by Julia Dossett Morgan
I have always loved stories.
A voracious reader from age five, my little world expanded beyond my wildest dreams through books and, later, through the theater I would experience by being on stage, backstage, and in the audience.
I grew up in an extended family that valued storytelling, and I found deep pleasure and comfort in listening to my grandparents tell stories while growing up. I didn’t mind when the stories were repeated or embellished in the many retellings.
If our families are quilts and each person is a fabric square, our stories are the threads that keep us stitched together. I believe you can extend the same metaphor to organizations, communities, and even states. What are we if we aren’t the stories we tell ourselves and the stories we share with others?
Chief Advancement Officer
I am fortunate to have spent the last 20 years of my life, my entire career up to this point, sharing stories on behalf of nonprofit organizations. For 14 years, I worked in theater, and for the last six, I have been with the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute. Please imagine my delighted, deep satisfaction when I first encountered this excerpt from A Letter to My Son by Winthrop Rockefeller:
“The biggest thing I have tried to show you is the joy and satisfaction that comes from knowing the people around you — people in every position in life — and understanding and appreciating their strength and weakness. The understanding of men and women can be one of the greatest richnesses you will ever know.”
A Letter to My Son
This type of communication seems like an anomaly in a world dominated by a 60-second news cycle and sound bites galore. Still, at the Institute, we know it is vital to collaboration. Our mission is to continue Winthrop Rockefeller’s collaborative approach to creating transformational change. Through years of experimentation, learning, and refining, we are confident in our process, the Rockefeller Ethic. The Rockefeller Ethic is drawn from Winthrop’s leadership style and how he lived and worked. We often share it as an “equation.”
But it requires much more than basic math from those who want to see change. Respectful dialogue only develops if we seek to understand the stories others are trying to tell us about their lives. Diversity of opinion requires that people with widely different backgrounds and lived experiences be invited to participate in the search for solutions. If everyone solving a problem thinks similarly, we won’t reach a robust solution that creates lasting change. Collaborative problem solving centers people in the process of change. It insists we share enough with each other about our lives and priorities to pinpoint where we agree change is needed and how we get there together.
“I hope that I will never reach a time when I will not be able to work with people whom I disagree with if we can reach a common goal by doing so.”
Winthrop Rockefeller
In my new role as chief advancement officer, I have the immense privilege to not only share Winthrop Rockefeller’s and the Institute’s stories but also to ask you to share yours. In advocating for our mission and seeking resources to grow our impact, I find joy in building relationships and discovering what excites people about our work. The Institute has a breathtakingly beautiful campus steeped in history, perseverance, and ingenuity. Everything we have and do started with Winthrop Rockefeller, but his work continues through us – through me, our staff, board, guests, and our supporters. Through you.
I work with creative, dedicated people who make our mission real every day. Every day, we interact with guests who have ascended Petit Jean Mountain to continue drafting the stories of the organization that convened them and who have gathered to create the change they need. The Institute is singular. We are unique — no one else does what we do, and that makes us uniquely responsible for using current resources, seeking new ones, and utilizing the Rockefeller Ethic to perpetuate Winthrop’s legacy and be careful custodians of his beloved mountaintop home.
My grateful pursuit is to listen and then share stories of impact and change, weaving those threads into our quilt. I’d love to hear from you. I would love to hear your story, and I plan to share more in this space as we move forward together.
