Common Good for the Common Wealth - The Ripple Effect: Giving, Growth, and Community

What does it take to build a community that sees itself, and invests in itself, differently?

In the very first episode of Common Good for the Commonwealth, host Nancy Grayson, President & CEO of Horizon Community Foundation of Northern Kentucky, sits down with Mary Zalla, Chair of the Council of Trustees, to explore the origin story behind Horizon, and the vision that continues to shape it.

From Northern Kentucky’s long-standing identity challenges to the bold decision to “shape our own destiny,” this conversation unpacks why Horizon was created, what it means to build a culture of philanthropy, and how communities grow when people invest not just dollars, but time, talent, and belief.

Together, they reflect on:

The moment Northern Kentucky chose to define itself beyond Cincinnati
The power of teaching philanthropy early and building it into community DNA
What it means to create something that didn’t exist before and why that matters
How storytelling, leadership, and even songwriting connect to building impact
This episode is both a look back and a call forward: a reminder that thriving communities aren’t accidental, they’re built, together.

Because the future of Northern Kentucky isn’t something to wait for. It’s something to create.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Welcome to Common Good for the Commonwealth, where we feature uncommon advocates for Northern Kentucky who work every day to make our community more vibrant. I'm your host, Nancy Grayson, president and CEO of Horizon Community Foundation of Northern Kentucky. And I'm thrilled to have our very first guest on the podcast today, our Council of Trustees Chair, Mary Zala. Mary, thank you so much for being here and said to it. It's going to be a fun conversation. Promised it would be. I did. I did. And I promise, hopefully it'll be fun for those who are listening to. We're so excited to watch this finally. It's something we've been talking about for a while. Speaking of talking about things for a while, our community foundation has been around for eight, almost nine years now, which is both fast and long too. I did not have the honor of being at the table when they were dreaming up kind of the idea of our community foundation and what we're doing. I know you were invited to come in after we officially launched, but you did have some of those conversations about the why behind why we were formed. So can you talk to us a little bit about why? Why Horizon?

SPEAKER_01 1:23

Well, I think, you know, at the time, and it's it it is a good idea to look back because even though that was only eight or nine years ago, it seems long, but it is actually short. The amount of change since then, I think it's just incredible in our region. But, you know, if you do look back, um, while we've always been a wonderful community, I grew up here, I love it here. I've never left, you know, I've traveled the world, but this is home, it always will be home. Um but there were a few things going on. I mean, we did sort of live in the shadow of Cincinnati. In fact, I knew quite a few people, some even in my own family, that we'd be traveling and they'd say, Where are you from? Greater Cincinnati. The Cincinnati area. And I always hated that. I'm just getting proud on Tuffy. Kentucky girl, right? Yeah, Tuffy all the way, I guess. Um, so that was happening. Um, and then also because we were so close, so far north, so close to Cincinnati, even our Kentucky kindred spirits, you know, in Frankfurt and parts further south even thought of us as part of, you know, Cincinnati. So we didn't really have the identity that we deserved, and in some, you know, ways the sense of pride and pride of a place that we really deserved. So um, and at the same time though, things were happening, being put in place if we were growing. And um, and I think we were growing up as a community and it was those times.

SPEAKER_00 2:44

I think so too. And I um, those of you following may or may not know that I cheated on Kentucky for a few years and lived in Boston. Um, having grown up in in Leicington, as you know, yes, we did think of northern Kentucky as part of Cincinnati. I got the Fords wrong. Anytime someone tried to explain it to me, I thought Covington, I wasn't exactly sure where it was. Then I went to law school in Cincinnati and people um thought of it as being completely different, right? A different state across the river, um, all foreign at times. And then um, of course, living in Boston, they didn't think about us that much. So we were part of kind of the middle part of the US and of some folks, even we're surprised that Kentucky and Ohio were nice to one another. So um I think for us, I I have always been proud that at the outset of the foundation, we thought about how do we have that sense of pride in and doing it together? Because we are kind of bootstrappy and we do things a little bit different. And we we've talked about that a lot. Um, who uh other than you, and we're so grateful you're in your current role, you're a perfect fit. Um, who were some of the other leaders, if you could share, who were in the mix um at the time we were launching.

SPEAKER_01 3:52

Well, yeah, certainly the founding members, and I was not, I came on pretty early, which was a blessing. Um, but the real visionaries were Bill Butler and Bob Sass and Chuck Shepherd and Jim Vertrupa. Oh restus I know, yes, I know, so missed. We both have such a connection to NKU as well, and uh wonderful person. I mean, all those people that everybody's heard of these people because they're highly relevant people, not even just locally, regionally, even nationally, and highly generous people and very community-minded. Um, and I think they saw the future as well, that we were growing and we were getting to this place where um, you know, we should be shaping our own destiny, you know, a little more, and had this idea that hey, we're about 20% of this overall region, but we don't always get our fair share of representation and charitable dollars, give it back. And so rather than moan or complain, you know, about that, they just said, why don't we take this, take our own initiative, take this into our own hands and and create um this at the time fund, yes, rising community fund. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:00

Yes, and you mentioned Chuck Shepper. I know um I was interviewing and I kept hearing about this entity. At the time, they didn't really have a name for it. Um, it had been a few years uh of conversation, I think, with community leaders in northern Kentucky around should we be doing something that is a more um kind of combined effort? And uh Chuck often talked about this transfer of wealth that's happened. Um, and we'll talk a little bit down the road in this podcast about the next generation and then teaching them how to give back. But with this transfer of wealth, which is unprecedented in the United States and is spoken about in the news and by professional advisors, uh, how do we capture some of that? How do we teach people that giving back to their community is going to be something that will have those ripple effects for many generations to come? So I know when I was brought on board, that was something that they said we we really need to make sure we have a vehicle that can do that, which was really important. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:57

And that's one of the things that I've always been so inspired by Horizon Community Foundation about, which is, you know, not just about looking for you know people that, you know, are of great means and wealth, although often those people are and and uh are very important, right? Because um they are able to give and generous enough to give at these very high levels. But from the very beginning, it was important for Horizon to do just what you said, which is almost teach philanthropy and build it into each and every individual. Um, because um, yes, those dollars might be smaller, but there's more of them. There's more of those people. And the sooner you inculcate in people, the sooner in everyone's life that hey, part of you know, what you should do and be doing for your own community is giving back of your talent, you know, of your treasure, of your time. And the earlier that we can um really inspire people to do that, the more the region will ultimately benefit, you know, from their their leadership and generosity.

SPEAKER_00 6:56

Absolutely. We've we've actually launched a few summer camps that engage youth with giving back that they may not see themselves as a philanthropist per se, but now they understand maybe they actually are and how to to think about what the needs of their local neighborhood even might be in order to be part of that. Um in terms of change, we we've gone through a lot in the last eight or nine years. I mean, we had a pandemic, which which was just uh very challenging only a few years in uh for us as a community foundation, but we were able to help 85,000 people, which is incredible. Thanks for our board and the generosity of the community. Um we also kind of hit a new stage with our new move and our name change. Would you like to talk a little bit about the name change? Because you're uh a brand guru, in my opinion. Um, in Mary's prior role, she was a global VP for Landor and Fitch. And so we are a brand town in the greater Cincinnati and northern Kentucky area. You get branding. I think the small change of our name actually was meaningful, and I think our move was pretty meaningful too. Talk to us a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_01 8:04

Yeah, well, I think the move was meaningful. I mean, the building is just, I mean, I live in Covington, so it's just highly invisible. Yes. Um, I think this is the one KY Center. As in the fact that so many um entities and organizations that do so much and mean so much for this region are coming together, you know, under one umbrella makes sense. And then I think from fun to foundation, although, you know, in some ways it'd be fun to think of words that were even a little less dusty than those. Yeah, I see that. But but fund can mean so many different things, you know, just um from a financial perspective, or you can just do the fidelities of the world. Whereas foundation just feels like a little bit more like everyone in the community can have a sense of ownership, everybody's got a stake in it that it exists, right? To even almost cement and form the foundations, you know what I mean? Yes. So uh, and then it was just like we didn't have to change the initialization, yeah. For those of us that sometimes take the shorthand.

SPEAKER_00 9:00

So we did change the website. We did. We absolutely did. No, but it's been fun building. But I do think a challenge when we're marketing the work that we have is when is a community foundation. And I'm often asked in areas when I'm speaking or if I I'm even just talking with someone on the phone. Sometimes it's my parents asking exactly what what is it that you do. Um talk to us. It's it's a little challenging. Like how how would you project sharing and spreading the gospel, so to speak, of of what we do as a community foundation?

SPEAKER_01 9:32

Well, I mean, I think it is very score, and this might be too simplistic, but of our community foundation exists to really serve the needs of our community by tapping into the talents and strengths of our community. I mean, that's how I look at it. It really is of for and by the people, um, leaning on, of course, our local leaders and the talent that we have, um, and people that have called this place home and built successful businesses, you know, here, um, and were our area philanthropic in so many other ways, but really inspiring them, you know, to think even more locally, um, you know, in their giving um and um, you know, sharing their talents so that we can build this and build our community together.

SPEAKER_00 10:20

How do you see our growth in the next few years? I I think we we've had some good impact and some stories to share in terms of helping our neighbors in need and certain uh focus areas that we have as chair, you you get to see kind of the big picture of it all. Where where do you see us going in the next few years?

SPEAKER_01 10:39

Well, I think yeah, I think the sky's the limit. I think northern Kentucky is growing and has been growing the last couple of years. Um, you know, the economic development has just and and and the rate of this, I think we're one of the fastest we are regions in the states. Yes, yes, and maybe, you know, amongst many other states. But and really interesting things too, like advanced manufacturing and life sciences, we you know, tourism, um, you know, and so on. Um, and so I just see horizon growing right along um with that. And I think the more people that hear of us, and not only just hear of us, but feel and see the impact of what we're doing, I think we'll just get more people kind of, you know, rowing the boat with us. Um, and so I think the sky's um the limit. And the the the fact is too that this region tends to be one, and I think it's a great thing about this region um that people stay. Yes, you know, people might go somewhere else maybe to get educated or to have a job for a few years, but they often come back. I used to have in one of my roles, you know, we had a studio in Cincinnati, and sometimes for various roles, we would feel the need to recruit outside of the area. And um, an old boss of mine used to live in, gosh, it's really hard to get people to come to Cincinnati. Uh, but then he said, but once they're here, it's impossible to get a delete. Yeah. Um, and so there is something about this area. And I think the more that we grow and the more vibrant we are, um, not only will hopefully our own continue to want to stay and work here and play here and give here, um, but more people, you know, will want to come in and just be a mark of this.

SPEAKER_00 12:14

And I think the storytelling of of our impact is so important. Um, speaking of stories, we're switching gears just a little bit. I I love music. I think you know it. Yes. Um, and and I sing for those of you who don't know, with a group called Suits That Rock, it's a fun, fun event each year. But that's that's where my town is, is is standing up and performing a song that has been written. What you may not know is we have this true talent sitting here with me who is a very gifted and an award-winning songwriter. So how did you get started with that? I I it's like the creativity at sea, the connection absolutely with branding and and thinking outside of the box about um delivering on a brand or an identity or a story. How there is storytelling in songwriting. I could see that thread. When did you start?

SPEAKER_01 13:07

Yeah, I know. Well, I've been a writer my whole life, you know, in one way, shape, or form. I mean, I wrote poems and stories as a kid. I've written song parodies my whole life. Oh I still love doing that. Yes. Either for school plays and events or for, you know, gifts for family or parties. Um, and that's just so, you know, just such such a fun thing to do. But when I made the decision to retire, um, you know, which was a tough decision, especially leaving Landor, a company I'd been at for 24 years. It was an industry I was in for 35 years. Wow. Um, and in some, you know, some wonderful but, you know, demanding leadership roles, you know, how's he gonna lead? There's a lot of responsibility, right? That that you of course take on and take seriously. Um But, you know, the further and and actually I started in my business as a copywriter, you know, at an ad agency. Um, and then as years went on, I got more into the business side of things. So I was further and further away from day in, day out creativity and more administrative and leadership. And I think when I made the decision to leave, um it it I just felt lighter. You know, number one, of course, the pressure was going to be off, but I could get back to my, you know, creativity. And literally I had no intentions of being a songwriter, I would have never said that. But that song idea started popping in my head and I couldn't stop, you know, writing. I thank God I didn't stop writing because those first three songs were absolutely oh no. Well, no, no, but everybody in this industry says that you'd have to write your horrible songs because then you write your less horrible songs, your less terrible songs, and then you get to a song that's almost decent, you know, and then good, and then hopefully someday great. I'm not there yet. But um, but it's just been a delight just to be creative again, although I'm also learning the business of music. Oh, right. Entirely different business the way it's monetized, the way it's marketed.

SPEAKER_00 15:01

Give me what are some of the differences? I love hearing just kind of repeeking behind the curtain, what what that might look like? Big picture. Well, how is that industry running? You're you're heading to Nashville even tomorrow. So you're you're frequently burning up the interstate and and going down and and writing and having workshops. So what what does that look like? How it how is it made?

SPEAKER_01 15:20

It's it's similar to my old business in that it is also a highly collaborative business. And one of the most fun things about it is co-writing. I never knew anything about son or I didn't know what co co-writing was. In the country music world, most songs are written by two or three people. Oh, okay. Almost always. Now in the pop world, there can be 11, 12, 13 writers on a song. And they will even mix up the song and say, Well, you contributed three words, so you have this percent and you contributed the bass line value. In Nashville, if you're in a writer's room, if there's two, three, four people, whatever, it's a two-way split, a three-way split, a four-way split. Even if you're in the room and you mostly just cheered people on or got offy, yeah, you're part of that song. Yes. So I love the collaborative um nature of it. Um, and so I often, as a lyricist, I'm often working with strong composers, you know, and melodists. Um, and then just the the the other thing that's just as tough about the branding business or about the stories that we need to successfully tell about Horizon is you know, if you're asking somebody to listen to a new song of you more as, you know, maybe it's a publisher or anything else, you get off two lines and it's done. Yeah, and you get the Nasheville Nittle of whatever, very seldom get listened to unless you've just written the next smash sure and hasn't happened for me. Yes. Yes, yes, but that's the whole point. You know, being able to just really pull somebody in, you know what I mean, right away with a message, something that relates to them, something that moves their heart, makes them feel something. And to me, that's so akin to what we need to do at Verizon because what we do, we know how important it is. Yes, because we know we want to lift everyone up in our community, right? Help anybody that's struggling, you know, in the moment or if if it's a protracted, protracted period of time. Um, and we can only do that if we really understand who and what we are uh and how we can help. And you know, we don't have very few entities have long form communication vehicles to do that.

SPEAKER_00 17:16

Yes, disrupt it. Yes, yes, yes. How would you equate the process of songwriting to you mentioned collaboration, it made me think to your leadership style? How how is that connected? Or how how do you feel it's informed you or maybe your leadership style has what's been carrying through for your songwriting too? How you engage with others.

SPEAKER_01 17:39

Yeah. Well, and it is very, you know, when you're in the room, there there's some days that you are just on and firing on all cylinders, and other people are taking your lead and you know, grabbing that inspiration and running with it. And then there's other days when you're not. Um, but somebody else is that person. And I think you have to not walk into a room always thinking, I'm the leader, I'm the one. We're gonna write my title today. You go in the room, you have your book of titles, especially as a lyricist, you want to go in heavy with those songs. Starts, I often walk in with a first verse chorus to five or six different songs.

SPEAKER_02 18:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:14

Um, but we may not write any one of those because somebody else may hold with an idea that we think is uh a better idea, or even if it's not a better idea, it's just the song that's meant to be written that day. Right. And so I think being attuned to the room, you know what I mean, picking up on that lensy energy. Um, and then also just getting to know your co-writers, just how you had to get to know employees and co-workers, what makes them today? No, this might be a great title I have in my book, but actually, you know, um Brad and I, or whoever else, are gonna be better suited today to write this title, knowing there'll be another day, you know what I mean, for this other idea. Because again, as creative people, and I know you're a creative person, I could never get in front of my stuff and see I would not celebrate sans writers or the night happy actually on the seas, uh, which is exactly where I belong for sure. Um, but yeah, just getting excited about you know ideas and just you know using those to create something that never existed before in the world. And again, that's kind of like the horizon. This did not exist for our community before the founders came up with this idea, and then before you took it brand with this um and you know, have seen just such growth for it.

SPEAKER_00 19:25

Um I try not to be too heavy-handed with it. But the two times that they see people um migrating in as opportunities are, of course, college being one of those. So it's so great to hear that so many will end up staying locally. But also if there's a transition uh professionally, folks who are relocating here, maybe because they have um a connection to one of our Fortune 500 companies across the river in Ohio or something connected to the airport, they do tend to stay more readily. So I think how do we kind of keep building on that? Um, we want to protect what we have to your point about being in northern Kentucky for so long and generations of your family. I think preserving that identity is important to us, but being modern at the same time too and flexible, which it's what we try to do at Horizon as well.

SPEAKER_01 20:16

Yeah, for sure. I think that's what every strong brand has to do, right? You have to trade, stay true to yourself and your heritage and what you always were. What was that original product or service form? But you also have to evolve and adapt, right? And that's the strength of any species is often that's just adaptability, right? What challenges are we facing? What opportunities are we facing? Oftentimes there's opportunities hidden in those challenges. So being nimble enough to see those, stay true to yourself and just grow, you know, is as that's going on.

SPEAKER_00 20:47

Well, we're so fortunate to have you as our guiding North Star for Horizon Community Foundation. Thank you for being our first, our first class guest. They can only go off some year actually. Thank you. And until next time, this is Con Good for the Commonwealth.