2021 Virtual Business Generating Good Summit

On this episode of Virtual Business Generating Good Summit, we host Courtney Schmakers, the executive director of She Has a Name (SHAN), to explore the topic of advocating for good.

SHAN exists to combat human trafficking through education, advocacy, and direct care for impacted individuals. They raise awareness in the community by educating individuals and groups through training on the reality of human trafficking while also providing resources for survivors. SHAN funds a variety of academic scholarships for survivors such as the DREAM scholarship and also leads programs such as the John school where men who have previously been involved with human trafficking can become educated on the impacts of their actions.

SHAN guides survivors to resources and represents the strength in those impacted by human trafficking. Courtney discusses her view of advocacy, explaining that it is all about speaking up and acting. One person engaging others can have a snowball effect in bringing difficult topics to light. She discusses how SHAN engages with advocacy when she says they seek to:

This speaks to the heart of SHAN, as the organization is named to remind people that each survivor has a name and a voice that needs to be heard. Women impacted by human trafficking are people too and have a perspective and voice that needs to be uplifted.

Often as individuals, it can be overwhelming to find ways to engage in advocacy. Courtney explains how little actions can have great impact, whether that is engaging in the legislative process to bring justice and peace to the victims or becoming a more conscious consumer, becoming aware of companies that do not have ethical practices and voting with your dollar. She empowers our listeners by speaking about individual impact through conscious consumerism:

SHAN seeks to expose the realities of human trafficking, providing individuals the tools they need to engage with something that is happening often right in their backyard. Courtney shares SHAN’s goal of helping survivors in any way they can while advocating for their strength and voices to be heard.

Thank you for joining us on this episode of the Virtual Business Generating Good Summit. Go sign up for She Has a Name’s virtual training offerings at https://shehasaname.org/ and check out our other podcast episodes where we will continue to explore topics around volunteering for good, consuming for good, and advocating for good. 

On this episode of the Virtual Business Generating Good Summit, we welcome Yayra Tamakloe and Jennifer Cable from The P.A.L Project to explore the topic of advocating for good.

Birthed out of frustration from the lack of cultural material for the global black and Pan-African community, The P.A.L. Project is a resource platform dedicated to restoring strength in their cultural identity through cultural immersion, education, and preservation. Yayra, herself an immigrant from Ghana, experienced the gap as she sought to stay connected to the African continent upon which she grew up and calls home while adjusting to what she calls her second home in the US. Her inability to find cultural materials from which she could engage with her culture and learn about others’ cultures. In an effort to close this gap, Yayra launched The P.A.L Project just last year at the 2020 GiveBackHack in Columbus. Jennifer, who heard Yayra’s pitch, was intrigued and soon joining the team.

The P.A.L. Project casts a vision of creating equity and identity for people of African descent and currently focuses on creating educational content that promotes cross-cultural education for youth. Yayra shares the importance of engaging with youth, bringing holistic and truthful history into the classroom, and having honest conversations about the stereotypes of mainstream media. In addition to classroom connections, The P.A.L. Project hopes to create a centralized platform where cultural knowledge can be shared. Yayra eloquently shares her global vision for the future of the nonprofit:

The P.A.L. Project is a great resource to begin to dip your toes into the difficult conversations surrounding this topic. Yayra and Jennifer share their views of advocacy, highlighting the importance of both speaking out and doing the work that comes with it.

As individuals, there are many practical ways to get involved. Yayra speaks to the importance of acknowledging history and engaging in conversation with an open mind. Ask questions! It is okay to be uncomfortable, this is a sign of progress. Yayra leaves us with a call to action -- engage with the difficult conversations, press in, be willing to learn, and use privilege in the community.

Thank you for joining us on this episode of the virtual Business Generating Good Summit. Head over to The P.A.L. Project website (https://palproject.africa/about-us/) or check them out on Instagram (@the_p.a.l_project) to learn more about their upcoming class series and educational resources. Don’t forget to check out our other podcast episodes where we continue to explore topics around volunteering for good, consuming for good, and advocating for good.

On this episode of the Virtual Business Generating Good Summit, we discuss the idea of advocating for good alongside Lo, SKi, and Kay, who are members of the team over at Urban Accelerator X.

With a focus on allies and people of color, Urban Accelerator X can be broken up into three main components: U Studio, Theory University, and The Lab University. U Studio was developed as a result of the pandemic and works with different businesses/organizations in everything that comes along with the transition from in-person to an online format. Next, Theory University focuses on providing a culturally-competent business curriculum for entrepreneurs. Lastly, The Lab University refers to Urban Accelerator X’s programs, workshops, and other activities.

All three of these components can point back to the tagline and mission, “Where business meets culture” which in Lo’s words, can be described as serving the community wherever they are, not conforming to a box or cookie cutter shape that tends to exist in the entrepreneurial space. The team, while knocking down barriers and providing a comfortable space that allows BIPOC to thrive, ensures that all of their connections and partners are vetted and prioritize advocating for the successes of black and brown entrepreneurs. In correspondence with the theme of advocating for good, CEO Kay says the following:

Thank you for joining us on this episode of the virtual Business Generating Good Summit. Please check out the Urban Accelerator X website (https://www.theucbus.com/) and our other podcast episodes where we will continue to explore topics around volunteering for good, consuming for good, and advocating for good.

The Urban Accelerator X team encourages everyone to engage in important conversations as well as prioritize mental health. In addition, they suggest some of the following resources to help further your pursuit of advocacy:

• SiriusXM Urban View

• The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America

• Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America

• The Black Book

• Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong

• Outliers: The Story of Success

Because Urban Accelerator X supports and is supported by many businesses/organizations in the community, here are a few that you can support as soon as you finish up the podcast:

• Mobile Mommies Event Childcare

• CoWoofers

• Willowbeez SoulVeg

• Feed Me Sandwich Kings

• Lifestyle Cafe

• Our Bar

• What the Waffle

• BurgerIM

• Simplicity Accounting

• A Moment to Remember

• Columbus Trade Lounge

In this episode of the 2021 Virtual BGG Summit, we hosted Vincent Valentino, an Energy Analyst for the City of Columbus and sustainability consultant, and former Sustainability and Operations Manager at Land-Grant Brewing. While working as a bartender at Land-Grant, he pitched a sustainability project that transferred the brewery's byproducts to fertilizers at Ohio State's Garden of Hope, a greenhouse that allows cancer survivors to plant and harvest fresh fruits and vegetables. Thus, his career in sustainability was born. 

His point may seem obvious at first, but it speaks to an integral aspect of any sustainable business--it is interdisciplinary. "I had to work with brewers to understand how to implement the byproduct collection program," he says, referring to his work at Land-Grant. "That requires that I had to learn a little bit about the actual brewing process." He had to learn the routes of distribution vans from the logistics team, convince the marketing team to showcase the brewery's efforts, and, most importantly, master the controls of a forklift to load the byproducts being shipped to OSU. But, as Vincent says, you don't have to be a sustainability expert to make these discoveries. 

"You could be a brewing expert and figure this out. You could be a business expert and figure this out," he says. "It's always a sense of discovery." Critically, he notes that sustainability becomes difficult when exploring one problem leads to ten more questions that lead to a hundred others. This challenge, characteristic of the most impactful and complex sustainability problems, should not discourage our efforts. Instead, Vincent says he is empowered in the present moment, despite the political and public health instability of recent months. 

Despite this, and now more than ever, he believes:

When the sustainability shortcomings that our societies face feel vast and impossible to conquer, Vincent reminds us that our brightest days are yet to come.

Thank you for joining us on this episode of the 2021 Virtual Business Generating Good Summit. Want to learn more about Vincent and his projects? You can get connected with him here. Also, make sure to check out our other podcast episodes, where we will continue to explore topics around volunteering for good, consuming for good, and advocating for good. 

On this episode of the Virtual Business Generating Good Summit, we focus on the topic of consuming for good. We are joined by Christy Walters, founder of Reuse Revolution, as we discuss the formation of her business and the journey that shaped her passion for sustainability. 

Reuse Revolution is a refill shop in the newly established Bridge Park North Market in Dublin, OH that is dedicated to promoting a zero-waste lifestyle as well as providing resources to the community for involvement and education in sustainable living. Christy gives us a look at her childhood where her passion for sustainability and dedication to a low-waste lifestyle began, shaped by her time as a Girl Scout making homemade vests and recycled butter containers. She goes on to describe how observing plastic waste and litter in nature throughout her life was the seed that gave rise to the idea for Reuse Revolution.

Christy goes on to discuss managing a low-waste lifestyle with a family and children, focusing on ideas like regifting and sharing how to live sustainably. After living a low-waste life for so long, she saw an opportunity to bring her experiences to the community, turning her ideas into a business. In doing so, she found a way to both pursue her passion and provide for her family.

One of the main themes Christy highlights in our discussion is how to make an impact as an individual. She explains how one person does not need to change the world; even small steps toward living more sustainably can make a difference:

She also talks about another way to work toward a better world as an individual – encourage government officials and large corporations to act more responsibly and sustainably and don’t be afraid to hold them accountable. She stresses that letting one’s voice be heard can be a powerful driver of change.

Christy gives us insight into the state of the problem, illustrating the reality of floating trash islands in the Pacific and more microplastic than stars in the galaxy. However, she also gives us insight into how we can work to fix it, individually and together. From recycling to trash audits to utilizing refilleries like Reuse Revolution, she emphasizes that there are solutions people can incorporate into everyday life to make a difference. And one of the most important parts, according to Christy, is simply hoping and trying to create a more sustainable world:

Thank you for listening to today’s episode of the Virtual Business Generating Good podcast. Please check out our other podcasts on the topics of volunteering, consuming, and advocating for good to hear more inspiring stories about how to make a positive difference.

Headshot Credits: Annette Ferraro Photography

In this episode of the 2021 Virtual BGG Summit, we hosted Mackenzie King and Julia Armstrong from Can't Stop Columbus (CSC), a dynamic collective of volunteers that create and curate initiatives to fight systemic issues exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. These issues--hunger, joblessness, racial justice, and more--are addressed by teams of seasoned professionals, students, corporate leaders, non-profit organizers, and everyone in between. 

It is worth mentioning that Mackenzie and Julia are no strangers to community-building in their professional careers either. Mackenzie is the Director of Innovation Initiatives at Smart Columbus, a public-private partnership between the City of Columbus and the Columbus Partnership that forwards cutting-edge technologies in our regional infrastructure. Julia is the Director of the OHI/O Informal Learning Program at Ohio State. This out-of-the-classroom experience allows students to build technological solutions to real-world problems. Naturally, they have used these skillsets to drive CSC's year-long crusade to support their community.

As of March 2021, she says CSC has expanded to address double-digit impact areas and over sixty individual projects. This includes Columbus Arts Hub, which was born out of CSC to connect residents to local artists through event promotion, organized art walks, and marketplaces for artists to sell virtual backgrounds and masks. Similarly, WeFeedCbus facilitates donations to women- and minority-owned restaurants that prepare and deliver meals to frontline workers and those in need. 

For Julia and Mackenzie, Can't Stop Columbus has provided more than just programming.

The CSC team, facing vast uncertainty and societal instability, came together last March, intending to impact their neighbors in the wake of a brutal pandemic. Their dedicated team, flexible structure, and resolve to keep enabling their city have allowed them to accomplish this goal. But, as we are sure they would tell you, they are only getting started. 

Thank you for joining us on this episode of the 2021 Virtual Business Generating Good Summit. Are you looking to get involved with CSC? You can register with them here. Also, make sure to check out our other podcast episodes, where we will continue to explore topics around volunteering for good, consuming for good, and advocating for good. 

On this episode of the Virtual Business Generating Good Summit, we host Madison Mikhail Bush, the founder and CEO of the POINT app, and discuss the idea of volunteering for good.

Madison, a self-proclaimed “science nerd that jumped into tech”, created POINT to fill two major gaps. First, the app provides nonprofit organizations with free tech and people power -- resources that would usually cost thousands of dollars to utilize. Second, and perhaps what POINT is best known for, the app connects people to volunteer opportunities with those nonprofits.

Madison was prompted to create this app when she realized that it was easier to order food from bed, book a room in Spain, or even hire a dog-walker through an app than it was to do something good. She adds the following statement:

Later in our conversation, Madison discusses the differences in volunteering between generations as well as how the pandemic has amplified these trends. More specifically, individuals in younger generations tend to care about big-picture issues and impact while older generations tend to be familiar with specific nonprofits that they have been and continue to be involved with. In regards to COVID-19, the pandemic revealed a major volunteer shortage, as it tends to be “the old people” who take time out of their weeks to lend a hand at local food pantries and the like, and these individuals were particularly unable to leave their houses during this time. Because of the lack of volunteers in the community, 300 members of the National Guard were stationed at local food banks in a few major cities. 

Beyond calling the younger generations to action, Madison encourages all individuals to approach volunteering in this way: 

Whether you are an individual who is hesitant to start volunteering, someone who is ready to gear up and get out, or know of a nonprofit that would benefit from connecting to POINT, visit the POINT website and download the POINT app: https://pointapp.org/

Thank you for joining us on this episode of the Virtual Business Generating Good Summit. Please check out our other podcast episodes where we will continue to explore topics around volunteering for good, consuming for good, and advocating for good. 

On this episode of virtual Business Generating Good Summit, we host Jeni Britton Bauer, founder of the wildly popular Jeni’s Ice Cream, and Madison and Ray from St. Stephen’s Community House to explore the topic of volunteering for good.

Jeni personally engages with the practice of business for good by running a benefit corporation and working with her hands through volunteering. She speaks about and lives out her passions for social good, serving others, and impacting the community. One organization Jeni works with is the St Stephen's Community House. Jeni speaks about the personal impact the nonprofit has had on her life by partnering with her mother in a time of need as well as the multitude of benefits for the surrounding community both in the past and throughout the pandemic.

Our conversation was enriched through the contributions of Madison Massey, marketing coordinator at St Stephen's Community House, and Ray Roan, their food and nutrition center coordonator. Both spoke directly to the countless services and impact that the organization provides. 

Impact is everything to a business striving to promote good. Both Jeni and St. Stephen’s Community House seek to serve the community and use their talents and resources for the betterment of others. Ray explains why this creates an incredible work atmosphere when he speaks about the energy of the staff and impact they are able to have on their consumers. St. Stephan’s is made up of such passionate individuals, that when problems arise, there are at least 10 people who are ready to jump in and help you solve it.

All three of our guests passionately highlighted the importance of community and giving back. Jeni articulates the importance of getting involved and volunteering when she says:

Right in our backyard and in communities all over the globe, volunteers and those willing to lend a helping hand are needed. Ray and Madison bring a unique perspective from inside a nonprofit when they describe how crucial volunteers are to the function and longevity of their organization. It would be impossible without volunteers. Businesses and individuals both play crucial roles in supporting local nonprofits through giving and volunteering whether that’s time or energy.

Through this inspiring conversation, we are left with a call to action. Let’s volunteer, let’s better our communities, and as Jeni puts it,

Thank you for joining us on this episode of the virtual Business Generating Good Summit. Go grab yourself a scoop of Jeni’s ice cream and check out our other podcast episodes where we will continue to explore topics around volunteering for good, consuming for good, and advocating for good.