Sincerely, Bill Brower: The Power of Many

In this bonus episode of Sincerely, CNY, Melanie Littlejohn sits down with Bill Brower for a thoughtful conversation about service, philanthropy, workforce development and the power of many people working together to strengthen Central New York.

Bill is the director of public policy and community impact at MACNY, The Manufacturers Association of Central New York, and a Community Foundation board member. Across higher education, philanthropy and workforce innovation, he has helped build partnerships that turn growth into opportunity.

In this conversation, Bill reflects on the experiences that brought him to Central New York, the people and values that shaped his path, and why he believes philanthropy is rooted in kindness, service and showing up for one another. He also discusses the impact of Erie21, the importance of education and workforce development, and why this region’s future depends on collaboration, courage and community.

This bonus episode reminds us that philanthropy is not just about wealth — it is about wisdom, work, generosity and the simple acts that help make our home stronger.

For more information visit cnycf.org/podcast.

Transcript

Welcome to Sincerely, CNY

0:00

Today's episode is a love letter to the people of Central New York who are shaping this region in powerful and sometimes quiet ways. I'm Melanie Littlejohn, and welcome to Sincerely CNY. Sincerely CNY is an opportunity to highlight voices and stories and the power of many people who are making a difference in this region. And we thought it was really important for the Central New York Community Foundation to elevate these voices that are driving and creating impact across our region, to really tell the untold stories of philanthropists young and old. It's an opportunity for us to celebrate all the good that's happening right in our backyard. And why do we choose a podcast? Because it allows us to have those meaningful and deep conversations in ways that other forums would not necessarily allow. So we are excited to share these stories of people who are doing and creating monumental change right in a place we call home. So today I am thrilled to

Meet Bill Brower

1:47

introduce both a friend and a colleague who it's just a joy and a privilege to have him sit here with me today. So our guest today is the Director of Public Policy and Community Impact at MACNE Manufacturers Association of Central New York, and he has been a driving force for decades in Central New York across higher education, philanthropy, and workforce innovation. Known for building partnerships that turn growth into opportunity, he has helped strengthen institutions, expand access, and support this region's long-term economic future. I am so excited to welcome a community foundation board member, a dedicated community advocate, and most of all, and most importantly, my good friend Bill Brouwer. Bill. Hello. Yay! Great to be here with you, Melanie. Thank you for being here. You know, when I read your bio, there were things in your bio I had no idea, right? And I had no idea how you even arrived to central New York. And more importantly, I had no idea you wanted to be a doctor at one point. So I think the more I read your bio and the more I read about you, a couple of things became really obvious to me. You're a pretty good human being. You are a really good human being. But tell me about why the work you do today, one how has it shaped you, and more importantly, how do you think who you are and what you do impacts Central New York?

Finding a home in Central New York

3:43

Great question. Thanks for having me. So good to be with here. I consider you a great friend as well. I know my time on the board is getting close to the end, but hopefully you will figure out ways that I can continue to contribute and support what you all are doing here. So I think that I was incredibly fortunate to have the parents I had who focused on education. My mom was a teacher, a public school teacher in New Jersey. My dad never finished college. And I think for that reason he really wanted me to go to college and supported that. And at the time I was looking, which was a few years ago, uh, Hamilton College required an on-campus interview. So you had to come to Central New York to see it. And when you do that, even if it's in February, it's kind of breathtaking. Um my visit was in February, and I absolutely fell in love with Hamilton, the Mohawk Valley in central New York. And Hamilton's a liberal arts college. Uh so you come in not necessarily knowing what you want to do. I think there was some family desire to have a doctor in the family, and I carried that and took the classes, but also uh majored in history and took philosophy courses and religion courses, science courses, the classics. And the liberal arts, much maligned maybe these days, um, really helped me find my way and to accept that it's okay to find your way. You don't have to know. And so I I moved to Boston after I spent time in central New York and worked at the Perkin School for the Blind. So initially I worked with students who are deafblind. So I learned a little bit of sign language and eventually met the director of development there, who was a greatest generation, shot down over Belgium in World War II, a person who really got involved with advancement close to the beginning at Harvard University. He was a Harvard man, and he took me under his wing and taught me so much about advancement work, fundraising, philanthropy. And I had an opportunity to come back and work for my alma mater, and my wife, who grew up outside of Washington, D.C. and then lived in Boston, took a leap of faith with me and moved to Clinton, New York with two little boys who were 22 months and two months old. And uh the rest is history, and just continued to fall in love with this area. We moved to Syracuse for the Montessori School of Syracuse when they were young, and I commuted. And so it's it's really turned into just a wonderful experience. This is home for us. Uh one of the boys lives here now. We're hoping the other two come back. There's a lot to come back for these days. And part of the work at Lemoyne was being a good neighbor. So the Jesuits really call us to be good neighbors, to be women and men for and with others, care of the whole person. That all resonated with the way I was brought up. I I did a couple years in divinity school in Boston. That may not have been in the bio. It wasn't in the bio. So there it was this kind of searching for a way, the best way to be of service. And fundraising does that, you know, the way I looked at fundraising, because you're encouraging people to understand who they are, what they care about, and how that can impact other people. And a lot of times at a place like Hamilton or Lemoyne, that's through scholarships. People want to give the current generation opportunities they had. And then at Lemoyne, there was this be a good neighbor. So getting to know this community, what the needs are, and working on that, which led to workforce development and ERE21 and those

Service, philanthropy and workforce development

7:49

kinds of things. Aaron Ross Powell Talk a little bit. So I had in my notes when I was reading about you, I had servant leader. Yeah. And each twist in turn, whether you were raising funds for students or developing programs, which we're going to talk about in a second, every twist in turn, your humanity showed up. And I think that's also the basis for philanthropy, is about humanity and community and people. Yes. But probably one of the most prominent ways I saw your heart, and it was very easy for you to lean into the philanthropic side of this is through Erie 21. Talk about that and the impact that it not only had on

The story behind Erie21

8:47

the students, but more importantly, what impact did it have on you? So Ben Walsh was elected mayor in 2018. He was the first independent in over a hundred years to be the mayor of Syracuse. She called Linda Muir, who was the president of Lemoyne, and said, we have to together do everything we can do in this community to make sure that this mayor is successful and we need a go bigger, go home idea. And with Linda and a great colleague Steve Kulik, who maybe loves Syracuse at least as much as anyone, if not more. A lot of people know Steve, we whiteboarded this idea. And I kind of became obsessed with it. So the idea was what are things that need addressing, like significant issues that need addressing in Syracuse and Central New York? And one obviously that we're continuing to work on at the Community Foundation is poverty. Yeah. Concentrated poverty among our children, African American citizens, Latino citizens. So that's something that we have to improve on. And again, at the board level, and I know with your team here at the Community Foundation, you're focused on that, which is really important. And then the other challenge was businesses in the tech space were starting SpinCar, TCG Player, and so many others. They were starting here or they were coming here. This no one knew the word micron at this point. You know, it wasn't on our radar screen. And they were having a hard time attracting employees to come to Syracuse. And the thought of developing employees in Syracuse was something not a lot of people maybe were thinking about. And so we put those two things together. And Steve came up with Eerie 21, brilliant educating for a rising innovation economy in the 21st century. And because it was eerie, we needed locks on the canal. Right, right, right. So there was a middle school lock, a high school lock, college, an adult. And it started to introduce the idea of careers in tech to young people in the city. And we eventually expanded it to other school districts, Lafayette, Onadaga Central, thinking that perhaps there were young people on the nation who would be interested in tech. And Erie21 has worked with thousands and thousands of people now. In my role at Mackney, I was over at Indium Corporation in Clinton, New York, a couple of weeks ago. And the CFO, Ross Bernstein, was there, and I got to meet him. And I said to him, Is is do you know Bilal? And he got so excited and he said, Bilal's cubicle's right around the corner. Let's go see him. And we went over and Bilal wasn't, he was working from home that day, so I wrote a note on his whiteboard that I had been there. And Bilal, his family, he and his brother, younger brother, came during the Arab Spring to Syracuse. His parents followed. He was a student at Henneger, and he got involved with Lock II at Henniger. He's the first licensed drone pilot to graduate from the city school district. Probably could have gone anywhere. Brilliant young man. I'm guessing he could have gone to and for really good reasons. He stayed in Central New York and he went to Le Moyne. And so he was in Lock III at Le Moine. He ended up taking engineering courses at SU while he was at Le Moyne. And now he's working at Indium. So he's still in central New York. He's contributing. He's a rising star. And so the second half of your question is why is this meaningful to me, or why why is it moving? Why is it fulfilling? And it's people like, well, it that's why. And there are so many other stories and of young people who have come through Erie 21 and lots of other programs in central New York. And I just think we need to continue to focus there on education, on workforce development. We need to understand that college is great for some young people. The trades are great for some young people. Tech is great. Apprenticeshipships are great for some young people. And they all can lead to jobs that can support families, which address poverty. So that's connecting some dots for me. Yeah. And and being at MACNE now is just lets me uh r really just be in the game and think about partnerships in the community. And there's so many opportunities we have when we check our egos at the door, when we roll up our sleeves, and when we do the work together. So it's just it's an exciting time to be here. Yeah. No, I

Education, opportunity and community partnerships

13:47

think that is so powerful to talk about Bilal, right? And he is one of many stories that you have. One of the things that I also know by listening to you, reading your articles on leadership, right? One everyone can lead, everyone should be kind. What did your mother say? Be kind. Be kind, work hard and read. And read. But the other part that mom was doing and dad was also teaching you how to be courageous. Right? Yeah. To stand up for people and things you care about. And it's been evident through who you are as a leader and what you've created. But the thing that I'm going to ask you if you had that magic wand to make philanthropy a household word, how would you do it? So

The power of many

15:01

one of the campaigns we did at Hamilton College when I was there, we called it the power of many. And I think that oftentimes people don't realize how important small acts of kindness are. And kindness includes philanthropy. So philanthropy is love of your fellow human. That's it. And an act of philanthropy can be saying hello to someone, right? So I when I was in Boston after Hamilton, there there's this story where an Episcopal priest, white man in South Africa, is walking along the street and he passes uh a black woman and her young son. And he the simple act of just tipping his cap. Respect. Respect. I see you. I see you. And the young boy was Desmond Tutu, right? And so he goes on to live a life of courageous your word service, love, focus on love. And that that kind of act, that kind of simple act of kindness is philanthropy. It's

Philanthropy as kindness and action

16:17

love of your fellow human being. And people in the business talk about wisdom, work, and wealth. And I think sometimes when you're younger, you don't necessarily have wealth. And you might think you have wisdom, but it's developing. And yes. You and I have children. Yes. And but you you can always do the work. The work is something you can do. So you can put up your hand, you can get involved, and it doesn't have to feel like an amazing thing. It's sometimes showing up in community. And I think some of us are afraid that we're moving away from that in so many ways. And two people can come together to work and they could have different political points of view, but that's not relevant when they're rolling up their sleeves and working on a project that helps their neighbors and makes their home a better place to be. So that kind of philanthropy is important. And I think the habit of giving is important. We would say at Hamilton, the harder I work, the more I give. The more I give, the harder I work. So it's a virtuous cycle, being a man or a woman for and with others, as the Jesuits say. And I think as that happens, then as people get into the parts of their life where they do have resources, they can understand how monetary donations can be transformative and actually feed them, make them fuller, wholer people. And I think it's great to give to things that you personally care about, right? I worked for Bill Pomeroy for a year and a half. He had leukemia. He's done amazing work in that space, finding other people who are donors, bone marrow, and stem cell donors. He loves history. As I walked in today, there's a marker in front of the building, a historical marker. So Joseph Campbell talked about follow your bliss. I think that's a good figure of speech for philanthropists. What fills you up? What engages you? What makes you come alive? And you can realize that through philanthropy in lots of different ways. And I think with you in the role you're in, with Mike Gron coming, we're just getting started in that role. And I'd love to, I'd love to come up with, and you and I have talked about this, a way for more people to get excited about philanthropy through that power of

We’re in it together

18:42

many. We're in it together. We're in it together together. And I think that's the moral of this story, right? That is why we are doing this podcast. Because when people hear, first you hear the word philanthropy, you go right to well. But it is the power of many, it is also about rolling up your sleeves to help, to help community, to help things that you care about. It is also seeing the young Desmond Tutu. Right? It is about all of the work, Bill, that you have done is the foundation is love, kindness, respect, and courage. And it's something that we want this podcast to highlight and feature the stories of the Bills of this region because so many people may have sat next to you at a meeting, they've seen you at work, church, the store, with your kids and family. But I want this, we want this. The Central New York Community Foundation wants to highlight and feature people, good folks, just doing good work for all of the right reasons because together we're absolutely stronger. Yeah. And there's so many. Yeah. There's a legion of people here who are doing this kind of work. And I love that you're doing this podcast because their stories will inspire others to join them. People, I think this is going to get people to say, hey, I can do that. Yeah. And there are lots of avenues to to jump in and do it. So I'm so pleased that the foundation is doing this podcast. It's a great idea. And this is our way to really show the power of what's happening in our own backyard. Bill,

Closing reflections with Bill Brower

20:51

thank you. You are thank you for your stories. Thank you for being with us. Thank you for your leadership. I'm grateful for you. Yeah. Thank you for having me. I really am. I am, and I'm thankful that you are in our orb. Yeah, what an honor to be with you and have this conversation. Thank you.