There Is Method to My Madness

I am currently collaborating with several teams of BK community members to establish a new nonprofit organization affiliated with Berrett-Koehler Publishers, which we have named the Berrett-Koehler Foundation.

There are many reasons why it is insane for me to be involved in this endeavor, including the fact that I have no free time to devote to this quest (because I already have two full-time jobs as BK president and as one of our book acquisition editors) as well as the reality that fundraising is a huge challenge for nonprofit organizations and a heavy fundraising burden for the Foundation will fall on me as BK president.

Why, then, do I believe that the Berrett-Koehler Foundation is so important that I am devoting a great deal of my time to establishing it despite good reasons not to pursue this?   There are several reasons I am deeply committed to this quest:

1.  The Berrett-Koehler Foundation is a way to take BK’s mission of creating a world that works for all deeper into the world.  It will help put into practice ideas and methods that create deep positive systems change.

2.  The Foundation opens up another front for increasing BK’s impact.  It will reach audiences that we don't currently reach effectively through our books — especially young leaders around the world — and help them master and apply new ways of leading and collaborating that they seldom learn from schools or from traditional leadership development programs.

3.  The Foundation is a means of expanding the BK community around the world, especially among younger and less affluent groups, and helping BK community members connect with and support each other.

4.  The Foundation can help preserve the independence, mission focus, and values of Berrett-Koehler Publishers by becoming a significant long-term shareholder of BK stock (which I and other BK shareholders intend to donate to it).

So, is there method to my madness?  You decide.  Please read this two-page brochure about the Foundation.  And please check out the Foundation website.

Please email me personally at spiersanti@bkpub.com if you would like to learn more about the Berrett-Koehler Foundation or to find out how you could support it or get involved in some way.

Thank you,

Steve Piersanti

President

Berrett-Koehler Publishers