(Advantage Solutions CFO Chris Growe talks to Hope Ignites Cincinnati Alumna Ruva Chimusoro in 2019. Photo courtesy of Hope Ignites.)
Helping those in need has been a lifelong practice for Advantage Solutions Chief Financial Officer Chris Growe.
And for the last 40 of his 50 years, Growe has remained steadfast in his support of one organization in particular: the St. Louis-based nonprofit Hope Ignites, formerly known as Boys Hope Girls Hope, which provides educational support services to young people in need.
Beginning when he was in 4th grade, Growe stuffed envelopes for fundraising appeals and helped around the organization’s office. As a young man, he worked 10 summers as a counselor at the nonprofit’s wilderness camp in Canada. He’s tutored teens throughout the years who have gone on to enjoy successful careers.
Today, Growe serves on the national board of directors for Hope Ignites, which was founded in 1977 by the Rev. Paul Sheridan, a Jesuit priest.
For Global Volunteer Month, Growe discussed what volunteering means to him. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What does it mean to you personally to have been involved with this organization in so many different ways, for so many years?
It’s been such a fundamental element of my life. I give Father Paul a lot of credit for teaching me and others throughout the years about humility. And if you have the means to give back, you should do so — not just necessarily money, but also the ability to tutor kids or cook a meal for them on the weekends. My parents also instilled these same values in me.
This is clearly an organization that has transformed so many lives throughout the years. Has it also changed you in some way?
100% yes. It’s changed me and my family as well. It’s given us humility and perspective that we need. Rather than that those new shoes or that fancy vacation, those dollars could really help these families and these kids, and you know there’s an immediate and direct outcome of that investment. The organization has become such a fabric of my life.
Why does it matter for a company like ours to have that kind of culture of giving back?
To me, it engenders a certain humility among the people in the organization, and I hope it attracts the kind of people that you want to employ. It also brings about big questions about how a corporation should act. Not every corporation does this. But it’s not only important to drive profitability for our shareholders but also to be good corporate citizens as well.
Do you have any specific call to action that you’d like to share with our teammates for Global Volunteer Month?
I would just say that I’ve been doing this a long time, and to this day, the great benefit that I get personally from giving or spending time in this space is such an advantage to me.
We’d all be better people spending more time helping those less fortunate. To me, giving back is a necessary element of my life.
It doesn’t take long with the right organization and the right cause to see how this can really benefit you individually as much as it can help the people you’re actually trying to help on the other side.
