Public risk management relies on the practice of good fiscal governance. Tax dollars and government subsidies finance community services and resources. One might argue these resources are finite each calendar year and dependent upon a budget that allocates money for your risk programming. Governance, however, is fluid and materially affected by global and regional issues. “Pop up risk” is unbudgeted as it occurs situationally, and as global risks arise fueled by social media and global political strife. Risk professionals in both the public and private sectors are collectively affected by global pressures. We as risk management professionals need to recognize their implications for our own totality of risk.
Public – Private – Partnerships have long held shared strategic operational risk opportunities. These relationships are traditionally viewed as financial vehicles of enterprise where public and private resources combine to “build” something of value to both. We need to expand this definition to Community – Public – Private – Partnerships.
Community – Public – Private Partnerships have the capacity to expand our risk toolboxes. Community non-profits are the unsung heroes of our communities. They serve as champions of people, animals, and causes – many of which are underfunded and overextended by limited resources. These champions supplement public and private governance resources in so many important ways.
Do you volunteer? How many of you participate in food and clothing drives, deliver meals to the infirmed, coach a youth sport, foster children or animals or raise money to support the provision of community services? Each of those efforts supplement public and private enterprise by filling the gap between the need for services and their availability. Volunteer efforts involve long hours in the worst of weather or conditions and yet those same community members persevere. They practice strategic risk management as they mitigate society’s issues. Each of us individually and collectively support our non-profits through the contribution of our volunteer efforts and if possible, financially through our donations.
John F Kennedy set the bar for the baby boomer generation when he stated…” Ask not of what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” In doing so, he helped instill the notion of giving back to the community. The recognition of volunteerism in programs akin to the Peace Corps taught us that giving is important to society. Today, we are forgetting that important societal spirit in belonging to an effort that matters.
There are hundreds if not thousands of active citizen risk warriors within each of our communities. They help us clean up our public spaces, plant trees and public gardens, coach youth sports, and mentor future generations. These volunteers are positively contributing to future generations – our future community members, workers, and taxpayers.
People centered non-profits help with mental health outreach, substance abuse, and services for those in need of housing, meals, and education. These services assist governance in helping fill funding gaps in the provision of social services to populations at risk by providing stability so that folks, when ready, have the capacity to return to our version of “normal” society as best as they may be able to.
Animal rescue non-profits are a special breed of volunteers – no pun intended. They rescue every living species often in the worst of circumstances. Most folks associate animal rescue with puppy and kitten bowls, but they are so much more. They are the folks we turn to who provide hope for animals displaced by homelessness, unwantedness or terror-filled abuse. Government calls rescue non-profits to evictions, deaths of owners, cruelty, and mental health crises. Rescuers educate and try and partner to help us recognize the importance of companionship and compassion.
Volunteers are continually thrust into socioeconomic crises that are often decisive and filled with violence. And yet, they persevere and provide our communities with the very services our funds are often unable to provide. They help us manage our risk. They help us govern.
Every community member who contributes to our community-public-private strategic operations needs to matter to us. Their contributions are important to our success as they manage the risk that is emergent and assist us in mitigating potential hardship. They have the capacity, through their efforts, to expand our strategic risk vision and to help us mitigate our community needs. They are our eyes and ears on the pulse of the very risks we strive to manage.
My challenge to you is to engage firsthand with the folks within your global community that are at the front line of mitigating the risks of your communities. Your partnerships with your non-profits can contribute to the totality of your operational governance risk efforts, but more importantly they can offer a kaleidoscope of rewarding relationships with folks who will be there when you need them the most.
Boots on the ground folks…pedal to the metal…spend time integrating yourself into your community non-profit efforts. Learn their risk struggles and achievements and partner with them. You will not regret your efforts and the rewarding community – public – private relationships you establish as you create a risk-centric family of your own.