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I’m excited to welcome to the podcast Justin Spelhaug, the leader for the Tech for Social Impact group within Microsoft Philanthropies. As the leader for Tech for Social Impact in Microsoft, Justin brings together 22 years of experience spanning commercial and social businesses.
Prior to his current role, Justin served as the Chief Marketing & Operations Officer for Microsoft Asia Pacific spending over 7 years of his career working across developed and emerging Asian markets. Justin also helped to launch the Unlimited Potential organization within Microsoft, with a focus on developing new and more affordable computing solutions to close the digital divide for lower-income societies globally. He also honorably served in the United States Marine Corps, earning numerous medals as part of his service.
Justin and I got to know each other while I was running the Global Partner Organization for a top ISV in the sector. In this interview, Justin and I discuss the Tech For Social Impact organization, its mission, and areas of focus. We also dive into the importance of partners in driving Social Good, and his personal and professional journey.
The title of this episode is from the now-famous quote attributed to Mahatma Gandhi. His life, deeds, and his quote have inspired many, including both my guest and me.
I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I enjoyed spending time with Justin Spelhaug.
LINKS & RESOURCES
- Find Justin on LinkedIn and Twitter.
- His Three Area of Focus:
- Using technology to help nonprofits become more secure, more efficient, and drive greater impact.
- Solving tough challenges using Data and AI.
- Become a catalyst for partners and citizen developers to innovate and advance the mission.
- Find out more about Microsoft Tech for Social Impact.
- Microsoft Announcement.
- Bill and Melinda Gates Challenger Report.
- John Lewis’ Book – Walking With the Wind.
- The Transcript of the Interview is below.
As with each of my episodes, I appreciate your support. Please tell your friends about Ultimate Guide to Partnering™ and where they can find us. I’d love your feedback. Please like the podcast and provide comments or reach out to me at @vincemenzione on Linked In, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also like and follow Ultimate Guide to Partnering Facebook page or drop me a line at vincem@cloudwavepartners.com.
Ultimate Guide to Partnering™ is a rich compendium of what makes successful partnerships and is available on iTunes, Spotify, Google SoundCloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Player FM, almost anywhere you get your podcasts!
This episode of the podcast is sponsored by Ultimate Partnerships. Ultimate Partnerships helps you get the most results from your partnerships. Get Partnerships Right – Optimize for Success – Deliver Results – Ultimate Partnerships.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai Please excuse any typos.
Vince Menzione 0:23
Justin, welcome to the podcast.
Justin Spelhaug 2:04
It’s great to be here. I can’t wait to start talking.
Vince Menzione 2:07
I’m so excited to finally have you as a guest on Ultimate Guide to partnering. You know, we’ve been talking about this for a couple years now. So it’s great to spend some time together. We had some time together when I was leading a global partner ISV organization in the nonprofit space. And you are the Global Head for tech for social impact, Microsoft philanthropies and I’m so excited to welcome you today.
Justin Spelhaug – Well, thank you, Vince, glad to be here and getting ready here to talk to you and hopefully talk about the impact that we can collectively have as we partner together on these critical issues facing us. It’s such an important topic, especially now and Microsoft is such a large and diverse organization and focuses in on good and social good.
Vince Menzione – Would you mind telling our listeners about your organization, your mission and the purpose?
Justin Spelhaug 2:54
Yeah, the tech for social impact team was created. Three years ago, we launched it as a purpose driven organization to support every nonprofit in every humanitarian organization like the unit United Nations to accelerate social good by using technology and digitally transforming to have a greater impact in the world.
Vince Menzione 3:17
And you grew out of the philanthropies organization and that mission, which I know that Microsoft makes incredible contributions back to the communities in which it serves. I also understand from that then the genesis of the organization that was created within philanthropies as opposed to maybe with a sales organization. Can you explain that maybe in more detailed for our listeners so they can best understand it?
Justin Spelhaug 3:39
Yeah, I think we’re pretty unique in the technology industry, in that we’re a team that brings together philanthropies, engineering, and commercial sales into one organization to serve the nonprofit humanitarian market we sit under philanthropies, we don’t sit in a commercial sales organization, we are a social business as well. So essentially, we cover our costs and then the incremental profit that we generate is reinvested back into public good initiatives like AI for good, or our digital skills initiatives or many other things that the
Vince Menzione 4:16
company is doing. So you cover such a broad swath of area. I mean, social impact is such a big area, like what does success look like, at the end of the day for you and your organization?
Justin Spelhaug 4:26
You know, really when I think about success, I think about three key things. I think about using technology to help nonprofits and humanitarian organizations become more secure, become more efficient, and ultimately, advanced mission impact. And we have engaged 200,000 organizations to date on our cloud on our Microsoft Cloud and we’ve got 3.8 million more to go so we’ve got a lot of work to do. But that’s one. Number two, I look at solving tough chapter is using some of our advanced tools like data and AI, whether that’s using those tools to analyze audio and video files, to help prosecute war crimes in Syria, or Iraq, or it is helping organizations like the who use their data to create a better health response system globally. You know, those are the kinds of opportunities that we need to be using our best and brightest in partnership with organizations around the world to make an impact. But then, the final thing that I’m pretty passionate about is, Microsoft will play a role in helping advance some of the challenges that we’re all facing. And the frame that we use, as we talk about the world’s challenges are the Sustainable Development Goals, the 17 goals that really paint the picture of the future that we want to see. But Microsoft can’t do it alone, of course. And so I really see the tech for social impact team being a catalyst to help developers, citizen developers, social entrepreneurs, ISVs, system integrators, cloud solution providers, really develop the innovation necessary to advance the SDGs things like auto lung, a low cost respirator to help or, you know, healthcare organizations respond to COVID-19. And in, in, in markets around the world, or other technologies, we need to be a catalyst for these kinds of technologies. And that’s, I think, the third role that we play
Vince Menzione 6:36
you, you brought up what’s been happening these last several months, we we’ve all seen quite a bit of change in our world, we’ve all been impacted in many ways. What are you seeing now that you didn’t expect to see at the start of the year?
Justin Spelhaug 6:48
Well, you know, I probably can’t really convey the impact that covid 19 has had on the nonprofit sector, it has been huge in two ways. In one way. We have millions of people that have moved into poverty in the last six months, we have millions of people that need access to Community Health Solutions remotely, not physically. And so the demand of nonprofit services, especially in the Health and Human Services, area of the global aid sector, has gone through the roof. Absolutely. And at the same time, funding has gone through the floor in certain aspects as people have to tighten their belts, as all fundraising has to it has to move online. And and it is just creating a massive, massive challenge for the sector. And out coming out of that challenge, though, is is really an ignition of innovation, unlike anything I’ve ever seen in terms of the sector needing to figure out how do I deliver my services digitally? How do I stay remote perpetually, not temporarily, right? How do I not create an incremental step change in efficiency? But how do I create a breakthrough in efficiency so that my balance sheet can survive this challenge. And we’re trying to step up as our other technology providers to really support them as they navigate these really, really tumultuous waters, while also serving those that need that need more support than ever before.
Vince Menzione 8:24
You know, your leader Satya has been talking about the transformation accelerating during this time, I think we’re up to seven or eight months now. And he’s been making the analogy for every month we’ve seen a year of transformation further. And you talk about this, do you expect we’ll ever get back to the normal that we had in terms of fundraising and some of these other areas? Are you expected to stay in this current state?
Justin Spelhaug 8:48
There, there is no normal anymore, there’s only the new normal. And I’ve spent the last couple of weeks talking to probably 40 different organizations about the challenge the challenges that are facing just real recently, I’ve been on a tour listening to her so to speak. And you know, a few core scenarios are coming out of that in terms of what’s that new normal look like. First is we’re staying remote, or at least we’re going to be in a hybrid environment forever. for nonprofits. In certain scenarios it doesn’t make doesn’t make sense to have the brick and mortar infrastructure. So standing down some of that brick and mortar infrastructure and figuring out how to create a secure collaborative environment for the long haul is what they’re what they’re looking at. Second, they’re looking at delivering their services, as I mentioned remotely, I mean, imagine being the YMCA, and you know running the YMCA is and now in this girl world needing to figure out how to reinvent yourself to deliver this these experiences that engage kids and community digitally, and bring them together in meaningful, authentic ways they’re reinventing the third area is data and AI imagine being the who Today, trying to understand the COVID death rates with imperfect information flowing in from every country, but that the science of understanding that the science of understanding the causality has never been more important to our future. So using data and AI in new and transformative ways, and really, the value of that. And then you mentioned, I think you mentioned fundraising. Imagine overnight, not being able to run a gala where you raise the paddle right? or hold this right, hold the event and having to do everything digitally, just overnight. So I think even when we get through this pandemic, which we will, we are going to see this influx of innovation where data and remote services and remote work and online engagement and fundraising will become the new new normal, and there will be a hybrid version of this, certainly, as we as we go forward.
Vince Menzione 10:55
Yeah, I can’t envision get putting on my tuxedo and going to the hardball this year. I mean, it’s mentioned, it’s like we’re doing these virtual events, these virtual silent auctions and all these other things. And it’s, it really has changed necessitated the need for more technology to drive all that. That’s right. That’s right. So you’ve been on a tear in terms of an organization I know you’ve been enrolled, what, three or four years now? Is that right?
Justin Spelhaug 11:20
Yeah, three years in this little over three in this year,
Vince Menzione 11:23
and building out an organization from scratch within Microsoft. So and I know you’re you’ve had some additional investments and announcements that you recently made to the business. And I was hoping maybe you could spend some time with our listeners here. And actually, I’m honored to have you on because I know these were recently made October 1, in fact that you made some announcements about doubling down commitment to the sector. Can you tell our listeners about the announcements and what they mean for nonprofits and for partners?
Justin Spelhaug 11:48
Yeah, for sure. You know, at the core of so much of the work we do is really an innovation strategy to build solutions that meaningfully move missions forward. a price that nonprofits can afford, you know, given the challenges and the pressures they’re under, we started that journey three years ago with the belief that we needed to define a data model for the common processes that virtually every nonprofit has be that how they deliver a program, how they mobilize volunteers, how they raise money, and fundraise how they account and do their financial accounting. And we started building that common data model. It’s entities and attributes in that common data schema, with the idea that we could leverage it, but with the ambition and hope that we could help others other partners. And even competitors use this technology in a way that would facilitate greater interoperability. So that if you’re a nonprofit, as big as you know, the YMCA or United Way’s or a global development organization, you’re likely going to have many different platforms operating in that organization. But if you have a common data model, a donor is a donor is a donor, a beneficiary is a beneficiary a household is a household in these different systems that use these common standards. And you can analyze your operation and understand where you’re at Far, far more efficiently with that common data model. We then after you know, it, we’re we’re we’ve been developing that for three years we’re on, we’re on a advanced release, we just released the new version and continue to iterate on that with the sector. In partnership with the sector who is who is building it right alongside us. We then started to build accelerator technology on top of that for program management, measurement and evaluation, volunteer engagement. This is code templates connectors that make it cheaper, easier and faster for partners to build solutions on our stacks to deliver these scenarios for nonprofits. That was great. But we were asked by our partners and by our customers to go further to see if we could bend the cost curve further by providing more finished applications that then partners could extend for specific nonprofit scenarios. We’ve responded to that feedback. And just last week, we announced the launch of our dynamics, fundraising and engagement solution that provides end to end fundraising capabilities from constituent management to donor engagement. and the like. This is built as a finished application. It uses the common data model, and is delivered through our partners. It also leverages You know, when we think about this application and the common data model, all three of our clouds. So the fundraising engagement platform is built on dynamics, but we’re able to expose different workflows and processes through canvases like teams, that many, many, many nonprofits are running, or canvases like Power Apps or through Power BI on Azure, so that we’re meeting and use is where they are and giving them just the information they need. And doing. So at a, I think a tremendously affordable level. Now, what’s interesting about this isn’t just that we built this this this app, right? It’s that we’re pursuing a platform, we’re pursuing a platform of finished capabilities that will allow fundraising to integrate seamlessly with, with your finance system seamlessly with your analytics system seamlessly with your program management system, in one design language, and one, development and security environment. And it leverages all of the common capabilities that you probably already own from Microsoft. And in fact, the final thing I’d say is, this is a partner centered strategy. This is about partners, leveraging that core IP and, and building on it, extending it for human services, extending it for environmental research and science, extending it for for global aid. And really building businesses that can be vibrant, can be innovative, and can deliver last mile mission value to the organizations that need support.
Vince Menzione 16:11
It’s an exciting announcement, it sounds like what you’re also doing is putting a stake in the ground as Microsoft to say, this is an important area for investment. And there’s a total addressable market of one a million and a half nonprofit organizations, they’re not all being addressed today. So you’re ensuring that they are addressed in a way or they’re better supported up and down market. And then I guess you’re also we’re adding additional capabilities, or having partners that add additional capabilities on top of that, is that right?
Justin Spelhaug 16:39
That’s right. And, you know, what’s critical to understand is, in the United States alone, the nonprofit industry is about 1,000,005 million six organizations, as you’ve mentioned, it generates $2.5 trillion of revenue or operating income per year. 1.6 trillion of that roughly, is, is earned income through services, that presents a tremendous surface area for digital transformation, right? I just talked about one thing, fundraising, but tremendous surface area for digital transformation. By the way, 2.5 trillion is well over 10% of the US GDP. And it’s the third largest industry in the US from an employment perspective. So there are so many reasons for partners to get involved in this sector, to commercially create a commercially relevant business, but also to build a business that supports impact in their local communities. And we’re trying to create the technologies that makes that easier for everybody to enter into this market, support this market put food on their table, but move the world forward in a positive way.
Vince Menzione 17:47
So what has been the response? And what is the opportunity for the partners in your ecosystem?
Justin Spelhaug 17:53
Well, I think, you know, the response has been really positive. And I think, you know, largely because of where we started this approach from, which was a common data model published on get GitHub, open standards and a partner centered approach. And that’s really brought the community along from nonprofits to partners alike. And I’d say there’s a couple of opportunities. One is if you’re a dynamics partner, we’re going to continue down this path to help you could build a business that is vibrant, that can serve nonprofits. But there are other partners like Blackbaud, that is a core Azure partner for us also uses Power Apps, and modern work. And they had built a best of breed fundraising solution and spent many years doing that, and we are going to support the heck out of them as well, because the market is so significant, that we need everybody to come to the party to help move, move this market forward. And everybody we believe, can make, you know, good commercial returns and and support their business. And so, you know, we look forward to supporting our dynamics partners, we look forward to really supporting our Azure partners like like Blackbaud partners that are building new extensions and capabilities and teams like barrhead, and others. So there’s just so much opportunity here for for everyone really,
Vince Menzione 19:16
it sounds like you’re clearing the way and making room for all of your partners to be successful here in this space. And it’s such an important time in this space right now, especially as we have been impacted in this way and that these organizations really need us all right now.
Justin Spelhaug 19:30
That’s right. That’s right. And, you know, just one thing I just I just say that I think a lot about I think a lot about that third goal that we have as Microsoft being a catalyst for system integrators, ISVs, social entrepreneurs, citizen developers, and just really making sure that we’re taking a approach that supports them. that facilitates open standards that makes Microsoft the first invest platform, but not to the exclusion of other platforms. Because we need, frankly, all platforms, I’ll say that to advance what we’re seeing as the Sustainable Development progress that’s in retreat. Right now, it’s in retreat across nearly every one of the 17 goals, because of COVID-19 impact. So we need everything at the table, everybody at the table,
Vince Menzione 20:18
you know, I’ve been talking about the fact that during this time, it’s imperative of us in the technology sector to lead through this change. And it really strikes me that that’s exactly what you’re doing here. So I really commend you and Microsoft on this. I want to shift gears for a moment here, because we are talking about partners. And this podcast is basically focused on the art and science of partnering, the Ultimate Guide to partnering. And now you’ve been around Microsoft for over 20 years now, I think you must have started at five years old to do it, right, right. But you have a richer set of experiences in the Microsoft organization, various roles and responsibilities in different geos. And so I know you’ve worked with partners successfully over that time. And for our listeners, can you share what you believe? What characteristics Do you believe, make a great partner
Justin Spelhaug 21:05
Yeah, or, and even a great partnership, I think, you know, when we try to forge alliances between Microsoft and different organization be that a traditional software partner or a strategic partner in the US, there are some common attributes that lead to success. One is making sure that between our organizations, we have a shared and specific vision of what success looks like from the top down from the CEO, down, that we agree on, on what that success looks like. That vision is underpinned by trust, and the ability to have honest, Frank and tough conversations, where bad news can travel fast and can get dealt with effectively. Because you know, the world is a challenging place out there, you’ve got to be able to work through the challenges, where we understand the unique strengths of our partnership between the two different organizations. And often I find this is something that we don’t always get right, in terms of what each partner is able to uniquely bring to the table and capitalize on those unique strengths. And then the ability and willingness right to think big about the opportunity in front of us, but execute in small focused units to get stuff done day, every single day. It’s about it’s about daily, weekly progress, you know, to make, that’s how big ideas are achieved. And you know, if I look at a partnership that we’re, we have a lot of that embodied, I’d look at an organization, I’ll give you a non traditional partner for just a moment, like UNICEF, right, where we’re building this platform, this digital platform to reach children in semi connected environments where they don’t have access to the internet, with learning experiences during this covid time remotely. And, you know, we have a very specific vision, we have very specific targets. But the thing I value most about the way that we work together, is we all the pomp and circumstance, we just push that out of the room. And we have frank and honest conversations, you know, like two business partners trying to get something done here. And we’ve we’ve got a audacious vision, in fact, of enabling millions of children with this capability. But we focus country by country, week by week, day by day, month by month, on the impact that we can jointly drive and by chipping away at that we’re able to drive a lot of progress. And we have challenges every single day. But because we have that relationship, it all works. That all transcends to commercial partnerships, software partnerships, IP partnerships. I think it’s the same set of principles.
Vince Menzione 23:44
Yeah, you’re right out of my playbook. By the way, you know, I think I come down to the fact that there’s got to be a growth mindset on both sides, there has to be commitment up and down the organization, right. And this underpinning of trust and communication, the driving that, and then you got to drive them in equal focus you talk about, it’s breaking down the goals, right? And it’s right, because you do these meetings, and you walk out the room. And if nothing happens, then you come back three months later and have another business review and wonder what what we were supposed to do. Why are they all these rocks still still there that haven’t been turned over and accomplished, right?
Justin Spelhaug 24:18
You climb a mountain one step at a time, you got to put one foot in front of the other. That’s how you make progress and micro steps and chain all that together. And you have an ascent of Everest.
Vince Menzione 24:28
Yep. I love that. I love that analogy. And you know, I actually my most recent guests was somebody who just who does a lot of hiking and traveling. So it kind of ties into that conversation as well. You’ve also you’ve talked about this, what makes successful partnerships here. What about organizations that didn’t get it right working with you or your organization? Was there something you wished you had said to them to get them on the right path? What would you tell them now if you could? Well, you know,
Justin Spelhaug 24:53
I like to reflect on that by being self critical myself and what I didn’t get right and You know, the I think the thing that I’ve, when I, when I look at some of the mistakes I’ve made in the way that I’ve set up partnerships, I we really didn’t focus on that principle of understanding our unique strengths. There was one organization that we were working with where, you know, the unique strength that we had was certainly our broad channel, our broad software distribution, that the scale of our footprint was the unique strength we could bring to that partnership, they had very deep experience through a managed set of relationships that they were deeply servicing. And, you know, those are two different things in terms of business models. And it took us too long to understand the strength that we each brought. And, and because of that, we would we would talk to each other as this as if we understood each other. But we really didn’t understand the place that we were coming from in terms of the capabilities that we brought to the table. And the consequence was, we didn’t maximize as fast as we could have the unique strengths to really advance that joint partnership in the right way. So that, you know, that’s one mistake that that that I I’ve certainly been challenged with another one that I’ve been challenged with before is just not defining success clearly enough. And increasingly, as I get into partnerships that are focused on creating, you know, big data platforms and big analytics systems, where I coach the team is, let’s get focused on the critical scenarios, the the problems, and the opportunities that are specific that we can solve, as we engage in this partnership. And and so that we’re, we’re clear on how we deliver value between us and our partner, by being very, very specific, but obviously not losing sight of the broader strategic picture. So those are some of the challenges. I’ve had to be honest with you.
Vince Menzione 26:47
Now, some really great insights there and being self critical at this point in junctures. I commend you for that. So what about and there’s 300,000 or so partners in the ecosystem? We talked about maybe even more outside of the Microsoft ecosystem? What advice would you give to those organizations that wish to work with you and the tech for social impact team?
Justin Spelhaug 27:09
Well, number one, I’d say the nonprofit opportunity is an incredibly broad opportunity in the US, because we can use that data again, 2.5 trillion over 10% of the GDP 1.6 million organizations $33 billion in software spending in that sector broken between health, education and charitable organizations get engaged, it is it is a broad opportunity. Now, how do you engage? I tell you that I got asked the question, what was the secret sauce in putting this business together, because we’ve by all kind of measures and metrics, we’ve been pretty successful. And I think it’s two things, things differentiated IP building technology, or IP services as well, that are differentiated and creating value for the industry and moving the industry’s missions forward. And building a culture that values not only generating the margin, right, but generating the mission and balances that. And so build a business that creates that differentiated IP and creates that culture necessary to deliver that IP. It’s hard to do this in a part time way, it’s hard to embed your nonprofit business into your public sector, business or some other place because the pricing models are often very different. Therefore you get different incentives. Also, the nonprofit industry has a language and has a culture of its own. So create a dedicated practice, it will return for you if you create that dedicated practice that focuses on generating the right balance and mission to margin. And then use that practice to create a multiplier effect in your own organization. You know what the number one challenge that your listeners and your executives have, and we have attracting and retaining today’s top talent, the next generation of top talent, you want to attract that talent, build a business like this, let them engage in that tell the stories tell the internal stories of how your company is actually helping the world move forward and big and small ways in the backyards of the community of your employees. And on the great stages of organizations like the United Nation, you put that together. And you really have some magic within your, your organization.
Vince Menzione 29:24
Yeah, some really great advice for our partners in the whole area of social responsibility. And as you say, you know, this next generation wants to work for organizations that give back or they feel like they’re making an impact on society.
Justin Spelhaug 29:35
That’s right. Absolutely.
Vince Menzione 29:37
I’d love to pivot the conversation. I’m fascinated by how people got to this spot in life. And I wanted to focus this portion of this of the conversation on your personal and professional journey. You have an interesting story. And I was hoping you could take our listeners through it. I noticed you served in the Marine Corps before and during your early days at Microsoft. What was that experience like and what lessons did you learn From that, that translated to business?
Justin Spelhaug 30:02
Well, I think one of the first questions is Why did you go into the Marine Corps? And
Vince Menzione 30:08
good question.
Justin Spelhaug 30:10
But my parents, my dad built a nonprofit here in the area that I live in the Seattle area that I live in, that focused on first focused on providing minor Home Repair Services to poor elderly than it focused on delivering meals and called that Meals on Wheels. And then we created community transit, then we created housing, he I should say, but he involved me in every step of the way, as a, as a child, in building this organization that served all of the poor elderly, in our area. My mom was a sexual assault investigator on the front lines in downtown Seattle, working with kids, and running those investigations and also involved me. And so from a very, very early age, they created the service gene in me and printed that on me, not because they said you need to go serve, but just by their actions, right? What’s the saying your actions speak so loudly, I can hardly hear what you’re saying. Absolutely. Yeah. So, you know, at 16, I felt like oh, my God, I got to do something I got to do something big in my manifestation of that was was the Marines and my parents weren’t too happy about that. But hey, but it was an incredible experience. For me, it taught me the value of hard work, it taught me the value of integrity, it taught me the value critically of, of teamwork, and how a team has to come together. And you’re only as strong as, as the team is strong. And it was a seminal moment in my life in terms of understanding even my own potential, if I just would actually apply myself in a way that was effective. So it was an incredible experience, All told,
Vince Menzione 31:47
so you went into the Marine Corps, what age
Justin Spelhaug 31:49
was actually 17, right? When I landed in boot camp, I graduated high school early. And then I went in for about a year, we did all the training and the boot camp and every combat training. And then I went out to college, and I was under a Marine Corps Reserve Program at that point
Vince Menzione 32:05
nine, eight more years. And then during that time you transition because I noticed on your background that you overlap with your Marine Corps experience and your Microsoft experience. So tell us what that was like?
Justin Spelhaug 32:16
Well, it was it was a balancing act. And so you know, we would every one weekend, a month, and so forth, and also for several weekends, during the summer, we would deploy and we would train. And you know, Microsoft is super supportive of providing the time and the service. This was right, actually, after Gulf War One, and, you know, coming into Gulf War Two, so there was a fair amount of conflict. And I just really appreciate how, you know, Microsoft supported me through that process. And, and, you know, the experience I gained in the Marine Corps,
Vince Menzione 32:46
and Microsoft is another area where Microsoft gives back. And I think we have a mutual friend and Chris Cortez, and Microsoft has a mission to ready those coming out of the military for private sector, and also giving upskilling them for entering organizations like Microsoft.
Justin Spelhaug 33:03
Well, it turns out, I got my first job at Microsoft, not because I was qualified for the job, but because the person hiring me had a fascination with tanks and like combat logistics, and I knew a few things about that. And I was able to sweet, sweet talk my way into a job that I then was, you know, reading manuals, SQL SQL programming manuals, I thought was school at the time to figure out how to be a good database systems administrator. So Microsoft, the Marine Corps also got me my first job at Microsoft. That’s awesome.
Vince Menzione 33:33
So what advice would you give to someone you were mentoring that wish to work in your organization or for Microsoft?
Justin Spelhaug 33:39
Yeah, you know, I think the one thing is that I’ve learned maybe somewhere I hope, hopefully not too late in life is really center your efforts on your personal personal passion, right. And your personal passion doesn’t need to be saving the world, it could be many different things. But when you make your passion, your life’s work, everything else just starts to unlock. And it’s a lot funner you know, yeah, work still feels like work, it’s still you know, you have your days. But when it’s your purpose, and you’re in your passion, it ceases to feel transactional, it feels meaningful, it feels deeply rooted. And you can tell those people, right, because there’s a different level of energy that they’re bringing to the table and fuel that they’re bringing to the table. And I say that not just for working in my team or working at Microsoft, but that’s, that’s how you maximize your performances by driving that alignment. And I you know, a lot of people say, Well, how do I, I don’t know what my life’s purpose is. Isn’t that one of the questions that we all ask ourselves all the way through life, and it is, but what are you passionate about, you know, what that is what fuels you what gives you energy, what takes your energy away, lean into that make that your life’s work, and you’re going to be at your edge your potential edge from a performance perspective and organizations like Microsoft and others, are gonna want to have you on their team because of what you’re able to do.
Vince Menzione 35:05
So it sounds like you had two very strong role models with your parents. And, you know, I’m going to ask you about role models here in a moment. But first, is there a personal statement? Is there a purpose statement that you have that drives you forward, that that drives you forward with, with your mission?
Justin Spelhaug 35:23
It is, and it’s a, you know, it’s a simple statement, which is Be the change you wish to see in the world. Because if you’re not making the change, you know, who is that was Mahatma Gandhi that made that statement, you know, that’s my personal mission. That’s my personal passion, that’s what fuels me is trying to drive positive change and knowing that I’m spending, you know, the 12, or 14 hours a day that we spend at work, you know, taking one step up that mountain at a time, one small, very, very small step, and the mountain is very, very big. And I, you know, for me, maybe I never get to the top of it, but maybe we make it up part of the way and I can help others get to the top. And, you know, the top I define the top for me is, is really helping the world make us a dent, a positive dent, a meaningful, dense, and maybe more than a dent a disruption in how we’re reaching towards the Sustainable Development Goals, which is the only benchmark, we really have to talk about what I think a prosperous world ultimately looks like. That’s what fuels me, that’s, that’s, that’s the honest truth in terms of what gets me
Vince Menzione 36:26
up and going every single day. Well, that’s one of my favorite statements as well be the change you wish to see in the world by Mahatma Gandhi. We’re gonna put that in our show notes. I’d love to talk more about role models for a second, if you don’t mind. I mean, your parents strike me as two amazing role models, where there are other strong role models on your path.
Justin Spelhaug 36:43
There were you know, in, in the Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Gunny Hamlet, if you’re listening
Vince Menzione 36:50
was any Hamlet, there we go.
Justin Spelhaug 36:53
I mean, he was he was tough, he was hard. But he was the consummate professional, and just taught me what accountability meant, and how to get work done right the first time. And, you know, when you’re in the military, that the stakes can be a bit higher to get work done, right the first time. And I really learned that from him at Microsoft, I’ve had the fortune of serving under a number of great leaders, you know, I highlight john Lee khata, as a leader JPC, as we call him inside of Microsoft, that I really think gets the balance, like Satya does between the mission orientation that we always have to hold in our heart, with the business exacting business performance that we have to demand of ourselves and of our partners and in this ecosystem, because it’s the only thing that will help move the world forward at the pace that needs to move forward. But bringing those two things together, and bringing things like growth mindset together, where we can embrace the act of being of having humility, of not always knowing the answer of being a learner is just such a critical 21st century way of thinking, I think, that seems to be lost in certain theaters of the world today. And and I just really look up to those folks that have that have helped pave the way and, frankly, have helped evolve my thinking and how we even tackle some of the problems that we’re trying to tackle.
Vince Menzione 38:19
Yeah, both humility and empathy, right. I mean, these are skills that are not intuitive, necessarily. They’re learned in many cases, and I see quite a bit within the people you talk about as well and and admire them both. I am going to ask you a question that might be somewhat unique. But you know, if you had the opportunity to invite three guests to a dinner, who would those three guests be?
Justin Spelhaug 38:41
Wow, I would want I’d want to be able to go back in time, a little bit on that one. So you know, I’m reading a book right now walking with the wind by by john lewis. And the journey that john lewis took in the civil rights era, getting on the buses driving through the south, taking the the violence, in order to create change, it’s just such an inspiration for me. And, you know, he would certainly he’s top of mind for me right now. He would certainly be at the table. Another person that would be at the at the table might might be john F. Kennedy, who was kind of the one of the founders of the moonshot, and and big thinking, and, you know, coined the phrase, if not us, who, if not now, when, and, you know, I think there’s something to be learned from the scale of thinking that he brings together and as a technologist, of course, I would probably have to bring our friend Bill Gates to that table. And you know, frankly, as a philanthropist is the way he’s been able to lead his life and bring together technology, medicine, and social impact is just really obviously inspiring for me. I’ve been at this company a long time, but but even if I wasn’t at the company. It’s inspiring. And I would love to take all three of their brains at the same at the same time and figure out how we chart our course, to having a greater impact.
Vince Menzione 40:11
What a dinner conversation that would be. Right? Yeah. I’m Lewis, john F. Kennedy. And Bill Gates. Wow, I would love to be at the table as well, or at least listening. And what was the book by john lewis, you’re reading, I want to make sure we put that in our show notes.
Justin Spelhaug 40:26
Yeah, it’s called walking with the wind, the memoir of the movement. And it’s not it’s not a book that was just recently released. It’s a few years old. But it really just captures the journey, the brutality, and the heroism, the the courage of the civil rights movement. And, you know, I think it’s important for us to remember that today as we work and think about racial equality. And try to address that here in the United States in our own backyard, it’s important to go back tonight, the 1950s, and 60s and 70s. And remember the journey we’ve been through so that we can chart the course forward.
Vince Menzione 41:04
Well, I also know and I’ve had some guests on Rodney Clark and Lonnie Phillips, both vice presidents at Microsoft, who are both black. And we’ve talked through this whole conversation about Microsoft’s commitment to this area around diversity and salties commitment specifically, is there anything specific that you’re doing within your organization around diversity and inclusion?
Justin Spelhaug 41:24
Well, absolutely. I mean, we need to walk the talk, in terms of our hiring practices, and we’re doubling down there as with the rest of the company, we do walk the talk with our supplier practices, and we’re doubling down there as with the rest of the company, you know, we’re making progress, I think the the area that our team is specifically engaged in, as we’ve made a $25 million dollar five year investment in supporting nonprofits that are leaning in and supporting the African American and black communities across the United States, be those Health and Human Services be those advocacy organizations. And this this is philanthropy dollars, it’s going towards helping them digitally transform, and use technology in a way that allows them to serve more people to advance the causes of of equal rights and racial equality. And to address some of the frankly, systemic issues that we’re facing in our society that are creating blockers and that agenda. I’m very proud of just be a small part of that, and bring our team together to the overall on a long term basis to serve these organizations.
Vince Menzione 42:27
Such great work, I’m glad you shared that with our listeners. We’re running out of time. I know you have a very compressed schedule today. Do you have any closing remarks? Justin, for our listeners?
Justin Spelhaug 42:37
Yeah, my closing remarks would be, you know, when we look at these big things, like the Sustainable Development Goals, and we’d look at, I’d encourage you to go take a look at Bill and Melinda Gates goalkeepers report, what you will see in that is a pretty challenging picture, a lot of the work that’s been done over the last decade is has been on wound in the last seven months, eight months, because of COVID. And so my call to action is just get involved in any way you can, however small or however big, you know, vote number one, volunteer and engage with the time that you can make available. And if you’re a partner listening into this, and you found any of it, you know, directionally inspiring, build a business. There’s a business here, where you can put food on the table, you can serve these goals in these communities, and you can make an impact. And you know, don’t be afraid of it. Don’t ever believe that the this this industry that we’re talking about is an industry that is going to be solved through pure philanthropy, flat pieces can get Is it an appropriate tool, but it can’t be the only tool, we need to use social businesses and other models to make a real impact. So get engaged, get engaged, great advice for our listeners. And if our listeners and particularly partners want to reach out to you, your organization, how can they do so? Yeah, I think we have a couple of different things. In terms of understanding any of the solutions we’re building or the work we’re doing microsoft.com slash nonprofits. You can also follow me at Justin, spell hog on Twitter, or Justin, spell hog on LinkedIn. And those are all great ways to stay current on different things that we’re doing.
Vince Menzione 44:16
Great. Thank you so much, Justin, it has been a pleasure. excited to have you on the podcast today, some really great conversation. Thank you again for joining the Ultimate Guide to partnering.
Justin Spelhaug 44:26
Thank you. It’s been a real pleasure. Thank you.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai