Since I grew up in Santa Barbara and have lived here part of my adult life, I have always been aware of the tremendous philanthropic energy of our town. Philanthropy means giving of time, talent and treasure for something you feel a passion to better your community. It exists in Santa Barbara on more levels than can be counted.
Paksy Plackis-Cheng shares this awareness and has written an unusual book, Impact X, about our community and others around the world. She shows how people can encourage and spread such attitudes, including in the business world. The book is an online production.
Plackis-Cheng speaks as a resident for 10 years now, but she was born, raised and educated (Erasmus University) in the Netherlands. Her mother is Dutch and her father from Hong Kong, so she speaks fluent English, Dutch and Chinese.
After college she developed, managed and administered in high-tech companies, which led to working in 11 countries. Moving to Santa Barbara with her husband gave her the opportunity to mix business experience with philanthropy, and to serve on the boards of the Santa Barbara Symphony (board president and even as interim executive director) and Opera Santa Barbara.
“I love it here because of people’s involvement and because so many are active in making the community better,” she explained. “In Europe, we didn’t have nonprofits much, not anything like the many here in Santa Barbara.
“My friend, Leni Fé Bland (the late longtime local philanthropist, also European-born and raised), said it best, ‘It’s not about the check.’ You see that in Santa Barbara.”
As Plackis-Cheng became more immersed in local nonprofits and community activities, she noticed that even though this is an active community, much of what people do stays under the radar.
“I’m frustrated because good things keep happening for the community, but the media and word isn’t out about them,” she told a friend at UC Santa Barbara.
Her friend replied, “Why not write a book?”
The suggestion rolled around in Plackis-Cheng’s head but did not take off until she happened to have an unexpected conversation with musician-trumpeter Wynton Marsalis at a local garden event.
Although an internationally known performer, composer and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Marsalis has devoted much of his time to support, encourage and highlight young upcoming musicians and other philanthropic efforts.
“It was a short, spontaneous meeting,” Plackis-Cheng said. “I was drawn to the spirit he had about giving and its impact. It drove me to find and connect with equally inspiring people so I could write about them.”
Her career of serving in management for Openwave Systems Europe, Middle East and Africa and then served in key international marketing management roles at Banyan Systems.
Working with notable software companies in Europe such as HP, IBM and Microsoft gave her a good background to make contact with a wide range of people.
“I figured that I needed to talk to people in at least 15 different areas but didn’t know if I had access to that many to start with,” she said. “Contacts in today’s tech world work in amazing ways, even in the international area.
“I ended up with many more than I thought possible so the book increased to 30 sections. My goal was to write about these people giving back.”
The book includes a variety of subjects, from award-winning Amir Abo-Shaeer (Dos Pueblos High School teacher and founder of the Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy) to Stanford University’s Marcello Palazzi (co-founder of B-Lab Europe) to Westmont College grad Teresa Law (co-founder of Mountain Hazelnuts in Bhutan).
Mountain Hazelnuts now involves 15 percent of Bhutan’s population. Half its employees are women in a country with many women as the head of households. Within five years the company will have planted more than 10 million hazelnut trees, mostly on mountain slopes where other farming is limited.
Impact X describes the unique business Law and her husband/business partner, Daniel Spitzer, have created:
“The company is providing farmers with higher incomes, training employees, reducing internal migration and empowering women … Then there are the environmental benefits, carbon sequestration and erosion control by growing trees on degraded hillsides. Additionally, the company is investing in renewable fuel sources. Mountain Hazelnuts is a true private social enterprise — an adventure that achieves it social and environmental mission using business practices.”
Plackis-Cheng’s business point of view tuned her into the world of B-Corp, or companies identified as Benefit Corporations. This certification promotes and legalizes businesses to make their business decisions based on social and environmental performance and impact.
“Did you know,” Plackis-Cheng said, “that corporations can be sued if they do not maximize profits to shareholders? We want corporations also to be free to make socially and environmentally conscientious decisions.
“More than half the states, including California, now recognize the legal right of corporations to do this. There are more than 1,000 such certified corporations in 33 countries and growing.
“I feel we should highlight people who work to make such a statement. B-Corp identification does that with companies like Patagonia in Ventura.”
Impact X took three years to write with up and down times.
“The best part of putting the book together has been the journey itself,” Plackis-Cheng said. “Every process seemed to have had at least one hurdle when something would not go right, but overall things fell into place.
“Probably hardest was sitting alone writing and rewriting. I’m used to working with others. When I look back, I have to ask how did I do that? I feel that I am a writer now.”
What has she walked away with after finishing the book?
“I learned is that we can learn from everyone,” she said. “Each story taught me something. I also found that there is no individual strength without community support, and a community can only be healthy and strong with the support of the individual.
“So true of people here in Santa Barbara. They’ve inspired me.”
Her last sentence as we departed was “Let’s tell other generations that we’ve stepped up to make our communities better. Let’s get them involved.”
Impact X is an online project. Click here for more information, or click here for the Amazon electronic reader edition.
Plackis-Cheng will post one new story a month and welcomes suggestions for people whom she might interview. This book still grows, inspires and informs.
— Noozhawk columnist Susan Miles Gulbransen — a Santa Barbara native, writer and book reviewer — teaches writing at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference and through the Santa Barbara City College Continuing Education Division. Click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are her own.
