Jennifer
Anastasoff
Jennifer is the CEO of BuildingBlocks
International (BBI), a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization. BBI works
with multinational corporations to develop what Business Week calls a corporate
"Peace Corps." During a corporate service fellowship, employees work from four
weeks to a year applying their professional skills to community-based
organizations around the world. BBI has worked with top companies including
Pfizer, UPS and Cisco. We cornered Jennifer one Tuesday between
meetings.
Why do you do what you do?
I can't help it. I haven't figured out a better way to ensure
children have the chance to survive and thrive. Hundreds of thousands of
nonprofits are trying to support children with limited funds and limited
personnel. Of the 90 million people that work for multinational corporations,
many are searching for more than just a paycheck; they are searching for
significance. Skilled corporate volunteers and successful, albeit struggling,
nonprofits are a match made in heaven.
Was there an event that turned you
into a philanthropist?
In the 6th grade I
found an old history book with haunting pictures of people living during the
Depression. Families, children, mothers just stared through the camera, looking
for something that just wasn't there. We only have to look to the
Growing up, were you involved
with philanthropy?
Does selling candy
to raise money for your school count? I sold some serious candy.
How do you balance family
and philanthropy?
I don't. Family
comes first. Everything else is focused on leaving the world a bit better,
whether I'm working with corporations to help them "invest" their human capital,
or simply volunteering my time.
Which philanthropists do you
admire?
I admire a philanthropist who bring his or her
business hat to the boardroom table, who respects seasoned social entrepreneurs
and who provides the funding to support both people and ideas. Jeffrey Skoll and
Pierre Omidyar come to mind immediately.
Would you rather give time or
money to a cause?
In my mind it is
often the same thing. Only in the nonprofit sector do people assume that no
overhead—or spending absolutely no money on a strong staff and a sustainable
organization—is a good thing. Volunteerism is never really free.
What was the last nonprofit event
you attended?
Full Circle Fund's
Spring Retreat! The Full Circle Fund is a great group of young philanthropists
who are using their minds and their pocketbooks to transform education in
If you could change only one thing
about the world, what would it be?
I'd
start by eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. An estimated 2.7 billion people
this year are expected to be living on less than $2 a day.
If you could change only one thing
about yourself, what would it be?
I
would like to be a lounge singer on the side.
If you found ten dollars on the street,
what would you do with it?
I'd do a
little dance, grab lunch at Naan & Curry and leave a big tip.