What you’ll hear on this episode:

• How Christy paved a path from commercial film production to nonprofit work “one stone at a time”
• Creating partnerships is more efficient and impactful than championing individual work 
• How to create personal impact while fostering large scale connection

Although Christy Pipkin has always been passionate about social justice, the native Austinite began her career in film production, where projects with Willie Nelson and Matthew McConaughey appear on her resumé alongside commercials and awards shows. But after a battle with cancer and an epiphany involving a mime and a shellacked meatball (listen to the full episode for those details!), Christy walked off set with the realization that she craved more fulfilling work.

Cut to a few years (and many small actions and big connections) later, and Christy is the Executive Director of The Nobelity Project, a nonprofit organization that she co-founded with her husband Turk Pipkin (listen to our conversation with Turk here). The Nobelity Project fosters educational and environmental progress in East Africa, Latin America, and Central Texas through community engagement and documentary filmmaking.

Christy’s work on a documentary about Nobel Laureates brought her and Turk to Kenya, where Christy says she “fell off the truck” in the small town of Mahiga and fell in love with the community. She was inspired by their incredible will to create a better future despite their limited resources.

Initially Christy and Turk were in Mahiga to plant trees on school grounds, but the trees were dying due to a lack of water. The Pipkins saw that they could help by increasing the school’s access to water. Access to water led to access to electricity, which led to access to computers, and eventually produced a graduating class of eighth graders who needed a high school to attend. In this way, one small action at a time, The Nobelity Project and its work to build school facilities and increase access to educational resources was created.

Today, the organization’s work has impacted countless children across the globe, but The Nobelity Project’s origins represent Christy’s personal philosophy: that anyone with big goals should start by taking the next small, indicated action. “We did not set ourselves up to work at the large scale, we simply took the next step. The next step is always there,” she explains, promising that the accumulation of these small actions leads to significant change.

Paving a path ahead “one stone at a time”, Christy’s work is supported and motivated by her sense of community. She attributes much of their success to their cooperation with the Kenyan government and other entities, rather than trying to champion her organization’s individual contributions. “We don’t exactly do charity work, we create partnerships,” Christy explains, emphasizing that The Nobelity Project is about bridging the gaps in the infrastructure of a very driven community. She also sees the footprints of her work as a guide for generations to follow and improve upon.

The Nobelity Project creates connections within communities but also between them. Returning to her roots, Pipkin uses the power of filmmaking to transform The Nobelity Project’s personal impact on students abroad into a universal effect.

Through screenings of their documentary “Building Hope”, The Nobelity Project connects local Austin middle schoolers with middle schoolers in Kenya to foster their sense of global community. Recently, The Nobelity Project has made short films about animal migration and conservation and encourages young local filmmakers to share in their passion for socially aware documentaries with a “Social Impact Award” through the UIL.

Listen to the full episode to hear Christy Pipkin’s uplifting story, learn more about how The Nobelity Project is having an impact and forging connections all over the globe, and discover ways you can get involved in Austin – and beyond.

Like and subscribe to make sure you don’t miss the next inspiring conversation in our “Masters and Founders” series, and check out other stories about entrepreneurs like Christy Pipkin here!

Masters and Founders is a founding_media podcast created in collaboration with foundingAustin.

Hosts: Dan Dillard & Ryan Francis

Guest: Christy Pipkin

Watch The Nobelity Project’s short films and trailers on Youtube and follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Transcript:

welcome back to the masters and founders podcast our guest this week is someone who took a skill that they had mastered in filmmaking to do more good in the world Christy Pipkin is the executive director of the nobelity project as the director she creates motivating documentaries and short films as well as overseeing educational outreach in the US and abroad. she believes that by improving conditions in one community you improve the state of the global community. she’s had a fascinating path to get to her current place so let’s jump in and hear how she hopes to change the world one step at a time

hello everyone and thank you for joining us on our podcasts masters and founders brought to by founding Austin. very thankful to be doing this I want to give a little shout out to our sponsors right here on my video thank you Waterloo’s sparkling water still Austin whiskey tiny house coffee kind bar and of course the Russell collection fine art gallery thank you for having us here

today we have Christy Pipkin. this morning we interviewed Turk and made a great morning a fascinating story – that really was a fascinating story – congratulations on that when that was a that was a good good call on your part. we want to talk about the nobelity project and what all that entails and I really like to jump right in and not hold anything back so go ahead and tell us about the story how it all started what you guys are trying to accomplish and where you think it’s going to go in the future

thanks thanks I’m delighted to be here and delighted to be anywhere these days. the skies blues spring has sprung in Austin Texas and gratitude goes a long way.

the nobelity project was founded as on a film making entity and Turk may have talked about this we started our our effort with the conversation with nine Nobel laureates and that’s where the name comes from. but in that effort we found an opportunity to make a difference. on the ground level we were talking to them about challenging issues that face the world so we decided to take on a couple. when we went to Kenya with one Garey the time we met and sort of fell in love with a certain community there and we agreed to a very small project – simple electricity and clean water – that has now blossomed into about thirty five school locations with about fifteen thousand students impacted every year. wow. so small ideas grown too big to big impact

That’s awesome. so I you love to just take you back to before this have you started any other non profits or is this is not with us no and if we knew then what we know no I hear from people often I’m going to start a nonprofit bang my head on the table. nonprofit work is challenging always financially that’s a given but there’s also a tendency to to think and in some cases it’s true that your idea is absolutely unique when there is often a network of support and people doing similar work which you could work with for or combine and so what we have found is those new partners make our work more effective.

when we started again we were filmmakers and so we had a unique story to tell we continue to tell from based stories we still do and those come from a filter of our in our perspective they’re very personal. but we try to address universal topics, so that said – now that we’re in the sort of this universe of nonprofit work – particularly educational nonprofit work like we do – we are trying to find now we’re trying to find a unique stories of the people we impact so we can tell those stories on film and in our outreach. we really fell off the truck in this old town called Mehiga in Kenya and it was undeniable, the desire and the will of those parents and those community members to provide an education for their children. I often say can use a country of great will but very limited way and so the US has an abundance of way and so we connected those two and people who were so generous here and communities that are so ready to use what support they can they can gather not just from international contributors but from local providers too, to make things happen so that’s the story.

So prior to that film project is that something that you have a background in film or is that okay yes title jerk as a writer I was a long time producer mostly commercials on television, short film work. we lived in LA for years and then I got an opportunity to go to work for Willie Nelson and we came home and – I’m a native Austinite so the idea of getting to come back to Austin from LA was who was up too good an offer and you get to go to work for Willie was always fun

how is that some so little Bronco ride sometimes. I came in I work for Willie and eighty nine through I still do some work for but mostly through about ninety three and those were some high and low years around the Nelsons and mostly high! but we started a television network we did all kinds of music videos we did some Disney specials but a lot of fun and some of that work still exists – I’ll come across on youtube the you know the archive of all bad filmmaking – I’ll come across a case status will will take me off guard and occasionally seen my name pop up and the one that really was was a funny story I did the reshoots on Texas chainsaw massacre with Renee Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey and it was not a fine film it was it was a great effort on a lot of people’s parts mated to HBO afters many many people try to stop it from making it to HBO including Matthew’s agent I think and my name comes up in the credits and the phone rings like that and I’m like a yeah yeah yeah you know and it was one of our children’s friends and this girl was maybe six years old like hi, are you lilies mom? yeah, we just saw your name on TV I was like where are your parents letting you she did not actually watch she does so reading her mother but anyway the up the willie years were fun and we’re still friends and relations but I’m I’m not really actively engaged in in filmmaking outside of the nobelity project anymore

with the with the project itself has charity work always been something that you were interested in or or and I mean as a little girl or was it a seed that had to grow and and what was the exact moment that turned this into a real idea that could be it could be executed yeah yeah that’s that’s some along arc I am a native Austinite but I grew up in Washington DC in the sixties. my parents were labor organizers and kind of therefore civil rights workers and it was DC in the sixties and so I came out of that sort of social justice work and spend a few years not doing that particularly well we lived in LA and I produce commercials and an award show somehow into the bars getting booked on the parades and the award shows but coming back here and having this opportunity to to choose what the work would be. one of my personal journeys was I quit. I had cancer I had breast cancer and quit and that was it yeah I was going to teach yoga and walk the dog and raise my kids and live to be I’m a nice old lazy age and then you know kind of got over that and Turk had this idea about conversations with Nobel laureates. it was going to be a book and then as I sort of emerged from that particular shell, we decided it was a better film. So it came from both sides – I think it came from Turks idea but also my part being what do they callit, right livelihood, is that the right term I think you know that that what I wanted to do with my life had to matter more to me. my last commercial job I was a spaghetti commercial with a mime in it and we couldn’t get the meatballs to look right the food stylists was shellacking meatballs and I just stood there and am I doing with my life? I actually left that set, it’s only set I ever walked off, and that was it. but the moment the moment as that moment was like okay no. And it wasn’t the mime he’s a nice guy it wasn’t the people it wasn’t the sauce – I just don’t think

with all the work that you’re doing now are you are you catching that sense of fulfillment that you that you initially thought you would? I mean how could you not? well in many ways yes of course I mean it is – I have a lot of gratitude for our donors and for the community partners and in Kenya here in the US were a lot of students here in Austin and I I really appreciate that interface we get to have. one of the things that’s also true is that these are very very big problems – people sometimes say intractable problems. I would like to think they’re not intractable. I mean someone asked me not long ago what’s my idea of success and I said I’d like to work myself out of a job and I think every nonprofit feels that way that direct service nonprofit feels like if we’re doing our job right or we won’t be needed in time. in Kenya in particular we see that happening because it’s rapid change there right now it’s going it’s a rising nation economically and politically and stabilizing it is sort of the rock of East Africa. I can look at its neighbors – from our Ethiopia to south Sudan and Somalia and Kenya really sort of gives this diplomatic weight and stability to that whole region. so when we see these kids come up from we’ve been working there for ten years now so we’ve seen kids come up through school and are now going to college we have college graduates now sort of trickling out – that’s very gratifying. second we’ve got five thousand children to see through school. when I think of it that way – big impact – so certainly personal impact for those students yeah going to be huge for them so – lifesaver needs a life changer for sure.

so as you know on our audience the idea is building the program is Ryan and I started putting masters and founders together we wanted to share with the audience that maybe has an idea maybe even starting a nonprofit – or may be starting a business or or whatever it is maybe their own music path are but we wanted to provide a path that others have already paved – and show the good bad the ugly. So were there any fears or anything like that is as you first started down this path? to me just as I talk to different individuals sometimes these those things seem overwhelming, but it’s just kind of my own head. and I want to see how you address that. I had a yoga teacher once you talked about buying a house anywhere the backyard was full of thorns. and she would open the back door and go oh my god and close at every day. and then she decided I’m gonna clear one foot square, and eventually the yard was great right that’s like some classic ashram story but – we didn’t look at the finish line, because there really is no finish line. and we did not set ourselves up to work at a large scale we simply took the next step, and the next steps always there. it can be a little step it could be a big step again you could stop right off the cliff you know but you can always take the next step. and while I’m on ashram stories, I think there’s a maybe have gone to court that we all are walk in the footsteps of those to come before us but we’re laying the path for those to follow. so even if the steps that you take isn’t the ultimate step you’ve taken it for some one else as well. right. I think Americans tend to look at the finish line. I think we look for the magic bullet a lot. right that if we think if we’re not going to win that race we are not going to run that race right and to me that’s a real disservice not only to others around you but to yourself. you know those little ideas those unique ideas also connect with it – we need them to connect with each other. I think people who sometimes want to either start a new company – they look for something that stands alone which – you can only stand alone so long and if you build something you know that has no others means of support either financially or emotionally or intellectually – eventually you’ll either be isolated and not grow anymore we are also over some

you know I continue to say this is brick by brick and one day you have a wall. yeah every day you have a break but one day you have a wall and that’s about the process we’ve said this through all these interviews as the same way with you Turks father used to say you can’t build a wall by starting at the top. it really is that true and that goes that goes with anybody that we’ve interviewed it’s anybody that’s built anything worth mentioning is it’s all about the process and it’s all about laying one brick perfectly right and not trying to rush to have a giant wall. lot of times people get paralysis by analysis – just think and think and think over and over the still move yeah and so I like that idea of what you said just clearing that one square of thorns at a time and then we noticed is there so let’s dive back into the where you’re at now with nobelity project – and we started we started you started with a water project and that turned into –

yeah the first agreement we had at the at the little tiny primary school where Turk had planted trees yeah I mean he didn’t tell that story today – we were making the film on gars organizations called greenbelt movement and they plant trees on school properties and and lots of places we planted trees at a school and they were dying. the headmaster said you know it’s because the water is so far and Turks – you know being the newbie American – was like well where’s those schools water and headmaster was like that’s a mile and a half just like every other so we just agreed to bring water to the school. they took that a step further and got the county to bring the power to the school which means then we could bring computers to the school, and so on my bill brick by brick literally in this case stone by stone – we built that school to the point where they were graduating eighth graders but there was no high school in the region. so we built the high school and so that has gone on now for ten or twelve years and we’ve just built I think are thirty something pre school and about a hundred classrooms all together and if you really look at it over time we are really impacting a lot of kids. we say we fill the gaps in education. so we look for the action that we can afford as a small organization that takes the community from really from a to B. which really kind of brings the next rung of the ladder and into reach. so we have some really sweet projects and libraries that are going into schools were already working we have one big preschool initiative because that’s something that the community has a hard time affording is quality housing to the preschool. and we know that that early intervention and better nutrition at that point really brings about better cognitive ability later in life. and so preschools and college scholars right now what kind of the two ends of our spectrum that’s been pushing out from this original primary school and secondary school our initiatives. and sometimes the gaps are physical sometimes they’re financial and occasionally we find some very specific acute need we’re working with a school a special needs school as they say in Kenya to help them build a vocational training center so these kids are aging out of these these schools of the school support and some of these kids have some very significant challenges they’ll be able to go into the community with a specific skill. so those are the things that we just actually launched in a local initiative which is a lot of fun.U I. L. is the state wide competition in public schools – marching band and drama and they have a filmmaking tract. so they’re young filmmakers all over Texas who submit short films for a competition for judging and we started an award called the nobelity social impact award, and so we’ve selected four films that one these prizes for equipment for their film departments. and they’re they’re really lovely little films. Addressing border immigration issues addressing refugee issues of record addressing a simple personal story of a young man being with great talent being you know kind of believe but how you came through. it so these are issues that young people here locally are looking at and having a voice in the dressing and so that’s the in partnership with the paramount. The partnership with the paramount brings a thousand six graders into the theater and they watch our film called building hope which is about building a school in Kenya and then we do a live Skype connection with kids in Kenya. and it is it is wild a thousand sixth graders in the paramount theatre I’m talking to their counterparts you know eight hours time difference and you know what was a world away the day before now is is there you know friends. and to me that’s a that sort of a key component. it is one of the things I feel like we do well on our on our international trips is we can represent a little bit you know. and the the it’s not exactly – we don’t exactly do charity work. we create partnerships. and there’s a lot of exchange in in value. we happen to take the money to Kenya although the communities actually contribute something and the government contribute something – we always work in tandem with those other entities, but we come away with just as much and we bring it home.

Three films now? the three feature films and a lot of short films. we’ve moved to short film format because of the short attention span theater of of most of us in the Facebook reality that are mostly conservation oriented. so we have one on our side about the monarch butterfly migration and one about whales and elephants. that’s a little bit of an offshoot but we feel like again that’s a gap we can fill, is an information gap. because it’s not just get that information in that exposed is not just for American viewers are American students it’s also the Kenyan kids don’t get to see those animals either you know it’s not and if they do they’re going the other way running. but Kenya does a very good job on conservation – they have enormous conservation areas where the animals are all protected but those kids don’t get to go there.

I wanna ask one thing where I and I don’t know if it’s a problem with it stems in my mind as it could potentially be a problem – what about teachers? is that is there were how do you get your how do you get your teachers? we work with public schools and so in the governance in the state and so the government provides all the teachers so we’re really facilities builders and a little a little bit of of resources: we do library books and again we fill the gaps or go to the schools and say what is it that you need. A high school may need review materials for their what they would be the SAT there. These are rural kids we work way out in the country and they tend to fall behind their urban counterparts even in public schools and then very much so from the private schools just like here and a public school struggle to keep up on facilities and and this is where we have found the the most impact and the most you know long lasting permanent improvements but the government does their part. They provide – they hire and provide the teachers and you have to go get your degree in order to teach biology and geography and it’s one of the one of my favorite moments in the paramount when the sixth graders come, is that will take about ten kids to come up and ask questions and they’ll ask mostly what’s your favorite subject and they’ll say oh you know arithmetic or history or or geography or math and and you can see the kids in the theater the American kids go oh just like me they’re just like me. connect. and it’s it’s a powerful moment and that those those six graders will walk away with that forever. connection.

are you ever looking for volunteers from here in the states? we have people who travel with us once a year. they tend to be donors going to see the projects that they’ve made possible sure. we hire Kenyans on the other end to do all the work service yeah and damn well I think anyone so there you know welcome is particular if you’re going to Kenya and would like to visit the school or a project of ours we can set you up for a visit – it’s so much fun. it is not yeah that’s a long ways over there so expensive plane ticket and – but it’s a safe country and and very welcoming and lots of English speakers, because of its colonial history, but also because they choose – that’s the language of commerce. so it’s easy to travel and lots of great intention.

so I think I know the answer this woman asked anyway – what’s the future of The Nobelity Project? Another brick at a time? always a brick at a time. we are building up more state side programs like the oil competition and and our six great screenings. I’m hoping to spend more time in schools here and connecting with in high schools connecting with their counterparts in Kenya. we also are are creating a new film a little bit longer – be maybe twenty minutes – about migrations. so not just I mean animal migrations including forced migrations by humans. so those are on the burners I wouldn’t quite say back burner but closer than that – but but front burner maybe – right front – we have probably four or five years of work sketched out, so we try to keep the work small enough that Turk and I have our hands on everything.

you never know where inspiration will come from and how you can use a professional skills for good. thank you Christy for all the work you do to make this world a better place and for sharing your story. the masters and founders team includes me Dan Dillard producer Mariah Gossett an audio engineer Jake Wallace. thank you Ryan Francis for cohosting this episode with me and to everyone at Founding Austin for your support. if you’re not checked it out yet make sure you remember or Facebook group link is in the show notes if you like the show sure this week with a friend or coworker you also leave us a review on I tunes to help other folks find the show we’ll be back next week thanks for listening