SPRINGDALE — It’s time to stop talking and start acting when it comes to fixing problems — such as hunger and illiteracy — facing today’s youth.
Community leaders heard that message Wednesday from several nationally recognized speakers at Champions for Kids Global Leadership Conference.
David Gergen, CNN senior political analyst and adviser to four U.S. presidents, told more than 300 conference attendees they must create a new civic culture.
“We must be looking for a culture of service. It has to come from people’s passion,” he said. “It’s about building a movement and following it through.”
The conference attracted leaders representing the corporate, nonprofit, education and faith-based sectors.
Adelaide Schaeffer called for social engagement. Schaeffer is founder, president and CEO of Champions for Kids.
Her organization, in its seventh year, created the Global Leadership Fellows Program this year. This initiative provides direction to eight health and wellness programs for children and families.
Four of the programs are based in Arkansas, including the Brandon Burlsworth Foundation. The other four programs are from Kansas, New York and Massachusetts.
“We are planting the seeds with these groups,” Schaeffer said.
Champions for Kids believes in making strong nonprofit groups stronger. Schaeffer said 94 percent of all nonprofit groups have a hard time succeeding.
More than 300 nonprofit groups are created daily in the United States, said Margaret McKenna, president of the Walmart Foundation.
“We have to find a way to broker and coordinate the existing nonprofits,” she said.
McKenna said philanthropists need to be more strategic and knowledgeable.
“We spend billions of dollars, but what have we achieved?” she asked.
Author Steve Goldberg said almost $308 billion is donated annually to almost 2 million nonprofit organizations in the United States.
“The problem is we don’t make good use of that money,” he said. “I’m hoping to see a day in three to five years where donors are making informed decisions of who they are giving money to.”
Goldberg said educated choices will help good nonprofit groups grow while the bad ones shrink or die.
Bill Simon, president and CEO of Walmart U.S., said he does not like writing checks and walking away.
“For me personally, I want to get involved in a lot of things I’m passionate about,” he said.
Walmart founder Sam Walton would have loved this project, said David Glass, Kansas City Royals owner and former Walmart president and CEO.
“(Sam Walton) always believed people make the difference,” he said.
Glass said the results are amazing when people work collectively.
Simon said he is tired of hearing about what is wrong.
“It comes down to this: What can you do to make a difference?” he challenged the group.
Harvard educator Ronald Ferguson said success lies in realizing individual potential.
“It’s not hard to get people to come to events like this,” said the director of the Achievement Gap Initiative at Harvard. “What’s hard is getting them to do things differently when they leave.”
Billy Shore, founder and executive director of Share our Strength, said change comes through collaboration. His organization works to end childhood hunger.
“Everybody has an opportunity to be a champion for kids,” he said. “People want to be part of something bigger. They want to be engaged.”
Former Sen. David Pryor said his take-away from Wednesday’s event is the conference is just one of many steps.
“This is no 40-yard dash, but a marathon,” he said. “This will not happen overnight.”