In Central Florida, a recent report revealed a staggering disparity: the net worth for whites averaged around $225,000, while only about $55,000 for Hispanics and a shocking $18,000 for African Americans. Our guest for this episode is Glen Gilzean, who is helping to change those statistics. Gilzean is the CEO of the Central Florida Urban League, one of the largest and oldest civil rights organizations in the country, and he’s transforming communities by bringing together public, private, and nonprofit resources to break the cycles of generational poverty that he rose from himself. The key is what Gilzean calls the “The Three Es”: Education, Employment, and Entrepreneurship. Join us as we discuss Glen’s work and how he’s unlocking opportunities to help his community flourish.
KEY QUOTES & BIG IDEAS
Glen on solving societal challenges (~8:20)
“Each entity is a leg on the barstool. You have to have all three [...] Government can't fix its way out through public policy. Nonprofits can't service their way out of the issues that we're facing. And for-profits, can't do it by themselves. [...] We’ve been able to create that synergy in the state of Florida.”
Glen on trust in education (~19:00)
“Grandma is really plugged in with her neighborhood church or community center. […] if Grandma is making the decision for grandson or granddaughter’s educational future, that’s who you have to target.”
Glen on the Fatherhood Initiative (~23:45)
“[…] we are able to provide the necessary job training, job skills, and life skills needed to help that father (and sometimes moms) […] help their family”
Glen on flourishing (~24:55)
“In order to flourish and get out of generational poverty, you need the three E’s: [education, employment, and entrepreneurship]”
Glen on structural inequality (~26:00)
“I’ve had a student tell me, ‘Mr. Glenn, I didn’t know that Orlando had tall buildings’, and they literally live five miles away from downtown. […] I’m blessed that I’ve had mentors that have allowed me to stretch my thinking and grow outside of my little zip code”
Glen on education equity (~28:00)
“Education is the #1 civil rights issue, period. […] Education gives people the equity that’s needed to grow”
Glen on school choice (~29:20)
“At the local level, we realize how important school choice is. [….] in the state of Florida, all 8 Urban League affiliates are fully supportive of education freedom and school choice, because we understand how important it is, knowing that we represent predominantly African Americans and our elementary schools are failing”
***
GO DEEPER:
Read: School Choice Blooms in the Desert (WSJ)
Listen: Enabling Environments for Success with Okey Enelamah
Evan Baehr (00:00):
Venture to Flourish is a podcast from Learn Capital for founders, investors, and leaders who are working to build ventures that drive what we call human flourishing.
Glen Gilzean is the CEO of the Central Florida Urban League, one of the largest and oldest civil rights organizations in the country. He took over an organization, millions in debt. He turned it around in two years and was named a Florida CEO of the Year. He's passionate for people like himself, born into a low income family, but he made it because of a few lucky breaks, a great education, and a mama who taught him to sell Mary Kay products. Listen in for the full story. Welcome to the show.
In this conversation, Glen, Hey, by the way, how fun to have you on this? Thanks for being here.
Glen Gilzean (00:52):
I appreciate it. Thank you for the opportunity.
Evan Baehr (00:54):
We're gonna talk about opportunity, that word, about education, about public policy, tech-backed ventures, all these different things that Learn is so interested in, that you're interested in, that you've embodied, you've built. You've been a creator in this space for a long time. Give us some of the roots. Give us some of the, where did you come from story that situated you to be so passionate about the spaces we're diving into today.
Glen Gilzean (01:18):
Yeah, absolutely. So I grew up in South Florida. My parents are both Jamaican immigrants and they valued education. Although my mom dropped out of middle school and then my dad dropped out in high school, but they knew the importance of education, how it'll transform, not only myself and my siblings lives and they stressed it. And it's just a blessing for me to be able to do this work, because now I'm able to transform thousands of students' lives.
Evan Baehr (01:47):
What did that look like? Was it a tough mom who was kind of making you work extra hard? Or how did that play out?
Glen Gilzean (01:52):
Oh man, it's too long of a story, but let's just say that she used Mary Kay as a way to transform our lives. You see, my dad was the only person who supported a family of six, making less than $10 an hour. And my mom said, hey, would you like to earn an allowance? And I said, absolutely. And she said, hey, if you help me sell Mary Kay products, we'll be able to give you allowance. Here's what happened. We end up selling, business booming and unfortunately three months go by and I didn't receive one allowance check. And I said, mom, I thought we had a deal. And she said, okay, in business, there's a thing called business meetings. And so we had a business meeting, we had a discussion, and she said, son, there's a thing called business expenses. I said, what's this?
She said for the roof over your head, the food you eat every day, and the clothes on your back, you owed me money. And uso basically I never had any allowance, but she used that money to pay for after school tutoring. And that after school tutoring is what saved my life. You see, I was in the seventh grade reading on a second grade level, and I needed that tutoring just to get to high school, much less to go to college, and now be in this role that I'm in now. So God bless mom for teaching me entrepreneurship earlier on. However she subjected me to child labor laws and abused the fact that her young son never got any allowance money.
Evan Baehr (03:14):
Okay. Wait, hold on. Back up though. Mary Kay, like the cosmetics company?
Glen Gilzean (03:17):
Like legit, like mom actually was so successful that she got the pink Cadillac.
Evan Baehr (03:22):
That is insane. And you're just like going door to door, like knocking, like, Hey, hello, would you like to buy some lipstick?
Glen Gilzean (03:28):
Yeah. So, you know, back in the day there was no internet. Right? So
Evan Baehr (03:31):
Wait, wait, hold on.
Glen Gilzean (03:32):
Yeah, man. I'm old bro.
Evan Baehr (03:40):
Okay. So there's no internet, you're literally going door to door. Yeah. And what were the things you sold what'd you sell?
Glen Gilzean (03:46):
Sadly, a boy should not know about mascara and blush and all that other stuff. So I kind of got like an inside track on that. That's what we sold.
Evan Baehr (03:57):
Wow. Those are amazing lessons early on. So you're in seventh grade on a second grade reading level. What is it like, maybe in your own life, and I'm sure you've been around kids, when a kid sort of knows they're behind. How does that feel to be a kid who isn't performing as his or her peers are and you know that you're falling behind?
Glen Gilzean (04:22):
Oh, it's sad, it's heartbreaking, it's full of just...It is just tough, because one of the things to not get picked on, I realized I had behavior issues, right? Like I had a bunch of referrals, but I knew if I had to get up and read in front of a class and how terrified I was, I would've just died. So it was just easier to just act a fool, get suspended and then not have to be subject to that type of ridicule. I mean, that's really what it is. And the sad part is that so many students today go through that. And that's why me creating Flourish Academies is one way to create this personalized education, so that way children don't have to go through those type of traumas.
Evan Baehr (05:12):
I know you've served national communities before, you're currently serving with a real focus on Florida. Give us a little sketch of the state of low income communities, in particular Black and Hispanic communities in Florida. Give us some of those numbers.
Glen Gilzean (05:29):
Oh man. So there was a recent report that came out in central Florida where the net worth of my white brothers and sisters is roughly about $225,000. When it comes to Hispanics, that number drops significantly to $55,000. And then when it comes to African Americans, it's less than $18,000, the net worth. I have a zip code - well actually all of Orange County where Orlando is, African Americans make up about 68% are renters. They're not owners. So we just actually witnessed this major economic boom, if you were a homeowner, this equity that you built. If you were a renter, you receive none of that, right? So we realize that if we're not playing this vertical integration of upskilling parents, while simultaneously providing a high quality, high fidelity education, you're not making a dent in the issue. And for me, my goal is how do I end generational poverty by leveraging those two verticals? And we have found a very unique way of doing so through the vehicles that we were able to build this past year. So we're excited about it.
Evan Baehr (06:48):
For one of these black families, with the average net worth of $18,000, give us a picture of what did that kid's life look like in their public school, their commute, their house. I mean maybe if you can think of a particular family that comes to mind, just what are some of the things that those kids would be dealing with?
Glen Gilzean (07:11):
So off the bat, you have home insecurity, right? The quality of education in the state of Florida, the majority of schools that are predominantly African American have a letter grade of D or Fs, right? So the learning environment is extremely poor. Then you talk about transportation issues, lack of internet access. And then they're nine times out of ten probably in a food desert. So all of the major indicators, just all the negative indicators, a typical African American family in the state of Florida is probably seeing a majority of them. So that's a lot, and I'm not just talking just generically, I'm talking about my life, because I went through that, right? And if it wasn't for education, again this relation, I would not be here today. Especially with a lot of the colleagues that who've come out of the same communities, if you asked them, they will say education is their Godsend. And that's why I'm so excited about Flourish Academies and the work that we're doing here together with Learn, because we have the tools to truly transform the lives of people.
Evan Baehr (08:22):
Many people that encounter a public challenge like we've been talking about, their common tools they might pick up to run after that problem could be, let's go start a nonprofit, let's go into public policy reform. Maybe let's run for office. Talk through some of those different things. You seem to have a pretty good grasp of quite a few of those tools, including the tool of actually building for profit operating companies. How do you see those things kind of working together and do you think that too infrequently people are not really thinking about how companies could come to serve these kinds of communities.
Glen Gilzean (09:05):
So each entity is a leg on the bar stool. And with you have to have all three, you can't do one in silos. Government can't fix its way out through public policy. Nonprofits can't service their way out of the issues that we're facing. And then for profits, can't do it by themselves. So having all three, working in tandem, is the way to go. Now, what I think you know, and others who have been intimately involved with our model, is that we've been able to create that synergy in the state of Florida, by working with policy makers, working on creative policies, leveraging a nonprofit vehicle that allows us to provide the services, and then working with entities, like Learn portfolio companies that can actually execute with high fidelity and high return. I see what we're developing as a model, not just for the state of Florida, but across the country because policy makers want to make strategic investments, but they need to maximize the dollars that they have because it's taxpayers money. And working with nonprofit agencies, they have the heart, but they don't have the business acumen.
Glen Gilzean (10:34):
So then if all three working in tandem is the solution - and you know, rightfully so, we've seen some success. There's a lady by the name of Ms. Garcia who, if it wasn't for a for-profit solution, Foundry College, helping us do some of the training and then government with the investment, from some of the ARPA funding, and then the nonprofit, the Urban League, working together to help this one parent, we now able to do two things. One, that parent is now certified, has a high-skilled, high-paying job. Their child in turn, participated in our after school. They have received the ABCs, which stands for their attendance in school has gone up, Behavior issues have gone down and their curriculum have gone up, which is really exciting. And it works. What happens is, there's always been either government and private companies have been working in silos, or government and nonprofits working in silos, but never the three of them in tandem. And having that work come together is the secret sauce. And that's what we've been able to develop in Florida. And we're excited about replicating it across the country,
BREAK (11:43):
Do conversations like this get you fired up? Check out, learn dot vc slash community. There you'll learn about our epic annual event called Learn and Ski hosted at a private ski resort in Utah, as well as our ongoing event series at our new headquarters in Austin, Texas called The Arena. learn.vc/community.
Evan Baehr (12:03):
We're definitely gonna get into the story of Flourish, but brag a little bit about yourself and the work at the Urban League. A lot of people may not know, what is Urban League and tell us about your work there.
Glen Gilzean (12:12):
Yeah, so the Urban League is a civil rights organization that's been around for 112 plus years. I happen to run the central Florida Urban League, which is everything from Lakeland to Daytona, basically all of central Florida on I4. And it's an organization that was founded on the premise of helping African Americans and other disenfranchised groups get access to resources to be self-sufficient. Over time it has evolved, but what I've done is gone back to the basics and now we're solely focused on upskilling individuals. So that way they can go after the jobs of today and the jobs of tomorrow, and be self-sustaining for themselves, and also create opportunities for their families.
Evan Baehr (12:59):
You gave some stats on the net worth by race earlier. Are there some similar stats that stand out around understanding how hard it is for the black community to access educational resources? I don't know, college attendance rates or high school graduation rates or test scores? How severe are the, is the lack of access to education for the black community in Florida?
Glen Gilzean (13:23):
Well, let me just pinpoint it right micro-targeted to one particular zip code: 32805, which is the Paramore area outside of downtown Orlando, historic African American community. 70% of the residents don't have a high school diploma, period. So when we talk about opportunities, if you don't even have a high school diploma, you are not going anywhere. Period. There's like no opportunities for you. And that population has, I think from not mistaken, almost 60% kids who are growing up in that environment, going to a local school. And again, that school is one of the failing schools. Florida has a thing called L300, which is the lowest 300 performing elementary schools, and it's on the list, right? So that's one prime example of like a zip code that I'm very focused on how do I upskill those families and create educational opportunities.
So we develop a partnership with Higher Ground. We started a school named after the civil rights leader, Whitney M Young Academy, where Higher Ground is providing Montessori education to that community. And it's exciting because people said that there's no way we can do that for that zip code. And now we've launched and we have a school site that has the ability to serve up to 200 kids. So now 200 kids are gonna have Montessori education. That's basically that everyone has said, no, that's not gonna happen. And we anticipate that's going to transform lives because of two things. One, we have asked every parent who participated in the school to participate in one of our workforce programs. And then now we're connecting them with Foundry as a way of that vertical integration. And then two, just using all the tools that we have to our disposal to really get them out of generational poverty.
Evan Baehr (15:23):
In that model, you got a better school option for the kids, but it sounds like you're engaging the parent also. How does that work?
Glen Gilzean (15:28):
Well, what we're doing is we're leveraging the brand that we have. So the Urban League, because it's an old civil rights organization, it has the trust of the black community. Whereas if I was just some Joe Schmo who came out the street and said, Hey, I got this great thing for you, I'm like, eh, I don't know who you are, right? And then, because we leverage our faith partners, because all of our learning centers are housed in a church or a community center, that pastor is a key component. So the pastor that doesn't have an education ministry, but wants one, we become their de facto education ministry. And then because of that level of trust, if someone is trusting their soul to that particular institution, they're gonna be willing to trust their kids to come and get a high quality education. What we've seen, because of the pandemic and a lot of the fears that's out there, people want educational freedom, people want alternatives, and they want to get out of the, sadly, the dysfunction that the traditional model currently exists. And we're creating that. The sad part is we need to scale faster because there's so many people that want this. It's just they have access to those vouchers, but there's no marketplace to actually utilize it. And that's what we've been able to do is create this marketplace and be able to give these parents opportunities.
Evan Baehr (16:52):
In the map of educational freedom, it sounds like Florida, in some sense, has some pretty innovative more school choice oriented programs. You're saying even if you have the voucher, there aren't that many places to go to use the thing.
Glen Gilzean (17:05):
Last year's data showed that, I think it was like 50 or 60% of people who applied for the voucher, didn't use it and went back to their public school. And then when they were surveyed, they said the reason why is that they didn't have nowhere to go. The option for them required that they have to go outside of their neighborhood, right? So Florida has made it so prevalent to have access to these vouchers and these options, but if there's not a neighborhood solution, they say, you know what? I still gotta go to work. If I have to drive 10 miles to drop my child off and then, while I'm at work, how does my child get back home? These are real live issues that low-income working class families have to deal with. So what we have done is figured out how to keep everything right there in the community, and then make sure that they have access to these resources, while bringing in high-fidelity, high-quality edtech opportunities to the community.
Evan Baehr (18:10):
You mentioned the word trust earlier, and I'd love to talk a little bit about, there's obviously a lot of innovation in software and in online platforms, for elementary school, middle school, high school, upskilling, reskilling, all that. You've talked about before, there's such a critical need for trust with a parent to then make that kind of decision for their kid. And perhaps many people who are in this sort of venture kind of ecosystem, assume that here's the target customer base we're trying to reach, we're gonna reach them through Facebook ads and SEO and all these traditional marketing approaches - sounds like that may not really work in a community that first has to have the trust. Explain that.
Glen Gilzean (19:00):
So when you're trying to reach a community like mine, thinking that you're going just do some - I call it the Air. Force approach where you're doing some Facebook ads, you're running some commercial and thinking like that's gonna really resonate with individuals. It doesn't, because one, you may have a parent who is working tirelessly and then grandma is the one who is nurturing the child. And if grandma is not plugged in or on those sites, how does grandma get access to that marketing effort, right? And more than likely, grandma is really plugged in with her neighborhood church or her community center. So that's where you need to actually go, because if grandma's making the decision for her grandson or granddaughter's educational future, that's who you have to target. So what happened, I noticed when some of our partners were doing these online digital outreach, yes, they work for affluent families because they're plugged in, but if grandma doesn't have access to the internet, who's seeing that, right? So our approach we have seen has been really successful because we we're leveraging the trust of the Urban League - again, being a civil rights organization, like the NAACP. And then simultaneously just like holding their hand through the whole process. And because of that, the ability to really connect and make it happen has been really successful.
Evan Baehr (20:36):
Tell us about Flourish Academy. What is it, how does it work?
Glen Gilzean (20:38):
So Flourish is just a vehicle that allows families to get all aspects that's needed to get out of generational poverty. So one, the basis is the K through 12 educational environment where a child can get the quality education. We use partners with Higher Ground, and then that's how we bring in the Montessori piece. The adults who are in need of upskilling, then we are able to leverage Foundry College and be able to provide the sales force, the project management certifications. But then we realize that a lot of families that we serve are involved in some form of trauma, especially coming out of the pandemic. So we're able to leverage our partners like, um, Sharpen and because we also have the ability to utilize Medicaid. We can now holistically help that family from an education, a job skill, and then obviously a mental health perspective. We have the ability to really serve them holistically. It's a one stop shop and it's been really successful. So we're excited.
BREAK (21:45):
If you're excited to learn more about Glen's story, check him out at twitter.com/glengilzean. It is G L E N G I L Z E A N. There you'll find lots of articles, insights, cool retweets. And let's be honest, a lot of photos of him with the governor of Florida at bill signings. He's kind of a big deal.
Evan Baehr (22:04):
Is it the case that for many of these core components needed to overcome to escape generational poverty, are there, are there often federal or state dollars available that have been allocated, but the challenges, awareness, or ability to actually have things reimbursed? Is the money available from the federal government already?
Glen Gilzean (22:29):
The answer is yes. I think what makes this really an exciting proposition for the families, the consumer, it's a one stop shop where they don't have to bounce around. So if they had to go to, say, all three partners, I just mentioned, they may be in different locations. And if you're thinking of that working class family - let's not even bring in low income - let's just think of the working class family, right? Still has to work that nine to five. How do they make that work from a time perspective of going to three different locations and still be effective in their respective job? It's virtually impossible, especially if you're a single mom or a single dad, or even a grandma who may be, have that flexibility, but limited on resources, because you're living off of Social Security. Like these are realities, right? These are families. So by creating this one stop shop and especially leveraging the institution of the church or the community center that's right there, what they know and trust and go to regularly, that's what makes it work.
Evan Baehr (23:31):
You mentioned single moms, what is sort of the state of marriage and the frequency of kids really only having one parent at home.
Glen Gilzean (23:40):
I know those numbers are really high. I don't know them off the top of my head, but one of the things that Governor DeSantis signed into law was House Bill 7065, which I was honored that he asked me to be a part of that effort and speak at that bill signing effort, where we actually are strengthening dads. It's the strengthening fatherhood initiative, and the way we do that, because ultimately I'm one of those guys that don't believe government can solve people's personal life in that aspect, but you can help someone personally by giving them the tools to be self sustaining. So with the fatherhood initiative, what we are able to do is provide the necessary job training, job skills, and life skills that's needed to help that father and sometimes moms, but don't tell anybody
Evan Baehr (24:42):
The name Flourish, the word flourish, why did you choose it? And what does that mean to you?
Glen Gilzean (24:48):
I chose it because I think of how, going back to this whole vertical integration aspect, in order to flourish and get out of generational poverty, you need the Three Es. The first E is education. Second E is employment. And the last E is entrepreneurship. And that's where I have seen people come out of generational poverty. That's what makes this country great. And if you have all three, you will flourish. And that's how it happened. That's the, as they say, that's the lady, the fat lady song, or.... I'm really bad at cliches.
Evan Baehr (25:25):
Glen Gilzean (26:13):
The way I would answer that is, there's this old saying that perception equals reality. What you perceive is your reality. So the kids I serve, the families I serve, all they see is a one mile, quarter mile radius. I've had a student tell me, Mr. Glenn, I didn't know that Orlando had tall buildings. And they live literally five miles away from downtown Orlando. But because they've never left outside that little bubble, that's all they know. So sadly, when you are faced with societal challenges that, if that's all you see, that's all you know, then that's where it breaks. I'm blessed that I've had mentors and some people who have stretched my thinking, that allowed me to grow outside of my little zip code, which allowed me to grow. I'm blessed that my parents, although they didn't have it, they said, you know what, value this, Go to school, get an education. But it was them pushing. And then number two, once I got there being exposed helped me continue to grow and thrive and flourish. I think why I'm doing this work is because I understand that if there's not those mentors available or someone actively advocating for a community, then how else is that reality going to change, if their perception is always that one way?
Evan Baehr (27:53):
Do you think of access to these kinds of platforms in these kinds of schools in these kinds of opportunities - is this a civil rights issue?
Glen Gilzean (28:04):
Absolutely. Education is the number one civil rights issue. Period.
Evan Baehr (28:09):
Make your case for that.
Glen Gilzean (28:10):
With education, education being the civil rights issue, the way you can really create equity - I tell people it's not about equality anymore, right? And it should have never been about equality, because everybody doesn't start from the same starting point. But education gives people the equity that's needed to grow and actually elevate. Prime example, myself. Again, my mom dropped out of school in the eighth grade. My dad dropped out in like the 11th grade, right? I have two dropouts as my parents. And as someone who believes in educational freedom, will always advocate and say the child's first teacher is their parents. So if it wasn't for education, myself and my siblings wouldn't be where we are, and I can name off hundreds of people I know. Judge Andrew Bain who grew up two blocks away from me, again, he's a judge from a very similar situation, right? I can continue to name names that wouldn't be where they are today if it wasn't for the great equalizer, the ultimate civil rights, which is education.
Evan Baehr (29:19):
It is ironic to me, it's confusing to me that some of the political parties or advocacy groups or leaders that are most often talking about civil rights seem to be against school choice. Can you help me understand what's going on there?
Glen Gilzean (29:41):
It depends on who the civil rights leader is.
Glen Gilzean (30:43):
But let me tell you this, with the National Urban League, they have taken positions both at the national level and local level, but one of the things that they have not taken a position on is school choice, because at the local level we realize how important school choice is. And even though nationally are aligned with our friends in the public school sector, they understand that this would be a massive civil war within our movement. So they said, you know what, let everyone figure it out on their respective area. And I'm glad that they did because we are also a federated model. So national handles national issues and we handle our local and state issues. And being that education is truly a state issue, not a federal issue, it just makes sense that each affiliate is able to weigh in on school choice as they see fit. I'm just grateful that the state of Florida, all eight Urban League affiliates are wholehearted and fully supported of education freedom, school choice, because we understand how important it is. Especially knowing that we represent predominantly African Americans and predominantly our elementary schools are failing. So we need changes. We can't talk about job training. We can't talk about entrepreneurship. We can't talk about building black businesses, if our schools are producing what they're producing now. So that's why it's a no brainer for Florida to fully embrace school choice and education freedom.
Evan Baehr (32:08):
Dream with us for a second at the end of your career, if you've seen, not just Flourish Academies, but the future things you go on to launch really land amazing access to education for the entire black community in America. What does that mean? What would that look like? What would be the ramifications of actually securing education as a civil right?
Glen Gilzean (32:30):
Yeah, so the dream I have before I leave is that the word "achievement gap" will no longer exist. That's why I'm doing Flourish, because the fact that we have a definition of achievement gaps, meaning white kids, Asian kids, Hispanic kids do X, and then black kids do Y, right? That right there is an atrocity. That right there is why education is a civil rights issue. So my goal, my life goal is to leverage Flourish to a point where it is really closing, but eliminating, the achievement gaps, which in turn basically levels the playing field on economic gaps, levels the playing field on the disparity between just health equality, economic opportunities, levels the playing field on criminal justice. I had my sheriff tell me, Glen, I want you to succeed in this Flourish Academies because if educators win, criminal justice loses. But obviously we've been losing on the education front, which is why criminal justice is winning.
Evan Baehr (33:47):
There are many cool, innovative things about you. One is that you seem to be kind of a breath of fresh air in terms of your interest and your leveraging of venture-backed technology companies to be tools in the toolkit. Am I reading this correctly that you're sort of a little bit out on a limb and that the thought of like finding the best and brightest, you know, engineering and venture backed companies to be in this solutions kit is still kind of a rare thing?
Glen Gilzean (34:14):
Very rare, but as we continue to do this work - I was at the National Urban League Conference not too long ago, and when I presented on the things that we were doing, I had roughly about, I don't know, 20 to 30 CEOs send me a message like, Hey, when can you come to my market and help me establish this? Because they see it as two folds: one serving the needs of the people we serve with high-fidelity and bringing in high-quality products and interventions that we don't have access to, but then number two, it becomes a sustainable source of revenue to sustain the nonprofit. So everybody wins and that's the way to do it. That's that three legged stool that we talked about.
Evan Baehr (35:07):
For folks that hear of your work and your mission and the severity of the achievement gap and the wealth gap. If someone's listening and saying, God, I wanna, I wanna be a part of the solution, what's kind of your short list for how people could get directly involved in your work or in their local community.
Glen Gilzean (35:24):
Get involved. Just hit me up on any of the social media platforms.
Evan Baehr (36:28):
Well, Florida always remain second to Texas.
Glen Gilzean (36:35):
Remember where are you from again, my friend? Where did you grow up? Was it the great state of Florida?
Evan Baehr (36:41):
Great state of Florida.
Glen Gilzean (36:43):
Oh, God bless you.
Evan Baehr (36:44):
It's a great place. Glen, thanks for being on the pod. Appreciate your time. And so proud of all the work you're doing.
Glen Gilzean (36:49):
Thank you so much. And thank you for the opportunity.
Evan Baehr (36:54):
It has been awesome having you with us for this episode of Venture To Flourish. Check out all the episodes at learn.vc/flourish, or find us on Spotify.