THE MCPHERSON MEMO

ON OUR MINDS

Brought to you this week by McPherson Strategies Director of Creative Strategy and Chicago dog mom, Ellen Miller Gilcrest.

The NRA is scared of Shannon Watts. 
As they should be. Watts, the indelible founder of Moms Demand Action, turned a Facebook group of 75 outraged moms into the nation’s largest grassroots organization. She calls moms the “yin to the gun lobby’s yang,” a theme she explores in her new book, Fight Like A Mother. Susan hosted a book launch celebration on her roof this week, where we had the honor of meeting not only Watts, but also the inspiring Shenee Johnson - a woman who lost both her fiancé and son to gun violence, and now fiercely advocates for gun sense. Read this book!
 
So that’s how you spark joy!
Money can’t buy happiness… but it turns out that giving it back can. Research from the Women’s Philanthropy Institute finds that giving to charity makes us all happier, a topic client Andrea Pactor recently discussed on Farnoosh Torabi’s So Money podcast, along with insights about how women and men give differently. It ties in nicely to a new piece in The Chronicle of Philanthropy about Tito Vodka’s “Joy Budget,” which gives employees the power to choose how and where the company’s charitable giving dollars are allotted. 
 
This is not OK. 
The President’s racist tweets on Sunday sickened us, and the horror only deepened when his supporters relentlessly chanted “Send her back” during Wednesday’s rally in North Carolina. ABC reporting shows that this type of language reflects “the textbook definition of illegal harassment in the workplace.” The Atlantic’s Ronald Brownstein tweeted: “If workers in your companies chanted ‘send her back’ at a colleague of color they disagreed with would they retain their jobs? Is this now the standard you'll accept for how your workers interact in a diversifying country?” (Speaking of The Atlantic, this is a must.read from Adam Serwer - "What Americans Do Now Will Define Us Forever.") After Charlottesville, we saw company leaders stand up to denounce Trump’s reaction. We’re waiting, CEOs... 
 
ON OUR RADAR
 
Read: 

• CEOs continue to speak out about the importance of reproductive health care: Andrew Dudum of Hims & Hers penned an op-ed for CNN Business and Hint CEO Kara Goldin spoke with The San Francisco Chronicle (as did Susan McPherson!). 
• Vogue on the challenge of sustainable fashion: “Why is it that we still don’t understand what clothing should cost? New Yorkers line up at Sweetgreen to pay $15 for a salad, then spend less than that on a new T-shirt…. The food industry has successfully convinced us that healthier, better, organic food is worth the extra cost. Why hasn’t the same thing happened in fashion?”

• raceAhead: A smart, essential newsletter from Fortune’s Ellen McGirt on culture and diversity in Corporate America. 

• We can’t stop cheering for Megan Rapinoe and the USWNT in their drive for equal pay. Kudos to The Wing for helping draw attention to this fight and to companies like Secret Deodorant and LUNA Bar who have donated to help close the gap.

• We’re loving the new podcast from Cari Sommer, CEO of RAISE Communications, and business journalist Kathleen Harris. The Pitch Factor  explores the new rules of success. 

• Nominations are currently open (but closing soon!) for PR Week’s first-ever Purpose Awards. Act fast -- the deadline is July 23. 

• Paul Polman, the former Unilever CEO, and Valerie Keller just announced Imagine, a new sustainability foundation (name appears to be inspired by John Lennon lyrics). Polman says he sees the private sector as the “main engine for change.”

 
Meet:  

• Holly Gordon, Chief Impact Officer at Participant Media, leads the fantastic team behind the social impact campaigns for films and series like Roma, America To Me and RBG. If you’re looking for someone who can speak to the power of stories to drive real social change (at a conference, for an article, etc.), you must talk to Holly.