Opening Address to the 3rd Annual DRIS Conference

by Dennis Collins, CEO and President of The James Irvine Foundation

Marty Campbell, Program Officer and Director of Evaluation of The James Irvine Foundation talks with Vic Biswell Executive Vice-President of the Assocation of California District Hospitals 3rd Annual DRIS Conference - February 2000

Thank you Marty, it's a pleasure to be here. Good morning. I feel so much better knowing that I am a product of the year of the Dragon. Having been born in the year 1940, I now know this is a year of growth and prosperity and harmony, and I'm supposed to be shrewd. So I'll do that.

Thanks for the introduction. It was a better introduction then the one I had last night. I was on the chicken dinner circuit last night, and there was a very long cocktail hour, and it finally came time for these very sleepy folks to hear from the speaker, and my introducer provided a very long preamble and then introduced me as James Irvine. Which shocked the devil out of them, I must say. James died in 1947, so they were either terribly disappointed or in cardiac arrest.

It's a real honor to be with you today, to open this Third Annual Conference. As you all know, DRIS is being implemented by all of you. I will have a few things to say about all of you versus something about us in a moment. But we have here in this room the folks who are making it happen, the leaders. Frankly, I thought I was in the wrong room when I arrived here this morning and the first couple of people I was introduced to were from Lawrence, Kansas. And then I met the Captain of the Police Force in Lompoc, and I said "Gee, I thought this group was involved in health care." But what this is telling me is that it is a multi-dimensional, many faceted project. And that's, of course, what makes it so very interesting.

I frankly can't think of a project that the Irvine Foundation is involved with which is a better example of the characteristics of The James Irvine Foundation. We are a California Foundation, and we embrace the full geography of this state-1000 miles, border-to-border; from the Northland in timber, to the border of Mexico, and the Imperial Valley; from the blue Pacific, to the foothills beyond, to the deserts beyond that. And if there is truth in the proposition that we are all products of our environment, I would have to say that the distinguishing characteristic of the Irvine Foundation has to be California. And you in this room represent much of California's diversity, extending from Humboldt and Del Norte, through Indian Wells Valley, and beyond to the Imperial Valley, and Lompoc in between. Your footprint is synonymous with the map of the Golden State.

I thought it might be somewhat interesting if I were to tell you a little about how The James Irvine Foundation does its work, because I think you will find within this some evidence of who you are, and what we know you do, and how important your work is.

I have already indicated that place defines us. California is our birthplace. Though Mr. Irvine was a San Franciscan, he made his fortune as his father did, in the land, on one-hundred-ten thousand acres in Orange County-which today looks a little like downtown Dallas or Houston, but in fact was an agricultural enterprise for a number of years. Mr. Irvine, in his grand design for California and its people, envisioned that the Irvine Foundation should exist in perpetuity to advance the purposes and ensure the welfare of Californians. So it was that in 1937 he vested the Irvine Foundation with 51% ownership of the Irvine Ranch. And the Irvine Foundation lives today off the assets from that magnificent holding. California is our birthplace, it is our workshop, it is the canvas on which we attempt to paint a happier picture of the future for all Californians.

Ideas are at the heart of much of what we do. Some of them are noble, some of them are fragile-but almost always optimistic-those ideas and our birthplace drive our strategies. And as we explore ideas, we start with questions. We don't start with answers; we start with questions. We start by opening conversations with people who are doing very important work. We like to believe that we begin by listening, and we finish by listening. Our role is that of creative listening, as opposed to creative doing. We build upon the experience of those who know far more than we know, and we invest in others' ability to implement change. As we strive to build on the legacy of our founder, we try to remember as he did, that our success at every juncture depends on our partners.

As you think about it, foundations really don't accomplish anything. We don't play Brahms, we don't heal the sick, we don't educate the first child. What we do is invest in others who, through their own efforts, through their own vision, through their own creative powers accomplish all of those things and more. Clearly, California has never suffered for a scarcity of challenges. And as we enter into the year of the Dragon and beyond, those challenges promise to provide us with plenty to do. Foundations are generally misunderstood. I always dread when I am seated in an airplane and the person next to me says, "And what do you do?" I now lie. I say "I am retired." And they look at me and they say "that's plausible." I say that, "I spend time reading and thinking," and they look envious. And then on occasion, I will say, "Well, I am a foundation executive." And the eyes glaze over and they return to Newsweek magazine. Or they say, "And what does that mean?" And I will say, "Well, I give money away." And that point they put down their Newsweek magazine and invariably they say, "May I have some?" I then am forced to enter into a conversation that has nothing to do with money, but has an awful lot to do with the kinds of things about which I have just spoken, and about which I feel deeply. And that is, that we are, as a foundation, one of those mediating institutions-one of those institutions that John Gardner refers to as an inter-sectional player. We are at the intersection of some very intransigent problems, some fragile ideas and some enormously talented people.

Largely we are misunderstood because the language of philanthropy can be excessively abstract. We use terms like "social capital," like "intermediaries." We talk about "outcomes." These are not household words. So what is the message and how can we get it across? I spend a good bit of my time speaking these days, trying to put a human face, a human image on these rather ambiguous and excessively abstract notions.

Basically, what we do is invest in leadership. We believe that effective and long-lasting change can only come about if our resources are linked to strong leadership. Not surprisingly, many of our initiatives make direct investments in exemplary individuals and organizations of demonstrated accomplishment, or organizations with great potential and well-stated aspirations.

The second thing we do is build effective coalitions. We spend a huge amount of time bringing groups of Californians together to discuss their emerging needs. This is that John Gardner "being at the intersection" notion. The hallmark of these conversations is a spirit of open, joint inquiry, as a way of tackling tough questions to which no one has a full answer. As discussions coalesce around specific issues, we will often bring others to the table. Individuals whose voices further strengthen and sometimes indeed complicate our thinking, widen the range of possibilities. Then and only then do we begin to partner with these coalitions to transform conversation into action.

The third thing we try to do is establish high-quality, long term relationships. Foundations are infamous for "fast in and fast out." Foundations are infamous for "give me the big idea." We love all of that, but we also believe that in order to address the kinds of problems that we want to address, we need to take the long road, and to have the long view. There are few, if any, quick fixes to the most important problems facing California. We therefore try to forge long-term relationships with our grantee partners. These relationships are critical to the success of the Foundation's initiatives. In a recent survey we learned that the relationship between grant recipients and our program directors is in fact the most valuable contribution we make to the work of our grantees. In some cases, we heard that-that partnership was as important as the dollars we had invested in the project.

We also focus on high performance. As the problems we've chosen to deal with have become more complex, we have looked to high-performing individuals and high-performing organizations to push forward with new research, to serve as exemplars and act as advocates for their field. This often requires a clear-eyed assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the organization, the development of realistic yet challenging and demanding objectives, and a willingness on our part to fund the unglamorous fundamentals, to help make already effective organizations truly first rate.

Sharon Avery, Executive Director California Healthcare Association, Rural Healthcare Center and DRIS Advisory Committee Member. Presenting a BBRA 99 update at the 3rd Annual DRIS Conference - February 2000

Finally, we take risks to support innovation. Critics have argued that foundations suffer from the sin of low aim-that our risk aversion precludes the home runs of the private sector. Though our fiduciary responsibilities may in fact discourage uninhibited risk-taking, some of our best grants have been made where the risk of failure has been very high. Increasingly, we seek partners who are willing to test new ideas and share learning about their failures along with their successes, in an environment where change may be the only constant with which we live. This kind of knowledge and risk-taking will be critical to our future.

I was recently reading a book entitled, The New Pioneers. And in the chapter entitled the "Age of Adaptation," the author suggests that, as a society, we are moving from a Newtonian model where we sought understanding things by pulling them apart-the process called analysis-to a new age of what he characterized as "systems thinking," seeking to understand things by putting them together. DRIS is clearly in tune with the Age of Adaptation, for you are looking here for the opportunities to create synergies in each of your communities. Later on in that book, we are reminded that in the old days, when geographical boundaries mattered, the mantra of marketing was "location, location, location." The new mantra, the author argues is "connections, connections, connections." Under DRIS, you have created important connections, within your community and within the higher levels of care, with other funders, and with other rural communities engaged in a similar effort.

Let me close by observing that one of the privileges of foundation work is that it enables you to be more involved with linkages than separations, more involved with commonalities than with differences. I would say that this project is clearly engaged in making connections, finding linkages, finding commonalities. It's been a wonderful opportunity for the James Irvine Foundation to partner with you. You have been one of our success stories. We take great pride in your accomplishments. You are a model for many, and I congratulate you for all that you do.

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