"I sometimes think that history might easily say about this nation: 'It was a great nation full of talented people with enormous energy who forgot they needed one another.'"- John W. Gardner

His freestyle was the ugliest stroke the Stanford swimming coach had ever seen. But long after the other candidates for the swim team had tired and left the pool, John Gardner was still doing laps. "I want that man on my team," the coach said.

Lucky for all of us that John Gardner – Independent Sector's founding chairman -- was on America’s team throughout more than 50 years in public life.

As head of the Carnegie Corporation and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in the 1950s, Gardner championed women’s education, the study of foreign languages, and basic research on cognition and creativity, especially among young children, not to mention pioneering the new math and the Model United Nations programs in which 90,000 U.S. students still participate each year.

Impressed by Gardner’s track record at Carnegie, President Johnson asked him to engineer many of the most significant achievements of his Administration. As Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Gardner played a pivotal role in enforcing the 1964 Civil Rights Act, launching Medicare, passing the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and creating the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Less well known are his early efforts to combat cigarette advertising and impose the first controls on automobile emissions. Another White House aide at the time, Bill Moyers, reported that "President Johnson was always looking for Gardner." He wasn’t the only one.

Last month I was privileged to join in Stanford's heartfelt celebration of the centennial of John Gardner's birth. In just a few days, IS will present the 2012 John W. Gardner Leadership Award to philanthropist and social entrepreneur Jeffrey Skoll. Like legions of others, Jeff has a story about Gardner's mentoring ways. He sought Gardner out and pointedly asked his advice on how to make the foundation he was launching truly different and effective. Gardner’s characteristic reply: "Bet on good people doing good things." 
 
Gardner credited his California childhood with a belief in infinite possibility. His optimistic outlook saw "breathtaking opportunities disguised as insoluble problems." In the wake of the 1968 riots, he led the national Urban Coalition effort to tackle the underlying causes of the violence. Two years later, he founded Common Cause as a vehicle for citizens to make their voices heard in the political process and to hold their elected leaders accountable to the public interest.

In 1978 and 1979, Gardner chaired the organizing committee that founded Independent Sector as a unique national coalition combining nonprofit organizations, foundations, and corporate philanthropies. He knew a great deal about all three and believed that we would accomplish much more by working together than apart. He served as Independent Sector's founding chairperson from 1980 to 1983.

Leadership and renewal were his passions, and they are reflected to this day in the IS strategic plan which prioritizes voice, leadership, and impact. "You have to start young," he said with regard to leadership development and he insisted on bringing all facets of the community under the same tent. As he wrote in praise of diversity, it is "not simply 'good' in that it implies breadth of tolerance and sympathy. A community of diverse elements has greater capacity to adapt and renew itself in a swiftly changing world."

Like Gardner, I believe that our differences and distinctions are a source of strength, and for all the problems and challenges we encounter along the way, our diversity makes us stronger and connects us to the world outside through family, community, shared culture, and shared values. There are new places to be set at America’s table. John Gardner, who knew so well how much we need each other, would be glad to see everyone there. 

Nominations are open for the 2013 John W. Gardner Leadership Award. The award was established in 1985 to honor outstanding Americans who exemplify the leadership and the ideals of John W. Gardner (1912-2002), American statesman and founding chair of Independent Sector. The John W. Gardner Leadership Award recognizes living Americans working in or with the nonprofit community whose leadership has been transformative and who have mobilized and unified people, institutions, or causes that improve people’s lives. The award honors visionaries who have empowered constituencies, strengthened participation, and inspired movements. Award recipients are builders, people who, quite apart from personal achievements, have raised the capacity of others to advance the common good.