It’s hard to believe this is a place that inspires creativity. The walls are dingy, and the carpet is beige – and in this box building, there are many smaller boxes. These peanut butter-colored cubicles blend into the monochromatic palette, and the lack of plant life is a reminder that fluorescent bulbs are the primary light source. And yet, on the third floor, right off the escalator, in cube A3-062 sits a woman who changes American communities one library at a time.Debbie Johnson grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, a mid-western city with six rich cultural districts and a 150-year-old library system. She recalls many childhood trips to libraries, theatres, and museums, which offered adventure – different cultures, places, and times. This love of discovering the exciting and new encouraged her reading, which she considers a lifetime hobby. During her pre-teen years, Nancy Drew ruled her shelf. “I loved solving the mysteries. Nancy was an independent girl, who helped her neighbors and had great friends,” said Debbie. “She had an exciting life. She had everything.”
Immediately after graduating high school, Debbie married her sweetheart Randy, and they both enrolled in college. Debbie chose a major in Library Sciences, but she never made it to her first class. Instead, she became an administrative assistant at RCA then later at GTE. GTE was a turning point. “Everywhere I looked there were opportunities, and I knew I could do these things, but they wouldn’t even consider me without a degree.” At age 38, Debbie enrolled in college again, and after six challenging years of employee, mother, wife, and student, she graduated and seized one of those opportunities.
Laying a Foundation for Literacy
As a public relations specialist for GTE, Debbie worked closely with her company’s philanthropic partner United Way to fund community groups across the United States. When GTE and Bell Atlantic merged in 2000 to form Verizon, the companys’ philanthropic dollars became the Verizon Foundation. With $75 million to spend, the public relations group decided to figure out what this new company stood for. They asked stakeholders to name the most important things to successful communities. Stakeholders repeatedly mentioned education, crime, and economic development.
“We asked ourselves what these had in common,” said Debbie. “They’re all tied to literacy. People who can read and write get better jobs which helps the economy and reduces crime. And, more than that, it gives people freedom – the freedom to learn creates tremendous opportunity.” With literacy as a cause, the group took their proposal to the executives. “It took us more than a year to sell them on the idea,” said Debbie. “People in Corporate America, especially executives, don’t realize there are people out there who can’t read or write. All of their friends read and write; they live in this bubble and are totally unaware.” Eventually, Debbie and her team’s persistence paid off. Literacy became Verizon’s official cause with a big budget.
The team enlisted celebrities and professional athletes, including James Earl Jones, Vanna White, Daryl Johnston, and Jason Varitek to kick-off Verizon Reads, a program they created to support literacy efforts across the nation. The program funded non-profit literacy organizations with grants and also lent them the celebrities for community events and fundraisers. This helped establish the non-profits in their communities and raise awareness. “In a lot of ways our dollars were the soil for them to grow – they became part of the fabric of their communities, and they got people to care and get involved,” said Debbie. After the launch of Verizon Reads, Debbie suggested adding a one dollar donation check box to Verizon phone bill payment slips. The program took off and averages about two million dollars a year in donations.
Branching Out to Libraries
In November 2004, Verizon decided to moves its headquarters to Baskin Ridge, New Jersey, and relocate its employees. After deciding against the move, Debbie took a job with a smaller division of the company with the same philanthropic mission. She got straight to work strengthening partnerships and funding grants to support literacy. Then there was bad news. Her division was being spun off into a separate company which would have a severely diminished community budget and no formal foundation. Debbie knew she had to come up with something more unconventional.
A seasoned veteran at creating partnerships, Debbie began making a list. “With few dollars, I knew I needed something national that could filter down to communities. Most libraries have literacy programs, and they often serve as the center of the community.” Debbie formed a partnership between her company and the American Library Association to refurbish libraries in socio-economically disadvantaged areas. The partnership depended largely on the work of employee volunteers.
Debbie said the employee element enhanced the projects by creating a tighter bond between employees and their cities and also between employees and their co-workers. As teams, they painted walls and murals, cleaned shelves, organized books, built furniture, and planted landscaping to beautify the libraries. “We wanted to bring people back to the books and invite them back into their communities,” said Debbie. The Bronx Library project focused on a Bronx Zoo-themed makeover of the children’s area. At the close of the event, 2,000 children each received a brand new book. “For many of the children, this was the only book they owned. We wanted to cultivate in them a love for books and reading,” said Debbie.
In her nineteen years with the company, Debbie has ridden through the ups and downs, but says it was worth it. This is not just an 8-5 job for her. In her spare time, she serves as the Vice President of the Texas Literacy Board and as a board member on the Texas Keller Literacy Board. “I remember, in the beginning, one executive said he didn’t like literacy as a cause, because it didn’t make him cry. If you could’ve shared my experiences and met the adults and children I met, heard their stories, and saw how reading changed their lives, let me tell you … it would make you cry.”
