Family ID gives hope and purpose to families

How much of what your family does is intentional? Is your family mission-driven? Many nonprofits and businesses are mission-driven, but few families are. At Family ID, an Edmond-based nonprofit, they’re looking to change that.

“So many aspects of our lives have goals, milestones, guardrails, and guidelines, but not our families,” shared Derek England, Family ID’s Administrative and Operations Director. When Derek attended a men’s retreat in 2011, his family was in the same position.

Greg Gunn, founder and president of Family ID, was the speaker at that men’s retreat. “[Greg] asked how many of us had written goals and values for our families,” Derek recalled. “It took one second for me to realize that if my family was more important than my work, why wasn’t I as intentional with family goals and values as with my work?”

Next, Derek and his wife attended a Family ID event and came up with their family’s mission and vision. A few years later, Derek joined Greg full-time at Family ID. Derek said, “I felt the call to leave the corporate world and head into full-time ministry work.”

How Family ID started

Back in 1997, founder Greg Gunn was challenged by a friend to do an annual gamily goal-setting weekend. “The thought of setting goals for my family wasn’t on my radar even though I was a fanatic about goal setting for the company I led,” Greg shared. Like so many people, Greg assumed things would just fall into place.

“My wife Rhonda and I spent the first weekend developing our own family vision, goals, and core values.” Things snowballed from there. Greg became passionate about leading other families on that same journey.

“Our family spent nearly every weekend over the next few years gathering others and helping them identify family core values, family mission statements, and so much more,” Greg recalled.

In 2003, they officially obtained 501c3 status. Greg sold his financial services company in 2010 and went full-time. “Over the last ten years, I have walked nearly 35,000 families through visioneering for their family through weekend seminars, live workshops, and video teaching.”

Going international

Greg and Derek are not the only two leaders at Family ID. Derek explained, “Now, thanks to the leadership of Ariel Delgado, we have twenty-six different facilitators throughout twenty-four countries leading Family ID workshops.”

Ariel’s efforts have led to Family ID classes in Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, and Russian. Derek added, “All of that is because of great leadership and vision to expand Family ID around the world.”

In addition to trained and certified facilitators, Family ID also utilizes streaming workshop videos. “Families are watching the content in their own living room,” said Derek, “and experiencing the same level of change in a much more convenient and comfortable environment.

Their big goal

In addition to the three people on the leadership team and the facilitators, Family ID also has a fantastic and energized board. Derek said, “We each take ownership of the organizational pieces that we’re best at, and we run with them.”

That method allows them to set huge goals. “We have this Big Hairy Audacious Goal of reaching 30 million families with Family ID,” said Derek. “I love having a huge goal sitting out there that we are all working to achieve.”

They strive to be engaged with each family they interact with while also looking at teaching methods that can scale up. “We can’t reach 30 million families by filling up our booking calendar every weekend,” Derek explained. “The only way to help 30 million families… is to stay focused on what we do, yet replicate and duplicate it at the highest level.

Hope and purpose

Family ID’s goal is to awaken families to the concept that each family member has a responsibility and opportunity to shape the family’s future. They equip families to fulfill that responsibility by helping them craft their core values, mission statement, and vision statement.

In the end, it all comes down to hope and purpose. “Individually,” explained Derek, “either of those qualities can change somebody’s life. [We] inject both home and purpose into the heart of the family.”

Not surprisingly, his own family is part of what gives Derek his hope and purpose. “My faith and my family motivate me,” Derek shared. “Without Christ, I wouldn’t have anything. Without my family, I wouldn’t be able to follow this calling. My fantastic wife and two amazing kiddos are truly what allow me to be passionate about family change.”

Derek gives plenty of credit to Greg and Ariel as well. “Those two guys are passionate about reaching families and set out to do it each day. Ensuring that Family ID has the best team possible, performing at the highest level, and focused on the right way to impact families, yeah, that motivates me.”