Mark McClain, CEO and founder of SailPoint, serves on the ABBA-facilitated Business Leadership Council.
Hunger, poverty, literacy and homelessness are some of the key issues the business council has been studying. “It’s been a surprise to learn the scope of need in our community,” McClain says. The council plans to match up specific community programs addressing those areas and others with local businesses who want to support them.
“We’re mobilizing people to think outside their own world, no matter what their industry is, to see what the churches and charities in the city need so that we can amplify and accelerate what they are doing,” McClain says. “Business people can offer leadership, influence, financial help, expertise and service.
“A lot of what ABBA is doing is trying to make the connections and get people from different areas looking at the same problem,” he added. “Churches and charities tend to work in silos. There may be five groups out there working on hunger but they are disconnected. If they joined forces it would be better. If we all put our resources and heads together we’re going to get a better result.
“There really is a lot for us to bring to the table if we can get coordinated,” he says. “The synergy of working together really changes the dynamic.”
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