Cover Story: Upsize Lifeline A
Ideal Coaching founder learns philanthropy starts now from mentor
By Sarah Brouillard
SUE LINDGREN’S pursuit of charitable causes began in childhood. As a fourth grader in the 1970s, she participated in Whale of a Walk, a fundraiser that aimed to bring beluga whales to the newly built Minnesota Zoo. Throughout her teens and 20s, she biked the MS 150 and worked on community service projects, such as rebuilding playgrounds.
Yet she never thought of herself as a philanthropist. Lindgren launched several successful companies in the 1990s and 2000s, most recently Ideal Coaching, a St. Louis Park-based business-coaching and leadership development company. But she believed philanthropy was something practiced by wealthy, accomplished individuals after they earned their fortunes. To her, it was a destination, not a journey.
A chance meeting with Kojo Benjamin Taylor changed her thinking on philanthropy forever. It was from him that she learned her Upsize Lifeline lesson: Philanthropy is a state of mind. You have to build philanthropy into your life every day.
Lindgren met Taylor at a charitable event hosted by The Prouty Project in May 2001. It happened to be the day after she had committed to her first mission trip to Africa, where she planned to life-coach women who lived in villages.
Taylor approached Lindgren to make light conversation. His accent gave away the fact that he wasn?t a U.S. native.
I asked him where he was from, and he responded Eden Prairie, says Lindgren with a laugh. She quickly clarified her question and, much to her surprise, discovered he was born and raised in Ghana, the country she was gearing up to visit in three weeks.
It was serendipitous. And I don’t think I talked to another person the rest of the night, she says.
The two formed a friendship, cemented by her interest in his heritage, and his eagerness to educate her about it.
On one occasion, Taylor and his wife invited Lindgren and her husband at the time to dinner so she could get acquainted with his family. In an effort to introduce her to the country’s cuisine, Taylor served two authentic dishes from his homeland: jollof rice, a staple similar to Spanish rice; and redred, a fried plantain, paired with black-eyed peas.
Upon her return to the United States, the two met every four to five weeks for business lunches to talk about everything, from challenges of business, to successes in business, and philanthropy in general, says Taylor.
Taylor’s life story was of particular interest to Lindgren. A self-made man, he moved to the United States to attend college, and later founded The Pelican Group Inc., a technology-training and IT consulting company that went on to generate $70 million in revenue, and employ 300 in 15 cities. (He sold it four years ago to IDG, publisher of the popular For Dummies books). All the while, he kept his focus on giving back to his homeland, eventually founding Micro Clinics, a nonprofit for preventing malaria and other diseases of poverty in Africa.
Lindgren confided to him that she, too, hoped to become a philanthropist after building her own wealth as a business owner.
He just looked at me and said, well, philanthropy is not something you go do once you’re wealthy. It’s about giving back, and you need to build that in right now, she says. It was as sweet and innocent and straightforward and as grounded and wise as I’ve ever heard from anyone.
Taylor’s words inspired her to take her commitment to Ghana a step further. Her company has adopted a village in Ghana, which she visits 12 days each year.
I am a philanthropist, says Lindgren. It’s not a title to win someday.
[contact] Sue Lindgren, Ideal Coaching: 952.746.3190; sue@sayyess.com; www.sayyess.com. Kojo Benjamin Taylor, Micro Clinics: 866.319.9511; kbtaylor@microclinics.com; www.microclinics.com.
