Let's take another example: Our Spring 2013 issue "How Cooperatives are Driving the New Economy." A lot of people are disgusted with the way the Wall Street banks and their financial games brought down the economy in 2008. And they are enraged that the rich keep getting richer while the rest of us are struggling. But is there any alternative?
Our cooperatives issue demonstrates there is. And though it gets almost no attention in the business press, the cooperative sector is not fringe. There are over 30,000 cooperatives in the United States, including credit unions (with more than $700 billion in assets), food coops, producer cooperatives (such as Organic Valley and Land O'Lakes); purchasing cooperatives (such as Ace Hardware and Best Western hotels), and worker coops. The cooperative structure, in which the purpose is to serve the members, not some distant shareholders, creates a different kind of economy. This issue of YES! shows that there is an alternative to the rapacious Wall Street system we have and that people are building it now.
There are myriad ways we can solve each of the pressing problems of our time, and plenty of practical examples of success. What is needed is to give those examples public visibility, so that the better -- more sustainable and fair -- ways of living, working, and making things become the norm. That's why we publish YES!--everyday at YesMagazine.org and every quarter in print with YES! Magazine.
JB: That's exactly why I love to read YES! You've been there for a long time, Fran. Tell us what attracted you in the first place?
FK: Working on positive solutions to important problems has been a theme throughout my life. I had the great pleasure of working for the Ford Foundation for 20 years making grants to people I felt were top-notch problem solvers. But I also knew that the work many of my grantees were doing was practically unknown to the public. I found that if I just read the newspaper and listened to the radio, I would get depressed and discouraged. But when I went out and visited with the amazing people I was funding, I was totally energized. This experience taught me that we really can solve the biggest problems of our time. But more people need to know that practical solutions exist and that they can be part of making the needed changes.
So when, in 1998, the opportunity arose to become the publisher of YES! Magazine, I was totally turned on. YES! was doing exactly what I felt was needed. The magazine was just two years old, really small and struggling. But it served such an amazing purpose--showing how to solve the climate crisis (yes, even back then), how to narrow the inequality gap, how to make a peaceful world. It took on big problems in a way that felt energizing and inviting. It didn't flinch at suggesting big solutions and it backed them up with practical examples.
I had great respect for the editor and co-founder Sarah van Gelder and the tiny staff that was putting out this remarkable publication. The organization had a strong board (headed by my husband David Korten). So when Sarah and the board invited me to leave the Ford Foundation and come and head the organization, I just had to say YES!
JB: Cute! What made you feel that this was something you could do, and do well, beyond being in sync with their attitude and values? What actual experience did you have running a magazine?
FK: I had absolutely no experience running a magazine. Good thing too, because when I accepted the position I didn't know that running an idea-based magazine is not financially feasible!
Since I was smart enough to know I didn't know the business, I interviewed a number of publishers. One was Peter Warshall, then publisher of Whole Earth magazine. What he told me proved invaluable. He said, Fran, idea-based magazines don't have a breakeven point. No matter how many subscribers you get, you won't break even. And advertising won't save you (which deepened my resolve not to carry advertising). You have to depend on donors. Well, the board had been asking what is the breakeven point. So I reported that there isn't one and said we better get cracking on developing a broad donor base.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
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