May 6, 2025 • 18 mins
Jennifer Lawson is President and CEO of Keep America Beautiful, a national nonprofit that works to inspire and educate people to improve and beautify their community environment. Previously, Jenny served as Chief Civic Innovation Officer at Points of Light where she led programs to help companies achieve their social change goals through the actions of their employees. She was also the executive sponsor of Listen. Learn. Act to End Racism, Points of Light’s partnership with Morehouse College, and served as an advisor to the National Trust for Civic Infrastructure. Jenny came to Points of Light from the Pew Center on Global Climate Change (now C2ES), where she led Make an Impact, a global campaign focused on energy efficiency and environmental awareness with some of the nation’s largest companies. Her career began with community development and affordable housing advocacy in Northern Virginia, where she served as the founding Executive Director of the Alliance for Housing Solutions. Jenny graduated from the University of Virginia where she studied Philosophy and Mathematics.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
CEOs you should know. Brought to you by Comcast Business.
We highlight Jennifer Lawson, President and CEO of Keep America Beautiful,
a national nonprofit the works to improve and beautify their
community environment. iHeartMedia's Dennis Glasgow begins by asking Jennifer how
she got started.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
So, I'm a military brat.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
So where I am from is a little bit of everywhere.
My dad was in the Air Force and we traveled
around a lot and ended up in the DC area
in the late sixties, so I call that home. I
went to school there and off to the University of
Virginia after that.
Speaker 4 (00:35):
So I know that nonprofits have been a big part
of your life, and you've done some amazing things. And
of course we're here to talk about Keep America Beautiful,
what you've been in charge of as president CEO for
three years now. But I would love to give people
in our serious context about you know, what did you
want to do coming out of school? Why did you
get into the industry that you did? So as you
were coming out of school, what did you want to do?
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Yeah, if you can think back, it was when mad
Men was the hottest TV show.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
Love that show.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
I was good with the words and good with the numbers.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
So I thought advertising might be a great place for me,
and in fact it really was.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
And the story comes all the way back around.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
But I had an opportunity during that time to work
with some of our clients on the social side of
what they were doing, so how they connected to community.
And so this is back in the late eighties and
early nineties and corporate social responsibility and social impact is.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Being centered in the business.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
These were concepts that really didn't exist quite yet, but
you had CEOs and organizations that were very passionate about
engaging in their community. And I was lucky enough to
start to thread that needle of how you go from
how the business interacts with its community and what that
means moving forward.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
So your resume is absolutely amazing. You've done so many
different things here, and I'm always interested to why people
join a certain company and what draws them to And
as I see keep America beautiful, I can see why
they were interested in you and all that you've done.
But why did you want to join them?
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Yeah? You know, it was one of those opportunities that
I didn't go looking for, and I was approached by a.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Recruiter. And do you ever have.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
The moment where you look at a job description or
you look at an opportunity and you think, oh, of
course me right, yes, So you say it started in advertising,
and the history of Keep America Beautiful is really rooted
in our nationally.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Known advertising, right like the.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Organization started with the crying Indian and inviting Americans to
pick up litter and give a whot don't pollute and
wody the woodpecker. The narrative of Keep America Beautiful is
really rooted in that advertising story. And then my career
also took this deep engagement in community, in affordable housing,
(03:04):
and then the environment, and so this job is really
how do all of those things come together. Volunteerism, community engagement,
environment and issues around the environment and climate change, and
then of course the iconic advertising. So it was a
no brainer from the beginning for me.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
And I can relate on a seventies latch key kid,
so I know exactly what you're talking about when it
comes to the marketing back in the old days. With
all that said, let's do this. Let's give people a
little context. But what exactly you do? But before we
get into specifics, I do want to talk about mission
and vision? What is that? For Keep America Beautiful?
Speaker 3 (03:41):
We believed that everyone deserves to live in a clean, healthy,
and beautiful community, and for us, that means engaging people
in opportunities to help clean up their community, to make
decisions about how and where work needs to be done
in their community, to improve recycling rates, to improve education
(04:05):
around the importance of not littering, and then the whole
green side of the equation, which for us is about
tree planting and flowers and the power of beauty to
really drive improve health, drive action, and really help people
get inspired and to love where they live, which is
(04:26):
very very important to us.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
Well, I love that, and you're starting to talk about it.
But if you were to give somebody a thirty thousand
foot view by what Keep America does and what you execute,
what would you tell them exactly what you do?
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Yeah, We through.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
A network of seven hundred and fifty affiliates across the country,
we help communities manage litter in their towns. We organize
volunteers for litter cleanups, we host recycling events, we provide
recycling education, litter education, and and then we help plant
trees and flowers in parks and oftentimes in private streets
(05:06):
and areas, responding to disasters from coast to coast. So
that includes litter cleanups along the oceans, includes cigarette litter
prevention programs because cigarette butts are not biodegradable, they are plastic,
and so we work very hard to get this most
littered item up and off the ground.
Speaker 4 (05:27):
So I'm not going to make any assumptions, but I'm
going to guess there are a lot of moving parts
and what you do with your team, and there's so
many different kinds of events and programs that you do.
What's it looked like behind the scenes, behind the curtain
for a week as CEO and president of Keep America Beautiful?
What does a week look like to you?
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Well, it's a nonprofit, so there's about a third of
my week that's spent talking to donors and potential donors
about our vision and programs. Right, So pretty much like
a for profit CEO, your job is to inspire people
and raise the money. It's just who you raise it
from that might be a little bit different. So certainly
I spend about a third of my time on that
(06:04):
spend a third of my time I think with our
affiliate network, hearing about the great work that's happening, finding
opportunities for partnership and working with.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Them to solve problems.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
And then you know, I think there's how do you
play with partners in the field. So working with our
corporate partners, Keep America Beautiful is about eighty five ninety
percent funded through corporate partnerships, and so we work with
those partners. You know, some really big brands to get
their employees out volunteering to help solve challenges that they
(06:40):
and their products have with litter as well.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
So tell me a little bit about some of the
programs you have. Of course, you have the Great American Cleanup,
you have America Recycles Day, You've got retreat, and then
you've got the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program. Can you talk
a little bit about each?
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Sure? So the Cigarette litter Prevention Program is a part
partnership with some of the tobacco companies to get cigarette
butts off the ground. You can right away if you're
a business, or there are other granting programs that actually
set up recycling centers for your cigarette butts. You can
(07:17):
outside a bar or something restaurant, you can put that
cigarette butt into the can. When that can is full,
the company organization neighborhood sends it off to our partners
at TerraCycle, who turn those cigarette cigarette butts into things
like park benches. Dollywood is one of our partners in
this program, so in their smoking section you put your
(07:38):
cigarette butts.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
They get shipped off to TerraCycle and new park benches
come back to Dollywood.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
It's a great I love that. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
The Retreat program is a very special initiative that helps
communities recover both their treat canopy but also their community relationships.
Disaster so very often after a tornado and we always
or the wildfires or hurricanes, after the blue tarps are
off the houses and so the community is starting to
(08:11):
stabilize and rebuild, we work with community leaders to replant
tree canopy that's been lost. Unlike the local governments that
can only plant on government land or land owned by
school systems or something like that, we can work with
local neighborhoods to plant on privately held and maintain land
(08:34):
to replant tree canopy. And it's a two year process
that engages the volunteers, prepares for the planning, and then
keeps the volunteer engaged for about eighteen months, and we
don't plant those little tiny stub trees. We're planning two
year old saplings so that there is strength and high
levels of survivability of the trees that we plan.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
Jenny, I don't know if there are specific statistics so
you can talk about, and I won't hold you anything,
but I'm always being a sports guy, I'm always comparing
this person and that person and those stats of that
status when it comes to what we do here, you
and your team and getting everything going with all your programs.
How do we compare with the rest of the world
out there of what everybody's doing and trying to clean
everything up?
Speaker 3 (09:16):
Yeah, you know, it's a mixed message, frankly. Right, there
are government initiatives happening in the EU and in other
other you know, multinational partnerships around the country that are
making great strides at policy level changes. There is opportunity
always for that level of policy change.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
You know.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Here in the US, I think nothing compares to the
ability for American citizens to get out in their communities,
to clean up litter, to care about their communities in
ways that we know from our research that bridge political
and social divides. This is something all of Americans can
(10:02):
agree on. Ninety percent think litter's a problem in their
community and they can do something about it. And so
I think nothing compares to what can happen when Americans
put their minds together, get out and volunteer and really
take action in their local communities.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
As you know, Jenny, we talked to a lot of
president CEOs and entrepreneurs and leaders in this series about challenges,
and I know that for profits have their set of challenges.
I try to explain to our listeners when you're running
a nonprofit, it's how much harder because fundraising and there's
just so many moving parts to what you do. But
what that said, beside fundraising, what kind of current challenges
present themselves to you and your team currently?
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
I think it is such a noisy world right now.
There are so many issues and challenges coming to us
from so many different directions.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
And finding a way to get our.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Message out in a way that's relevant and to engage
people have. As I said, this research that we do
with the folks at Harris Poles.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
And we know from the latest.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
Survey that people are lonely. But people also think that
accomplishing something in their community, like getting out and beautifying
a local park, sounds like a refreshing break. The data
says eighty percent respondents thought that this was a true statement.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
So there is noise, but there's.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
Also a solution, and so it's how do we get
our solution out there? How do we say, go volunteer,
get involved locally, whether it's picking up litter or cleaning
up a park, planting some trees, those things can help
you and they can help your community at a very
high level.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
Yeah, and that's well said. And I think what you're
talking about also acts of kindness. I don't think we
see a lot of those two things. So that would
be great, wouldn't it?
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Absolutely right?
Speaker 3 (11:52):
Keep America beautiful is an optimistic endeavor in a time
when we really need these things.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
So I want to talk about maybe great story, and
I imagine in the three years that you've been president CEO,
that you've seen handfuls of really amazing things. And I
know that once again, I reiterate running a nonprofit is
very hard work and it's just relentless, and then the
fundraising and all the other things that go with it.
With that said, there's always things that you know, this
is why we get up every day something special happens.
(12:21):
Do you have a story in the three years that
you've been there that was really special to you? And
this is why we kind of get up kind of
story for.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Us, you know.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
I think it comes out of Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, which
is one of our affiliates, and they have an amazing
tree planning program in partnership with the City of Indianapolis.
They do a lot of what we call brown space
to green space, so taking empty lots, cleaning those up,
turning them into pocket parts, or taking more abandoned parts
(12:50):
and improving them. We know that it has a positive
impact on reducing heat levels, temperatures in those neighborhood and
improving the mental health of the neighbors who live around
those spaces. But in research that Indianapolis did with the
University of Michigan, we saw a twelve percent reduction in
(13:12):
gun violence and assault.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
Wow, that's huge, it's huge.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Yeah, twelve percent reduction is as good as any gun
violence prevention program that's out there right now. Yeah, and
you get all the tree benefits.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Right.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
So you want to talk about what makes.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
You get up in the morning, little did I know
I was going to be talking about strategies to fight
gun violence.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
Wow, that is fantastic. I appreciate you sharing that. I
did want to ask you about leadership and if you
can indulge us, because there's a lot of future entrepreneurs
and leaders that listen to the series beside current CEOs
and presidents, and I want to ask you about leadership
because without any assumptions, I imagine there's just a lot
of different people that you have to work with and agencies.
We talked about the fundraising, and it's probably always fluid
(13:56):
for you all the time with all the different people
and the messages and communication when it comes to leadership
in your job, and I know it's specific to your journey, Jenny,
but maybe just some leadership advice or all the people
that are listening out there.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
It's a great question, and I am forever looking for
advice from others, and that may be what I focus on,
which is, don't go the journey alone. Find your posse,
find folks who you trust and trust them, reach out
(14:28):
and be collaborative, seek advice from many sources, and then
at the end of the day, don't be afraid to
make the decision, right, I think I collect a lot
of information, but I'm also willing to make the decision.
I think sometimes you can contemplate to a point where
you are you lose the moment to be really effective.
(14:50):
You wait too long to make a decision, and the
outcome from your decision changes not by the work at hand,
but because of the delay.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
So you know, get your advice and then be willing
to make a decision.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
You're not always going to be right, You're going to
have to correct, but that's what the process is. For lately,
I've been following a lot, you know, the whole Vuka
world and now they're talking about for AI anyways, that
the flux world, which is decision making right now, is fast,
(15:26):
it's liquid, there's a lot of uncertainty, and it requires
a lot of experimentation. And I think that is exactly
how we're approaching sort of strategy and decision making in
the short run is being able to act quickly because
your finances.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Are in order, your messaging is an order.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
You know that where you're going, so that you can
be more nimble in response to just a very rapidly
changing environment right now, Well.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
That's really well said, and that is a great segue
for me of asking you about the future, because I
know that you and your team always looking about what's next.
So if it's next year, the next couple of years,
or a five year plan when it comes to keep
America beautiful, what are you looking forward to and what
are you working on?
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Right now?
Speaker 3 (16:08):
We are in the middle of what we call the
Greatest American Cleanup, which is an invitation to every American
to help us pick up twenty five billion pieces of
litter twenty five pieces of time. So all you have
to do is go out pick up the litter hashtag
us at Greatest twenty five.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
You'll be a part of it.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
iHeart is actually one of our partners in that initiative,
and we're really grateful for that.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
As we move forward beyond.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
To to I say, so, what's happening on July fifth,
twenty twenty six, right, because this is all about getting
ready for that big anniversary.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
What does the next day look like?
Speaker 3 (16:40):
And the conversation we're having is how much of what
we do is still relevant and essential to communities?
Speaker 2 (16:48):
And then where do you go from there?
Speaker 3 (16:50):
And I very much want to get back to being
an advertiser for Mother Nature. So how do we get
back in the business and as complex as as it
is to be a communicator these days, how do we
get back in the business of being that number one
voice for Mother Nature?
Speaker 4 (17:07):
That's Stanning, Well, let's do this. I've really enjoyed the conversation,
but I do want to get some final thoughts from
you and kind of recap what we've talked about, Jenny.
So the floor is yours. Go ahead.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
In this day, people are lonely and anxious, and there
are solutions. Getting out in community, re engaging with neighbors
and friends and colleagues to do something active and practical
is an active optimism right now that all of us
could use, so one I invite people to get engaged.
(17:38):
I also think that things are going to change pretty
quickly right now, and being a nimble, flexible leader in
this moment is I think we'll serve all of us
very very well, and we are grateful to continue to
be a partner with business across to America. Keeping America
(18:02):
beautiful is something worth doing.
Speaker 4 (18:04):
Outstanding and well said. So let's give the website and
if there's any social media also, our listeners can follow
you on. Let's give that information everybody.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
You can learn more about Keep America Beautiful at www
dot KAB dot org and you can find all our
social channels there. We're across all the normal platforms and
we welcome your engagement and join us please for the
greatest American cleanup.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
Super well, Jenny, thank you so much for your valuable time.
Continued success to you and your team, and thank you
so much. I'm glad we could feature you on CEOs.
You should know, Dennis, Thanks so much.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
That was Jennifer Lawson, President and CEO of Keep America Beautiful,
speaking to iHeartMedia's Dennis Glasgow Comcast Business powering the engine
of modern business, powering possibilities
CEOs you should know. Brought to you by Comcast Business.
We highlight Jennifer Lawson, President and CEO of Keep America Beautiful,
a national nonprofit the works to improve and beautify their
community environment. iHeartMedia's Dennis Glasgow begins by asking Jennifer how
she got started.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
So, I'm a military brat.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
So where I am from is a little bit of everywhere.
My dad was in the Air Force and we traveled
around a lot and ended up in the DC area
in the late sixties, so I call that home. I
went to school there and off to the University of
Virginia after that.
Speaker 4 (00:35):
So I know that nonprofits have been a big part
of your life, and you've done some amazing things. And
of course we're here to talk about Keep America Beautiful,
what you've been in charge of as president CEO for
three years now. But I would love to give people
in our serious context about you know, what did you
want to do coming out of school? Why did you
get into the industry that you did? So as you
were coming out of school, what did you want to do?
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Yeah, if you can think back, it was when mad
Men was the hottest TV show.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
Love that show.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
I was good with the words and good with the numbers.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
So I thought advertising might be a great place for me,
and in fact it really was.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
And the story comes all the way back around.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
But I had an opportunity during that time to work
with some of our clients on the social side of
what they were doing, so how they connected to community.
And so this is back in the late eighties and
early nineties and corporate social responsibility and social impact is.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Being centered in the business.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
These were concepts that really didn't exist quite yet, but
you had CEOs and organizations that were very passionate about
engaging in their community. And I was lucky enough to
start to thread that needle of how you go from
how the business interacts with its community and what that
means moving forward.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
So your resume is absolutely amazing. You've done so many
different things here, and I'm always interested to why people
join a certain company and what draws them to And
as I see keep America beautiful, I can see why
they were interested in you and all that you've done.
But why did you want to join them?
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Yeah? You know, it was one of those opportunities that
I didn't go looking for, and I was approached by a.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Recruiter. And do you ever have.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
The moment where you look at a job description or
you look at an opportunity and you think, oh, of
course me right, yes, So you say it started in advertising,
and the history of Keep America Beautiful is really rooted
in our nationally.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Known advertising, right like the.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Organization started with the crying Indian and inviting Americans to
pick up litter and give a whot don't pollute and
wody the woodpecker. The narrative of Keep America Beautiful is
really rooted in that advertising story. And then my career
also took this deep engagement in community, in affordable housing,
(03:04):
and then the environment, and so this job is really
how do all of those things come together. Volunteerism, community engagement,
environment and issues around the environment and climate change, and
then of course the iconic advertising. So it was a
no brainer from the beginning for me.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
And I can relate on a seventies latch key kid,
so I know exactly what you're talking about when it
comes to the marketing back in the old days. With
all that said, let's do this. Let's give people a
little context. But what exactly you do? But before we
get into specifics, I do want to talk about mission
and vision? What is that? For Keep America Beautiful?
Speaker 3 (03:41):
We believed that everyone deserves to live in a clean, healthy,
and beautiful community, and for us, that means engaging people
in opportunities to help clean up their community, to make
decisions about how and where work needs to be done
in their community, to improve recycling rates, to improve education
(04:05):
around the importance of not littering, and then the whole
green side of the equation, which for us is about
tree planting and flowers and the power of beauty to
really drive improve health, drive action, and really help people
get inspired and to love where they live, which is
(04:26):
very very important to us.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
Well, I love that, and you're starting to talk about it.
But if you were to give somebody a thirty thousand
foot view by what Keep America does and what you execute,
what would you tell them exactly what you do?
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Yeah, We through.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
A network of seven hundred and fifty affiliates across the country,
we help communities manage litter in their towns. We organize
volunteers for litter cleanups, we host recycling events, we provide
recycling education, litter education, and and then we help plant
trees and flowers in parks and oftentimes in private streets
(05:06):
and areas, responding to disasters from coast to coast. So
that includes litter cleanups along the oceans, includes cigarette litter
prevention programs because cigarette butts are not biodegradable, they are plastic,
and so we work very hard to get this most
littered item up and off the ground.
Speaker 4 (05:27):
So I'm not going to make any assumptions, but I'm
going to guess there are a lot of moving parts
and what you do with your team, and there's so
many different kinds of events and programs that you do.
What's it looked like behind the scenes, behind the curtain
for a week as CEO and president of Keep America Beautiful?
What does a week look like to you?
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Well, it's a nonprofit, so there's about a third of
my week that's spent talking to donors and potential donors
about our vision and programs. Right, So pretty much like
a for profit CEO, your job is to inspire people
and raise the money. It's just who you raise it
from that might be a little bit different. So certainly
I spend about a third of my time on that
(06:04):
spend a third of my time I think with our
affiliate network, hearing about the great work that's happening, finding
opportunities for partnership and working with.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Them to solve problems.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
And then you know, I think there's how do you
play with partners in the field. So working with our
corporate partners, Keep America Beautiful is about eighty five ninety
percent funded through corporate partnerships, and so we work with
those partners. You know, some really big brands to get
their employees out volunteering to help solve challenges that they
(06:40):
and their products have with litter as well.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
So tell me a little bit about some of the
programs you have. Of course, you have the Great American Cleanup,
you have America Recycles Day, You've got retreat, and then
you've got the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program. Can you talk
a little bit about each?
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Sure? So the Cigarette litter Prevention Program is a part
partnership with some of the tobacco companies to get cigarette
butts off the ground. You can right away if you're
a business, or there are other granting programs that actually
set up recycling centers for your cigarette butts. You can
(07:17):
outside a bar or something restaurant, you can put that
cigarette butt into the can. When that can is full,
the company organization neighborhood sends it off to our partners
at TerraCycle, who turn those cigarette cigarette butts into things
like park benches. Dollywood is one of our partners in
this program, so in their smoking section you put your
(07:38):
cigarette butts.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
They get shipped off to TerraCycle and new park benches
come back to Dollywood.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
It's a great I love that. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
The Retreat program is a very special initiative that helps
communities recover both their treat canopy but also their community relationships.
Disaster so very often after a tornado and we always
or the wildfires or hurricanes, after the blue tarps are
off the houses and so the community is starting to
(08:11):
stabilize and rebuild, we work with community leaders to replant
tree canopy that's been lost. Unlike the local governments that
can only plant on government land or land owned by
school systems or something like that, we can work with
local neighborhoods to plant on privately held and maintain land
(08:34):
to replant tree canopy. And it's a two year process
that engages the volunteers, prepares for the planning, and then
keeps the volunteer engaged for about eighteen months, and we
don't plant those little tiny stub trees. We're planning two
year old saplings so that there is strength and high
levels of survivability of the trees that we plan.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
Jenny, I don't know if there are specific statistics so
you can talk about, and I won't hold you anything,
but I'm always being a sports guy, I'm always comparing
this person and that person and those stats of that
status when it comes to what we do here, you
and your team and getting everything going with all your programs.
How do we compare with the rest of the world
out there of what everybody's doing and trying to clean
everything up?
Speaker 3 (09:16):
Yeah, you know, it's a mixed message, frankly. Right, there
are government initiatives happening in the EU and in other
other you know, multinational partnerships around the country that are
making great strides at policy level changes. There is opportunity
always for that level of policy change.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
You know.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Here in the US, I think nothing compares to the
ability for American citizens to get out in their communities,
to clean up litter, to care about their communities in
ways that we know from our research that bridge political
and social divides. This is something all of Americans can
(10:02):
agree on. Ninety percent think litter's a problem in their
community and they can do something about it. And so
I think nothing compares to what can happen when Americans
put their minds together, get out and volunteer and really
take action in their local communities.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
As you know, Jenny, we talked to a lot of
president CEOs and entrepreneurs and leaders in this series about challenges,
and I know that for profits have their set of challenges.
I try to explain to our listeners when you're running
a nonprofit, it's how much harder because fundraising and there's
just so many moving parts to what you do. But
what that said, beside fundraising, what kind of current challenges
present themselves to you and your team currently?
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
I think it is such a noisy world right now.
There are so many issues and challenges coming to us
from so many different directions.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
And finding a way to get our.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Message out in a way that's relevant and to engage
people have. As I said, this research that we do
with the folks at Harris Poles.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
And we know from the latest.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
Survey that people are lonely. But people also think that
accomplishing something in their community, like getting out and beautifying
a local park, sounds like a refreshing break. The data
says eighty percent respondents thought that this was a true statement.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
So there is noise, but there's.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
Also a solution, and so it's how do we get
our solution out there? How do we say, go volunteer,
get involved locally, whether it's picking up litter or cleaning
up a park, planting some trees, those things can help
you and they can help your community at a very
high level.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
Yeah, and that's well said. And I think what you're
talking about also acts of kindness. I don't think we
see a lot of those two things. So that would
be great, wouldn't it?
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Absolutely right?
Speaker 3 (11:52):
Keep America beautiful is an optimistic endeavor in a time
when we really need these things.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
So I want to talk about maybe great story, and
I imagine in the three years that you've been president CEO,
that you've seen handfuls of really amazing things. And I
know that once again, I reiterate running a nonprofit is
very hard work and it's just relentless, and then the
fundraising and all the other things that go with it.
With that said, there's always things that you know, this
is why we get up every day something special happens.
(12:21):
Do you have a story in the three years that
you've been there that was really special to you? And
this is why we kind of get up kind of
story for.
Speaker 1 (12:26):
Us, you know.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
I think it comes out of Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, which
is one of our affiliates, and they have an amazing
tree planning program in partnership with the City of Indianapolis.
They do a lot of what we call brown space
to green space, so taking empty lots, cleaning those up,
turning them into pocket parts, or taking more abandoned parts
(12:50):
and improving them. We know that it has a positive
impact on reducing heat levels, temperatures in those neighborhood and
improving the mental health of the neighbors who live around
those spaces. But in research that Indianapolis did with the
University of Michigan, we saw a twelve percent reduction in
(13:12):
gun violence and assault.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
Wow, that's huge, it's huge.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Yeah, twelve percent reduction is as good as any gun
violence prevention program that's out there right now. Yeah, and
you get all the tree benefits.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Right.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
So you want to talk about what makes.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
You get up in the morning, little did I know
I was going to be talking about strategies to fight
gun violence.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
Wow, that is fantastic. I appreciate you sharing that. I
did want to ask you about leadership and if you
can indulge us, because there's a lot of future entrepreneurs
and leaders that listen to the series beside current CEOs
and presidents, and I want to ask you about leadership
because without any assumptions, I imagine there's just a lot
of different people that you have to work with and agencies.
We talked about the fundraising, and it's probably always fluid
(13:56):
for you all the time with all the different people
and the messages and communication when it comes to leadership
in your job, and I know it's specific to your journey, Jenny,
but maybe just some leadership advice or all the people
that are listening out there.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
It's a great question, and I am forever looking for
advice from others, and that may be what I focus on,
which is, don't go the journey alone. Find your posse,
find folks who you trust and trust them, reach out
(14:28):
and be collaborative, seek advice from many sources, and then
at the end of the day, don't be afraid to
make the decision, right, I think I collect a lot
of information, but I'm also willing to make the decision.
I think sometimes you can contemplate to a point where
you are you lose the moment to be really effective.
(14:50):
You wait too long to make a decision, and the
outcome from your decision changes not by the work at hand,
but because of the delay.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
So you know, get your advice and then be willing
to make a decision.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
You're not always going to be right, You're going to
have to correct, but that's what the process is. For lately,
I've been following a lot, you know, the whole Vuka
world and now they're talking about for AI anyways, that
the flux world, which is decision making right now, is fast,
(15:26):
it's liquid, there's a lot of uncertainty, and it requires
a lot of experimentation. And I think that is exactly
how we're approaching sort of strategy and decision making in
the short run is being able to act quickly because
your finances.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
Are in order, your messaging is an order.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
You know that where you're going, so that you can
be more nimble in response to just a very rapidly
changing environment right now, Well.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
That's really well said, and that is a great segue
for me of asking you about the future, because I
know that you and your team always looking about what's next.
So if it's next year, the next couple of years,
or a five year plan when it comes to keep
America beautiful, what are you looking forward to and what
are you working on?
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Right now?
Speaker 3 (16:08):
We are in the middle of what we call the
Greatest American Cleanup, which is an invitation to every American
to help us pick up twenty five billion pieces of
litter twenty five pieces of time. So all you have
to do is go out pick up the litter hashtag
us at Greatest twenty five.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
You'll be a part of it.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
iHeart is actually one of our partners in that initiative,
and we're really grateful for that.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
As we move forward beyond.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
To to I say, so, what's happening on July fifth,
twenty twenty six, right, because this is all about getting
ready for that big anniversary.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
What does the next day look like?
Speaker 3 (16:40):
And the conversation we're having is how much of what
we do is still relevant and essential to communities?
Speaker 2 (16:48):
And then where do you go from there?
Speaker 3 (16:50):
And I very much want to get back to being
an advertiser for Mother Nature. So how do we get
back in the business and as complex as as it
is to be a communicator these days, how do we
get back in the business of being that number one
voice for Mother Nature?
Speaker 4 (17:07):
That's Stanning, Well, let's do this. I've really enjoyed the conversation,
but I do want to get some final thoughts from
you and kind of recap what we've talked about, Jenny.
So the floor is yours. Go ahead.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
In this day, people are lonely and anxious, and there
are solutions. Getting out in community, re engaging with neighbors
and friends and colleagues to do something active and practical
is an active optimism right now that all of us
could use, so one I invite people to get engaged.
(17:38):
I also think that things are going to change pretty
quickly right now, and being a nimble, flexible leader in
this moment is I think we'll serve all of us
very very well, and we are grateful to continue to
be a partner with business across to America. Keeping America
(18:02):
beautiful is something worth doing.
Speaker 4 (18:04):
Outstanding and well said. So let's give the website and
if there's any social media also, our listeners can follow
you on. Let's give that information everybody.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
You can learn more about Keep America Beautiful at www
dot KAB dot org and you can find all our
social channels there. We're across all the normal platforms and
we welcome your engagement and join us please for the
greatest American cleanup.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
Super well, Jenny, thank you so much for your valuable time.
Continued success to you and your team, and thank you
so much. I'm glad we could feature you on CEOs.
You should know, Dennis, Thanks so much.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
That was Jennifer Lawson, President and CEO of Keep America Beautiful,
speaking to iHeartMedia's Dennis Glasgow Comcast Business powering the engine
of modern business, powering possibilities
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