Author: Gossett

30 Young Professionals Changing the World
The information for these cards have been gathered from various sites (cited) and will be the framework for two different assignments in our classroom.
1. Young Professional Brackets 2. Hero Profiles - Boyd Gossett

Maroja Carter Inspirational environmental activist who has begun a national movement

Carter, who was awarded a 2005 MacArthur "genius" grant, served as executive director of Sustainable South Bronx for 7 years, where she pushed both for eco-friendly practices (such as green and cool roofs) and, equally important, job training and green-related economic development for her vibrant neighborhood on the rise. Below are her quotes. “As a black person in America, I am twice as likely as a white person to live in an area where air pollution poses the greatest risk to my health. I am five times more likely to live within walking distance of a power plant or chemical facility — which I do.”
“Environmental justice [means that] no community should be saddled with more environmental burdens and less environmental benefits than any other.”
“My big brother Lenny fought in Vietnam, only to be gunned down a few blocks from our home [in the South Bronx].”
“Race and class are extremely reliable indicators as to where one might find the good stuff, like parks and trees, and where one might find the bad stuff, like power plants and waste facilities.”
Watch this talk »
“We might have come to [TED] from very, very different stations in life, but believe me, we all share one incredibly powerful thing: we have nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

Excerpt from TED’s Speaker Profile:
Majora Carter is a visionary voice in city planning who views urban renewal through an environmental lens. The South Bronx native draws a direct connection between ecological, economic and social degradation. Hence her motto: "Green the ghetto!"
With her inspired ideas and fierce persistence, Carter managed to bring the South Bronx its first open-waterfront park in 60 years, Hunts Point Riverside Park. Then she scored $1.25 million in federal funds for a greenway along the South Bronx waterfront, bringing the neighborhood open space, pedestrian and bike paths, and space for mixed-use economic development.
Her success is no surprise to anyone who's seen her speak; Carter's confidence, energy and intensely emotional delivery make her talks themselves a force of nature. (The release of her TEDTalk in 2006 prompted Guy Kawasaki to wonder on his blog whether she wasn't "every bit as good as [Apple CEO] Steve Jobs," a legendary presenter.) (TED)

“It’s time to stop building the shopping malls, the prisons, the stadiums and other tributes to all of our collective failures. It is time that we start building living monuments to hope and possibility.” (TED)

John Dabiri Recipient of the MacArthur Genius Grant for designing ships like jellyfish

Excerpt from PopSci’s feature: “It's just after sunset in Long Beach, California, and John Dabiri stands on the end of a wooden dock, peering down at the water. In his white sneakers and striped polo shirt, Dabiri might be just another boater checking out a well-known local spectacle: a pulsing mass of hundreds of softball-size moon jellyfish that regularly gather here.
It's the green laser lighting up the water that gives him away. Just beneath the surface, one of his graduate students records the motion of a single jellyfish with a custom-built, high-definition video camera and a water-particle-illuminating laser. Every so often, she hands it up to the biomechanics professor for an adjustment, then sinks down again to record the pumping of another jelly.
The measurements will be fed into software programs that reveal the intricacies of how jellyfish push off their own wake -- a doughnut-shaped whirl of water known as a vortex ring -- and thus use less energy to propel themselves forward.

Excerpt from The Root’s Decade of Genius: By investigating the simple jellyfish, John Dabiri, a 2010 fellow, has uncovered complex mechanisms of locomotion that have far-reaching implications. Although he is a biophysicist, Dabiri's work draws from theoretical fluid dynamics, evolutionary biology and biomechanics. In 2008 he was named one of "10 Brilliant Scientists" by Popular Mechanics magazine. Dabiri, who graduated from Princeton University in 2001, is an associate professor at the California Institute of Technology. (The Root)

Already, Dabiri's findings are inspiring design improvements in data-collecting buoys, military submarines, even onshore windmills. Which isn't to say that the Navy's next fleet of deep-sea vehicles will be soft and bulbous. "What we're trying to do is not just mimic what we see in nature but to extract the relevant design features -- like the vortex rings," Dabiri explains. "In nature you have evolution, with its own set of constraints. We don't have those constraints as engineers. We can start with something like a jellyfish and take advantage of the fact that we have propellers and steel to build things that look nothing like it but perform as well or even better." (PopSci)

Brandon Turner Molecular biologist who has discovered ways Pharmaceuticals can use proteins

The biophysics major works with homeless people, melding public health research and sociology. Brandon's work has revealed barriers to diabetes management among the homeless, and he works with shelters to provide diabetes education as well as access to refrigerators to keep medicines cold. (The Root)

Excerpt from The Root’s Young Futurists: Brandon's investigation into the molecular structure of proteins has broad implications for future drug development. He is also a champion rugby player and one of just 30 U.S. students who have been named Rhodes scholars this year. But ask this scholar-athlete what fuels his passion and you'll get an answer that may surprise you: community service. (The Root)

YOUTUBE INTERVIEW IS AVAILABLE THROUGH THE ROOT’S WEBSITE

Trinity Russell High school biology student who made a large discovery proving scientists wrong

Long Island Teen’s Big Time Research Breakthrough Her research eventually won her third place in her division at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, and she was published last year in the Journal of Experimental Secondary Science. She wants to continue studying fruit flies and hopes to become a doctor and researcher. She also wants to start a mentoring program to encourage young people to consider research and science careers.

Excerpt from the Root’s Young Futurists: After seeing fruit flies kept in small containers at a research lab during a school trip, Trinity decided to compare fruit flies that were reared in laboratories with thousands of flies caught from the outdoors. In her yearlong research, she found that the laboratory-reared flies were unable to withstand starvation, struggled to gain altitude and were attracted to the dark -- unlike the ones collected from the outdoors. "I concluded that scientists' experiments may be compromised because they are using domesticated, or laboratory-reared, flies," she said. "Since fruit flies are remarkably similar to humans and contain approximately 70 percent of all human disease genes, the implications of the research were monumental." (The Root)

"The answer to every problem lies within science," she said. "With science we can continue to cure disease and discover great new things. I feel as if science is truly the key to our future." (The Root)

Amanda Kludt An online food blogger who has built one of the largest food critic sites in the U.S.

Tell us the true-life tale of the last completely awesome thing you did. “In April, I went on a six-day road trip in Texas to visit our editors across the state. From Dallas to Austin to Lockhart to Houston, we had nonstop fantastic food. Any creative endeavors on the horizon? “I work at such a fun place for such fun people, so ideally I can continue to help Eater grow: more cities, more countries, more video content, more large-scale projects, more investment in our editorial team. Outside of work, I organize a female-food-writer-networking group, so I hope to take a more active role there.

Excerpt from NYC’s 30 under 30:
The Fooditrix Rihanna's “Birthday Cake” could be an anthem for most of our favorite food obsessives, and Amanda Kludt is no different. As the editorial director of the locally inclined, food-blog network Eater, the 29-year-old oversees all 22 of Eater’s U.S. sites. (Yep, 22.) Her day-to-day ranges from all the big, business stuff to planning the future of a massive, national entity, which die-hard foodies have been saving as their homepage for years. Oh, and that dessert inclination? Ends up, it's her long-held dream to be fully immersed into the world of ice cream. "Kludt Cones" sure would have a nice ring to it, but like everything else she's done a bang-up job with, we'll leave the big ideas to her. (NYC 30 under 30)

A perfect day in your town always includes these three things... “Breakfast with my husband at the greasy spoon in our neighborhood in Brooklyn, Garden Grill; drinks at my local wine bar, Tuffet, preferably rosé out in the backyard with a bunch of ladies from the neighborhood; and dinner at Bamonte’s, the 100-year-old, Italian red-sauce joint where the waiters wear tuxes, the cocktails are almost always terrible, and I’ve never once had a bad time.“ What’s your mantra? “Never take yourself too seriously."

Stevie Dance An online style blogger who went from having a website to styling stars

Any creative endeavors on the horizon? “My goals are more life goals. I just want to be inspired, and propelling forward, and enjoy the path that takes me there. I want to collaborate with those whose work I adore, and try new things all the time, and share what I learn along the way.” What’s the best professional lesson you ever learned? “To meditate, via David Lynch.” When you were a kid, what did you think you were going to be doing at this age? “I thought I was going to be a dancer at first, then a writer, then, ultimately, my dream job was a film critic.”

Excerpt from NYC’s 30 under 30:
The Stylist We’ve met our fair share of stylists. But, when it comes to Stevie Dance, there’s no denying she’s really something special. From a throwback editorial fusing Liya Kebede into artwork by Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe to styling hometown-treasure Naomi Watts for a Vogue cover down under, the Australia-born stylist and creative director has put her fashionable mark on some incredible spreads, which have since become timeless favorites. Best part? That’s not even her entire job. On Shop Ghost, her self-created online zine, she flexes her curatorial muscle with a focus on of-the-moment everything across the fashion spectrum. With model and muse interviews, a shopable collection of this season’s dopest finds, and a nifty photoblog interface topped with colorful commentary, it’s a scrollful of inspiration — and a too-cool hub for all things “it." And, considering her before-the-curve eye for fashion, it's a great place to see what everyone will be wearing six months from now. (NYC 30 under 30)
Secrets of Her Success 1. “Have the guts to walk into the unknown. I cold-called Russell Simmons for a job. I said, ‘Give me this opportunity, and I will make you proud.’ He did, and I did.” 2. “Those first weeks on the job are crucial. Lie low and be a sponge. Listen and observe.” 3. “Mistakes happen. Own up to them. Say, ‘I screwed up, here is how, and I’m never letting it happen again.’ (glamour.com)

What kind of kid were you? How does that affect who you are now? “As a kid, I felt pretty fearless. I was obsessed with the underdog. I liked creative writing. I went to an all-girls’ school, and I wore a uniform that I struggled with. I couldn’t draw to save myself, but I danced everywhere I went. I wanted to be a choreographer or a ballerina or in C+C Music Factory or a Fly Girl. I thought Elaine from Seinfeld was the ultimate. I liked to swim after school and eat fish and chips out of newspaper, and I was crazy about The Beatles way more than the Stones. I guess all of this comes through now somehow. I don’t know if much has changed, except now, I only get to go dancing in my spare time.” (NYC 30 under 30)
some point, I wanted to be a professional chef and also an NBA player, probably at the same time. I think there was a phase where I wanted to be a firefighter as well. Alas, I was destined to be a nerd instead.” (NYC 30 under 30) A perfect day in your town always includes these three things... “Close friends, a Sapphire and tonic, and the express trains running on schedule.”

Elliott Breece Computer programmer and inventor of Songza, as well as other social media

What’s the best professional lesson you ever learned? “Try your best to surround yourself with people that are smarter than you. I’m not sure where I first learned this lesson, but I have never gone wrong by following it.” What kind of kid were you? How does that affect who you are now? “I was quiet, curious, geeky, and very into computers and sports. Now that I'm older, I'm quiet, curious, geeky, and very into computers and sports. Not much has changed. I’ve always wanted to build cool, complex things.”

Excerpt from NYC’s 30 under 30:
The Tune Techie We’re all for inventions that make life easier — walkable wedges, anyone? — which is why Songza, the music-streaming phenomenon cofounded by tech-whiz Elliott Breece, 28, has become our latest obsession. The budding music mogul got his start with Amie Street, an independent online music store he cofounded and later sold to Amazon (yep, Amazon!) and has since received enough accolades to fill a Boy Scout vest and beyond. Like the Opening Ceremony of streaming services, his latest venture, Songza, is a curated playlist machine set to soundtrack your life by way of very, very tightly curated playlists you may not have listened to otherwise. “We built Songza to improve the normal — and abnormal — stuff people do on a daily basis by creating a perfect soundtrack for any situation,” he said. And from getting you amped to complete that spreadsheet you put off till the end of the day to calming music for quelling any pre-blind-date nerves, Songza’s got it all. (NYC 30 under 30)
Secrets of Her Success 1. “Have the guts to walk into the unknown. I cold-called Russell Simmons for a job. I said, ‘Give me this opportunity, and I will make you proud.’ He did, and I did.” 2. “Those first weeks on the job are crucial. Lie low and be a sponge. Listen and observe.” 3. “Mistakes happen. Own up to them. Say, ‘I screwed up, here is how, and I’m never letting it happen again.’ (glamour.com)

Which celebrity would play you in the movie version of your life? “The movie would have to be animated, and the voice actor would be H. Jon Benjamin. He is the main voice actor from Archer and Bob’s Burgers. I don’t sound like him at all, but I think he’d do a great job speaking for my animated self.” When you were a kid, what did you think you'd be doing at this age? “At some point, I wanted to be a professional chef and also an NBA player, probably at the same time. I think there was a phase where I wanted to be a firefighter as well. Alas, I was destined to be a nerd instead.” (NYC 30 under 30) A perfect day in your town always includes these three things... “Close friends, a Sapphire and tonic, and the express trains running on schedule.”

Valeisha Butterfield-Jones National Youth Vote Director for Obama for America during the election

Excerpt from TheGrio: Valeisha Butterfield-Jones is a political/communications strategist and the co-founder and chair of the Women in Entertainment Empowerment Network (WEEN), a global non-profit dedicated to promoting positive images of women in entertainment and media, and providing mentoring, scholarships and support to women seeking careers in media. The daughter of North Carolina Congressman G.K. Butterfield and State Representative Jean Farmer Butterfield, and a graduate of Clark Atlanta University, Valeisha spent six years as Executive Director of Russell Simmons’ voter education and youth empowerment organization Hip-Hop Summit Action Network. Before that, she was the Director of Diversity and Inclusiveness for the Alzheimer’s Association. (TheGrio.com)

Excerpt from Glamour:
When Valeisha Butterfield-Jones first met Barack Obama in 2006, she spent just five minutes with him but was instantly inspired. “He talked about passing the torch to young people,” she says. “He was so genuine.” So while working her day job, she volunteered for Obama’s 2008 campaign. He subsequently hired her, and this year she’s in charge of reaching the more than 56 million Americans between the ages of 18 and 30.
“My deputy called at 1:00 A.M. the other night, and we brainstormed for over an hour,” she says. “Sometimes you get the best ideas in those moments.” That kind of excitement keeps Butterfield-Jones, who at press time was about to give birth to her first child, energized. “I’m doing this for all young people,” she says, “and I’m doing this for my son.”
Secrets of Her Success 1. “Have the guts to walk into the unknown. I cold-called Russell Simmons for a job. I said, ‘Give me this opportunity, and I will make you proud.’ He did, and I did.” 2. “Those first weeks on the job are crucial. Lie low and be a sponge. Listen and observe.” 3. “Mistakes happen. Own up to them. Say, ‘I screwed up, here is how, and I’m never letting it happen again.’
(glamour.com)

Samantha Tubman Deputy Social Secretary who plans all the events for the White House

Excerpt from the NY Times: Around the table on a late September night were the four housemates along with Samantha Tubman, the associate director to the social secretary who helps plan nearly every White House event. On the campaign trail, Tubman was a press wrangler, one of the most difficult and least glamorous jobs. She had to make sure the press corps was fed and on time, all while dealing with lost luggage and hotel mishaps. Tubman, who is petite and has a quick, engaging smile, was also an older-sister figure to a lot of the young staff members. “Do you remember when we met at a coffee shop in Keene, N.H., when I was still a college student?” Ziskend asked, turning to Tubman.
At the end of every Friday dinner, the tradition is that everyone goes around the table and says something from the past week for which they’re grateful. Tubman started. She talked about her past week in Pittsburgh at the G-20.

Excerpt from the Political Girl:
After graduating from University of Pennsylvania, this politico joined then Sen. Obama on the campaign trail as a press wrangler. As Deputy Social Secretary now, she works with the Social Secretary Jeremy Bernard to execute events at the White House including state dinners, bill signings and other social events. (Political Girl)

It was crazy, chaotic and sleepless — a bit like life on the trail, she said.
Finally, they all finished saying what they were grateful for, and the group filed out of the house into the misty night. Tubman was going home, but the five men hailed a cab to Columbia Heights, scrambling over one another to squeeze into the back seat, shouting and pointing and laughing.
“They’re such boys,” Tubman said, turning to walk to her Logan Circle apartment just around the corner. “I love them.” (NY Times)

Reggie Love Personal assistant to President Barack Obama and former Duke player

AMC: When people are attacking the senator, does that feel personal to you?RL: You’re definitely a part of this organization and a part of the team, and the senator is always making a case of why he’s the best candidate to lead our country. Everyone on the makes the case for him. I think we all believe him and we all think he’s going to be the next president of the United States, and anytime someone comes across and article, or we hear something on TV, or the radio, and for some reason someone is saying the opposite, you know, your first reaction is to try to beat it back. AMC: That’s another one of the things when you feel the mental discipline of playing sports yourself kind of helps? RL: It definitely helps, with just trying to be consistent and getting your message out, and making sure you’re showing up everyday and ready to go. It’s very helpful when you can say: ‘Hey man, we’ve got just 70 days of hard work and pushing through, when the smoke clears…AMC: When you play, does Obama win a lot? What’s the percentage win so far?RL: It’s about 50-50. AMC: Really, he’s that good? RL: We don’t play one-on-one, but sometimes we’ll play like… in Iowa, we had a 3-on-3 series going on of myself, [Robert Gibbs] and [David] Axlerod.
sus Barack, Marvin [another one of the senator’s aide, who is also ginormous.] and Rick Seiger, who is now national trip director for vice presidential candidate Joe Biden.
AMC: And how did that series turn out?
RL: Well, the went up in the series, they went up in the series, they were up 2-0 when the series started, and we played best of 5, and we played the first two games, and then probably three or four weeks went by before we played the next, the next three games, which we won. But the interim between the first two and the second three games… man, it was tough, man.
AMC: How do you defend against Barack?
RL: Me personally, I would probably play off him a little bit, because he’s pretty quick, since I’ve got a little bit of a reach and height advantage on him. I would give him a couple feet and then make him take a shot
Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2008/08/26/reggie_love_interview_what_he/#ixzz2ZyN5s8l2

Excerpt from ESPN: AMC: It is hard to sort-of have a pickup game of golf. I’m sure you’ve gotten this question before, but I’m going to ask anyway. What about your basketball career prepared you for this particular job? RL: Well, I think especially playing basketball at Duke, you get a sense of being a part of something that is a lot greater than you and it allows you to take pride in doing that – though they may not be the most glamorous things – they all play a part. AMC: But you were kind of a superstar at Duke, weren’t you? RL: You know, I wasn’t a superstar, the thing about Duke is that the program – they have about 28 to 30 nationally televised games a year, so in that sense, you get seen a lot. But not because of me as an individual, but because of Coach K and the program, and the fact that we play well together as a team. You know we’re always in the top 10, year in and year out, we’re one of the top teams in the ACC, so you end up getting a lot of coverage. Not because I was a superstar. AMC: Right, there was a difference. So you think that sort of mindset is something you think has been helpful to you coming into the campaign? RL: That and you know, it helps build adversity and it puts a lot in perspective, when you wake up and you’re really tired. But your feet and knees and ankles aren’t hurting. AMC: If the McCain campaign was a basketball team, what basketball team would they be? And I think maybe Pistons, you know, for the aggressive play and all the sharp elbows, but my husband has also suggested the Princeton defense offense – do you have an opinion?RL: Well, I think you may be referring to the Pistons of the 80s and early 90s…. AMC: Which do you think is a rougher sport, basketball or politics. RL: Oh, politics is definitely a rougher sport, a rougher sport on the psyche.
AMC: Yes, I am referring to the Pistons of the 80s and early 90s. The sort of classic Pistons, and he’s referring to the classic Princeton defensive game. Do you have an opinion about that?
RL: If you had to say that McCain was a basketball team, and which basketball team would he most be like?
AMC: Ya, sort of the attitude they bring or the style of play they, you know, have.
RL: Well, I don’t want to insult any of the teams…
AMC: By comparing them to McCain?
[Reggie wrote later to clarify exactly why he was hesitant: "I don't want to insult any of the NBA teams, I have a lot of teammates and friends who still play in the NBA."]
AMC: What about Obama? If he was a basketball team? If team Obama was a basketball team – which you are basically. But which style of play would you say you are. The golden era Chicago Bulls was a suggestion from the peanut gallery.
RL: I don’t think that we’re the golden era Bulls because Michael was so establish by the time he got to his third and fourth ring. I would say that the senator has a work ethic similar to Michael Jordan, but I don’t know that I would say that he would be — I don’t think he’s the equivalent in the political world of Michael Jordan.
AMC: Which do you think is a rougher sport, basketball or politics.
RL: Oh, politics is definitely a rougher sport, a rougher sport on the psyche.
AMC: Right, you were saying your feet and knees don’t hurt, but everything else does?
RL: Everything else does. Mentally, I’m beat up man.
Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2008/08/26/reggie_love_interview_what_he/#ixzz2ZyLwA0yG

Jon Favreau President Obama’s speechwriting partner and the one he calls a “mind-reader.”

Excerpt from GQ: Meet Obama's 'mind reader', the 29-year-old, hot-desking, Facebooking frat boy charged with turning presidential policy into political poetry. Now the speech writer faces his biggest task yet: finding the words that will get his boss re-elected in 2012. Obama rose to national prominence with a single speech - a tour de force delivered at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. The punctuation marks of the thrilling presidential primaries of 2007-8 were a series of Obama speeches that frequently mesmerised and rarely disappointed. As David Axelrod, chief strategist for his presidential campaign has observed: "Barack trusts [Favreau]. And Barack doesn't trust too many folks with that - the notion of surrendering that much authority over his own words." Second, Favreau - or "Favs", as the president calls him - personified the brazen youthfulness of the Obama campaign.

It sent an unambiguous message to the world that the Democrat nominee had hired a member of the Facebook generation to be his speech writer, rather than a seasoned political professional or freelancing academic. Favreau's method was that of the student having an essay crisis. He would withdraw with his laptop to a nearby Starbucks, take off his Aviator sunglasses and pound away for hours - a process he called "crashing". Even now, more soberly dressed and with a formal White House title, at the helm of a team of six writers, he sometimes disappears to a Washington coffee shop for peace, caffeine and concentration. This, it is safe to say, is not how Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton wrote speeches for George Washington - or, for that matter, Raymond Moley, FDR's legendary speech writer, or Peggy Noonan, when she prepared Ronald Reagan's homespun addresses.
As such, Favreau has always been an unofficial mascot of the Obama phenomenon, an important anchor of the brand. It was no accident that a host of profiles of the young prodigy appeared during Obama's campaign. It did the nominee's chances no harm for it to be known that, on the night of victory in the Iowa caucuses, Favs had e-mailed his friend: "Dude, we won. Oh my God." Such stories cemented the idea that Obama was the candidate for the digital era, not just the first African-American with a serious chance of winning, but the first candidate since Bobby Kennedy truly to understand the aspirations of the young.
That scrutiny came at a cost. At a party thrown for him by his parents at their home, Favreau was photographed with a cardboard effigy of Hillary Clinton, Obama's defeated rival for the Democratic nomination, apparently groping her breast. Inevitably, the picture ended up on Facebook. (GQ.com)

Alejandra Campoverdi White House aid to President Obama and model for Maxim magazine

Excerpt from her Wordpress: Alejandra Campoverdi holds a Master of Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Prior to assuming her role with Univision, Alejandra Campoverdi served as a White House aide to President Obama from 2009-2012. In that role, she briefed President Obama in preparation for interviews with Hispanic media; implemented messaging across Hispanic television, radio, print and online outlets; and coordinated communications related to policy issues including immigration, healthcare, education, and issues concerning Latin America. She was raised in Los Angeles by a single working mother, who immigrated to the United States from Mexico. This perspective, as well as her own experience prevailing over adversity, has driven her passion for ensuring that Hispanic youth have access to quality educational opportunities. (wordpress.com)

Excerpt from Gawker: Enough about Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau, 27. Who is his hot young girlfriend, Alejandra Campoverdi, and how did she make her way from a farmworker's family to Maxim magazine to the White House? And does it say anything about the Millennial Generation's take on feminism that she's happily reconciled reality dating TV with an Ivy League education; lingerie photo spreads with a high-powered political job? Current gig: Assistant for a deputy chief of staff to the president. Pop-culture translation: Donna from the West Wing. Hardscrabble family history: "My stepfather... went from a childhood picking grapes in California fields to a degree from Stanford Law School." Leg up: Before graduating high school in 1998, participated in a performing arts mentorship program . She likely had designs on nearby Hollywood, judging from her later work. Reality television: After failing to make it onto The Apprentice, Campoverdi in 2004 took a consolation gig as a contestant on the third season of NBC'sFor Love Or Money, a dating competition in which young women vie for a bachelor's affection. Maxim: Also in 2004, Campoverdi appeared in the Maxim magazine phone spread . She told the lad-mag what she was looking for in a mate: "You have to be passionate about something. I don't care if it's your job or your hobby or your shoes. Something has to make you tick; something has to make you move." Movie work: Campoverdi played bit parts in The Aviator as “military arm candy” and Constantine as a vampire hunted by Keanu Reeves. (gawker.com)

Kellee Khalil CEO of Loverly, an internet start up that allows brides to plan their weddings

Excerpt from NYC 30 Under 30: The Wedding Whiz Weddings are known for being an expensive source of love-tinged stress — but, thanks to 28-year-old entrepreneurial genius Kellee Khalil, that’s all about to change. As founder and CEO of Loverly, the world’s first bridal search engine, she’s found a way to take the stress out of planning an epic soirée. Whether searching by color scheme, theme, or even wedding location, brides-to-be can find anything and everything they need for their big day, all on one convenient, photo-packed site. Want a Gatsby-esque wedding, complete with gilded cups and feathery fascinators? Looking for the perfect DIY-inspired place cards? Just one scroll through Loverly’s meticulously organized collection of shopable photos will get anyone with a ring around their finger (or not!) that much more stoked for her celebration (and extravagant fondant cakes).

Any creative endeavors on the horizon? “As a young girl, I always knew I wanted to ‘build an empire.’ My career and life goal is to build something bigger than myself, which can impact millions of people. I love working in technology and especially building a product for women! As Loverly grows, we hope to continue to bring innovation, simplicity, and awesomeness to the world of weddings. We always have something new in development, which keeps my life and my job very exciting!” What’s the best professional lesson you ever learned? “The best advice I ever received was from one of my personal mentors, Alexandra Wilkis Wilson of Gilt Groupe. She taught me a lot about building a team and the ever-changing roles within a start-up organization. Specifically, that at most early-stage start-ups, all team members must wear a number of hats; roles are constantly evolving; and, that there will be tons of ambiguity. When you are creating something from scratch, these changes are typically indications of progress and success. She emphasized building a team of agile, creative self-starters who thrive in such environments.” What kind of kid were you? How does that affect who you are now? “Growing up in a close-knit family of five kids, I learned to talk fast to get my points out — still do! — pick things up quickly to keep up with my older siblings, and be scrappy. My parents would likely tell you about my limitless energy and my willingness to talk to anybody, anywhere. I was also extremely competitive. I played soccer as a kid and would always get the ‘yellow’ card. I always wanted to win! Luckily, as I’ve grown up, these traits have come in handy in starting my company. Fierce competitiveness, a love for learning and people, and a strong desire to build a network have helped me tremendously in starting Loverly.” (NYC 30 Under 30)

Suzan-Lori Parks Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, Genius Grant winner ($500,000), and creator of 365 Plays / 365 Days, where she wrote a short play each day and got them ALL performed

Suzan-Lori Parks I usually don’t write sitting down. To me, language is a physical act. I do this with my own writing and I try to get my students to do this when they write—to move around, so that they are focusing on the breath of the characters, on the physical life of the character, and are putting themselves in an approximation of that character’s physical experience. That’s where the words come from: movement. I dance around, dance around, dance around, and then I know what the character’s saying. I act it out, then I get it in my body, and then I take it up and get it in my head…then I sit down and go, “Oh yeah, right…” SLP I’ve said I write plays because I love black people. I just figured it out fairly recently. Not that I had any other reason before that, but I realized why I want black people on stage—because I love them. And it probably sounds very vague, but it’s true. SLP No, I get paid the big bucks because I am vague and yet, everyone understands. That’s poetry, see. I’m a poet. I’m not a journalist. I’m vague but you know exactly what I mean. I write because I love black people. I don’t know, that in itself will take me a long way. (bombsite.com)

JIGGETTS: What does moving around mean, and did that influence your writing?
PARKS: My dad was an officer in the army, and we moved around everywhere -- well, I mean it seems like we lived everywhere. We lived in Germany for a while. We lived in Kentucky, we lived in Texas, we lived in California and North Carolina, and Maryland and Vermont, and all over Germany when we were there. And some other places that I can't remember. At one time we were moving every year. I think moving around had an influence on my writing.
JIGGETTS: You talk about people who encouraged you: were there people who tried to discourage you from play writing?
PARKS: I was being discouraged from studying English literature by my teacher in high school and discouraged from writing plays by some of my teachers in college. Those two things together, there's nothing like it! There's nothing like rejection to make you strong!
JIGGETTS: In what ways were you discouraged?
PARKS: Well, my teacher in high school said that I shouldn't write because I couldn't spell. She told me that if I studied anything, don't study English. I was very good at chemistry. Actually, I wanted to become a scientist, so I was very good in those two subjects; I thought, oh, I'll be a rocket scientist. But then I read Virginia Woolf -- ah, Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse. That novel pulled me from the science lab into the literature lab. I said good-bye to physics. Then I wrote my first play in college.
(Project Muse)

Lynn Nottage Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, Genius Grant winner ($500,000), Brooklyn Native, and creator of Ruined, the most well received play in a decade

Excerpt from The Root: Sexual violence against tens of thousands of women has been a chilling constant during the decade of chaos and conflict in Eastern Congo—so much so that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last July declared rape a weapon of mass destruction. The carnage inspired playwright Lynn Nottage to explore the fallout for women at war. In Ruined, Nottage introduces us to Selima, a simple girl raped and enslaved for months, then treated as damaged goods by her husband; Josephine, a chatty sexpot forced by circumstance into a life of sex work, and Sofie, a quiet beauty whose rape at the end of a bayonet has left her internal organs, and herself, “ruined.” Nottage’s play, which won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2009, is a powerful political statement and artistic achievement. On the stage: gunshots, war cries, abject poverty. In the spotlight: the proud Mama Nadi, played by actress Portia, a feminist who protects women.

TR: Did you travel to Eastern Congo for your research? LN: In 2004 I went to Uganda, to the border, but the conflict I was looking at, in the Iture rainforest area the war was very much still going on and a lot of Congolese refugees were flowing over the border. It was fascinating. It’s fascinating in particular because Uganda is a place where there has been relative calm … But right over the border, you have these unspeakable things that are happening.
TR: How do you think Ruined will resonate with African-American women? Is there a conversation to be had between Africa and America? LN: I like to tell a story—when I was conducting the first round of interview with Congolese women I was wearing this very colorful bubu I had bought in Senegal because it was very comfortable, and I wanted the woman to feel at ease with me. And a photograph was taken, and when I returned home and I was going through my photographs, it took a moment for me to pick myself out. I realized that I am telling a story not just about these women, I am telling a story about myself but for the grace of God, which is the context. And I also feel a tremendous sisterhood with these women.
R: When you were casting these women, who inhabit the heart and soul of this play, what did you look for? What impact might your work have on blacks and the performing arts? LN: I looked for women who were self-possessed, who had a combination of vulnerability and real strength. Some women would come in, and they could get the vulnerability side, but they couldn’t access their strength and couldn’t find a way to transcend the sadness to find the resilience and hope in the character. And then you had the reverse, there were these women who had all this strength and had this beautiful vibrato in their voice—but were not able to find the vulnerability. (The Root)

Audie Cornish Journalist for NPR and co-host of its flagship show, All Things Considered.

You’re young, too. Is this part of an appeal to a younger, wider demographic? I think that’s always a part of what’s going on there. The thing that people don’t realize is that there are a lot of young people working at NPR. Their influence is already working its way into the culture there. So it’s not so much of an anomaly as people might think. You look at our host Guy Raz at All Things Considered. He’s interviewing Eminem and Will.i.am and doing fun things that maybe don’t quite fit in on the weekday shows where there’s a lot of news, but speaks to another generation of listener that is coming to us through the iPad and the Web. I mean, don’t expect rap on Sunday morning. A little, but it’s not going to all of a sudden turn into some sort of VH1-light situation because I’m young and brown.
How will your show be different? Change is hard for NPR. The model I am looking to, and I’m even hesitant to say this, is Jimmy Fallon—it’s still late night. It’s the same late-night show you’re used to seeing, just a little bit more. They have a band, but it’s the Roots! You should have a house band! Thinking about it! [Laughs.] At least a DJ. A Sunday morning Bloody Mary DJ. So no more Saturday nights out. Here’s the deal: there’s only like six people in the world that are hosts for NPR. I’ll happily relinquish Saturday nights. Basically if I got hit by a bus right now I can say I’ve been a host for National Public Radio.
(adweek.com)
(adweek.com)That’s awesome. There’s no better thing I could have gotten. I don’t know any other gig where I can say “let’s talk to the education secretary, and now let’s talk to Cee Lo,” and take each thing seriously.

Excerpt from her NPR Bio: Audie Cornish is host of NPR’s All Things Considered. Previously, she served as host of Weekend Edition Sunday. Prior to moving into that host position in the fall of 2011, Cornish reported from Capitol Hill for NPR News. She was part of NPR's six-person reporting team during the 2008 presidential election, and had a featured role in coverage of the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
Cornish comes to Washington, D.C., from Nashville, where she covered the South for NPR, including many the Gulf states left reeling by the 2005 hurricane season. She has also covered the aftermath of other disasters, including the deaths of several miners in West Virginia in 2006, as well as the tornadoes that struck Tennessee in 2006 and Alabama in 2007. (npr.org)

Michel Martin Host for NPR’s Tell Me More, which comes on 90.1 at 8pm each night.

Excerpt from an interview on education: Here we are with Michel Martin, who had a great show this morning about education. Could you introduce yourself and tell us a bit more about your show? Sure, I’d be happy to. I’m Michel Martin, I’m the host of Tell Me More, it’s a daily, Monday – Friday program broadcast out of Washington DC. It is national, we are in about 130 markets or so around the country and the program has been on for about 5 years. Education has always been one of the pillars of the program. You know, a show is like a pair of shoes or a jacket, you have to have a reason to have it in your closet. One of the pillars of the program has always been education, pushing education forward. We don’t have any axe to grind in terms of the way we want people to think about education. We just know that the people we talk to, from all different backgrounds, education is always one of their top priorities if not the top priority for them. And yet it’s very hard to have national conversations about it, because education is so local, and a lot of people don’t see the connections to other things happening in other places. What we try to do is not only to bring a national perspective to local stories, but also to stay in touch with the local stories so that people can understand what’s happening. I think you can see by the types of guests that we are able to get, that other people are having those conversations too. You know I also think that we should have a 2 hour show, not a 1 hour show so feel free to raise the question! I have to say, as I said before, education has always been one of the pillars of our stool. If you asked us, how do we see our mission as a program, covering education is one of the pillars of that stool, because it’s something that affects everyone. It touches the future, it touches the past. You don’t have to have kids in school for it to affect you. Let me tell you, long before I came to NPR, I was working in this particular field — and I have been a journalist for a long, long time. Education and children’s future are things that we all have to care about. ( alexcd.org)

Excerpt from her NPR Bio: Michel Martin is curious about many things. "I wonder what it's like to leave everything and everyone you know for the promise of a better life, to run for President, to be a professional athlete, to parent children of a different race," she notes. "I am fascinated by people who live lives different from my own. And at the same time, I feel connected to all of these lives being a journalist, a woman of color, a wife and mother." All these topics are part of Tell Me More, the one-hour daily NPR news and talk show.
Martin, who came to NPR in January 2006 to develop the program, has been a journalist — first in print with major newspapers and then in television. "What makes public radio special is that it's got both intimacy and reach all at once. For the cost of a phone call, I can take you around the world. But I'm right there with you in your car, in your living room or kitchen or office, in your iPod.” (npr.org)

Melissa Harris-Perry College professor during the week and MSNBC host of MHP on the weekend

Excerpt from The Root: Melissa Harris-Perry, host of her own MSNBC show, would not have found success without the support of her parents and mentors, she told us last fall at The Root 100 gala in New York City. Because of that, she likes to pay it forward and help as many people as she can. Her best piece of advice? Be your authentic self.
"I'm always excited to see, particularly women of color, and young women of color, just being their full whole selves without feeling like they have to fit into a very narrow box," said Harris-Perry, who was #1 on The Root 100 list for 2012, our annual list of the most influential African Americans.
FULL VIDEO INTERVIEW IS AVAILABLE AT THE WEBSITE!
(theroot.com)

Excerpt from My New Orleans:
Why do you report on New Orleans? MHP: When I first got the show, one of my major commitments was that we would not say all politics happen between D.C. and New York. There’s always this assumption that something either happens in D.C. or happens in New York. To me, Southern politics are the most interesting.
So why do you say that? Well part of it is because I’m a Southerner. The South generates not only a different history, but a different set of assumptions about government and about people. It’s also an incredibly racially diverse part of the country. Even though, like people in the North are always like “Oh those Southern racists,” but we’re the ones actually figuring race out. We’re the ones actually working on it. We’re the ones actually dealing with all the complicated effects.
And the other thing is Southern poverty is so different than like... There’s like this 1990s version of “urban poverty” is Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia. But our poverty is different. When we talk about poverty, and when we talk about Southern poverty, it’s really important.
You bought a house to restore, but it was destroyed in Hurricane Isaac. I just heard you talking about turning it into a garden? Yeah, that’s the plan. We just got the fence up. It’s a huge lot. We bought this property in the first place because we were very worried about crime and blight in our neighborhood. So for now, we’re trying to figure out a way that it contributes to our neighborhood. At the moment, our neighborhood needs green space. So why do you think it’s so important to restore New Orleans? Part of it is I just love it. Some of it's irrational, but you love it and you value it. People here have a front porch that the people still sit out in front of and talk to their neighbors. There’s a way of life here that if we lost it, it would be a loss not just for us, but it would be a loss for the country. (myneworleans.com)

Jason Moran Violinist, Composer, Genius Grant winner ($500,000), and Director for the Kennedy Center in NYC

Excerpt from bio from The Root:
Jason Moran creates original jazz compositions and reinterpretations of classics that stretch the genre's boundaries by blending classical, blues, rock, hip-hop, funk and the spoken word.
In November of 2011, he was tapped for a three-year appointment as the Kennedy Center's artistic adviser for jazz -- becoming only the second person to hold the position.
Albums by the Houston native and Manhattan School of Music graduate include Modernistic: Some Mother and Ten. Moran has performed with artists such as Cassandra Wilson, Wayne Shorter and Marian McPartland and won a 2010 MacArthur Foundation fellowship. He serves on the New England Conservatory faculty.
(theroot.com)

Excerpt from PBS:
JEFFREY BROWN: One of the wonderful contradictions of jazz -- or I don't know if it's a contradiction, but always strikes me is it is something so brand-new. There's the improvisation. It's created in the moment, but it also comes from a very long tradition.
JASON MORAN: Right. Right. And it's important, I mean, also for the tradition of America really. The music speaks to its history here, you know, born out of, you know, one of the more trying times of America, born out of slavery. Blues and gospel and jazz come out of these freedom musics, these musics that promote thought. They promote consciousness. And they promote therapy also, not only for the musicians, but for the audience that is listening. After hearing this music, I feel ready to address the world again.
JEFFREY BROWN: Do you listen to hip hop? JASON MORAN: I listen to a lot of hip-hop, listen a lot of R&B. I listen to a lot of current techno and electronica, because, you know, the music keeps changing. And I look at my 4-year-old twins and I say I wonder what they'll listen to when they're 13 or 14, when music starts to really matter.
JEFFREY BROWN: Is that how you started, as a child, piano? JASON MORAN: Yes. Yes, fortunately. I say fortunately now. It was unfortunate when I was 7 years old, because who wants to practice piano? But my parents had me in Suzuki classes with a fantastic teacher, Yelena Kurinets, who really taught me about the basics of the technique of the piano, but also the love and the passion that would then grow. I don't know how she planted this seed. It was amazing how she did this, because now when I go back to Houston to perform, she's there sitting in the audience still commenting on my technique. (pbs.org)

Britney Exline UPENN graduate and youngest professional engineer in history at 19 years old

Excerpt from The Root: Brittney likes to say that she is a product of nature and nurture. She taught herself how to read at age 2. She did complicated jigsaw puzzles. She used to solve problems out of workbooks for fun. Her mom noticed her early accomplishments and tried to find the best educational fit, which is how she ended up skipping three grades.
She is a software engineer for Chikita, an online advertising network in Westborough, Mass. "My mom had to fight to get me to a place that was challenging," she said. "I just happened to rise to that challenge." Brittney tries to encourage more African-American youths to consider STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) careers. "We have an outdated way of teaching math and science," she said. "We need it be more interactive and more project-oriented." (theroot.com)

Excerpt from Ebony: Being a standout is nothing new for Brittney Exline. The Colorado Springs, Colo., native made history in 2007 at the age of 15 when she became the youngest African-American female accepted into an Ivy League school, the University of Pennsylvania (Penn).
Exline has made history once again as the school’s youngest engineer and the nation’s youngest African-American engineer. The 19-year-old recently graduated, and already, she’s landed a job with a software company outside of Boston. “I’m a little bit nervous,” said Exline. “I’m sure I’ll be fine. Being 19 doesn’t bother me. It’s just being fresh out of college and having a new transition.”
Exline, who speaks Spanish, French, Japanese, Russian, Arabic and German, doubled her loads to graduate in four years with minors in math, psychology and classical studies. “I’ve never had less than five classes,” she said. “But I’ve had as many as 6.5 classes. I just made sure I had time to study.”
According to her mom, “We made sure they got everything they needed to succeed. I made sure they remained committed even when they wanted to quit. They learned you can’t quit an activity just because it’s hard. Sometimes you need to stick with something. That’s the only way to learn how to persevere and overcome true obstacles. Eventually, it becomes a part of you. I believe this.”
Exline, a dancer whose held many pageant titles including 2004 Miss Colorado Pre-Teen and 2006 Miss Colorado Jr. National Teenager, was fortunate enough to find internships each summer. Volunteerism is her passion, but for right now, Exline is concerned with figuring out a way to do something that she’s avoided for a long time: learning how to drive. “I didn’t need to learn in Philly; I used public transportation. Also, I didn’t really want to learn that badly,” she said. “I was hoping to get a job in an area where I didn’t have to learn how to drive. I have to learn now, being outside of Boston, because it isn’t as accessible with public transportation.” (ebony.com)

Kadir Nelson Award winning artist and illustrator for children’s books

Excerpt from Scholastic Kadir Nelson is a critically acclaimed artist and illustrator. He has received many awards and honors for his children's books, including the 2009 Sibert Medal for We Are the Ship, a Coretta Scott King Award forEllington Was Not a Street, written by Ntozake Shange, and the NAACP Image Award for Just the Two of Us, written by Will Smith.
Nelson won a 2008 Caldecott Honor for Henry's Freedom Box, written by Ellen Levine. In this stirring, dramatic story of a slave who mails himself to freedom, Nelson combined his own style of painting with a cross-hatched style of illustration he found used in a historial lithograph from 1850 that documented Henry's arrival to Philadelphia. "The challenge that comes with illustrating historical picture books is finding accurate references," states Nelson. "Deciphering between what is accurate, and what is not." (scholastic.com)

Excerpt from Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast:
What exactly is your process when you are illustrating a book, particularly when it’s one you have written? Kadir: My process for creating the words and paintings for We Are the Ship was very organic. I started with a few paintings and then put them away and concentrated on the manuscript. Once it was in pretty good shape, I picked up where I left off on the artwork. I essentially painted all of the images I wanted and then left it to the art director to find a place to put them. So essentially the art and manuscript were created in two separate vacuums, though there was a bit of overlap at times.
Can you briefly tell us what your school visits are like and how they affect your work as an artist, if at all? Kadir: Through a PowerPoint demonstration, I show school kids my evolution as an artist, including my drawings of Charlie Brown and Snoopy drawn with pencils and crayons at six years old. The intention is to let them know that everyone has to start somewhere. With hard work, determination, and a desire to improve and have fun, anyone can achieve their dreams. It’s an important lesson for people of all ages.
What is your favorite word? Visceral. What is your least favorite word? Sigh. What turns you on creatively or spiritually Passion, quality, and truth. What turns you off? People who are not motivated to improve their selves or their environment. What sound or noise do you love? The wind in the trees, LOVE it! What sound or noise do you hate? Sigh. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Musician or comedian. What profession would you not like to do? Anything that is not creative. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? “Hey, there he is!” (blaine.org)

Thione Niang Political activist

Excerpt from Complex: Coming from a family of 28 in the West African country, Senegal, Thione Niang knows all about organizing people for a common cause.
Seeing the potential of his peers to mold the socioeconomic and political futures of their communities, Niang founded The Give One Project—a global non-profit organization focused on empowering and engaging youth to take social and political action in their communities. Currently operating in France, the USA, Canada, and throughout West Africa, The Give One Project has encouraged many young activists to become leaders and impact the environments in which they live. (Complex)

Excerpt from WKYC NBC NEWS: Niang spent time in Chicago training to be a field organizer to spearhead fundraising efforts and field operations. He worked for the campaign in nine different cities over the nearly 20- month campaign. He is now the National Chairman of the Young Democrats of America College Caucus, a position requiring him to speak to young people all over the world. His motivational lectures have taken him to schools, conventions, and even detention centers throughout the U.S. , Africa, and China. It is often said that "knowledge is power" and "a mind is a terrible thing to waste." It seems clear that Thione Niang has his mind made up and is not wasting any time empowering others --- and in the process, he has empowered himself. (WKYC NBC NEWS) Excerpt from Complex: In 2011, Niang was named one of America's Top Ten Most Daring Young Black Activists and he continues to travel the world speaking to young people about leadership and service. He also hosts an online social forum called "The Thione Niang Show", which is dedicated to socially conscious discourse about art, culture, business and politics.
(Complex)

Sejal Hathi Medical and women’s rights activist who has already founded two philanthropies

Excerpt from NYC 30 under 30: The Girl Empowerer Incredible, brilliant, virtuous — there are not enough praiseworthy adjectives to throw Sejal Hathi’s way, partially considering we’re still picking our jaws up off the floor. The recent Yale graduate — as in, a few weeks ago — has implemented a new medical system in Cairo, helped girls around the world strive for change, and blazed her own trail to make future service possible. Two years ago, as a sophomore, Sejal cofounded two organizations to fund young, female game changers worldwide. (Amazed yet? Just wait.) While incredible in its own right, it’s even more impressive when you consider that this 21-year-old is en route to Stanford University’s School of Medicine, a necessary part of her plan to enact change through global health, medicine, and social entrepreneurship. And we can’t wait to see her do it.

Any creative endeavors on the horizon? “I seek to nurture girls’ potential as social innovators by also first enriching the soil in which it must root — to build locally grounded health systems that deliver quality, cost-effective, gender-sensitive care to even the most marginalized women.” What’s the best professional lesson you ever learned? “Failure always is possible, but it becomes certain only when you don’t try. Whenever I feel like giving up or giving in — whenever I fear accepting a new responsibility, launching an audacious project, demanding my fair due — I hear the voice of my mother, urging me to 'just go for it' and focus only on my dreams. What kind of kid were you? How does that affect who you are now? “Intense, singularly driven, vibrant, assertive, lively, passionate and impassioned, ambitious, loving, tireless, fiercely loyal, assiduous, hardworking, and earnest. It is these qualities and values that define me to this day." When you were a kid, what did you think you were going to be doing at this age? ”For the longest period of time, I was convinced I would become a lawyer. It was only in my first two years of high school that I became seriously interested in medicine as a foundation for assuring all people their basic human rights.” What's been your most humbling moment? "Every time I meet a young woman bold enough to stand in her own power, to embrace her passions and pursue her dreams fiercely — no matter what the critics say — I am humbled and inspired anew. From the 17-year-old in Florida who built a new app to diagnose breast cancer to the 24-year-old in Mumbai who recast her own aborted education into a call to action to educate all slum girls, these young women’s tenacity and unabashed ambition humble, overwhelm, and invigorate me all at once.”

Ben LaMothe One of the programmers behind Amicus, a new way for philanthropies to manage money

Excerpt from Forbes 30 Under 30: Ben Lamothe co-created Amicus, a program that has changed the way that money is raised for good causes. The challenge: of the $300 billion nonprofits raised last year, $60 billion was spent on fundraising. Amicus turns volunteers into fundraisers--its online tool overlays a volunteer’s social graph from Facebook with voter registration and consumer data so that nonprofits can use their volunteers' connections to reach out to potential new donors. The AFL-CIO, National Education Association, and this year's pro-gay marriage ballot efforts used Amicus. (forbes.com)

Amicus is a startup looking to use social connections to make nonprofit fundraising and outreach easier, has raised a seed round of $580,000.
You can see Amicus’ founders demonstrate the product in the video below, but the basic idea is that fundraising phone calls and emails are a lot more effective when they come from someone you know. If you’ve ever been contacted by some random person asking you to donate to a good cause, you can probably relate. Doubly so if you’vebeen the random person. Other companies like Causes and Fundly have been built around similar ideas, but they’re mostly limited to Facebook, while Amicus supports more old-school forms of communication.
So when a volunteer (or whoever) comes in to help with fundraising or outreach, they don’t just get a random list of numbers to call — instead, their social network connections are checked against the group that the fundraiser is targeting (say, young women in San Francisco), and they’re given separate lists of their friends, their friends of friends, and people with whom they have something in common, who are in the target group. That makes it more likely that their calls, emails, or even old-fashioned letters will be successful — co-founder and CEO Seth Bannon says that during the beta test, having a friend contact a friend doubled the likelihood that the person being contacted would take action on behalf of the cause. (techcrunch.com)

Edward Song Food truck cook and small business owner

Excerpt from NYC 30 under 30: The Food-Truck King We know that whole “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man” mantra is credited to Jay-Z, but we think there’s a bit of wiggle room in having it cater to this food-truck phenomenon, too. Queens native Edward Song, 27, dove into business with Korilla BBQ back in 2010. And with offerings like bulgogi burritos and bacon-and-kimchee fried rice, his switched-up take on Korean food has since grown to be one of the most recognizable brands in the city. At the forefront of the mobile-meal game, he also runs an agency that assists budding-food-truck royalty and gathers trucks for large-scale events, is in the process of giving Korilla BBQ a brick-and-mortar home, and has a second truck concept in the mix. Spoiler alert: It involves sausage!

What are you doing with your life and career right now? “As an upstart in the food-truck industry, we skyrocketed quickly, coming from nowhere, armed only with a healthy dose of 'shoot first, ask questions later.' It worked. The money started coming in and as the saying goes, so did more problems. Tell us the true-life tale of the last completely awesome thing you did. “One call, however, is all it took to turn a great day to an exceptional day. At first, I thought it was prank. The high-pitched voice and the anxious, giggly outbursts did not leave me much faith. The pieces I got were the person’s name was Elmo and the person was having a block party on a block that everyone knew, but no one knew where. Long story short, when Elmo calls you, you don’t ask questions, and that is how the Korilla truck and I ended up on Sesame Street, except it was in Brooklyn, naturally. I felt like a billion bucks after that. I knew I made an impression on my great-grandkids.”
What’s the best professional lesson you ever learned? “‘Second mouse gets the cheese,’ from Tony Stark. This encapsulates our turning point. Normally, I would be quick on the draw and first to pull the trigger, like I said, but fear has a hand in peeling back ignorance which may simultaneously paralyze you. It drives me mad when, in my dueling mind, I think about the money – the restaurant biz offers sh—y odds and sh—ier margins — and the uncharted path of commercializing Korean cuisine. In the case of Korilla, which is trying to trailblaze a whole new cuisine for mainstream America, I’m curious more on how others fail, because we know why we succeed." What's been your most humbling moment? “Being accused of cheating on national television. Contracts are a bitch.” What’s your mantra? “Push it to the limit.” (NYC 30 under 30)

Jen Lamere Award winning developer of an app that blocks TV spoilers on Twitter

Excerpt from Mother Jones: Lamere is a high school senior from Nashua, New Hampshire, who likes building robots, hiking, and entering "hackathon" competitions. At her all-girls school, the Academy of Notre Dame in Massachusetts, she's the only student participating in these sorts of events. Hackathons (which have nothing to do with illegal hacking) bring together programmers, developers, and designers, who compete to code an innovative new program in a limited amount of time. Lamere competed against about 80 other competitors—all of them male, according to Lamere and one of the judges. Proulx, the event spokesman, tells Mother Jones. "We had a diverse demographic, but obviously the majority of the people were male." In addition to being the only woman, Lamere was the only solo competitor in the hackathon—every other project was created by a team, Proulx says. (motherjones.com)

Excerpt from Teach Crunch: One developer took on 80 competitors at a hackathon called “TVnext” and won with a solution to save you from reading spoilers on Twitter with an app called Twivo. The developer has nabbed an internship at the company she built the hack on top of — Twitter.
This particular developer’s story took on a life on its own, not just because the app was really cool (I often don’t pay attention to my feed during Saturday Night Live, because all of the people on the other coast ruin it for me), but because Jen Lamere is a female developer who was up against an all-male group of hackers. She was 17 at the time. An attendee discussed the scene with Mother Jones, explaining: “the only other females in attendance, that I saw anyway, were an organizer, two camerawomen, a caterer, three judges, and a participant’s wife.”
The news of Lamere’s summer internship, which looks like it will be with the Crashyltics team specifically, came via Twitter, naturally. There’s no word on what she’ll be doing, but the experience that she’ll get will be incredibly useful.
Whether you want to take this news as a win for female developers, teenagers or technology as a whole, the story is a great one. At its very core, you have someone who is fascinated enough with tech to take the step and build something without a team, present it publicly at a hackathon and then take it to the next level by pursuing an internship…and that’s inspiring.
(techcrunch.com)

Malala Yousafzai After being shot in the head by the Taliban for the crime of being a girl who went to school, she has become an international defender of women, kids, and education.

Excerpt from her speech to world leaders at the United Nations, which she read on her 16th birthday, or “Malala Day” as it has become known: Today is it an honor for me to be speaking again after a long time. It is an honor for me that today I am wearing a shawl of the late Benazir Bhutto. First of all, thank you to God for whom we all are equal and thank you to every person who has prayed for my fast recovery and new life. I cannot believe how much love people have shown me. I have received thousands of good wish cards and gifts from all over the world. Thank you to all of them. Thank you to the children whose innocent words encouraged me. Thank you to my elders whose prayers strengthened me. I would like to thank my nurses, doctors and the staff of the hospitals. Malala Day is not my day. Today is the day of every woman, every boy and every girl who have raised their voice for their rights.

Dear friends, on 9 October 2012, the Taliban shot me on the left side of my forehead. They shot my friends, too. They thought that the bullets would silence us, but they failed. And out of that silence came thousands of voices. The terrorists thought they would change my aims and stop my ambitions. But nothing changed in my life except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage was born.
Dear sisters and brothers, I am not against anyone. Neither am I here to speak in terms of personal revenge against the Taliban or any other terrorist group. I am here to speak for the right of education for every child. I want education for the sons and daughters of the Taliban and all the terrorists and extremists. I do not even hate the Talib who shot me. Even if there was a gun in my hand and he was standing in front of me, I would not shoot him. This is the compassion I have learned from Mohammed, the prophet of mercy, Jesus Christ, and Lord Buddha. This the legacy of change I have inherited from Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Mohammed Ali Jinnah. This is the philosophy of nonviolence that I have learned from Gandhi, Bacha Khan and Mother Teresa. And this is the forgiveness that I have learned from my father and from my mother. This is what my soul is telling me: be peaceful and love everyone. Dear brothers and sisters, we must not forget that millions of people are suffering from poverty and injustice and ignorance. We must not forget that millions of children are out of their schools. We must not forget that our sisters and brothers are waiting for a bright, peaceful future. So let us wage, so let us wage a glorious struggle against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism, let us pick up our books and our pens, they are the most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world. Education is the only solution. Education first. Thank you.
(theguardian.com)

Bobak Ferdowsi NASA Flight Director for getting the rover Curiosity (a robot on wheels) on Mars

FERDOWSI: Pretty much. SAGAL: And you're famous because when people tuned into the video on Sunday to watch the landing, they saw you in charge in the room, wearing this rather remarkable hairdo, the Mohawk. Do you have a new hairstyle for every mission? FERDOWSI: That's exactly right. For all the big events on this project, like launch and everything else, I've had a completely different hairstyle. The last one was voted on by the team, when somebody sent out an internet poll for the whole team to vote on.
SAGAL: Wow. And they voted on a Mohawk. And these are your friends. Talk to me about your internet fame. Bobak, in particular you have become like, you've become a practical meme. We understand you've been getting a lot of marriage proposals via twitter, which shows real commitment to you as a person. What is instant internet fame like?
FERDOWSI: It's so crazy. I can't believe it. I'm still kind of getting over the fact that we just put something on Mars. But, it's a lot of...
SAGAL: No, no, no, tell me about the girls. I want to hear about the groupies.
FERDOWSI: They're super nice, you know. SAGAL: Last weekend you landed a rover on Mars. This weekend, you were on this. What are you going to do next weekend?
FERDOWSI: I'm going to try to get Carl to record a message on a Mars rover.
SAGAL: There you go. CARLKASELL: I'll be glad to. FERDOWSI: I'm going to hold you to that. Carl.
SAGAL: He'll do it. He'll be there for you. Bobak Ferdowsi and Adam Steltzner are two of the men behind the Mars Curiosity mission. Bobak and Adam, thank you so much for being on WAIT WAIT...DON'T TELL ME!. Congratulations on that insanely cool thing you did.
(APPLAUSE)
SAGAL: Thanks so much.
FERDOWSI: Thank you.

Excerpt from NPR’s “Wait Wait:” SAGAL: So, first of all, let's identify you guys. Bobak, you are known now, I believe all of the world as the Mohawk Guy. BOBAK FERDOWSI: That's me. SAGAL: And before you became the Mohawk Guy, what was your title? FERDOWSI: I was a flight director, or I still am, a flight director on the Mars Science Lab Mission. SAGAL: No, now you're the Mohawk Guy. So, Bobak, you were the flight director. What does that mean? FERDOWSI: I'm sort of like that Ed Harris character in "Apollo 13." But our job is decidedly less dramatic, except for those last seven minutes. SAGAL: Really? So you're the guy who's in charge of, like being in the middle of the room and sort of shouting out commands to people… FERDOWSI: That's right. SAGAL: ...as they stare at monitors.

Adam Steltzner NASA engineer in charge of the rover Curiosity’s complicated landing on Mars

Excerpt from NPR’s “Wait Wait:” SAGAL: So, first of all, let's identify you guys. Adam, you are known also colloquially as the Elvis Hair Guy.
ADAM STELTZNER: Yes, it's a heavy responsibility.
SAGAL: Right, to be the Elvis Hair Guy. And Adam, what is your job at JPL?
STELTZNER: I'm in charge of the landing of Curiosity.
SAGAL: Right. So let's talk about the unimportant stuff and then we'll get to your hair. Adam, you were in charge of the landing. The landing was so insanely complicated, where you had the heat shied and the parachute and the sky crane and all this cool stuff. How in the world did you know it would work?
STELTZNER: You know, the proof of the pudding is in the tasting and we didn't really know it would work. I had the hardest time believing it would work myself. You know, we made models of it in computers and we tested pieces that we thought we could test. But in the end, you never know if it's all going to come together.
SAGAL: Right. So basically the first time that you ever actually tried this in the real world was on Mars on Sunday?
DICKINSON: No.
STELTZNER: Yes, that's correct.
SAGAL: Wow. So Adam, tell me about your background. Because what we read, you were like a rock and roll guy for a while, right?

SAGAL: Right. So basically the first time that you ever actually tried this in the real world was on Mars on Sunday? STELTZNER: Yes, that's correct.
SAGAL: Wow. So Adam, tell me about your background. Because what we read, you were like a rock and roll guy for a while, right?
STELTZNER: Right. I was not the best student in high school. So I stopped going to high school.
SAGAL: Really?
STELTZNER: And started playing music. And after a few years of that, playing rock and roll in the San Francisco Bay area, I became intrigued at the fact that there were a different set of stars in the sky as I'd drive home from playing a show as there had been when I went to the show. And I had some vague recollection about something moving with respect to something else. But I frankly didn't really know what it was.
BODETT: But then you stopped taking drugs, right?
STELTZNER: That's right.
SAGAL: And so then you...
STELTZNER: So then I went down to the local community college to try and figure out why those stars were moving. Then I started to make up for my lack of high school education, so on and so forth, and then I'm here.
SAGAL: Right. Congratulations.
SAGAL: And what had you done to sort of qualify yourself to be the guy in charge of landing this rover?
STELTZNER: That's a really good question. I continually ask myself that.
(npr.org)

Evan Spiegel & Bobby Murphy Creators of Snapchat and founders of a 13 person company that has $14 million

Excerpt from LA Business: What led you to start your own company?
Spiegel: We started out building stuff because we were curious – we’ve been surprised and thrilled by the uptake. It’s an awesome adventure.
Murphy: I always liked working on my own projects and hated job interviews.
Where did you get the startup money?
Spiegel: Initially friends and family, then institutional investors in Silicon Valley.
Murphy: We went about a year paying costs out of pocket.
What was the biggest challenge?
Spiegel: At one point there were seven of us working out of my dad’s house. That got a little intense – but sometimes I miss those days.
Murphy: The whole experience has and will continue to be a series of new challenges.
Managing a quickly growing company is a big challenge, but for a couple guys who had never made an iPhone app, so was building the first version of the app and getting our first 100 users.

What was the most important lesson you learned?
Spiegel: Stay focused. Saying no to new opportunities and distractions can be hard to do, but it’s extremely important.
Murphy: Embrace that region that lies just outside your comfort zone. This is one of those circularly difficult things because if it’s ever easy you’re no longer outside your comfort zone.
How many hours a day do you put in?
Spiegel: A 12-hour day is pretty typical.
Murphy: Depends on the day; 12 to 14 hours is typical.
Does your youth lead to awkward situations, such as when you supervise older workers or meet with clients and investors?
Spiegel: No. We’re fortunate to work in an industry where young entrepreneurs are respected, and we have benefited tremendously from the generous support of our mentors and advisers.
Murphy: I don’t think so. What matters is what we’re doing and how well we’re doing it. Age is a consequence of experience, not an indicator of it. I know more now than I did two years ago, but only because of what’s happened in the last two years, not because two years has passed.
Will you start another company?
Spiegel: I’m really focused on Snapchat right now. It’s hard to imagine working on something else.
Murphy: Haven’t thought about it. I spend too much time thinking about this one. (LA Business ‘s 20 Who Are 20)
Could you ever work for someone else?
Spiegel: No.
Murphy: Well, technically, I work for Evan.
What do you do to relax?
Spiegel: Hang out at the beach, Jacuzzi, listen to Taylor Swift (kidding, but seriously).
Murphy: I just got a hammock. I like lying in that and putting on a new DJ mix.