A national expert on children and youth policy, Sagawa has been called a “founding mother of the modern service movement” for her work on national service. Her book, The American Way to Change, highlights ways that volunteer and national service is an important but underutilized strategy to solve problems in American communities.
Shirley Sagawa
Featured Leadership Topics
Communicate Effectively
“Leaders are able to articulate a compelling vision and convince others to go along. I think it's a simple thing.”
Description of the video:
You have some wrap up thoughts on service that you want to end with Yeah. You know, I think first, if anybody's listening to this, I'm reading it, thank you. You know, this is something that has been you know, I I truly believe I came to this issue because I was assigned to work on it. I did not come to Washington because I had this inspiration and vision. I just, you know, and I believe that through the work and insights of lots and lots of people who we haven't talked about. And I'm sure that someday somebody will be reading this and be like, super Mad makes I didn't mention them. It's just part because I'm getting older and I can't remember anything. But this would not there's so many people that had made a difference here. And to me, it's like in a way, a case study of what we really want to have happen in general. It's like if if if ordinary citizens who have something to say have a channel to do it. You know, we can change we can change we don't have to accept the things that right now we're so angry about. And I've always believed that, you know, I'm not against protests, protests have a really important place, but I think that we can all do more. You know, we can show up with the signs and then the next day we can do the hard work of solving problems. And I hope that we don't lose that because that's really an important part of the sort of history of our country, and I think it's future. So that's kind of my last word here.
Resolve Conflicts and Crisis
“It is a real pitfall if you will not invite dissension, people who disagree with you, you know, listen, because if you're really about the cause and are trying to find the best pathway, you need enough information to – you need the information on all sides in order to help make good decisions.”
Description of the video:
You have some wrap up thoughts on service that you want to end with Yeah. You know, I think first, if anybody's listening to this, I'm reading it, thank you. You know, this is something that has been you know, I I truly believe I came to this issue because I was assigned to work on it. I did not come to Washington because I had this inspiration and vision. I just, you know, and I believe that through the work and insights of lots and lots of people who we haven't talked about. And I'm sure that someday somebody will be reading this and be like, super Mad makes I didn't mention them. It's just part because I'm getting older and I can't remember anything. But this would not there's so many people that had made a difference here. And to me, it's like in a way, a case study of what we really want to have happen in general. It's like if if if ordinary citizens who have something to say have a channel to do it. You know, we can change we can change we don't have to accept the things that right now we're so angry about. And I've always believed that, you know, I'm not against protests, protests have a really important place, but I think that we can all do more. You know, we can show up with the signs and then the next day we can do the hard work of solving problems. And I hope that we don't lose that because that's really an important part of the sort of history of our country, and I think it's future. So that's kind of my last word here.
Lead Across Sectors
“Well, you have to kind of listen and you have to be at the table, and you have to try to see the other side's point of view, and you have to stand for what you stand for, so those things were really important. When I went back to work in the Senate later, in the majority that time, legislation that passes with just one party doesn't have as much staying power unless you have bipartisan support. So, even if you're in the majority position, trying to work across the aisle is really important.”
Description of the video:
You have some wrap up thoughts on service that you want to end with Yeah. You know, I think first, if anybody's listening to this, I'm reading it, thank you. You know, this is something that has been you know, I I truly believe I came to this issue because I was assigned to work on it. I did not come to Washington because I had this inspiration and vision. I just, you know, and I believe that through the work and insights of lots and lots of people who we haven't talked about. And I'm sure that someday somebody will be reading this and be like, super Mad makes I didn't mention them. It's just part because I'm getting older and I can't remember anything. But this would not there's so many people that had made a difference here. And to me, it's like in a way, a case study of what we really want to have happen in general. It's like if if if ordinary citizens who have something to say have a channel to do it. You know, we can change we can change we don't have to accept the things that right now we're so angry about. And I've always believed that, you know, I'm not against protests, protests have a really important place, but I think that we can all do more. You know, we can show up with the signs and then the next day we can do the hard work of solving problems. And I hope that we don't lose that because that's really an important part of the sort of history of our country, and I think it's future. So that's kind of my last word here.
Storytelling
“I have to say, my mother was an amazing role model...She was a nurse, but back then you didn't have to go to college to be a nurse, so she always felt sort of bad that she didn't have a college education and yet she was very empathetic to people. She was always the person who would do that extra thing or would take in somebody who was struggling and try to help them... I always thought, as I worked on National Service, it's too bad that we need something like National Service to enable people to develop the kind of lifetime ethic that my mother had naturally.”
Description of the video:
You have some wrap up thoughts on service that you want to end with Yeah. You know, I think first, if anybody's listening to this, I'm reading it, thank you. You know, this is something that has been you know, I I truly believe I came to this issue because I was assigned to work on it. I did not come to Washington because I had this inspiration and vision. I just, you know, and I believe that through the work and insights of lots and lots of people who we haven't talked about. And I'm sure that someday somebody will be reading this and be like, super Mad makes I didn't mention them. It's just part because I'm getting older and I can't remember anything. But this would not there's so many people that had made a difference here. And to me, it's like in a way, a case study of what we really want to have happen in general. It's like if if if ordinary citizens who have something to say have a channel to do it. You know, we can change we can change we don't have to accept the things that right now we're so angry about. And I've always believed that, you know, I'm not against protests, protests have a really important place, but I think that we can all do more. You know, we can show up with the signs and then the next day we can do the hard work of solving problems. And I hope that we don't lose that because that's really an important part of the sort of history of our country, and I think it's future. So that's kind of my last word here.
Storytelling
“Oh, he was great. I loved Senator Kennedy...I think he understood the role that government plays in helping people, is probably the simplest, and that it's a complicated thing to get everything from making people safe to providing equitable workforce development and education opportunities. I think that he was very much a pragmatist. So, he was a liberal visionary and a political pragmatist...He could work with anybody. He had amazing friendships with some of the most conservative members of Congress... I remember really clearly, when we were first working on the National Service Bill, he was somebody who would go over to the House – first of all, senators do not go meet with people on the House side; House side people come to the Senate. He would go over there and meet with a freshman republican to try to convince them to do something. So, that was just the kind of person he was. He would do something extra. He would make everybody feel comfortable around him. He was incredibly gracious and, you know, a really effective senator.”
Description of the video:
You have some wrap up thoughts on service that you want to end with Yeah. You know, I think first, if anybody's listening to this, I'm reading it, thank you. You know, this is something that has been you know, I I truly believe I came to this issue because I was assigned to work on it. I did not come to Washington because I had this inspiration and vision. I just, you know, and I believe that through the work and insights of lots and lots of people who we haven't talked about. And I'm sure that someday somebody will be reading this and be like, super Mad makes I didn't mention them. It's just part because I'm getting older and I can't remember anything. But this would not there's so many people that had made a difference here. And to me, it's like in a way, a case study of what we really want to have happen in general. It's like if if if ordinary citizens who have something to say have a channel to do it. You know, we can change we can change we don't have to accept the things that right now we're so angry about. And I've always believed that, you know, I'm not against protests, protests have a really important place, but I think that we can all do more. You know, we can show up with the signs and then the next day we can do the hard work of solving problems. And I hope that we don't lose that because that's really an important part of the sort of history of our country, and I think it's future. So that's kind of my last word here.
Navigate Change
“If ordinary citizens who have something to say have a channel to do it, we can change. We don’t have to accept the things that right now we’re so angry about. I've always believed that – I’m not against protests; protests have a really important place, but I think that we can all do more. We can show up with the signs and then the next day we can do the hard work of solving problems. ”
Description of the video:
You have some wrap up thoughts on service that you want to end with Yeah. You know, I think first, if anybody's listening to this, I'm reading it, thank you. You know, this is something that has been you know, I I truly believe I came to this issue because I was assigned to work on it. I did not come to Washington because I had this inspiration and vision. I just, you know, and I believe that through the work and insights of lots and lots of people who we haven't talked about. And I'm sure that someday somebody will be reading this and be like, super Mad makes I didn't mention them. It's just part because I'm getting older and I can't remember anything. But this would not there's so many people that had made a difference here. And to me, it's like in a way, a case study of what we really want to have happen in general. It's like if if if ordinary citizens who have something to say have a channel to do it. You know, we can change we can change we don't have to accept the things that right now we're so angry about. And I've always believed that, you know, I'm not against protests, protests have a really important place, but I think that we can all do more. You know, we can show up with the signs and then the next day we can do the hard work of solving problems. And I hope that we don't lose that because that's really an important part of the sort of history of our country, and I think it's future. So that's kind of my last word here.
About Shirley Sagawa
Shirley Sagawa is a visiting senior fellow at Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C. A national expert on children and youth policy, Sagawa has been called a “founding mother of the modern service movement” for her work on national service. Her recent book, The American Way to Change, highlights ways that volunteer and national service is an important but underutilized strategy to solve problems in American communities.
Sagawa served as a presidential appointee in both the first Bush and Clinton administrations. As deputy chief of staff to First Lady Hillary Clinton, she advised the first lady on domestic policy and organized three White House conferences, including the first-ever White House Conference on Philanthropy. As special assistant to the president for domestic policy, Sagawa was instrumental to the drafting and passage of legislation creating the Corporation for National Service. After being confirmed by the Senate as the corporation’s first managing director, she led the development of new service programs for adults and students, including AmeriCorps. She also directed strategic planning for this new government corporation.
Sagawa was the founding executive director of the Learning First Alliance, a partnership of national education associations. She has served as the chief counsel for youth policy for the Senate Labor Committee, where she was responsible for child care, early childhood, and national service policy. She was responsible for drafting the National and Community Service Act of 1990, as well as early childhood legislation. She has also served as senior counsel to the National Women’s Law Center as an expert on children and youth, education, and military family issues.
Sagawa’s previous book The Charismatic Organization: Eight Ways to Grow a Nonprofit that Builds Buzz, Delights Donors, and Energizes Employees (with co-author Deborah Jospin, Jossey-Bass) describes how successful nonprofits use social capital to broaden their reach and deepen their impact. An earlier work, Common Interest, Common Good: Creating Value through Business and Social Sector Partnerships (with co-author Eli Segal, Harvard Business School Press) describes how business and social sector organizations can collaborate for mutual gain.
Shirley Sagawa was named a “Woman to Watch in the 21st Century” by Newsweek magazine and one of the “Most Influential Working Mothers in America” by Working Mother magazine. She blogs regularly for The Huffington Post.
Shirley Sagawa is the co-founder of sagawa/jospin, a consulting firm that provides strategic counsel to nonprofits working in the fields of civic engagement, youth, philanthropy, education, and law. Her work includes developing, with New Profit, a leading venture philanthropy organization, a national policy agenda for social entrepreneurs. She currently serves on the boards of directors of the National Women’s Law Center, City Year, and Pyramid Atlantic.
Sagawa graduated magna cum laude from Smith College. She holds an M.Sc. in public policy from the London School of Economics and is a cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, where she was notes editor of the Harvard Law Review.
Explore the full oral history of Shirley SagawaBorn or Made?
“I think leaders are able to articulate a compelling vision and convince others to go along. I think it's a simple thing...Can you be a leader without any followers? I didn't think so...I don't think it's something you can kind of proclaim yourself. I think either the record shows it or not”
Description of the video:
the business of trying to make a difference. And to do that sometimes means trying to get other people to go along. And I, you know, I, to me, the important thing is class first year second, always I think a lot of people are, but that's kind of how I think about it. So from that point of view, how do you define leadership? I think leaders are able to articulate a compelling vision and convince others to go along. This simple thing. And I think that leader are, you know, can you be a leader without any followers? I think that's true. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So I don't think it's something you can kind of proclaim your hope and thank you. Hear the record shows that are not. So. As a leader, how would you go about trying to
