Carol Cone:
I'm Carol Cone and welcome to Purpose 360. The podcast that unlocks the power of purpose to ignite business and social impact.
So I ask you, what's going to take place on July 4th, 2026? It's Happy Birthday to our country, the 250th birthday of the Declaration of Independence. And how are you going to celebrate it? How is your company? How is your neighborhood? Well, today's conversation is going to talk about some really big ideas, and I'm so proud to be joined by Jenny Lawson, CEO of Keep America Beautiful. Keep America Beautiful, you may know them. They're the organization that's over 70 years old that's helped to pick up litter across our country. And did you know that there is about 50 billion, billion with a B, pieces of litter across our country? Well, Keep America Beautiful is launching a two-year initiative, the Greatest American cleanup.
And their goal is to engage 25,000 communities to pick up about 50% of that litter. But it's more than just 25 billion pieces of litter, a lot more. Keep America Beautiful is going to partner with their communities, with their 750 affiliates that are people and hands and feet on the ground that are going to clean up and green up and create art installations. They're going to plant trees. They're going to have mini gardens, mini parks. They're going to be flower gardens, vegetable gardens, all sorts of ways that communities are going to come together to do beautiful things. And in today's podcast, we're going to talk to Jenny about her career and why this point in time is so exciting to her to evolve her organization beyond litter, to be one of the leaders in the country to truly bring us to unify around this issue.
I'm going to talk with Jenny about the many opportunities for organizations, for public organizations, private organizations, local governments, community groups, communities of all different types. Even perhaps your book club or your baking club or your bocce club will come together to truly take on wonderful initiatives in your local community. I am so excited, you can hear my pure excitement, because ultimately on July 4th, 2026 in Philadelphia, well, we're going to have a more beautiful country, physically beautiful and also mentally beautiful, as we all come together to do something to help to unify ourselves. So welcome to the show, Jenny.
Jenny Lawson:
Carol, thanks so much and right back at you.
Carol Cone:
Oh, you're sweet. Jenny's been in the field for some years in terms of making the world a better place. So can you share a bit about your background and why do you do the work that you do?
Jenny Lawson:
Carol, thanks. It's an interesting question as you and I both sit at the beginning of the CSR movement a little bit. So back in the late '80s and early '90s, I got very involved in affordable housing and community volunteering, and even back in those days, really understood the very important role that companies played in the success of their communities. And so it was very grassroots for me at the beginning. And in various roles throughout my early career that seam of business community support and collaboration really strengthened. And from there went on to the nature conservancy where I was chief of staff. Again though, that's largely about that intersection of needs in the nonprofit world for change, the role that business can play in supporting that and the partnership with government when that's possible. And so I built it from there. Was at Points of Light where I led civic engagement and as you know that's a global organization focused on volunteering. So when that role at Keep America Beautiful came around that was the intersection of all of those things, I couldn't say no.
Carol Cone:
And we are glad that you took the job because it's a very exciting initiative in front of us and we're going to get there in a moment. But Keep America Beautiful has been around for many decades and so what is its purpose and also a bit about its legacy?
Jenny Lawson:
Absolutely. Keep America Beautiful is dedicated to helping communities get clean, green and beautiful. We have a belief that everyone deserves that. Everyone deserves to live in a clean, green and beautiful community. But you're right, it's an organization with a long legacy. We are a 71-year-old organization, so much older than many, many brands we all know today. And from the very beginning we've been focused on litter cleanup primarily, and inviting all stakeholders into conversations and strategies and action to pick up litter. What we know is the outcome of that action is a more beautiful community and there are other benefits around recycling and improved recycling and improved waste management and community pride.
Carol Cone:
Well, those of us who are old enough remember The Crying Indian. And I'd like to ask, what are the greatest misperceptions of Keep America Beautiful and the work that you do and also what happened to The Crying Indian?
Jenny Lawson:
Yeah. I get asked in cabs all the time about that ad. The first thing that many people over a certain age associate with Keep America Beautiful is the call to action to care about your community represented by that ad. Now, as folks probably know, that ad was made by someone who was not an American Indian, not a Native American in any way, and bad judgment 50 years ago. The outcome of that ad has persisted across generations. Whether it's give a hoot, don't pollute, Woody Woodpecker, it's this engagement of the American psyche to care about their communities. The biggest misperception is that that is all we are about. Our call-out from others is that we are somehow a mouthpiece to big business and a permission for them to pollute. I really think no one actually believes that, but it's an easy cat call.
So the reality for us is that Keep America Beautiful is 753 grassroots affiliated organizations across the country. We engage more than a million volunteers a year in our work and pick up thousands and thousands of pounds of litter. We manage recycling programs in small communities across this country. We beautify parks. All of those things and all of the millions of people who support them, that's what Keep America Beautiful is really all about.
Carol Cone:
So when this opportunity came your way, you hadn't been a CEO yet, and so you jumped on board and you've been there about a couple of years now. So it's evolving as you said. So what is your vision for the organization the next two, three, four years?
Jenny Lawson:
We are on a mission to reposition the organization and the understanding of the organization in the environmental sector and in the larger dialogue of communities writ large. I want people to see what we're really all about and have a way to join us in this broader vision we have for what the American landscape could and should look like. We are asked repeatedly, can't we get back to helping people understand the importance and the emotional importance that cleaner communities mean for all of us?
Carol Cone:
So Jenny, our country is absolutely divided. The red is a hard red, the blue is a hard blue. Are there even any issues that people can agree on that are purple issues? And as we are working and learning more about you and getting responses from your current partners and potential partners, there is this smile on people's faces and the refreshing response. I want to do this because it's purple. Talk about being purple.
Jenny Lawson:
Isn't that just the greatest opportunity?
Carol Cone:
I love it. Yeah.
Jenny Lawson:
Purple is a new opportunity. It's a chance to work together instead of being forced apart. And I think Americans want that right now. Even when I came to Keep America Beautiful, people would say, "You're going to have a really hard job. You have blue people and red states, and how on earth are you going to work that out?" And the realization is that we're better together. Those types of opinions and all sorts of individuals combined, there's still core beliefs about what's possible when communities come together and that is the opportunity of Keep America Beautiful. The stat that I throw around is that 90% of Americans ... And this is from our national litter research, 90% of Americans think litter is a problem in their community and that polls better than any political opinion right now. We've got an issue that people care about and want to solve for.
Carol Cone:
I also think is as we have this green gap, getting outside gap and that what you do when you have massive volunteerism all across the country, people are coming together. Whether they're starting from scratch on a dirt lot or they're making vegetable or fruit gardens, planting trees, that the wellness aspect. I really didn't think a lot about that with Keep America Beautiful. When you start learning more about that, how are you harnessing that?
Jenny Lawson:
I think finding all sorts of reasons to get outside is what we're all learning is very, very healthy. When we can get outside and be with each other things change in ourselves and in our communities. We are starting to hear the health benefits. Dr. Bhatnagar out in the University of Louisville who's a cardiologist, is starting to do some very important research on the heart benefit of more trees and doing some actual academic research into the power of trees to make us healthier. And we are very supportive of that work and those opportunities.
Carol Cone:
So as I'm keeping America beautiful, I'm going to go hug a tree.
Jenny Lawson:
I think better yet to plant that tree, Carol.
Carol Cone:
I'll plant it and let's take care of it.
Jenny Lawson:
Let's get a little cardio going there.
Carol Cone:
There you go. So many not-for-profits, they struggle with, oh my god, how am I going to break through? There's millions, I think a couple million, not-for-profits, etc. But you have an amazing opportunity coming before you. Because for those of you listening to this conversation and podcast, July 4th, 2026 is a very special day in our country. The 250th birthday of our country. And so I am sure that as soon as you got into your role as CEO, you started looking at assets and ways to create momentum. So what are you doing for the 250th birthday of America?
Jenny Lawson:
What great a setup, Carol. So we are thrilled to announce The Greatest American Cleanup, which is an invitation to every city in America to get clean, green and beautiful ahead of that anniversary. Somebody said, what do you do to get ready for a party? And I don't know about you, but I clean my house. And I think that's what we're asking all of America to do. Help us clean house. Help us get ready for this great, great anniversary. It doesn't require a political opinion. It requires some elbow grease and a little bit of passion and an invitation for individuals to do their part, but also governments. We're on a quest to get 25,000 governments and local leaders across the country to commit, take their own declaration of independence from litter. To get clean, green and beautiful ahead of that anniversary.
Carol Cone:
So share for our listeners, what are you going to be doing for the next basically two years?
Jenny Lawson:
Yeah. We're going to be celebrating and amplifying work that's happening on the ground and that is raising the bar of work that needs to be done by calling folks to plant more trees. To do more litter cleanups in their community and tie that to recycling so that we all get better at understanding and activating on recycling in the country. We're going to invite people to learn more about the power of cleaner communities. To help to address everything from microplastics to gun safety. I don't think people realize the connection between cleaner parks and green spaces in communities and gun violence. You can reduce gun violence by 12% in your communities when parks are planted and cared for. And so we see this as a huge invitation for everyone to be a part of.
Carol Cone:
And I know you're calling this a movement. This it's even an initiative. This is a movement because I know it will continue. You want it to continue past July 4th, 2026. But you've got some great companies already involved. What response are you getting because you're talking to a lot of potential partners and some new partners.
Jenny Lawson:
Yeah. We knew we needed partners who could scale with us from the beginning and we're delighted for Coca-Cola and iHeart and the Recycled Materials Association, used to be ISRI is now ReMA, to jump on board right away understanding that they have the ability to be scale partners with us across the country. We're now on a campaign for lots of others to come on board and I agree with you that it's a powerful campaign for engaging employees and hearts and minds and hands and feet in this initiative. Because once you get what we're asking for, you can do it with your colleagues in the workplace. You can encourage your scout troops, your soccer teams, all of those ways that you might be engaging in community already to join us.
We'll have things like the 250 pickup challenge. We're inviting people to pick up 250 pieces of litter a year. That will more than clean up all the litter in America if every American could do that. The data behind that. 50 billion pieces of litter on the ground and in the waterways. And if people clean that up by picking up 250 pieces of litter a year, they'll get it all.
Carol Cone:
That's fantastic. There's also some very special things that companies can help out with, again to create healthier and more wellness oriented communities. And that's doing some of the work in the MLK corridors. Can you talk about that?
Jenny Lawson:
Carol, thank you. There are more than 900 Martin Luther King Boulevards across the United States. Most of them define boundaries of communities that are challenged by historic inequities, environmental justice issues, economic issues. And we are on a mission to provide much-needed support to clean and beautify those communities, plant more trees, more public art, more cleanup initiatives that engage the needs and stakeholders in local communities. And we call those our MLK corridors. We've cleaned up 40 to date. Added public art in Flint and Jackson Mississippi. We have done tree planting in Macon-Bibb, Georgia. Really invested in communities and in a process that is a grant-making process, so they tell us what they need and we work with them to support it and get it done. And that model makes sure that all of the voices of community are heard and represented and that what they want is what gets done in those communities. And then we all get to learn from each other on what's possible and it's very, very exciting. There's roles for business in that as well to help us build those funds, that re-grant and for their employees to engage if those events happen in locations where they have a presence.
Carol Cone:
And I know that many B2B organizations you're talking to, they're saying, I have 25 plants, I have 50 plants, and sometimes they're the only employer in their community. So they're saying, I want to clean this up and they can roll it out or such. They get them all in one year. But they truly want to show their heart and their commitment to community with their employees. So I think that that's why everyone is so excited about this and also again, why it's purple. I also have learned that certain philanthropists and foundations are interested. So maybe there's a story, you can't tell who yet, about some of the interest in again, getting into this amazing initiative and movement.
Jenny Lawson:
So I think we've really touched on here some of the overall drivers. So there's the emotional driver of the moment. It's a big deal. For those of us who are over 50, the country's 200th birthday was a real landmark in our lives. What all that happened in 1976 was remarkable and exciting and invigorating and uplifting. There were economic drivers, there were social drivers, there were things that happened in communities that brought us all together as a nation. I think that's making this exciting. What we know from the things that foundations tend to be interested in is that as exciting as all of this is, there are also real practical positive outcomes in community that come from sparking enthusiasm and engagement. And I think that starts to point to where we go in the long run. Stronger public art programs, stronger commitment from communities to keeping their communities clean, translates into more support for programs in government and in community to get that job done. So there's a broader economic driver that really supports the underlying values of the campaign. And boy do we all just need it too. I want to get back to the heart and inspiration. David Brooks and others are writing about the need for things that bring us together and I think we've got it.
Carol Cone:
I want to turn back to the Greatest American Cleanup. And we've been asked by some potential partners, how are you going to keep it relevant over two years? So can you share with us your thinking about that?
Jenny Lawson:
We have to have touchpoints over two years. It's really hard. Maybe Bridgerton is the exception, but it's really hard to keep people interested for two years at a time. We need to keep it meaningful in communities. And so we've done some work with you all to come up with this idea of those 250 most beautiful communities. Or most innovative communities all in this space. So how do we recognize excellence in the things that we are caring about as part of this campaign? What does it look like to be the 250 most beautiful communities with barns or with beaches? How do we bring that to life? And we're excited. I think that's a ton of fun. Be a part of our community. Take this pledge and if you've got a beautiful beach, a beautiful barn that you're taking care of, we want to know about it and celebrate it and there'll be many opportunities for that in the months ahead. There'll be contests and social things that'll happen pretty quickly on our favorite social media platforms to really get people having fun with this. At the end of the day, we want to deliver, all of us together, a clean, green and beautiful America to the steps of Independence Hall. And so it's going to take all sorts of different energy to get that work done.
Carol Cone:
And I know also that you're planning on some expansive thought leadership that you would love to develop with a partner. I know that your team has thought about creating a mascot and they're going to have a contest with young people, children to develop that and name it, so that's going to be really fun. And then I also know you're talking to some few celebrities about creating some anthem songs, so that'll be really great. So what's so fun and encouraging and engaging about The Greatest American Cleanup and the evolution of Keep America Beautiful is that you can come up with almost any idea. And I know that over the next two years as we bring in more partners, we're getting companies and organizations or brands are going to say, I want to do this. I want to be communities of distinction with your point in art.
Jenny Lawson:
Yeah. I think we're also excited to bring Northrop Grumman to the table and their national network of locations and partners and Niagara Water who is really leaning into supporting the education work of this campaign across the recycling efforts starting in Texas and beyond.
Carol Cone:
So you can see that this is companies and brands and organizations of all different sizes. I know you are also going to have a number of not-for-profits that may be joining in such as Team Rubicon, and what about some others?
Jenny Lawson:
I think we're looking for exciting and having exciting conversations with some of those big environmental brands. So how do we bring Boys & Girls clubs to the table? How do we bring scouts to the table? How do we engage all sorts of organizations. Local chambers of commerce, Associations like the Council of Mayors. How do we bring organizations to the table? The Freedom Forum comes to mind. Focus on the First Amendment. So we're talking about public art. What does that look like together as we all lean into The Greatest American Cleanup?
Carol Cone:
This movement is going to just gain more and more and more momentum and it's now July 5th, 2026 and you have achieved results beyond your wildest dreams. What happened?
Jenny Lawson:
Everyone saw themselves in the work that they were doing and the work that we were doing together, and they saw a pathway for keeping going together. They understood the value of having conversations with peers in other cities. They understand the power of focusing on this issue across the aisle and in their own community for setting up all sorts of other dialogues about what we do to care about the world that we all live in and the people who live there. Especially across the United States.
Carol Cone:
That's a beautiful vision. That is quite a beautiful vision. So as we begin to wind this down, what do you want our listeners to do?
Jenny Lawson:
Yeah. There's a couple easy ways to get started. You can get a plastic bag and some gardening gloves or what have you, and stop on your way to pick up some litter. 250 pieces a year. First call to action. Every American get out there and try and pick up 250 pieces a year. When you do, you can hashtag us at the 250 pick up challenge or Keep American beautiful or Greatest American Cleanup. We'll find you in all of those places and start to tell that national story.
The storytelling is the other part. Pass it on. Tell your Panhellenic association if you're in a sorority or your university environmental club to go out and get involved. If you are a business, look at what it means to engage your employee and what it means to engage your brand in this work because it's not something you're going to want to be left out of. Making a choice not to engage ... I would have a little FOLO around that at this point because everyone's pretty excited and we want them to be engaged. The other is talk to your elected officials. They are the ones that can help scale throughout a state, throughout a county, throughout a region. So if you have a chance to reach those audience, do it. Keep us in mind and start looking for T-shirts and stickers and other things that can help you share the narrative both on social and on your back.
Carol Cone:
And I know that ... We've even talked about parents and kids and communities, but I know that this is something that it's really easy for the family and friends to do together.
Jenny Lawson:
That action of modeling the behavior you want to continue, that's really what it's going to take to get the next generation along on the journey with us.
Carol Cone:
Wow. That's great. So I want to ask you a question that's totally unrelated to this, but it's an important question I always ask all my guests. And it's what is the role of purpose in an AI driven world?
Jenny Lawson:
In an AI driven world I think the role of purpose is to keep us human. It is the thing that the computer doesn't have yet. Is this ability to be driven by a vision and a belief for something better than what we have now.
Carol Cone:
That's beautiful. And the sentiment has been echoed by others. So I always love to give the last word to my guests. And so this has been a delightful conversation. And so what's something else that you want to leave our listeners with at the beginning of this exciting journey?
Jenny Lawson:
Yeah. Help us get started. We invite you to help us get started. So maybe find some friends and do a little cleanup or out with your kids or walking the dogs and send us those pictures that help to populate the beginning of this movement. We would love to have you on the journey.
Carol Cone:
So thank you for all your effort, Jenny. I know this is going to be an extraordinary Greatest American Cleanup and we can't wait to see it launched and to join you along the way. So thank you so much for joining Purpose 360.
Jenny Lawson:
And Carol, thank you for all that you're doing to help us realize that vision. It's taking a village, and I'm glad to have you on that city council.
Carol Cone:
This podcast was brought to you by some amazing people, and I'd love to thank them. Anne Hundertmark and Kristin Kenney and Carol Cone ON PURPOSE, Pete Wright, and Andy Nelson, our crack production team at TruStory FM, and you, our listener. Please rate and rank us because we really want to be as high as possible as one of the top business podcasts available so that we can continue exploring together the importance and the activation of authentic purpose. Thanks so much for listening.
This transcript was exported on Jun 11, 2024 - view latest version here.
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