Making profit is not the most important criterion - passion, heart is EVERYTHING

       written by Kseniya Krasnitska

On the morning of July 21, 2015 I attended the excursion to the Gardeneers in Chicago. The Executive Director and Co-founder Adam Zmick has warmly welcomed our group before introducing the organization and the business concept.

Gardeneers was founded in early 2014 by the Teach For America alumni May Tsupras and Adam Zmick. This non-profit organization offers school garden activities to enable students to enhance their knowledge of nutrition as well as to increase their social and interpersonal skills. North America has many areas which are affected by poverty and poor food knowledge. There are also neighborhood problems, many crimes and violence. Therefore, Gardeneers wants to help these kids by teaching how to grow and maintain healthy food. But also to connect with their community and develop team work skills. Relating to the existing social grievances I will mention two TED Talks of Ron Finley and Stephen Ritz who also explained the present problems and trained the kids with gardening to have a sustainable life.

http://www.ted.com/talks/ron_finley_a_guerilla_gardener_in_south_central_la

http://www.ted.com/talks/stephen_ritz_a_teacher_growing_green_in_the_south_bronx

While having a conversation with Adam Zmick it seemed to me that he is very passionated in terms of working with small kids to improve their social life. He beliefs that through garden education their views will change. Adam has also talked about fundraising. The costs for the program are covered through school budget, grants and private funding. If Adam is not teaching kids he is doing administrative tasks. For instance, he is seeking for potential private donators to expand to other citites.

Some of my fellow students have asked him several questions about Gardeneers organizational culture and leadership. Adam answered as follows: All employees who work for Gardeneers share the same perceptions. We want to provide an effective learning experience to kids and sustain healthy food. Gardeneers does not focus on profitability, but more on the social aspect.

In theory, what do we understand by culture? „Culture is both a dynamic phenomenon that surrounds us at all times, being constantly enacted and created by our interactions with others and shaped by leadership behavior, and a set of structures, routines, rules, and norms that guide and constrain behavior.“ 

http://www.untag-smd.ac.id/files/Perpustakaan_Digital_2/ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE Organizational Culture and Leadership, 3rd Edition.pdf

Once culture exists it determines criteria of leadership. Thus, it is primarily important to understand the culture to understand the organization. For instance, essential elements such as vision, mission, strategy and goals have to be considered and defined.

The business model of StreetTube is similiar to the Gardeneers, because our mission is to change and improve the life of every street artist. We are focusing on social commitment regarding the donations to the street artists. Moreover, the organizational culture and leadership are quite the same. We selected our team in terms of who could fit while sharing the same passion for music and arts. StreetTube also needs grants from the government to stay viable and keep on growing. The only difference to Gardeneers is that we are a profit company which needs to generate high net income. Adam has demonstrated impressive leadership skills by communication and motivation of his staff. My team and I will follow this example to create the best possible organizational culture. 

The determined elements above can be applied to all organizations. I think that it is critical to create shared concepts to survive. To be on the right track the management and staff must work as one.

I have really enjoyed the tour and was glad to meet Adam. I wish Gardeneers all the best for the future.