It takes one

Nathan Crair, the top executive of Merrill Lynch, recruited several hundred people to volunteer for the Special Olympics World Games. Starting Dec. 2014, there was a large call for employee volunteers and Crair jumped at the chance to help. Despite the innovation and organization on Crair’s part, he emphasized that such a large feat couldn’t have been accomplished without the help of his team.

Being a top executive while juggling all these extra activities isn’t easy and his best advice is time management. “If you find the time, you commit to it, you can do it. It’s just a balance.”

He also mentions that they teamed up with Bank of America and from a company standpoint, many were excited. Bank of America offered to pay the employees for those three days so money wouldn’t be cut for taking the time to volunteer.

“I have a very good team that helped me but I think it’s just such a neat cause that it was really easy to get people involved,” Crair said.

Crair and his team raised over $10,000 from a bake sale they held at their office. They then had Dustin Plunkett, a spokesperson for the Special Olympics, come into the office to give a speech as a reward. The speech inspired many and Crair said this was one of the most influential moments he experienced.

Crair is also the president of Students Run L.A., an organization that helps at risk youth around Los Angeles by running the L.A. marathon. Crair then went on to explain how he has had a good, fortunate life and helping others is part of a responsibility that he enjoys. He said he started doing the Special Olympics and Students Run L.A. because he has an affinity for kids and sports.

“I love watching kids and people succeed at things.” he says.

With all of this, Crair showed he possesses the leadership skills needed to bring so many together for a great cause.

Crair (right) during the torch relay.