we have to say, to try to emulate.
If there's anything that I would want them to follow
that you and I do, it's the willingness to be bold,
(23:08):
willingness to take some risks and try some new stuff.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
Yeah, I really believe that you got to put the
things you want to see in the world. Like, one
of the things I always think about is just everything
that you see, everything that we interact with, it all
started from a thought. Yeah, you know, no matter how
complex it is, like this studio, these microphons, like everything
starts sort of thought, And like, I think the ability
of the human mind to take things from an idea
and manifest them into reality is a superpower, and I
(23:34):
really wish it, to your point, more people will kind
of take that boldness and say, like what can I
put into the world? Like what can I Because again,
even with the stuff that I've done, whether it's four
or four y or everything else, right, I really do
hope that that's something that that tradition goes on way
beyond me.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
In a lot of ways.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
And I think that's how we have to kind of
look at things like what legacy am I really trying
to leave? Especially in the world, people are like quick
to take things from it, like what are you kind
of putting back into it? Right?
Speaker 1 (23:57):
Yeah, no, absolutely, And it goes back to one of
your early questions about, you know, my parents and the
inspiration you know, being part of a household in which
the civil rights movement was part of just dinner conversation.
You know, whether it was Martin Luther King or Malcolm
X or Paul Robeson or Fanny lou Hamer, each one
of them and every other civil rights leader was driven
(24:19):
by a vision of what the world ought to look
like and how black folks ought to be able to
prosper and engage in it. And so you've got to
have a vision. My vision is sort of anchored in,
you know, the sacrifices and dreams of folks that created
the world in which you and I feel a little
(24:41):
more equal than we would have felt if you and
I were having this conversation in you know, eighteen ninety
seven or you know, nineteen oh four, nineteen oh five.
So what inspires you, you know, making sure that more
kids that look like me have an opportunity like I
(25:04):
had to, you know, just try to live a dream
and to try to sometimes even just to have a dream. Yeah,
you know, we know kids have just been beaten down
that don't think tomorrow's promised to them, don't think they're
going to live past twenty one, you know, and think
whatever they got today, it's not going to get any
(25:26):
better tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
And I just can't.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
I can't abide by that. So that that's what inspires me.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Is there any traditions that have just kind of like
stuck with you through your journey, whether it's you know,
food or music or like, you know, culture, and you like,
what are some traditions that maybe again, as you kind
of look backwards and think, you know what, that's really
something that's maybe who I am today?
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Now, you know what Christmas Okay, I'm still you know,
five years old when it comes to Christmas. You know, music,
you know, sports. My father turned down an opportunity to
play with the Harlem Globe, but taught me how to
play basketball when I was three years old. So I've
always been like driven by by that. You know. It's
(26:07):
there's all kinds of stuff that I've just had the
opportunity to you know, travel, food, you know, just just
living life. Man. You know, life is life is a
lot bigger than you know, Roosevelt Long Island, which is
only one mile square, and so you know, I had
to get out of those boundaries and see what the
rest of the world is like. And you know, it's
(26:29):
a pretty cool place, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Like, and you know, you got to see stuff again.
You got to get out here and you can get exposure.
I think that's one of the biggest things, like we
were talking about before, right, it is just going different places,
seeing different things. The world is big and there's a
lot of it that people should definitely get a chance
to kind of see. Like, but I got to ask
you though, you said Christmas, So are you like a
real Christmas tree kind of guy? Are you like a
fake Christmas I got a fake Christmas treet, nothing wrong
(26:51):
with that, but like, what kind of Christmas tree guy
are you?
Speaker 1 (26:54):
And you know, I am, in my heart, a real
Christmas guy. But you know, my last couple have been
you know, fake ones because I'm you know, I'm like
a lot of people, you know, come July, I don't
still want to be fine in piney right around the house.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
So you know, I remember my mom used to make
me crawl under tree and water it. Oh yeah, that's
probably the biggest reason why.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
That's all.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
I know. Those needles hurt after, you know, the first
couple of weeks. No matter how you keep that thing wet,
they dry out.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Is there like a you know, a core belief for
philosophy that you just in generally, you know, get kind
of adopted and live by you know what I.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Said before, you know, a boat acting boldly, trying to
be transparent. You know, I am what you see. You know,
I'm not going to try to play games with you,
you know, be compassionate, you know, and and just try
to live life each day as if it's the last one.
You know. I've seen too much death in my life
(27:54):
to know that I should I should consider tomorrow, you know, promise,
And I got to make the best of today and
do the best I can.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Have no regrets, absolutely, And what you got a way
of Greater Atlanta being one hundred and twenty years old, Like,
what do you hope for the next hundred and twenty
years of your organization?
Speaker 1 (28:11):
You know, I hope it continues to be a relevant institution.
I hope it continues to inspire people to want to
engage with it as donors, as volunteers. I hope we
continue to be at the forefront of the community solutions
to its challenges. And I hope the challenges that we
have to face are fewer and fewer because the work
(28:34):
that we do is more successful each day.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
Yeah, well, look, we're getting ready to wrap this up.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
Last question for you is when you look back at
your time at United Way, like, what's one headline about
you that you hope people remember with your time as CEO, that.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
I came to Button Nomics with a certain time, you know.
I mean, it's it's that I got a chance to
be in the company of change makers in the community
and somebody thought I might have earned that place among them,
you know. It's it's I've been blessed by the people
I've had the opportunity to meet, to work with, to
(29:10):
inspire and to be inspired by. And I just hope
people look back and say, yeah, he deserved to be there,
he deserved to be in that job, and we are
better for what he did. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:22):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
I remember we first met a couple of years ago
around four four to and me and a Bame Joiner
sat down which you'd had a conversation. I've seen the
amazing work you all kind of continue to do since then,
and you know you'all have been showing up every day
in Atlanta. So you know, Atlanta appreciates that. I know
the people that you all are impacting and making a
difference appreciated. Thank you before you out of here. How
can people get more information about United we have Greater Atlanta.
(29:43):
How can they support the organization? Like give them all
the thing?
Speaker 1 (29:45):
Come to the website United waya Atlanta dot org. If
you're a person out there who's in some kind of
challenging circumstance you need some help, you can just reach
us at by dialing two one one. That is our
information and referral helpline that's designed to help people address
any human service challenge that they face. And so two
(30:08):
one one or United Way Atlanta dot org and that'll
get you started on your road to learning more about
United Way.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Absolutely well, mister Milton Little, CEO of United Way of
Great Atlanta. We appreciate you pulling out the button nomics.
Thank you for the time, Thank you for the suiting time.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
Brother, you look you know. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
Man, No, no, no, I got to I have to
lift up to the level of the conversation that I
knew I was going to have.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
Good to see you, Brandon, hey man, Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
And that's it.
Speaker 3 (30:34):
We out. That's the pot.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
Y'all.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
You've been listening to button Nomics and I'm your hosts
Brandon Butler. Got comments, feedback? Want to be on the show?
Send us an email today at Hello at butteronomics dot com.
Butter Nomics is produced in Atlanta, Georgia at iHeartMedia by
Casey Pegram, with marketing support from Queen and Nikki.
Speaker 3 (30:52):
Music provided by mister Hanky.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
If you haven't already, hit that subscribe button and never
missed an episode, and be sure to follow us on
all our social platforms at butter dot a t L.
Listen to better Nomics on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
I've got a personal philosophy, and that personal philosophy is
be compassionate, be transparent, be present, and act boldly. And
that's worked for me for my entire professional life. It's
about how you show up for people. You got to
be compassionate with the folks that you support, but also
people in the community that you're also trying to assist.
(00:22):
But you also have to be bold innovations not led
by the folks who are sitting back waiting to see
what's going to happen here.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Everybody, Welcome to ano episode of Butter. I'm your host,
Brandon Butler, founding CEO of Butter atl and today got
a special guest in the building. I've seen this brother
in multiple, multiple spaces, from sitting down with him in
his office to just the other week we were walking
down the street celebrating the.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Four or four to eight parade.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
But I would like to introduce you all too, mister Milton,
little CEO of the United Way of Great Atlanta.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Milton, how you're doing, sir.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
I'm good. I dressed up for you. I got to
tie on today, I got a white shirt, so you
know you have earned this, my friend.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
I appreciate it. You know, this is they call this
my life uniform.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
I optimized for simplicity because there's only other things going on.
So I dressed like a cartoon character most days. But
I appreciate, you know, putting it together. Because last time
I saw you, man, you was out there relaxing a
little bit.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
I had my hat on, had my Livy nighted t
shirt on. It was a warm Saturday, and it was
a great parade. Congratulations to you for pulling it off,
my friend.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Man. Like I said, that was a you know, four
or four day. It was an amazing weekend and that
parade was my baby. But the team did an amazing job,
and I was just, you know again, we were so
happy to see the whole city come out and celebrate.
That's an idea that I had. I always kind of
joke and tell people. I will not joke, but I
used to ride up and down p Street Street when
I was growing up and kind of like say, I'm
gonna do something in these buildings one day. So like
(01:50):
I told you, man, I shop a little thug t
here out there. When I saw people lined up, I
saw it.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
You were walking around like a new papa yeah, you know,
the only thing missing was a cigar.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Oh you know what next year? That's next year.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Well look, well I appreciate you pulling up. Man, CEO
of the United Way of Greater Atlanta. Let me start
this off and ask you. A lot of people know
the title of CEO, but like when people ask you
what that is, what do you say you do?
Speaker 1 (02:16):
I have the awesome responsibility of leading if not the
largest and one of the largest United Ways in the
United States. It's an organization that's built around the idea
that ordinary citizens can be the architects of a just
and equal community if they pull their vision together, pull
(02:38):
their dreams together, pull their energy together to solve the
community's most important challenges. People know us for the Workplace campaign,
but that's how United Ways have raised money. That's not
exactly what they do. And what they do is really
build strong communities. And my responsibility is to engage with donors,
to engage and lead the staff to do the important
(03:01):
mission driven work that inspires us every day.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Yeh man, that's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
But look, I've seen some throwback photos that you have
more house now, so we got to talk about how
you got here in that path but like, what was
young Milton like back then, because you're not originally from Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
I'm not originally from Atlanta. And here's what I tell
young people all the day, every day. I was not
born in this suit. And so yes, you know I
was a young man like everybody else. I grew up
and was born in Queen's raised in Brooklyn, and the
family moved to Roosevelt Long Island, the home of Julius Irving,
Howard Stern, Adie Murphy. And so those are the folks
(03:40):
that we all knew growing up. And you know, I
played ball like everybody else. I was a really good student,
so I always did well in school. But you know,
if my mama was still alive, she'd tell you I
was a knucklehead like every other kid. I got more
spankings than the law would allow today. You know, they
(04:00):
called daifus or defects on my family. But you know
it was a strict family. You know, father's roots were
West Indians, So you know, Jamaicans don't take nothing from
knucklehead kids. And I gave them plenty to work with.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
And you said you mentioned like your parents were involved
in the Civil rights movement. A lot growing up, Like,
how did that influence who you became?
Speaker 1 (04:21):
You know, you know, there was a northern civil rights
movement that most folks don't pay attention to. My father
and mother were actively involved in the NAACP and the
Congress on Racial Equality. If the meetings weren't happening in
my house, they were happening nearby. I'm old enough to
have made signs for all of the people who were
(04:43):
leaving Long Island going to the march on Washington. And
so that's the presence that we saw. My parents really
understood unions in New York that were not integrated, They
understood school systems that did not serve black people well,
and they were actively involved in working there. So as
(05:04):
a young man, I saw it, I was exposed to it.
They taught me the principles of social justice. Uh, and
they become part of you know, my DNA.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Yeah, I think, you know, again, getting exposure to that
kind of stuff early on, it's it's always interesting because
you don't really realize how much it might influence you.
And you know, I think exposure just in general is
really important for kids. I always kind of give the
example of you know, even if it just comes like
a house, right, Like, you don't know a big house
until you've seen a big house, right exactly.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
And guess what, there's probably a bigger house even somewhere else.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
So you have to have to like expand that vision
and even in those moments, you know. I know, for me,
that's why I bring my kids with a lot of
stuff that I do. Like they sit there and they
play their phones and their games, but they they're around it.
And my hope is that you know, they're seeing these
moments and it's like slowly kind of building something into
them and understand they can do a lot of stuff
out here. So it seems like you have a very
similar kind of exposure I do.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
And you know, I tell people all the time. My
mother told me something when I was eight years old.
She leans, she got on her knee and she looked
me in the eye and she said, whatever you do
in the world as an adult, make sure you try
to help somebody. Yeah, And I don't know that she
thought that that was going to become sort of my
my mantra over my life, but it was one of
(06:16):
those things that had that pivotal you know, meaning for
me and every career decision I've made has been viewed
through the lens of is this ultimately about me? Or
is it about me helping somebody that's great? Man?
Speaker 2 (06:32):
So what brought you to Atlanta was Morehouse? The first thing, like,
did you decide to come down here for Morehouse?
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Was the first thing that that got me here A
long long time ago. I never applied until after I
was accepted. You know, Morehouse saw that I had been
accepted to every other school, and somehow somebody found me
and told me that I was automatically enrolled. If I
decided to come, I could fill out the application later.
Most folks have never heard that story. Yeah, and so
(06:59):
that was a long, long, long time ago. It was
a great experience. But I never thought I was coming
back and way a I never thought i'd stay for
graduate school or professionally. And then once I left, I
was never sure i'd come back to live. I was
always coming back here to work, to visit, to see people.
But you know, when I finally got here eighteen years ago,
I wondered what took me so long to get back.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
You know, it's interesting a lot of people who come
down here, especially for the AUC. I mean, I spent
time there as well. And I always kind of noticed
the difference between people that grew up in Atlanta versus
people that'd come there. Like I think when you grew
up in Atlanta, you see a lot of this stuff.
And I mean even with based on you know, the
way you grew up, you definitely got exposure to some
you know, levels of like black excellence, just amazing things happening.
But Atlanta's a really special place. Like what did you
(07:42):
notice when you first came down here to Atlanta? Just
about the auc and just Atlanta in general, especially coming
from New York.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Well, let me tell you this. When I got on
the plane at Kennedy Airport, thinking that I was going
to go to a place where I wouldn't know anybody,
there were kids that I had gone to camp with
who were on the plane coming to Spellman, going Clark
go to Morehouse. I said, oh Lord, okay, this is
I'm not going to be a stranger. I got to Morehouse.
First first thing I saw was a camp counselor who
(08:09):
was a guy played against in summer leagues on the
basketball court. And so it was a familiar place because
so many people I knew were coming here. It was
a welcoming place because it was the first place I
had ever come where strangers would say, hey, what's up.
You know, they'd all not say hello, and I was like,
who you're talking to? Because in New York you don't
(08:30):
talk to strangers, and here everybody was sort of just open.
When I came back here eighteen years ago for the
job and realized how many folks were in Atlanta from
someplace else, it was a reminder of both how welcoming
Atlanta is but how important people felt it was to
(08:53):
have you feel a part of the community as quickly
as possible and to get engaged as quickly as possible.
It was then and it has always been for me,
a place of welcome and a place of expectation that
if I got a skill or a talent, you know,
here's the place I can deploy it and have it
(09:15):
deliver its highest and best good.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Yeah, man, that's so the hospitality thing. Like I do
only trust anybody that doesn't give me a nod if
I'm walking down the street.
Speaker 4 (09:22):
Right, No, absolutely, you're right, you're right.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
So look, United Way is celebrating one hundred and twenty
years and that's a big thing. Like, you know, what
goes through your mind when you think about that kind
of legacy, especially as the CEO of United Way of
Greater Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
You know, one hundred and twenty years started off by
a young attorney named Joseph Logan in nineteen oh five,
in the middle of an ice storm, got a bunch
of his friends together to help people who were shut
in from this ice storm at risk of death. And
so it was the reminder that one person can make
a big difference.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Yeah, and in the.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Company of friends and others who share the same values,
share the same passion, you can make a big difference.
And that's the tradition that I feel inspired to maintain.
How do I get folks like you, Brandon and others
to feel like the United Ways a place where they
can be their best selves and deliver value to the
community and be inspired by other folks who have the
(10:29):
same kind of motivations. And so you can't help but
feel good about getting up for that mission and putting
your head on the pillow every night knowing that somewhere
somebody across Greater Atlanta is better off for something I
had a part in being responsible for that day.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Yeah, And I mean, you're the first black CEO of
United Way in Atlanta in Atlanta, and you know you've
made all these great things. One thing I wonder about,
especially when you reach that level, is I always say,
you can only kind of connect the dots looking backwards, right,
Like correct, what Steve Job said that when you think
about it, right, Like, how did you end up in
(11:08):
this role in the first place? Like how does a
person end up as CEO of the United Way of
Greater Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
See long time ago, I said I wanted to run
a large nonprofit. I was agnostic about what kind of
nonprofit it was. But then I looked back and say,
you know, to the point, we just made everything I
did previously led me here. I worked in New York
City government, so I learned how government works. I worked
(11:37):
in public policy feels and learned how the levers of
public policy and legislation work. I worked in corporate philanthropy
and understood philanthropy, but also understood how corporations define how
they want to engage in community, inspire the volunteerism of
(11:58):
their employees, unemployee giving programs, and so when you look
at each one of those individual skills, they're all a
part of what United Way is all about. So it
feels like I've been apprenticing for this job for a
very long time.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
And it just you got the opportunity to finally cause again,
like a lot of people don't even necessarily.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
I think that doesn't come up often.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Like people might say they want to be a CEO,
but you sound very intentional about wanting to be a
CEO of a large nonprofit.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
What inspire that?
Speaker 1 (12:25):
You know? I was always inspired by change agents. I
was always inspired by organizations that were serving the community.
I knew that I did not have the spirit or
the capability to be a direct service person. I'd done
some of that when I was in grad school, and
that's hard work. And I was too easily frustrated by
(12:49):
my clients not seeing the world that I wanted them
to see or behaving the way I wanted them to
behave as we charted a path from where they were
to where they hoped they wanted to be. But could
be in an organization whose responsibility was to create an
environment in which those direct service people could be their
best selves and accomplish their personal missions. And so it
(13:12):
moved me to organizations that were doing that kind of work.
When it was a National Urban League or whether it
was a United Way in Boston or here in Atlanta.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
And as the CEO, you know you're responsible obviously for
the organization, but also really like the strategic visions, yes
of the organization, like what footprint? What thumb print did
you already want to leave on United Way of Greater
Atlantage when you came in, you said, I'm going to
come in, I'm going to get in this role, but
my impact is going to.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
Be what United Ways have been operating in the United
States since eighteen eighty seven and for more than seventy years,
have really placed their priority on workplace campaigns. People in
workplaces like Delta or Coca Cola, who would give in
(13:58):
an employee campaign. The world's changing. Companies are changing, and
workplace campaigns are changing. So the thumb print that I
wanted to leave was could I be part of an
organization that was making strategic shifts in how it positioned
itself in community and how it raised money to be
(14:21):
relevant to a world that is very different from post
World War Two when the workplace campaign was at its heyday.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
Now right now, Atlanta's ranked fiftieth in economic mobility. And
that's a pretty tough stat to kind of hear. But
will you sell those numbers? How did it hit you
for the first time?
Speaker 1 (14:40):
You know, it was the United Wlates done great work
in Atlanta. We have raised lots of money, We have
supported great organizations. Each one of those organizations made a difference.
But that statistic that if you're born in Atlanta poor,
you've got less than a five percent chance to escape
poverty by adulthood. The promise we make to poor kids
(15:02):
in Atlanta is, if you were born poor in Atlanta,
you stay here, you gonna die poor. Yeah, And I
that was just not something I could handle. That is
just not something United Way could stand behind. And so
you know, we've pushed the organization to try to be
at the forefront of the community's change agenda that gives
(15:23):
more than a fighting chance to poor kids who look
like you and me primarily, and who deserved the same
chances that you and I had to be the best
people we could be doing the best work we can
do and do it for others.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Now, people always joke and say Atlanta we full Yeah,
you know, I tell about the traffic. I don't know
it's getting closed but there's a lot of people down here. Again,
as somebody that grew up out here, I could definitely
tell the difference when I get on the freeway, he's
just like man, rush hour keeps starting early and earlier.
And you know, even with that, like, United Way has
evolved a lot with Atlanta, But like, what are some
of the things you've seen organization do to shift alongside
(16:02):
the city's growth and challenges over the years.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
You know, we have expanded. You know, when United Way
first began, it was a downtown organization. It's now in
thirteen counties across Greater Atlanta, and roughly half the state's
population is covered by the work that we do, and
so that geographic spread is wide. You know, it's a
much more racially, ethnically and gender diverse organization. We've got
(16:27):
LGPT staff, We've got LGBT affinity group that works with
the United Way, and so we try to be as
present in the community as it evolves as we can
be and represent that diversity at the board level, at
the staff level, at the volunteer.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
Level, and tell us about Career Ready, Like, I know
that's a big program that you all have, Like what's
the goal behind that program and how does it help
shift these mobility numbers for Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Career Ready is one of the important strategies that's in
place to address that social mobility issue. You know, there's
a lot being said about college being unaffordable for most people,
or that not every person needs to go to college,
and both of those are true, but that doesn't mean
that folks need not be prepared for careers and career
(17:19):
advancement and opportunity. And so career Ready is designed to
provide youth apprenticeship opportunities for young people basically between the
ages of eighteen and twenty four, but some of the
kids are younger than that, to give them opportunities in construction,
in IT and cybersecurity, in future forward jobs with career
(17:45):
ladders and high paid potential. My favorite example is when
we started this, we started with a group of kids
in foster care who are leaving foster care. If you're
in foster care three years out, you are more likely
to be I'm going through human trafficking, homeless, or unemployed
than you are likely to have a job. Wow. But
(18:06):
the kids that went through Career Ready were now in IT,
they were in cybersecurity, they were beginning to raise their
own families, they were buying homes, they were making upwards
of seventy five or eighty thousand dollars, the same kids
who would have been unemployed were it not for this program.
That's the promise of Career Ready, and that's what we're
(18:27):
trying to make more available to thousands of kids across
Greater Atlanta.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
No, that's great.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
I mean, I know for myself, I grew up and
I was in a program called Inroads growing up, and like,
I really believed that that was one of the things
that gave me a lot of opportunities and just exposure
I wouldn't have traditionally gotten. Right, I was able to
get internships at companies like Semens Energy and Automation, and
and you know, it was funny when I look back
on it, you know, when my friends were you know,
I look at my summer jobs.
Speaker 3 (18:51):
I used to work at Sears some shoes. I made
good money at Seri Shoes too.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
But right, the opportunity to kind of work in that
space earlier, I think kind of really kind of help
get me on my path and technology back then a
lot earlier, and so those programs are interesting and really important.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
But what you said is key. It is about opportunity, right,
you know. It's people will say that kids are lazy,
they don't want to work. Kids will rise to the
level of the opportunities given to them when you put
a kid. I just saw some kids last week who
were doing construction, moving heavy equipment and ground, who are
(19:29):
doing power transmission lines. You know these are kids eighteen, nineteen,
twenty years old. It's about giving the kid an opportunity
and they'll show you what they're capable of doing.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
What are some other programs that United Way have greater
Atlanta has and maybe people don't know about or you
think and also are also super impactful.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
We have been a pioneer and lots of what the
regions been doing around early learning. How do you help
kids between the ages of zero and four make sure
that they're ready for kindergarten? And we have done this
work the nineties and I'm excited about the partnerships and
I'm excited about what we have seen as we have
tried to be part of that vanguarter folks that are
(20:09):
making sure that kids are reading on grade level by
third grade, performing maths appropriately, and ready for graduation. We've
also been the backbone for the Regional Commission on Homelessness
to address the unhoused challenge that exists across Greater Atlanta
(20:30):
and especially in the City of Atlanta, and so on,
the big issues that we as community people face every day.
United Ways been at the forefront of most of the
public response to them.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
That's great, man.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Now, when it comes to running organization, obviously, the CEO,
you're responsible the culture of the organization. But I got
to ask, especially as a leader, because I've done a
lot of leadership trained over the years, but I also
know you're in the jazz now. Yeah, so when it
comes to your leadership style, you know you like more
Miles Davis, more coal train, Like, how would you kind
of define your leadership style in a relation to jazz?
Speaker 1 (21:16):
That's a that's a great question. You know, I'm probably
a little more coal train. Okay, then Miles Miles would
get on the stage and turn his back on it
and cuss you out, even if you're an audience and
pay an audience. So I'm not going to do that.
But I'm more to try to, you know, organize her
choreographer of the movement of United Way but also trying
(21:41):
to be innovative, like and a little bit avant garde,
like like.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Train was okay, okay, And how do you inspire your
team to kind of stay motivated? Like what's your you know,
how do you inspire people to kind of act and
stay hopeful, especially with kind of work you're doing. I mean,
because again, that could be tough on people to face
some of these stats and some of the challenges that
people deal with.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
So how do you inspire your team?
Speaker 1 (22:02):
So I've got a personal philosophy, and that personal philosophy
is be compassionate, be transparent, be present, and act boldly.
And that's worked for me for my entire professional life.
It's about how you show up for people. You've got
to be compassionate with the folks that you support, but
(22:23):
also people in the community that you're also trying to assist.
But you also have to be bold. You know, the
world has not been innovations, not led by the folks
who are sitting back waiting to see what's going to happen.
They're folks who are willing, like you, with this parade
and the other stuff you've done, willing to stick your
(22:44):
neck out and take some risks, and so boldness is
something that you and I need to use our platforms
to try to inspire the folks who pay any attention
to what we have to say, to try to emulate.
If there's anything that I would want them to follow
that you and I do, it's the willingness to be bold,
(23:08):
willingness to take some risks and try some new stuff.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
Yeah, I really believe that you got to put the
things you want to see in the world. Like, one
of the things I always think about is just everything
that you see, everything that we interact with, it all
started from a thought. Yeah, you know, no matter how
complex it is, like this studio, these microphons, like everything
starts sort of thought, And like, I think the ability
of the human mind to take things from an idea
and manifest them into reality is a superpower, and I
(23:34):
really wish it, to your point, more people will kind
of take that boldness and say, like what can I
put into the world? Like what can I Because again,
even with the stuff that I've done, whether it's four
or four y or everything else, right, I really do
hope that that's something that that tradition goes on way
beyond me.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
In a lot of ways.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
And I think that's how we have to kind of
look at things like what legacy am I really trying
to leave? Especially in the world, people are like quick
to take things from it, like what are you kind
of putting back into it? Right?
Speaker 1 (23:57):
Yeah, no, absolutely, And it goes back to one of
your early questions about, you know, my parents and the
inspiration you know, being part of a household in which
the civil rights movement was part of just dinner conversation.
You know, whether it was Martin Luther King or Malcolm
X or Paul Robeson or Fanny lou Hamer, each one
of them and every other civil rights leader was driven
(24:19):
by a vision of what the world ought to look
like and how black folks ought to be able to
prosper and engage in it. And so you've got to
have a vision. My vision is sort of anchored in,
you know, the sacrifices and dreams of folks that created
the world in which you and I feel a little
(24:41):
more equal than we would have felt if you and
I were having this conversation in you know, eighteen ninety
seven or you know, nineteen oh four, nineteen oh five.
So what inspires you, you know, making sure that more
kids that look like me have an opportunity like I
(25:04):
had to, you know, just try to live a dream
and to try to sometimes even just to have a dream. Yeah,
you know, we know kids have just been beaten down
that don't think tomorrow's promised to them, don't think they're
going to live past twenty one, you know, and think
whatever they got today, it's not going to get any
(25:26):
better tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
And I just can't.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
I can't abide by that. So that that's what inspires me.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Is there any traditions that have just kind of like
stuck with you through your journey, whether it's you know,
food or music or like, you know, culture, and you like,
what are some traditions that maybe again, as you kind
of look backwards and think, you know what, that's really
something that's maybe who I am today?
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Now, you know what Christmas Okay, I'm still you know,
five years old when it comes to Christmas. You know, music,
you know, sports. My father turned down an opportunity to
play with the Harlem Globe, but taught me how to
play basketball when I was three years old. So I've
always been like driven by by that. You know. It's
(26:07):
there's all kinds of stuff that I've just had the
opportunity to you know, travel, food, you know, just just
living life. Man. You know, life is life is a
lot bigger than you know, Roosevelt Long Island, which is
only one mile square, and so you know, I had
to get out of those boundaries and see what the
rest of the world is like. And you know, it's
(26:29):
a pretty cool place, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Like, and you know, you got to see stuff again.
You got to get out here and you can get exposure.
I think that's one of the biggest things, like we
were talking about before, right, it is just going different places,
seeing different things. The world is big and there's a
lot of it that people should definitely get a chance
to kind of see. Like, but I got to ask
you though, you said Christmas, So are you like a
real Christmas tree kind of guy? Are you like a
fake Christmas I got a fake Christmas treet, nothing wrong
(26:51):
with that, but like, what kind of Christmas tree guy
are you?
Speaker 1 (26:54):
And you know, I am, in my heart, a real
Christmas guy. But you know, my last couple have been
you know, fake ones because I'm you know, I'm like
a lot of people, you know, come July, I don't
still want to be fine in piney right around the house.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
So you know, I remember my mom used to make
me crawl under tree and water it. Oh yeah, that's
probably the biggest reason why.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
That's all.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
I know. Those needles hurt after, you know, the first
couple of weeks. No matter how you keep that thing wet,
they dry out.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Is there like a you know, a core belief for
philosophy that you just in generally, you know, get kind
of adopted and live by you know what I.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
Said before, you know, a boat acting boldly, trying to
be transparent. You know, I am what you see. You know,
I'm not going to try to play games with you,
you know, be compassionate, you know, and and just try
to live life each day as if it's the last one.
You know. I've seen too much death in my life
(27:54):
to know that I should I should consider tomorrow, you know, promise,
And I got to make the best of today and
do the best I can.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Have no regrets, absolutely, And what you got a way
of Greater Atlanta being one hundred and twenty years old, Like,
what do you hope for the next hundred and twenty
years of your organization?
Speaker 1 (28:11):
You know, I hope it continues to be a relevant institution.
I hope it continues to inspire people to want to
engage with it as donors, as volunteers. I hope we
continue to be at the forefront of the community solutions
to its challenges. And I hope the challenges that we
have to face are fewer and fewer because the work
(28:34):
that we do is more successful each day.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
Yeah, well, look, we're getting ready to wrap this up.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
Last question for you is when you look back at
your time at United Way, like, what's one headline about
you that you hope people remember with your time as CEO, that.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
I came to Button Nomics with a certain time, you know.
I mean, it's it's that I got a chance to
be in the company of change makers in the community
and somebody thought I might have earned that place among them,
you know. It's it's I've been blessed by the people
I've had the opportunity to meet, to work with, to
(29:10):
inspire and to be inspired by. And I just hope
people look back and say, yeah, he deserved to be there,
he deserved to be in that job, and we are
better for what he did. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:22):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
I remember we first met a couple of years ago
around four four to and me and a Bame Joiner
sat down which you'd had a conversation. I've seen the
amazing work you all kind of continue to do since then,
and you know you'all have been showing up every day
in Atlanta. So you know, Atlanta appreciates that. I know
the people that you all are impacting and making a
difference appreciated. Thank you before you out of here. How
can people get more information about United we have Greater Atlanta.
(29:43):
How can they support the organization? Like give them all
the thing?
Speaker 1 (29:45):
Come to the website United waya Atlanta dot org. If
you're a person out there who's in some kind of
challenging circumstance you need some help, you can just reach
us at by dialing two one one. That is our
information and referral helpline that's designed to help people address
any human service challenge that they face. And so two
(30:08):
one one or United Way Atlanta dot org and that'll
get you started on your road to learning more about
United Way.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Absolutely well, mister Milton Little, CEO of United Way of
Great Atlanta. We appreciate you pulling out the button nomics.
Thank you for the time, Thank you for the suiting time.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
Brother, you look you know. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
Man, No, no, no, I got to I have to
lift up to the level of the conversation that I
knew I was going to have.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
Good to see you, Brandon, hey man, Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
And that's it.
Speaker 3 (30:34):
We out. That's the pot.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
Y'all.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
You've been listening to button Nomics and I'm your hosts
Brandon Butler. Got comments, feedback? Want to be on the show?
Send us an email today at Hello at butteronomics dot com.
Butter Nomics is produced in Atlanta, Georgia at iHeartMedia by
Casey Pegram, with marketing support from Queen and Nikki.
Speaker 3 (30:52):
Music provided by mister Hanky.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
If you haven't already, hit that subscribe button and never
missed an episode, and be sure to follow us on
all our social platforms at butter dot a t L.
Listen to better Nomics on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
Host
Brandon Butler
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