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| First Person: Money & Meaning |
Special Delivery
Lynn Fritz
09/01/2004
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One
of my proudest achievements is developing humanitarian logistics software to
track commodities. It made the Red Cross more efficient, and could reduce by
half the time spent doing the largely administrative work of relief
operations.
We bring in the best talent in the world to perform the jobs. One
of our biggest outreach efforts is to the world’s business community; we had
50,000 accounts at Fritz Companies. We were known well across the world, so I
call up CEOs that I know. They may not be interested in giving $1 million, but
are interested in giving professional knowledge or products. There is such an
extraordinary amount of latent interest.
 | | FRITZ GETS a firsthand lesson on relief delivery supplies in southern Africa. |
Repaying a Debt
Normally, if you acquire some wealth, you start a
foundation to give something back to certain charities. But rarely do people
say, “We’ll put our minds and our expertise to work.” People have said that the
Fritz Institute is the best example of the new, progressive philanthropy. They
cite many reasons. First, we have a very specific focus; we avoid splitting our
dollars in many ways. Second, we have gained an ability to execute by assembling
a world-class team of professionals. Third, we act as an intermediary, rather
than doing everything ourselves. Fourth, our leadership seeks to utilize its own
resources to meet our goals. But I do not do this to be progressive; I do it
because I think it is the best thing to do. There are so many people living on
the edge, and if the human condition is suffering, markets are suffering.
Money is simply a vehicle for change. I do not have to work, so I am
applying my time, my talent and my resources to effect change.
At Fritz
Companies, I hired the most frustrated people in the world, because good people
are frustrated. They charge ahead, and then they become frustrated because they
want to do more. I take advantage of their frustration and say, “I’ll do
something for you because you’re good at what you do. I’ll give you an
opportunity.”
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