Year on Youtube: https://bit.ly/2xFtcX4
Program Summary:
This was more than a leadership program, it was a journey! The journey began with the questions “What the heck is social entrepreneurship, and who are these people?” We spent the next few months addressing these question from different angles and building friendships that we didn’t realize would become so strong. We gathered so much information in the first few weeks that we realized the presentation needed to be focused and we needed to get serious. This realization came when we calculated how many speaker gifts we would have to give, and we had way too many speakers! The pinnacle moment came when the team decided we could be far more effective if we split into smaller groups. The program would be broken into three sections; “Define it”, “Experience it”, and “Build it”. Our group worked the best in a “leader by committee” structure, and this is truly when the meat of the work began. We chose to highlight social entrepreneurs in the valley from the small local business to the large established organization as well as the facilitators and advocates of social entrepreneurship.
From the feedback received and what we already knew, we feel like we were definitely the group that had the most fun this year, and definitely the most photogenic! Our cohesiveness through the year lead to us being very relaxed in our program. We were truly able to enjoy the day and be impacted by it just as others were. We are thankful to all of our sponsors, speakers, advisors and everyone that helped bring our day together!
Program Day:
- Define It – Vinton War Memorial
- Call to Action: Go home and fill out the B-Corp assessment for your organization.
- Speakers: Peter Klemz (VCC), Annette Patterson (The Gauntlet), Tyler Godsey (5 Points Music Sanctuary), Mike Rigney (Orvis), Jen Brothers (House of Bread), Brent Cocharan (Cityspace LLC)
- Experience It – Goodwill Tour
- Call to Action: Incorporate/adopt a Social Entrepreneurship in your everyday life.
- Speakers: Goodwill Staff
- Build It – Twin Creeks Brewery
- Call to Action: Volunteer your skill set at a local organization (i.e. Hive or Gauntlet, RAMP, SBDC)
- Speakers: Pete Peters (Town of Vinton), Andy Bishop (twin Creeks Brewery)
Team Participants:
- Chasity “From the Streets” Barbour – Vinton War Memorial/ Town
- “#Mike4Life” Chittum – Foot Levelers
- Jeff “Twin 1” Collignon – United Way of Roanoke Valley
- Donald “Double-D” Deeds – Cherry Bekaert
- Jamie “Task Master” Ellis – Power School
- Jessica “Mom” Fintel – Roanoke County
- Seth “Say Something Wise” McGuire – Hughes Associates
- Tim “Twin 2” Pohlad-Thomas – RIDE Solutions
Thank you to our Advisors:
- Frank Giannini – Member One Federal Credit Union
- Courtney Campbell – Freedom First Credit Union
- John Gardner – Branch & Associates
- Shamaill Ross – Allstate
Thank you to our Sponsors:
- Chasity Barbour
- Cherry Bekaert
- Hughes Associates
- Branch & Associates
- Vinton War Memorial
- Pumpernickel Pickle Catering Co.
- Dunkin Donuts
- Kroger
- Jerry’s Restaurant
- Twin Creek Brewery
- Land of Thousand Hills
- Western Va Water Authority
- Walkabout
- Blue Cow Ice Cream
- Dogwood
- Vinton Chamber
- Town of Vinton
- Pepsi
- Goodwill Industries of the Valley
- Delish Treats