March 24, 2021 • 46 mins
How do we increase diversity in the rooms where decisions are made? What can we do to improve representation in the decision making processes in regional leadership positions? How do we open the doors for more people of color to serve on the Boards of Directors here in the Hudson Valley? Freddy Garcia is teaming up with Pattern for Progress on the new Board Institute, an initiative designed to provide the training, resources, connections, and support those who are ready to serve on regional not-for-profit Boards of Directors.
This week's episode features Freddy Garcia, Regional Director for Diversity, Inclusion, & Community Engagement at Westchester Medical Center and Director of the new Board Institute at Pattern for Progress.
Recruitment for this program begins in mid-April -- stay tuned for more information about how to apply to be part of this board leadership development program, and how your local Boards of Directors can find candidates ready to serve.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
We are experiencing a paradigm shift, a fundamental
change in the way we usually dothings.
We are intentionally choosing tosee the silver lining
opportunity arises.
We can shine a light on thethings that weren't working well
(00:25):
on those things that weren'treally working at all, we can
regroup reevaluate andre-engineer it's time to explore
new patterns and paradigms thosethat inspire us to rise above
the chaos and explore how theconditions of today and take us
(00:47):
to a better tomorrow patternsand paradigms the pattern
podcast from Hudson Valleypattern for progress.
Your listening to season two,episode 12, introducing the
board Institute with your hostpattern, president and CEO,
Jonathan Dropkin.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Hi everyone, and welcome to patterns and
paradigms.
Imagine that the city ofPoughkeepsie could market itself
as the city that had the bestschools.
Well, we hope that you had achance to listen to Geraldine,
Laybourne, and Julie Reesedescribe their piece of the
puzzle by focusing on earlychildhood education and their
(01:30):
day one program.
Please remember to subscribe toour podcast wherever you find
your favorite one.
And take a moment to share anepisode with a friend.
This episodes, bubble or trendhardly a week goes by without
someone writing about the Exodusof urban refugees to the Hudson
(01:54):
Valley.
We have talked about it before,but yesterday's New York times
featured a full page story intheir real estate section
entitled Hudson Valley is indemand.
So we ask when does a bubblebecome a trend?
(02:17):
As we enter year two of thisbubble of people searching for
housing in the Hudson Valley, weare now well beyond what
happened post nine 11.
We think that this is a supplyside issue.
That is why at every level ofhousing, we look to increase
(02:37):
supply in the hope of bringingnew residents into that sun
Valley with cash and ideas andother things that they could do
and lowering the upward pressureon the cost of housing for now,
this one appears to be a trend,but before I pronounce it a
(02:58):
bubble or trend, I'm here withmy partner pattern, Joe Cheika
and Joe, I've heard it said thatyou like to talk about housing.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Well, it's an ugly rumor, but it's true.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
What do you think, Joe?
I mean, we're, we're into yeartwo of this now.
Like people discovering theHudson Valley and moving up from
New York city.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
So if I say it's a bubble and I'm wrong, well, he
didn't know anything abouthousing, but if I say it's a
trend and I'm right, he's agenius.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Well then let's go with, he's a genius.
I thought the New York timesthat a really good job.
And that's not because yourreport was mentioned in it.
The Ulster County housing actionstudy
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Housing action plan, it was mentioned.
And, um, you know, I've beengiven this actually a lot of
thought, whether it's a bubbleor trend in, and I sincerely
believe that it's a trend.
I think that the numbers willlevel off, but I think that they
will continue to rise, not atthe rate that we've seen over
(04:08):
the last 12 months.
So I think that there will becontinual arise of maybe six to
8%.
The inventory will get a littlebit tighter because we'll get a
lot tighter actually.
Um, and the reason I say that isbecause construction costs are
so high land costs are so high.
(04:29):
The development process takes solong that I don't think the
inventory will increase in thispart of the Hudson Valley for
quite some time, just based onthe development process itself.
So the numbers are going to stayhigh.
So
Speaker 2 (04:45):
One of the things we've been doing in looking at
the housing needs of the HudsonValley and for our listeners, I
think we can break this down atthree levels.
So if you're talking about acity, like Nuber where there is
a desperate need for affordablehousing for low-income people,
(05:08):
then there's a community likeMontgomery, where you might say
it's more middle-class but stillneeds housing.
And then you've got beaconwhere, you know, there are those
that believe it's beencompletely gentrified.
Um, although there are partswhere there is still significant
poverty in beacon, that thereare multiple levels of housing
(05:33):
year, but they all seem in needof increased supply.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
I would agree with that.
The three levels, if you will,of housing, each typically told
a different story in the past.
And right now, because inventoryis so tight, I think it's a
single story.
But the affordable housing isbased on the availability of
(06:00):
subsidy, capital subsidy fromthe state and from the federal
government, the workforcehousing, the example you brought
up in Montgomery, it's based onthe wages being paid by the
large employers coming into town, specifically warehouse
distribution.
What does that buy you?
(06:20):
Well, it doesn't buy you the$300,000 home, but if it's shift
work, it can definitely help outwith some of the housing cost
burden.
And then on the high end, nowyou're looking at large
subdivisions, you're looking atlarge homes, then you're
probably not going to seeanything below$450,000 in the
(06:41):
market in the mid Hudson.
Those are going to be verydifficult to develop again
because there's, there's localpush to stop the development.
However, if you look at thedevelopment itself and the need
for the development schooldistricts need kids too.
So I don't think it's a badthing for these subdivisions to
(07:03):
go through
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Of that article.
One of the groups that havedon't have a lot of sympathy for
in this housing crunch is thepeople that looked at the
housing market and said, wow, wecan cash in if we sell our home,
but they didn't bother to thinkthen what
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Right?
If you, if you sell your homeand you say you make a hundred
grand on it, what are you goingto turn around and buy the
inventory?
Is that low?
Speaker 2 (07:38):
I mean, look, I think it's great that for those
people, let's say that hadbought their house during the
great recession and they finallyget to recover the price of
their house and help theirmortgage look a little bit
(07:59):
easier to pay each month.
I think that's great if theymaybe want to refinance rather
than sell because the interestrates are so low, but if they
sell, then I think I wouldadvise them.
(08:20):
And maybe you would, you got tohave plan.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Yeah, absolutely.
Have to have a plan.
You can't, you can't just sellan exp you know, hope for the
best you got to take a lookaround and what you find you
absolutely be surprised at shockthat low inventory.
Not some there's, some realtorsmight say there's slim pickings.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
All right.
Thanks, Joe.
Um, our guest today is FreddieGarcia.
Freddie holds the position ofregional director for diversity
inclusion and communityengagement for the Northern
region for the health lions ofthe Hudson Valley and the mid
Hudson regional hospitals, bothof which are members of the
(09:10):
Westchester medical centers,health network.
It's important to note thatFreddie is not with us in this
episode, in his capacity, inthat position.
Instead pattern and Freddie areworking on a new model to train
people of color, to serve onregional not-for-profit boards
(09:35):
of directors.
Listen as Freddie and Iexplained what we are trying to
implement.
We hope you enjoy it.
Hi Freddie.
And thanks for joining us onpatterns and paradigms.
I ask all of my guests, how areyou fairing?
And when did you have thatmoment that you knew that COVID
was just not another virus?
Speaker 4 (09:56):
Uh, hi Jonathan, thanks for having me.
Um, you know, I'm, I'm, I'mdoing, I'm doing fairly well.
Um, you know, I think the momentfor me came, I remember when, uh
, things were being shut down in, in end of March, uh, last year
, uh I'm in the healthcareindustry.
So for us, you know, being senthome, um, for, for some of the
(10:20):
administrative positions, youknow, that, that, that really
kind of opened my eyes tothings, you know, we we're a 24,
seven hour operation, um, andthey really just wanted
essential workers, uh, at thehospital.
So that's really kind of wheremy, my, uh, uh, you know, kind
of hit home for me, uh, at themoment.
Um, and also when my wife wasfor a little, for, for some time
(10:41):
, um, you know, I, I really knewthings weren't as good, uh, as
the, um, the optimist of theworld, uh, took, took, took it,
uh, during that time.
So, um, for me, those were twomoments where it kind of made it
really real for me.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
And on November 24th, I haven't had a chance to do
this with any of my guests, yourfamily expands.
Speaker 4 (11:09):
Right, right.
Yeah.
So we, we welcomed, uh, abeautiful daughter of ours,
Amalia Imaan Garcia, and she isthree, three and a half months
now, uh, growing by the day, uh,getting smarter every moment, uh
, and started develop apersonality, which is fantastic
to see, uh, there's no question.
(11:29):
I think, you know, as a, as a,as we call it a COVID baby,
there's certainly, uh, somechallenges that comes with that.
Uh, you know, we, we were at thehospital, uh, in the room.
Uh, we couldn't leave the room,we couldn't go out, people
couldn't come and visit.
Um, but it did give us, youknow, you know, the first couple
of months, time for us as a, asa, as a, as a family, the three
(11:53):
of us spend a lot of timetogether around, uh, we were
able to get to know each other,go through the ups and downs has
been, it's been a wonderfulopportunity.
Uh, we, we now we're starting tohave family come and visit and
it's getting nicer out.
So we go out for walks and lether see the world as it stands.
So it's, it's been, it's been agreat process.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
They're going to always, you know, for the rest
of her life, say I was bornright in the middle of, and, um,
well that, you know, I know youfairly well getting to know you
even better and, uh, you know,wish you and the family health,
and let's move on to ourconversation here.
So thank you.
(12:32):
So for background, why don't wetell people a little bit about
your story, because it's veryimportant to the subject that we
want to cover today.
Speaker 4 (12:42):
Sure, sure.
Um, so I'm, I'm originally fromNew York city from the Bronx.
I, uh, I came out to the HudsonValley when I, uh, went to
college at, uh, Maurice college.
And, uh, you know, after fouryears of, of being a student,
uh, I applied for a job andstarted working there.
Um, and that's kinda what, youknow, kind of kept me here.
(13:03):
Uh, I worked, uh, in differentroles, so I started off in, you
know, admissions.
Uh, so I got a sense ofrecruitment, uh, you know, and
what that all entails.
I then went from there to, uh,financial aid and financial
services, uh, and that opened myeyes to a lot of things.
Uh, you know, how, um, how, howfinancial aid works, uh, the
(13:25):
struggles that families dealwith and making, you know, th
their decision, um, you know, ww what are the, the different
components that, that supportsthe higher ed space in terms of,
you know, the state and federalfunding?
Uh, I also had an opportunity towork with our, our veterans, uh,
and that was again, eye openingas well.
(13:45):
So I was able to kind of hone ina lot of different experiences
from those two.
And then I, I then went to, uh,the president's office and my
role within the president'soffice evolved, I was a
presidential fellow.
I went over to then being aspecial assistant to the
president, and then a couple ofyears later, uh, overseeing, uh,
diversity inclusion andcommunity engagement, um, which,
(14:09):
uh, then led to my current role.
Uh, two years ago, I was, uh,tapped on the shoulder for a
role, uh, Westchester medicalhealth network, uh, Northern
region, uh, and overseeing, uh,serving as the regional
director, overseeing diversityinclusion and community
engagement for Dutch's Ulster,uh, in Delaware County.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
So that gives us, you know, sort of your baseball
card, but what has got you and Iworking together on a project is
your board service.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
Right, right.
So let's
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Expand a little bit about your first opportunity to
serve.
And I think I just got an email,I don't even know, are you on
GOs board as well?
Correct.
Correct.
So, all right.
So let let's tell all ourlisteners, because this is very
important for what we're tryingto do.
Speaker 4 (15:00):
Right.
Right.
So, so during my time as beingin the president's office, uh,
and, and obviously focusing oncommunity engagement, I had the
chance to really, uh, interactand develop relationships in the
community.
So the first board that I joined, um, uh, and then, you know,
the timeline's kind of kind ofblurry, but I think it was
around maybe 2012, 2012,something like that, 2013.
(15:27):
Um, and it was Catherine streetcommunity center in
Poughkeepsie.
Um, so that was my first board.
Uh, you know, I went to abreakfast, uh, my predecessor in
the president's office was onthe board, and that's where the
introduction came from
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Catherine street for, for people who may not know what
does it do?
Speaker 4 (15:44):
So it services the children's, don't Poughkeepsie,
uh, it's a kind of afterschoolprogramming.
They do a variety of differentprogramming for the children.
Uh, we, we, we've done things onthe weekends.
We hold the amount of the Kingbreakfast, um, that really
expands, uh, the Hudson Valleyin terms of the people who
attend.
So it's, it's it, you know, we,we, we we've been able to really
(16:05):
support the, the, the future, um, of, uh, Poughkeepsie and in
many ways.
Um, so that was my first board,and I really had no idea how
boards worked, uh, what was thepurpose of a board, uh, but it
was an opportunity for me.
So I definitely, uh, joined itreminded me of programs, you
know, that I was involved withgrowing up.
(16:25):
Um, so I, I jumped right in and,you know, over time that was
able to work with some fantasticpeople, Shirley Adams, a few
other folks, Cora, and stuff.
And they really kind of startedto pave the way for me.
Um, you know, you know, beingthat, you know, I, I, as a, uh,
you know, serving, uh, as, as,uh, in the presidents office at
(16:45):
an institution like marriage,you know, one of the largest
employers in Duchess County, um,really gave me access to things
that, you know, I couldn't evenimagine.
Uh, and from that role, um, youknow, I also was able to serve
on a couple of other boards.
Uh, so I joined, uh, familyservices as my second board.
Great experience there, I'mactually the chair of family
(17:08):
services now, a number of yearslater.
So that, that, that was
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Family services.
I'm sorry.
Cause I always have to rememberthis.
This is something that familyservices located in Poughkeepsie
it's mission.
Speaker 4 (17:21):
So we, we, we provide services, uh, all types of
services, uh, to the community,um, uh, through the programs
that we do.
But we also are the landlords ofthe family partnership center,
uh, which is, uh, a buildingfull of other services, other
nonprofits, you know, we believein the one stop shop, uh,
(17:42):
scenario.
So if you, if you come to, to,to our family partnership center
and want to, uh, engage, uh,obviously in the programs that
we have, when there'safter-school programs, we have,
uh, victim services programs, wehave court services programs.
So, you know, we, we, we try tocover a lot of things and then
we have our partners, um, that,you know, that's his outreach,
uh, feeding.
(18:03):
We have, I mean, you know, someriver health, uh, in the
building, uh, that's justcommunity college.
Uh, cause we believe again, if,if you come for one, you can
obviously be able to use theother services in the building.
Um, so, so th so that was, youknow, my second board after that
, um, again, grew, grew, grewfrom there served that, uh, uh,
the, the Dutchess Countyregional chamber of commerce
(18:25):
for, for a year or two.
Um, and then, um, served on[inaudible] board, um, uh,
serving on Rothko's board nowI'm a year in or so, um, and
then, you know, obviouslypattern as the fellow, a board
member, uh, and then for, for,you know, private board, um, I
(18:45):
was asked a couple of years agoto, to, to join the Rhinebeck
bank board.
Um, and that's been a veryeyeopening experience as well, a
great, great people, uh, that Iwork with there as well.
So it's, it's, it's been, youknow, full circle.
It's been a crazy journey, can'tsay that, that, uh, um, I was
prepared for every opportunity,but I, I welcomed with open arms
(19:07):
and the people around me really,uh, kind of helped me Excel, uh,
over time
Speaker 2 (19:12):
So that this is what, we're what you and I have been
collaborating on, which is thisnotion that, um, how do we get
more people of color to have anopportunity for board service,
be in the room where it happens,be able to be part of the
(19:34):
decision-making process andbecause of your lived
experience, it brought you toyour decision that we've got to
train people for this, not justthrow them into the water like
you were, um, which, and thenfrom my experience, serving on
many boards said, you know,pattern has a, uh, committee on
(20:00):
diversity equity inclusion, whata great idea.
If we could actually be trainingpeople of color, and then you,
and I just sort of were havingone of our conversations and
said, Hey, we're both thinkingabout the same thing.
So what was it that sort of gotyou to make the decision to say,
(20:22):
what if we could start trainingpeople and put them in better
shape when they actually setfoot on that board of directors?
What was that aha moment foryou?
Speaker 4 (20:33):
Right.
Right.
So certainly a couple, I mean,I've been thinking about this
for a long time.
Um, you know, one big one, uh,that I can think of is, you
know, we tend to tap the sameshoulders, uh, for these
opportunities as if, you know,there aren't that many, uh, you
know, people of color,underrepresented minority that
(20:54):
can, you know, participate.
So, you know, my own experiencestells me, you know, um, you
know, folks, because theplatform that you have as a
board member at these otherorganizations, people see you,
uh, people acknowledge you,people get to know you, they see
what you bring to the table, andthen they want to tap you in,
you know, for, for that.
Um, I think, you know, withwhat's happening, you know,
(21:18):
costs across the country today,um, you know, boards are being a
little bit more reflective, uh,open to diversifying their
boards.
They they're, they're kind ofdigging deep, what are we
missing?
What are we not doing?
Right.
Um, and so, you know, the ideacame from my own lived
experience, uh, tapped withwhat's happening, uh, globally,
(21:40):
uh, around the topic.
So, you know, it just felt likea right opportunity.
Uh, I think, you know, rightplace, right time, Jonathan,
where you and I had thatconversation, um, uh, around it.
And so, you know, when I thinkabout all those things, uh, it
just felt right.
Um, I think there, you know,there are certainly people, uh,
throughout the Hudson Valley whoare doing fantastic work, um,
(22:05):
know their craft extremely well.
Um, bring a perspective thatmany may not have who aren't,
you know, who don't have theplatform and the, the resources
to be sought out after.
Uh, so this is really where itcomes from.
I just want us to highlight thebest things, uh, of the Hudson
(22:27):
Valley, which are the people.
Uh, so, you know, I, I, youknow, the, the, the program that
you and I are working on isreally focused around just
preparing people to do good work, uh, give them the, the
opportunity, uh, the exposurethat they deserve.
Um, and then kind of going fromthere,
Speaker 2 (22:45):
You know, for me, the aha moment was when I was
thinking about all of thegovernment boards that make
decisions around, um, issuesthat could impact housing, um,
uh, segregation.
So planning boards and zoningboards.
(23:06):
And I kept thinking about themakeup of that.
And I was thinking, wait aminute, there really aren't that
many people of color in the veryplace where the decisions are
made that are being raised andtalked about right now, it, and
(23:26):
it goes all the way back to the,um, the, the master's degree
programs for regional and urbanplanners.
The, you know, I talked to the,you know, my young staff about
it, there aren't very manypeople of color choosing to go
into that profession when theydo, they tend to go to a more,
(23:51):
um, urban area where there'sgreater job opportunity.
And yet there that's the placewhere a lot of these decisions
get to be made.
So that's how I came at it.
You came at it from, um, thesocial services banking from
human services housing.
And so we both said we could dobetter, we can do better.
(24:15):
So, all right.
So the idea here basically is asyou and I have put it together,
as we want us to see if we canfind 10 people of color and then
do what with them Peretti.
Speaker 4 (24:32):
Right.
So the idea here is to, to, um,to find, uh, some folks to
participate in what we call, uh,the board Institute.
Um, and they'll go through ajourney, um, with us in
preparing to, to volunteer forboard service.
Uh, so, you know, we'll, we'lltake them through, uh, at this
moment, uh, five courses, um,uh, within a six month period.
(24:57):
And, uh, the, the, the, want meto get into
Speaker 2 (25:00):
Let's walk through what are you cause you that
you've thought about this, andyou had this way ahead of me on
this.
You had five areas that youthought needed to be discussed,
Speaker 4 (25:11):
Right?
So, so every participant will gothrough, uh, kind of a six month
, um, uh, development, uh,program.
So, uh, we'll start with thefirst course, which is the kind
of an intro to board service,like w what is it and why it
matters and kind of reallyorient them around that, uh, the
second, um, uh, month will be ongovernance.
(25:31):
And how, how does, how do boardswork, you know, kind of knowing
the, the, the, the policycomponent, the structural
components, um, then we'll,we'll, we'll land into finance,
because I think, you know, thisis, um, usually, uh, you know,
boards will say, you know, ththis is what we're looking for,
someone who understands finance.
Um, so we want folks to be ableto understand the general
(25:54):
components of it, understandwhen they're looking at, uh,
financial documents, what are welooking at, um, and, and really
take a deep dive there.
Uh, the, the fourth class isdevelopment.
Uh, we, we know as nonprofitorganizations that fundraising
is important, friend raising isalso important and volunteerism.
Uh, so, you know, how does, howdo the combination of all those
(26:15):
things work together, uh, and,and the kind of added benefits,
not only to the organization,but the community, uh, and, you
know, kinda how, how does thatall position itself?
Um, the, the, the last course,um, which is kind of what was
taking time to, to develop forsure, um, is really, um, focused
around teaching everyone whoattends the program, how to
(26:38):
navigate, uh, the board room asthe only person of color in many
cases, right.
Um, uncovering, you know, thoseuncomfortable conversations and
feelings, when you feel like youhave to represent an entire race
or community.
Um, and how do you navigatethat?
How do you, um, you know, getyour questions out there when
(27:00):
you don't think you're theexpert in the room, um, and, and
how did you build relationshipswith not only the board members,
but the leadership team?
Uh, so I think all of thesethings are going to kind of
culminate together at the end ofthe course, to be able to
prepare people to not onlyunderstand the concepts of being
a board member, but theexperience, um, you know, the
(27:21):
tools to be able to help younavigate through them.
So, you know, that's really whatwe're trying to w what we're
trying to do with everyone whoparticipates in the program.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
And I think this is so well thought out on your
part, Freddie, that, you know,as opposed to an organization
saying, ah, we found someone ofcolor check the box.
You said, no, no, no, no, that,that person may be someone of
color, but this is somebody whohas a pretty good understanding
(27:51):
about how the boardroom works,because to a lot of people, they
never get that chance.
They never see what goes oninside of that board.
And you're saying not only areyou delivering a product that is
a person of color, whichmatters, and it is a person of
(28:12):
color who also understands thatboardroom and the dynamics
you've had, I was keeping countsix different experiences of
being in a boardroom.
And, you know, I couldn't thinkof a better person well-trained
to say, I didn't know much inthe beginning, but I sure know a
lot about it right now.
(28:33):
Right.
Speaker 4 (28:34):
Right.
And, and so, you know, and Ithink, and I think you're
absolutely right.
W w well, we also, you know,part of the program too, is to
create, uh, a cohort of peopleto do it together.
Right.
That someone you can lean on andsay, Hey, you know, I'm kind of
struggling with something, youknow, you think you can help me
out, which, you know, I had itfrom, from just my own role.
(28:55):
I had some fantastic mentors,you know, uh, you know, Dennis
Maria at Maris, you know, was a,a great sounding board for me.
I had folks, you know, like mycurrent boss, um, Mecca,
Mitchell, I mean, I had ablether of people that I could
say, Hey, I'm not sure, but Inever had someone who looked
like me, who for the first timethey sat in a room, you know,
(29:19):
felt like, you know, am Isupposed to be here?
I'm not, you know, I'm, I'm notsure, you know, I don't have
anyone who looks like me aroundthe room.
You know, those, those kinds ofexperiences are very different.
Um, so I think, you know, havinga cohort of people to do that
with go through it, with, beable to ask questions too, um, I
think makes a huge differencebecause you're right.
(29:40):
The folks that will go to thisprogram are people who are
already successful in what theydo, uh, on a, on a day-to-day
basis.
They just may not know the, theway or how to, you know, engage
in these kinds of conversations.
So my hope is that we canhighlight some, some folks all
the way, you know, from, fromall across the Hudson Valley.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
And I think it, it's, it's important, um, that
organizations, I think we'regoing to start with not for
profits, then maybe we'll get tomy government folks.
And then maybe we'll get to the,we, we've kind of been thinking
about this for, you know, howthis has, we're not doing this
one shot.
Hopefully this is a multi-yeareffort.
(30:23):
And, um, that first year thementors will be, I think your,
your idea is to have thespeakers for each of the five
subjects, they should beavailable to take emails or
phone calls.
Right.
Then I think we want to havethe, we were thinking of a class
(30:45):
of about 10 was about what wethought we could manage and do a
good job.
We'll see what happens.
Um, but that once they'replaced, then once a month, the
10 of them should have some wayto get together and say, Hey,
this happened, what should Ihave done?
(31:06):
Or is there a better way ofdoing it or here's how I handled
it.
And I think you're, you're, youknow, we're already into year
two, then the, the people whogot placed become the mentors
for the incoming class.
Um, I, I think what you have puttogether here, Freddy really
serves, you know, it's not justit, you know, using a cliched
(31:31):
expression, it's not justtalking the talk, it's walking
the walk, it's saying, wait aminute, we could do better.
And here's how we're going to dobetter.
Speaker 4 (31:39):
Right.
Right.
And it's, you know, and, andsetting the example, you know, I
, you know, it, it really is.
Um, and I think we, we, there,there are many organizations who
want to do better.
Um, and I think there are manyorganizations who want to, uh,
diversify their boards and justdon't know how, or may not, you
know, understand the, thenuances, uh, around it, um, may
(32:03):
not have the DDI perspective,uh, at the table.
I think all these things limit.
So hopefully this program kindof helps them along the way.
You know, one thing I do want tomention Jonathan, when we talk
about the organizations is thatwe will be, you know, asking the
organizations to also play arole in this.
This is not, you know, having,you know, the, the different
(32:25):
people participate and put themon a board.
Now, we, we want, we want to setexpectations of what a board
should be, what a successfulboard should be.
So, you know, we, we will, youknow, ask for, for organizations
to commit to the work of theright.
Um, you know, whether it's, youknow, through a statement,
through strategic planning,through, you know, uh, you know,
(32:46):
uh, conversations, et cetera,right.
So, you know, we don't want toput anyone on a board that isn't
committed to this work.
Uh, and I think that that wouldbe a question at least, you know
, from my perspective that we'llask anyone, uh, or any board,
any organization that wants toplay up, play a role, uh, in
this work.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
Well, you know, even how pattern got to decide that
we wanted to participate withyou on this is going back months
ago, we formed a task force onDEI.
The task force finished its workin December.
It was converted into one of thefew standing committees of
(33:26):
pattern.
And this project that you and Iare trying to create here is one
of the first deliverables.
Um, we didn't think it wasenough though, you know,
statements are good that theysay what your position of your
organization is, but we wantedto go much deeper than that.
(33:49):
And, um, so tell me a bit aboutthe timeline.
So hopefully people listeningbecome interested.
So we're hoping to get theapplication out about when,
Speaker 4 (34:00):
So, uh, these next couple of weeks we'll be
finalizing the application.
Our hope is to have that out.
Um, you know, by, you know,sometime in April, um, you know,
mid April.
So, um, you know, we'll, we'llbe, you know, ho ho hopeful that
people will be sharing theapplications with, with people
they think would benefit fromthis program, uh, with, uh, with
(34:22):
a launch date of hopefully July1st or July, I should say, not
the first, but in July.
Um, and again, you know,starting with about 10, 10
individuals, uh, we'll start inJuly, kind of go to November.
So one, one course every monthwith some work in between some
assignments, some, some kind ofreal, um, um, articles for
(34:44):
people to really dive deep intothe subject area.
And then we'll do that all theway till, till November do the
placement in December.
And then they'll start hopefullyboard service, January of 2022.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
You know, it, it, it occurred to me, you know,
because we keep riffing off eachother saying, what else could we
do?
So sometime in that period, wecould have the members of the
class in attendance at patterns,board meetings,
Speaker 4 (35:17):
That'd be great,
Speaker 2 (35:18):
So they can actually watch, and then we could debrief
with them and say, did you catchwhat was going on?
Or here's your, there's so manythings we could do with this
that, um, you know, I thinkwe're going to learn.
That's why I think starting witha class of 10 small, not too,
because we want to make certainweeks, you know, that they go
(35:41):
out in the world and they'reprepared.
They are prepared, not justbecause they're of color, but
they're prepared because theyunderstand what it means to be
on a board.
Lots of people could say, Icould serve on your board.
Heck I say that all the timeabout boards, but I'm not
qualified to serve on thatboard.
(36:01):
Um, but I think what you'redoing here is saying, we're
going to give you tools.
We're going to give you thestuff that you need.
And I think this makes it verydifferent than I honestly, I
don't know of a program likethis, certainly not, not
Speaker 4 (36:15):
Right, right.
No, it's a, it's a certainly anopportunity.
And I think, you know, um, as Ithink as I think through
everything with the program, andobviously a lot of things are
still in the works, you know,really what I'm hoping for is
kinda to disrupt, um, you know,board service in the Hudson
Valley in a positive way.
(36:37):
Um, you know, we can no longerjust, you know, seek to
diversify just by saying, Hey,Freddy, who do you know, uh,
that, that, that would be agreat board member.
Sure.
That that's nice and it's great,you know, but we have to be able
to identify talent, build apipeline, um, you know, have,
you know, uh, kind of a standardway of assessing board candidacy
(37:01):
outside of just, you know, the,the, the, the typical, Oh, this
is a prominent person year.
Uh, Oh, this person is reallygoing to contribute some
dollars.
I think all those things aregreat, but we have to be able to
do it in a larger scale.
Uh, and we have to be able toinclude more people in that
scale.
So, you know, this is what we'rehoping to do.
I think it's an opportunity, youknow, not only for us, you know,
(37:25):
uh, pattern myself, but for theHudson Valley to really buy in,
we want to cover everything fromWestchester to Ulster County.
Uh, so if people are interested,obviously feel free to reach out
to myself to pattern.
Uh, but we'll, we're, we're veryexcited about this opportunity.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
So I don't want to let the pitch go by, and I don't
want you to identify anorganization, but being a person
of color.
Did you feel this pressureyourself that you were that only
person in the room and that youwere speaking on behalf of
(38:03):
somehow they, they, peoplewanted you to be, well, what do
all black people think?
You're, you're not that, youknow, you've taught me many
times.
I want you to see my color, butthen once you've seen my color,
then I want you to accept me assomeone who has something to add
to the conversation.
(38:24):
So did it ever occur to you ordid it ever happen?
Did you ever have that feelingthat, you know yeah.
There's someone checked the box.
Speaker 4 (38:33):
Yeah.
I mean, I've had, I mean, I'vehad that, um, uh, many times in,
in, in my career, not only, youknow, board service, but in
general, uh, in, in aprofessional setting, personal
stuff, um, you know, and, and,and it is, and it is tough, you
know, you, you, you know, we, we, we go through, um, you know, a
journey of, uh, you know, ofdoubt, uh, when, when, when,
(38:59):
when we go through those kindsof situations, am I, you know,
they're picking me because ofthis or because of that.
Right.
Um, you know, I'm not, you know,sometimes you're unclear what,
what is it that I'm supposed tobring to the table?
Right.
And, and so that my, myproductivity level isn't as high
as it should be.
Um, and, and so, you know, Ithink overall, um, it happens
(39:22):
more than you can possiblyimagine.
Um, and, but, but for me, it's,it is a little different I'm in
the space of, you know, DEI iswhat I do for my, for, for
living and for work.
And sometimes when I talk aboutthese things, it's like, Oh,
let's talk about it becausethat's what he, that's his job.
You know, when, when, whensomeone doesn't have this title,
(39:43):
uh, then it does feel like, Oh,you know, Freddie does represent
this group.
It's not, it's not just his workis because of, you know, what he
looks like.
Uh, and that's what really Iwant to avoid is folks who may
not know anything about, justbecause you're black doesn't
mean you're the professor, youknow, it's just your lived
experiences and the experienceof those around you.
(40:04):
Um, and you shouldn't bespeaking for an entire
community.
You can only speak for yourself.
So, you know, I just wanted to,you know, kind of give the
platform for people to do that,
Speaker 2 (40:13):
You know, for a lot of not-for-profits their
geographic center, um, theyserve a particular community.
They're in Poughkeepsie, they'rein Newburgh there and whatever.
So I've been trying to thinkthis through, it's gonna be hard
for, you know, someone whoeventually gets placed in a
(40:34):
not-for-profit in one of theurban areas of butts and Valley.
Yes.
That person will be of color,but will they also, how do they
balance the need to speak forthe community they serve with
the board?
They're now doing, you know,what's referred to as board
(40:57):
service, there seems to besomething we have to balance
there between, you know, and,and listening, you know, because
we could say, I'm sure thatthere are people on boards that
are not listening.
They do not hear what the needsof their community are.
(41:18):
And yet boards, for all thereasons you have outlined
governance, finance,fundraising, there are
responsibilities.
This is not going to be easy forsome people.
Speaker 4 (41:30):
It won't, it be easy.
Um, you know, I, you know, interms of your, your first, uh,
uh, comment, you know, is not tospeak for a community, but to
advocate for a community, um,and being able to, to sometimes
be a part of a community allowsyou to do that, allows you to
maybe get some, some, um, kindof feedback that, that, that
(41:53):
folks may not be able to get,uh, on their own.
So it's really bridging, youknow, the community with the
organization.
And I think that's a big part ofit.
Um, and we can, you know, you dothat in so many different ways.
Um, so that's one, but thesecond thing is it is, um, it is
a lot of pressure, uh, for folks, um, you know, and whether,
(42:14):
whether the organ, so as anexample, I live in Poughkeepsie,
whether the organization is fromPoughkeepsie, Westchester,
Kingston, you know, uh, SullivanCounty, et cetera, you know,
it's really kind of focusing onthe mission, uh, focusing on
what is it that, um, yourorganization needs from you,
(42:36):
from your skills, from what youbring to the table, and then
everything else will fall intoplace.
And it's allowing them to seethat we have to think things
through, from a different lens.
And that's, I think what webring to the table as well, it's
just a very differentperspective.
Speaker 2 (42:50):
So let's let, let me, let me end with this, and then
I'll let you close with howeveryou want to frame it.
Um, as the CEO of pattern, we'verun a, uh, mid-career training
program.
You've gone through it calledthe pattern fellows program.
15 years, probably 350 peoplehave gone through that program.
(43:13):
Um, the staff is currentlyworking really hard on the
community Rebuilders program,taking people that have an idea
how to make their communitybetter and bring it to fruition.
Part of the appeal for me isthat this issue of diversity
(43:33):
board diversity is somethingthat a lot of people are talking
about, but you've taken this toa whole different level, which
is I get that boards should bediverse, but I want people that
(43:54):
are diverse that understand alsowhat is the role of being on
that board and that this ispretty powerful stuff.
Um, so anything else you want toadd about the program or, you
know,
Speaker 4 (44:10):
No, I mean, uh, it's exciting.
Um, you know, I hope, you know,folks who listen, uh, you know,
are, are, can, can share thepassion that I have for this
work.
Um, you know, we, we, we hopeto, to engage, um, again, as I
said, people from across artsand Valley, if people want to
reach out to me directly, um,you know, it's a pattern, you,
(44:31):
they, they, they, they have athought, uh, they want to get
involved.
They want to have aconversation.
I mean, I'm, I'm open to all ofit.
Um, and, and, and really want toempower, um, you know, our
organizations in our communities, um, um, to, to do better.
Um, you know, th there's a lotof talk around, you know,
diversity, equity and inclusion,and I think that's fantastic.
(44:54):
Um, but you know, w we can'tcontinue to tall, we got it.
We got to show, we got to havesome action, actionable steps
that we can kind of followthrough with.
And I'm, I'm hopeful that thiswill be one of them, uh, for
some of the organizations thatare listening today.
So, uh, Jonathan, again, thanksfor the platform, the support,
uh, you know, your, your, yourguidance and, and your, uh, your
(45:16):
experiences.
Cause I think all of it, uh,we'll, we'll, we'll come
together to deliver, uh, anInstitute that we can all be
proud of.
Uh, cause cause this, this, thisbelongs to the communities.
This is not, you know, Freddiein, in, in, in Jonathan's thing.
This is our community thing.
So, so I'm hopeful that it willbe something we can all be proud
of.
Speaker 2 (45:35):
Uh, Freddie, thank you so much for your time.
I wish you, your wife, your newdaughter, nothing but health in
a period where we've gonethrough such, you know, such a
difficult time, but you know,maybe you're an example of
someone who can come out of thiswith tangible new daughter.
(45:57):
That's pretty tangible.
Um, but, but programmatically,the work that you do, this is
important.
And so, um, thanks for beingwith us this afternoon and we
wish you success.
Speaker 4 (46:09):
Thanks, Jonathan.
Same to you.
Speaker 2 (46:12):
Thank you for tuning in to patterns and paradigms the
pattern podcast.
For more information about thisepisode, visit our website
pattern for progress.org forwardslash podcast.
(46:49):
[inaudible].
We are experiencing a paradigm shift, a fundamental
change in the way we usually dothings.
We are intentionally choosing tosee the silver lining
opportunity arises.
We can shine a light on thethings that weren't working well
(00:25):
on those things that weren'treally working at all, we can
regroup reevaluate andre-engineer it's time to explore
new patterns and paradigms thosethat inspire us to rise above
the chaos and explore how theconditions of today and take us
(00:47):
to a better tomorrow patternsand paradigms the pattern
podcast from Hudson Valleypattern for progress.
Your listening to season two,episode 12, introducing the
board Institute with your hostpattern, president and CEO,
Jonathan Dropkin.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Hi everyone, and welcome to patterns and
paradigms.
Imagine that the city ofPoughkeepsie could market itself
as the city that had the bestschools.
Well, we hope that you had achance to listen to Geraldine,
Laybourne, and Julie Reesedescribe their piece of the
puzzle by focusing on earlychildhood education and their
(01:30):
day one program.
Please remember to subscribe toour podcast wherever you find
your favorite one.
And take a moment to share anepisode with a friend.
This episodes, bubble or trendhardly a week goes by without
someone writing about the Exodusof urban refugees to the Hudson
(01:54):
Valley.
We have talked about it before,but yesterday's New York times
featured a full page story intheir real estate section
entitled Hudson Valley is indemand.
So we ask when does a bubblebecome a trend?
(02:17):
As we enter year two of thisbubble of people searching for
housing in the Hudson Valley, weare now well beyond what
happened post nine 11.
We think that this is a supplyside issue.
That is why at every level ofhousing, we look to increase
(02:37):
supply in the hope of bringingnew residents into that sun
Valley with cash and ideas andother things that they could do
and lowering the upward pressureon the cost of housing for now,
this one appears to be a trend,but before I pronounce it a
(02:58):
bubble or trend, I'm here withmy partner pattern, Joe Cheika
and Joe, I've heard it said thatyou like to talk about housing.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Well, it's an ugly rumor, but it's true.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
What do you think, Joe?
I mean, we're, we're into yeartwo of this now.
Like people discovering theHudson Valley and moving up from
New York city.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
So if I say it's a bubble and I'm wrong, well, he
didn't know anything abouthousing, but if I say it's a
trend and I'm right, he's agenius.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Well then let's go with, he's a genius.
I thought the New York timesthat a really good job.
And that's not because yourreport was mentioned in it.
The Ulster County housing actionstudy
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Housing action plan, it was mentioned.
And, um, you know, I've beengiven this actually a lot of
thought, whether it's a bubbleor trend in, and I sincerely
believe that it's a trend.
I think that the numbers willlevel off, but I think that they
will continue to rise, not atthe rate that we've seen over
(04:08):
the last 12 months.
So I think that there will becontinual arise of maybe six to
8%.
The inventory will get a littlebit tighter because we'll get a
lot tighter actually.
Um, and the reason I say that isbecause construction costs are
so high land costs are so high.
(04:29):
The development process takes solong that I don't think the
inventory will increase in thispart of the Hudson Valley for
quite some time, just based onthe development process itself.
So the numbers are going to stayhigh.
So
Speaker 2 (04:45):
One of the things we've been doing in looking at
the housing needs of the HudsonValley and for our listeners, I
think we can break this down atthree levels.
So if you're talking about acity, like Nuber where there is
a desperate need for affordablehousing for low-income people,
(05:08):
then there's a community likeMontgomery, where you might say
it's more middle-class but stillneeds housing.
And then you've got beaconwhere, you know, there are those
that believe it's beencompletely gentrified.
Um, although there are partswhere there is still significant
poverty in beacon, that thereare multiple levels of housing
(05:33):
year, but they all seem in needof increased supply.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
I would agree with that.
The three levels, if you will,of housing, each typically told
a different story in the past.
And right now, because inventoryis so tight, I think it's a
single story.
But the affordable housing isbased on the availability of
(06:00):
subsidy, capital subsidy fromthe state and from the federal
government, the workforcehousing, the example you brought
up in Montgomery, it's based onthe wages being paid by the
large employers coming into town, specifically warehouse
distribution.
What does that buy you?
(06:20):
Well, it doesn't buy you the$300,000 home, but if it's shift
work, it can definitely help outwith some of the housing cost
burden.
And then on the high end, nowyou're looking at large
subdivisions, you're looking atlarge homes, then you're
probably not going to seeanything below$450,000 in the
(06:41):
market in the mid Hudson.
Those are going to be verydifficult to develop again
because there's, there's localpush to stop the development.
However, if you look at thedevelopment itself and the need
for the development schooldistricts need kids too.
So I don't think it's a badthing for these subdivisions to
(07:03):
go through
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Of that article.
One of the groups that havedon't have a lot of sympathy for
in this housing crunch is thepeople that looked at the
housing market and said, wow, wecan cash in if we sell our home,
but they didn't bother to thinkthen what
Speaker 3 (07:27):
Right?
If you, if you sell your homeand you say you make a hundred
grand on it, what are you goingto turn around and buy the
inventory?
Is that low?
Speaker 2 (07:38):
I mean, look, I think it's great that for those
people, let's say that hadbought their house during the
great recession and they finallyget to recover the price of
their house and help theirmortgage look a little bit
(07:59):
easier to pay each month.
I think that's great if theymaybe want to refinance rather
than sell because the interestrates are so low, but if they
sell, then I think I wouldadvise them.
(08:20):
And maybe you would, you got tohave plan.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Yeah, absolutely.
Have to have a plan.
You can't, you can't just sellan exp you know, hope for the
best you got to take a lookaround and what you find you
absolutely be surprised at shockthat low inventory.
Not some there's, some realtorsmight say there's slim pickings.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
All right.
Thanks, Joe.
Um, our guest today is FreddieGarcia.
Freddie holds the position ofregional director for diversity
inclusion and communityengagement for the Northern
region for the health lions ofthe Hudson Valley and the mid
Hudson regional hospitals, bothof which are members of the
(09:10):
Westchester medical centers,health network.
It's important to note thatFreddie is not with us in this
episode, in his capacity, inthat position.
Instead pattern and Freddie areworking on a new model to train
people of color, to serve onregional not-for-profit boards
(09:35):
of directors.
Listen as Freddie and Iexplained what we are trying to
implement.
We hope you enjoy it.
Hi Freddie.
And thanks for joining us onpatterns and paradigms.
I ask all of my guests, how areyou fairing?
And when did you have thatmoment that you knew that COVID
was just not another virus?
Speaker 4 (09:56):
Uh, hi Jonathan, thanks for having me.
Um, you know, I'm, I'm, I'mdoing, I'm doing fairly well.
Um, you know, I think the momentfor me came, I remember when, uh
, things were being shut down in, in end of March, uh, last year
, uh I'm in the healthcareindustry.
So for us, you know, being senthome, um, for, for some of the
(10:20):
administrative positions, youknow, that, that, that really
kind of opened my eyes tothings, you know, we we're a 24,
seven hour operation, um, andthey really just wanted
essential workers, uh, at thehospital.
So that's really kind of wheremy, my, uh, uh, you know, kind
of hit home for me, uh, at themoment.
Um, and also when my wife wasfor a little, for, for some time
(10:41):
, um, you know, I, I really knewthings weren't as good, uh, as
the, um, the optimist of theworld, uh, took, took, took it,
uh, during that time.
So, um, for me, those were twomoments where it kind of made it
really real for me.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
And on November 24th, I haven't had a chance to do
this with any of my guests, yourfamily expands.
Speaker 4 (11:09):
Right, right.
Yeah.
So we, we welcomed, uh, abeautiful daughter of ours,
Amalia Imaan Garcia, and she isthree, three and a half months
now, uh, growing by the day, uh,getting smarter every moment, uh
, and started develop apersonality, which is fantastic
to see, uh, there's no question.
(11:29):
I think, you know, as a, as a,as we call it a COVID baby,
there's certainly, uh, somechallenges that comes with that.
Uh, you know, we, we were at thehospital, uh, in the room.
Uh, we couldn't leave the room,we couldn't go out, people
couldn't come and visit.
Um, but it did give us, youknow, you know, the first couple
of months, time for us as a, asa, as a, as a family, the three
(11:53):
of us spend a lot of timetogether around, uh, we were
able to get to know each other,go through the ups and downs has
been, it's been a wonderfulopportunity.
Uh, we, we now we're starting tohave family come and visit and
it's getting nicer out.
So we go out for walks and lether see the world as it stands.
So it's, it's been, it's been agreat process.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
They're going to always, you know, for the rest
of her life, say I was bornright in the middle of, and, um,
well that, you know, I know youfairly well getting to know you
even better and, uh, you know,wish you and the family health,
and let's move on to ourconversation here.
So thank you.
(12:32):
So for background, why don't wetell people a little bit about
your story, because it's veryimportant to the subject that we
want to cover today.
Speaker 4 (12:42):
Sure, sure.
Um, so I'm, I'm originally fromNew York city from the Bronx.
I, uh, I came out to the HudsonValley when I, uh, went to
college at, uh, Maurice college.
And, uh, you know, after fouryears of, of being a student,
uh, I applied for a job andstarted working there.
Um, and that's kinda what, youknow, kind of kept me here.
(13:03):
Uh, I worked, uh, in differentroles, so I started off in, you
know, admissions.
Uh, so I got a sense ofrecruitment, uh, you know, and
what that all entails.
I then went from there to, uh,financial aid and financial
services, uh, and that opened myeyes to a lot of things.
Uh, you know, how, um, how, howfinancial aid works, uh, the
(13:25):
struggles that families dealwith and making, you know, th
their decision, um, you know, ww what are the, the different
components that, that supportsthe higher ed space in terms of,
you know, the state and federalfunding?
Uh, I also had an opportunity towork with our, our veterans, uh,
and that was again, eye openingas well.
(13:45):
So I was able to kind of hone ina lot of different experiences
from those two.
And then I, I then went to, uh,the president's office and my
role within the president'soffice evolved, I was a
presidential fellow.
I went over to then being aspecial assistant to the
president, and then a couple ofyears later, uh, overseeing, uh,
diversity inclusion andcommunity engagement, um, which,
(14:09):
uh, then led to my current role.
Uh, two years ago, I was, uh,tapped on the shoulder for a
role, uh, Westchester medicalhealth network, uh, Northern
region, uh, and overseeing, uh,serving as the regional
director, overseeing diversityinclusion and community
engagement for Dutch's Ulster,uh, in Delaware County.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
So that gives us, you know, sort of your baseball
card, but what has got you and Iworking together on a project is
your board service.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
Right, right.
So let's
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Expand a little bit about your first opportunity to
serve.
And I think I just got an email,I don't even know, are you on
GOs board as well?
Correct.
Correct.
So, all right.
So let let's tell all ourlisteners, because this is very
important for what we're tryingto do.
Speaker 4 (15:00):
Right.
Right.
So, so during my time as beingin the president's office, uh,
and, and obviously focusing oncommunity engagement, I had the
chance to really, uh, interactand develop relationships in the
community.
So the first board that I joined, um, uh, and then, you know,
the timeline's kind of kind ofblurry, but I think it was
around maybe 2012, 2012,something like that, 2013.
(15:27):
Um, and it was Catherine streetcommunity center in
Poughkeepsie.
Um, so that was my first board.
Uh, you know, I went to abreakfast, uh, my predecessor in
the president's office was onthe board, and that's where the
introduction came from
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Catherine street for, for people who may not know what
does it do?
Speaker 4 (15:44):
So it services the children's, don't Poughkeepsie,
uh, it's a kind of afterschoolprogramming.
They do a variety of differentprogramming for the children.
Uh, we, we, we've done things onthe weekends.
We hold the amount of the Kingbreakfast, um, that really
expands, uh, the Hudson Valleyin terms of the people who
attend.
So it's, it's it, you know, we,we, we we've been able to really
(16:05):
support the, the, the future, um, of, uh, Poughkeepsie and in
many ways.
Um, so that was my first board,and I really had no idea how
boards worked, uh, what was thepurpose of a board, uh, but it
was an opportunity for me.
So I definitely, uh, joined itreminded me of programs, you
know, that I was involved withgrowing up.
(16:25):
Um, so I, I jumped right in and,you know, over time that was
able to work with some fantasticpeople, Shirley Adams, a few
other folks, Cora, and stuff.
And they really kind of startedto pave the way for me.
Um, you know, you know, beingthat, you know, I, I, as a, uh,
you know, serving, uh, as, as,uh, in the presidents office at
(16:45):
an institution like marriage,you know, one of the largest
employers in Duchess County, um,really gave me access to things
that, you know, I couldn't evenimagine.
Uh, and from that role, um, youknow, I also was able to serve
on a couple of other boards.
Uh, so I joined, uh, familyservices as my second board.
Great experience there, I'mactually the chair of family
(17:08):
services now, a number of yearslater.
So that, that, that was
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Family services.
I'm sorry.
Cause I always have to rememberthis.
This is something that familyservices located in Poughkeepsie
it's mission.
Speaker 4 (17:21):
So we, we, we provide services, uh, all types of
services, uh, to the community,um, uh, through the programs
that we do.
But we also are the landlords ofthe family partnership center,
uh, which is, uh, a buildingfull of other services, other
nonprofits, you know, we believein the one stop shop, uh,
(17:42):
scenario.
So if you, if you come to, to,to our family partnership center
and want to, uh, engage, uh,obviously in the programs that
we have, when there'safter-school programs, we have,
uh, victim services programs, wehave court services programs.
So, you know, we, we, we try tocover a lot of things and then
we have our partners, um, that,you know, that's his outreach,
uh, feeding.
(18:03):
We have, I mean, you know, someriver health, uh, in the
building, uh, that's justcommunity college.
Uh, cause we believe again, if,if you come for one, you can
obviously be able to use theother services in the building.
Um, so, so th so that was, youknow, my second board after that
, um, again, grew, grew, grewfrom there served that, uh, uh,
the, the Dutchess Countyregional chamber of commerce
(18:25):
for, for a year or two.
Um, and then, um, served on[inaudible] board, um, uh,
serving on Rothko's board nowI'm a year in or so, um, and
then, you know, obviouslypattern as the fellow, a board
member, uh, and then for, for,you know, private board, um, I
(18:45):
was asked a couple of years agoto, to, to join the Rhinebeck
bank board.
Um, and that's been a veryeyeopening experience as well, a
great, great people, uh, that Iwork with there as well.
So it's, it's, it's been, youknow, full circle.
It's been a crazy journey, can'tsay that, that, uh, um, I was
prepared for every opportunity,but I, I welcomed with open arms
(19:07):
and the people around me really,uh, kind of helped me Excel, uh,
over time
Speaker 2 (19:12):
So that this is what, we're what you and I have been
collaborating on, which is thisnotion that, um, how do we get
more people of color to have anopportunity for board service,
be in the room where it happens,be able to be part of the
(19:34):
decision-making process andbecause of your lived
experience, it brought you toyour decision that we've got to
train people for this, not justthrow them into the water like
you were, um, which, and thenfrom my experience, serving on
many boards said, you know,pattern has a, uh, committee on
(20:00):
diversity equity inclusion, whata great idea.
If we could actually be trainingpeople of color, and then you,
and I just sort of were havingone of our conversations and
said, Hey, we're both thinkingabout the same thing.
So what was it that sort of gotyou to make the decision to say,
(20:22):
what if we could start trainingpeople and put them in better
shape when they actually setfoot on that board of directors?
What was that aha moment foryou?
Speaker 4 (20:33):
Right.
Right.
So certainly a couple, I mean,I've been thinking about this
for a long time.
Um, you know, one big one, uh,that I can think of is, you
know, we tend to tap the sameshoulders, uh, for these
opportunities as if, you know,there aren't that many, uh, you
know, people of color,underrepresented minority that
(20:54):
can, you know, participate.
So, you know, my own experiencestells me, you know, um, you
know, folks, because theplatform that you have as a
board member at these otherorganizations, people see you,
uh, people acknowledge you,people get to know you, they see
what you bring to the table, andthen they want to tap you in,
you know, for, for that.
Um, I think, you know, withwhat's happening, you know,
(21:18):
costs across the country today,um, you know, boards are being a
little bit more reflective, uh,open to diversifying their
boards.
They they're, they're kind ofdigging deep, what are we
missing?
What are we not doing?
Right.
Um, and so, you know, the ideacame from my own lived
experience, uh, tapped withwhat's happening, uh, globally,
(21:40):
uh, around the topic.
So, you know, it just felt likea right opportunity.
Uh, I think, you know, rightplace, right time, Jonathan,
where you and I had thatconversation, um, uh, around it.
And so, you know, when I thinkabout all those things, uh, it
just felt right.
Um, I think there, you know,there are certainly people, uh,
throughout the Hudson Valley whoare doing fantastic work, um,
(22:05):
know their craft extremely well.
Um, bring a perspective thatmany may not have who aren't,
you know, who don't have theplatform and the, the resources
to be sought out after.
Uh, so this is really where itcomes from.
I just want us to highlight thebest things, uh, of the Hudson
(22:27):
Valley, which are the people.
Uh, so, you know, I, I, youknow, the, the, the program that
you and I are working on isreally focused around just
preparing people to do good work, uh, give them the, the
opportunity, uh, the exposurethat they deserve.
Um, and then kind of going fromthere,
Speaker 2 (22:45):
You know, for me, the aha moment was when I was
thinking about all of thegovernment boards that make
decisions around, um, issuesthat could impact housing, um,
uh, segregation.
So planning boards and zoningboards.
(23:06):
And I kept thinking about themakeup of that.
And I was thinking, wait aminute, there really aren't that
many people of color in the veryplace where the decisions are
made that are being raised andtalked about right now, it, and
(23:26):
it goes all the way back to the,um, the, the master's degree
programs for regional and urbanplanners.
The, you know, I talked to the,you know, my young staff about
it, there aren't very manypeople of color choosing to go
into that profession when theydo, they tend to go to a more,
(23:51):
um, urban area where there'sgreater job opportunity.
And yet there that's the placewhere a lot of these decisions
get to be made.
So that's how I came at it.
You came at it from, um, thesocial services banking from
human services housing.
And so we both said we could dobetter, we can do better.
(24:15):
So, all right.
So the idea here basically is asyou and I have put it together,
as we want us to see if we canfind 10 people of color and then
do what with them Peretti.
Speaker 4 (24:32):
Right.
So the idea here is to, to, um,to find, uh, some folks to
participate in what we call, uh,the board Institute.
Um, and they'll go through ajourney, um, with us in
preparing to, to volunteer forboard service.
Uh, so, you know, we'll, we'lltake them through, uh, at this
moment, uh, five courses, um,uh, within a six month period.
(24:57):
And, uh, the, the, the, want meto get into
Speaker 2 (25:00):
Let's walk through what are you cause you that
you've thought about this, andyou had this way ahead of me on
this.
You had five areas that youthought needed to be discussed,
Speaker 4 (25:11):
Right?
So, so every participant will gothrough, uh, kind of a six month
, um, uh, development, uh,program.
So, uh, we'll start with thefirst course, which is the kind
of an intro to board service,like w what is it and why it
matters and kind of reallyorient them around that, uh, the
second, um, uh, month will be ongovernance.
(25:31):
And how, how does, how do boardswork, you know, kind of knowing
the, the, the, the policycomponent, the structural
components, um, then we'll,we'll, we'll land into finance,
because I think, you know, thisis, um, usually, uh, you know,
boards will say, you know, ththis is what we're looking for,
someone who understands finance.
Um, so we want folks to be ableto understand the general
(25:54):
components of it, understandwhen they're looking at, uh,
financial documents, what are welooking at, um, and, and really
take a deep dive there.
Uh, the, the fourth class isdevelopment.
Uh, we, we know as nonprofitorganizations that fundraising
is important, friend raising isalso important and volunteerism.
Uh, so, you know, how does, howdo the combination of all those
(26:15):
things work together, uh, and,and the kind of added benefits,
not only to the organization,but the community, uh, and, you
know, kinda how, how does thatall position itself?
Um, the, the, the last course,um, which is kind of what was
taking time to, to develop forsure, um, is really, um, focused
around teaching everyone whoattends the program, how to
(26:38):
navigate, uh, the board room asthe only person of color in many
cases, right.
Um, uncovering, you know, thoseuncomfortable conversations and
feelings, when you feel like youhave to represent an entire race
or community.
Um, and how do you navigatethat?
How do you, um, you know, getyour questions out there when
(27:00):
you don't think you're theexpert in the room, um, and, and
how did you build relationshipswith not only the board members,
but the leadership team?
Uh, so I think all of thesethings are going to kind of
culminate together at the end ofthe course, to be able to
prepare people to not onlyunderstand the concepts of being
a board member, but theexperience, um, you know, the
(27:21):
tools to be able to help younavigate through them.
So, you know, that's really whatwe're trying to w what we're
trying to do with everyone whoparticipates in the program.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
And I think this is so well thought out on your
part, Freddie, that, you know,as opposed to an organization
saying, ah, we found someone ofcolor check the box.
You said, no, no, no, no, that,that person may be someone of
color, but this is somebody whohas a pretty good understanding
(27:51):
about how the boardroom works,because to a lot of people, they
never get that chance.
They never see what goes oninside of that board.
And you're saying not only areyou delivering a product that is
a person of color, whichmatters, and it is a person of
(28:12):
color who also understands thatboardroom and the dynamics
you've had, I was keeping countsix different experiences of
being in a boardroom.
And, you know, I couldn't thinkof a better person well-trained
to say, I didn't know much inthe beginning, but I sure know a
lot about it right now.
(28:33):
Right.
Speaker 4 (28:34):
Right.
And, and so, you know, and Ithink, and I think you're
absolutely right.
W w well, we also, you know,part of the program too, is to
create, uh, a cohort of peopleto do it together.
Right.
That someone you can lean on andsay, Hey, you know, I'm kind of
struggling with something, youknow, you think you can help me
out, which, you know, I had itfrom, from just my own role.
(28:55):
I had some fantastic mentors,you know, uh, you know, Dennis
Maria at Maris, you know, was a,a great sounding board for me.
I had folks, you know, like mycurrent boss, um, Mecca,
Mitchell, I mean, I had ablether of people that I could
say, Hey, I'm not sure, but Inever had someone who looked
like me, who for the first timethey sat in a room, you know,
(29:19):
felt like, you know, am Isupposed to be here?
I'm not, you know, I'm, I'm notsure, you know, I don't have
anyone who looks like me aroundthe room.
You know, those, those kinds ofexperiences are very different.
Um, so I think, you know, havinga cohort of people to do that
with go through it, with, beable to ask questions too, um, I
think makes a huge differencebecause you're right.
(29:40):
The folks that will go to thisprogram are people who are
already successful in what theydo, uh, on a, on a day-to-day
basis.
They just may not know the, theway or how to, you know, engage
in these kinds of conversations.
So my hope is that we canhighlight some, some folks all
the way, you know, from, fromall across the Hudson Valley.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
And I think it, it's, it's important, um, that
organizations, I think we'regoing to start with not for
profits, then maybe we'll get tomy government folks.
And then maybe we'll get to the,we, we've kind of been thinking
about this for, you know, howthis has, we're not doing this
one shot.
Hopefully this is a multi-yeareffort.
(30:23):
And, um, that first year thementors will be, I think your,
your idea is to have thespeakers for each of the five
subjects, they should beavailable to take emails or
phone calls.
Right.
Then I think we want to havethe, we were thinking of a class
(30:45):
of about 10 was about what wethought we could manage and do a
good job.
We'll see what happens.
Um, but that once they'replaced, then once a month, the
10 of them should have some wayto get together and say, Hey,
this happened, what should Ihave done?
(31:06):
Or is there a better way ofdoing it or here's how I handled
it.
And I think you're, you're, youknow, we're already into year
two, then the, the people whogot placed become the mentors
for the incoming class.
Um, I, I think what you have puttogether here, Freddy really
serves, you know, it's not justit, you know, using a cliched
(31:31):
expression, it's not justtalking the talk, it's walking
the walk, it's saying, wait aminute, we could do better.
And here's how we're going to dobetter.
Speaker 4 (31:39):
Right.
Right.
And it's, you know, and, andsetting the example, you know, I
, you know, it, it really is.
Um, and I think we, we, there,there are many organizations who
want to do better.
Um, and I think there are manyorganizations who want to, uh,
diversify their boards and justdon't know how, or may not, you
know, understand the, thenuances, uh, around it, um, may
(32:03):
not have the DDI perspective,uh, at the table.
I think all these things limit.
So hopefully this program kindof helps them along the way.
You know, one thing I do want tomention Jonathan, when we talk
about the organizations is thatwe will be, you know, asking the
organizations to also play arole in this.
This is not, you know, having,you know, the, the different
(32:25):
people participate and put themon a board.
Now, we, we want, we want to setexpectations of what a board
should be, what a successfulboard should be.
So, you know, we, we will, youknow, ask for, for organizations
to commit to the work of theright.
Um, you know, whether it's, youknow, through a statement,
through strategic planning,through, you know, uh, you know,
(32:46):
uh, conversations, et cetera,right.
So, you know, we don't want toput anyone on a board that isn't
committed to this work.
Uh, and I think that that wouldbe a question at least, you know
, from my perspective that we'llask anyone, uh, or any board,
any organization that wants toplay up, play a role, uh, in
this work.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
Well, you know, even how pattern got to decide that
we wanted to participate withyou on this is going back months
ago, we formed a task force onDEI.
The task force finished its workin December.
It was converted into one of thefew standing committees of
(33:26):
pattern.
And this project that you and Iare trying to create here is one
of the first deliverables.
Um, we didn't think it wasenough though, you know,
statements are good that theysay what your position of your
organization is, but we wantedto go much deeper than that.
(33:49):
And, um, so tell me a bit aboutthe timeline.
So hopefully people listeningbecome interested.
So we're hoping to get theapplication out about when,
Speaker 4 (34:00):
So, uh, these next couple of weeks we'll be
finalizing the application.
Our hope is to have that out.
Um, you know, by, you know,sometime in April, um, you know,
mid April.
So, um, you know, we'll, we'llbe, you know, ho ho hopeful that
people will be sharing theapplications with, with people
they think would benefit fromthis program, uh, with, uh, with
(34:22):
a launch date of hopefully July1st or July, I should say, not
the first, but in July.
Um, and again, you know,starting with about 10, 10
individuals, uh, we'll start inJuly, kind of go to November.
So one, one course every monthwith some work in between some
assignments, some, some kind ofreal, um, um, articles for
(34:44):
people to really dive deep intothe subject area.
And then we'll do that all theway till, till November do the
placement in December.
And then they'll start hopefullyboard service, January of 2022.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
You know, it, it, it occurred to me, you know,
because we keep riffing off eachother saying, what else could we
do?
So sometime in that period, wecould have the members of the
class in attendance at patterns,board meetings,
Speaker 4 (35:17):
That'd be great,
Speaker 2 (35:18):
So they can actually watch, and then we could debrief
with them and say, did you catchwhat was going on?
Or here's your, there's so manythings we could do with this
that, um, you know, I thinkwe're going to learn.
That's why I think starting witha class of 10 small, not too,
because we want to make certainweeks, you know, that they go
(35:41):
out in the world and they'reprepared.
They are prepared, not justbecause they're of color, but
they're prepared because theyunderstand what it means to be
on a board.
Lots of people could say, Icould serve on your board.
Heck I say that all the timeabout boards, but I'm not
qualified to serve on thatboard.
(36:01):
Um, but I think what you'redoing here is saying, we're
going to give you tools.
We're going to give you thestuff that you need.
And I think this makes it verydifferent than I honestly, I
don't know of a program likethis, certainly not, not
Speaker 4 (36:15):
Right, right.
No, it's a, it's a certainly anopportunity.
And I think, you know, um, as Ithink as I think through
everything with the program, andobviously a lot of things are
still in the works, you know,really what I'm hoping for is
kinda to disrupt, um, you know,board service in the Hudson
Valley in a positive way.
(36:37):
Um, you know, we can no longerjust, you know, seek to
diversify just by saying, Hey,Freddy, who do you know, uh,
that, that, that would be agreat board member.
Sure.
That that's nice and it's great,you know, but we have to be able
to identify talent, build apipeline, um, you know, have,
you know, uh, kind of a standardway of assessing board candidacy
(37:01):
outside of just, you know, the,the, the, the typical, Oh, this
is a prominent person year.
Uh, Oh, this person is reallygoing to contribute some
dollars.
I think all those things aregreat, but we have to be able to
do it in a larger scale.
Uh, and we have to be able toinclude more people in that
scale.
So, you know, this is what we'rehoping to do.
I think it's an opportunity, youknow, not only for us, you know,
(37:25):
uh, pattern myself, but for theHudson Valley to really buy in,
we want to cover everything fromWestchester to Ulster County.
Uh, so if people are interested,obviously feel free to reach out
to myself to pattern.
Uh, but we'll, we're, we're veryexcited about this opportunity.
Speaker 2 (37:41):
So I don't want to let the pitch go by, and I don't
want you to identify anorganization, but being a person
of color.
Did you feel this pressureyourself that you were that only
person in the room and that youwere speaking on behalf of
(38:03):
somehow they, they, peoplewanted you to be, well, what do
all black people think?
You're, you're not that, youknow, you've taught me many
times.
I want you to see my color, butthen once you've seen my color,
then I want you to accept me assomeone who has something to add
to the conversation.
(38:24):
So did it ever occur to you ordid it ever happen?
Did you ever have that feelingthat, you know yeah.
There's someone checked the box.
Speaker 4 (38:33):
Yeah.
I mean, I've had, I mean, I'vehad that, um, uh, many times in,
in, in my career, not only, youknow, board service, but in
general, uh, in, in aprofessional setting, personal
stuff, um, you know, and, and,and it is, and it is tough, you
know, you, you, you know, we, we, we go through, um, you know, a
journey of, uh, you know, ofdoubt, uh, when, when, when,
(38:59):
when we go through those kindsof situations, am I, you know,
they're picking me because ofthis or because of that.
Right.
Um, you know, I'm not, you know,sometimes you're unclear what,
what is it that I'm supposed tobring to the table?
Right.
And, and so that my, myproductivity level isn't as high
as it should be.
Um, and, and so, you know, Ithink overall, um, it happens
(39:22):
more than you can possiblyimagine.
Um, and, but, but for me, it's,it is a little different I'm in
the space of, you know, DEI iswhat I do for my, for, for
living and for work.
And sometimes when I talk aboutthese things, it's like, Oh,
let's talk about it becausethat's what he, that's his job.
You know, when, when, whensomeone doesn't have this title,
(39:43):
uh, then it does feel like, Oh,you know, Freddie does represent
this group.
It's not, it's not just his workis because of, you know, what he
looks like.
Uh, and that's what really Iwant to avoid is folks who may
not know anything about, justbecause you're black doesn't
mean you're the professor, youknow, it's just your lived
experiences and the experienceof those around you.
(40:04):
Um, and you shouldn't bespeaking for an entire
community.
You can only speak for yourself.
So, you know, I just wanted to,you know, kind of give the
platform for people to do that,
Speaker 2 (40:13):
You know, for a lot of not-for-profits their
geographic center, um, theyserve a particular community.
They're in Poughkeepsie, they'rein Newburgh there and whatever.
So I've been trying to thinkthis through, it's gonna be hard
for, you know, someone whoeventually gets placed in a
(40:34):
not-for-profit in one of theurban areas of butts and Valley.
Yes.
That person will be of color,but will they also, how do they
balance the need to speak forthe community they serve with
the board?
They're now doing, you know,what's referred to as board
(40:57):
service, there seems to besomething we have to balance
there between, you know, and,and listening, you know, because
we could say, I'm sure thatthere are people on boards that
are not listening.
They do not hear what the needsof their community are.
(41:18):
And yet boards, for all thereasons you have outlined
governance, finance,fundraising, there are
responsibilities.
This is not going to be easy forsome people.
Speaker 4 (41:30):
It won't, it be easy.
Um, you know, I, you know, interms of your, your first, uh,
uh, comment, you know, is not tospeak for a community, but to
advocate for a community, um,and being able to, to sometimes
be a part of a community allowsyou to do that, allows you to
maybe get some, some, um, kindof feedback that, that, that
(41:53):
folks may not be able to get,uh, on their own.
So it's really bridging, youknow, the community with the
organization.
And I think that's a big part ofit.
Um, and we can, you know, you dothat in so many different ways.
Um, so that's one, but thesecond thing is it is, um, it is
a lot of pressure, uh, for folks, um, you know, and whether,
(42:14):
whether the organ, so as anexample, I live in Poughkeepsie,
whether the organization is fromPoughkeepsie, Westchester,
Kingston, you know, uh, SullivanCounty, et cetera, you know,
it's really kind of focusing onthe mission, uh, focusing on
what is it that, um, yourorganization needs from you,
(42:36):
from your skills, from what youbring to the table, and then
everything else will fall intoplace.
And it's allowing them to seethat we have to think things
through, from a different lens.
And that's, I think what webring to the table as well, it's
just a very differentperspective.
Speaker 2 (42:50):
So let's let, let me, let me end with this, and then
I'll let you close with howeveryou want to frame it.
Um, as the CEO of pattern, we'verun a, uh, mid-career training
program.
You've gone through it calledthe pattern fellows program.
15 years, probably 350 peoplehave gone through that program.
(43:13):
Um, the staff is currentlyworking really hard on the
community Rebuilders program,taking people that have an idea
how to make their communitybetter and bring it to fruition.
Part of the appeal for me isthat this issue of diversity
(43:33):
board diversity is somethingthat a lot of people are talking
about, but you've taken this toa whole different level, which
is I get that boards should bediverse, but I want people that
(43:54):
are diverse that understand alsowhat is the role of being on
that board and that this ispretty powerful stuff.
Um, so anything else you want toadd about the program or, you
know,
Speaker 4 (44:10):
No, I mean, uh, it's exciting.
Um, you know, I hope, you know,folks who listen, uh, you know,
are, are, can, can share thepassion that I have for this
work.
Um, you know, we, we, we hopeto, to engage, um, again, as I
said, people from across artsand Valley, if people want to
reach out to me directly, um,you know, it's a pattern, you,
(44:31):
they, they, they, they have athought, uh, they want to get
involved.
They want to have aconversation.
I mean, I'm, I'm open to all ofit.
Um, and, and, and really want toempower, um, you know, our
organizations in our communities, um, um, to, to do better.
Um, you know, th there's a lotof talk around, you know,
diversity, equity and inclusion,and I think that's fantastic.
(44:54):
Um, but you know, w we can'tcontinue to tall, we got it.
We got to show, we got to havesome action, actionable steps
that we can kind of followthrough with.
And I'm, I'm hopeful that thiswill be one of them, uh, for
some of the organizations thatare listening today.
So, uh, Jonathan, again, thanksfor the platform, the support,
uh, you know, your, your, yourguidance and, and your, uh, your
(45:16):
experiences.
Cause I think all of it, uh,we'll, we'll, we'll come
together to deliver, uh, anInstitute that we can all be
proud of.
Uh, cause cause this, this, thisbelongs to the communities.
This is not, you know, Freddiein, in, in, in Jonathan's thing.
This is our community thing.
So, so I'm hopeful that it willbe something we can all be proud
of.
Speaker 2 (45:35):
Uh, Freddie, thank you so much for your time.
I wish you, your wife, your newdaughter, nothing but health in
a period where we've gonethrough such, you know, such a
difficult time, but you know,maybe you're an example of
someone who can come out of thiswith tangible new daughter.
(45:57):
That's pretty tangible.
Um, but, but programmatically,the work that you do, this is
important.
And so, um, thanks for beingwith us this afternoon and we
wish you success.
Speaker 4 (46:09):
Thanks, Jonathan.
Same to you.
Speaker 2 (46:12):
Thank you for tuning in to patterns and paradigms the
pattern podcast.
For more information about thisepisode, visit our website
pattern for progress.org forwardslash podcast.
(46:49):
[inaudible].
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