Leader Profile:

Jim McHale earned a Bachelor of Science in public relations in 1984 from Western Michigan University, and a master’s degree in management in 2001 from Aquinas College.

Growing up in Battle Creek, Mich., McHale was introduced to philanthropy by his parents. He recalls witnessing his mother on the phone contacting members of her school board and church, and being inspired by the reach of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, which he learned about from its annual reports. McHale often went to committee meetings with his mother, or assisted his father with church fundraisers on weekends. This prevalence of volunteerism during his youth led him to view volunteering as a part of everyday life, though he did not view it as career option until he was diagnosed with cancer in high school.

When in high school, McHale was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer that resulted in the amputation of his left leg. Foundations helped to support his parents and the treatments. He became involved with the American Cancer Society as a fundraiser and “poster child” both during and directly after college. He continued to work for the American Cancer Society for two years after graduation, before looking for employment elsewhere in the field.

At St. Mary’s Health Services in Grand Rapids, Mich., McHale worked as a development associate with well-trained and experienced fundraisers. During this time, he created a week-long camp for kids with cancer, Camp Catch-A-Rainbow, so that they could share experiences and support among peers — something he felt he lacked in his own treatment. It was during this camp that he began to understand the benefits of empowering youth and placing them on the board.

After two years at St. Mary’s, McHale was recruited to work at Hackley Hospital in Muskegon, Mich, as a development manager and marketing specialist, creating a development program for the institution. While there, he formed another camp, similar to Camp Catch-A-Rainbow, in the former Soviet Union for children who had acquired cancer as a result of the Chernobyl disaster. Kathy Agard had served as the director for the division that included development at Hackley Hospital, prior to moving to the Council of Michigan Foundations, and was familiar with McHale’s work. When funding was awarded for the Michigan Community Foundations’ Youth Project, Agard recruited McHale as the project’s first program associate with primary responsibility for creating and implementing the youth empowerment responsibilities. At CMF McHale assisted in implementing a $35 million challenge grant from the Kellogg Foundation that aimed to ensure that every citizen in Michigan had access to a community foundation and – more specifically to McHale — to introduce young people to philanthropy. This led to the creation of Youth Advisory Councils (YACs), which allowed youth leaders to act as grantmakers and solve real problems in their communities.

In 1993, after two successful years at CMF, McHale was offered the position of executive assistant to Russ Mawby, president of the Kellogg Foundation — which he accepted with CMF’s CEO Dorothy A. Johnson’s and Agard’s blessings. McHale remained at the Kellogg Foundation until 2014, serving as a program officer, chief of staff, and finally as senior vice president for programs.

McHale’s contributions to the field of philanthropy were both many and far-reaching. He founded Camp Catch-A-Rainbow at the age of 24, and it continues to offer young cancer patients from Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio, a place to enjoy themselves with peers who are experiencing  similar circumstances. The camp he founded in Russia was the first of its kind in the country. McHale also co-founded Kalamazoo Special Skiing, an organization that helps to train blind and physically disabled individuals how to downhill ski.

McHale’s work for CMF was particularly important to the state of Michigan, and essential in the growth of community foundations. The Michigan Community Foundations’ Youth Project not only strengthened the sector within the state, but also made Michigan the first geographically large, heavily-populated state to bring community foundation services to every region. The 86 YACs that were created alongside many of the community foundations continue to operate today, empowering youths to help their community, thereby creating a sense of duty that often follows them as they age. By involving youths in this way, YACs strengthen interest in the sector immediately, and build the next generation of volunteers and nonprofit leaders.

McHale’s work at the Kellogg Foundation was beneficial to the sector. He provided overall leadership to program areas, shaped policies and strategies, and directed organization-wide systems. He was in charge of human and financial resources, and for select programs, including the Latin American/Caribbean and African programs. The Kellogg Foundation works to unite individuals and their communities to promote the well-being and development of children, and is involved in Haiti, Mexico, northeastern Brazil, southern Africa, and throughout the United States.

“Sometimes I think foundations and organizations feel that you can just pick up a model and drop it in another community or another part of the world and it’s going to be run just like it is where it was originated. I think we have to understand, what you take are the values and the principles, but then you let the people in the local community or in that particular country put it in their own context within their culture, and make it something that’s probably going to even be better and stronger there than had they just taken our instruction manual on how to start a Youth Advisory Council or how to start a community foundation. If you put it in their context, in their culture, let them own it, then it’s going to be much stronger. But if you can at least share some of the values and the principles, I think that’s a much better way of having that type of replication take place.”

McHale volunteered and served on nonprofit boards including chair of the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy’s Leadership Council, the Urban League of Battle Creek, the Coalition of Community Foundations for Youth, and CMF, among many others.

McHale was interviewed regarding his insights and experiences in working with Michigan’s philanthropic community and the Our State of Generosity (OSoG) partners. The following quotes specifically relate to the five organizing themes of the OSoG project.

Servant Leadership in Michigan Philanthropy

“We [grantmakers] need to come at this with great humility. This is not our money. We have to be very thoughtful and understanding of stewardship and what that means, and that’s a broad word.”

“Stay humble throughout all this work and realize that no foundation (that I’m aware of) has ever fed a hungry child, they’ve never taught a child how to read, they’ve never helped a woman develop the work skills so she can go back to work and support her three children. All we have is money, and money in and of itself can accomplish absolutely nothing. It’s the grantees who are the ones that are really making the impact in those communities. And let’s remember that. That yes, we have money, and people sometimes hold us up for wonderful things, but we haven’t made any of these contributions in these communities like people often think we do. It’s the grantees and the people out there who are doing that great work, so stay humble.”

“I think Michigan, by no question, has an ethic of servant leadership. I think it comes long before things such as the Kellogg Foundation or the Mott Foundation or the Kresge Foundation. I would take you to Battle Creek, Michigan, in about 1845 when this thing came through Battle Creek called the Underground Railroad … The Underground Railroad was not made possible by funding from the United Way. It did not receive a grant from the Kellogg Foundation. It was created by individuals who understood their role in trying to help other individuals seek the freedom that they so desperately deserved … I think this is a state — and every community throughout the state probably has some other interesting, unique stories about that — that didn’t require funding from a corporation, or a foundation, or United Way. People just understood that this is how we treat one another, this is how we take care of one another, and now it’s our responsibility as citizens of this state to make sure that we give other people the understanding of that type of ethic and servant leadership.”

Human, Financial, and Knowledge Resources

“It really all does come down to people. I tell new program officers when they’re coming in, ‘You’re going to hear about some fabulous programs and opportunities to fund, but at the end of the day, you’re betting on this individual who is going to be leading this program. You need to be able to bet on people who can clearly articulate where it is they want to go.’ They may not know exactly how they’re going to get there, but somehow they know they’re going to get there. They’ve got big, bold ideas. They’re not afraid of challenges. They also realize that they can’t do it alone, and they understand the importance of partnerships and relationships and working with other organizations … People who have an understanding of the importance of working with one another, where there are levels of trust and confidence and integrity.”

National & Global Implications

“[Michigan projects] have become national models. I remember having the opportunity to accompany Kathy Agard and Russ Mawby … to meet with the governor of Montana who’d learned about our tax credit. We went in, and I think [we] just felt that our tax credit was so perfect, you just want to kind of replicate this. They were intrigued by the whole idea, but they felt there was another way they could do it, and I think the moral of the story was they developed a tax credit that was even stronger than the state of Michigan’s … At the end of the day, we realized that, again, it’s best to share just kind of some values, and some principles, and some ideas, and then let the local people develop it in their own context and such.”

Practical Wisdom

“It’s also really important that as you’re dealing with tough community issues that might require some public policy issues, that regardless of your own politics, you’ve got to put those aside and you’ve got to deal with both sides of the aisle, because that’s the only way you can start bringing people together. You need to take a long-term view. The communities and the issues that philanthropy is often dealing with — they didn’t get into these problems overnight, you’re not going to get out of these problems overnight, and if you think a three-year or a five-year initiative is going to fix it, you’re crazy. You’ve really got to try to take the long-term view. You’ve got to find the right people and bet on the right people and keep in close contact with them.”

“When I do have young people who come to me and ask about getting jobs at foundations, I really encourage them to get some experience out in communities first, either through their professional experience by working for an NGO, or certainly volunteering, serving on some local nonprofit boards, and realizing that different foundations are looking for different skill sets … I think it’s important to get involved in the nonprofit sector, start getting on some boards. If you have the opportunities to go to networking meetings such as a Council of Michigan Foundations, an MNA conference, or an Independent Sector conference, take advantage of those opportunities and just be patient.”