13 July, 2026 6 6 Comments

Leading With Empathy

July 13, 2026 By 6 Comments

I went to The Lord’s Place last week in West Palm Beach.

The visit left a deep impression.

It was a busy weekday, The Lord’s Place headquarters in West Palm Beach  was teeming with people looking for food, shelter, help and compassion.

These are our brothers and sisters; people we seem to ignore or pretend not to see. Some live in cars. Some live in bushes. Some work, some need work. All struggle.

My work for the Carl Angus DeSantis Foundation enables me to see a great many aspects of Palm Beach and Broward counties. Each week is an education.

One day I’m meeting with world class scientists trying to understand their research into Alzheimer’s. The next day I’m learning about children who have been abused or trafficked. In the morning I meet with people trying to save neighborhoods and an hour later I’m listening to someone trying to explain how AI might wipe out some jobs and create others and what we might do about it to prepare people for an uncertain future.

Philanthropy is fascinating.

It reminds me of my journalism days —you learn a little about a whole lot of things. And each day you must shift. This must be either really good for my brain or I’m shortening my shelf life– I can’t tell.

All I know is every night I find myself telling my old friend Carl what I’m learning and how his generosity is changing lives. Oh how I wish he was here to see it. I have faith that somehow, he knows. Somehow, he knows.

One of the best things about the job is I get to tell Carl’s story to prospective grantees. His tale is an only in America saga of an ambitious dreamer who worked hard, took big swings and found incredible success in business.

If you Google him, you’ll see he made the Forbes list as an octogenarian. It was not something he sought or relished. I had to talk him into the interview with the magazine and I agreed to stand beside him when the reporter called and asked him to talk about his entrepreneurial journey which started by selling parakeets and ended with him building substantial businesses including Rexall Sundown, a vitamin company and Celsius, a global beverage company. Along the way, he treated everyone in his path with kindness and generosity. Me included.

I tell friends that I could live 10 lifetimes and not run into anyone like Carl. But I did and he changed the trajectory of my life. He gave me adventures and experiences I never dreamed possible.

Billionaires are not the most popular people in our society these days.

And for good reason in too many cases.

People of good conscience can smell greed and sycophancy from a mile away. People with compassionate hearts and long views don’t like phonies. Personally, I can’t stand them. These people have let us down. History won’t be kind.

The measure of a good life goes far beyond the number of zeroes after your net worth. It goes far beyond $55 million weddings and whipping out a chain saw to brag that you cut critical aid to poor children whose lives depend on it.

Yes, these folks have the right to spend their money as they please, but that doesn’t mean we should excuse them from their obligations to others. After all, they were blessed by a system that paved the way to riches. Personally, I don’t begrudge anyone their success. But I also don’t believe that anyone is self-made, we all need a hand up. All of us.

I’ve never been a zero sum kind of guy.

I think America is so dynamic, so unique that we can take care of our own. We can enable talented entrepreneurs to create great wealth, and we can provide a path forward for those who need it. We have the resources. Do we have the will? Do we have the heart?

My friend Carl was different from the folks I just described. Generosity was his essence. And it’s still alive and doing a lot good in our community.

In many ways, his best work remains ahead of him.

We were told that by an early advisor to the foundation. I believe it.

But I wish Carl was here to see it.

So what’s holding us back from meeting the needs we see all around us?

Too many people who matter are lacking empathy. They would rather attack and belittle then sit down and solve the great challenges of our time. We’ve made it too easy for our political figures (I can’t call them leaders) to sling bombs at each other. We ought to demand that they wrestle with problems rather than sit around creating memes and spewing lies.

When I went to the Lord’s Place I saw human beings in need getting help.

If they need to sleep because sleeping outside in the heat and on the ground is damn near impossible they are given time to do so.

If they need medical attention, spiritual support or help with their mental health they get it.

If they need job training, it’s provided.

I was impressed.

Years ago, during my newspaper days, I interviewed Brother Joe Ranieri, founder of the Lord’s Place. At the time, I was in awe, not something that a reporter was supposed to be. But Brother Joe was quite a guy. My friend Carl would have liked him.

Last week, I came back much older wearing a different professional identity. Brother Joe is gone. But his spirit lives on.

Carl DeSantis is also gone. But his generosity lives on. I have a feeling that their stories are far from over.

I also have a feeling that one day America will fulfill its promise. To be a beacon, a nation that celebrates compassion, generosity and grace.

 

 

 

17 May, 2026 2 2 Comments

Dreaming Of What’s Possible

May 17, 2026 By 2 Comments

Visiting the HQ of Chicago Beyond was inspiring.

If you want to restore your faith in humanity spend a few days with people working in philanthropy.

I’m just back from a whirlwind visit to Chicago where we visited with leaders  from the legendary MacArthur Foundation and organizations called Lever for Change and Chicago Beyond.
Thanks to the Bank of America philanthropic services team doors across the nation have been opened to the philanthropy I have the privilege to co-lead, The Carl Angus DeSantis Foundation.
As we gear up to expand our giving, we take what is called “What’s Possible” tours to grow our knowledge, expand our network of experts we can tap into and to observe how other foundations operate.
These tours have been invaluable.
They are also inspiring and quite frankly taxing because keeping up with the thought leaders in this field forces us to stretch intellectually.
What’s wonderful about philanthropy is that no two foundations are alike.
In others words, if you’ve seen one foundation, you’ve seen one foundation.
That’s enables the new kids on the block (us) to drop in and glean ideas about how to be effective, as well as learning what to avoid. After all, throwing money at a problem is not the best way to move the needle.
What I love about this space is the generosity of the practitioners.
These are busy people. But they always make time to share their work, offer advice and hand over  their playbooks. Generosity is about more than giving. It’s about sharing knowledge and helping your peers. I look forward to the day that we can help others serve effectively.
The importance of philanthropy is heightened these days thanks to tough economic conditions and government funding cuts to nonprofits and social services.
More is needed and more is expected from the philanthropic sector to fill the gaps left by  cutbacks.
My belief, and it’s shared by my foundation peers, is that philanthropy can do a lot, but it cannot replace government investment in programs and research.
The key word in that sentence is investment. Lifting people and communities up pays dividends. Letting them sink creates costs. Asking everyone to pull themselves up by their bootstraps is a great saying but we all need help and some need more than others.
What we’ve learned on these trips is that philanthropy is risk capital. That makes the sector super important. In business, life and community building those who take risks move the needle. We can learn from their failures and successes. This is where innovation can happen.
At all three stops in Chicago, we heard about lessons learned, risks taken, new approaches that could be shared and further developed.
Chicago Beyond was founded by Liz Dozier, a true American hero who turned around a troubled high school and then founded a philanthropy that invests in local leaders who are in the trenches making a difference across America.
The lessons learned from those “proximate leaders” are shared nationally. Chicago Beyond is helping education, improving prison conditions and investing heavily in birth centers to help women bring babies into the world safely.
Lever for Change is helping foundations make big bets all over the world. We learned so much from their approach to vetting, managing and monitoring investments.
As for the MacArthur folks, they were truly inspiring.
We spent time with their Chicago Commitment team who concentrate on Chicagoland, a fascinating place with a wide variety of assets and challenges.
We capped the day with a meeting with MacArthur’s renowned President John Palfrey, a remarkable leader who is making big bets on programs to preserve Democracy, save local news and lift communities.
For me, the MacArthur meeting was especially personal. It was the MacArthur Foundation that funded our Downtown Master Plan in 2001, an effort I co-chaired while serving on the City Commission.
That plan added fuel to the fire lit by previous leaders, strengthening our core  by promoting downtown housing, race relations, downtown parks, the addition of parking infrastructure and so much more. That plan and that process was a highlight of that era and continues to pay dividends today. All thanks to MacArthur’s bet on Delray.
A generation later, I had a chance to personally thank its president for their investment. Now it’s time to pay it forward. And we plan to.
20 April, 2026 2 2 Comments

Empathy As An Antidote

April 20, 2026 By 2 Comments

Empathy may be my favorite word.

I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately — partly because I get to work in a field where it’s the price of admission, and partly because I’m not sure our world has enough of it left.

A few years ago I left business behind and entered the world of philanthropy. Every day, foundations across the country work with nonprofit partners to solve — or at least ease — problems and suffering. It’s a fascinating space, and an empathetic one by design. You can’t do this work without first trying to understand the lives of people you’ve never met.

I have the honor of serving as the executive director of the Carl Angus DeSantis Foundation, which serves Broward and Palm Beach Counties. We are trying to build something designed to last forever. That’s both humbling and inspiring.

Our pillars — health and wellness, faith-based giving, leadership and entrepreneurship, and civic innovation — reflect the passions of our founder, Carl DeSantis. Mr. D, as we affectionately called him, asked me and a trusted colleague to build the foundation from the ground up. It’s a great capstone to my career, and a responsibility I feel every day.

We lost Mr. D in 2023.

He was a singular American entrepreneur — a leader in nutrition, consumer products, real estate, hospitality, and beverages. He founded Rexall Sundown, one of the country’s largest vitamin manufacturers, and was an early believer and spiritual godfather of Celsius, which revolutionized the energy drink industry. But what I remember isn’t the business. It’s the man. Funny, humble, sensitive, visionary, kind. You didn’t work for Carl. You worked with him. He was forever challenging his people to “use their brains” and help him create.

Carl was also the most empathetic man I’ve ever known. I think it’s why we became close.

When he saw a need, his instinct was to help. His success allowed him to indulge a very big heart, and he did — quietly, constantly, without fanfare. He believed in giving people a hand up, not a hand out. He created what we came to call “ripples” of goodness that spread to places I don’t think he fully grasped. People he never met had better lives because of him.

That’s what empathy does. It doesn’t just make us feel better. It changes things. When we approach a problem with empathy for the person on the other side of it, we start finding solutions that blame, vitriol, and contempt always overlook. Empathy opens a door. Hatred slams it shut.

I see this every day. Our partners are in the trenches — meeting people where they are, listening before prescribing, treating those they serve as neighbors rather than cases. The results are real. Lives change. Communities get stronger. None of it happens without empathy as the starting point.

Which brings me to the thing I can’t stop thinking about.

We live in a divisive age. We fear each other. We are estranged from people who are different from us and from people who simply disagree with us. We’ve confused contempt for conviction and cruelty for strength.

Empathy is the antidote. It’s not soft. It’s not naive. It’s the hardest and most useful thing we do in this work — and it’s precisely what’s missing from the rooms where our biggest decisions get made.

Carl understood this instinctively. He didn’t talk about empathy. He practiced it. And the ripples are still spreading.

I hope, somehow, they reach the places that need them most.

17 November, 2025 2 2 Comments

Lessons Learned…So Far

November 17, 2025 By 2 Comments

So far…

Over the past few weeks, we’ve had a chance to sit down with several of the wonderful organizations we support at the Carl Angus DeSantis Foundation.

It’s been a lot of running around, a lot of deep conversations, a lot of learning and a lot of anxiety as well. These are not easy times.

But meeting with the exceptional leaders running local nonprofits and foundations gives me hope. It’s the best part of a great job.

After a career spent in business, a season in politics and journalism—all wondrous in their own ways—I have to say that this work is the most fulfilling. Every day your heart breaks when you see the need and every day your heart gets filled when you see how local heroes are making a real and lasting difference.

We are preparing for our annual meeting in January and that requires us to reflect on the lessons we’ve learned since 2021 when our founder, Carl DeSantis, asked me and a colleague to help him create a charitable foundation that would help people in Palm Beach and Broward counties.

We started from scratch.

While I’ve been on numerous nonprofit boards over the years and have been involved in our community since 1987, learning about philanthropy and the nuts and bolts of foundations was a mountain to climb. Philanthropy is both an art and a science. It asks us to look at data and outcomes but also requires us to examine things you can’t measure—heart, passion, and a feel for people and what it takes to build and sustain community.

We do this work together—with teammates, partners, advisors and a legion of people who are in our ear vying for finite resources.
When I tell people what I’m doing these days, I often hear “wow, it must be fun to give away money.”

It is.

But it’s hard work too. And we don’t just give money away. We do our homework. We dig deeply into organizations and treat our grants as investments. We want a return—not a monetary one– but results. If you say you are going to help people, we want to see and verify that you are.

Unfortunately, there are times when you must say no. Saying no is never easy because just about every cause is a good one. But we’ve learned to stay focused on our four pillars: health and nutrition, leadership and entrepreneurship, civic innovation and faith-based giving. We’ve been entrusted to honor our founder’s intent. Carl’s wishes guide everything we do.

This is a unique time for our Foundation because right now several key staff and board members knew (and loved) our founder.

Because our Foundation is designed to be “perpetual” that won’t always be the case. There will come a time when the folks running this foundation will have had no personal connection to our founder.

That’s sobering.

It also makes us focus on creating a ‘foundation for the Foundation’ that will imbed Carl’s spirit into this work that will last beyond our tenure as stewards of his generosity.

So, when we meet with the EJS Project, Bound for College, The George Snow Scholarship Fund, the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, FLIPANY, 1909, 4Kids of South Florida and Boca Helping Hands among others, I try and imagine my friend Carl in the room sitting alongside me. We lost Mr. D in 2023 and there’s not a day that I don’t think about him. My job, and frankly my heart requires that I do so.

For years, I had the blessing of wandering into his office, pulling up a chair and talking with Mr. DeSantis about life, business and a whole range of topics because he had an active and restless mind. We laughed. A lot. For some strange reason, we had a bond that I can’t put into words. I wasn’t alone. Carl had that connection with so many, but I count myself exceptionally blessed to represent his generosity until someday someone else will step in and carry it forward.

When we started this work almost 5 years ago, my colleague Maritza and I searched high and low for advice, knowledge and inspiration. We spoke to foundation leaders, nonprofit executives, attorneys and bankers from sea to shining sea. Everyone was so generous with their time and their experience. They gave us their playbooks, the lessons they learned, and their best practices. From that source material, we created a stew that is uniquely ours always measured against what we thought Carl would want or believe in.

Thanks to Karen Granger of 4 Kids, we met with Stephan Tchividjian, co-founder and CEO of the National Christian Foundation of South Florida, to give us advice on our faith-based pillar. Stephan is the grandson of Billy Graham. Like his grandfather he’s charismatic, smart and a deep thinker.

I’m a Jewish kid from New York. We come from different worlds. But in many ways, I found a kindred spirit. Since that meeting, Stephan checks in with us regularly always asking what’s giving us joy and what’s draining us. It’s nice of him. How often do we slow down enough to check in with others? And bother to listen.

Anyway, Stephan told us at one of our get-togethers that Carl’s work would continue, and that in many ways his most important work was ahead of him. I think of that beautiful idea all the time. That belief resonates and, in many ways, defines my understanding of legacy.

As I prepare for the annual meeting of our Foundation, I’ll be reflecting on how philanthropy should be trying to address the root causes of societal challenges. But I’ll also be thinking about community, legacy, grace, and empathy.

We read an awful lot about Artificial Intelligence. I am fascinated by its potential and its pitfalls too. Still, I can’t help but believe that community, legacy, love, grace, art and  philanthropy remain a distinctly human endeavor.

(Note) In the coming weeks, I hope to share more about root causes, legacy and community. I hope you’ll join me.  Please share your thoughts on lessons you’ve learned along the way. Thanks for listening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6 July, 2025 0 Comments

What’s Possible

July 6, 2025 By Leave a Comment

Inside The Edythe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a remarkable experience a few months back that I wanted to share with you.

My teammates and I at the Carl Angus DeSantis Foundation went on a “What’s Possible Tour” courtesy of the Philanthropic Services Team at Bank of America. We work closely with the team on all issues relating to philanthropy. They consult on governance, technology, best practices and any questions we might have about how to be good philanthropists. They are invaluable and we treasure their expertise and kindness.

They bring a national perspective to our “place-based” local philanthropy.

So, in the spirit of finding out ‘what’s possible’, we ventured to Central Florida to check in with the Dr. Phillips Foundation, the Edythe Bush Foundation, the Winter Park Health Foundation, Lift Orlando and the Central Florida Foundation. We also had an opportunity to visit the sensational Morse Museum on Park Avenue in Winter Park for a behind the scenes tour that served as a lesson in what culture can do for a community. The Morse is a local and national treasure.  With our local arts scene threatened by funding cuts, we need to be vigilant and make sure we don’t lose what makes us special.

We came back from Central Florida brimming with ideas and filled with inspiration, excitement and motivation. We saw ‘what’s possible’ and we are determined to pursue transformation.

It’s a good lesson for all of us. Regardless of what you do for a living, it’s important to step back and explore what’s possible. For a small investment of time, we had an opportunity to refresh, recharge and change our thinking.

I think people crave inspiration. We want to be moved by a mission, we need to know our “why” and we long to find opportunities to pursue big ideas, ideas that will outlive us.

The best philanthropists, the leaders who matter, the entrepreneurs who make a dent in our world do so with posterity in mind. They understand that their highest calling is to plant seeds that others will benefit from. They plant trees knowing that others will enjoy the shade. In that spirit, here’s what we saw. I encourage you to design your own “What’s Possible Tour.”

Dr. Phillips Charities

We were blown away by the Dr. Phillips headquarters. Words cannot do justice to the building and the grounds…just a remarkable space and a statement that Dr. Phillips is here for the long haul.

It’s hard to overstate the influence Dr. Phillips and his family foundation have had on Orange and Osceola Counties. Phillips made his fortune in the citrus industry which shaped The Sunshine State. That fortune is now being used to enhance health, culture, education and the economic and social well-being of the region.

We turned to the leadership of the Dr. Phillips team  when we were tasked with forming the Carl Angus DeSantis Foundation and their guidance was invaluable in our start-up days.

To experience their work up close was breathtaking.

Dr. Phillips has significant real estate holdings, and they are busy turning those assets into places that will benefit the greater Orlando area.

Perhaps the most exciting project they have is the 202-acre “Packing District” which is being transformed into a vibrant mixed-use project.

One of the original citrus producers in the region, Dr. Phillips used the land that stretches along Orange Blossom Trail near College Park as the site of one of his multiple packing houses, creating a key place in the early economic ecosystem of Orlando. The site was the first industrial property in Central Florida and the crown jewel in Dr. Phillips’ real estate holdings. The plan includes 97 acres of mixed-use and residential development (1 million square feet or retail/office and 3,500 units) and a 105-acre regional park which will include a 40-acre urban farm which will focus on fixing a broken food system offering learning experiences and using sustainable practices from around the world to grow healthy food.

Our team was struck by Dr. Phillips long-term vision and the importance they place on being good stewards, which was a key principle of their founder.

Edythe Bush Foundation

Stewardship and legacy are the guiding values of the Edythe Bush Foundation, which also assisted us with key advice in our early days. The Edythe Bush Foundation’s visionary leader David Odahowski has been called the “dean of Florida philanthropy.”  We wanted to borrow David’s brain and absorb his decades of wisdom. He was kind enough to cooperate.

The Edythe Bush Foundation has had a huge impact in Winter Park, which is somewhat reminiscent of Delray Beach in terms of scale and charm.

Mr. Odahowski reminded us that we probably won’t solve the many issues facing society, but we can move the needle and make a difference.

That’s good news for nonprofits, those of us who give to charity and those of us who aspire to move the needle in the right direction. Edythe Bush’s tagline is “providing a legacy of leadership” and they have done just that with a variety of investments that have helped make Winter Park, a jewel of a city. One of those newer investments is the foundation’s gleaming headquarters located downtown strategically near Rollins College.

We met inside their new building which is called “The Edythe.” It’s stunning. The Edythe welcomes the community with a variety of activities and offers meeting space to community groups. It’s designed like a theatre, which honors Mrs. Bush who was an actress and dancer. The family’s philanthropy was derived from the success of 3M, a Minnesota based conglomerate.

The foundation is unique because it has a local focus and serves as a convener. Over the past 50 years, Edythe Bush has served close to 900 nonprofit organizations and given over $114 million in grants to alleviate human suffering and help people help themselves, that is a concept that drove our founder, Carl DeSantis.

But what’s also interesting is that the foundation and its leader have served as beacons for the state of Florida. They were instrumental in founding the Florida Philanthropic Network, an organization that enables foundations to learn from each other and leverage their collective knowledge of challenges and opportunities facing Florida. The foundation also works closely with the Florida Chamber Foundation on future goals for the state. We have learned a lot from Edythe Bush and their talented staff.

 

Winter Park Health Foundation

Nearby is the headquarters of the Winter Park Health Foundation, which uses the proceeds from the sale of a hospital to offer programs that promote community health. The Winter Park Health Foundation has created a special space in a park-like setting where people of all ages come for classes, exercise, healthy food and solace from a busy world. I was especially taken by their “Nutrition Theatre” which serves as a learning kitchen where people can come to take classes. It reminded me of the work that Ali Kaufman is doing at the Community Classroom Kitchen in Delray Beach, which we are proud to support.

The Winter Park Health Foundation model is a little different from many other foundations in that they operate their own program. We saw the complexities of this model, but also its potential.

Central Florida Foundation

For 30 years, the Central Florida Foundation has been serving as the “community foundation” for their large and diverse region.

From these experts, we learned the importance of data analysis and the need to look at root causes of community challenges to ensure that philanthropic dollars are spent wisely.

The Foundation also serves as a convener and has found innovative ways to bring the community together around issues and opportunities. Currently, I’m bingeing their podcast “First You Talk” which covers issues including homelessness, housing and health.

What struck us the most was their “Thrive Central Florida” initiative which brings together the collective brainpower, funding and skills needed to address the most pressing challenges facing a region which is growing rapidly. The premise is simple: Central Florida leaders are smarter and more impactful when key players work together.  A good lesson for other regions to emulate.

Armed with this information and passion for our mission, we are so excited about “What’s Possible.” I encourage you to ask and answer that simple, but profound question.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 June, 2025 0 Comments

The Other Washington

June 2, 2025 By Leave a Comment

I just took a business trip to Washington D.C.

I came back inspired.

Now Washington and inspiration are rarely used in the same sentence these days but I came back full of patriotic fervor—albeit with a dash of melancholy.

First, Washington is a beautiful city.

The office buildings and museums are stunning, the monuments magnificent and the flowers provide an invigorating splash of color this time of year.

It’s fun to walk around and marvel at the sites and to soak up the energy of an important and substantial city.

We took a day trip to Baltimore for a few meetings and the vibe there was decidedly different.

Baltimore is a mystery to me.

It has great “bones” so to speak, row houses, several great universities, a picturesque harbor and a world class hospital. It also suffers from substantial blight, including thousands of abandoned buildings.

Based on its assets, you’d think Baltimore would be thriving, but it struggles. Years after the show ended, it still feels like you’ve arrived on the set of the great HBO series “The Wire.” But hope abides and we visited two amazing foundations hard at work to heal and help Baltimore.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Goldseker Foundation were gracious enough to meet with me and my colleagues at the Carl Angus DeSantis Foundation to share their work and best practices. We left energized and educated.

Baltimore has dedicated people who continue to believe. That makes a big difference.

Back in D.C. we met with the wonderful people at the Bainum Family Foundation, the Aspen Institute, the Smithsonian Institution and the National Portrait Gallery to discuss the state of philanthropy, our nation and the possibilities that lie ahead as we gear up to celebrate America’s 250th birthday.

Across town at the Capitol, Congress passed the “big, beautiful bill” at 4 a.m. while we slept. I doubt anyone read all 1,100 pages.

Democrats see the bill as catastrophic. Republicans hailed it as a nation changing (for the better) investment that will lower taxes and increase border security. Two vastly different perspectives that dovetail with the state of our nation these days.

I happened to fly to Washington seated next to my Congresswoman Lois Frankel. It was happenstance. I’ve known Rep. Frankel for a long time. We were mayors together back in the day, Lois in West Palm, me in Delray.

Also, on the plane, surrounded by a phalanx of Secret Service, was Eric Trump. Yes, he flew commercial.

Frankel and Trump—two ends of our national spectrum.

One side believes we are making America great again, the other believes we are in danger of losing our Republic.

Never the twain shall meet, wrote Kipling.  Rudyard’s old poem proves prophetic. We are so different it feels like we can never be brought together again. That saddens me, it ought to sadden all of us.

But when we landed, I saw the Washington Monument, the beauty of the Old Executive Office Building, the grandeur of the White House and the magnificence of the Smithsonian. And briefly my melancholy for a more united United States lifted–for just a moment.

We toured the newly built African American History Museum, toured the National Portrait Gallery and met with the men and women who bring these places to life.

We got insights from the head of the Marriott Family Foundation and the president of the National Center for Family Philanthropy who also happened to be the person who shepherded the “Giving Pledge” which is an effort by the nation’s richest to donate their life’s savings to charity upon their deaths. Not every rich person is an oligarch. But the oligarchs seem to get more attention than those who use their money to help people. It seems in vogue to be all out of empathy these days.

But from these philanthropic experts and historians we heard about innovative ways to impact problems, help those in need and move our nation forward.

All are concerned about our current state of polarization and dysfunction, but all are confident that we will have a brighter future.

On our third day in D.C. I awoke to the news that two young Israeli Embassy employees were murdered outside the Capital Jewish Museum, a few blocks from where we were staying.

The news shocked and saddened me. The two young people were known as “bridge builders.” We can hardly afford to lose those willing to extend a hand across the divide. And so, amidst my pride and hope, in crept a feeling of melancholy. Sometimes it can feel crushing.

But the people I had the privilege of meeting are smart, gentle and empathetic individuals dedicating their lives to the betterment of our world.

They are data driven but lead with heart and compassion— as all leaders should.

They are better than our politics.

The best of us serve. The best of us empower. We build up instead of tear down.

So, I hold on to my optimism about the future despite the headwinds which are substantial and at times seemingly intractable. But I also know that until ‘we the people’ demand more from our politics and our parties (both of them) we will never get to the promised land. We will never reach our potential as a nation.

Division, corruption, money, partisanship, chaos and plain old meanness are in the way of what we can be.

We need more independent leaders and far fewer sycophants who put their wallets and careers above the country’s future.

A visit to Washington reminds me of why I love America. I feel blessed to have been born, raised and educated here (thanks to the sacrifices of my immigrant grandparents).

It’s time to insist on a better path forward. America and its people, the world and its people deserve leaders focused on the future not the next political or financial opportunity.

I saw “the other Washington”. It’s full of wonder and possibilities. It deserves the support of those who currently spend their days fighting.

They are endangering the greatest nation this world has ever seen.

3 March, 2025 6 6 Comments

The Art, Beauty & Importance of Philanthropy

March 3, 2025 By 6 Comments

A session at the recent Florida Philanthropic Network conference in Orlando.

We attended our first Florida Philanthropic Network conference recently in Orlando.

It was an enlightening experience.

Several hundred of the state’s top philanthropic leaders got together for three days of education, fellowship and networking.

As the executive director of a relatively new foundation, the Carl Angus DeSantis Foundation, I found the conference invaluable in terms of learning and meeting people with deep experience in the field.

I’m learning that there is a lot to the practice of philanthropy. There’s a lot of rules relative to giving, there’s also a lot of ways to measure impact, AI is beginning to influence the field and there is an emerging trend called venture philanthropy that’s fascinating.

When I tell people what I’m doing these days, they often say “wow, it must be fun to give money to good causes” and it is. It’s very gratifying but philanthropy is much more than writing checks to causes that touch your heart.

Yes, philanthropy is different from charity.

We don’t just write checks, although there is nothing wrong with that. As a philanthropy, we hope to make change.

As a result, we are making strategic investments in nonprofits that we believe can transform our areas of interest.

In our case, our “pillars” are health and nutrition, civic innovation, leadership and entrepreneurship and faith-based initiatives.

We created those areas of interest in concert with Mr. DeSantis to reflect his passions.

Our goal is to support people and organizations that have the potential to transform communities.

There is an art and science to the work we do.  Philanthropy looks at data, financials and leadership capacity to determine whether it makes sense to make an investment.

Like venture capitalists and business investors, we seek a return on that investment in the form of change and results. But philanthropy exists to take risks as well. In fact, philanthropy takes risks and makes investments where others fear to tread. That’s what makes the sector so important. Philanthropy writes the checks that others won’t in order to invest in our collective future.

To date we have made 35 investments totaling $5.855 million. We’ve only just begun. Here’s a small sample of where we’re invested.

We are investing in entrepreneurs through 1909, a remarkable West Palm Beach based incubator/accelerator. We are giving our children a shot a future through nonprofits such as Bound for College, Take Stock in Children and the George Snow Scholarship Fund. We are partners with Her Second Chance giving women in recovery a new lease on life and we are proud of our work with 4Kids and the Achievement Center For Children and Families two organizations devoted to caring for children who need support.

We are working with the Mayo Clinic, FAU and Max Planck on research programs that we hope will uncover answers for Alzheimer’s and other brain disorders.

And there’s more.

We are by invitation only so we can be strategic and selective. But every investment we make has our founder’s ethos and spirit in mind. When I think back at how it all started for me, I just marvel at how fortunate I was to cross paths with such a remarkable man.

Twenty years ago, I walked across a ballroom at a charity event to introduce myself to Mr. DeSantis. We exchanged pleasantries for less than a minute and I didn’t hear from him for a few years until he asked to get together and talk about how I might help him with a new beverage he was excited about called Celsius.

Last week, that little brand Carl was talking about announced sales of over $1 billion. It all started in a small office on 4th Avenue in Delray Beach.

Carl was a believer back then. He saw the path, even when others thought we were crazy.

We were. But in Carl’s case there was genius, belief and courage too.

It paid off.

Last week, that little challenger brand which is now the number three energy drink in the land bought the number four brand Alani Nu for $1.8 billion.

Amazing. And somehow Mr. DeSantis knew. He knew.

Before he passed, Carl asked a colleague of mine and me to sit down and help him create a foundation that would give back to the community in perpetuity. We did. It’s the proudest work I’ve ever done. It not only brings me back full circle to community service it keeps me close to Carl and his terrific family.

I’m honored to do this work. Blessed too.

These thoughts ran through my head at the conference surrounded by people doing transformative work in a world that desperately needs healing.

I’m determined to learn as much as I can so we can make a difference knowing that somehow Carl is watching it all unfold.

 

27 January, 2025 0 Comments

Here’s To The Future

January 27, 2025 By Leave a Comment

Your future self is a stranger.

I woke up recently with those six words in my head.

I don’t know where they came from—a dream, a fleeting thought– but there they were.

Maybe that happens to you often, but it’s a rare occasion where I wake up with a saying in my head.

Paul McCartney woke up with the song that would become “Yesterday” rattling around his brain. His initial title for the song was “scrambled eggs.” Keith Richards allegedly dreamt the riff to “Satisfaction” which became a classic.

We may not be a Beatle or a Stone, but I think it benefits us mortals to listen when our inner voices speak to us.

Your future self is a stranger.

I began to think about the phrase and what it may mean.

Maybe my future self will sleep better, learn to love avocados and acquire a taste for lobster. I do spend time in Maine, and it would be convenient to like those bug-eyed crustaceans. Instead, I sympathize with them and wish that they could somehow find their way out of the tanks and back to the sea.

But I digress.

Artificial intelligence is all we hear about these days so I plugged the six word phrase into AI and got this answer: “Your future self is a stranger means that when you imagine yourself far into the future, you perceive that person as someone completely different from who you are now, almost like a person you’ve never met before, indicating a potential disconnect between your current identity and how you envision yourself later in life; often leading to poor decision-making regarding long-term goals due to a lack of connection with that future self.”

Whoa!

That’s interesting so I went a little further with Google AI.

“Viewing your future self as a stranger can lead to behaviors like not saving enough for retirement, neglecting health, or making impulsive choices because you don’t feel responsible for that future person’s well-being.”

And that’s where AI lost me, at least on this subject.

I happen to be saving for retirement, I am trying hard to be healthier and I haven’t made an impulsive choice since opting for a solid color shirt over plaid in 1992. Let’s just say that I work hard to be intentional—the opposite of impulsive.

So, I put away the AI and I went back to my old steady—my brain. As flawed as it is.

And here’s what I came up with.

For a very long time, I felt that I was driven by three words: leadership, entrepreneurship and community. I can’t remember the impetus for the three-word model, it may have been an exercise, an article, a therapy session—something that prompted me to name my passions.

But for the longest time that’s where I’ve focused—the study of leadership, the study and practice of entrepreneurship and involvement in community.

All three words still animate and interest me. But…there’s been a shift.

I may have met my future self and far from being a stranger he’s the same old guy, with slightly different interests/passions these days.

I asked myself what are my three words today? What do I want my three words in the future to be?

And I came up with creativity, philanthropy and relationships/faith. Admittedly, that may be four words, but relationships and faith may be connected. Let me explain.

As we get older, we begin to lose people who matter to us. It’s an inevitable part of life. Readers of this blog have joked that it has turned into a local obituary/eulogy page. Perhaps. But I feel it’s important to remember and reflect when we lose someone who meant something to our little slice of the world.

Our time is precious. And limited too. We are fragile beings. “Tomorrow is not guaranteed” is not just a saying, it’s our reality. It’s a reality that inevitably bites all of us.

As a result, relationships become precious too. Quality time, with quality people equals happiness.

Faith and relationships are tied together because losing people who mean something to us is a hard thing to swallow. It’s scary. But maybe fear ends where faith begins. Maybe, if we can develop faith, we can believe that our souls go on and we may be together again with loved ones lost.

Creativity has become a driving force as well. The act of filling a blank screen orders my mind and brings me so much joy. I am never blocked, but some days are better than others. I’m finding new ways to be creative– playwriting, maybe another book or two, this blog (which has changed) and the opportunity to be creative at work in how we approach philanthropy.

Philanthropy.

Interesting word.

It comes from the Greek word “philein” which means “to love” and “anthropos” which means humankind.

That resonates with me.

Thanks for listening. Perhaps, this will spur you to think. If it does, my wish for you is to live with intent with the precious time we are given.

 

Miracle League

On Saturday evening, we ventured to Palm Beach Gardens to have “Dinner on the Diamond” an event that benefits the Miracle League of Palm Beach County.

For 20 years, my friends Jeff and Julia Kadel, have dedicated their lives to ensuring that all children regardless of their needs can play baseball.

It’s a simple, but beautiful and important mission and the program has grown enormously over the years. The league plays in Delray, Palm Beach Gardens and will soon add another location, a testament to the need and the quality of the program.

Julia Kadel is this year’s winner of the Carl Angus DeSantis Foundation’s Catalyst Award, an honor that recognizes people who make good things happen in our community. Julia is a catalyst and so much more. She brings joy, love and passion to her work and she has changed the lives of many families.

We saw the depth of support on Saturday night when a huge crowd filled the field to have dinner, hear stories and celebrate the Miracle’s League’s mission.

A highlight for me, an old baseball fan, was to see one of my childhood heroes, Johnny Bench get up and sing Jeff and Julia’s praises. He called them his heroes and hall of famers in their own right.

Indeed.

If you want to learn more visit www.miracleleaguepalmbeachcounty.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

17 June, 2024 8 8 Comments

Investing In Our Future

June 17, 2024 By 8 Comments

 

Note: Some of you may know that I’ve entered a new and exciting phase of my life/career working to build and grow the work of the Carl Angus DeSantis Foundation. For me and my teammates, this is a labor of love because Carl changed our lives and the lives of so many others. While we lost Mr. D last August, his work continues through his foundation. It’s the honor of a lifetime to be involved. Periodically, I hope to share what we’re doing because it’s important to spotlight some of the great work being done in our community. Our main focus is helping transformational leaders and programs in Palm Beach and Broward counties. We’ve only just begun.

Communities are ever-changing, that’s what makes them interesting.

People, businesses, leaders, and organizations come and go.

But it’s the pillars that stand the test of time.

It’s the pillars that build communities, quietly, effectively and over a long span of time.

The George Snow Scholarship Fund is one of those pillars. The Carl Angus DeSantis Foundation is honored to partner with this wonderful non-profit to build a better future for our youth.

Recently, we announced a $200,000 gift to the Snow Fund. The monies will support a new program we’re calling “DeSantis Scholars”—which will enable students to pursue vocational education in fields such as nursing, HVAC, electrical, plumbing and more. The scholarships were handed out over the weekend at an event at Lynn University’s magnificent Wold Performing Arts Center.

Mr. DeSantis, who briefly attended Florida State University but did not complete his degree, believed that students who wanted to pursue careers that didn’t require college should be encouraged to do so.

We’re pleased to have a partner like George Snow to help make that happen.

Since 1982, the non-profit has given about $26.4 million in scholarships to local students looking to improve their lives. That’s an astounding number. The Snow Foundation is making a profound difference in the lives of our young people.

Through the decades, the Boca Raton-based Snow Fund has been there for students in Palm Beach County. Recently, the fund was invited to help students in Broward, a testament to their reputation as stellar scholarship administrators.

We’ve had our eyes on the George Snow Fund for some time. It’s hard to miss their impact:

  • 2,943 scholarships since 1982.
  • 887 Snow Scholars currently enrolled in college.
  • Almost $5 million awarded in 2023.

 

But their effectiveness goes beyond the numbers: 90 percent of Snow Scholars graduate compared to 62 percent nationally. Many of those scholars come back home and benefit our local community.

So, we were thrilled to partner with such a pillar of the community. We were especially taken by the holistic thinking at the Snow Fund. Students receive inspirational messages to start their week, there are webinars that teach the “soft skills” needed to succeed and scholars receive care packages as well.

It’s been a remarkably effectively model, honed over 42 years by a leadership team led by President Tim Snow.

When you meet Tim and  Development Director Jay Brandt you are swept away by the passion they bring to the cause. For Tim, the son of George Snow, the mission is personal. But he has managed to infuse that passion into a dedicated team and board that have created a family of scholars.

“When you receive a scholarship from the George Snow Scholarship Fund, you become a part of our family. You can count on us to help you in anyway we can,” says Tim.

And help they do: from career development advice, college physicals, an emergency fund for unexpected needs, to laptop computers and mental health counseling Snow Scholars are cared for like family.

Did we mention senior portraits? How about “the scholar closet” to help the budget conscious find free clothing and shoes? There’s also the “Snow Family Network”, a unique social networking platform where Scholars and Snow Alumni can connect and help each other find jobs and internships.

That’s the “wow” factor we look for at the Carl Angus DeSantis Foundation.

We are thrilled to begin this important partnership. Mr. DeSantis would be proud.

 

 

22 January, 2024 2 2 Comments

Savoring What’s Magical

January 22, 2024 By 2 Comments

 

The winners of the first annual Catalyst Award: Sergeant Danny Pacheco and Pastor Bill Mitchell. Photo by Amy Pasquantonio (who is terrific).

I had a magical day last week and I just want to share.

Have you ever walked into a room and gotten swept away by the spirit and positivity in the air?

Luckily, I’ve experienced magic a few times in my life and when it arrives it makes you feel fully alive.

I live for those moments, but they can be few and far between. But when you get swept away you want to live in that moment. You don’t want it to end.

So, here’s what happened.

I co-hosted a lunch on behalf of the Carl Angus DeSantis Foundation at La Cigale where we got to celebrate our grantees and honor two people who are doing amazing work in our community.

People who devote their lives to giving back are very special. I like businesspeople and admire entrepreneurs—their success creates the type of wealth needed for non-profits to address some of our most pressing needs.

But there’s something extra special about the philanthropic world so when you put those people in a room and mix them together, the molecules change.

Our goal at the foundation is to build community. Our hope is our grantees can work together and leverage each other’s strengths if possible.

We are off to a good start, but as the song says, ‘we’ve only just begun’.

A few years back, a colleague and I were asked by Mr. DeSantis to create a foundation. We reached out to friends who connected us to philanthropic leaders across Florida and the country. These leaders were generous with their time and advice, and we built the Carl Angus DeSantis Foundation using best practices that we studied. It was an incredible experience to dig into this world. When we presented our business plan to Mr. D he was all in.

We started modestly with a few quiet grants in December 2022, had a busy 2023 and we are off to the races in 2024. Along the way, we are meeting and supporting philanthropic leaders who are making a difference in our community and beyond. Our areas of interest include health and nutrition (Carl was the founder of Rexall Sundown, one of the leading vitamin brands in history), leadership and entrepreneurship, faith-based charities, and civic innovation. We have a special project supporting early childhood education in South Africa where Carl spent many happy years, and we are all in on tackling Alzheimer’s Disease.

Many of our grantees were able to come to La Cigale to learn about each other’s programs and we saw them interact and partner in real time (thrilling!). It’s natural for these type of leaders to collaborate. It was a room full of optimistic problem solvers with big hearts. I wish I could harness and bottle their enthusiasm for making our world a better place.

We are getting behind “name brands” like the Mayo Clinic and Max Planck Society, but we are also working with promising non-profits such as Delray based Bound For College and The EJS Project as well as established local standouts such as 4 Kids and the Achievement Center for Children and Families. We’ve discovered the amazing people at Boca-based Second Chance Initiative and we are working with FAU on a promising program that will harness services for families who are impacted by Alzheimer’s.

It’s such a joy.

As we were celebrating, I couldn’t help thinking about my friend Carl and what his entrepreneurial talents have made possible. I wish he was here to see it all, we lost him in August, but I believe he knows what’s happening.

When I think of Carl, I can’t help but smile.

My goodness I miss him.

He was really something.

Carl was a man of action, he made things happen.

He was compassionate, generous, and colorful —in a word —he was a catalyst.

To honor that spirit— which led to so much good in the world— we wanted to create an award that recognizes the catalysts in our midst. The people who show us what is possible if we act, never give up and dare to try.

And so, we created the Catalyst Award to honor those in our community who are making good things happen.

This is a no-strings-attached cash award to individuals who exhibit transformational leadership and contribute significantly to their community. You cannot apply for this award; the work you do speaks so loudly that it can’t help but be noticed.

The catalyst award celebrates individuals who inspire and motivate others to excel.

The award recognizes those that go above and beyond to contribute to their community’s well-being.

Just as a catalyst triggers chemical reactions, the recipients of this award spark positive change wherever they practice. They are known for their ability to identify areas in need of improvement, and they take proactive steps to bring about transformational change.

They are impact players; just like Carl was.  And we are blessed to have them working in our communities.

The first ever winners honored last week are Sergeant Danny Pacheco Jr. of the Delray Beach Police Department and Pastor Bill Mitchell of Boca Community Church.

Danny founded “Delray Kicks”, a soccer program that works with children, most of them immigrants who might otherwise run from the police. Instead, Danny, Officer Mark Lucas and others  have created a program that has built relationships, taught citizenship and generally changed the lives of the kids they serve. One mom of a player called Danny an “angel.” We agree.

Danny is a special kind of leader.

He is an immigrant from Peru and he has a special feel for the immigrant experience and what these children experience.

When he said he wanted to become a police officer, people scoffed at him. Danny not only became an officer, but he also became a standout leader and community servant. Hearing him tell his story was powerful and emotional. The value this catalyst creates is incalculable. We can’t say Danny and Delray Kicks are completely unsung, his program made the national news a few years ago but more people need to know, and more people need to take pride in the value he and others in our police department bring to our city.

I shared that sentiment with our Police Chief Russ Mager who was at the luncheon. Chief Mager started his career when Delray was a far more dangerous place…the police department’s work made our community safe for success to take root. That work continues with people like Danny.

Our second Catalyst winner is the amazing Pastor Bill Mitchell, whose Boca Lead program has made a huge difference in Boca Raton and has now scaled to other cities in Florida and the Midwest.

Every month, a sold-out house fills Boca Community Church where attendees get a lesson in life and in business and community. You see corporate chieftains and small business owners, educators, non-profit leaders, elected officials and others gather to listen to Pastor Bill’s lessons. As a longtime “business guy” before entering the ministry, he can relate to anyone. If you haven’t experienced Boca Lead, I urge you to do so. You will leave inspired with tools to help your business, organization, and family. Bill Mitchell is a Catalyst and a man I deeply admire. He’s inspirational and has lived the lessons he imparts.

Leaving La Cigale last week, I felt hope for our world. I won’t let that go. I hope you don’t either.

If you want to feel magic get involved in a non-profit, attend a Boca Lead event, mentor a child, check out local cultural offerings, coach a team, rescue a pet—and celebrate those who work quietly, often with few resources, to make our world a better place.

 

 

Next Page »