Raising the barr.Goodwill Industries is both a charity and a business - and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. Douglas Barr Douglas Barr (b. May 1, 1949 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, U.S.) is an American actor, writer and director. He has starred in movies and on television. Douglas' first TV series was in the 1980s TV series When the Whistle Blows. , an industry veteran, is determined to double the organization's revenues by 2001 The holidays may be a time of giving, but for Douglas H. Barr, head of Goodwill Industries of Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, , giving is a 12-month affair. Unlike most charities, Goodwill relies on thrift-store sales and contracting fees for the bulk of its revenues. That means money flows in year-round, rather than in a peak period during the holidays. Ninety percent of Goodwill's budget comes from sales at its 19 area thrift shops thrift shop n. A shop that sells used articles, especially clothing, as to benefit a charitable organization. and a program in which its job trainees contract out their services to government bodies and businesses; the remaining 10 percent comes from monetary donations. The proceeds are mainly used for training and job-placement programs for disabled and other low-skilled workers. With the need to earn, Barr runs the organization more like a corporation than a charity, looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. ways to increase revenues and efficiency rather than holding fund-raising fund-raising, large-scale soliciting of voluntary contributions, especially in the United States. Fund-raising is widely undertaken by charitable organizations, educational institutions, and political groups to acquire sufficient funds to support their activities. dinners and events. He became president and chief executive in 1995 and this year launched a strategic plan to double revenues by 2001. Goodwill Industries of Southern California, which took in $18.3 million budget this year as opposed to $17.3 million in 1996, covers most of LA. County except Long Beach and the South Bay, which have their own Goodwills. A native of Toronto, Barr has worked in social causes for 27 years. Question: Are people most generous to Goodwill in December? Answer: The holidays are good, but the first weeks of January are a very good time for us. That's when people are bringing all their old appliances and clothes to our attended donation centers and making room for all the new things they've gotten. Q: Have clothing and other goods donations been good this year? A: They're up by 12 percent through the end of November. Q: For most of your 27-year career in social work, you were in Toronto. Why did you come to L.A? A: I came here because I met an American interior designer who had a very successful business in Southern California. For the first 10 years of our marriage we lived in Canada and she had to commute TO COMMUTE. To substitute one punishment in the place of another. For example, if a man be sentenced to be hung, the executive may, in some states, commute his punishment to that of imprisonment. here a lot. It was difficult for her to get work in Canada because it's such a networked profession. So we came under the assumption that we could both find work more easily than just me in Canada. Q: How do you compare Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. and Toronto in terms of willingness to give? A: Companies and foundations make a larger percent of the charitable contributions charitable contribution n. in taxation, a contribution to an organization which is officially created for charitable, religious, educational, scientific, artistic, literary, or other good works. here than in Canada. The phenomenon of private foundations is something more uniquely American. A Canadian inheriting in·her·it v. in·her·it·ed, in·her·it·ing, in·her·its v.tr. 1. a. To receive (property or a title, for example) from an ancestor by legal succession or will. b. $10 million would probably go around and give money to existing charities. An American inheriting $10 million is more likely to set up a private foundation to give to very specific causes. Q: It sounds like it's more difficult to attract donations here. A: You have to learn to customize more when you're asking from foundations. If the foundation supports left-handed baseball-playing cub scouts who are sons of Marines, then you can get money from them here but you can only use it for that. Once you understand that you can work with it, there are more resources available in Los Angeles than Toronto. Q: Does LA. have other peculiarities in its giving practices? A: I think the county is more fragmented in its approach to social problems. When I was job searching here six years ago, I called the Child Welfare League of America and asked what the major agencies were in Los Angeles. They told me there were 11,000 charities dealing with services just in child welfare - that's not education, that's not health. That was mind-boggling, because there are three major multiple-service ones and several supporting ones in Toronto, in and around which there are some 6 million people. Q: How did you choose a social services social services Noun, pl welfare services provided by local authorities or a state agency for people with particular social needs social services npl → servicios mpl sociales career? A: I have a degree in English and history, and first thought I would be a teacher. Also, in my younger days I was heavily involved in the United Church of Canada United Church of Canada, Protestant denomination formed in 1925 by the union of the Methodist, Congregational, and Presbyterian churches in Canada. A large number of Presbyterian congregations, however, remain outside the union. and thought I would like to be a minister, and earned a Master of Divinity Noun 1. Master of Divinity - a master's degree in religion MDiv master's degree - an academic degree higher than a bachelor's degree but lower than a doctor's degree degree. At that time, I was a summer replacement worker for a child welfare organization and loved it, and then went for my Master of Social Work at USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. . By the time I finished my social work training, I realized this is where I was supposed to be. Q: Did anything else call you to social work? A: I have an adopted sister who is mentally iii, and that clearly was a factor in my choosing to work with that population. My wife had cancer years ago, and that was a factor in my working for the Cancer Society. All of this is infused with the religious underpinnings in terms of what is a valuable way to spend your life. Q: Has religion guided you ever since childhood? A: I went through all the usual things like being confirmed at age 14, but I think I became a serious Christian at (undergraduate) university level. Q: At Goodwill, you're constantly around disabled people and others with drug or criminal or other problems. Does this ever give you a dim view of the world? A: It's the reverse. The people who come to Goodwill for job training and other help want to be contributing members of society, so I'm around people who are working on themselves. Q: How is the salary for executives at large charities? A: In the old days, people worked for not-for-profits more for love than for money. In the last 10 years, charitable administrators are being compensated more appropriately. It's not like the private sector, but I make a very adequate living at $162,000 a year. One of my goals is to ensure that the salaries of all our senior staff are competitive as well. Q: Do offers come to you from the private sector? A: They have in the past, but not in L.A. One of the funniest job offers I got was when I worked for the Canadian Cancer Society The Canadian Cancer Society is a volunteer-based organization which seeks to eradicate cancer and to enhance the quality of life of those suffering from it. The Society . The Tobacco Manufacturers Council offered me a job because we were beating them so badly in our anti-smoking advocacy. Q: Did they throw some salary figures at you? A: Oh year, this was about seven years ago and they offered me about $200,000, which was considerably more than I was making at the Cancer Society. I wouldn't have done it for a million; it was very exciting to take on the tobacco companies and win. We got major progressive legislation approved. Q: Goodwill is a charity and a business. Do you see other charities as competitors to beat? A: There's no question that there is competition out there, but this is a very large county and there is enough for charities here. The groups that are more troubling are the for profit competitors. They are offering something immediate, whereas we offer a tax receipt and the satisfaction of helping the social problem of unemployment. Q: Do you handle business problems the same as your counterparts in the for-profit world? A: We have the same objectives but I have to handle some things differently. For example, I have to be more creative when improving efficiency - I can't downsize Downsize Reducing the size of a company by eliminating workers and/or divisions within the company. Notes: When a company downsizes, it is attempting to find ways to improve efficiency and increase profitability. It is sometimes referred to as trimming the fat. because it would mean putting a disabled or disadvantaged person out of work. I find another place for them in an area that's expanding. Like right now, we're decentralizing de·cen·tral·ize v. de·cen·tral·ized, de·cen·tral·iz·ing, de·cen·tral·iz·es v.tr. 1. To distribute the administrative functions or powers of (a central authority) among several local authorities. the processing of our donated goods but expanding the retail centers. Douglas H. Barr Title: President and chief executive Company: Goodwill Industries of Southern California Born: 1941, Toronto Education: Bachelor's degree in English and history, University of Toronto Research at the University of Toronto has been responsible for the world's first electronic heart pacemaker, artificial larynx, single-lung transplant, nerve transplant, artificial pancreas, chemical laser, G-suit, the first practical electron microscope, the first cloning of T-cells, ; Master of Divinity, Emmanuel College There is more than one Emmanuel College:
Hobbies: Travel, photography Career Turning Point: Becoming chief executive of the Canadian Cancer Society in Toronto in 1985 Most Admired Person: George McLeod, a Scottish author and activist pastor Personal: Married to interior designer Lee Mink, one daughter and two sons |
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