Champions of Change Blog

Caught in the Act of Doing Things Right

Posted by Josh Linkner on August 24, 2011 at 3:56 PM EDT

Ed. Note: Champions of Change is a weekly initiative to highlight Americans who are making an impact in their communities and helping our country rise to meet the many challenges of the 21st century.

Bosses, parents, teachers, clergy, and government officials are well-trained to catch you doing something wrong. There are elaborate systems for checks and balances; controls and consequences. It's apparently very important to catch the mischievous child or the wayward employee in the act of disobedience.

With as much effort as we spend catching people doing something wrong, it's time to start catching each other doing something right.

In our society, wide-spread labeling is an insidious force that robs individuals of achieving their true potential. The good news is that labeling can work the other way too. Catch a new team member in the act of delivering great work, and you'll inject her with confidence and energy. Label a colleague as a rock-star, and they'll likely kick out the work version of multiple grammys.

This last week was a thrill for me, having been invited to the White House with nine other entrepreneurs to be recognized as a Champion of Change. President Obama launched this program to celebrate Americans who are making a difference, innovating, and "winning the future". As I watched the faces of my fellow award recipients beam with pride, I realized the power of catching people in the act of greatness.

read the rest

Learn more about Startup America
Share, Growth, Change, and Love for Young Female Entrepreneurs

Posted by Jennifer Donogh on August 23, 2011 at 3:14 PM EDT

Ed. Note: Champions of Change is a weekly initiative to highlight Americans who are making an impact in their communities and helping our country rise to meet the many challenges of the 21st century.

Thursday, August 18th, the weekly initiative Champions of Change highlighted young entrepreneurs. I was honored to be among those chosen as a young American who is making an impact in my community. My community is that of young, female entrepreneurs. I am 26 years old, a wife, and a new mother. As an owner and the Director of Operations at Ovaleye Cloud Services I feel every day the challenges that all entrepreneurs face. I created Young Female Entrepreneurs to celebrate these challenges with others in my community.

Young Female Entrepreneurs is an online support group and incubator for entrepreneurial women in their 20s and 30s. Young, female entrepreneurs want success on our own terms, to feel validated, to help, make money, expand our reach, feel inspired, to share, to grow, to change, and to love.

Entrepreneurship is not for everyone, and it looks different to many different people. This diversity in thought energizes the Young Female Entrepreneur community to help and encourage one another. It's not about selling the idea of owning a business, but about supporting those who are already in business.

As an entrepreneur you face challenges on a daily basis, just as you would as a mother or in full time employment. Having a positive attitude, a strong work ethic, and a willingness to ask for help has personally gotten me through the first four years. Even so, when my son was born everything changed. How could I continue to grow my business as I had been? How were others doing it? At that time especially, it was wonderful to be a part of a trusted community that I could ask questions to and be inspired by.

read the rest

Learn more about Startup America, Women
Finding Resilience in Detroit

Posted by Torya Blanchard on August 23, 2011 at 10:21 AM EDT

Ed. Note: Champions of Change is a weekly initiative to highlight Americans who are making an impact in their communities and helping our country rise to meet the many challenges of the 21st century.

On August 18^th, 2011, I was honored to be a recipient of Champion of Change, “Winning the Future” award and to be invited White House to discuss the role of small businesses in changing America’s future.

My journey to becoming a small business owner came more from a passion to do what I loved than from any previous business experience or education. In April 2008, I had what I called my “Fight Club moment.” I quit my comfortable job as a French teacher, much to everyone’s disbelief, I cashed out my 401K that I had accumulated from 5 years of teaching and set out to open Good Girls Go To Paris Crepes, a 48 sq foot “crepe stand” in downtown Detroit. Three years later, the crepe stand is now a 2,000 sq foot crepe restaurant, serving 50 varieties of crepes in Midtown Detroit, with a 2,000 sq ft sister Good Girls restaurant in Grosse Pointe Park, MI set to open the first week of September! In September, I’m opening a breakfast/lunch restaurant in Hamtramck, MI called Ootie’s, a vintage clothing store next to the Good Girls locations in Grosse Pointe Park and my most ambitious project, “Rodin” a 3,000 sq foot bar/lounge next to the Good Girls location in Midtown set to open in October.

I’m sure some of you are asking, “how did a former French teacher open up and expand up a series of restaurants at the beginning of a recession that is continuing to this day?” My answer is simple and it lies in the fact that I am from the most resilient place on the planet, Detroit. Only in Detroit.

The past three years have not been particularly kind to Detroit. The recession hit Michigan in the worst way possible. We almost lost our auto industry, our housing market was decimated, a scary apocalyptic media coverage, mass exodus of young professionals from the state. So what’s next for us? Do we resign ourselves the doom and gloom or do we pick ourselves up and keep going?

read the rest

Learn more about Economy, Startup America, Urban Policy, Women
Improving Childcare Services

Posted by Erica Zidel on August 22, 2011 at 5:27 PM EDT

Ed. Note: Champions of Change is a weekly initiative to highlight Americans who are making an impact in their communities and helping our country rise to meet the many challenges of the 21st century.

There is an oft-ignored childcare crisis going on in homes across the nation.

Families today look much different than they did 40 years ago. Thanks to a number of technological and social innovations and advancements, parents in the United States today have fewer children than ever before and are having those children at a later age. At the same time, Americans are more likely than ever to live apart from extended family, including the second parent (34% of all families in the US are headed by a single parent today compared to just 11% in 1970).

These changes mean that more parents are raising children without the support of relatives or a close-knit community. And that is not a good thing. Humans are built to live in tribes; we have collaboration hard-wired into our DNA. “We know that the best predictor of human happiness is human relationships and the amount of time that people spend with family and friends,” says Harvard professor and Stumbling on Happiness author, Daniel Gilbert. Family and friends mean support, both in terms of childcare and overall emotional well-being. Unfortunately, for many American parents and children, that time is decreasing.

read the rest

Learn more about Startup America, Women
Environmentally Friendly and Fun

Posted by Zach Hamilton on August 22, 2011 at 2:38 PM EDT

Ed. Note: Champions of Change is a weekly initiative to highlight Americans who are making an impact in their communities and helping our country rise to meet the many challenges of the 21st century.

After a whirlwind of red eye and early morning flights there I was, sitting on stage amongst some of the most talented business people I have ever met. The Champions of Change initiative was kind enough to invite me out to The White House to join a discussion about the current state of support the government gives to entrepreneurs.

While I am not a politically savvy or even a politically correct person I really appreciated the time that the government is putting into these programs. Some of the services that they offer are game changing for young entrepreneurs and they definitely need to get the word out about them!

I currently own and operate an environmentally friendly industrial pressure cleaning company in the Phoenix metro area. DevilWash is not a high tech start up and we don’t have the luxury of huge investments or even bank loans. We are financed purely from cash flow as well as business plan competition winnings. This is why the resources available through the SBA and other programs are a huge help.

read the rest

Learn more about Economy, Startup America, Energy and Environment
A Successful Approach to Dealing with Illicit Drug Use in America

Posted by Timothy Wagner on August 19, 2011 at 2:18 PM EDT

Ed. Note: Champions of Change is a weekly initiative to highlight Americans who are making an impact in their communities and helping our country rise to meet the many challenges of the 21st century.

On August 5, I was honored with a Champions of Change award, allowing me to join a conversation between Administration officials and community leaders from around the country to discuss solutions we are implementing to deal with illicit drug use in America.

Hearing from the incredible Champions of Change around me drove home the point that to be successful in countering the drug problem we must address it together with emphasis not only on supply reduction but also on demand reduction while dealing with the consequences when supply and demand reduction have not been enough. The enormous problem we confront requires a “Team of Teams” approach.

read the rest