Video summary
Jobs First NYC, an organization dedicated to creating economic opportunity and mobility for young people in New York and beyond, recently received a transformative $4 million unrestricted gift from MacKenzie Scott. Founded twenty years ago to address youth unemployment, the nonprofit has long focused on replacing fragmented systems with collaboration across cities and regions. The arrival of this significant funding came through an open call by Yield Giving, where Jobs First was selected after a rigorous due diligence process that included confidential interviews to assess their mission alignment and capacity. Notably, the organization was not informed of the specific donor's identity until later in the process, emphasizing the focus on the work rather than the source of the capital.
Upon receiving the news, Marjorie Parker, CEO and President of Jobs First, initially felt a sense of disbelief but quickly recognized the profound implications of an unrestricted gift. Unlike many grants that come with strict stipulations, this funding allowed the organization complete flexibility to address its most critical needs without external constraints. The leadership team, including the board chair who had supported the organization for years, engaged in extensive internal deliberations to determine how best to utilize these resources. They decided to create a designated fund within the institution to strategically allocate the money across four key areas: reinvesting in long-standing partners, strengthening internal operations, supporting program expansion into new regions like Pennsylvania and Nevada, and developing a comprehensive five-year strategic growth plan.
The impact of this gift extended beyond immediate financial relief, fundamentally altering the organization's trajectory and its relationship with other funders. While there was some initial concern that large donors might feel less compelled to contribute given the influx of new capital, the reality proved different; the announcement actually attracted new investors and communities eager to collaborate. The organization learned to be strategic about accepting new opportunities while maintaining existing relationships, ensuring that the gift did not signal a lack of need but rather an enhanced capacity to do more good. By sharing their plans transparently with partners and stakeholders, Jobs First maintained trust and demonstrated that sustained investment is still necessary for long-term impact, effectively turning a one-time windfall into a catalyst for broader national expansion.
Ultimately, Marjorie Parker shared valuable lessons for other nonprofit leaders who might face similar transformational moments, emphasizing the importance of internal due diligence before accepting such gifts. She advised organizations to hold candid conversations with their boards and staff to ensure everyone understands how the resources will be used and to communicate these plans clearly to avoid confusion among donors. A key takeaway was the necessity of keeping investors in the loop to foster a culture of continued support, as a single large gift is rarely enough to solve systemic issues like youth unemployment. By treating the $4 million as a tool for strategic growth rather than a final solution, Jobs First has positioned itself to scale its proven model to serve more communities across the country, proving that wise stewardship can amplify an organization's reach and effectiveness significantly.
Read the full video transcript
Hey, welcome back everybody. It's
another episode of the nonprofit show. I
was kind of teasing our guest Marjorie
Parker in the green room that she's what
we call a big get and it's really true
because I have been so excited to
interview her because she is one of the
organizations that was called out and
recognized by McKenzie Scott for a major
major investment. And so to hear from
somebody who's actually gone through
this process, Marjorie, thank you. This
is really exciting for us on the
nonprofit show.
>> Julie, thank you for having me. It's
exciting to be here and to share our
story with you.
>> Well, I really, you know, I gotta say,
first off, I applaud you for being
willing to share with us what the
journey has been. I think a lot of times
organizations that um get big gifts and
those transformational gifts, sometimes
they're a little hesitant to talk about
it, right? And so this is super cool for
us. Um, you know what's super cool for
us is we have these amazing partners
that join with us each and every day on
the nonprofit show and they include
Bloomerang, American Nonprofit Academy,
Staffing Boutique, JMT Consulting, Third
Sector Company, your part-time
controller, and Martis, our newest
member of the sponsorship family. Um,
really excited to welcome Marjorie here.
I'm Julia C. Patrick, CEO of the
American Nonprofit Academy. Uh Marjorie
is is CEO and president of Jobs First um
in New York. Okay, Marjorie,
I want to acknowledge you uh living and
working in New York and serving in New
York. This has been a profound week, the
the 25th anniversary of 911. Um and so I
just wanted to acknowledge that first.
But explain to us what Jobs First does
and and what your calling is to serve in
in this special capacity as CEO.
>> Um thank you Julia and and for
recognizing the 25th anniversary of 911
um here in New York. We continue to um
support the families who continue to be
impacted um by this strategy. I thank
you for inviting me to this conversation
again. And at United at Josh, we focus
on economic opportunity and mobility for
young people and the communities where
they live. And we provide infrastructure
to for cities, the regions and local
communities to align their work, their
education, and their community based
systems as we work to replace
fragmentation with collaboration. So
we've been doing this for 20 years,
Julia. This mark our 20th anniversary
and we were founded by a group of
philanthropists here in New York City in
response to a crisis of youth
unemployment that existed here at the
time. Now we are across the country
working in Pennsylvania and and and
southern Nevada um responding to the
needs in those communities as well.
>> Wow. You know, it's got to be so
different to be looking at the jobs
marketplace over the course of 20 years.
I mean, just the technology alone and
what the demands are in the workforce.
Um, wow. I've got to believe that you're
always looking at change, change,
change, change, right?
>> Yeah. You know, there are five million
young Americans who are out of school.
These are young people between the ages
of 18 and 24. There's probably last time
you look at the data maybe about a
million of them that are undermployed.
Think about this, Julia. They're part of
America's future workforce. And to your
point about AI and the change changing
labor market, it makes it the urgency
even greater to create pathways to
connect these young people to education
and employment opportunities. This they
they are the future of America's
workforce. And this is why we continue
to exist and this is why we continue to
do the work that we do.
>> So just from this few moments that we've
had with you, I can see why outside
philanthropists um to your community and
understanding what you're doing would be
looking at your organization so closely
and understanding that you have um a
model that might be able to be
replicated. So, let's talk about this
about your relation your relationship to
um yield giving and and was there a
relationship? I mean, was this like I I
said a call and or email in the middle
of the night or [laughter]
how did that come,
you know, I get asked this question all
the time and when I explain it to folks
sometimes they just look at me in
disbelief. You know, we Yield Giving
puts out a, you know, they put out a
call. They were going to do a a million
dollar investment to a few organization
to an open call. We were in the middle,
we in the we looked at that, we were in
the middle of we're going to put an
application in for this um competition.
when we got the call and as in we got
the call out the blue, we got a message
and I still have it um that says you
know we have an investor that is
interested in having a conversation with
you about supporting your work. That was
it. Uh, and
that it that was the message. And so we,
you know, at first it was I get a lot of
crazy messages to be clear. [laughter] I
get random calls and emails all the
time. But when I looked at where it came
from, um, I said, "This looks serious."
And so I and and can I tell you
something interesting? The email had
come in and I missed it. [gasps]
>> So it was followed up by a phone call.
Oh, Marjorie.
I was I was tra I was traveling, I
believe. And so when I called back,
um, you know, there were a couple of
people on the other end of the video
call and they had clearly done their
homework about jobs first. It was
evident in the rigor of the questions.
Um, you know, there were questions
about, you know, who you're willing to
take support from, cuz there were kind
of testing to see where you were. Um, I
had a really random question
um
that I gave a really silly answer to, to
tell you the truth, but I'm not going to
repeat the question, but up in
reflection, I knew it was a test
[laughter]
question. Um and so um after some
significant due diligence, they um they
had some follow-up questions and then
they
um told me that they were going to give
us $4 million
and I
>> I I kept and I and then they told us
where it was coming from.
>> Okay. So, just to be clear, you're going
through this
interview process and you have no idea
who the funer is or that that
philanthropic
>> no idea because they do not tell you
right away. They they have a lot of
questions for you and they're trying to
assess where you are and how you view
your investment and who's investing and
how you do um view how other people
invest or who those other people are
investing. So, you know, it could be,
you know, would you take money from this
kind of
institution or person? Um, as they try
to figure out whether or not you would
take money from their person. So, they
had some questions around that.
>> Wow. So, walk us through what's the time
frame on this like how Okay. Okay.
[laughter]
Um,
it
took maybe two months from the first
conversation.
>> Wow.
>> Maybe two months from the first
conversation. It was pretty it was
pretty quick because once once they
finished their background check um they
they then tell you that you were getting
this uh reward. then he switches over to
the company that manages that and you
have that conversation
>> um with those folks about you know where
do you or two questions do you want to
do the lump sum so you could take your
$4 million at once or do you want to
take it over a period of time
>> interesting
option of all at once or over a period
of time
>> wow okay I I have I had not I had not
heard that um makes sense and I I love
that idea. Let's talk about the
implications of this like and I want to
know like did you share that you were
going through this or did you talk to
your board or your seuite like how were
you asked to keep this secret or what
was kind of the behind the scenes?
we were asked
um not to share it
>> with anyone. So that was important.
>> Okay.
>> Um because we had to go through the
process. So it was highly confidential.
And then um I once I
was told about the resources then I uh
talk to my board chair because he in
many ways you know I felt like he's been
on this leadership journey with me um as
a leader and has been so supportive all
along the way when I assume leadership
here that uh he was the first person I
wanted to tell because I felt that this
was also a reflection of all the work he
had put in as the board chair over many
many years as he um supported the growth
of the institution. So he was the first
person I talked to.
>> So this is just [laughter] so I have so
many questions for you. This is such a
big big topic. Um
did this give you stress? Were you like,
"Oh my gosh, I know what I I know what I
have to do every day and I'm going
through the journey and I'm doing my
thing and then all of a sudden this is a
huge pivot." Um, and sometimes we have
these pivots that come to us and they
end up becoming really stressful because
it's new and it's it's an enormous
input. How did that work for you? Um,
you know, Julia, I didn't feel stressed.
What I felt was that an unrestricted
capsule
of this size is fundamentally about
trust.
>> So in that moment, you know, my
shoulders went down a little bit because
here was you have done good work.
>> You know your area of work well. You
know your organization needs. use the
capital where it can have the greatest
impact. Because in that conversation
when I asked about were there any
restriction
on the money and they said it was
unrestricted meaning that you can spend
this money any way that you want. Now I
have to tell you that was a moment of
complete disbelief. That was a shocker
in many ways.
>> It was, oh, you're getting four million,
which is exciting,
>> but that like four million came without
these guards and these restrictions on
it
>> was that's what stopped me for a moment.
It was it was in that moment of I can do
with this money what we need to do as an
institution without being told what we
need to do with it. Um, and so I was
really excited about that. And so it was
a validation
of the work. Um, and we felt that kind
of flexibility around
um, resources would strengthen the
organization
um, would allow us to invest in the long
term and help us to think differently
about the growth. And so those were the
things that were going through my mind
as I was thinking about the
organization, our partners, our needs
and what we need to do. And so yeah, it
was it that's in that moment that's what
was happening. Well, it's such a
profound thing because I would imagine
like many organizations,
you have your scenario planning, you
have your strategic planning, you have
your programs mapped out, you have all
these things and then
like this lands in your lap and it is so
profound to shift. I mean, did you did
you find that you had to like shift your
mindset and shift what some of your
programming was?
>> Well, you know, um well, first there was
[laughter] well, I had to uh there was
the board conversation
about
how do we spend the money,
>> right?
and my board is fantastic
and says
uh you know we've never gotten this kind
of investment um we should think
intentionally about how we want to spend
it. Um and from the team, the
operational team it was okay we need to
make sure our partners who have worked
with us for 20 years um now for example
not four years at time that they all
they get some of this money or we have
to make sure that we look at their
internal capacity and what we need to
happen here. Um and then
because we've been talking about how do
we grow the capacity for work and
respond to other regions that have been
reaching out to us to do work. How does
this capital which is flexible? We can
um unlock our strategic capacity um to
do more mission critical work. How can
this help us to do that? So those were
the things we were thinking about. How
do we support our partners? How do we um
grow our own capacity internally? And
how do we respond to um communities and
regions who have been asking us for
years come do work with us? Here we have
some capital that is flexible that we we
would be able to use to begin to look at
how we do that work. So that's what we
were thinking and the board of course
was thinking how do we make this uh um
you know a specialized fund at the
institution and the board really went
into a process of how do we manage a $4
million gift and make sure that we don't
spend it all um that we spend on the
things we need to spend it on and that
we grow some of it
>> and that is strategy that we took. Um, I
got to ask you, how long did it take for
you, your team, and your board to make
these decisions?
[laughter]
>> Um, a while, I think, because we had to
contemplate
once once we got the gift in September.
Right. We had a board meeting in the
following October
>> and it was just you know do we make this
a designated fund inside the
organization which we which we decided
to do so that we can split it up across
interest areas and do we announce it
>> right?
>> How do we announce it? Do we tell our
partners first? Do we tell our investors
first or do we not announce it?
>> Right? So that goes to my next question
because I am fascinated by this this
aspect of how donors and partners and
even your community um looks at this
like did people just say, "Oh, okay. I
don't need to give to them because
they're set like a jet and we they're
they're good to go. I can I can move my
funding somewhere else." Or did it
anoint you in a way that other big
funders came forward and said, you know,
if McKenzie Scott and her team is has
anointed you with this major gift, we
feel more confident
to invest in you and as well. It seems
to me, Marjorie, it can go both
directions.
>> I think so. I mean, I've talked to folks
who felt it that has gone both
directions. You know, a transformational
gift can create the impression that an
organization no longer needs investment.
>> Growth actually requires sustained
capital. And I'm not talking about
scaling and going national, but growing
your work. And so for jobs first, you
know, we had a proven we have a proven
record of producing good results. We
have strong trust in our communities. We
have strong partnership with our
philanthropy and private sector
partners. And so the the capacity to put
flexible capital at work um for them was
jobs will do more of what it does well.
Now it has the capacity to do more. it
did attract um conversation and has
attracted conversations with with um
investors who who did not know about us.
So they saw those announcement. Uh there
was an investor from Rhode Island for
example that that um saw that
announcement. Folks reached out to us as
a result of that announcement. They want
some folks wanted to learn more about
the work we're doing and others were um
asking whether the work we're doing
could be something um that we could do
in their communities.
>> And so we did get those kind of call. We
were worried a little bit about the
impact of philanthropy perceiving us
having resources so that they don't have
to give and I would not sit on this call
and says someone didn't put me off to
the next year. Um I had a a a
philanthropist that told me you have a
lot of money so I'm going to skip this
year and give you money next year. And I
did get the money the following year. I
I you know and rightfully I did have the
money and you know the you know they
wanted to do something a little bit
different and I've been investing for a
long time. So we did get pushed to you
know in our in our in one of our
relationship to another year but that
that investor is still investing. So we
we haven't lost investors because of the
investment, but we've attracted
investors because of the investment. And
we've attracted new communities that are
that saw that announcement that we made,
look more closely at our work and ask us
to come and work with them in their
communities.
>> Right. So that kind of changes the
trajectory of your leadership, right?
where all of a sudden, I mean, you're
well known for your work and what you're
doing and your successes in two decades,
but then to get new calls because of
this success, it had to be somewhat and
it has to be, I'm saying now, somewhat
exhausting to be put into new
opportunities that you maybe your
organization hadn't even planned.
>> Yeah. And so, you know, we had to be
strategic about what we said yes to and
what we said no to. Um, one thing that
the money allowed us to do is to engage
in a strategic plan and we build a
strategic new strategic plan using some
of those resources. as we begin to think
about what communities could benefit
from the type of work that Jousters has
done in New York. um what communities in
the Northeast or in you know in the
Midwest or you know out in the West
Coast where and so we took some of those
resources to help us understand
yes this allow us to expand the work
that we're doing to with the partners
who have been asking us to come but are
those places the right ones for us to do
our work and so we you did use some of
that resource to build out a new
strategic plan and new five-year plan
for growth strategy for the work ahead.
And that plan really um serve as a
foundation for a lot of the expansion
work that we're doing now in
northeastern Pennsylvania and in
southern Nevada. uh that that plan help
us to better understand what places are
better places for us to do our work.
Where are we going to have the most
impact? Where are the most the most
young people are not connected to
opportunities and communities that can
benefit from our experience and our
partnership that we bring to their
communities. So that's that's how the
the Mackenzis Scott uh resources also
help to transform how we um do our work
and where we're doing our work.
>> It's absolutely fascinating. We don't
have a lot of time left and I want to
get I have so again Marjorie I have so
many questions. [laughter] Um, one of my
thoughts is
how have you communicated
your experience to other leaders? Like
I'm kind of thinking about wisdom
transfer, right? I mean, this [snorts]
has been a journey that you've been on.
You're probably learning or observing
things all the time. What are some of
those lessons that we should take? And
I'm not just saying because we're
fortunate enough to get a
transformational gift, but just what are
some other kind of things that you've
learned that maybe you wouldn't have if
you hadn't received such a big gift?
>> Um I do think that the you know one
thing that happened [laughter] at the
gift Julia is I get a lot of calls from
our partners and colleagues. How did it
happen? To your first question. Right.
>> And then in the the sub and can you can
you connect me which you can't Juliet
you just the nature but
>> what I would recommend is that when you
do get that gift that you have the
internal dil due diligence conversation
with your board with your executive
leadership with your staff. Um we had a
conversation with all the staff, right?
We brought them together. We share um
the news and we had a real conversation
about that and so we kept the staff
really a breast of how we were going to
spend the resources. So they knew what
we plan to do with it. So they also knew
how to talk about what our institution
is doing with this kind of gap. That's
really important. Second thing, think
about and think internally what is it
that you need to do? What is it that you
can do? What is it that you should be
doing now that you have those resources?
Um you you you simply have to do that
first. We are an intermediary. We you
know we aggregate and redistribute
resources. So of course the
redistribution was a big part of our
thinking. But if you're a direct service
nonprofit,
um that's about your direct service
work. So it's going to be about your
internal operation, your programs that
you are investing in and delivering,
your community that you work in. How are
you thinking about investment and it's
connection to those things, your
operation, your programs, your
community? That that's a a big part of
what needs to happen. And then finally,
try to keep your investors in the loop
and in the conversation so that they're
aware that they have to continue
investing and that this one-time gift is
not the only investment you will need to
continue to do your work.
>> Yeah, I love that you said that because
um that phrase, what you just said, it
it still invites everybody back in to to
keep supporting you and funding you. And
um I think that's really wise. I fear
sometimes for our sector when there's
such an excitement over these massive
gifts that
it doesn't mean that the problem goes
away, right? We still have to keep our
communities working with us and
investing with us in in in many
different ways. And so it's really
interesting to hear you, you know, talk
about this. My last question to you,
Marjorie, is what type of followup or
reporting
were you asked to do or did you offer to
demonstrate your stewardship?
>> We offered
and they said there is no need to follow
up.
So what we will because there's no need
to follow up what we've done is to share
out um for partners in our EUs and our
communication how we plan to spend the
money and that's what we did. We shared
with us here are the four ways we plan
to spend the money. We're going to
reinvest our partners. We're going to
focus on our internal operation. We're
going to support expansion for work.
we're building a new strategic um plan.
So we we share with our partners how we
plan to spend the money and in what
percentage how we were dividing the
money up across our our initiatives.
>> So that's what we did and that's all we
could do. We keep track of the work that
we're doing as a result of the
investment and if um McKenzie Scott and
her team should ever ask about how we
did with the money they gave us, we'll
have a ready report for them and we're
happy to welcome them back to do a
second round of investment. um we now
have more communities across the country
that is benefiting from the work they
looked at um and the work that they
invested in um and that investment is
allowing us to do the work in other
places.
>> Wow. Well, I think this has been a
riveting conversation and um you know,
again, Marjorie, I really applaud you
for coming on the nonprofit show and
speaking about this because a lot of
organizations that are blessed to have
these transformational gifts, they don't
want to talk about it. They want to kind
of keep it a little quiet or secretive.
And so, good for you for sharing your
wisdom and your knowledge. Um really
really exciting to have welcomed
Marjorie Park today on the nonprofit
show. She's the CEO and dynamic
president of Jobs First and you can
learn more about Marjorie and her team's
work at jobsfirstennyc.org.
Um what an amazing conversation. Um, I
really I hope that McKenzie Scott and
and her team of adviserss keep
monitoring you and seeing what you're
doing and come back um at some point
because it's such an exciting thing to
see how you've stewarded this this gift
and and the work that you continue to do
is very very inspirational. Um,
Marjorie, thank you so much.
>> Thank you Jillian. Really appreciate
this conversation.
>> It's been a lot of fun. Hey, you know,
we have amazing partners that come on
and join us each and every day. And they
include Bloomerang, American Nonprofit
Academy, Staffing Boutique, JMT
Consulting, Third Sector Company, your
part-time controller, and Martis, the
newest member of our sponsorship family.
Um, it's really been an amazing journey
for so many of us to hear about this and
aspire to a transformational gift. And
so, um, I think there have been a lot of
lessons learned today and I assume they
will continue to flow. So, thank you so
much, uh, Marjorie for that. As we end
each and every episode of the nonprofit
show, we leave with this message. And
boy, it means something different today,
even though we've been saying it every
day for seven years, but the message
goes like this. To stay well so you can
do well. Thank
>> [music]