31. The Ethics of Doing Good - Leigh Mathews

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Overview

Meet Leigh Mathews. She's an Aussie nonprofit ethicist who's worked in the ‘do good’ sector for the last 15 years. In that time she set up her own NGO in Cambodia, worked as a human rights monitor, won a whole bunch of awards, burnt out, had two children, learned a lot of lessons, set up a consulting company, co-founded the ReThink Orphanages Network, traveled the world, wrote a book, started a podcast, and spoke to global audiences. Her tough questions on the social responsibility we assume as we perpetuate good is something you'll want to stop and consider.

“Shift from heart-based giving to your head being in control.”

— Leigh Mathews, Founder and CEO, ALTO Global Consulting

Questions we can ask our nonprofits to ensure we are ethically doing the most good
The problems in our sector and why they exist
Investigate what you are giving to
A conversation about voluntourism : a $2.6 billion profit a year industry
Be curious about why and how we do good. Challenge pre-conceived ideas and motivations surrounding doing good
How to hold ourselves, organizations, and corporations accountable
The differences between philanthropy in the United States and Australia
Place yourself as a learner, not a helper
Leigh’s One Good Thing: slow down and listen
Leigh’s podcast: The Good Problem

Powerful Quotes:

“At age 23 I was starting my own NGO in a country that was not my own. I was completely out of my league.” -Leigh

“I had to ask myself where does the bulk of the benefit go? Was it me who had an amazing learning experience, or did we genuinely benefit the people that we were trying to help?” -Leigh

“You leaned in and asked the really tough questions about how we could do this better.” -Becky

“Why could someone like me go and set up an NGO and get funding and deliver programs without any accountability, transparency and questioning?” -Leigh

“Today’s age has made it really easy for us to “do good”. You can engage with doing good with just a few clicks of a button. What has happened because of that is we don’t have to think anymore.” -Leigh

“When something is a commodity, it is easy to lose the ethical considerations on it.” -Leigh

“Just because you have good intentions doesn’t mean it is the most beneficial way.” -Jon

“Rather than placing a young person as a helper, position them as a learner.” -Leigh

“One big thing I’ve learned over the last few years is to slow down and listen. We’ve been “doing” forever, and we aren’t really getting anywhere.” -Leigh

“Shift from heart-based giving to your head being in control.” -Leigh

Questions to Ask Yourself:

Why do I want to help?
What do I care about?
How can I have the greatest impact?
Who is operating in that space? Is it ethical, sustainable, and are they showing impact?
Are people and organizations doing what they are saying they are doing?

Leigh’s Upcoming Class: Make Money Do Good

Leigh is currently running a 6 week course teaching small to medium business owners how to integrate doing good into the DNA of their business. Find out more at https://www.thegoodacademy.net/make-money-do-good-landing