Optimism is “not something you do, but rather a spirit you bring to everything you do,” keynote speaker Steve Gross, a clinical social worker and founder of the Life is Good Kids Foundation, told ULI members at a 2016 ULI Fall Meeting general session. Gross, the foundation’s “chief playmaker,” shared his thoughts on optimism and offered practical advice for cultivating an optimistic and playful spirit, based on his work with children who have experienced traumas including violence, poverty, and chronic illness.
The Boston-based Life is Good Foundation, a nonprofit arm of the $100 million Life is Good apparel maker, supports teachers, social workers, and others who help children heal from early childhood trauma by partnering with schools, hospitals, social service agencies, and enrichment programs across the United States. “What does this have to do with real estate?” Gross asked, engaging the large crowd. “We’re resilient people, but there are always lessons to learn from outside perspectives.”
He offered ULI members a few “pearls of wisdom” that he’d learned from children: “It doesn’t matter that I’m a social worker and you’re in real estate. We are bigger than our business cards.” Life is Good sells T-shirts, he said, “as a vehicle to achieve a mission: to spread the power of optimism. You’re in the same business when you develop and create spaces where people can live safely, happily, and productively.”
[For more of this story, written by Kathleen McCormick, go to http://urbanland.uli.org/devel...d-business-practice/]
Comments (0)