Carolyn Hunter
The T. A. Barron Podcast.

T. A. Barron
Environmental issues really define our times, whether it’s through the lens of biodiversity loss or climate change or our need for nature. Yet only a small portion, I think it’s less than 3% of all charitable donations, go into helping environmental causes. My guest today, Kate Williams, is the CEO of a great organization that is called 1% for the Planet, based in Vermont, and she is on a mission to change that. I’m thrilled to welcome you, Kate, to Colorado for this conversation. Would you please start by describing your work and the work of 1% for the Planet?

Kate Williams
Yeah, and I’m so happy to be here too. So thank you for having me into this conversation. So I am the CEO of 1% for the Planet, and so my work is to lead this global movement and really that is to serve the work of our model and mission. And we exist to create a way in which companies, primarily, can make a commitment to giving their 1%, as our name suggests, to environmental nonprofits. And we try to keep that as relationship focused as possible so we do not take all the money in ourselves. We work with members who we bring in, member companies, to identify the nonprofits that they want to give to. And we often are providing a lot of strategic advice on how to do that based on the goals of the company. And then they give directly and have that great opportunity to form a relationship with their nonprofit partners so that then a lot of the good further stuff beyond the check can happen.

T. A. Barron
I love that. So there’s a real relationship there.

Kate Williams
Absolutely. And it’s really that relationship piece is so core to our model, and we see it time and again because we have the knowledge about the nonprofits and about bringing in the members, but then when they get together around their shared goals, then so many more things happen beyond what we could facilitate. And so it’s just amazing to see and feel and to know that that work is happening.

T. A. Barron
I love the power of that and the ripples that flow out of that.

Kate Williams
Yes. Just on the ripples point, what we’ve been talking about lately, is our ROI, is ripples of impact.

T. A. Barron
I love it. I love it. That’s so different from the quarterly measures of what is my stock trading at five minutes from now or the next quarterly earnings statement. I’m delighted about that. Now, a lot of your organizations, both the donors and the recipients, are global.

Kate Williams
Yes, exactly. We’re now 53% international members and nonprofits, and pretty much the members and nonprofits map to each other.

T. A. Barron
So I’d like to now ask you the same question I always love to ask. Thoughtful, caring, effective leaders like Carter Roberts, who runs the World Wildlife Fund, or Rue Mapp, who founded and runs Outdoor Afro who have been interviewed on this podcast. Let me ask you, Kate, what are the greatest opportunities and the biggest challenges?

Kate Williams
Well, you kicked it off by describing that 3% of total philanthropy going to the environment. And that is the problem that we’re trying to solve. We really believe in the power of philanthropy to drive change and the need for it to be a lot more than 3% for the planet.

T. A. Barron
How do you stay true to those core values even as you face challenges that weren’t even imaginable 20 years ago?

Kate Williams
We do, as an organization, have core values that every week our staff connects to. We have a weekly meeting where every staff member reflects on how they’re going to bring the core values to life. So our four values are: think big, act now; celebrate commitment; unleash passion every day; and stronger together. And so we really do bring those as our filter for how we show up with each other, how we show up with our members, and in certain sort of pinch situations to decide how to navigate a situation.

T. A. Barron
In this moment of so many existential crises, what scares you the most? What wakes you up in the night and makes you worry deeply about the challenges facing our planet and your children and their children and the world that we want to inhabit?

Kate Williams
I think what I worry most about is people getting hopeless and disconnected and not seeing the things that they would want to fight for. So when I see a lot of time on screens, which sometimes can be a great connection to wonder, so I’m not like 100% down on screens, but when individuals or groups of people sort of lose our ability to see that we still get to create the world we want to live in, even if it’s under severe threat. That is what worries me.

T. A. Barron
We still get to write our own story. We’re given materials that are sometimes really, really challenging and difficult and painful and uncertain, but that’s what we’re given. And in our time, on our watch, what we do with them is what really matters. And we do have that power.

Kate Williams
I totally believe in that. And I’m smiling because actually, I feel almost lame quoting a wizard with you.

T. A. Barron
But wizards are often quoted in this writing room of mine.

Kate Williams
And it’s only going to be a paraphrase, even more making me smile, but Gandalf with Frodo on the big wall. And – we don’t get to choose the times that we’re in. And I don’t think we even know necessarily if our time is better or worse, but all we get to do is live into the times that we find ourselves in. And that, to me, even though it worries me when I see people… and I don’t exempt myself from this, it’s easy to get discouraged, but to lose that ability to say, well, wait a second. I can still take action, I can still connect to people, I can still find joy in the relationships that I have, in the beauty of a moment, the list goes on and on and on of the ways we can be energized to keep going.

T. A. Barron
That’s actually the key inspiration under the Gloria Baron Prize for Young Heroes. It’s all about just simply turning the spotlight on these awesome, wonderful, idealistic, high energy, super capable, courageous kids who never got the memo that children don’t have any power to change the world. And the stories of what they have done and what they are doing are just so inspiring that the whole point of the price, honestly, is to get their stories out there in the world so that other kids will feel, you know, maybe there is something I can do.

By the way, I love that quote from Gandalf, even if he did take it from Merlin, who came about a thousand years earlier, to that point. But seriously, I love that because there is such deep truth in that. And Tolkien knew it, and you know it, and I believe it too, and Carolyn believes it. We have an opportunity in this really brief time that we have here in life to spread our wings and become what we can become. And part of that is to make whatever positive difference we can in this blessed but also troubled world.

[Music Plays]

T. A. Barron
So let me now turn the question around and ask you, rather than what frightens you, what renews you? Where does your hope spring from, Kate Williams, when you really have to dig deep and find that extra power in yourself, that courage, that vision that you need to lead the organization forward and help protect our planet, where does that inspiration come from?

Kate Williams
Yeah, I just literally got so excited hearing that question. I love it because I’m not very good at staying discouraged. And I feel like I see hope and refreshment and renewal in so many places around me.

At the job level, at 1%, my staff – just these amazing people who are working really hard and coming up with great ideas and asking hard questions. So it’s like, that’s awesome. And I feel such an obligation to them that that inspires me too, is to support them in the ways that enable them to be wildly successful. Like, that gives me a ton of energy.

And then our members, we have more than 5000 now. They’re all making what some businesses would say is a crazy choice. They’re choosing to give away 1% of their sales, but they’re all saying, we’re not giving it away. We’re investing in this amazing planet that sustains all life and –

T. A. Barron
Without which there wouldn’t be any business.

Kate Williams
Totally.

T. A. Barron
Right?

Kate Williams
Yeah.

T. A. Barron
It’s really important. We have to recognize all of this is connected. Without the full panoply of biodiversity, we don’t have a sustainable planet. And at the same time, if we do, and we do our part to help protect other forms of life, all these fellow creatures that are flying around the sun with us, then a healthy, balanced, sustainable planet results in all the joys and goodness and flourishing of humanity is possible.

Kate Williams
And I think that flourishing of humanity is the other piece that I do take a lot of hope from, because I… and this is less, “environmentalist perspective,” and more thinking about to work hard on behalf of sustaining the planet. We also want all of the things that flow from that to be what we want to live into. So music and art and people having families and being in communities and addressing the various challenges. All of which are connected but may not always be labeled environmental. Investing in all of that good stuff and creating the world that we want to sustain feels like, well, even if I’m discouraged, this is the world today. So if I can show up and maybe lift someone’s experience a little bit. Give a smile here. Do the little things every day that just make our planet and our experience on the planet feel like it’s worth it for everyone.

T. A. Barron
Wonderful. I feel the same way about stories. If one person somewhere is touched, it was all worth it. It was all worth it.

Kate Williams
Yeah.

T. A. Barron
Kate, part of this is about persevering, isn’t it? Because times are tough and it’s not easy to get people’s attention, and it’s also hard work to orchestrate all of this to happen. Tell us a bit about how you persevere.

Kate Williams
Yeah. Which my mom called stick-to-it-iveness.

T. A. Barron
I love that.

Kate Williams
So we still use that in our family.

T. A. Barron
Yeah, we called it stick-to-it-ivity.

Kate Williams
Oh, yes. I like that. So I think… I love my work. I feel really, really fortunate to do the work that I do. And I think, at least in my experience, and maybe this is a theory I’m developing, that if you love your work, it’s kind of like a renewable energy source. Which isn’t to say I don’t get tired sometimes or have the challenges. But I feel ultimately like the spinning of the wheel of me doing my work is generating energy for me to keep doing my work. Even as I sometimes need to put a little other, add a little sunlight to that spin or something. So I think what keeps my stick-to-it-ivity up is believing in what I do, being true to my values. I have a family that I’m really close to, and they’re always cheering me on, which is great, and they are inspirations. I definitely think about how to make sure I stay restored because I want to keep doing this work for the long term. And I think the more I lean into it, the more I gain energy from it.

T. A. Barron
Beautiful. Well, the world is a better place because of that. We’re so lucky to have work that is a true reflection of our inner selves. I’ve often felt so grateful for that, and I know you feel the same. In fact, that sense of gratitude has actually changed my own view about perseverance over time.

If you had asked me ten years ago, what is persevering? Say, whether it’s a cause out there to help people or the environment or making a movie happen or finishing a particular project, whatever it is, I would have told you that it’s all about totally dedicating yourself to that goal and doing everything possible to make it happen. Putting every bit of energy and smarts you possibly can into that project. And then ultimately, it will happen.

Well, actually, I don’t think that’s right anymore. Now I have a more humble and gratitude-centered view of what perseverance actually is. I think now it’s about doing everything you can to live from the core values of whatever the project is that you love or the cause that you care about. And putting, yes, all of your energy, all of your smarts, all of your heart into that process. But your job is to keep that idea alive long enough that the wider universe, propelled by forces that are way beyond any of our power to shape, comes around to allow your idea, your seed, to sprout into this wonderful tree. And that’s what perseverance is.

Kate Williams
Yeah, I love that. And what that makes me think of is, definitely a part of that, is really embracing the “I don’t know.” Because then, as soon as you lean into that, you also then are leaning into learning, and then that is such an energy source. It’s also a way that, and I think this is really important, and the way you just framed it made me think of this is, it’s not about me either. That’s the other really important piece. And I think that is something that, for me at least, has been easier to see and understand and embrace and appreciate and love as I get older, because it’s like, it’s not about me. It’s about the ideas. It’s about the process. I don’t need to know everything. Of course I don’t. There are these new challenges. None of us have created this world that we’re seeking to create. So really, embracing the “I don’t know” is super powerful and just you kind of put down a load.

T. A. Barron
Right. And I think that’s part of why wizards live so long is because they increasingly realize how little they really, really know. And that’s something for all of us. It’s a good place to spring from in our life and work that sense of humility and gratefulness, as well as deep passion for something that we care about.

Kate Williams
Yeah. And deep curiosity. Because I think it’s like, “I don’t know,” coupled with, “and I’m curious.” And one of my New Year’s resolutions, actually, when I came back from Patagonia on a trip that you are well aware of, where just in four days I had had these fabulous, amazing, deep conversations with all these people. And I was talking to my daughter and saying, why is it that after four days I have gone deep with all these people, whereas in a month of regular, daily existence I might not? And we realized that it’s because you walk along and you ask the next question.

And so I was like, okay, that’s my new motto, is ask the next question. And I’ve really tried to just bring that into – if I’m at a cocktail networking event, if I’m curious, ask the next question. And I have to remind myself because sometimes I’ll fall back into kind of that more, you just – following the rules. But if you don’t know and you get curious, it’s pretty amazing, I think, what can happen and the kinds of relationships that you can find yourself building in the most unexpected places.

T. A. Barron
I totally agree. That’s wonderful. Lessons from the trail. And also lessons from our children.

Kate Williams
Absolutely.

T. A. Barron
The best source. So one more question for you, Kate. What would you say to young people today, people who care about our planet and the state of things and maybe even feel a sense of despair or powerlessness? I remember on a book tour, a girl came up to me and she basically scolded me for giving my presentation about all these fictional young heroes in my books who saved their friend or they saved their family or they saved their world. And she looked me in the eye and she said, you know, that only happens in fairy tales, but in real life, kids don’t make any difference. And then she turned around and stomped off.

Honestly, I thought about that girl for weeks afterwards. And finally, when I got back home after that book tour, I decided to write the book The Hero’s Trail. That is just little biographies of brave, heroic young people. And it ultimately led to founding the Prize. But I have often felt like that’s the most important and sometimes challenging thing that we ever get to do is help a young person believe that they can make a difference. What would you, in that context, like to say to young people?

Kate Williams
I would like to say: you have power and that your opportunities to do the little things – you can do little things every day to kind of reveal what your power is. Because I think it truly can feel overwhelming and especially when a lot of cultural messages may make you feel powerless, but you objectively have power. And so doing the little things… because I think little things are these handholds that enable you to reach the next one and then reach the next one and slowly build the kind of muscle memory and strength to know that sometimes your handholds are going to slip. But you remember that, oh, yeah, but then you get back on. So I do think the sort of big hero stories have sometimes done a disservice because we see the heroes at the end when the whole story has been written. But I think remembering that it always starts with little steps that are on the path.

T. A. Barron
Right. And also, a good hero story starts out with someone who is lost and defeated and washed ashore in a metaphorical sense, or in fact, in Merlin’s case, a real sense. But it’s really important to convey the truth of the challenge so that it feels authentic. That’s where the value comes across. If it feels too easy, it doesn’t register. That’s so great you used the climbing analogy there about going handhold by handhold, a little bit higher each time.

Kate Williams
Yes. And I think as you get a little higher, you see things differently. And maybe it’s not higher –

T. A. Barron
In what way?

Kate Williams
Well, just like, imagine if you’re walking on a road that has a slight incline, and you can see only part of the horizon as you’re progressing, but when you get to the top of the incline, suddenly you see that there’s a river that you didn’t know about. And so maybe then that can become the next part of your journey. But if you hadn’t taken those steps up the path or the road, you wouldn’t have seen that. So I think it’s that you get a different perspective as you kind of pull yourself along.

And you might also see other people who can help you. And that, I think, is another part of it, too. Most heroes have a lot of people who help them along the way, and they seek that out and learn that that’s actually a huge source of strength. So I do think when you’re younger, figuring out who are the people, peers and adults, who get you and who can sort of help you get back on the path if you need it.

T. A. Barron
Who believe in you.

Kate Williams
Absolutely, yeah. And find them, like, look for that. I think some young people are blessed with having those people, being born into those families. Not everyone is. But there are a lot of amazing people out there ready to believe in you, and I think trying to find that is important.

T. A. Barron
So important. At any stage in life. I’m just thrilled to learn from people who are a little farther down any particular trail than I am. People like you, Kate Williams. Well, what a total delight to talk with you and to feel that inspiration that you radiate in the world. Thank you so much for being the person you are and also for leading this great organization, 1% for the planet. I really feel like 1% ultimately is going to add up to 110%.

Kate Williams
Well, thank you so much. And thank you for being someone who has believed in me, and that has, like, made a huge difference, for me, to our point. So thank you.

T. A. Barron
It’s been a pleasure.

To everyone out there, let me just say thank you so much for joining us for Magic & Mountains. We’ll see you next week, and in the meantime, may you have magical days.

Carolyn Hunter
We hope you enjoyed this week’s episode of Magic & Mountains: The T. A. Barron Podcast. Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a five-star review, and share this podcast with your family and friends. For more information and to find all of T. A.’s books, visit tabarron.com. Have a magical week.