WHY GIVESMART ?

A Letter from our CEO

Hello,

My name is Bill Malkes.  I am a serial entrepreneur, the founder and CEO of GRIDSMART, a husband and a father.  Most importantly, I am a servant of Jesus Christ and that the inspiration that my friends at GRIDSMART and I had that launched GIVESMART.

It is funny, I keep responding to the same query about GIVESMART from the good folks that share my reactions with y’all.  They say, “great description, now, say something fresh, your last words are a week old”.  The fact is, that the significance never really changes.  One of my mentors, Father Richard Rohr, believes that good & right is just good & right irrespective if labeled Christianity, Buddhism, or just doing good.  From the view of our shared faith, Father Rohr delivers the best “why”.  He says, “Christianity is much more about living and doing than thinking.”  GIVESMART is about living and doing and we invite all our capitalist contemporaries to do the same.  It is about Servant Leadership.

Robert Greenleaf, the modern-day father of servant leadership wrote “This is my thesis: caring for persons, the more able and the less able serving each other, is the rock upon which a good society is built. …. If a better society is to be built, one that is more just and more loving, one that provides greater creative opportunity for its people, then the most open course is to raise both the capacity to serve and the very performance as servant of existing major institutions by new regenerative forces operating within them.”  Greenleaf was calling to us as individuals and companies to lead through service.  We agree!

Our Mission: GIVESMART makes a difference in the lives of our community brothers and sisters in need through involvement, grace, kindness, and respect

The original Servant Leader, Jesus Christ said in Mark 8:36: “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”  Corporate profits are great.  They enable us to do more.  To create jobs, to serve our customers, to feed our families.  But there is more, abundantly more.

My friends, the table is big enough for all, reach you, get involved, be engaged, make a difference.  Find the soul of your company and your teams will be inspired.  I promise.   Seek your opening to make something shine with your time and contributions.  If you want to serve, talk to us at GIVESMART.  Our table is big enough for you to make a difference right next to us.  We would love to work with you in the service of others.  We would be just as happy to see you make a difference anywhere and anyway at all.  Just step up, take a chance, get your hands dirty and let’s change the world one graceful action at a time.