Southern Indiana Business March-April 2020 | Page 28

“There were things that I knew that I
needed to do to step up,” Takami said. He
came from a strong family, surrounded by
mentors to help guide his way.
Takami said he looked at his age, 40,
as being in his prime, showing now is the
perfect time to effect change.
TO CREATE AN IMPACT.
“This company, Andrew Takami Phi-
lanthropy, is an opportunity to impact
the nonprofit sector and all the sectors,
for that matter, for the public good. For
the common good,” he said. “[Small to
mid-sized] non-profit organizations are
trying to fund raise to keep their mission
alive … They can’t afford, most often, the
prices that are charged by people in the
business, in the industry.”
With lots of experience in that arena,
Takami found himself busy with requests
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March / April 2020
from various nonprofits asking for help,
advice and even motivational talks.
Before he knew it, he had what he called
a nice side business going.
From there, he decided to grow it full-
time and leave his position as director of
Purdue Polytechnic New Albany, effec-
tive March 1.
“I felt that, at some point, it’s your turn
to get off the sidelines and get into the
game,” he said.
That game is helping nonprofits do
more, reach more.
Takami said in the past, people turned
to nonprofits for all social services,
including housing the homeless, feeding
the poor and even educating all children.
Years later, those roles have been blended
with government, something he hopes to
turn back around.
“If we can help the nonprofit sector
take more of its responsibility, eventually,
maybe, there can be less pressure on the
government and we can sustain ourselves
better as a country,” Takami said.
GENERATION Z
He is hoping to inspire the next group
of leaders by writing a book, targeted
toward Generation Z, with a working title
of “Your role in civil society.”
“Generation Z is very interested in fair-
ness. They’re very interested in commu-
nity,” Takami said, adding that this group
doesn’t seem to be as financially driven
as others. “What I’m excited about is this
generation seems to be interested in what
their role is.”
Self-written articles, which fill the
book, will be published for free at vari-
ous times in an effort to teach and inspire
more people.