Leadership ISD Heroes: Rose Bradshaw ('17)

With COVID-19 affecting millions across the world, we want to shed light in a dark time, highlighting those within the Leadership ISD family who have stepped up in the moment of crisis to provide services and relief to those suffering. These are our Leadership ISD Heroes. 

Rose Bradshaw

Tarrant County, Class of 2017

President/CEO, North Texas Community Foundation

LISD: What are you and the North Texas Community Foundation currently doing in response to COVID-19?

Rose Bradshaw (RB): At the Community Foundation, we represent 250 families and a handful of businesses who are charitable and very committed to this region’s success. What we are charged to do is to identify the most impactful opportunities for investment and marry capital with opportunity, partnering who's got the money with who has the smartest people on the ground deploying it effectively. In a time like this, the work becomes very essential. We have the trust of our fund holders so that we can do the due diligence to the opportunities we're lifting up. Additionally, we have the relationships in the community to be able to quickly understand how people are responding, as well as what the core and central issues are, which are oftentimes not what's obvious. To start, the Community Foundation has established a grants page on our website where we lift up opportunities that we want our fund holders to know about so that they can make grants. If you visit our website, you'll see over 40 opportunities there, which is driving significant donations into these organizations. We also set up match opportunities by identifying five groups that we thought were really critical and matching the donations provided. Since March 16th we've processed $3 million in donations that have gone into the community, which is very powerful. We also have a “Better Together” fund that is looking at next stage recovery. We had one of our fund holders, Don Bowden from Holy Guacamole, step up and seed that fund with $400,000 and set it up as a match. So over the past two weeks, we've had an additional $307,000 that fund holders have put into that fund, as well. From there, we'll have a committee of community experts help us decide where that money needs to go. Our goal is that we will be able to push that $800,000 of funding directly into the community.It's unusual work that we do and in a multifaceted way. We operate with people, with funds, with fund holders, and key nonprofit leaders. We're so honored to be able to lift up the good things that are happening all across our community and then connect people directly to that. It's a relationship. You need good information, you need strong relationships, and money. I argue that if we know these facts and we have the trust and relationships, then the money is going to flow. That's what we see as our charge as an organization. We're also convening a call with private foundations in town with about 50 people weekly. We work to lift up the central issues so both the families we work with as well as the private foundations in our community all have access to the best information and ability to think through the problems we’re facing so that we can also see out there around the corner. It's been very helpful for my team to be so well connected. 

Finally, we are working alongside organizations like Leadership ISD on the issues of equity that are being highlighted even more in this time of crisis. There is a significant digital divide. People are under or inconsistently employed. Undocumented families are just suffering at an unacceptable level and are not connected to the resources that they need. This time has revealed all these cracks in the system that we already knew were there, but are forcing us to work even more urgently to re-envision and reposition education for the 21st century and 21st century learning.

LISD: WHAT INSPIRED YOU AND YOUR TEAM TO DO THIS WORK AND RESPOND IN THIS WAY?

RB: Fundamentally, the inspiration for the way we operate is that we all have equity to bring to the table. Not equity in a sense of how we talk about equal opportunity, but that everybody's got something to offer: community knowledge, wisdom, experience, technical expertise, money,  innovative ideas, and more. The question then becomes how do we help convene these resources and use them effectively? That is our work at the core. It's not just about money, instead it has to be reflective of everyone's talents and strengths. So, what inspires us? It's knowing this community deserves the very best and it's time to up our game! I find that to be real inspiration.

LISD:  HOW HAS LEADERSHIP ISD PREPARED YOU FOR THIS MOMENT?

RB: Leadership ISD’s model reminds me of a Buddhist quote that says, “The leader will know that her work is done when the people say we did it ourselves”. To get there takes a little more time and thought, you can’t be in it as a solo player with that mindset, but in the end the outcome is so much better and stronger. I think knowing the community deserves the best, calls us to see the gaps, and we have to bring people together to get it done. It's a big lift. I feel like my work with Leadership ISD helped to strengthen my network, my understanding of the issues, and the people on the ground doing good work. That began with the quality of the Fellowship and the opportunity to learn from people that I had never met before. Coming together from across our neighborhoods and community to connect with such thoughtful, committed individuals who had really fantastic ideas about how to get good work done was essential. From there, I was able to learn alongside them and problem solve together on how to tackle the issues of equity in public education. Now, we are able to pick up the phone and have a conversation about what is really happening across our community. Those relationships have been forged, and now we can get to work together. That's been very powerful. It's also strengthened our family's experience in Fort Worth. Kent, my partner and fellow Leadership ISD alumnus, has pivoted professionally. He has a finance background, has worked as a CFO, and now he’s doing fractional CFO work for different companies and then spending half his time working personally on issues of equity. That is a fundamental change in our family household, dynamic, and his professional focus. That is really a direct outgrowth of Leadership ISD. So it's been very powerful, professionally and personally.

LISD: WHAT WOULD BE YOUR ADVICE TO OTHERS WHO WANT TO TAKE ACTION IN THIS TIME OF CRISIS? 

RB: Start now. None of us have this figured out. We need everybody and you'll find your lane, you'll find what you're good at, but start now...It's time for us to turn it on, literally flip the switch back on. We all got to know each other through the Fellowships. Get reconnected to your Leadership ISD cohort. Let's talk about how we can use this opportunity. Let's build on the foundation that we've created, both in knowledge and relationships. And let's get moving.

For more information about The North Texas Community Foundation and to learn more about how you can help, visit northtexascf.org.