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My mother died when I was a little girl 
and as a result,

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my dad and my maternal grandparents 
had to step in

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and assume a much bigger role 
than any of them ever expected.

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They did this wholeheartedly 
and my sisters and I benefited greatly 


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from their love and their extra attention.

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Of course,
I lived with my father full time.

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My grandparents had a winter place 
in sunny Florida.

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And they created what they affectionately 
called "The Honored Guest Program" 


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where they invited their grandchildren 
one at a time for undivided attention.

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In these visits,

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they literally and figuratively 
rolled out the red carpet for our visits.

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When I arrived, 
I got to eat all of my favorite foods. 


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I got to do all of my favorite things.

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And I got to spend some wonderful time 
with this couple whom I adored. 


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Our days were spent walking the beach.

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When we walked the beach, 
my grandfather, who was an avid fisherman,

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would connect the dots for me 
between what the seagulls were doing, 


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and the pelicans,
how they were behaving,

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what the wave action looked like
and the wind and the temperature.

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All these things were going to help him
have a better afternoon of fishing.

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My grandmother was a discerning sheller.

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She taught me all the names 
of the shells on the beach.

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She told me what not to touch
because it was still living

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and what to pick up.

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These days, I learned about life.

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And I forged a relationship
with my grandparents

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that I treasured the rest of my days.

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In the evenings, 
Grampy would go to bed early

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and Grammy and I would go off
into another room

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where she would pull out a jigsaw puzzle.

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The two of us would spend hours
trying to put it together

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while we chatted comfortably.

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Grammy had a very specific rule, 
however, with jigsaw puzzles.

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And that was, we were never allowed
to look at the box.

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We couldn't keep the box on the table 
to see what the image would look like,

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but rather, we had to pick up each piece 
and decide where it best fit

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based on the colors 
and the shapes we saw before us.

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These visits as an Honored Guest 
left me with so much.

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Considerably more 
than I could ever describe to you here.

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But part of what it taught me, 
I realized much later, was how to think.

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So if we fast forward the clock, 
now it's the summer of 2001.

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I was living in Cincinnati,

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and on vacation with my children
in Northern Michigan.

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I'm a firm believer
that as busy as we are,

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as much as we value work
and a good work ethic

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which I can be accused of being 
slightly over zealous in that area.

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Taking vacations are so fruitful.

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Most of my very best ideas have come

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when I have taken a break
and stepped away.

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In this case, I was on vacation 
with my children

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and a number of seemingly
disconnected issues

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were running through my head.

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Things like, I worked on some non-profit 
boards and I understood how they operated.

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And they had the same,
constant, nagging problem.

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And that was, 
they weren't getting significant grants.

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They would get small grants and 
they were very grateful for that,

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but it never allowed them

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to strategically get their head
off their desk

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and look to the horizon
and really execute.

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At the same time, I had a number
of wonderful, talented women friends

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who were in no way involved 
in their community.

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Their reasons were varied,

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but their reasons were very real.
They traveled for their work.

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They were a stay at home mom. 
They didn't think they had enough to give.

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Enough time, enough money, 
enough energy, enough expertise.

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And in my heart of hearts, 
I knew that they were wrong.

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So, what I wanted to do, is to find a way 
to get these women involved.

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Because I knew
that if they did become involved,

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they would get as much as they gave.

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And I knew that the non-profit community

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and the community at large
needed those skills.

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They needed what those women
could bring to the table.

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And as I spent that summer thinking,

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the image that started to appear

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was the structure of Impact 100.

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Impact 100 became that image when

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all the pieces of the puzzle 
fit together just right.

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In 2001, with the help of some 
very talented women in Cincinnati, Ohio,

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Impact 100 was launched.

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The idea was very simple:

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Gather at least 100 women 
who would donate $1,000,

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pool that money
and make a significant grant.

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The minimum grant size
for Impact 100 is $100,000.

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Make it in any one of five focus areas: 


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Education, environment, culture, 
health and wellness or family.

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The idea being that there wouldn't be
a non-profit in the community

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that wouldn't qualify.

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And it worked. It worked!
It was very simple and it grew.

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The reason it did, I believe,

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is something
that I learned a little bit later.

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And that is,

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when we give back, we get so much

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while simultaneously making 
the community a better place to live.

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And that sort of feeds on itself.

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As the community is made
a better place to live,

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more people give back, 
and the community gets better.

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It's sort of like
this vortex of generosity.

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And as it grows,
the world continues to get better.

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And I was reminded of the shells

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that I would pick up on the beach
with my grandmother,

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that spiral shape is exactly 
what happens in communities.

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Here's something else I learned.

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It turns out,

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that we are biologically wired to give,

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which I think is awesome.

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What happens when we give back, 
is our body produces oxytocin.

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Oxytocin, you might ring a bell because 
it is sometimes known

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as the "trust" or "love" hormone.

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Right after you deliver a baby,
you get a lot of oxytocin

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and that is part of that bonding
that occurs.

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So the thing about generosity is: 
if you do something,

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whether it is time, talent, or treasure, 
your body gets a little shot of oxytocin,

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and that's pretty cool.

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The recipient of your generosity,

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they get a little shot of oxytocin
and they feel good.

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Even someone who witnesses 
what you've done, they get a little shot.

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Well, here's something else:

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our body needs and wants you
to produce oxytocin.

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It goes all the way back
to the survival of our early species.

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Because part of what oxytocin does

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is it will suppress
the stress hormone of cortisol.

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So when you are overly stressed, you are
typically less generous. Makes sense?

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You also have less feeling of bonding.

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The more you give, the more oxytocin,

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the more your body triggers
you to do more,

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and in doing more, the cycle continues.

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Even more interesting,

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is in our families today,

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the best indicator as to whether a child
will grow up to be generous,

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and by generous, or philanthropic,

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I mean someone who thinks about 
giving back to their community.

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One of the largest indicators

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is whether or not
they had a role model growing up

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who modeled what it was like to give back.

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More recent data suggests

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that if you actually have a conversation
with that child,

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it's that much more likely
that it will "stick"

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and that they will grow up
to be generous adults.

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So now that we know
that generosity is contagious,

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and we know
that that's how children learn,

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you think, "Well, why aren't we all
talking about generosity in our families?"

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That is a story for another day.

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But what I would suggest
is that it is time we start;

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because not only do children grow up
to be more generous, in this environment,

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when they talk about it with a role model,
but they get some other benefits.

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Benefits that every one of us would want
for our younger generation to have.

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They get more self esteem.
They feel more connected.

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They are more confident.

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Less likely to suffer from depression
or have suicidal thoughts.

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Those are significant.

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For the senior citizens in your life, 
retirees who give back,

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report that they are more connected,
their life has more meaning.

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They even have better health
and statistically live longer

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than their counter parts
who don't give back.

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You take this example into the workplace,

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and the results
are not just "warm and fuzzy"

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of everybody loves each other
because we are all giving back together.

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It's not expensive to create a program of
generosity within your company,

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within your church, within your school,
within your community.

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But the results are staggering.

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People who are generous,

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also statistically are more creative,
better at problem solving.

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They have higher degrees of empathy
and they behave in a more ethical manner.

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All those things effect the bottom line
in a meaningful way

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and make the community
a better place to live.

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So what I would like to suggest

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is that the generosity epidemic
starts here and starts now.

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It starts in your families,
in your communities,

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in your businesses and your schools.

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I hope you will join me,

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because the impact of generosity is huge.

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(Applause)