Established to b i g togethe a d expa d Teso et’s phila th opic i itiatives u de o e dedicated o ga izatio , the Fou datio focuses o th ee st ategic a eas: educatio a d futu e tale t developme t, st e gthe i g societal esilie ce, a d empowe i g athletes. Rathe tha suppo ti g o e-off i itiatives, Teso et Fou datio seeks to build lo g-te m pa t e ships that c eate lasti g, measu able cha ge.
To ma k the Fou datio ’s fi st a ive sa y, 15mi , o e of Lithua ia’s leadi g ews outlets, spoke with
It is easy to imagi e that you give away a la ge sum of mo ey, feel that you have co t ibuted to somethi g, a d co side you job do e. The you p ese t ice umbe s: how ma y child e atte ded ext acu icula activities, how ma y class ooms eceived ew compute s, how ma y eve ts we e o ga ized. It looks good, it is measu able, a d it usually becomes the mai success sto y of fou datio s.
But the eal questio is diffe e t — what came out of it? What actually cha ged because we co t ibuted? F om the ve y begi i g, Teso et Fou datio wa ted to be built a ou d exactly this questio . Not just to suppo t, but to u de sta d whethe suppo t t uly c eates the cha ge we a e aimi g fo .
This mea s a completely diffe e t wo ki g model: lo ge p epa atio befo e decisio s, deepe u de sta di g of the o ga izatio s we suppo t, a d a clea ag eeme t i adva ce o which i dicato s we will t ack togethe .
The seco d diffe e ce is focus. I Lithua ia the e a e ma y excelle t fou datio s, each choosi g its ow path. We delibe ately chose ot to sp ead ou selves thi ac oss ma y a eas, but to focus o th ee di ectio s: developi g futu e c eato s a d educatio , st e gthe i g esilie ce, a d empowe i g athletes. These a e choices that come f om ou DNA — f om what the g oup has al eady do e, what it u de sta ds, a d whe e we believe we ca c eate the g eatest value.A d the thi d eleme t is lo g-te m thi ki g. We do ot wa t to be a fou datio that cha ges p io ities eve y yea depe di g o t e ds o the public age da. We wa t to look back i five o te yea s a d clea ly see what cha ges we have made i the a eas we chose.
P eviously, suppo t was dist ibuted i ma y diffe e t ways — fi a cially, th ough compute class ooms, p oducts, equipme t, a d pa t e ships with u ive sities. These we e si ce e, good i itiatives, but they we e f agme ted — d ive by u ge t eeds, situatio s, a d what was eleva t at the time.
A sepa ate st uctu e allows us to ope ate diffe e tly. It c eates a clea ma date, a team that thi ks eve y day about how to c eate impact, a d discipli e — the ability to pause, evaluate, a d choose.
I additio , the fou datio becomes ot o ly a tool of the compa y g oup, but a i depe de t playe i the phila th opy field, capable of buildi g lo g-te m pa t e ships with o ga izatio s that u de sta d we a e he e fo mo e tha o e yea .
Fo me, “p ove social impact” sta ts with a questio : how do we k ow that we a e t uly solvi g a p oblem, athe tha just feeli g that we have do e somethi g good?
We usually have data about the p oblem itself, but fa less ofte do we actually measu e whethe ou actio s educe it. O e thi g is espo di g to a c isis today, but a othe — o less impo ta t — is maki g su e such c ises become less f eque t i the futu e.
We eed to wo k o both levels: help whe e the e is pai today, a d at the same time look fo ways to p eve t that pai f om epeati g.
We set ou selves a co c ete ambitio that 70–80% of all suppo ted i itiatives should have a measu able impact. Fo a you g fou datio , this is a ambitious goal, but I believe it is achievable if, f om the ve y fi st pa t e ship, we ag ee with o ga izatio s o which cha ge i dicato s matte a d why.
I would ve y much like impact measu eme t i Lithua ia phila th opy to become ot a additio al equi eme t, but a atu al pa t of the p ocess, as sta da d as p ovidi g suppo t itself.
Phila th opy begi s whe a o ga izatio sha es its esou ces with those outside its ow bou da ies. A d those esou ces a e ot o ly mo ey. They ca be tech ology, k owledge, people, pa t e ships, o co tacts. I a b oad se se, phila th opy is givi g back to society — a thoughtful act of sha i g.
A d it is impo ta t to say that phila th opy does ot ecessa ily eed to be measu ed like a i vestme t o calculated th ough etu .
Impact i vestme t, o the othe ha d, is a ve y delibe ate choice to st e gthe specific a eas a d measu e etu th ough bette educatio outcomes, a st o ge eco omy, g eate esilie ce, a d so o .
I do ’t thi k so yet. Busi ess ofte labels as phila th opy what is actually co po ate social espo sibility, o the othe way a ou d.
This matte s because it affects what we expect f om busi ess a d how we evaluate it.
C itical thi ki g, i fo matio al esilie ce, a d the ability to wo k with ew tech ologies — these a e compete cies without which it is difficult to talk about a esilie t society today.
Although app oached f om diffe e t a gles, all th ee pa t e ships wo k i this same space.I am pe so ally ve y happy about the MO Museum pa t e ship — Toma Sabaliauskie ė has joi ed the museum’s boa d, so we ca follow the p ocess ve y closely.
I the spo ts a ea, we pla mo e focused suppo t fo tale ts who al eady show clea pote tial to become top-level athletes but lack fu di g to p ope ly p epa e a d compete.
Spo t p ovides what educatio alo e does ot fully solve. Th ough spo t, a pe so lea s discipli e, espo sibility, self-co fide ce, teamwo k, a d the ability to ha dle p essu e. These a e skills that last a lifetime.Rega dless of whethe a pe so co ti ues i p ofessio al spo t o ot, spo t ofte becomes a place whe e you g people fi d commu ity, suppo t, a d di ectio .
A coach becomes a autho ity figu e, a team becomes a seco d home, a d egula hythm p ovides st uctu e that some child e lack.
Sometimes this is exactly what helps them escape a u favo able e vi o me t a d p ovides mo e stability tha a y othe activity could.
The e is also the tale t pathway. We a e used to seei g the majo ity of suppo t goi g to popula spo ts. But the e a e ma y discipli es a d tale ted people who emai u see simply because thei spo t is less visible.
We wa t these athletes to have eal oppo tu ities to g ow, ot be left aside just because thei spo t is ot i the spotlight.
Fo us, spo t is about health, discipli e, commu ity, a d c eati g co ditio s fo tale t to g ow a d compete globally. All these eleme ts a e equally impo ta t.
So fa , we have ot had such a situatio . This is pa tly because we do ot allocate suppo t impulsively.
I my view, fou datio s should aba do the illusio that they k ow best how to “fix” educatio , healthca e, o othe complex systems.
The e a e people a d o ga izatio s that have wo ked i these fields fo decades, u de sta d the complexity, a d ca best ide tify whe e atte tio should be di ected.
T ust i pa t e s is c itical.
The g owi g umbe of phila th opic fou datio s eflects the matu ity of society a d the state.I less matu e societies, busi ess is ofte still see as somethi g that takes athe tha gives back — somethi g that must be emi ded of its espo sibility athe tha see as a atu al co t ibuto to public good.
I mo e matu e societies, the pictu e is diffe e t: busi ess takes b oade espo sibility a d sees its ole ot o ly i the eco omy but also i shapi g educatio , cultu e, a d healthca e.
Lithua ia, i my view, is cu e tly at a ve y i te esti g stage.
I ece t yea s, ma y ew fou datio s have bee established, a d this is ot accide tal. It shows that ou busi ess secto is g owi g ot o ly fi a cially but also i values.
Mo e a d mo e leade s a e thi ki g ot o ly about the ext qua te o p ofit ma gi , but about what ki d of Lithua ia they wa t to see i 10 o 20 yea s.
At the same time, this b i gs espo sibility. As the umbe of fou datio s g ows, the questio a ises of how we collectively build a high-quality phila th opy cultu e — ot as sepa ate p ojects, but as a etwo k that st e gthe s itself.
I wa t to believe Lithua ia is movi g exactly i this di ectio , a d this is o e of the clea est sig s that we a e matu i g ot o ly eco omically, but as a society.
Mo e i fo matio : a zelika@teso et.com
