This blog post is by VolunteerMatch CEO, Greg Baldwin.

It is with a profound mix of emotions that I share the exciting news that VolunteerMatch is publicly launching a collaboration with Russell Reynolds today to lead a national, cross-sector search to find an extraordinary leader to serve as VolunteerMatch’s next Chief Executive Officer.

Over the last several weeks, we have been devastated by the killings of Ahmaud Aubery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd. 

These tragedies are painful reminders of the long history of injustice and racism in the U.S. that continues to tear our communities apart and leaves us living in fear of one another.

We all know there is another way — a country where we would all live as “One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” 

But we don’t live in that world. George Floyd did not live in that world. 

For more than a decade, leading companies have been investing in making their community engagement programs more strategic. This is why so few have succeeded — until now.

In 2002, a ground-breaking article, The Competitive Advantage of Corporate Philanthropy, appeared in the Harvard Business Review. In it, Michael Porter and Mark Kramer challenged the prevailing argument at the time that philanthropy and business were inherently contradictory. Instead, they made the point, which has shaped a generation of business leaders, that companies can, and should, “…systematically apply their distinctive strengths to maximize the social and economic value created by their philanthropy.”

Our country takes great pride in the role volunteering has played in our history. We believe that volunteers are virtuous, kind and essential to the health of our society. It is why the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, for instance, is celebrated as a national Day of Service. We are a country that loves volunteering.