Mutually beneficial alliances between nonprofits and private-sector companies must truly create value for both sides. During this session of Bridging the Gap, the Stanford 2005 Net Impact Conference, Kriss Deiglmeier, executive director at the Center for Social Innovation at Stanford asked two notoriously successful partners to provide insights on how to set up long-lasting nonprofit/for-profit partnerships for social impact.
Kyle Zimmer, president and cofounder of First Book, a national nonprofit focused on literacy, describes how First Book has formed substantive partnerships with dozens of major companies. Kathy Franklin, of Disney Worldwide Outreach, joins her to explain how Disney views its relationship with First Book as a long-term strategic engagement.
Don’t miss the opportunity to hear from a recent grand-prize winner of the Goldman Sachs/Yale School of Management Business Plan Competition!
Kathy Franklin joined The Walt Disney Company in 1998 and currently serves as vice president of Marketing, Communications, and Synergy for Disney Worldwide Outreach, the corporate division that oversees Disney’s charitable programs. Franklin brings to her position a diverse background in finance, education, and design. Initially a financial analyst with the Prudential Investment Corporation, she became an English teacher and coach and was awarded the prestigious Klingenstein Foundation Summer Institute Fellowship. Franklin then joined The Jack Morton Company, working on themed entertainment concepts. Franklin received her AB in English from Princeton University cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa and received her MA in education from Columbia University Teachers College.
Throughout her career, Kyle Zimmer has worked at the intersection of policy, business, and social issues. In 1992, Zimmer served in the presidential campaign of Walter Mondale and subsequently entered legal practice where she represented a wide spectrum of clients. She later became the Director of State Affairs for an innovative alliance between major consumer organizations and insurance companies.
Zimmer and two colleagues founded First Book in 1992, and three years later she began serving full- time as president. Under her leadership, First Book has become one of the most celebrated organizations of the social sector. In 2003, Forbes magazine named First Book one of 10 "Gold Star" charities, and for two consecutive years First Book has been chosen as a winner of the Fast Company magazine Social Capitalist Award for using entrepreneurial genius to solve global issues. In 2004, First Book received a Gold Reggie Award from the Promotional Marketing Association of America and a Gold Halo Award from the Cause Marketing Forum for its innovative cause-based marketing campaigns. In addition, First Book has successfully launched several new subsidiaries, including the First Book National Book Bank, First Artists, and the First Book Marketplace.
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