One of our rock star pro bono consultants sent us this adorable story of how donating professional skills has made her into a positive role model for her daughter. Julie Rogers is a business partner at an independent human resources consulting firm and a pro bono account director for the Taproot Foundation. She is currently working on a Strategic Staff Development Service Grant with Community Gatepath , a California-based nonprofit organization dedicated to offering services to developmentally disabled children and adults. Looking for a way to inspire your own kids? Check out the book Mommy and Daddy Do It Pro Bono by Taproot president Aaron Hurst!
The other evening, my three-year-old daughter Talula was industriously packing up a bunch of her toys into a bag. When I asked her what she was doing, Talula told me she was preparing for a meeting. I asked what kind of meeting she was planning to attend, and she responded very seriously, “It’s a pro bono meeting.” I told her I was very proud of her for doing pro bono work and volunteering her time to help someone who needed it. She asked me if when she grew up we could do pro bono together. I assured her that we wouldn’t have to wait until she grows up.
Interestingly, one of the handful of things I wanted to accomplish out of my work with the Taproot Foundation and my Service Grant with Community Gatepath was to model for my daughter the importance of being responsible for the people in our community and taking whatever action we could to make other people’s lives better. We’ve had many talks about the pro bono work I’m doing, so it was nice to see it coming back at me unprompted, and in a context she understood. Mission accomplished–or at least started!
