0:00:16.222,0:00:19.910
So today, I'm going to tell you[br]about some people

0:00:19.910,0:00:22.572
who didn't move out[br]of their neighborhoods.

0:00:22.572,0:00:25.753
The first one is happening[br]right here in Chicago.

0:00:25.753,0:00:30.371
Brenda Palms-Barber was hired[br]to help ex-convicts re-enter society

0:00:30.371,0:00:33.191
and keep them from going back into prison.

0:00:33.191,0:00:35.066
Currently, tax-payers spend

0:00:35.066,0:00:38.538
about 60,000 dollars per year[br]sending a person to jail.

0:00:38.538,0:00:41.669
We know that 2/3 of them[br]are going to go back.

0:00:41.669,0:00:44.926
I find it interesting[br]that for every one dollar we spend,

0:00:44.926,0:00:47.687
however, on early childhood education[br]like Headstart,

0:00:47.687,0:00:52.516
we save 17 dollars on stuff[br]like incarceration in the future.

0:00:52.516,0:00:54.018
Or, think about it,

0:00:54.018,0:00:55.900
that 60,000 dollars is more

0:00:55.900,0:00:59.375
than what it costs to send[br]one person to Harvard as well.

0:00:59.378,0:01:02.267
But Brenda, not being fazed[br]by stuff like that,

0:01:02.269,0:01:03.805
took a look at her challenge

0:01:03.805,0:01:07.677
and came up[br]with a not-so-obvious solution:

0:01:07.677,0:01:12.332
create a business that produces[br]skin-care products from honey.

0:01:12.443,0:01:14.818
It might be obvious[br]to some of you, wasn't to me.

0:01:14.865,0:01:18.118
It's the basis of growing[br]a form of social innovation

0:01:18.150,0:01:20.007
that has real potential.

0:01:20.031,0:01:23.896
She hired seemingly unemployable men[br]and women to care for the bees,

0:01:23.896,0:01:28.098
harvest the honey, and make value-added[br]products that they marketed themselves

0:01:28.099,0:01:31.463
and were later sold at Wholefoods.

0:01:31.463,0:01:34.458
She combined employment experience[br]and training,

0:01:34.458,0:01:36.055
and with life skills they needed,

0:01:36.055,0:01:38.033
like anger management and teamwork,

0:01:38.033,0:01:43.003
and also had a talk to future employers[br]about how their experiences

0:01:43.003,0:01:45.462
actually demonstrated the lessons[br]they had learned

0:01:45.462,0:01:47.422
and their eagerness to learn more.

0:01:47.422,0:01:48.994
Less than 4% of the folks

0:01:48.994,0:01:51.766
that went through her program[br]actually go back to jail.

0:01:51.766,0:01:56.088
So these young men and women[br]learned job-readiness and life skills

0:01:56.088,0:02:00.216
through bee-keeping and becoming[br]productive citizens in the process.

0:02:00.216,0:02:03.433
Talk about a sweet beginning.

0:02:03.433,0:02:06.287
Now, I'm going to take it to Los Angeles.

0:02:06.287,0:02:09.399
And I know lots of people know[br]that L.A. has its issues,

0:02:09.401,0:02:11.669
but I will talk[br]about L.A.'s water issues now.

0:02:11.669,0:02:15.468
They have not enough water on most days,

0:02:15.468,0:02:17.567
and too much to handle when it rains.

0:02:17.571,0:02:23.068
Currently, 20% of California's energy[br]consumption is used to pump water

0:02:23.069,0:02:25.452
into mostly Southern California.

0:02:25.452,0:02:27.696
They're spending loads, loads, to channel

0:02:27.696,0:02:31.169
that rainwater out into the ocean[br]when it rains and floods as well.

0:02:31.169,0:02:33.877
Now, Andy Lipkis is working to help

0:02:33.877,0:02:36.921
L.A. cut infrastructure costs associated[br]with water management

0:02:36.921,0:02:38.838
and urban heat island,

0:02:38.838,0:02:44.086
linking trees, people and technology[br]to create a more livable city.

0:02:44.086,0:02:47.332
All that green stuff that actually[br]naturally absorbs storm water

0:02:47.332,0:02:48.650
also helps cool our cities,

0:02:48.650,0:02:50.187
because, think about it,

0:02:50.187,0:02:54.798
do you really want air-conditioning,[br]or is it a cooler room that you want?

0:02:54.807,0:02:57.953
How you get it you shouldn't make[br]that much of a difference.

0:02:57.953,0:03:02.826
So a few years ago, the L.A. county[br]decided that they needed to spend

0:03:02.826,0:03:08.307
2.5 billion dollars to repair[br]the city's schools

0:03:08.307,0:03:09.945
and Andy and his team discovered

0:03:09.945,0:03:13.262
that they were going to spend[br]200 million of that

0:03:13.310,0:03:15.972
on asphalt to surround[br]the schools themselves

0:03:15.984,0:03:19.190
and by presenting a really strong[br]economic case,

0:03:19.253,0:03:20.961
they convinced the L.A. government

0:03:20.987,0:03:24.692
that replacing that asphalt[br]with trees and other greenery

0:03:24.694,0:03:28.269
meant that the schools themselves[br]would save the system more on energy

0:03:28.269,0:03:31.851
than they spend[br]on horticultural infrastructure.

0:03:31.858,0:03:35.729
So ultimately, 20 million square feet[br]of asphalt was replaced or avoided

0:03:35.739,0:03:39.763
and electrical consumption[br]for air-conditioning went down

0:03:39.769,0:03:43.007
while employment for people to maintain[br]those grounds went up,

0:03:43.007,0:03:45.319
resulting in a net saving to the system,

0:03:45.328,0:03:49.744
but also healthier students[br]and school systems employees as well.

0:03:49.744,0:03:53.289
Now, Judy Bonds[br]is a coal-miner's daughter.

0:03:53.289,0:03:59.091
Her family has 8 generations in a town[br]called Whitesville, West Virginia,

0:03:59.091,0:04:00.819
and if anyone should be clinging

0:04:00.819,0:04:04.805
to the former glory of the coal-mining[br]history, and of a town,

0:04:04.805,0:04:06.072
it should be Judy.

0:04:06.072,0:04:09.279
But the way coal is mined right now[br]is different from the deep mines

0:04:09.279,0:04:12.745
that her father and her father's father[br]would go down into

0:04:12.745,0:04:15.747
and that employed essentially[br]thousands and thousands of people.

0:04:15.747,0:04:20.314
Now 2 dozen men can tear down[br]a mountain in several months

0:04:20.314,0:04:23.168
and only for about[br]a few years' worth of coal.

0:04:23.182,0:04:25.986
That kind of technology is called[br]mountain-top removal.

0:04:25.986,0:04:28.107
It can make a mountain go from this...

0:04:28.107,0:04:30.242
To this, in a few short months.

0:04:30.242,0:04:33.273
Just imagine the air[br]surrounding these places,

0:04:33.273,0:04:35.876
it is filled with the residue[br]of explosives and coal.

0:04:35.939,0:04:37.320
When we visited,

0:04:37.345,0:04:40.249
it gave some of the people with us[br]this strange little cough

0:04:40.353,0:04:42.690
after being only there[br]for just a few hours or so.

0:04:42.690,0:04:44.167
Not just miners, but everybody.

0:04:44.191,0:04:47.510
And Judy saw her landscape being destroyed[br]and her water poisoned,

0:04:47.510,0:04:49.405
and the coal companies, you know,

0:04:49.405,0:04:51.487
just move on after the mountain was empty

0:04:51.531,0:04:53.881
leaving even more unemployment[br]in their wake.

0:04:53.881,0:04:55.941
But she also saw the difference

0:04:55.941,0:04:58.863
in potential wind energy[br]on an intact mountain,

0:04:58.863,0:05:02.485
and one that was reduced in elevation[br]by over 2,000 feet.

0:05:02.485,0:05:04.347
Three years of dirty energy

0:05:04.347,0:05:07.867
with not many jobs or centuries[br]of clean energy

0:05:07.867,0:05:10.362
with the potential[br]for developing expertise

0:05:10.362,0:05:12.516
and improvements in efficiency

0:05:12.516,0:05:13.750
based on technical skills

0:05:13.750,0:05:17.664
and developing local knowledge about how[br]to get the most out of that region's wind.

0:05:17.664,0:05:20.437
She calculated the upfront cost[br]and the payback over time,

0:05:20.437,0:05:22.922
and it is a net plus on so many levels

0:05:22.922,0:05:26.162
for the local, national[br]and global economy.

0:05:26.162,0:05:28.559
It's a longer payback[br]than mountain-top removal,

0:05:28.559,0:05:30.924
but the wind energy[br]actually pays back forever.

0:05:30.924,0:05:34.514
The mountain-top removal pays[br]very little money to the locals

0:05:34.514,0:05:36.384
and it gives them a lot of misery.

0:05:36.384,0:05:38.219
The water is turned into goo,

0:05:38.219,0:05:40.396
most people are still unemployed,

0:05:40.396,0:05:43.924
leading to most of the same kind[br]of social problems that unemployed people

0:05:43.924,0:05:45.919
in inner cities also experience:

0:05:45.919,0:05:47.543
drug and alcohol abuse,

0:05:47.543,0:05:49.425
domestic abuse, teen pregnancy

0:05:49.425,0:05:50.956
and poor health as well.

0:05:50.956,0:05:52.333
Now Judy and I, I must say,

0:05:52.333,0:05:54.148
totally related to each other,

0:05:54.148,0:05:56.093
not just quite in obvious alliance,

0:05:56.093,0:05:57.637
literally, her hometown's called

0:05:57.637,0:05:59.416
Whitesville Pennsylvania...

0:05:59.416,0:06:00.715
(Laughter)

0:06:00.715,0:06:03.867
They ain't competing[br]for the birthplace of hip-hop title

0:06:03.867,0:06:05.512
or anything like that! (Laughter)

0:06:05.512,0:06:08.201
But, the back of my T-shirt,[br]the one that she gave me,

0:06:08.201,0:06:10.756
says, "Save the endangered hillbillies."

0:06:10.781,0:06:13.520
(Laughter)

0:06:13.597,0:06:15.519
Home girls and hillbillies,

0:06:15.544,0:06:19.813
we got it together and totally understand[br]that this is what it is all about.

0:06:21.083,0:06:22.464
But just a few months ago,

0:06:22.481,0:06:25.195
Judy was diagnosed[br]with stage 3 lung cancer.

0:06:25.465,0:06:26.465
And...

0:06:27.465,0:06:28.544
Yeah.

0:06:28.950,0:06:31.560
And it's since moved[br]to her bones and her brain.

0:06:33.258,0:06:37.369
You know, I just find it so bizarre

0:06:37.369,0:06:39.419
that she is suffering from the same thing

0:06:39.467,0:06:42.676
that she tried so hard[br]to protect people from.

0:06:42.676,0:06:47.120
But her dream of coal-river mountain wind[br]is her legacy.

0:06:47.183,0:06:53.690
And she might not get to see[br]that mountain top,

0:06:53.738,0:06:57.668
but rather than writing some kind[br]of another manifesto, or something,

0:06:57.668,0:07:02.126
she is leaving behind a business plan[br]to make it happen.

0:07:02.126,0:07:03.922
That's what my home girl is doing,

0:07:03.922,0:07:05.509
so I'm so proud of that.

0:07:05.534,0:07:11.048
(Applause)

0:07:11.048,0:07:14.144
But these three people[br]don't know each other,

0:07:14.144,0:07:16.683
but they do have an awful lot in common:

0:07:16.715,0:07:18.366
they're all problem-solvers

0:07:18.391,0:07:20.457
and they are just[br]some of the many examples

0:07:20.489,0:07:23.138
that I'm really privileged to see,[br]meet and learn from,

0:07:23.185,0:07:25.270
in the examples of the work that I do now.

0:07:25.270,0:07:27.384
I was really lucky[br]to have them all featured

0:07:27.384,0:07:29.949
on my Corporation[br]for Public [Broadcasting] radio show

0:07:30.012,0:07:31.412
called thepromisedland.org.

0:07:31.412,0:07:33.368
They're all very practical visionaries,

0:07:33.368,0:07:35.824
they take a look at the demands[br]that are out there,

0:07:35.824,0:07:37.974
beauty products,[br]healthy schools, electricity

0:07:37.974,0:07:40.411
and how the money is flowing[br]to meet those demands.

0:07:40.411,0:07:43.715
And when the cheapest solutions[br]involve reducing the number of jobs,

0:07:43.715,0:07:45.466
you're left with unemployed people,

0:07:45.466,0:07:47.071
and those people aren't cheap.

0:07:47.071,0:07:50.799
In fact, they make up some of what I call[br]the most expensive citizens,

0:07:50.799,0:07:52.918
and they include[br]generationally impoverished,

0:07:52.918,0:07:55.124
traumatized vets[br]returning from the Middle-East

0:07:55.124,0:07:57.187
and people coming out of jail,

0:07:57.187,0:07:59.976
and for the veterans in particular,[br]the V.A. said

0:07:59.976,0:08:04.207
that there's a six-fold increase in mental[br]health pharmaceuticals by vets since 2003.

0:08:04.207,0:08:06.449
I think that number is probably[br]going to go up.

0:08:06.449,0:08:08.449
They are not the largest number of people,

0:08:08.449,0:08:10.386
but they are some of the most expensive,

0:08:10.386,0:08:12.798
and in terms of likelihood[br]for domestic abuse,

0:08:12.862,0:08:16.223
drug and alcohol abuse,[br]poor performance by their kids in schools

0:08:16.249,0:08:18.858
and also poor health[br]as a result of stress.

0:08:18.858,0:08:23.435
So these 3 guys all understand[br]how to productively channel dollars

0:08:23.435,0:08:26.565
through our local economies[br]to meet existing market demands,

0:08:26.565,0:08:29.176
reduce the social problems[br]that we have now

0:08:29.176,0:08:31.070
and prevent new problems in the future.

0:08:31.070,0:08:33.370
And there are plenty[br]of other examples like that.

0:08:33.370,0:08:36.490
You know, one problem:[br]waste handling and unemployment.

0:08:36.490,0:08:38.602
Even when we think[br]we talk about recycling,

0:08:38.602,0:08:41.082
lots of recyclable stuff[br]ends up getting incinerated

0:08:41.082,0:08:44.770
or in landfills, and leaving many[br]municipalities' diversion rates...

0:08:44.770,0:08:46.690
They leave much to be recycled.

0:08:46.817,0:08:48.382
And where is this waste handled?

0:08:48.382,0:08:49.787
Usually in poor communities,

0:08:49.787,0:08:53.381
and we know that Eco-industrial business[br]with these kind of business models,

0:08:53.381,0:08:56.050
there is a model in Europe called[br]the Eco-industrial park

0:08:56.050,0:08:59.560
where either the waste of one company[br]is the raw material for another,

0:08:59.560,0:09:03.438
or you use recycled materials to make[br]goods that you can actually use and sell.

0:09:03.438,0:09:05.124
We can recreate these local markets

0:09:05.124,0:09:09.722
and incenses for recycled materials to be[br]used as raw materials for manufacturing.

0:09:09.722,0:09:13.116
And in my hometown, we actually[br]tried to do one of these, in the Bronx,

0:09:13.116,0:09:14.655
but our mayor decided

0:09:14.680,0:09:17.378
that what he wanted to see[br]was a jail on that same spot.

0:09:17.441,0:09:21.012
And we wanted to create hundreds of jobs.

0:09:21.075,0:09:23.967
The city wanted to build a jail,

0:09:23.967,0:09:26.511
but after many years,[br]they abandoned that project.

0:09:26.536,0:09:27.670
Thank Goodness.

0:09:27.987,0:09:29.235
Another problem:

0:09:29.260,0:09:31.181
unhealthy food systems and unemployment.

0:09:31.182,0:09:33.083
Working class and poor urban Americans

0:09:33.083,0:09:36.937
are not benefiting economically[br]from our current food system.

0:09:36.937,0:09:39.865
It relies too much on transportation,[br]chemical fertilization,

0:09:39.865,0:09:43.195
big use of water and also refrigeration.

0:09:43.195,0:09:45.741
Mega-agricultural operations[br]are often responsible

0:09:45.741,0:09:47.646
for poisoning our waterways and our land

0:09:47.670,0:09:51.716
and it produces this incredibly unhealthy[br]product that costs us billions

0:09:51.716,0:09:53.946
in healthcare and lost productivity.

0:09:53.946,0:09:59.707
So we know that urban agriculture[br]is a big buzz topic this time of the year,

0:09:59.707,0:10:04.053
but it's mostly gardening, which has had[br]some value in community building,

0:10:04.053,0:10:07.437
lots of it, but it's not in terms[br]of creating jobs or food production.

0:10:07.437,0:10:08.898
The numbers just aren't there.

0:10:08.898,0:10:11.818
Part of my work now is really[br]laying the groundwork

0:10:11.866,0:10:14.562
toward integrating[br]urban Ag. and rural food systems

0:10:14.562,0:10:17.446
to hasten the demise[br]of the 3000-mile salad

0:10:17.446,0:10:21.498
by creating a national brand[br]of urban grown produce.

0:10:21.498,0:10:25.099
Every city uses[br]regional growing power and augments it

0:10:25.099,0:10:29.297
with indoor growing facilities owned[br]and operated by small growers,

0:10:29.297,0:10:31.251
where now, they're only consumers.

0:10:31.251,0:10:33.308
This can support,[br]you know, seasonal farmers

0:10:33.308,0:10:35.180
around metro-areas who are losing out

0:10:35.180,0:10:38.303
because they really can't meet[br]the year-round demand for produce.

0:10:38.303,0:10:42.414
It is not a competition with rural[br]farmers, it's actually reinforcements.

0:10:42.414,0:10:46.167
And it allies in a really positive[br]and economically viable food system.

0:10:46.167,0:10:49.238
The goal is to meet the cities'[br]institutional demands

0:10:49.238,0:10:53.499
for hospitals, seniors' centers,[br]schools, daycare centers,

0:10:53.499,0:10:56.533
and produce a network[br]of regional jobs as well.

0:10:56.533,0:10:58.597
This is smart infrastructure.

0:10:58.597,0:11:00.458
And how we manage our built environment

0:11:00.458,0:11:04.152
affects the health and well being[br]of people every single day.

0:11:04.185,0:11:06.182
Our municipalities, rural and urban,

0:11:06.182,0:11:08.840
play the operational course[br]of infrastructures,

0:11:08.840,0:11:10.523
things like waste disposal,

0:11:10.523,0:11:13.809
energy demand, as well as social cost[br]of unemployment, drop out rates,

0:11:13.833,0:11:17.912
incarceration rates and the impacts[br]of various public health costs.

0:11:17.912,0:11:20.274
Smart infrastructure can[br]provide cost saving ways

0:11:20.274,0:11:24.657
for municipalities to handle[br]both infrastructure and social needs.

0:11:24.663,0:11:27.181
And we want to shift the systems[br]and open the doors

0:11:27.181,0:11:32.104
for people who were formerly tax-burdens[br]to become part of the tax-base.

0:11:32.113,0:11:33.979
And imagine a national business model

0:11:33.979,0:11:36.568
that creates local jobs[br]and smart infrastructure

0:11:36.568,0:11:40.171
to improve local economic stability.

0:11:40.186,0:11:42.337
So I'm hoping you can see[br]a little theme here.

0:11:42.337,0:11:44.258
These examples indicate a trend.

0:11:44.258,0:11:45.911
I haven't created it,

0:11:45.911,0:11:48.087
and it is not happening by accident.

0:11:48.162,0:11:51.593
I'm noticing that it is happening[br]all over the country and the good news

0:11:51.618,0:11:54.390
is that it's growing[br]and we all need to be invested in it.

0:11:54.414,0:11:58.187
It is an essential pillar[br]to this country's recovery and I call it

0:11:58.187,0:12:00.553
home(town) Security.

0:12:00.553,0:12:03.198
The recession has us reeling and fearful

0:12:03.198,0:12:06.900
but there is something in the air[br]these days that's also very empowering.

0:12:06.900,0:12:12.730
It's a realization[br]that we are the key to our own recovery.

0:12:12.730,0:12:15.975
Now is the time for us to act[br]in our own communities.

0:12:15.975,0:12:18.652
We think local and we act local.

0:12:18.652,0:12:21.711
And when we do that,[br]our neighbors, be they next door

0:12:21.711,0:12:26.637
or in the next or next country,[br]will be just fine.

0:12:26.637,0:12:31.022
You know, that some of the local[br]is the global.

0:12:31.022,0:12:32.360
Home(town) security means

0:12:32.360,0:12:35.655
that we're building our natural[br]defenses, putting people to work,

0:12:35.655,0:12:37.755
restoring our natural systems.

0:12:37.755,0:12:40.615
Home(town) security means[br]creating here at home

0:12:40.615,0:12:43.381
instead of destroying it overseas.

0:12:43.381,0:12:48.014
Tackling social and environmental problems[br]at the same time, with the same solution

0:12:48.014,0:12:53.035
yields great cost saving,[br]wealth generation and national security.

0:12:53.035,0:12:57.230
Many great and inspiring solutions[br]have been generated across America.

0:12:57.234,0:13:01.278
The challenge for us now is to identify[br]and support countless more.

0:13:01.278,0:13:04.810
Home(town) security is about[br]taking care of your own,

0:13:04.810,0:13:09.034
but it's not like the old saying[br]"charity begins at home."

0:13:09.034,0:13:12.780
I recently read a book called[br]"Love Leadership" by John Hope Bryant,

0:13:12.780,0:13:15.560
and it's about leading in a world[br]that really does seem

0:13:15.560,0:13:18.097
to be operating on the basis of fear.

0:13:18.097,0:13:21.167
And reading that book made me[br]reexamine that fear because...

0:13:21.167,0:13:22.977
I need to explain what I mean by that.

0:13:23.001,0:13:27.538
See, my dad was a great man, in many ways.

0:13:27.538,0:13:31.014
He grew up in the segregated South,[br]escaped lynching and all that,

0:13:31.014,0:13:33.284
during some really hard times,

0:13:33.284,0:13:37.434
and he provided a really stable home[br]for me and my siblings

0:13:37.434,0:13:40.200
and a whole bunch of other people[br]that fell on hard times.

0:13:40.200,0:13:43.851
But, like all of us, he had some problems.

0:13:43.876,0:13:45.644
(Laughter)

0:13:45.669,0:13:49.828
And his was gambling, compulsively.

0:13:49.907,0:13:53.224
To him, that phrase[br]"charity begins at home"

0:13:53.249,0:13:56.027
meant that my payday, or someone else's,

0:13:56.058,0:13:58.369
would just happen to coincide[br]with his lucky day.

0:13:58.369,0:14:00.252
So you know, you need to help him out.

0:14:00.277,0:14:02.085
And sometimes I would loan him money,

0:14:02.086,0:14:04.860
from my after-school or summer jobs,

0:14:04.860,0:14:07.949
and he always had the great intention[br]of paying me back,

0:14:07.949,0:14:11.217
with interest, of course, you know,[br]after he hit it big...

0:14:11.217,0:14:12.574
And he did sometimes.

0:14:12.574,0:14:15.074
We were at a racetrack in Los Angeles,

0:14:15.099,0:14:16.305
one reason to love L.A.,

0:14:16.330,0:14:17.751
back in the 1940s,

0:14:17.752,0:14:21.148
he made 15,000 dollars cash and bought[br]the house that I grew up in.

0:14:21.148,0:14:23.580
So I'm not that unhappy about that.

0:14:23.580,0:14:28.196
But, listen, I did feel obligated to him.

0:14:28.913,0:14:30.199
Then, I grew up.

0:14:30.224,0:14:31.525
And I'm a grown woman now

0:14:31.557,0:14:33.749
and I have learned a few things[br]along the way.

0:14:33.749,0:14:39.622
To me, charity often is just about[br]giving because you're supposed to.

0:14:39.685,0:14:42.621
Or because it's what you've always done,

0:14:42.621,0:14:45.395
or it's about giving until it hurts.

0:14:45.395,0:14:47.486
I'm about providing the means to build

0:14:47.486,0:14:51.239
something that will grow and intensify[br]its original investment.

0:14:51.239,0:14:54.270
And not just require[br]greater giving next year.

0:14:54.334,0:14:56.445
Not trying to feed the habit.

0:14:56.445,0:14:58.446
I spent some years, you know,

0:14:58.446,0:15:01.070
watching how good intentions[br]for community empowerment

0:15:01.070,0:15:06.146
that were supposed to be there to support[br]the community and empower it

0:15:06.146,0:15:10.447
left people in the same, if not worse,[br]position that they were in before.

0:15:10.542,0:15:15.566
And over the past 20 years, we've spent[br]record amounts of philanthropic dollars

0:15:15.566,0:15:18.264
on social problems,[br]yet educational outcomes,

0:15:18.264,0:15:20.934
malnutrition, incarceration, obesity,

0:15:20.934,0:15:24.246
diabetes, income disparity,[br]they've all gone up,

0:15:24.246,0:15:26.341
with some exceptions,

0:15:26.366,0:15:30.244
in particular infant mortality[br]among people in poverty.

0:15:30.244,0:15:34.296
But you know, what a great world[br]we're bringing them into as well.

0:15:34.296,0:15:37.471
And I know a little bit about[br]these issues because for many years,

0:15:37.471,0:15:41.668
I spent a long time[br]in the non-profit industrial complex.

0:15:41.668,0:15:46.541
And I'm a recovering executive director,[br]two years clean, but...

0:15:46.541,0:15:47.739
(Laughter)

0:15:47.739,0:15:51.317
During that time, I realized that it was[br]about projects and developing them

0:15:51.317,0:15:55.774
on the local level that really was going[br]to do the right thing for our communities.

0:15:55.774,0:15:59.131
I really did struggle[br]for financial support.

0:15:59.131,0:16:02.253
The greater our success, the less money[br]came in from foundations,

0:16:02.253,0:16:05.538
and I tell you, being on the TED stage[br]and wining the MacArthur

0:16:05.538,0:16:09.289
in the same exact year gave everyone[br]the impression that I had arrived.

0:16:09.300,0:16:12.978
By the time I moved on,[br]I was actually covering

0:16:12.978,0:16:17.205
a third of my agency's budget deficit[br]with speaking fees,

0:16:17.205,0:16:19.153
and I think because earlier on, frankly,

0:16:19.153,0:16:21.772
my programs were just a little bit[br]ahead of their time.

0:16:21.772,0:16:23.918
But since then, the park[br]that was just a dump

0:16:23.918,0:16:26.253
and was featured at the TED 2006 talk,

0:16:26.253,0:16:29.301
became this little thing...

0:16:29.326,0:16:32.967
But I did in fact[br]get married in it, over here...

0:16:33.062,0:16:35.770
There goes my dog who led me[br]to the park at my wedding...

0:16:35.770,0:16:36.770
(Laughter)

0:16:39.111,0:16:40.413
The South Bronx Greenway

0:16:40.438,0:16:44.215
was also just a drawing on the stage[br]back in 2006.

0:16:44.295,0:16:48.251
Since then, we got 50[br]million dollars in stimulus package money

0:16:48.251,0:16:50.256
that come and get here, and we love this,

0:16:50.280,0:16:51.947
because I love construction now,

0:16:51.972,0:16:54.433
because we're watching[br]these things actually happen.

0:16:54.434,0:16:57.376
So I want everyone to understand[br]the critical importance

0:16:57.376,0:17:00.460
of shifting charity into enterprise.

0:17:00.460,0:17:04.223
I started my firm to help communities[br]across the country

0:17:04.223,0:17:06.887
realize their own potential[br]to improve everything

0:17:06.887,0:17:09.550
about the quality of life[br]for their people.

0:17:09.550,0:17:12.213
Home(town) security is next[br]on my to-do list.

0:17:12.213,0:17:14.163
What we need are people

0:17:14.163,0:17:17.742
who see the value in investing[br]in these types of local enterprises,

0:17:17.742,0:17:19.471
who are partnered with folks like me

0:17:19.471,0:17:23.526
to identify the growth trends[br]in climate adaptation

0:17:23.526,0:17:28.050
as well as understand the growing[br]social cost of business as usual.

0:17:28.054,0:17:31.424
We need to work[br]together to embrace and repair our land,

0:17:31.424,0:17:35.874
repair our power systems[br]and repair ourselves.

0:17:35.874,0:17:41.827
It's time to stop building the shopping[br]malls, the prisons, the stadiums,

0:17:41.837,0:17:45.817
and other tributes[br]to all of our collective failures.

0:17:45.817,0:17:51.147
It is time that we start building living[br]monuments to hope and possibility.

0:17:51.147,0:17:52.381
Thank you very much.

0:17:52.406,0:17:54.732
(Applause)