I just hate it when people call us “neutral.”    I know they mean well.  In fact, they usually mean it as a compliment.  But at the Community Foundation, we aim to be anything but neutral.

Now,  I should acknowledge that some of my testiness about this term is incited by my friend and colleague Emmett Carson, the president of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.  But he’s just the one that gave voice to it.

Community Foundations don’t seek to be neutral.   We seek, in fact, to be relentless advocates for progress in our communities.  We intend to ask tough questions—which immediately moves us out of “neutral.”  The mere fact that we’ve asked the question “how could our public schools be  better?”  has irritated some school administrators--and thrilled others.   It’s safe to say that neither group views us as “neutral.”

Throughout the  development of the City of Reading’s financial crisis, the Community Foundation has positioned itself as the “teller of truth.”  There are probably a whole lot of people who wish we had stayed “neutral,” because very few of the players involved seem to feel that telling the truth is in their best interests, but we’ve chosen a position that’s not exactly “neutral.”

The problem with “neutral” is that  a car in  “neutral” never moves anywhere.    We view our job as helping to move the community forward in—as best we can tell—the way the community wants to go.  We can be pretty tireless in that effort. 

But if the Community Foundation had remained “neutral,”  Berks County wouldn’t  lead the nation in farmland preservation.   Berks County wouldn’t have the only County Agriculture Coordinator in the Commonwealth.  The City of Reading’s financial condition might still be a bit of a mystery (and subject to a lot of denial).   Berks County wouldn’t have lead the Commonwealth in being counted in the 2000 census. 

All of these accomplishments and more are the result of the Community Foundation moving “out of neutral.”

What we do want to be is evenhanded.  We want to hear everyone’s ideas and—as much as possible—incorporate them into our thinking.   We’ve found that community issues are seldom decided as  “either/or” propositions.  Usually, when we all get together we can find solutions that benefit the community and work for everyone.  But sometimes, not.  And that’s when we’re not neutral.

So call us “even-handed,”  but please don’t call us “neutral.”

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