September 25, 2006 Former Enron chief financial officer Andrew Fastow was sentenced to six years in prison for his role in the fallen energy company's bankruptcy.  What would happen if the energy and creativity that he harnessed for fraud could instead be harnessed for the public good?
 
An over-confident prosecutor pronounced at the time: "Fastow's prison sentence demonstrates once again that we will uncover fraudulent conduct by corporate officials, and the consequences will be serious."  Since then, many examples of fraudulent conduct have been uncovered too late.  The consequences have been serious for customers, employees, stockholders, and taxpayers, but seldom for the perps.
 
Malcolm Gladwell wrote a brilliant New Yorker piece when Enron was collapsing.  He blamed the company's demise on a management system that pandered to superstar employees instead of to customers, and promoted the hotshots so fast that they never saw the consequences of their misdeeds. 

 
Of course, it would be hard for the forces of peace and compassion match the scale of Enron, but why not try?  In the mid 80's, Oliver North was arming the right-wing contras in Nicaragua.  My friends at the Quixote Center, every year, sent as much in humanitarian aid as Col. North sent in weapons.
 
One of the great joys of my work is witnessing the courage, creativity, and hard work of people devoted to the common good.
 

• Jesuit Refugee Service's Kino Border Initiative offers food, shelter, and encouragement to immigrants and deportees in the towns of Nogales on both the Arizona and Sonora sides of the border.
  
• Chesapeake Shakespeare Company makes classical theater accessible, giving free tickets to youth under 18.
  
• L'Arche creates residential communities where intellectually disabled people find dignity, safety, and love.
  
• Bread & Roses Community Fund connects progressive philanthropists with small organizations working to eradicate injustice and violence.
  

If you would like to learn more about how I am working to build sustainable funding for these amazing organizations, and what I could do for the non profit initiatives you care about, let's talk.