by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
“As a journalist, I was always focused on the making money or losing money side of business. Now I get to see the giving side of business and it’s just great,” said Karen Brune Mathis of the career transition she has chosen.
After a 30-year career as a reporter and columnist on the business beat at the Times-Union, Mathis was named executive director of Dreams Come True in November. The organization was founded in 1984 by the late Thomas McGehee, who was chairman of Mac Papers. It exists to make the lives of children diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses a little better by granting wishes based on things they always wanted to do but didn’t have the opportunity.
Mathis said when she was offered the job, it took her a while to make the decision, but she relied on her experience as a reporter.
“I didn’t know if I was ready to make the change, but the more I talked to people and the more I thought about it the more sense it made,” she said.
Having been a journalist, she was familiar with the organization and its board of directors through covering stories about Dreams Come True. That turned out to be the research that helped her make the decision to accept the job.
“I had always admired the organization because it has such a clear and focused mission. I also knew it was run extremely well, had a long, rich history in the city and everyone on the board was a person of the highest integrity,” she said.
Expecting that working for a not-for-profit organization dedicated to children would be a completely different experience than being a business journalist, Mathis was surprised to find there are so many similarities.
“It’s all about relationships and integrity,” she said. “Reporters have to be trustworthy or people won’t share information with them and it’s very similar in a not-for-profit.
“Another thing is when you’re a writer, you discover that everybody has a story. Since I’ve been at Dreams Come True, I’ve discovered that everybody has a philanthropic mission to fulfill, they just have to find it.”
The spectrum of wishes the organization works to grant is wide, from things most families take for granted to things that take the assistance of many people to achieve. Of the $1.5 million annual budget, two-thirds is designated as funds dedicated solely to funding the dreams of the children and their families.
“One of the most touching requests we get is when parents just want a family portrait,” said Mathis. “But we also arrange trips to Hawaii or New York City and we depend on in-kind donations from airlines and hotels to accomplish those.”
Mathis said she has also discovered differences between working in the corporate world and the not-for-profit sector that have to do with the more mundane day-to-day issues like office supplies, for example.
“When I was at the Times-Union, if we needed a pen or paper clips or anything like that, we just went to the cabinet and got it. Here we’re very aware of our expenses and we’re always looking for cost-cutting ideas that can allow us to devote as much of our assets as possible to our program services,” she said.
Making the transition from witnessing and reporting the events of the business community and making dreams come true for youngsters with life-threatening illnesses has given Mathis a new perspective. It has also led to some new dividends.
“It’s all about the children. They and their families give me strength,” she said. “They are strong and they are brave even though they are little kids who are going through a really bad time.
“At Dreams Come True, I can be a participant – I don’t have to be just an observer any more. And I never got any hugs when I was in the media.”