Champions of Change

Champions of Change Blog

  • Champions of Change: Honoring Fatherhood

    Posted by Joshua DuBois on June 20, 2011 at 6:18 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.

    Watch this Champions of Change video here.

    President Obama, like millions of fathers around the country, has said that being a dad is the most important job a man can have. That’s why this past Tuesday, the White House honored 15 Champions of Change who are standing in the gap for our kids, and serving their families, their communities and our nation. Along with Michael Strautmanis from the Office of Public Engagement, I was proud to participate in a discussion with these fathers and leaders as we shared our stories about what fatherhood meant to us and how each person had contributed to strengthening fatherhood in their own lives and in their communities.

    Some of these stories are of redemption. Others are about the supportive role that mothers, grandparents and mentors play when fathers aren’t around. More than one is about a father who initially didn’t fully understand his responsibilities, but came to recognize the sacredness of being a dad. 

    I hope you’ll enjoy these stories as much as I enjoyed meeting these wonderful Champions of Change.  We’re excited to honor fatherhood—not just on Father’s Day, but in the months and years to come.

    Joshua DuBois is Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships and Co-Coordinator of President Obama’s Fatherhood Initiative.

    Learn more about Working Families

  • Overcoming Life Struggles with Fatherhood in the Tribal Community

    Posted by Eric Schurz on June 20, 2011 at 12:06 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.

    I am from the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community located in Arizona.

    I was born in Tucson, AZ where after just being born, my struggle in life began. When I was born 2 months early, my Grandmother Dorothy told me I was so small that I could fit into the palm of a hand and the doctor said they didn’t know if I was going to make it. I spent the next six months living in a plastic bubble.

    After I survived that first struggle, the next struggle came when my family moved off the reservation and moved into the city. Some of the friends I met there were not the best influences, which lead to getting into a life of crime and drugs at a very young age. I spent most of my time away from home because I hated to see the hurt in my own family so it was best for me to just stay away all day. As I grew up, I took that life back to the reservation and my negative influence on the community eventually lead to my extradition from the reservation. 

    It was then that I came across the Fatherhood program that got me to see and listen to myself. It helped me to actually understand the destruction I caused in our community. The Fatherhood program gave me tools of life that helped me build myself and become the individual that I am today. I overcame all the obstacles and I got a job within the tribal complex and actually kept it, and support my eight children. A nice home filled with happiness.

    read the rest
    Learn more about Working Families

  • Champions of Change: Winning the Future with Education

    Posted by Juan Salgado on June 16, 2011 at 1:45 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.

    I am inspired by President Obama’s call for us to Win the Future by out-innovating, out-educating and out-building the rest of world. We share our President’s optimism and faith in the spirit of the American people and are especially encouraged by the critical contribution Americans of Latino descent will continue to make as our nation achieves this goal. In Illinois, Latino children comprise 1 in every 5 school age children. Winning the Future (PDF) requires we invest in them and their classmates. 

    At Instituto, we believe education is the power and freedom to enjoy the best that this country has to offer, the power to provide for our families and ensure a better quality of life. That is why we invest. We invest time building relationships with families to tap their creativity and imagination, help connect them to their own dreams and aspirations, guide them along career paths and provide the educational experiences that propel them to success in colleges and universities. 

    read the rest
    Learn more about Education, Service

  • Improving Social and Economic Opportunities in the Mid South

    Posted by Ivye L. Allen on June 15, 2011 at 6:04 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.

    As a recently selected Champion of Change, I had the rare honor and opportunity to discuss challenges and solutions for bettering our communities with practitioners from around the nation as well as White House officials. Interestingly, the spirit of the roundtable discussion reminded me of the core beliefs that were the impetus for creating the Foundation for the Mid South: civic engagement, collaboration, and creating opportunity.

    Twenty years ago, the Foundation for the Mid South’s founders believed that in order to move our region up from the bottom quartile of the nation in terms of the economy, health, and education, our region needed an entity to work across state lines to promote collaboration and civic engagement. The intent was to ensure the most effective use of the human and financial resources already in the region as well as to attract and leverage additional resources. 

    The Foundation has utilized its years of experience working in urban and rural communities to develop a model for comprehensive change. We work directly with communities to create plans for community and regional improvement by building and enhancing the capacity—the skills and knowledge—of local residents and organizations, identifying community assets, and collaborating with public and private sectors. 

    read the rest
    Learn more about Poverty, Rural, Service

  • Engaging Disadvantaged Youth to Rebuild Communities

    Posted by Dorothy Stoneman on June 14, 2011 at 6:27 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.

    I was privileged on June 7th to join with White House staff and an extraordinary group of community leaders for a roundtable discussion with selected Champions of Change. 

    It was inspiring to meet and listen to the achievements and the passion of this group, and wonderful to know that we were just the tiny little tip of the iceberg of people dedicated to improving life in communities across America.

    My own work laying the groundwork for the expansion of the YouthBuild program across the United States and now in 14 countries abroad, began in East Harlem in 1978 when I asked young people what they would like to do to improve their communities and they said they would like to rebuild abandoned buildings to create housing for the homeless.

    read the rest
    Learn more about Poverty, Service

  • Champions of Change: Making a Difference through Service and Innovation

    Posted by Marta Urquilla on June 13, 2011 at 5:50 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.

    Watch the video on the week's Champions of Change here.

    Last week, we gathered fourteen inspirational citizens to hear about their tireless efforts to renew and strengthen their communities through service and innovation. We met in New Orleans, the host city for the 2011 National Conference on Volunteering and Service, an annual convening of over 4,000 people working to make a difference in the lives of others. President Barack Obama has called New Orleans a “symbol of resilience and community”—and what better place to highlight these Champions of Change than the Crescent City and the living laboratory for social innovation and civic participation that it has become.

    Each of this week’s Champions exemplifies our Administration’s firm belief that the best ideas really do come from outside of Washington—from local communities across the country where, everyday, individuals are taking on our most pressing social challenges and developing solutions that work. From a twelve-year old environmental activist to established and highly regarded non-profit leaders, these Champions are making an extraordinary impact in communities, in schools, and in the workplace. They are building homes, creating opportunities for young people, veterans, and immigrants, and helping disaster victims rebuild their lives. Through their actions, they demonstrate that citizen leadership is critical to “winning the future.” They are redefining civic participation in the 21st century.

    Our Administration is investing in these community solutions. Many of the Champions of Change are recipients of Social Innovation Fund grants—YouthBuild USA, the Delta Workforce Funding Collaborative, and iMentor—and we are so excited by the work that they are doing on the ground. Others are partnering with national service programs like VISTA and AmeriCorps, and delivering critical services to help communities recover and rebuild from disasters and to support the reintegration of veterans in our society—Equal Justice Works, Alabama State Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, and the Washington Commission for National and Community Service.

    I would be remiss if I did not mention the St. Bernard Project. This New Orleans non-profit has drawn volunteers from across the country to rebuild hundreds of homes throughout St. Bernard Parish and the Lower Ninth Ward. It’s been quite an extraordinary example of “shared responsibility” and the possibilities that can come from citizens pulling together around a common goal. The President once noted that he saw in the St. Bernard Project “the symbol that this city has become.” And, indeed, the work of each of these Champions has such resonance.

    Please visit the Champions of Change website to learn more about these individuals and their work.
    We hope these Champions and their causes will inspire and energize you to make a difference in your own communities, and, by doing so, to win the future.

    Marta Urquilla is the Senior Policy Advisor to the White House Domestic Policy Council’s Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation.

    Learn more about Service