EP 417 Elevating Education and Empowering Nonprofits for a Brighter Future with Lloyd Hopkins

that there are a lot of programs that currently exist that focus on kids that focus on technology but there weren't a lot that were focused on the teaching profession itself and that's a problem that's an issue and so the social entrepreneur in me realize that Gap and that opportunity because anytime you start a business you want to create something where there's a [Music] [Applause] need hey welcome back to the show and today I cannot wait to introduce you to my friend Lloyd and he's going to t

ell us all about he likes help Lloyd who are you I what are you hello everybody Todd first of all thank you for allowing me on to your platform to allow me to talk a little bit about the work that I'm doing with your audience man you're doing some great work highlighting business nonprofit entrepreneurs so I'm honored to be here with you and your and your audience today um pleasure so I'm Lloyd Hopkins uh yeah I'm I'm Lloyd Hopkins I'm the founder of million-dollar teacher project which is an or

ganization that I launched in 2016 right on after working in and around education in different capacities for about 15 years so I worked with youth offenders after school Recreation Dropout prevention I'm one of those bleeding hearts right that that believes it's possible to change the world and impacting kids has always been a focus of so I've always been about Community work and I spent about six years directly in the classroom and that experience is what really fueled the launch of this organ

ization and the reason why I say that that experience fueled it is because um it did two things one it showed me I'm not cut out to be a teacher I don't need to be in the classroom I need to leave that for somebody else right but two it um it exposed me to the plight of teachers firsthand interesting how they're often under under undervalued underappreciated underresourced and overworked right and that's a community issue man I would challenge you anybody in your audience to think of a time when

you weren't impacted by a teacher whether it was a good experience or a bad experience we're all impacted by this profession right and so it's a community issue and responsibility to support teachers in some capacity I love that um and and so what I realize is that in that work of of creating an equable education system making sure that every kid gets a good education uh because education is the great equalizer it impacts every sector of life in some shape form or fashion that there are a lot o

f programs that currently exist that focus on kids that focus on technology but there weren't a lot that were focused on the teaching profession itself interesting and that's a problem that's an issue and so the the social entrepreneur in me realize that Gap and that opportunity because you want to because anytime you start a business you want to you want to create something where there's a need yeah or you have an idea or strategy that's better than what else is out there on the market I love t

he so in my situation yeah so in my situation there was a gap there was a a a a a a a glaring hole that wasn't being addressed and so me realizing that and being a teacher fan because I also think it's very important that if you are going to launch a business it needs to be tied to something that you're truly passionate about right because creating a business is hard it doesn't matter if you're doing for-profit work or nonprofit work it's a grind and it takes at least five years on average to ta

ke any business in a profitability or generate revenue or be on the road to sustainability so you have to be prepared to endure yeah for that time period so when I realized that supporting teachers working around education was truly my passion yeah that's my true Northman that's what I like to wake up every day and say this is what I do and I wear it on my chest I'm a teacher fan I run million-dollar teacher project when I when when I realized that and I knew that was the direction I wanted to t

ake I established this organization in 2016 and haven't looked back since love it so so walk me through this though because I I I I want to I want to fill the p in my own head about this story because I love I love a few things out what you said every business should be created to solve a problem right and sometimes the problems that are being solved aren't being done very good and so you see that gaping hole that Chasm of here's the problem here are the solutions right now and they all kind of

they aren't connecting so you feel that hole and you brought something in the way of you're sustaining the teacher but you're also trying to build a community for the kids that are dropping out and such help me help me clarify are you there to support the teachers or is it for the kids or is it a combo of both how does this all work yeah so it's a combo of both what I like to say is that we support students by supporting teachers so the mission the mission of million-dollar teacher project is to

elevate the teaching profession through increased support compens ation and recognition our vision for doing that is that we believe a world can exist where students experience exceptional instruction every day from a skilled passionate teacher um the the impact of a quality ex quality educator on a student and their development and their Career Success is exponential so we want to make sure that every kid has the opportunity to to have that experience so they have every opportunity to to be pr

oductive adults live thriving lives and teachers play a part in that so the way our delivery model is we partner with schools that serve underresourced underserved communities marginalized communities that are often the most distressed you know we we want to make those Destin we want to make those areas the destination for Quality teachers so what we do is we partner with schools in those communities to create Focus schools so with our Focus schools are saturated with our programming for three t

o five years uh in Year from year three one to three we're doing the heavy lift with implementing the program in year four and five we're helping them build the capacity to run our programs on our on their own and then we move on and build another another focused school so our entire approach is around creating Pathways of community involvement and participation so communities can take ownership of their own Solutions I don't want to be the the holder of of of of of a community's solution what w

e're doing is creating a pathway and and and helping them build the capacity to take ownership of their own kids education so we do that through our three pillar system so we have three pillars recognition support and compensation the way that we landed on those pillars is we survey teachers across the state so they can inform us of what were the what were the issues that were most adversely affecting teacher retention and recruitment in these communities and resoundingly the information that ca

me back to us was low levels of support from the com from the community from leadership lack of recognition and professional respect and compensation a lot of teacher support gets hung up around compensation which they absolutely deserve to be paid more I don't care what state you're in right deserve to be paid more but salary alone won't keep them in the profession so it's really about environment it's about culture it's about how you surround teachers with ecosystems of support So million dool

l teacher project is designed to be that ecosystem of support to help communities take ownership of their own solutions to take ownership of how well their schools perform by through a teacher censored approach to make sure that students are in the best environment to get a quality education love it now listen I I've got a sister-in-law that uh taught at a very distressed part of Las Vegas for a few years and she definitely uh I've heard this story from the teachers I I get it I get I love the p

roblem you're trying to solve this is fantastic fantastic and and for those of you listening um you know we're putting links in the show notes below of how you can help contribute be a part of the nonprofit that that Lloyd is in charge of here and and the mission that he's on I implore any of you listening if you if you feel compassionate on this on this one thing I think everybody in the country can come to a conclusion that this is a problem that we need to address and I don't think we should

rely on our government so I I think that this is a fantastic opportunity you're creating Lloyd to let the local environment let the local uh business jump in here and become part of the solution you're trying to provide it thank you so much for doing what you're doing thank you and thank your you said your sister-in-law was a teacher yeah oh yeah yeah so tell her we said thank you for her service and her time in the classroom uh tell her you talked to a teacher fan today that appreciated her tim

e in the classroom and you and you brought up a great point about not necessarily um relying on government assistance to solve problems the entire nonprofit sector was created to fill gaps that weren't being filled by government you know that's where the SE came from and totally and community members that are passionate about causes hopping in to fill those gaps 100% ready to pull up the bootstraps and create Solutions on their own and so we can move communities along I am so glad you're here an

d I just wanted to take a few seconds to tell you about a program that we have assembled with a lot of our podcast guests and a lot of people who are listening to the show who are feeling the same way that they do there's a recurring theme you'll hear a lot of these Founders talk about I couldn't have done it without my team I couldn't have done it without a a support group of peers I couldn't have done it without having someone to talk to that understood my feeling of isolation as an operator o

f my business you see you're not alone it is hard running a business and it's even harder when you know you can't express all your deepest concerns and frustrations with your executive team it makes them nervous it gets them scared you don't want scared people on your executive team so where do you turn the captain's counil is where you turn the Captain's Council is an organization that we are put together with podcast guests as well as people who are listening who are in the same boat you see p

eers are the only ones that can give you the type of empathy the type of advice that only a founder or operator know and understand go check it out at Captain council.com I know you're going to love what you see there we have put together an organizational structure that has small group settings a global community of Founders and operators as well well as monthly and quarterly in-person events you're going to love what you see there I can't wait for you to check it out and enjoy the rest of this

episode I love it dude so I I I love what you're doing and and one of the big reasons I wanted to to Really bring some to your to your organization today is partly because the mission but secondly because I I think that there's a lot of misunderstanding uh within the community of of business owners who kind of look at nonprofits as well they're not really a business I've been associated with enough nonprofits to know that they are 100% a business and they have a mission to grow and scale the sa

me way that a for-profit does but will you walk us through like when you first started this what what was the we understand the mission but why did you structure it the way you did and and how do you look at the way you operate your nonprofit as opposed to the way another entrepreneur might might look at their for-profit business yeah and so so the way I I I characterize myself as a social entrepreneur and me saying that is very intentional uh because um even when I hopped into this space to cre

ate an organization I took a very business-minded approach to creating this organization which which which meant that I understood that in order to create a sustainable organization there are certain things that have to exist right and a part and and and as I go through that Journey or as I went through the process of creating this organization the first thing that I was acutely aware of is that the only thing that separates a nonprofit from a for-profit is tax exemp exempt status that's it but

they're both still businesses and a business is still responsible for generating Revenue um to sustain those operations employ people and all those type of things so you have the same responsibility where a for-profit is doing it through customers a nonprofit is doing it through donors sponsors Grant funders that's what the ecosystem looks like and what often happens is that John Q public is not always realizing that nonprofits are businesses and what nonprofits need and and what nonprofits need

more than a than a pat on the back telling them good job hey thanks for doing that work is they need your investment so they can build infrastructure so they can build capacity to continue growing that work so if there's anybody doing work around a cause that you care about you know think about the causes that you care about the things that are important to you there are people that are so committed to that that they create organizations or they do they dedicate their lives to it now what those

people need is to still be able to afford a living they have to be able to go on vacation they have to be able to um pay the light bill you know you can't expect them to live off of pork and beans every day you know so even so even if you're doing community work you should still be able to live a good living living while you are doing that much needed Community work because otherwise that work isn't going to exist because those people are going to go get other jobs and then there's that vacuum

is still going to exist so you so everybody and really and I know this isn't the call to action part but I just think it's important for people to understand that in the best way to Rally around a cause and and around people that are doing the work that you care about is to invest so and to invest directly into that work so they can grow and they can hire people that would be my ask to anybody listening find a CA you care about and make a donation to it well tell tell me this because I think a l

ot of I by the way thank you for the explanation I I love everything you just said totally agree with it um but there is a there is a fear in a lot of people's heads when it comes to donating and it comes to investing I love that use the investing uh in in the cause is that uh you know they worry about taking advantage of the description you just laid out which I I am positive that this is the way you run is that you're very uh yes you got to support your family and your employees but I I have a

feeling there's a lot that's going to the actual cause and not getting stuck in the middle and I think a lot of people have this this fear of I donated that thing and it sounds like maybe 10% of it actually went to the cause and 90% went to to supporting the the people supporting the cause you know what I mean so how how do people get a clear picture as to what type of group they're working with versus what they hope the cause is solving you know what I mean yeah absolutely so the first thing t

hat I'll say is that the the the the way the the community Consciousness needs to evolve is that you first have to realize that program staff is a part of a part of the process because even if you want to donate a laptop to schools there's got to be a staff person that can take that laptop to the school like it's not going to get there on its own so that's the first realization is that right you you have to invest in people like there an organization needs people to go out there and do it so I t

hink that even just shifting how you view uh what an investment looks like and understanding that okay I'm investing in this program and a part of me investing is that is is the people that are actually delivering the program because right we need them we can't do it alone um especially if we're trying to act large numbers of people so that's the first thing the second is um what what a nonprofit has that a for-profit doesn't necessarily have is we have a um we have a heighten responsibility to

transparency you know so we have a heighten responsibility to to to for the community to have access to our we put out annual reports every year so you see the impact that we're makinging where those dollars went we we make our 990s are public you know you can go to charity um charity Navigator or guide star and look up nonprofit organizations and see their impact see what they're doing see how they're being good stewards of of the dollars that are given and I think what's more important than pe

ople looking at okay it only went you know it went to overhead or it went to staff or sure like really looking at impact like if if if if if somebody if an organization is invest investing in staff you we have to look at what is the impact of that though like if those staff are impacting thousands of people I would think that's a worthy investment that means that that organization is hiring well they're hiring passionate people that are going out who actually care about these causes and then the

third thing I'll say is that um I think that this sector unnecessarily gets the WAP of you know um well I don't I don't want the organization to misuse the funds sure the the thing is that we have to understand that again nonprofit for-profit is all businesses there are Bad actors in every business so there are even even in the for-profit industry there are unscrupulous CEOs that do bastardly things but an entire but the entire for-profit sector doesn't get painted with a brush because one CEO

was you know doing doing doing something inappropriate you know and depends on which part of country you're asking that question to but yes I agree so so it's important that nonprofits you know be judged fairly I would tell anybody to like before you buy any product like before you buy the reason the reason why Pepsi you can go to a store and buy buy Pepsi is because they have a they have a track record for cons for for consistency with their product so they built some trust in the community aro

und that product um and so you feel comfortable giving those dollars and you're not looking up what the CEO of Pepsi did in their spare time though you know and so totally there's a so there so what you have with when when you support a nonprofit is you have the opportunity to look up up that organization look up their track record you know um um get to know their CEO get an understanding of of how they're going about impact and that should lessen your concern about investing in our organization

how they use it you know so those are the steps that I would encourage people to just follow and I think it would it would it would help in regards to one demystifying how you give give a little bit more direct ction to it and that you have a and you have an even better opportunity to get to know where your dollars are going when you invest in a nonprofit then when you do go out and buy some shoes for Nike right right now are you are you um I know you're in you're in Phoenix area are you how ho

w big is the organization right now where are you trying to get to what's your what are your growth goals with this with this nonprofit yeah my growth my growth goals are at some point to be ENT International like in all honesty I want to serve I want to serve and support teachers no matter where they are I think as a global Society we can always do more for teachers even if you're in an area that you're already doing great stuff for teachers I just think we can do more because the the professio

n is that important it's that serious and it means that much to all of us so right now we are just largely in the greater Phoenix area um we're we're we're we're in the process of aate wide expansion from here we want to start creating a national footprint and like I said at some point be International I love it I think it's good Vision good goal I think you can get there there's teachers all over the world that need this kind of support and uh and I love what you're doing so honestly and I love

that you've demystified a lot of these questions that I had because you know I do donate I have I have some very specific causes I donate to and I I I'm a big fan of you know I've had three of my children serve missions and and serve voluntarily for a lot of different things and listen I I totally support the the nonprofit status I support probably 90% of the people that are doing and running a nonprofit I think they have really good intentions and I hope that we can clarify that the 10% that a

re the Bad actors that aren't getting the funds to the cause that that need to be going to I hope we can wipe them out of our mindset when we look to groups like yours who are out there serving such a an awesome Mission so I appreciate you taking the time to do that yeah and I appreciate you one thank you for that thank you for your donations that you make to those causes because it makes a world difference to those causes you care about and ensuring that those people can continue doing that gre

at work they're doing every single day and and I really think it's important that to that last point you made that we realize that in in every industry you know there's going to be some people that aren't doing things with Integrity or the best way they they can but that's not everybody and there are plenty people that are fully committed to their cause and they need think majority I think the majority are on the opposite end of the spectrum where they're taking too little to support themselves

while they support the cause so I I I I think that there's a there's a huge discrepancy between the the few bad actors we hear about and the many that are really putting forth probably way more hours way more time way more commitment than they should be for the amount of money they're making on it so I appreciate that and I think most people do um you know when when you went from being teacher to to starting this this program tell us a little bit was there someone that you want to give a shout o

ut to that maybe inspired the move that maybe helped to see that this was a great way to to help solve the problem you saw as a as an educator man um so I guess I I I mean in regards to the work that I'm doing I'll give a a a a shout out to I guess my public school education system because and why it's so big is um the way that I describe myself and not and I'm a I'm a proponent of public school education um but we got to understand that that those often those teachers are distressed and they're

under resourcing a lot of that stuff so I was a slip through slips through the cracks kid and what I mean by that is I was a kid that wasn't good enough to get a lot of attention I wasn't bad enough to get a lot of attention I drifted right in the middle often ignored and that's a horrible place to be and so I created million-dollar teacher project for the kids like me that maybe those slips with the crack kids because I think every student should I don't think nobody should escaped education w

ithout having at least one educator that impacted them you know positively and then I also created it for those people that do have great teachers because we want to see those teachers supported as well and those teachers be able to do more for more kids Lloyd I love it man I I love I love the mission I love your mindset I love where you're going with this thing and I do hope you reach Global status um for those that are interested in participating and what Lloyd's up to link are in the bio link

s are down below make sure you're connecting and and and learning more about his program and what he's doing to help teachers I know that a lot of people like me who have family members and close friends who were involved in that you know my literally my wife's upstairs nannying for a woman teaching right now that just can't afford to put her kids in daycare and it it's one of those things where we got to take care of our teachers who are taking care of our kids and as a father of seven you know

bless the hearts of our teachers who are dealing with these kids man you get it otherwise you'll have to do it if they're not there you'll have to totally agree so ly again and and and thing there may be some of you who are not only considering donating to to nonprofits but have considered building a movement around a cause that you believe in social causes are not all political in fact most social causes when done right are apolitical and 100% for the people they're meant to serve and I hope t

hat you look at opportunities to serve not only through existing organizations but look into what what might help benefit the the underserved or the people that you feel like need that help that aren't getting it so absolutely lloy thanks for the all the awareness buddy appreciate you I appreciate it and I just have I just have one additional point two additional points for you Todd real quick um got it one one is the key word for nonprofits is UNR restricted donations so that means they can use

those dollars anywhere in their program necessary for them to deliver service to the community of trying to serve so they need unrestricted donations and then second there's a great documentary coming out called uncharitable and it really talks about the need and it's and it's based on a TED Talk by Dan Pat um where he talked about the need to help nonprofits build capacity so I would tell your encourage your audience to either look up that damn pilot Ted talk or watch that documentary on chari

table when it's released I think it's coming out on Netflix later in the year love it buddy love it thank you so much and and I appreciate all you're doing and I hope that there's many people out there willing to contribute to your cause thanks so much ly thanks for having me did that open your eyes at all to the inner workings of nonprofits I hope it does because Lloyd is is a great guy and I I really appreciated the conversation that we had and I and I love the business that he's running and I

hope that you found some uh some satisfaction knowing that most people running nonprofits are very smart they're very knowledgeable they know their industry they know their mission and they're a lot like Lloyd if you haven't done so already check out his nonprofit below but also take a chance to to learn more about people serving the communities and the and the causes that you really care about if you're not donating enough you need to start now it is very important to to take a large portion o

f your revenue of your uh income and both do it on a personal level and through your business there are not only tax benefits there is the joy of seeing these things actually come to fruition in helping the people that are set out to help so take that minute to do that if you haven't done so already make sure you subscribe to the show it helps us all generate more content what we know people care about watching it so thanks for taking the time to be here and we hope we can serve you and your com

munity in many other ways we'll see you then