Akil and Hong welcome Geoff Green to the show to talk about the SBCC Foundation and some of the myriad ways the Foundation supports the College in its mission to serve students. From there, the conversation shifts to a discussion on philanthropy and giving in general, with Mexican food, Ethio-jazz, and Art Laboe thrown in for good measure.
Mentioned in this episode:
SBCC Foundation - https://www.sbccfoundation.org/
Warren Baker - https://www.calpoly.edu/news/warren-baker-cal-poly-president-more-30-years-has-passed-away
SBCC Foundation Spring Forward Gala - https://www.sbccfoundation.org/spring-forward-gala/
SBCC Foundation 2023 Gala Announcement - https://www.independent.com/2022/11/23/sbcc-foundation-hosts-donor-reception/
SBCC Promise - https://www.sbccfoundation.org/sbcc-promise/
UMOJA Mural - https://www.thechannels.org/features/2022/09/16/new-umoja-mural-brings-unity-and-inclusion-for-all-students-of-color/
Dorantes Lecture - https://www.sbcc.edu/studentlife/dorantes_lecture.php
SBCC Foundation Staff - https://www.sbccfoundation.org/foundation-staff/
The Fund for Santa Barbara - https://fundforsantabarbara.org/
Opal Restaurant - https://opalrestaurantandbar.com/
Scarlett Begonia - https://scarlettbegonia.net/
Cajun Kitchen - https://cajunkitchencafe.com/
Bouchon Santa Barbara - https://www.bouchonsantabarbara.com/
Teru Japanese Cuisine (Where Downey’s used to be) - https://www.terusushisb.com/
Santa Barbara Fish Market - https://www.sbfish.com/
Newport Seafood Tan Cang (House Special Lobster) - https://www.tancangnewportseafood.com/
Seafood Palace (Deep Fried Garlic Crab) - https://www.yelp.com/biz/seafood-palace-monterey-park-10
Drunken Crab Santa Barbara - https://www.thedrunkencrab.com/
Los Agaves - https://los-agaves.com/
Los Arroyos - https://www.losarroyos.net/
The Tyranny of Merit by Michael Sandel - https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374289980/thetyrannyofmerit
Dream Hoarders by Richard Reeves - https://www.brookings.edu/book/dream-hoarders/
The Big Sort by Bill Bishop - http://www.thebigsort.com/book.php
Winners Take All by Anand Giridharadas - https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/539747/winners-take-all-by-anand-giridharadas/
Decolonizing Wealth by Edgar Villanueva - https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/588996/decolonizing-wealth-second-edition-by-edgar-villanueva/
Banker to the Poor by Muhammad Yunus - https://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/muhammad-yunus/banker-to-the-poor/9781586485467/
Art Laboe - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Laboe
Memories of El Monte: Art Laboe’s Charmed Life On-Air - https://www.kcet.org/history-society/memories-of-el-monte-art-laboes-charmed-life-on-air
Mulatu Astatke - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulatu_Astatke
Tezeta (Nostalgia) by Mulatu Astatke - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgmiYFLbn6U
Ethio-Jazz - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethio-jazz
Captions Provided by Zoom
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Hong Lieu: Hello and welcome to another episode of SBCC Vaquero Voices - a podcast highlighting the unique voices that comprise our campus culture, and how we're all working together to serve our students and the community at large. As usual, I'm joined by co-host Akil Hill - What's good y'all? And today we are honored to welcome Geoff Green to the show. Welcome, Geoff!
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Hong Lieu: Welcome, you guys, gentlemen. I appreciate the invitation
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Hong Lieu: two years ago now, or you know it's the the in in the pre- times. But yes, so you are our first three, P. Guest, and you are the Ceo of the sbcc foundation Santa Barbara City college foundation, and for folks that don't know I mean you for folks that do know you give an excellent presentation every year our fall in service for staff and faculty. So folks that are here at Sbcc. Should know a lot about the foundation and all the good work that you do for the folks that Aren't aware, or or or to that presentation, can you just kind of give a quick breakdown of of what the foundation is? Where,
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Hong Lieu: in terms of the relationship with city, college and all the a snapshot of all the good things you do for us, because it is many. And the yeah, you're awesome. So? Well, that's that's very kind that that's the best introduction I've ever gotten, I think. Thank you. Uh, yeah. So the the brief summary is that the foundation was created in one thousand nine hundred and seventy-six.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: So, as most folks watching, listening to this know, the college goes all the way back to one thousand nine hundred and nine. The foundation started, and
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: seventy-six so a good half century plus later. Uh, but we've been around since then as a partner, so we're a non profit community foundation five, one, one, three, uh partner to the college. And really our job is to build relationships,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: to connect with donors, raise resources and invite really any and everyone to give to support the students at Svcc. Um. Some of that's direct like scholarships Spcc. Promise things like that which we can talk about
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: more about, and some of it is by supporting the actual programs of the college. So we have a hand in supporting a whole range of programs from every just about everything under the roof of the Ops.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Uh to our nursing students uh programs to just a whole range of academic programs and capital over the years, too, when a big project comes along. So it's really the all purpose. Nonprofit partner to the college.
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Hong Lieu: So I I work. My previous job was at a library, so I had a We had a similar relationship in terms of the Public library with the friends, the library, like an organization, but in terms in terms of you, and the scale that you operate on. It's like literally ten times the magnitude, so I mean, and with a similar kind of stacking level, where you don't seem to have a lot of people, I mean. I don't know how you feel about it, but you'll see a lot of people, but they all are mighty, and do all kinds of things. So in terms of how you get done, what you get done is there
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: like any knowledge you can apart to the, to, the like in terms of what? What is your secret, or what? Yeah. First, i'll say, you know we we are the inheritors of some great work before us, so like like all strong organizations, it's it's ongoing. So when I I've been here now
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: not quite eight years, so I joined real early in two thousand and fifteen accepted the role in fourteen start at the beginning. Fifteen um! But i'd known many of the folks that had been involved with the foundation, both in my role as Ceo, but also other, you know, past executive directors, past development directors
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: uh past staff. Certainly a lot of donors, and of course, college leadership that supports and partners with the the foundation. So really it's It's been built over time uh part of part of the benefit we have is, we have a lot of invested resources. So when we get large gifts um, some of those are meant to be here perpetuity. So we have our own infrastructure that's built for I mean, I have a
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: three three members of our our crew are the finance team. So three full time people doing that work. So we've got our our chief finance officers, Rona Morris.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: I've got chill, Penya. It's actually one of the longest serving members of the staff. We've got a chasman Trans. So they they run there. We we have our own accounting system, so we're doing both management of resources. So we invest in
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: and uh manage investments, but also raising and and distributing fun. So um the the development team over the years uh many folks listening, watching would have known Gretchen Hewlett, who's actually, I think, she still holds a record for the longest serving staff number. Here. Uh she uh she retired a couple of years ago, after almost twenty two years
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: uh on the team uh Don Sanchez, who's currently executive assistant Here She's She's coming up on that record as well. So we have a lot of longevity, a lot of long relationships. Um! And we are out raising dollars all the time. And really the the fact that you know
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: one for the college, we wouldn't be here. So uh the bottom line is It's a compliment to the to the college, and everyone knows the fantastic reputation of Svc. And there's you know, many people in this community that are multi generational, you know Sbcc. Uh folks. So with him. Students, staff faculty.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Their uncle worked here. They went here, and the mom got their or degree here, et cetera, et cetera.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: So it's it all comes together, but it's based on just raising private resources to help the college. One of the things that people may not realize is that
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: people ask me what I do. I can still have people that say no. But what do you do for your job
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: like this is my volunteer work. Um, I said, Well, no, we may not understand what we the range what we actually do here. Um, I mean scholarships are the most well understood piece of the work. Um, but that's really a minority piece of what we do. And and really uh, when people ask, you know, I say it's it's higher education, philanthropy.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Um, but when they think about it in terms of what they may recognize, You know the Ivy League figured this out two hundred years ago
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: uh, and the big four year public institutions really started to jump into philanthropy in the nineteen eighty S. And nineties and really ramp it up then. Uh, and I just joked it in for us. It was last Tuesday. So on a relative scale uh uh community colleges are newer to philanthropy, and we happen to be one of the longer
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: uh serving institutions, and also one of the larger um. And a lot of that has to do just with local histories.
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Hong Lieu: And and you do is a good good. You compare it to the four institutions, because, as someone who went to Cal Poly and saw, you know, Warren Baker, who just recently passed away. He was, He made glance to be a big part and just outreach, in terms of getting the word out, and then, seeing that kind of come back in future donations things of that sort, so I guess he could speak on that little bit in terms of being a nonprofit. My my wife's father runs a nonprofit in La County, you know when and it's kind of where you have a mission, and you kind of work for the mission and and the work you do but a lot of the time. Most of the year you have. You're looking for more funds. So
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Hong Lieu: in terms of balancing the fundraising, the philanthropy aspect with the actual mission statement and the work I mean
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Hong Lieu: it's tough. I know it's tough, but I mean, is there kind of any pieces that make this particular foundation kind of interesting? Or is it just the same same as that where you just all the time?
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: I mean I it it when done right. It's all the time. Uh, the reality is, you know, fundraising is is relational. It's relationship based. There is a science. There's technique. There, you know, there's piece. There are pieces of that are very data driven.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Um! But at the end of the day it's it's the personal connections, and that's what people give. More often than not. I mean, there's other There's other incentives to give. So folks give because they have a a tax benefit. Some people give because they have a tradition or a family tradition of giving in a particular way. Um, Some people, it's just that personal experience, loyalty, love of, you know, paying it forward, whatever it may be. Um! But in the end of the day they need to know. You trust you understand what you're doing so. A lot of my job is is building those bigger picture
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: relationships. Um, Nobody can do it alone, you know. The more the more the barrier uh our board is involved. Our staff is involved lots of volunteers. That's a college, I mean. I I say this to a lot of calls leaders. You're a fundraiser, whether you like it or not. And and that's true in the sense that people look to you. And if they know you in the community, and they know your work.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: You are part of that calculus of where they decide to to give
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: to whatever they they may do philanthropically. And so a lot of what I mean. I My background actually is is pretty far outside higher Ed. Um, and very much community based work. And so that to me is a natural place to to be into work, and so I spent a lot of my time out in the community connecting with other organizations that I that are either partners to us as a foundation of the college, or, I think, are
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: are just strong community organizations that that serve a similar purpose, even if it not directly. Um, So a lot of it is that it's just it's being invisible. Um, having people trust you know what you're working on, and and a lot of it. Then it does, as always does, comes back to the college that you have a good experience with Spcc. Um. That's the strongest argument in many cases,
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Hong Lieu: and I know one of the big events that you came under your watch was the spring gala that you started. Is it a couple of years. I remember when you were planning the first one and and then then some other things happened in between. But but in terms of like, you know. Event, those big event planning things like that, I mean. There's a lot of moving pieces, a lot to everything going on in a better than a day, you know, like just putting it on. You feel like success. But but I mean, yeah, it Just just how does that tie in? And I mean it? Does that?
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Hong Lieu: Does that take too much time, or is it? It's worth the effort? I mean, I know i'm sure the numbers come in. It's worth the effort. But at the same time event planning is no joke to everyone. Kind of trivialize some of these things. It's like. Oh, you just get to a big party, but he's gonna have a nice meal. It's like all logistics behind that, like my head is spinning just thinking about it, because I've I've put on smaller scale events that have no kind of, you know, pomp and circumstance attached. So when you want to get that kind of
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Hong Lieu: the air across it. Really, you really have to put in that work. So i'm just trying to really just highlight how much work goes into what you do and how easy you make it seem in a lot of ways, because you do like you kind of played off sometimes like, Oh, yeah, you know, we just do this, but it's like,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: I know It's a lot of work, because, like I said, I, I know. Yeah. So yeah, Well, thank you for knowing that right. I mean, if it if you do it right, it feels like it was effortless, and everyone goes right like that was great. Um, yeah, the gale is a great example of just, you know, experimenting, and I you know that's my
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Personally, I You know I like to experiment. I like to try new things. See what works Um! And and the gala for us was a new thing. Starting. We mentioned it. A few things happen. I first asked the question to my team, probably in two thousand and sixteen about You know. What What about you? Should we try to do something That's more gala like, because historically, that was not something this foundation did, and there's reasons for that. And in fact, one of the irony there is, i'm Also, you know I do a lot of training of other boards and fundraisers and
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: colleagues out in the community. I do a lot of facilitation and help people plan. And and so I like talking about this stuff. I'm. I'm a nerd when it comes to this stuff. So uh I I would often advise people if they asked my opinion. You know, gala big event fundraising. Put it last on your list. It is. It is the least efficient way to raise money in many senses, which is true in a lot of senses. It is true that a lot of people underestimate how much work and cost goes into a fundraising event, and then, at the end of the day the net income can be
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: very small, or even that negative that that happens actually more often than people would care to admit. Now there's other reasons to do it, and that's to build, you know community and and getting new friends. And so, you know, friend razor is a term for a reason. But for us I felt in in this community it was a whole in our strategy. We did really well with certain things that a great pipeline of state gifts. We talked to folks over the generations about leaving something in their wills, or trust to the to the college in the foundation. Um. We had a pretty good annual program where we mail
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: a couple of times a year. We we had um, you know we're growing different piece of but the one whole for us in this community which is highly social, and it's philanthropy. At least some of the community is because we didn't have really a big gala
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: uh that anyone could come to and buy a ticket and celebrate, and um, you know, throw Throw a a big fancy party, really is what it is.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Um! And there's some. There's some choices you have to make in that uh part of it is, if you make it a high dollar event, you know high end event. You, by by definition exclude a good number of your community. Um. And so if you're gonna do that, I don't know that's right or wrong. But you have to be clear that okay, this is something that's only for folks that can pay a certain amount. So what you know how. What's the whole picture? Who else? What other events do you do? Who has access to which ones?
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: And as long as you're covering the breadth of of your community. I think that's you know you can play with these strategies. So we we first talked about it sixteen. We actually planned it for seventeen, and then, of course, we had Thomas fire and lots of other fires happen, and then we had some residential transitions. And then we are like, okay. We're going to do it early, eighteen, and you get the debris flow and Montecito, and then nobody's in the mood for another one. Okay, Well, we're gonna put it off. So finally, in two thousand and nineteen was actually our very first one.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Um! And uh, that was the spring. It It went off beautifully. It was our first ever gail like All right. It's great. It's gonna be annual. So we're ready for spring. Two thousand and twenty right. We're going to A. For first of May
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: oops, so that Covid hit. So we we kind of pivoted got, you know. Watch what everyone's doing. That's when the you know the advent of the modern online event started. And um, you know, because I am see an auctioneer for other people. I got to kind of practice it with other organizations, and actually kind of get in the feel. We've talked about him and said, Yeah, you know, we could do that. So we did one. And
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: in the fall actually of twenty twenty I was our second one, and this last spring of twenty two. We let it go for twenty one
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: um, because it was so uncertain as well as possible. And then we did the one in the spring. So actually, I just got a phone today uh locking in our date. So to anybody listening.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Uh may twentieth twenty twenty-three uh this will be it's actually it'll be commencement weekend. So commencement will be on Friday uh the fourth annual gala will be on Saturday.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: We're going in person outdoors like we did this last year That felt like a good uh mix of the folks that we're more comfortable being out outside, we could come in person. Um, but we still can, you know, build a platform and tend to hold an event space. Uh, so it We thought it worked really well, and and we will definitely do that again. The good news is the bottom line for us on those is, they have been raising hundreds of thousands of dollars. So um! When you know our our theories seem to prove out, which is that it was a strategy that that we could pull off, and it
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uh to the college. So
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: where was the venue at on that last year? So this we did on West campus, out on the lawn we actually built out an entire. It was a blank slate, just the grass, and we build a platform and a tent and stage, and and dined with two hundred and eighty folks um out there, the one in two thousand and nineteen, the other only other one we did in person. We did indoors in the sports pavilion, and that was about three hundred and twenty,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: so we ain't for about, you know, three hundred ish folks. They grow over time. Dinner. It's a couple of surprises in there usually, and then just a really a celebration of the college, and we get some great stories and get folks to get to know us better.
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Hong Lieu: And you said May, Twenty-threerd, or may twenty twenty twenty and it's. It's nice to tied into Commencement, because, you know, you have a lot of families in town because a lot of a lot of folks graduated from Sbcc. Are like kids of parents who went to Sbcc. Or there's there's relations in town just having the events married, and then like for a lot of folks they have. Maybe Haven't been on canvas in a while, so I have an an event where they can be on canvas like you said. Celebrate the college, celebrate the location, celebrate. You know all that we do here. The culture here, I mean,
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Hong Lieu: It's yeah, that's a great.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Do you guys do any silent auctions or anything like that we, you know we have not. Uh, I always wanted to go one of those things. Oh, well, silent. Yeah, we do. We do have a small live auction in the gala but silent auctions. So I came from an organization that did one of the biggest silent options in the Western world. Probably we had two to three hundred items every year.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Um! Actually one year a couple of more than that, we just It was. It was an incredible, this tables and tables of of stuff all donated by local, you know, businesses, community members, et cetera, and those could be really fun. That's just. I mean, that's mostly a logistics and organizing task.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: The event can be fun. But then the rest of your hustle for donations right? I mean I've I've definitely seen that silent option racket, I mean, not racket, but like that. I use the wrong word. I was There's a lot of good ones in this town. But yeah, we have. We have not yet gone there? We might I don't, I can't, can't predict. But uh the model we have now for the gala, which is a little more stripped down. I mean I'm. A big believer in
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: less is more when you want to do those kind of things. Um, nobody wants to sit through a ten hour program doesn't matter. What you're saying. What they want is just to get a taste of it and be inspired. Get some knowledge. Meet some of the fabulous people have good meals. Celebrate.
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Hong Lieu: Um! So that's how we try to do it, and I do feel like the gala approach works for this area, because, you know, in terms of the relationships that folks have in this community, it's not always like a traditional Hollywood like Rolodex. There is a lot of like
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: word of mouth, like legitimate friendship and camaraderie, where folks that know each other will will kind of like form those networks that way. So. But it's been in terms of those kind of like celebrations and parties like like, Yeah, everyone wants to party together like It's a good. It's definitely a good set up around here, and once you do it a few times, you get the the reputation does travel like you said it's a smallish community, and so if if you've done a few ones where people had a lot of fun, they go home and tell their friends the next one you do, you generally you're starting with a real positive
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: attitude, and and uh folks are are one to be part of it.
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Akil Hill: I like the idea of you really utilizing the campus, you know. I mean, I always tell people that you know it. It's one of the I mean where we work is such a beautiful atmosphere. And and um sometimes I don't think we take advantage of it enough. You know what I mean, and so that's that's that's really.
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Akil Hill: Who knows? Maybe hung up i'll pull up to the next one to the gala.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Yeah, absolutely depending on what the the per person table cost is. I would I love to support, but I also have a family to feed as well. Fine away. That's the thing where there's a will. There's a way we uh what you said. Akil is right, and this is something we talked about at the beginning is what's our unique? What can we do uniquely? And and one big piece of it was the campus itself. So that's why I, rather than going to a hotel or a ballroom somewhere, we went into the sports Civilian. We just transformed it into a
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: you know event venue. And then uh last this past year we did the same, but we did it outdoors. And yeah, there's no competing with that there's nothing like Sbcc's campus. So we we thought, Let's let's take a van to show that off. So we did. Yeah, Yeah. So next time, if you do anything silent auction, you can
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Akil Hill: side of the auction Hong and I
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Hong Lieu: five cent minimum bage arrow voices right there it is. You heard it here, for i'm gonna work on this. I'm gonna make some notes right now, all right. But but the logistics of it. Yeah, the logistics of it doing here, on, on, on canvas as opposed to somewhere else. It's that built has that built and stuff it's a lot of extra work for you again. I want to highlight that, but also want to highlight. How well you all crush it all the time, and and if you foot of car interested, you will have a good time. The the you know it speaks for itself where
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: you you not only supporting you will have a good time. So thank you. Yeah. And then the team here is It's you've mentioned that I mean, we're we're a team of thirteen at the moment. Um. And yeah, they're all just
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: top Notch Rock Star colleagues, I I i'm real lucky to to work with all these folks so, and many, many are well known on campus. So I mentioned you know, as Ron and Jill and Jazz as the finance team. But of course, Rachel Johnson, our chief uh program officer, is out there all the time on, you know, campus working with different departments and
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: programs, and you know she's also an expert Grant writer. You've got ally who's running our scholarship programs. You've got Jen L. Maze. We also have our in house essentially, Pio, you know, marketing communication structure. So we we design all that work You mentioned, Don, who's kind of holding together. She's the one I go to for all the relationships she's known everybody for twenty plus years
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: um, and then and of course the promise is our our big flagship effort and and Sergio and Gandhi on that now and and they're You know very well known by students, because that's who they reach out to,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: and so and and it'll probably the most behind the scenes. Number of the teams Areina, who runs all of our our database um management. And of course that's for foundation critical.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Um, just you know we're we're collecting relationships and names and contacts and making sure we always know who to reach out to and for what? So you know it. It is a relatively small team, but but compared to community college foundation it's considered huge. We are the largest community college foundation in California, and one of the largest in the country.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Uh, and that's that's more important comparison for what community college philanthropy is at today, I think a generation from now would look very different. Um. So we're still small relative to most four years, but but not relative to community
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Hong Lieu: in the pace pay setters for the State. Yeah. So I mean, you mentioned you highlight some of the the really big programs that that some folks may know about Sbc's promise, which is books, tuition, fees, supplies for two years for looks, and of our residents, you know, high school graduates
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Hong Lieu: and um. You know various various of the pretty said Ups You get a lot of a lot of uh tradition and stuff like that, but
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Hong Lieu: I I always know the foundation as someone where, if we're, we're having an event or a program, and our funds are like like here, mainly a little little extra here or there. If you ask the foundation they will always entertain. I I mean I've never heard you say no, I mean I don't want to put that out there, but at the same time you all are. You all are so good about cutting through like red tape, and you know I talk about the Pc. Bureaucracy Sometimes y'all are just like boom. Do it, Boom, do it? It's always like, Okay, that's not that much boom, do it, and it that
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Hong Lieu: that to me is the the hallmark of of just how like that? That's what sticks out first of my head when I think about the foundation is how willing you all are to help, because for me I'm. I'm always thinking about like doing the bookkeeping. The back here, like all we can make, this work is that we already have this plan. I don't know if we could do this, but anytime we reach out to you all like boom, do it Go for it. Try it, you know, like I I You know i'm working. I worked with students for the the guy to p with. Things reach out to Rachel for something, you know, and with the emergency grants that you all are doing. Boom! Do it. It's always a boom. Do it, and I love. I love that you all can do that for us,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: and i'm sure that's got to make you feel good, too, that you can make so many people on campus, you know. Just just help them get that last mile of of whatever they're working on. I'm so happy to hear you say that on Yeah, I mean that that is true, that's what we. So there's a couple of things about our structure. If you, If you look at foundations and community colleges, we are unusual.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Um. We're not unique, but we're at one end of the spectrum. So we are completely independent. What you know there's pros and cons to all these models. But the pro here is we can move quickly.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Um! We could be entrepreneurial, we can, you know, figure something out and and act so that helps a lot because we're not part of a lot much larger institution which just has to move slowly. You have to be more deliberative. You have. There's more pieces. So, being small and able to move quickly as an advantage. Um! The downside of that or the other challenge then, is, if you're not in the infrastructure, I I don't work for the college. None of our team is employed by the college, so we're one step removed from some of the communications, and some of the decision making. So we try to have to act. We actively figure out how to
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: how to be connected. Um and I've never had a bad experience with college leadership on that. They always understand it, you know. Help us help you. So we'll figure out a way. It looks different from from leader to leader, but we can always find a way. Um: And yeah, we also then have to make sure that we're not getting accidentally tripping up calls leadership, and how we operate. So you know, when you said, you know we never say no, that's true. We always say you can call, ask us, talk to us. We'll tell you if it's possible. But in the end we're always gonna have someone go back through
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: and make sure that they're talking to their You know their colleagues, their department chair, their director, the manager of Ultimately the Dean is is gotta kind of sign off on things we do, and and if we're doing something big. Then it's really at a cabinet level, and that's fine, too. Um, but yes, we can move quickly, and we have a lot of people in this community that are
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: that are interested in a whole range of things, and because the college does so much, it's It's only one of the things I was probably most concerned about leaving what I had been doing, which was really broad, based community organizing work that Well, okay, if i'm working alongside the college. It's going to be a pretty narrow lane, like I'm just going to be the college,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: and I it's it, I mean. I learned a lot, having to to learn the college. I realized. Well, you know, that's really not true, because there's probably not a single thing in this community that college either isn't or couldn't be engaged in um, whether it be an issue or part of the community, what have? Because that's the mission that the colleges to be open, accessible um resource to any and everyone at any point in time, almost any issue that they can be of service on. So that actually works well.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Um! And and we do have some discretionary funds to. So, being up the size we are, we have the advantage of. Sometimes somebody needs something we just have. We don't have to go raise it, or as somebody else for it, we can just offer it. Um! That's the
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: that that's sort of the the High school. What What people may not know about us is that we, the vast majority of our resources, are permanently restricted. So if you look at our balance sheet, or you hear me make a presentation. I use a big number. It starts with tens of millions of dollars. It's true, but most of those have been dedicated to a particular purpose.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: So the vast majority of what we have is just. For one thing, it was. It was set by the donor and by law that is sacred. So um, you know it's a scholarship, or it's a particular program endowment, or it's a very specific um feature of a of a program. So that's that's what most of our dollars are. But we are big enough to have enough that every year we do have hundreds of thousands of dollars that are usable for something that may just arise, or a need that may happen. And, as you said, we don't ever want people to not do something for lack
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: resources, so we can possibly solve that. I mean, the creativity on this campus is incredible, and and you know it, including, you know, you. All of us have had conversations where you've reached out and said, Hey, we're trying to do this, what you and it's like. Oh, yes, let's do that, as you said um,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: and it's just a matter of you know. What's the gap? How much do you need to make it happen? Um! And you know don't don't strip it back if there's an ideal version of it. Do that, and we have the resources to make sure it happens. And i'm I'm a big believer in that is that it's, you know, if you have to ultimately scale back. Of course we all have to do that,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: but I always like to start from the question of so resources weren't an issue. What's the ideal version of what you want to do,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: and and more times, you know more often than not we can do that version.
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Yeah.
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Akil Hill: Well, I know the foundation was extremely uh influential in helping with the mural um for black, for black faculty and staff uh getting the Qr code, and then also providing um the ice cream on uh that night that we had. Oh, that was that, I mean, and that's the thing. It's like that. You talk about that last mile,
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Hong Lieu: the little, the little piece of the puzzle that that makes it from like a a great event to a truly like a special. You know, like that, that special bit of transcendence that those are the touches, Geoff. Those are the touches that that
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Akil Hill: Oh, yeah, that's That's the glamour part of the work, right? There was even thinking about the little kids that were there, because there's quite a bit of kids there. I think you showed up uh with your son, and the kids are out ripping and running. Who will hoop in eating ice cream like those are the things that they're going to remember about Santa Barbara City College when they get older and and hopefully you know that they will come here.
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Akil Hill: Um! And and I think that's the piece that's so special about having a foundation that's willing to support um and create these memories uh, for the younger kids in the community uh to see City College as a viable option. That's it. That's extremely special, you know.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Yeah, those those are the kind of projects that you know they're not necessarily in somebody's budget when they start the year, but they realize, like, here's an opportunity. Here's a need,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: and um, you know I I have to give credit. You know. The college leadership, uh right now is is great about that. I You know they they want to find they can possibly do it. And of course, in the State right now we have an upcycle in our budget, and we all know that Doesn't last in public budgets they go up and down. But right now there's there's dollars that are available, and
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: I think people are trying to take advantage of that in a sustainable way as possible to get things done. But they've otherwise had to wait on. And so now, when one of our jobs and Blanche is that? How do you smooth out those swings?
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: So right now? Maybe you don't need us to do certain things because there are dollars available. But three years from now, you know. Whatever the cycle is. Um! That shifts again. And then you know what? How do you avoid having to put up the brakes on everything.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Um! And then what are the things that are more about? You know community engagement that maybe aren't core to the the Academic Mission, but they're still core of the institution or the community relationship. And
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: oftentimes that's where we were asked to step in.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Uh, and sometimes just to try experiments like, I said, We we believe in that, and it's not just on the fundraising side. It's on the program side. So someone says, you know, i'm not sure this is gonna work. But the data suggests, and I think and talk to so and so. And could we try it? And uh, I think that's actually a really valuable way to work. But that's not always encouraged, and in large or publicly pointed institutions, because, you know, they want to stick to the core fundamentals that that people are funded to to do, and that and I get it. And then that's where we can come in and say, and let's also try these other experiments, and sometimes when they work they get ramped up in a
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adopted into the institution,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: and then isn't it correct me if i'm wrong. But uh isn't. It also the foundations really heavy with the Durante's lecture as well. Yeah, Yeah. So that was essentially co-created with, Uh, you know, President Peter Mcdougal at the time the foundation leadership. Uh, you know, thirty three years ago. Now,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: um, you know, I after um was killed they they wanted to call out the dynamics there, the the racial dynamics, the what was happening in downtown Santa Barbara in particular. Um, But also, you know they thought, Well, how do you memorialize um. You know someone
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: who was a a victim of that, and then the best way that they could come up with, and to this day it's carried on is to the whole annual lecture, and I say annual. It's not been three years since we've done it last one. We did this twenty, nineteen, and you know there are a couple of factors in there. Co. It certainly being one of them. But even just this morning we are having a conversation about, you know, getting ready to come back
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: um traditionally with always done in November. So probably November of twenty three. But uh,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: there's still a few more senior leaders that need to be hired on, and seats seeds move. But once we have a leadership and a
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: and a new, fully or as fully open as the new the new normal V campus. Um, we think fall twenty-three would be a great time to bring that
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Hong Lieu: so so in terms of all these great program. We could do a whole episode just of all the programs and stuff that you'll do for for the college, and in terms of
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: best way for folks that are now motivated to get involved and donate to the foundation. If your staff faculty, or just a random member of the community, what are the best ways to get involved in and donate to the foundation. Well, there's good old fashioned uh online giving which is not all that whole fashion, but it now. Kind of is right. It's the uh go click on the button. So we have, you know, Sbcc. Foundation org i'll say it again six times before this is over. I'll put the show notes, too. But yes, please do. Thank you. Spcc. Foundation dot org. So we give online uh people can get one time they can get monthly. You didn't give them credit cards
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: through the through the website there. Um, you know we get a lot of checks in the mail. Still, that's still a thing. So lots of check, even cash in envelopes that happens to so really, anyway. Um! But I would say the the fundraising events are a different, you know, route to get connection to the foundation. Most of the events we do are free, and they're open to at least some set of the public. Um, It's the gala that we've already talked about, whether they take a price and and that's a fundraiser uh the other way is, uh a big, a big piece of
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: of it, for to the college has long been in the State planning. I know. I mentioned that earlier, but that's really working with people to put the foundation into their will and to their. You know, people that are using trust vehicles or some other ways in their State planning um, and the biggest gifts and planning for you. Look at philanthropy in the United States. The biggest gifts almost always come through a State. Yes, and so part of the longevity we have. There's an advantage there, because there's people that have worked,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: you know they could have been former employees of the college or just community members that have a love for the college. And And so every year a handful of those gifts do come to us as people pass um The other way to do it is, uh to you know, workplace giving which for many years actually wasn't done here. Um! So speaking now to employees that are listening to this.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Um, The the uh, the old way was that the United way was the workplace giving vehicle, and that that actually ended uh six, seven years ago now, and uh, we started a small workplace giving program. So we actually can do payroll deduction. And you know, this couple of dozen employees right now to do that.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Um! And that's that's one way that you can give uh where you you. They say you don't even feel it because you never saw the money In the first place. Um, you know that, said There's a lot of folks that you know as as a
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: as much as I. I will always encourage someone to come work with, and for the college. Uh, you know not Everybody gets a a lot of extra money there. So um I know that some people I don't don't want to go down, so we we try to make just everything available.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Um! So workplace giving state planning events, just donations as you see fit. Um! There's a major donor group that really is kind of the core of the foundation sustainability. Call our President circle, and those are folks that give a thousand dollars or more a year unrestricted money.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Um, and that's kind of what leverages everything else. And there are a couple of hundred in in this committee. We're very fortunate that they do that. Um, so that group will get together a couple of times a year to kind of hear the latest of what it is they're supporting. Um. We run a lot of grants as well, So I mentioned. You know Rachel and she she's our Grant writer along with Aaron Travers. Um. So they they write grants public of private institutions, corporate grants. Um, and we have a brand new chief Development officer, Sarah Strat, who just joined us. Um, she's a a Rock Star pro fundraiser, and and so she leads our
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: our broader fundraising strategies. Um, but the majority of it is individuals, and that's something not everyone understands is that you know, corporate giving the port and grants are important, but but the vast majority of giving for any in the country in general. But certainly here are individuals.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: You hear that corporations. You step up your game. We have A. We have a couple of very generous ones here in town. But yeah, if you look at that pie chart, it changes every year. There's a study of a year called giving us a That shows how much private philanthropy happens in the country. We're approaching five hundred billion for the Me. In the Us.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Um, But the again vast majority of that is actually individuals. And if you take individuals plus the State plan and put it all together. Um! Now you look at at least seventy of all giving that um foundations are are becoming a bigger slice because a lot of people are using donor advice funds. Um. But corporate giving is stay pretty solid at about five percent every year
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: over time. So yeah, individuals are. You know those? That's why those personal relationships are so important.
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Hong Lieu: That's why having someone like you that is good at building those personal relationships is is great for the organization. So. But I will put all those links in the show notes. Put all that info in there. Um, thank you, Geoff. Now Segue, into our next uh next segment. What brought you this? Pcc.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Um! What What brought you the Sbcc. What's watching the foundation? Where were you before? Well, um it's a long and windy path? Uh:
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: so so the shortest answer is in that two thousand and fourteen
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: I had. I've been running into Dr. Lori Gaskin community events here and there, and uh an issue. She was president of City College. Um, and uh, one day we're talking at one of these. Eventually we should get together for coffee. I said, Yeah, we should do that. So we went and had a copy date,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: and in the midst of that she said, You know, foundation is looking for a new director. Yep, Yep, I know, and I know a lot of folks that have been in that seat over the years because a lot of them are colleagues. And she said, Well, you know, would you ever do it? And I said, Oh, i'm not
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: I'm not looking for a job right now, I know. But I but you knew you do need some. And so we started this conversation where I you know I sat with this board and said, Well, here's some thoughts, and he's some things, and here's my news. And they came back and said he wanted to do it, and i'm like I don't know you know
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: they have to. We're mad, and you know i'm not sure that we're doing the same kind of work, and we have the conversation again, and they say great. You want to do it. And so so eventually I said, Oh,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: I think this might be a hint from the universe that I should be seriously looking at this, and and ultimately I said I I would love to do it. Um! It was right around the time that the last bond measure was being floated. I was finishing up some work in my former
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: organization with a fund for Santa Barbara and um, I said, Well, let's let's reconvene. After you know November of the election.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Uh, so uh, we did that now eight years ago now and uh, and that's when we we figured it all out. So that's why I started just right early in two thousand and fifteen um. And now the narrative I had for myself was that,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: you know I really didn't have any relationship to Svcc.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Uh. And and then I thought about it, and I realized I did. I just hadn't consciously thought of it that way. So three three things. One uh I took Spanish class at Sbcc. Um. Shortly after I finished at Ucs, which is what brought me to the community in one thousand nine hundred and ninety
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Um. I came here to to take Spanish class because I've taken French for years, and you live in North America. There's much outside of Quebec, You know there's not a lot of French spoken. There is a lot of Spanish,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: So I realized. Gosh! Did I make a mistake? I need to go in Spanish, so I I I took a course um not too long after that actually taught a course. So i'm technically faculty. I I taught through a bill that at the time uh a course on the history of housing, policy and homelessness,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: which is an area of passion for me, that I I worked on previously, and I I co-tot it with a another faculty member who was actually a a Csb grad student. Um So that was there was that relationship. And then, after that,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: when, uh, there was some real tough time starting between the community and the college, and eight hundred and nine um! The the college actually hired me to be the facilitator of the community meeting and the Shot Center,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: where uh community members that were very unhappy with the decisions that have been made around the all that program and the leadership of the college. We're agree to get together and
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: talk about it. And so I was. I was the guy microphone, keeping piece on stage. Um, and trying to, you know. Help! Help the community have the conversation needed. And so I had these glimpses of it, and and actually most recently I was talking to who was the uh, an old friend of mine, but but a former board member of mine previously, and mathematics professor here,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: and he was the faculty. Um Senate, President
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: uh academic and President at the time, and uh, and he had me and I come up and facilitate their retreat back in two thousand and nine. So I had. I had all these little glimpses that I just kind of forgotten. We're all part of Svcc. Because they it happened separately. So when it all came together, you know you look back like Oh, it makes sense, of course.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Uh, And so that's really how I came came to this role. And uh, you know, I knew what to call it with the foundation needed because of those conversations i'd had with the Board and leadership. Uh, I felt like That's work I can do, especially at community connection piece, because it had been some rough years, and I said well that that I could do i'm not an expert at sp on it. Svcc. Um, but absolutely, you know, Knit neck deep in community relationships and work, and i'd be happy to help.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: I'll further build that um, and that's that's really how I came here.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: And uh, yeah, I have to say no regrets. I I uh I didn't know what I was stepping into, and I didn't know what I didn't know had some ideas. Um. But now i'm coming up on a. It'll be eight years for me in January. So
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: and uh in that time most of my teams turned up, so I i'm. I'm real proud of this for too. So the foundation is really really strong. It's ever been Um, you know college is, is uh it's been doing a lot of hiring a new leadership. And so I think there's some good years ahead,
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Hong Lieu: and you had the fun for Santa Barbara before.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Yeah, I was there for almost eighteen years. You can believe that
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Hong Lieu: it's It's interesting, because, you know, the five percent of Barbara. Their focus is social justice, grant kind of kind of work, and you kind of came in here like making like. Oh, yeah, I I don't know what i'm going to do with the city. God, But social justice is such a big part of, you know, like the City Color Mission. Now, I mean it's, and maybe it's a newer thing, but at the same time. It's funny that that connection wasn't there. But like, yeah, yeah, it's It's always It was always there, you know, in a lot of ways to
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: well that you i'm glad you said that, because that actually for me was the missing piece. I you know my passion, and and the way I work is, I I tend to be very structural in my thinking, like I wanna I look at a problem and think, Okay, how do you? How do you fix that like it up
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: big level? How do you? How do you solve the problem, whether it be around poverty or oppression, discrimination or exclusion, or an economic and balance, or or whatever it may be, or a political issue. I think you know. How do you fix that in a big way? Um,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: I know. And coming from the fun, that was all. Yeah, social, economic, environmental justice work. And that's my my passion and I I didn't see that connection initially, and and that's exactly what I had to learn. I had to face. See? Oh, you know today, when people actually say, well, you know, it may well be that the single best resource we have, the single best
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: public institution we have to solve any of those issues whatever you're concerned about. Um. Is this the community college,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: and uh and I didn't I honestly could say I didn't really know that I I, you know, Can you congratulate for me? Was always something of an arms link, and also a lot of the work I was doing in the community at the time, which was mostly the late nineties through the
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: the twenty teams. Um Sbcc Wasn't. Very visible at that period, and when in Social justice movements, at least in the broader community, there's a lot of you. Csv presence. There are a lot of other presence. But there wasn't a lot of Sbcc. Presence where people have identified, as being, you know, faculty staff for students of Svcc. And I think that has shift,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: and I certainly felt this shift in recent years, where, you know, if I'm. At a a public hearing on any issue. I'm going to see people I know from the college, and that hasn't always been true. I'm sure it goes in cycles with any organization. But but those two things coming together are absolutely um part of what keeps me here and excited each day, and trying to be creative.
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Hong Lieu: The universe was talking to you. They they do what they're saying. Yeah, Oh, great good story. That's how I got here. So yeah, we're glad to have you. And we're we're hopefully You have. You stick around for a lot longer, so
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: I kind of feel like the old man these days, you know. I look around, and i'm like, Oh, man,
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Hong Lieu: I've actually been here a while. I've also called this my new job up until pretty recently, and I finally said, All right. Stop saying that I still feel like an Sbcc. Baby, you know, like I've been here What? Four years for you! It's almost five years, and everyone's everyone around me like twenty, twenty-five years thirty years, you know, like the keel is getting close to, you know. I guess, gentlemen, don't tell tales out of school. But keel is getting close to certain milestones like the twenty years of queue, or, you know. Yeah. So
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Hong Lieu: yeah, that's true. Fully vested. Yeah, Yeah, you do have a certain way of measuring that when you,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: I, and I think these last few years have been a part of that sort of they work time a bit. So you know I'll joke about, you know code years or dog years. So how long you been here? Fifty, six years, you know. But
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: and even in that time you're at a pivot, so quickly do the Covid emergency grants and all the stuff that you were open out with. I mean, there's there's ways for you to make that social justice kind of change that that change in people's lives and touch them, you know, just personally, individually, they could. Yeah, it's just. There's definitely ways to get in where you fit in a lot. You know. A lot of that is being ready, and I I've always believed this, and I I have good debates with my my other colleagues and social justice. Rome. About this I guess I I come from the
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: my observation of the world is that the best thing you can do is be ready because you don't know in that moment that right moment emerges.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: You know, support the leadership on all these issues. Make sure the resources are there. Make sure folks are ready to move, and then and then, when the moment is right. They we everyone can move. And so for us you know that you know the foundation. It's not that sexy. It's about Well, how do you become physically stable. Have some money in the bank, and then, when the crisis comes, you know the rainy day, you know, for the Rainy Day Fund like it's raining. Let's go, and that's what we know. That was in front of the Covid environment. Of course it's also because of those community connections At the time I was sitting with it
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Chamber of Commerce Board, and you know I'm. Sitting next to local employers who are telling tales. You know I just had to lay off.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: You know this. Many people are this many dozens of this many hundreds of folks I knew in that moment, you know, in March of two thousand and twenty that those those folks are employing a lot of our students because it's hospitality industry. These are, you know, the the part time jobs, often low weight shots that a lot of our students are holding down. And when I heard the people that actually, you know, are are the ones hiring those positions, saying we had to let this go. We're getting shut down whatever. Maybe. We knew quickly that that was gonna that impact was happening in real time for our students. So
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: um! That's why you know you mentioned the Covid Emergency brand. So we didn't know when the Federal or State governments would do so this before it cares, act, and and all the other funds came. But we knew we could at least jump in. And you know bridge people from that mid march until early May to at least get folks through the semester.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Um, if they lost work, or had other challenges and lost child care, lost school opportunities and and had children. So there there was a lot there where we thought, Well, what what can we do as a foundation? And you know, in this case the the answer was dollars, so
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: usually usually the answer for better or worse. Whatever the question is, resources are the answer, and you know That's I I would say, money is a tool. It's that's all. It is at the end of the day. It can be for good or evil. It can be used in lots of different ways, and if you,
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Hong Lieu: if you can use it strategically and and use it for for good, then that's That's our job,
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Hong Lieu: Geoff uh real food, or you know, recipe anything that you enjoyed recently. I know you. I know you like to be good. I saw you have, Bettina, that one time. So I know you know you got you do share that.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Uh yeah, i'm an i'm an eater i'm a i'm a I actually I love cooking. I uh, I will say I used to do a lot more than I do today. I'm something about. I don't know, being older, having children
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: having a big job and a bunch of volunteer work it just. I don't do it as much as I use time. You might wipe time to cook. You don't have time to clean. I know I'm. Uh so yes, I do love to. Actually, I'll tell you over the weekend. I did something I had done in the years, which is, make a tomatoes also, because, you know, we got some,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: you know. If I have the opportunity, I will always be creative at home with cooking. Um, but but you know we live in a pretty good food town, so I got a lot of favorites.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: You got any specific when you were shout out, anyone you want to give some give some love to. Oh, my goodness! Well, I I love the folks at Opel. Uh, you know Richard and Tina There they They've been generous with so many community members and organizations, and I I love going there. I think Scarlett Bonneo is my latest breakfast hangout for
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: for a real, you know. Uh a nice breakfast. Um! Did you get the pancakes? Would you order there? No, I got the uh. It's been my thing there the grilled shrimp and the tortillas and the eggs and the whole.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: That's my, that's my latest. See, I don't even go out that much anymore. That's what's so funny I haven't been since they was their new location. They moved to. They moved to where the the old It was actually the old Soho by years and years. Yeah, Yeah. And it was Blue Shark B strove, and all kinds of things the one that Kevin costing her own. I think it was. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that was a Tiffany or yeah, I think it was. I forget what it was called. I think it might. Yeah, Anyway, there's yes, that's spot right there in Victoria.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Um. So yeah, I was just there the other day, so it's top of mine. But um, you know the other. The other place I love, you know, as far as folks at the last fortification kitchen has always been favorite of mine, but the other is you, Shawn? Um. So Mitchell Sherman, of course he teaches here, too, in the all that area.
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Hong Lieu: But uh, if you ever want a real nice celebration, Then that's where that's where I that is still my pick, for in terms of fancy like. If you want a nice, really nice dinner, where to send somebody I know it would be down, down he's or bouchon out the down. He's no longer here. It's right down. His was another great one. There also gone. So yeah,
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Hong Lieu: the sushi place that took over down. He's as bad, though I feel what they're called. But i'll put them in there. Yeah, alright, thank you. And so in terms of cooking, Is there a favorite thing you like to cook? Is it the grill, or is it like, you know, Cast iron?
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Um. Let's see. I'm a i'm a a a fish and veggie person. I have a a classic Mediterranean that I love the grill fish go down to the Santa Barbara market there, and uh and then uh vegetables, or you know we grow a lot. I I love garden, so we we grow like twenty five things in our yard,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: and so uh try to as much homegrown food as we can.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Uh, but but uh, yeah, i'm a big i'm a pasta guy, too, so i'll make us to almost. I'll make anything into Pasta.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: And uh, yeah, I I don't. I mean, I I. You get into those habits where you just have your go to
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: um. I remember it really creative years ago at my my in-law's house, and I I was thinking about it now. I would never do that now, like I was doing this experimental recipe on a book that i'd never tried before for like eight people, and like, Hey! That's what I used to like to do for fun, but been a while.
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Hong Lieu: Yeah, life gets busier. It just gets It was a curry with a whole bunch of other stuff. It was great, but it was up. Yeah
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: bigger production,
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Hong Lieu: all right. Well, i'll get links all over the place in the show. No, thanks for sharing You want to go. You want. I guess I can go. I I got my pick kinda kind of segways in in the just pick a little bit. I wanted. I wanted to to shout out seafood uh, especially uh shellfish, crabs, lobster, and a shrimp
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Hong Lieu: in terms of a lot of folks they? They they don't, I guess, love it because they only know one preparation, which is, you know, the boil with butter and lemon,
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Hong Lieu: and there's so many other ways You could do shellfish, you know, like there's in terms of especially coming from a Chinese family like we we do. Uh, you know, green onions and ginger when you toss like, and a lot of times a lot of times they do a whole, too, which is a problem where, like, if you get a whole ops or a whole crab you need to crack, or you don't know how to get in there. It's like tart, like a lot of Chinese families. What we do is we we chop it while it's not cooked, and then we we stir, fry to cook it, and then it cooks that way so like garlic and green onion, they have the garlic you can bread your shellfish deep, fry it, and then toss it with fried garlic.
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Hong Lieu: There's a Singapore and Chili Crab, if you know about that where it's like a chili with I mean, there's a
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Hong Lieu: place in La They do what's called how special lobster, which is Jalapenos black pepper and butter, but like again chopped into pieces and stir fried. Um, you know that's because I I When I had that the preparation of C. Feel that the both folks know which is steamed, you know, with the clarified butter and lemon. It's usually when it's really good good seafood, you know, so like we we we'd have shrimp like that. It'd be like shrimp that still live. You just pull it from the tank. So i'm going to Costco, and i'm seeing shrimp cocktail that's laid out like that with a little soft the middle. But it's like that limp kind of like
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Hong Lieu: kind of like sea level shrimp. You can't do that, you know, like you, if you're going to be doing shrimp like that, it's got to probably still have the show on where you take the shell off You suck the head. Do that thing, Don't. Don't be buying the costco like shoe cocktail plan, or like that. And that's that. Of course you're not gonna like shrimp like that, and I feel the same way about crabs and lobster, if you're only eating like
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Hong Lieu: the pre-cooked, frozen crab legs. You get the store like It's already red when you buy it and bring it home. How long has it been cooked for? It's not going to be good. So I mean there, Aren't, that many see the places in town that will do like that kind of fresh. There's a chunking drunken crab on stage three. They do a specific kind which is like the seafood boil style, which is kind of like a, you know, like there's some Southeast Asian influence there with some of the seasoning stuff,
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Hong Lieu: but in terms of like, Yeah, i'll. I'll put some links to show us some places in la, and some places close by, because there aren't that many places here in Santa Barbara I checked the China Building menu, and they still, you know they just stick to like the fish fillet, which is another thing, fish that's not like a whole fish with the head and the tail you got. You know you need more of that, too. But you know, Yeah,
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Hong Lieu: i'll. I'll get some. I'll get some. I'll I'll get some recipes as well for some of the popular preparations. Because, yeah,
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Hong Lieu: just opening up kind of kind of crab. So i'm thinking about this because my dad had a birthday like a week and a half ago, and we we did lobster for his birthday. But it was like, you know, just this classic family meal, and and I sent the photo around some people like. Whoa! What's going on? What do you do with that lobster? And it's like, Oh, this is not like a thing for a lot of people, you know. They only know,
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Hong Lieu: like just the laughter which is a great preparation. I'm not not in the preparation completely, because you know, the the truth is the meat. Will you know the the quality of seafood will send it, no matter what, if it tastes like the ocean's still good. But yeah, I mean if you're using like marginal quality Cf: and doing it that way, it's not going to be good. So yeah, it's got to shout that out.
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Try to kill what you got
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Akil Hill: uh. I'm going since we're still in uh
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uh
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Akil Hill: Hispanic heritage month i'm going to keep with the theme of Mexican and I'm going to stay local with um.
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Akil Hill: Everyone, you know. That's a local. A lot of People's local favorite, and one of my favorite dishes on their menu, and it's it's my go to is the uh, the chile North Daniels.
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Akil Hill: It's the polar bono chile's kind of cut cut in half, and it's stuff with um
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Akil Hill: Shrimp and and Monterey Jack cheese uh in a to pull a sauce um, and uh it's absolutely amazing.
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Akil Hill: Um! That's kind of my kind of go to, and then I will also say, I mean, there's also. Bar is really good out there as well. I don't know, know the exact name of this also, but it's the darker Salsa Salsa. That's really really good. Um! So it's it's almost, I think it's like black. Basically So the roasted one, it's
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Akil Hill: dark and it's, you know not. It's not like the the whole or the or the verdict. So it's it's the darker one, so that one's really that's one of my favorites. So that's my choice. Um! I used to be
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Akil Hill: uh a big on um.
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Akil Hill: What's the other one uh Los Angeles, and then slowly, slowly, i'm kind of coming over it. Uh been to the also guys. Uh: so. But yeah, that's um. That's my pick for the for the week.
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Hong Lieu: I think those are royals. I was going to jump in there. You didn't, because you know another Cc. Alone right there so, and they both have their their place because Los Angeles doesn't do the hop dot chopped tub in there on onion salsa that Los Angeles has, and there's this. There's there's still room for the both to coexist, because I know that they are the kind of like the the the yin and yang of like the
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Hong Lieu: fancy, not fancy, but like you know,
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Akil Hill: Los Angeles or Oryos has that really good hub and arrows Also it's like the cabbage with the or no, it's the it's the onions, the dice onions, and the dice uh hub and arrow. It gets me every time, and they have. They have a cabbage sauce, and it's almost like, yeah, like i'll just get in the that, too, so i'll. I'll put links to both in the show notes. Thank you. Keel
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Hong Lieu: all right. Moving right along higher, learning. Geoff. Piece of culture, book music, movie Tv. You know anything you got, whether now that you're into or growing up that they got you on the path you're on. Now there's anything you could shout out
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: I I it's all over the map. I'll tell you what's top of my stack right now, unlike everything not finished with it. Um is a Michael Sandel's the tyranny of merit.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Um, and it actually got it from a board member of mine. Um! And she Laurie Ashton. She's uh we. We got into this conversation at at her place, and she said, Have you read this book? And I I hadn't, and it's a great It's a great analysis of the way that merit and meritocracy and the myth of it play into
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: um, you know, not just modern American culture, but in general in the world, and and sort of how, and the subtitle is what's become of the common good.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: And so to this notion of you know only those with the merit x, y or Z thrive. But what about this notion of we common good? Um. So I I find myself going back to that a lot. I find myself going back to um dream orders uh which came out a few years ago by we see he uh,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: it was basically just just saying, Look, you know the with wealth in equality as it is, and of course, given what I do with my days, I do spend a lot of time thinking about wealth and wealth, inequality and income and income, inequality
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: and um and he's really making the case that you know it's not the top one percent top ten percent in the Us. That's really kind of running away with the resources and leaving everybody else behind, and that that gap is creating a bigger and bigger cultural and communication Gap, and a political gap as well as everything else. And and going further back, there is a
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: book by a guy named Bill Bishop called the big Sort, which I also refer to a lot, and he he's a sociologist who basically looked at how
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: in the Us. Post World War, two people self segregated into like thinking communities more and more. And so the notion of living in a place where you're naturally going to be living and knowing among people that come from different perspectives. Different places, is disappearing in a lot of places in the Us. And and folks only know those who are similar or think alike.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Um, and it's not just, you know, race, demographics, or age, demographics or wealth, demographics. It's also ideological.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: And so that's a another one. So I again going back to my structural thing. I try to look at like, okay, what's going on here, and those are great picks like they. They they complement each other well, because I think about the idea of the big sort, and also that kind of leads right into your your first book about merit the Meritocracy. Because the folks that kind of lump together are the same folks that have similar uplings where they're like. Oh, why isn't everyone pulling this up by the pulling this up by their quote unquote bootstraps, because they literally have no idea
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Hong Lieu: of how much privilege they they had to even have be able to have conversations about bootstraps and not just be thinking about survival every single moment of their life. So so it's It's there's a lot of complimentary ideas there, and those are good, good kind of pieces. Good picks to kind of get that. Get that conversation started because it is something that we need to talk about, especially because yeah, everyone wants to talk about these this these good old days and like, let's go. Let's get back to like. What good old days are we talking about here? The fifties, when you couldn't even say what you really meant about anything in your life
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Hong Lieu: when everyone was running away and getting serial killed left and right. I watched the two kind of stuff. If you were running away you were getting murdered because you're running, you, you know, like So I mean the the sixtys when it was like, yeah, right like where it had to like like literally that all the repression of the fiftys popped, and you had the summer of love, and then no one knew what they were doing afterwards. I mean, what is this good time, you know, like. So it's it's. Yeah, it's funny, Me and it or the eighties Where? Okay, maybe you're having a good life parting in the club. But everyone else is getting reaganomic and Thatcher thatcherized into the into the pits. So
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you know, like, So yeah. But
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: yeah, yeah, you say there's no good old days. What are you saying? I'm saying, we you gotta get in where you fit in. The good is there? But yeah, it's It's a it's definitely not. Yeah, it's, it's. I think those those are all the yeah. Those are all top of mind for me. The other thing i'll say we don't have to go into this, but I do read a lot on there. There are a handful of really good books on philanthropy, specific like the the notion of giving. And what does that mean? And how is it? Use culturally, and the history of it? And I
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: I do think that's another fascinating uh setup set of reads. That. Is there a book that you could recommend for for folks out there? Well, I think winners take all winners. Take all by nons. Your address. Um, that is the subtitle. It's called winners. Take all the the elite charade of changing the world, or the elite charade of um,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: I mean, I have to look it up here. Um, it's uh, you know. It's really a uh yeah, no, it's really It's a that he wrote about, and he he later kind of outs himself as being of that only, you know, winning, going, and working for Mckinsey and
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: and he's he's talking about how you know the gatekeepers to these big, you know, philanthropic thing. Chains are are themselves insulated from the realities of the of the world that they're claiming to try to help.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Um, and so a lot of it is very self-serving when and at the end of the day, so he's got a very interesting take on that. So I like. I like that book. Um! I like to colonizing wealth which came out a few years ago. Um, I i'm getting, I would say, not a lot of new ideas, but a good sort of native um analysis of how philanthropy and well have worked in the United States.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Um, so I I i'm into that. I mean. I like the critiques of land, because I think philanthropy at its best, truly, is an act of
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: of giving and generosity, and ultimately of redistribution, of wealth and power. And that's you know. That's where I think ultimately, as best goes, that really does equalize. It gives, you know, kind of redistributes what has been too concentrated in one place or another. Um, but that's not, of course, the the thing we all talk about. You know I don't go out, and
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: for each welfare distribution with donors most of the time. They're they're you know it's it's much more if I just say like that as long as you call it. Well, three distribution don't use the s word right,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: but um, but you know that says we've grown farther and farther apart. You know it's on people's minds that it's not something people folks want to take on directly. Um, but I I think it's a real question about how you know if the inequality is this extreme, and in the Us. And we're now we're certainly in another
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: um extreme unlike anything we've seen in a century. I mean you gotta go back to Gilded Age, you know, early twentieth century to see anything like what we have today, and uh and so that's and I don't think anyone thinks that's good or healthy. Um, even the folks that are the winners in that. So it's speak
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: um. And yet you know tax policy and public discourse, and all these things that might address it. Don't
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: don't seem to make much progress on it so full. Answer me, becomes part of the conversation about. So how how do you move resources to whether or not
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Um! Is it something you ask people to do willingly? Do you do it by policy by Do you do it by? How do you do it? And so I That's
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Hong Lieu: if you want to keep me up at ninety seconds, and and You're one hundred percent correct there. And what's What's the one caveat as long as you've vetted the organization that you're donating to that The money you give them the money, and it goes away. It goes, and I, and we can say that the foundation has been vetted. You give the money. It will go to where you want it to go. Whether it's, you know. But some of these other organizations you can't. You can't say they're they're in on the griff, too. That is truly a racket. But yeah,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: yeah, no, That's why I mean that's why I don't. I have no complaint about the demands of transparency for the nonprofit sector, I think.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Yes, it is. It is a lot, and and but it is right, and I think I would simply like to see that from everybody else. I mean the nonprofit sector. You want to know where it goes, you you can know, and you know everyone knows that one story where it went sideways, and you know that sort of the exception that
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: approves rule. But, uh, I do think we we rightfully spend a lot of time being transparent and reporting and opening our books, and we just got done with our audit, you know. So it there's no question of Where does the dollar go?
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Um. But uh, but yeah, the scale is is part of the challenge these days, and I think philanthropy that the link I see and I do spend a lot of time on the policy front. Still, um, you know, for every dollar that's spent philanthropically, there's twenty spent publicly.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: So if you really want to know what the power is. It is in government. It is in representative democracy. It is in tax policy, it is in public budgets, it's all those things, and so I believe that plans, if you can be a catalyst for that. But in the end it's not going to replace it. So you you can't let that policy just run away, and then think we're going to make up for the difference. Atlant, because we're out Number twenty one
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: um, So you you really gotta to. I mean, Flanks has its role, but it's not a replacement for for good equitable economic policy in the country. So
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: yeah, you can't just You're not one. No, you can't let the politicians off of that. They still get it this way. I do the way they got the money coming in. Yeah, I mean, i'll be blunt and very honest, and I am open about this with folks like, and I think people that you know where I come from
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: know this. But you know, I I talked to Billionaire. I know quite a few billionaires actually in this community. And people, you know also just just south of that, who have hundreds of millions and assets for tens of millions and assets. And and many of those folks are our donors here, and I think engaging with people who have made or inherited, or both, a lot of money.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Um, about things like this can be really hard, and some some folks feel it's intimidating because they cash. Well, what if I say the wrong thing, and they're you know they'll never give me another sent um, and I you know that's unfortunate, because I think if you, if you come out of from place to respect, and you're willing to to have that conversation about what is right,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: you know. Is it just about the tax benefit? Because for some folks that's how they kind of okay. Well, then, that's why it's so important to have tax policy that actually encourages philanthropy. Um! But what about the actual? You know, I should keep saying tax policy. You know that that's the decision we made collectively, and
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: and every few years there's a redo on that. But um, you know, in the Us. Taxation has gotten less and less progressive over the years not more and more so.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Um, there's a you know. There's a lot that goes into that, and of course we talk about bonds for the college people bring that up.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Um! So there! There's a lot that goes into the public side of of where it is. Well
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: live. And where is it rooted to do the most good. But then there's the philanthropy part which is the voluntary part,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: and so and of course, that's what you know we do. So it's. It is a complex set of questions.
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Hong Lieu: Yes, and we can do a whole show on that. But we don't need to do it. Yeah, I'm: I'm glad you started the conversation like that, and I will definitely get links to all those books and the show notes, because you picked a lot of the complementary pieces that folks, if they're really just start just getting into things. It's a good kind of primer and a good kind of entry actually point in to kind of have have these conversations with, you know their friends, and and and wherever to, so it those are great picks. Thank you so much
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Hong Lieu: uh keel. You want to go. I guess i'll go again. Um!
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Hong Lieu: I had a I guess I I go ahead a keel. No, you go ahead because I I again. I I had a pick that I you know, kind of kind of segue in, because I knew Geoff was coming on the show, so I wanted to pick a book from a Mohamed Eunice. He won the two thousand and six Nobel Peace Prize for his book,
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Hong Lieu: a banker for the poor about micro lending banker to the poor
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Hong Lieu: and micro landing is something that I I thought about a lot, you know, at the time we we did. A Sb. Reads about Mohammed Unus two thousand and eight to two thousand and nine a while ago. So I was really, you know, hit the, you know, hit to the subject from that and mean the book. And it's just a great great concept idea that it doesn't take much to be the cattle in someone's life to really kind of get them moving. So the idea was to get, you know, donations from folks, you know, fifty one hundred dollars, hundred small amounts that would be sent to. You know various various areas, you know various people in need to help them start, you know, entrepreneurial business
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Hong Lieu: business kind of goals. So it's one of those things where the money the money means this much to you, but to someone else. And I mean, you know this much like astronomically, you know, more important, you know, in terms of magnitude and effect. So it's one of the things where I I really do kind of agree with that, and it's just a matter of
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Hong Lieu: kind of figuring out the best ways to provide resources and and the best kind of micro money resources. Do you know anything about that in terms of best practices in terms of. Is it online, or you know things of that sort? But
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: yeah, Because I mean that the those models have taken off, and and I I would credit units with a lot of that. I mean, that had been done for generations on a certain scale all over the world. But he, he really, you know, signed an international spotlight on it. So
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: uh but yeah, there, I mean, there are online communities that do it. They're also real grassroots. Local communities do it, and you know a lot of it comes out of family as well. So
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: yeah, and then um.
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Hong Lieu: But beyond the moment you just spoke up a link to that and show notes, I wanted to give a shout out to Uh an Lai county passed away recently. Art Lebo
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Hong Lieu: Um, our Lebo, who uh for years and years has done like an old. These dedication show on nowadays. It was on, you know locally you could. He used to go to him, or one or four point seven, I think it was. But in la he was on like, you know he was on K. Day, which is like the back of the station, but before that he was on Kla, which is an Am. Stationed in La,
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Hong Lieu: and it was really really a lot of kids that I know. They're only exposure to Am. Radio was our Lebo. I mean, you listen out of the boat. Sometimes you get the are theable old Cds like, you know. He was the connection to not just all these, but like a certain type of all these, like the really love, struck like dedication. All these, you know, like Rosie in the originals Angel Baby is a hit because of our Lebo, the original earth, angel from the penguins, because our little I know about these songs because of our Lebo. But you know so he was just like in your life the whole time, because
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Hong Lieu: you would listen to the show every week. And you, you know you listen to the dedications, and it was a a good kind of good show. But then you do the research and you dig, and you realize that when our Lebo came up in radio
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Hong Lieu: in the fifties, evidently in order to have a team dance party. You need the approval of the La County Board of Education because you had to have it at a on a school campus, because it was an event for teenagers.
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Hong Lieu: So, in order to get around that he would throw parties in Omani, which is kind of near where my parents grew up in the in the in the Saint Gable Valley he would go outside of La City boundaries to get out of that kind of medication approval, and he with no parties, and those would end to be. We were some of the first
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Hong Lieu: kind of mixed parties integrated parties in La We're mixing folks, black folks Asian folks. Anyone could come party, because in the fifties and stuff like I was talking about those time where you can talk about anything, though interracial dating was not really up like acceptable at that time.
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Hong Lieu: So our Lebo, in a lot of ways, you know, was was a a pace setter a trend center for for just kind of the unifying power of music and the power to kind of change. People's lives through through music and good times, so I mean It's just one of the things where he changed my life in a lot of ways and and opened me up to a lot of things that I would not have known about otherwise. I was a punk rock kid, a hip hop kid. I thought I knew what was cool, but was what and all these was just like. That was dinosaur stuff.
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Hong Lieu: But just like just just how, hearing how much, how moved these people were. They were calling me to dedicate to people in prison, to people that they loved and lost to people that they love and didn't know what they were up to, just seen with I mean before the Internet. You don't know. I'm calling about this girl. I don't know. I know we were together three years ago. I don't happen to her. But this is our favorite song. Can you play for me?
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Hong Lieu: And like just just the connection he built, I mean, I i'll. I'll always love art. He has a million. All these compilations, our labels, all these but goodies. Volume one to eight thousand. Um, i'll fill in the show notes. But but man, yeah, I love. I love our label, rest and piece. And yeah,
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i'm awesome.
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Akil Hill: Yeah, or the bowl was, Yeah, I didn't get it on the head man or the bullet definitely was that guy. Just one thing I really admired about him is like, you know, when you things occur organically um
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Akil Hill: like like what you're talking about the piece of inter racial dating, and you know I really believe that he set out to just to Dj. The the music for the love of the music, and then he starts to see what comes out of
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Akil Hill: uh good intentions where it brings people together and community and all of that just happen organically. And so I used to love what listening to people call in and make those deaths.
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Akil Hill: Um, yeah, man, A shout out to the well for sure on that resting piece.
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Akil Hill: So i'm gonna keep. I guess my choice for the week, since it kind of it doesn't really necessarily tie directly into our level. But it it is the music piece Um! I was telling hung before we started recording about this time of year, like around early fall always get into it like a real jazz kick.
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Akil Hill: And um! One of my favorite uh jazz artists is an Ethiopian and jazz artist. Um, and his name is. Let me see how my ermic uh sounds, but his name is uh malu
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Akil Hill: malu two
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M. U. L A. T, you.
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Akil Hill: It's his first name um, and the piece of the song that i'm really into that I play every F is just like
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Akil Hill: for me. It's almost like that. Charlie Brown, Christmas, you know, like that, son that's always like you. Here. It's just just nostalgic um is uh
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Akil Hill: t zeta, t e T. A
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Akil Hill: um, just a classic, beautiful arrangement. Um, this will make you feel good. Um, wherever you're at It's just blends a lot of um
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Akil Hill: jazz uh
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Akil Hill: uh, along with a lot of Latin undertones. Just a beautiful song. Um! If you guys have a moment, just check it out uh but that's my my, my pick for the week. Um, this re It just reminds me of the fall, for some reason don't know why, but
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Akil Hill: I just get it every October I just get into it. It's like a punk and latte,
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Hong Lieu: you know, when when Pumpkin Latte rolls around, i'm like, okay, it's jazz time y'all. And and the thing about eto jazz which is what they call it, because we're out to us. I don't i'm not going to pronounce a little Malatu is like the father of eto jazz everyone thinks of jazz. Is this layered like cacophony of all these sound and stuff? But early jazz not like that, you know, like like Dave Brubbeck, It's just really just really tight time. Just I mean it wasn't until, like you had like the like miles thrown everything at the wall, seeing what sticks with all the miles ahead. Stuff like that!
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Hong Lieu: You didn't really get this layering until the African influenced the Latin influence. Got thrown in there, and you had all these rhythms
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Hong Lieu: climbing, climbing on themselves to build these pieces so like if you're jazz, you get you wouldn't have really all that that you know the the Afro the Afro-funk and Afro punk, and all these without these with it. It's just those disparate sauce crowning, so that actually Ethio Jazz is one of the the progenitors, the predecessors of it all so really getting into that, and really diving deep into into some of that, some of those African rhythms. And and when they fuse with jazz, You know Brazilian tropicalia. It's like
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Hong Lieu: as jazz touches on top of that, boss and nova like all just just that those kind of rhythms, and that that eclecticism I mean It's worth It's worth diving in, Then that's a great entry point, and uh, I will try to. I'll do that on. Next time I get a punk and spice latte, so just go all in. Yeah, just go all in, man. So
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Hong Lieu: so i'll put a link to the track in the show notes. I'll put a link to the artist, and uh Itio jazz and the show notes. Um, Geoff, thank you so much. It was nice to Have you
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: any final parting parting words? Any last plugs I know may twentieth two thousand and twenty-three for the the spring gala. But besides that anything else you want to share. I don't think I have any dates. I would just say I, you know i'm uh eternally grateful for the support we get here. So I appreciate You guys have been so positive for the foundation, and I We definitely feel that out now
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: the community and on campus. So. Um, I would just tell everybody if you got an idea you got something you think we could, should, would do uh don't be shy, or you know just a phone call or an email away or text away whatever whatever you want, knock on the door away
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: uh, and and that's what we're here for. So I I would encourage people to just keep bringing their ideas, and and if what it takes to some resources to get them going. Um, we we are here for that, and I also encourage your friends, colleagues, family, neighbors, friends uh to give, because I you know, I truly believe, with plan to be anybody, and everybody can give.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Uh, most people do one of the the remaining uniting things we have in our in our country communities. Most people are donors somewhere somehow. So um, if this place is special to you.
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: Uh yeah,
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Geoff Green, CEO, SBCC Foundation: that's one way to show it. Pay it forward, and we'll make sure good things keep happening
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Hong Lieu: absolutely. sbccfoundation.org. I will get that in the show notes. Again, Geoff - it was an honor.