Have Generations Past Failed to Inspire Us?

Last week I had the pleasure of participating in and presenting at the Council on Foundation’s Family Philanthropy Conference. Our time together in New York came to an end with an intimate and heartfelt conversation with Tim Shriver, board chair and CEO of Special Olympics. Just days after the passing of his father, iconic public servant Robert "Sargent" Shriver, Tim shared with us his take on what philanthropy means to him in the context of his family. His words were wrought with passion, especially as he was asked about his own children and what he hoped to pass on to them. Shriver said he believes, “we have failed at inspiring the big ideas of the next generation” and that we need to do more to create a “context of idealism” for our young people.

His words struck me, and as a “senior” member of the generation he’s referring to, I think he might have been too hard on himself and his generation. Growing up, Tim was surrounded by big ideas and idealism. After all, his father helped found and direct the Peace Corps 50 years ago, and his mother created the Special Olympics in the backyard of their home. These are the big ideas that inspired Tim and his brothers and sisters to follow in their parents footsteps. But not everyone’s parents are Sargent and Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and despite our parents or in some cases grandparents who were inspired to march on Washington or join organizations like the Peace Corps, many of the big challenges they were fighting for (or against) remain to this day -- not to mention the new ones that have been added to the mix. With that in mind, I say to Tim, don’t be so hard on yourself. The rising generation is inspired to fight the good fight – we just have a different way of going about it.

Perhaps we forget that it’s the Millennial generation who in large part moved social technologies into the mainstream – and are now moving them to mobilize around social issues through platforms like Facebook and Twitter. We were the first segment of users who discovered the utility of the technology and exploited it in ways that our parents would have never dreamed. Perhaps this quality of creative thinking when it comes to technology, comes from not being taught or forced into institutional thinking or traditional business cultures, but instead by living lives in a very open and transparent ways -- always searching for answers and willing to take risks. Something that parents like Tim allowed us to do.

One of the most retweeted messages from last week’s conference were Tim’s words, “you don’t have to do great things – but do small things with great love.” So, Tim and anyone else who might be reading this and feeling as though you failed at inspiring the rising generation – don’t be so hard on yourselves – we’re inspired. We’re going to continue to innovate and we’re going to continue to live open lives that defy traditional institutions and explore creative ways to come together in support of the causes that move us. And, even if they are a bunch of small disparate things that don’t add up to big national movements – we’ll do them with love, and then we’ll tweet about it.