In this episode of You Can’t Take it With You, join Jim Dunlop and Jon Brideau, President and CEO of World T.E.A.M., as they explore the profound impact of generosity and volunteerism in adaptive athletics. They discuss Jon’s journey in fostering an inclusive community, the heartwarming stories of change and connection at World T.E.A.M. events, and how these experiences reshape perspectives and strengthen community bonds.
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Jon Brideau is the President and CEO of World T.E.A.M., a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering and engaging individuals through inclusive athletic programs that bring adaptive and able-bodied athletes together. His journey with World T.E.A.M. began in 2015 as a team member during the Face of America event with Capital One. His continued participation in various programs, including the inaugural 2017 Face of America Liberty ride and the 2017 Adventure Team Challenge Colorado, eventually led to his leadership role within the organization. Before this, Jon spent seven years at Best Buddies International, culminating in his position as the Senior Director of the Best Buddies Challenge, where he led his team in fundraising over $10 million annually. His career also includes a significant stint at Nike, where his involvement in the Best Buddies jobs program was marked by hiring and mentoring an autistic employee.
Jim and Jon will discuss:
- What the Face of America event means for World T.E.A.M.
- Jon’s journey to becoming the President and CEO of World T.E.A.M.
- What happens during the annual Face of America bike ride?
- Fundraising stories of generosity and selflessness
- The importance of recognizing the unseen efforts of people
- What motivates people to support and donate?
- The value of empowering and motivating volunteers
Episode Summary:
What transforms an act of giving in adaptive sports into a powerful agent of change? How does this form of volunteerism impact the giver, the receiver, and the broader community?
Jon Brideau, drawing from his rich experiences in adaptive athletics, highlights that the true essence of giving in this domain goes beyond mere participation. It’s about creating an environment where everyone, regardless of ability, feels valued and empowered. He recounts instances where volunteers, through simple acts of support and kindness, not only helped athletes overcome physical challenges but also fostered a sense of belonging and achievement. This, Jon notes, is the real power of volunteerism: it builds confidence and breaks down barriers, not just for the athletes but for everyone involved, knitting a stronger, more inclusive community fabric.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- Jim Dunlop on LinkedIn
- Advent Partners
- Jon Brideau on LinkedIn
- World T.E.A.M.
- Face of America
- Best Buddies International
- Van Brinson on LinkedIn
Sponsor for this episode:
This episode is brought to you by Advent Partners — a financial planning partner dedicated to helping you make informed decisions that simplify your financial journey.
Our seasoned team of professionals is committed to guiding you toward your financial goals. We offer tailored solutions based on your specific needs, from standalone financial planning to integrated financial management.
Whether you are planning for the future, investing for growth, or navigating financial hurdles, Advent Partners is here to provide insights, recommendations, and a clear financial roadmap.
To learn more about Advent Partners and how we can guide your financial success, visit AdventPartnersFP.com.
Episode Transcript:
Intro 0:00
Welcome to the You Can’t Take it With You show where we feature stories around generosity designed to inspire and encourage others to do meaningful things in their communities. Now, here’s your host, Jim Dunlop.
Jim Dunlop 0:17
Hi, it’s Jim Dunlop here, a wealth advisor and host of this show where I sit down with people who get it when it comes to generosity. I’m excited to have guests who can give us stories on generosity to not only inspire listeners, but to give practical ideas on ways we can give. Today’s guest is Jon Brideau. But before we get to Jon, I want to share that this episode is brought to you by Advent Partners, get ready for good. Advent is a financial planning team dedicated to helping you make informed decisions that simplify your financial journey. Advent’s seasoned team of professionals is committed to guiding you toward your financial goals. We offer tailored solutions based on your specific needs. From standalone financial planning to integrated financial management, we help our clients get ready for good whether you are planning for the future, investing for growth or navigating financial hurdles. Advent Partners is here to provide insights, recommendations and a clear financial roadmap to learn more about Advent Partners and how we can guide your financial success, visit readyforgood.com. So I’ve had the privilege of knowing Jon for the past seven years. I met him while riding my bike in the Face of America Bike Ride from Washington, DC to my hometown of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Jon’s role gives him a front row to some incredible stories of generosity. So here’s a little bit about him. Jon Brideau is the president and CEO of World T.E.A.M. Sports, a 501 C3 nonprofit serving adaptive athletes through inclusive outdoor athletic programs. He has worked in the nonprofit sector since 2010, for two different organizations, he lives on the north shore of Boston, and with his wife and three young children where he was born and raised. So Jon, welcome. Glad you could be here. And I, you know, we’ll talk a little bit today about World T.E.A.M. Sports. But I think probably a great place to get started would be talking about the Face of America, this is how you and I first met a number of years ago and what that event means to your organization.
Jon Brideau 2:16
Sure. So I started out as a writer. You know, 2015 was my first year as a guest writer on Team Capital One through one of our board members, John Bhullar. And I had been working in the nonprofit space for another organization called Best Buddies and had done work in DC and riding my bike all around the country doing development in for their organization and sort of was elected as a good candidate to come help out and fundraise at Face of America and I did the ride I’ll tell you the first hour I was on the ride I was I was sort of blown away and how crazy chaotic the start was, but also blown away that it was the most unique bike ride I’d ever been on. And I’ve been on hundreds of charity rides and rode my bike from here to California and everywhere in between. And it was just such a unique space and also hit home for me with the work with the veteran adaptive athletes. I have veterans in my family and my best friend and there was just that pull for me to give back in some way. Whether it be on the bike or financially, what have you. So after three years of riding, I got to know the Board of Directors a little bit more and it created some relationships and just had a unique opportunity over the summer in 2017. To attend some board meetings and start to consider the idea of joining World T.E.A.M. full time as an employee and I took over as president and CEO. In the fall 2017. Van Brinson, my predecessor, great individual, former Major in the Marines had flown President Bush, you know, over a decade ago, but he and I formed a relationship and helped transition. So what I currently do now, so it’s been a fun journey, but starting with Face of America, and Face of America really is the most important event we’ve put on in the last 20 years. It’s transitioned the organization from just doing small, really impactful events for people with various disabilities all over the world and certainly domestically or the United States, but to focus on individuals that have served overseas, especially after 9/11 and it’s now become the you know, the single biggest fundraiser for us but also the largest program we’ve ever put on.
Jim Dunlop 4:50
So if somebody, since this is just a podcast, give somebody a visual when we see Face of America, what would that look like to somebody who had never heard of it. Particularly if you get stuck in a traffic jam, really.
Jon Brideau 5:03
Imagine you pull up to a stoplight in Arlington or anywhere on the way between the Pentagon and Gettysburg. And see anywhere from 400 to 600 riders, riding mostly together as a group with various abilities and people using different devices from a standard upright road bike to a recumbent. Which for those who don’t know, that’s kind of when you’re sitting down in a chair and pedaling while you’re seated, laying back. And then hand cyclists who are pedaling the entire 107 mile on hands, arms any way they can, sometimes we have people with just one limb, that are pedaling, and all those riders are working together to push each other up and over the hills through a really tough stretches over two days in 110 Miles about so it’s a chaotic scene. But it’s often patriotic and very inspiring. You know, we kind of coined it a few years ago as America’s most inspiring bike ride. And I stand by that, and I’m not sure you can visually find or emotionally find a better inspiration.
Jim Dunlop 6:20
Yeah, it’s, you know, I’ve, I’ve been able to be a part of it not quite as long as you, but it is pretty cool. When you get right down to it, what’s happening. And if you’re a cyclist, it’s something you should put on your to-do list to ride, particularly to help support other athletes that might need a little extra help making the 110 miles because maybe they don’t have both arms and both legs, like you and I do. So World T.E.A.M sports is the nonprofit that runs Face of America and does other things. Tell me a little bit about you. You’ve been in the nonprofit world for quite a while. It sounds like this is something that is part of your life’s work in calling. Tell me how you ended up in this work. I heard you say that you had been part of Best Buddies and tell me what your path and journey looked like to get to where you are.
Jon Brideau 7:21
Yeah, and I’ll give you a little background. You know, I was born in the North Shore, small town called Manchester by the Sea, it’s got a movie named after it now, an emotional movie if you haven’t seen it, just be prepared. But it’s a small little ocean town. And you know, I grew up under great parents. My father was a recruiter in the tech industry but spent a lot of his time in the church and doing anything he could for the community. I was sort of introduced to the idea of giving back with his work with the open-door pantry up in Gloucester, which set homeless people throughout the week, and you’d set up several dinners there for the church, in which they would cook up a storm and have volunteers come over and help hand out that food. And I sort of always watched him in awe as he did anything he could to put a smile on someone’s face. My mother on the other side was a nurse her entire life working ER at Mass General right in Boston and also a school nurse in between. And so both of them were sort of always in service of others. And I didn’t really, I didn’t touch on that or see any guidance for my own life. Probably until after college. You know, I almost took a career as a professional fisherman. I grew up in a fishing town and I was working on lobster boats in high school. And I was like, man, this is going to be awesome, going to buy my own boat. This is going to be great. And my parents convinced me to look at school. And I got into Northeastern University and, and studied marketing and management. And I guess my vision was always to be this sales guy, a marketing executive. I wanted to work for the NBA or the NFL, big into sports and I just always thought of this massive branding experience. And somehow, I found my way working at Nike, which is as good as it could get for a college kid looking for that fortune 500 company in a cool job. I met athletes and I traveled with them a little bit. Got to wear, you know, the coolest sports gear this world has seen right and it’s a massive brand. And after I sort of transitioned you know, out of college, and was working for Nike, I started to work with the Best Buddies program, their job program. We had hired someone at the Nike location in Boston, with Asperger’s, and for anyone that doesn’t understand that it’s on the autism spectrum, although it’s sort of its own thing. Now, but he had a, you know intellectual developmental disability and was part of a job placement program with Best Buddies. And so he worked with us part time, his name is Richard Sturdevant. And I sort of, you know, really took a liking to the idea of him changing our workplace, which he did, you know, we have a lot of young people. And he changed their understanding of someone with an intellectual disability that was trying to find employment and, and live a great life and give back the, you know, the workforce and provide for himself. And that had a pretty big impact on me for many different reasons, and we can go on to that a little later. But as I found my way out of Nike after 2008, I was sort of looking for a different career path. My career counselor, at Northeastern, and I went back for a free session, as they say, post-graduation. And she said, “Well, you know, you seem to do a lot of work with Best Buddies.” And I was volunteering and leading the South End T-ball League, which is Boston’s largest Little League program, and I really just ended up getting involved in the community. She said, “You should consider calling one of those organizations.” And I was like, “Okay,” well, I spent the rest of the summer fishing and sort of recalibrating my career expectations. And I actually got a call from Best Buddies randomly. I took the call, I said that I was not necessarily running to get a job anytime soon, but I was keeping my options open. And by the end of the summer, you know, took an interview and Best Buddies hired me to be a fundraising associate for their Best Buddies Challenge, which is 100 mile ride from the Boston down on the Cape, big ride back in the day when he was at the Patriots and I had done the ride several times and was very passionate about it, they had gotten to know me through, you know, the job program and doing that bike ride. I was sort of becoming a cyclist but wasn’t quite there as like a full-on endurance load. I still was kind of a mountain biker and hadn’t committed. But um, you know, I kind of fell in love with the idea of working with an organization that I loved and a mission that I support. But also, I found, and this is rare, because I would say most people say they would drop anything to go work for a nonprofit because they would give them all this passion. Well, it’s really hard, and you are motivated to advance your career. Otherwise, you need to sort of accept that it’s going to be potentially low pay opportunities, but you’re doing good work. Well, the fundraising part of it kind of scratched an itch that I had within myself for competing and being an insurance sales representative for an organization. I found great joy in competing with myself to see how many calls I could make that day, how much money I could raise, and whether I could find a new sponsor. And within months, I sort of became the guy in the office that was landing $10,000, sponsorships and $25,000 Foundation gifts just by doing my thing on the phone and going out to meetings. And, you know, my boss at the time was really awesome. He encouraged me, but sort of let me fly and do it my own way. And towards the end of the year, I said to myself, “I’ll do it for one year,” and he said, “Well you can’t leave now.” I created my own job that year with my own title. And they sort of fed me enough over the next several years. I stayed with them for seven years. We fundraised record breaking numbers, you know, sort of at the peak of Tom Brady’s legacy and fandom, utilized that and did a lot of photos and a lot of signed autographs stuff with him, a lot of appearances. And I kind of hit my stride with a lot of success there. So it took a little bit of hometown and upbringing. I guess you’d say focus on generosity, and giving back to others and be involved with the mission, but also finding the way that it would work for me professionally. That got me to World T.E.A.M., you know.
Jim Dunlop 14:34
So Jon, you’ve had a front row seat to people being generous, both with their money but also with their time, their energy with a couple different organizations, any stories that have inspired you or kind of get you, you know, that really hit for you where somebody’s in, even if it’s not a significant amount, but it was significant, a gesture For them, do you have any experiences like that? Either with World T.E.A.M. Sports in particular, or also with some of these previous organizations who you’ve been a part of?
Jon Brideau 15:09
Yeah, I mean, I think at World T.E.A.M., it’s such a unique mission, because we’re doing the mission while, we’re hosting events, you know, right, their organization, we’re raising a lot of money to give back to their programs. And I, of course, are allowed there, I think, you know, Best Buddies, to watch the jobs program and to see behind the scenes of great generosity happening on an everyday scale at the workplace, when you’re not really getting recognition for it. fantastic. And I think that’s, my underlying thing has always been about being generous when no one’s looking. And when there is no recognition, when there is no camera that’s really being generous. It’s easy when the cameras are rolling. And it’s easy when you’re going to get a plaque for it. But I think that’s always kind of resonated with me, and especially with the younger programs, the Best Buddies, a lot of that awesome stuff happen in our friendship program with schools where it’s really tough and kids were doing things that probably weren’t necessarily cool. Like to be nice to someone with intellectual disability, at least, we grew up, right, a little different scene. With World T.E.A.M., you know, like I said, we’re doing it at the event. And there’s just so many examples of watching someone go out of their way and finding kind of an uncomfortable position for themselves in doing something extremely generous. I’ll give you a quick example, my first event that I did, outside of Face America World T.E.A.M, had already sort of agreed to take the job, but it wasn’t quite optimized yet. And I flew to Colorado, to do the Adventure Team Challenge. Bench, a race, over two days, teams of five with two disabled athletes on each team in the very rugged terrain, with very little resources given to them to go over a very hard course. whitewater rafting and hiking. And one of our athletes who was on my team was a Paralympian. She’s extremely strong, just so gifted. The first day, she had to relieve herself, and that was a bit more of a process than I had imagined, though she had paralysis and had no feeling underneath her, you know, abdomen area. So she needed help with that. And luckily, there was a gentleman who had known her for quite some time, sort of knew the process and helped her get out of the mountain bike off road handcycle in the middle of nowhere, to help her with that and he didn’t flinch. He didn’t for once question that he was going to be the one to stand up and help. And for me, it was just sort of that like no one was looking. No one was recording. No one gave him an award after that for putting himself in an uncomfortable situation for a lot of people. But he did it with grace. And really just didn’t even think about it. And I think that happens at World T.E.A.M. all the time at our events, people, they go out of their way. Yeah, you know, the cameras rolling, or someone takes your photo while you’re pushing someone on a bike, it is very inspiring. But there’s also a lot of work behind the scenes, you see the marshals of people who would then take them out to dinner when no one else asked them if they weren’t there on Saturday night, which is what a lot of the teams do. Or once you come back and ride with us in my wife’s car, and I love to get to know you a little bit more. Those little instances are so amazing, because they do more than just what’s on camera and physically can be seen. It creates a relationship with that person. And it goes beyond the call of duty of just helping them do a challenge. And I think that’s where the beauty in our mission lies is the relationships that happen that get nurtured naturally.
Jim Dunlop 19:06
So, yeah, I mean, I and I think you’re probably familiar with the story, maybe not last year’s ride to Gettysburg. We had a team that was one of the corporate teams. They were really strong riders, they’re up at the front pushing harder than anybody wanted them to push because again, it’s a ride, not a race. And one of our fellow marshals and a ride physician had pulled the leader of that team aside said we have a rider that keeps falling back off the back of the ride not keeping up. Would you guys be willing to support her? And we never saw that rider again because this team took on that mission of making sure she got all the way to Gettysburg and supported her the whole way, and it was just really cool how able to refocus that tremendous energy they had around somebody, and there’s always, every year stories like that, that come out. And it’s really exciting.
Jon Brideau 20:08
That’s kind of my entry to it. You know, Capital One, when I came, I was probably the strongest rider on the team. I mean, I was 5, 10,000 miles a year on my bike and weighed about 20 pounds less than I do now. And I came in, I thought I was going to do all this stuff. And right at the front, and the captain pulled me aside and said, “Your only job is to go to the back and find the person who is not being helped by everyone else. And you got to you should probably look out for the person that doesn’t have the most glaring disability, because those are the people that often in our ride kind of fall through the cracks.” You know, when there’s an Army veteran that’s missing a limb, or in a recumbent, or, you know, people gravitate, because they’re like, “Oh, I gotta help this person out.” But there might be someone who’s riding on a team that, you know, it’s their second time on the bike, and they don’t have a disability, they just really having a hard time with the climbs, that, for me was like, my experience the same type of thing of, “oh, I probably am needed back here.” And you’re right. I mean, last year, there were so many examples of that, “oh, then there are other people that need some help, too.” And that’s the type of stuff that really makes the mission, you know, amazing is when people do things that are not always relevant, and then they have to be sort of guided to that. And then amazing things happen, those relationships really cultivate.
Jim Dunlop 21:37
So you know, one of the things is you run a large charitable organization that, by the way, I don’t think I’ve ever shared this, but I recruited a friend a couple of years ago to get involved with it. And one of the first things he did was go and look up World T.E.A.M. Sports and came back and said, “Wow, these guys are really efficient. They utilize their money very well, there’s not a lot of waste in this organization.” I said, “Well, once you get to know them, you’ll see, that’s pretty clear.” And so he was just really impressed even before he got involved, just the way you guys were doing it. And so to run an organization like this, you rely completely, I shouldn’t say completely, but significantly on the generosity of so many individuals and companies. Tell me, Jon, are there some ideas or things that you have found that really motivated people to support? Whether they’re beyond the public recognition that sometimes comes with those that support? What things that you find drive people, or have brought people to be generous with your organization in your time there as leader?
Jon Brideau 22:42
Yeah, so I think, you know, we recognize so many people at our events for the donations and top fundraising. And there’s people who do 10s of 1000s of dollars. And that’s great. And we honestly couldn’t do it without those people. But then, like you said, we’ll have a staff of four full timers, and the rest are consultants or volunteers. And I’ve had such a strong history of people who dedicate so much time and effort. And what I always try to do is, you know, it’s, this is difficult, I say this with the utmost respect of all of our volunteers. Everyone wants to be in charge. With something particular with a nonprofit or something you’re passionate about. It’s a natural drive for people to want to own something. And for me, I’m constantly balancing, giving people enough responsibility that they feel like they can own it and take ownership of it. And that means you’ll love it when times are good and bad. When it’s pouring rain on Saturday night, and everyone’s at the warm cozy dinner, and have a warm plate in front of them in a cold beer. That person might be outside in the pouring rain in a parking lot stacking boxes in a truck for the next day, getting two hours of sleep and going right back at it right. You have to, you know, sort of motivate people to love it even when it’s tough. And so I try to give responsibility to people so that they feel empowered, but also support them when times are really tough, and that the organization is never going to just take their efforts for granted. So when I can I try to love people as much as I can. And I try to have my athletes and my staff, and my board and my other volunteers recognize that, and we try to do as many little touch points as possible. But, you know, for people getting involved with their organization, I think the best thing you could do is jump all in. You know, it’s, it’s, we get a lot of people who sign up to become a volunteer and say, “I’m available from 10 – 12 on Saturday, not before, not after.” Well, I thought if you volunteer, you’re giving us a time slot that you may be available. We’re gonna say to someone, what can I do for you no strings attached? When do you need me, and you jump all in, whether it’s raining, or sunny, whether it’s at 4 am at a crosswalk, you know, you need to shut down an intersection or something and set up a rest stop. Or it’s, you know, right in the middle of the day when the sun is shining, that’s where you get the best out of people. So I try to actually look for people who are willing to do that, and then motivate them and love them, and make them feel part of our organizations as much as possible.
Jim Dunlop 25:32
Very good. So Jon, I, I, I really appreciate you taking the time to share. With this podcast we are looking to motivate people and give them ideas of practical ways that they can give back…any last thoughts or stories that have that may be inspiring from your work where people have given generously either their time or money in ways beyond what we’ve discussed, that, you know, left you awestruck or inspired yourself?
Jon Brideau 26:08
Um, I’m trying to think if there’s one particular story, I will say that, you know, we all sort of need that. That support system, I have a lot of great mentors, I have some people that I’ve looked up to in my career, over the years that have sort of guided me, even when I wasn’t quite sure what I want to do. And in this line of work, I think what you find is creating relationships with someone who may not seem like they need it. You know, I’ll tell you. Years ago, when I first came to World T.E.A.M., I was trying to find an adaptive athlete to help out because the whole ride was getting stretched out. And it came upon a guy that was chugging along, and a recumbent, had a push pull. And we started to go and we’re getting to know each other, and he was telling me a story as a veteran and knew I had some injuries and some new problems. And I asked him if he wanted to fast. He was like, “Yeah,” and I was like, “cool, because I’m like a thoroughbred that needs to stretch it out a little bit. And it looks like we have like a mile or two to catch up to the front of the pack. So let’s go,” we cackled the whole way going. We’re steaming, you know, 20 miles plus, I was full, open, just absolutely going at it. And at the end of the ride, we became friends. And over the years, he’s become a significant athlete for us, Carlos, who you may know, absolutely. Probably one of the strongest athletes we have. He’s had knee surgeries. But during the pandemic, you know, he got really involved with our Swift and Zoom series because a lot of people…
Jim Dunlop 27:51
I follow Carlos on Strava.
Jon Brideau 27:55
He’s been riding his bike all day. And I guess the reason why I’m going with this is, you know, my, I thought I was helping on the bike that day, and maybe he thought he was giving me a way to, to feel the mission. But over the years, I’ve gotten to know him. And he’s always, you know, stayed close in touch with me, and we ride together and swift and zoom, although not much. These last few months, as I’m crazy kaduk, he’s given me back more of an understanding of just creating relationships with a good person and not necessarily focusing on all the bells and whistles of our events. And he’s always come back. He’s always been very loyal to us. And he thanked me in every way. He’s come to multiple events. And I guess I say that because there was never a massive spotlight on him and I’s relationship. You know, we’ve shared his story before, but he’s given me back more than I’ve ever given him. And he’s given our organization more than we’ve ever offered him. Yes, he’s come to our events, and we’ve supported him, but like, he has now become a huge leader for us. So I guess my story is like, you often think you’re gonna give back more than you’re ever imagining and so just step into it. Yeah. You’d be surprised at what happens.
Jim Dunlop 29:17
That’s awesome. So I like that. I like that. That’s a good place to wrap up is just step into it. And you don’t know how you’re going to be inspired. So really? Yeah, Jon, we really appreciate the time today. We’re glad Jon was with us and shared, you can find Jon Brideau at worldteamsports.org. You can also find Jon on LinkedIn, if you want to learn more about him and his work and the people that he inspires. So, Jon, thank you for joining us.
Jon Brideau 29:51
Jim, thank you so much, and we’ll look forward to seeing you soon in April.
Jim Dunlop 29:56
I’m absolutely looking forward to it.
Outro 29:59
Thanks for joining us to hear stories of generosity that remind us that you can’t take it with you. Visit our site at canttakeitwithyou.com for more details on today’s episode, and to subscribe to future shows.
Disclosure 30:19
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