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by Nancy J. Minghetti
Helen Keller summed it up nicely when she stated, "Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much." That simple yet profound statement characterizes the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation's legacy of volunteerism since its inception in 1946. As we conclude ASHA's Year of the Volunteer, it is fitting to reflect on the dreams and actions that have transformed the ASHFoundation's mission and work to its current level of success.
Since 1946, the Foundation has been a leader in funding cutting-edge research and innovative projects, as well as in supporting scholarships for master's and doctoral education in communication sciences and disorders. During this time, more than $3 million in awards and grants have been provided by the Foundation to more than 1,300 doctoral and post-doctoral researchers, graduate students, and leaders. Through its programs, the Foundation's ultimate goal is to empower professionals to help the one in six Americans with a communication disorder reach maximum communication potential.
But none of this could happen without a powerful network of volunteers at every phase of the Foundation's development. Informative retrospectives have been written about the Foundation's history, including Elaine Pagel Paden's chapter in the 1970 edition of History of the American Speech and Hearing Association 1925-1958; James P. Gelatt's article on the Foundation's 40th anniversary published in Asha magazine (May 1986); and, most recently, Russ Malone's The First 75 Years: An Oral History of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association . These narratives chronicle the evolution of the Foundation and are rich with facts and quotes from visionary volunteers.
"Transformational" Volunteerism
Earlier this year, we had an opportunity to ask some of the early-stage Foundation leaders to talk about the importance of Foundation volunteerism, past and present. What we found is a source of great pride: volunteer efforts have not only been the impetus for tangible, significant progress, but have actually transformed the Foundation's effectiveness at pivotal points in its history.
After its founding by Wendell Johnson in 1946, the Foundation experienced a series of starts and stops, with the 1960s and 1970s being relatively quiet and marked by limited activity. All that changed when Frank Kleffner assumed the Foundation presidency in 1981. When asked to lead, he said, "I don't want to do this unless you really want a Foundation that becomes something, and we can start getting money to come in, and we start creating some programs" (Malone, p. 195). From this point forward came dramatic changes for the Foundation on several fronts. One such area was broadening its fundraising reach and involving the corporate sector.
As Kleffner describes it:
"Back in the 80s when the Foundation Board was getting serious about fund raising, one of our dreams was to tap into the corporations that did business with ASHA members. We knew we needed corporate contacts and participation in that effort. Three corporate executives—John Yackel of the American Guidance Service (AGS), Ron Weintraub of Communication Skill Builders, and Rufus Grason of Grason-Stadler—began to open doors for our early corporate solicitations. They laid the groundwork for the corporate participation that now is such a major part of the Foundation assets…far exceeding the dreams we had back in the 80s. Surely our corporate links are one of our major successes achieved by this special type of volunteerism."
Ron Goldman, a Foundation trustee recruited by Kleffner and Foundation president from 1985-1988, concurs:
"When I was first asked by Dr. Kleffner to join the Foundation, I was impressed by his enthusiasm to take an organization with an extremely small corpus of assets and look into the future to grow it into something quite large and exciting. I recall saying to him that I had not seen much activity taking place in the past to grow this into a meaningful group. He said he was trying to get individuals involved who could make this dream a reality, and that was why he was asking me and others to take a leadership role.
"I was impressed by his selection of individuals to serve the Foundation's interests and his determination to carry this through. I also was impressed with Dr. Kleffner's willingness to listen to suggestions that were not in line with the popular views of the profession. I strongly recommended getting the corporate sector involved, which was not the case at the time, and that John Yackel from AGS be appointed to the board. He saw this possibility and acted very quickly. Because of John's leadership in the corporate sector, as well as that of others brought on board, the Foundation took on a whole new light. We developed a partnership that enabled us to gain large donations from the corporate world. Mr. Yackel made the Foundation extremely attractive to the corporate world, and to this day AGS contributes heavily to the success of the Foundation."
The Foundation was equally proud to have Jack Dilworth of The Psychological Corporation (now Harcourt Assessment, Inc.) as its first president from the corporate sector. Beyond his personal and corporate generosity, Dilworth applied his business acumen to positioning the Foundation for financial accountability. His leadership and actions strengthened the "business" side of the Foundation's philanthropic work, resulting in a tremendous boost in credibility and confidence for public audiences.
A Catalyst for Innovation
Increasing financial resources was not the only outcome of expanded volunteerism. Volunteerism was key to bringing the talents and skills of others to the forefront for the advancement of the field.
Kleffner reports:
"Several years ago the Foundation was interested in the potential of emerging computer technologies in the field. Our Foundation trustees looked to our colleagues who were creatively applying new technologies in our profession. We found knowledgeable volunteers eager to help introduce and advance technological developments. With Foundation sponsorship, these volunteers helped design and produce a number of successful technology conferences and workshops that helped bring our field into the computer age. This was long before any organized instruction or educational sessions took place at our national Convention."
Goldman notes how this leveraged intellectual capital:
"The vision that I personally had was to involve our own members, not only by appealing to them to make contributions, but to also support efforts to stimulate research and clinical excellence. They would be involved not just in providing scholarship and grant support, but also in providing innovative programs that would benefit our profession. I'm thinking of early in the development of the Foundation—Dr. Kleffner and the trustees were able to get companies like IBM and their knowledge experts highly active in offering their expertise via the Foundation to the membership."
The Foundation's role as catalyst is familiar. The Foundation has always believed that issues facing health care and education demand effective partnerships and solutions. Under the leadership of Fred Minifie, who served as Foundation president in 1989-1993, the Foundation extended its synergistic model for technology infusion to other critical areas, such as treatment efficacy and research mentorship, holding landmark conferences in 1989 and 1993. Talented researchers saw the critical need to bring these issues to the national forefront and were the "organizing engine" that drove a proposal to the Foundation Board's attention.
Once again, volunteers played a vital role at a time when these issues were in their infancy of national attention.
Investing in Excellence
Kleffner recalls:
"Another of our early dreams was that the Foundation could generate sufficient funds to award increasing numbers and dollar amounts to graduate students and researchers. As these dreams began to be realized, we had failed to recognize how many volunteers it would take to read and rank applications for scholarships and research grants. Fortunately, over the years, literally hundreds of our professional colleagues have answered these calls for volunteer effort."
Today is a stark contrast from the early days when a half dozen individuals evaluated a few applications. During the 2003 funding cycle, the Foundation received more than 400 applications and nominations to its various grant, scholarship, and award programs. The Foundation is proud to announce that 112 volunteers served on expert review panels for this period.
One volunteer knows very well the importance of funding quality programs. Linda Bowers, current Foundation president, says, "The Foundation came to my rescue my first year as a graduate student. I didn't know how I was going to cover all of my expenses, even though I was working. I applied for a loan from a bank but couldn't get one because of the debt I carried from my undergraduate degree. Thanks to the Foundation's scholarship award, my tuition was covered. I will be forever grateful.
"Since that time I have been volunteering for many organizations. One of the most satisfying has been volunteering for the Foundation, because I know I'm helping students and young investigators realize their goals."
Uniting Volunteers…Inspiring Action
From the Foundation's standpoint, Bowers, SLP and co-owner of Lingui‑Systems, has been instrumental in its growth. She chaired the Foundation's Dreams and Possibilities campaign. Tanya Gallagher was president during the Foundation's launch of this first-time $2 million capital campaign in late 1999 and remarked, "I see that the future is really tremendous. I'm hoping that in five years, people will look back at where we began and just be amazed. We're in a position now with the capital campaign to move forward in a really major way" (Malone, p. 202).
It is not yet five years, but the Foundation is truly amazed, having raised $1,191,498 for this special campaign to support doctoral education and innovative research. Volunteerism certainly made its mark on this success, as the Foundation organized teams of volunteers to make solicitations and present a compelling case to hundreds of individuals, corporations, and organizations. And 2003 gave birth to the Foundation's New Century Scholars doctoral scholarship and research grant programs, made possible by this capital campaign effort.
About a New Century
Volunteer Noel Matkin, a Foundation Trustee, took on the presidency as the Foundation entered the new century, serving terms in 2000 and 2001:
"In my judgment, the Foundation now plays a crucial role in assuring that quality, cutting-edge clinical services, anchored on a solid research base, are available to a host of infants, young children, and adults with communication disorders. As I reread the letters of appreciation from past recipients and then reflect on the positive impact of the awards provided by the research grant established in memory of my late wife, I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to support the Foundation over the past 20 years. My active involvement in the recent Dreams and Possibilities capital campaign was most rewarding as the scope and breadth of annual grant making to outstanding students, clinicians, and teacher-investigators is being expanded each year."
Former trustee and long-time Foundation volunteer Alan Feldman offers a related thought:
"When I first became a member of the Board of Trustees, I really was a novice at fund raising and knew little about charitable organizations. However, I did know that it was difficult to exist as one without a substantial endowment fund. The establishment of a general endowment has been my major goal for the Foundation to achieve financial independence and sustainability. The Dreams and Possibilities campaign is a beginning, and it is my hope and dream that the Association and others will make even larger contributions toward achieving that goal."
Living the Dream
As David Allen, organizational leadership consultant, notes, "Vision is fine, but results are what count." And so the other half of the equation of successful ideas—bringing them to fruition—is the core of the Foundation's volunteer spirit. Allen cites an 18th century inscription from a church in Sussex, England, that perhaps frames it best:
A vision without a task is but a dream,
A task without a vision is drudgery,
A vision and a task is the hope of the world.
We believe that this approach has put the Foundation on a successful pathway.
Frank Kleffner shares one parting thought: "My hope is that the joy and pride we feel for fulfilling hopes and dreams of the past will energize us to project greater hopes and dreams for our future…and to act upon them."
Nancy J. Minghetti is the executive director of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation.
Current members of the Board of Trustees are: Linda V. Bowers, president; Julia M. Davis; Marvin Dickerson; Dennis Hampton; Lawrence Higdon; Noel D. Matkin; Thomas J. O'Toole; Doreen Oyadomari; Nancy Swigert; Mary Sweig Wilson; Nancy J. Minghetti, ASHFoundation executive director, ex officio; and Frederick T. Spahr, ASHA executive director, ex officio.
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