Vision: Setting a Direction for a Changing World

Vision Setting a direction for the changing world

enerGy baTTLes

Market Barriers

Jigar Shah And the cArbon WAr room

PLUS

rethinking

United states’ Policies toward

Denis Hayes A LifeLong environmentAL AdvocAte

CaTHey MCCLain FinLOn A visionAry cAreer

DebOraH L. WinCe-sMiTH

mAnufActuring is the cornerstone of AmericAn competitiveness

ViCe aDMiraL Dennis MCGinn creAting A secure And prosperous AmericA

rUssia

DA N I EL S CO L L E G E O F B U S I N ES S

Ethical Practice.

Thought Leadership.

Global Impact.

Changing the way business thinks about the world, and how the world thinks about business.

Together, we’ll lead the way.  daniels.du.edu

table of contents

January - March 2012

In this Issue 6 Letter From The Editor 8 Letter From The Publisher 10 Inspirations 12 Advisory Board 18 Making Air Waves 20 Book Review 24 Opinion 106 Collaboration Close Up 112 Thank You

"With more than 12 million students projected to drop out over the next decade, it is estimated to cost the nation more than $3 trillion."

Visionary Leaders Bring City Year to Denver pg.96

An Interview With Jigar Shah and The Carbon War Room

S

cientists are more confident than ever that climate change is causing negative effects such as sea level rise, stronger storms, and drought—to name just a few. These extremes can and have already had devastating effects on society and the global environment.

The good news according to Jigar Shah, CEO of The Carbon War Room, is that

we can mitigate the effects of climate change by deploying existing and cost effective technologies and create wealth at the same time. The target is huge—business and consumers alike must reduce emissions by 17 gigatons by 2020 is paramount. However, our opportunity to do well by doing good is even bigger. Continued on pg.56

Business Minds and Humanitarian Hearts A New Business Approach to Charitable Work pg. 100

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» "While the total amount

of formal education is not declining the amount of informal education has absolutely exploded!" « - Jimmy Wales

Quote worthy pg.46

table of contents

January - March 2012

Academia

GOVERNMENT

32 Beyond “Reset” to Innovation

26 Push Has Come to Shove

One Educators Attempt at Institutional Reform in America’s Schools

and a Fundamental Rethink of U.S. Policies Towards Russia

28 A Passion For Education

36 Vice Admiral Dennis McGinn

Creating a More Secure and Prosperous America

And The Underserved

Industry ’s Role For Transformation In Education And Workforce

BUSINESS

COMMUNITY

38 Vision is More Than an

Ah-Ha Moment

80 Continuing To Fight The Green Revolution

42 A Vision For How Investing

84 Changing One Life Can Often

National Cleantech Initiatives

The World Food Prize Foundation

Change Others Along The Way

Could Be

And Why It Will Help Society

86 American Petroleum Institute - Houston

46 The Wonder of Wikipedia An Interview with Jimmy Wales

The Beginning of the Production Division

50 U.S. Senator Tom Daschle’s Vision on Energy

60 A Visionary Career

An Interview With C athey McClain Finlon

64 Building Vision Around

Technology

52 Summon The New Belgium Dream A Profile of CEO Kim Jordan

66 ITC Holdings Corporation

92 Service Above Self

68 Lockwood International

96 Visionary Leaders Bring City Year to Denver

70 Manufacturing Is The

Cornerstone of American Competitiveness

An Interview with Deborah L. Wince-Smith

Traditional Technology Strategies Will Fail to E xecute Your Vision

74 Diversity Capital Markets A Visceral-Based Approach

56 Energy Battles and Market Barriers 78 Mike Stemple An Interview With Jigar Shah and The C arbon War Room

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Harnessing Power From The Sun

Investing in Electricity Transmission Infrastructure Vision In Motion

54 Embracing New Capabilities

80 Goal Zero

Visionary, Entrepreneur, and Innovative Best Practices Guru

Rotary International

Impacting the National Dropout Crisis One Student at a Time

98 Denis Hayes

A Lifelong Environmental Advocate

100 Business Minds and Humanitarian Hearts

A New Business Approach to Charitable Work

102 Community Matters

A New Vision for Social Innovation

LETTER FROM the PUBLISHER

Vision:

A Dream With A Plan

By Gayle Dendinger with Annette Perez

A

visionary has a dream with a plan. An inspirer brings together diverse groups of people to share the common vision. A gatherer pulls the power of many minds and resources towards a common interest. A coordinator connects people and strategic information. A leader achieves common goals and collective success. A magician achieves unprecedented and remarkable results.

I look at vision as goal setting for leadership and business, with a positive impact toward the economic environment. I also believe that vision should be collaboratively shared so that measurable accomplishments can be made. Vision is a subset of the bigger, resultsoriented picture. But without a vision, the big picture can perish. We define the big picture by looking back to the past, peripherally in the present, and forward to the future.

Goal Setting and Vision Wikipedia defines goal setting as, “establishing specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-targeted objectives. Goal setting and planning promotes long-term vision and short-term motivation. It focuses intention, desire, acquisition of knowledge, and helps to organize resources.” Vision is a different task than simply establishing goals. Goals are the end-result of a path that achieves something deeply desired. Vision utilizes past experiences, along with the constant presence of ideals, to establish goals, dreams, and ideas for what the future will be. It helps to direct aspirations.

A forward-looking vision cannot be achieved without assessing the big picture, while examining the past and present.

» Goal setting and planning promotes longterm vision and shortterm motivation. « (6)

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Business Business is a major driver in our world—it is the decisive factor with respect to the success or failure of any societal goal. Vision cannot be achieved without assessing the big picture, again examining the past and the present. An organization’s ability to remember triumphs, as well as hardships, will help determine which paths to take going forward.

Before looking ahead, collaborative teams need to assess the present situation, especially regarding how members of the organization are connected to one another. It is also important to review the resource management system, including resources that have been gathered and what is currently being done with them. These resources, human or non-human, are what keep businesses alive, and as such should be given great attention. This is the point in the process to address any insufficient connections between members or the resource management systems.

One must manage at a 360-degree view to get the full vision and ideas that are being addressed in the organization and focuses on

all business units to address inefficiencies.

When a company is truly connected, the barriers of doing business are eliminated.

Success demands total access and expertise.

Leadership As a leader, the future must be envisioned, passionately believed in, and people must be inspired to succeed further than they may have ever dreamed conceivable. Leaders look at things from all perspectives and realize that business must keep up with the acceleration of change. The responsibility is on the leader to articulate the vision while making certain the employee comprehends the vision for exciting opportunities and possibilities for the future.

As Warren Bennis says, “The leader finds greatness in the group, and he or she helps the member find it in themselves.” Motivation is contagious and seeing people who have this value drives others to want to be part of something greater than themselves. This is the kind of vision that prods us to move mountains if necessary to get things done.

Shared Vision To achieve coordination among many diverse groups, a shared vision of common objectives and methods is vital to becoming connection-minded. Leaders must identify opportunities and share vision and business strategy, both at a company and departmental level. The better the vision is shared, the greater the possibilities for growth, efficiency, and profits. Multiple perspectives driving the vision can develop shared purpose and action.

Strategies are used as a road map for critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving to attain goals for each area. By communicating the goals, each member of the organization can begin to see a different section of the big picture, what the most successful projects and methods were, future potential, etc., while understanding and upholding the organization’s vision.

Economic Environment A shared vision of common objectives and methods is vital. Envisioning what your people, your customers, suppliers and competitors are going through is a critical step to making intelligent decisions when the going gets tough. Look at gurus, industry leaders, customers, suppliers, and partners for new and better ways to do business and develop a game changing strategy.

format that integrates these values into a practical learning environment for personal growth in real business. Going forward, we must create new statewide core competencies and options while recognizing windows of opportunity to create excellence or new opportunities, products, or services.

I believe that great power will be generated by people who communicate a compelling vision of the future.

The most important emphasis must be on today and the future, while learning from the past. The future does not just happen, we create it. The success of a company, department, or organization depends on the people involved being able to identify what is important, make informed assessments of a situation or opportunity, taking action, and then moving on to the next issue.

I am motivated by a vision of state transformation where everyone is engaged in creating a better civilization. That vision put into action can extend to us great opportunities—opportunities to learn, to earn, and to care for our families—by simply working together systematically and bringing forth our best efforts.

The evolution process of a properly designed infrastructure, filled with proper resources, shared vision, organizational transformation, and sustainable continuity is the responsibility of each organization

FOUNDER AND PUBLISHER Gayle Dendinger

PRESIDENT & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jan Mazotti

VICE PRESIDENT & EDITOR-AT-LARGE Kim DeCoste

MANAGING EDITOR: Annette Perez STAFF writers: Keenan Brugh, Tim Bungum, Michael Connors, Emily Haggstrom, Maria E. Luna

CONTRIBUTING writers: David C. Blivin, Sue Carriere, Michael Dale, Kelly de la Torre, Gail Frances, Bill Groh, Dave Guevara, Lisa Jasper, Rebecca Kersting, Brittany Noland, MHCD Staff, Deborah A. Palmieri, Ph.D., Beth Parish, James Pérez Foster, Laurie Peterson, Eric Reamer, Rebecca Saltman, Amy Schilling, Manish Sharma, Cristin Tarr, Judith B. Taylor, Angel Tuccy, Martha Young COPY EDITORs: Maria E. Luna, Laura Rothenfeld

ART DIRECTOR: Nick Heckman - EKMN PHOTOGRAPHY and design: Andrew Thompson, Shelby Soto, Darryl Watson

VIDEOGRAPHY: Tim Bungum, Blake Rubenstein, Tammy Schmidt Social Media: Annette Perez, Eli Regalado

Advertising inquires: Please contact Jan Mazotti at janm@icosamag.com ICOSA® welcomes editorial submissions from its readers. Whenever possible, submissions should be sent in electronic format. All unsolicited materials should be submitted to the publisher at the address below. Items not sent electronically will not be returned. The publisher reserves the right to decline use of materials at their discretion and assumes no liability for unsolicited materials.

ICOSA® (ISSN1938-2081) is published four times a year.

No part of ICOSA® may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. ©2012

ICOSA® CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS

At ICOSA we wish to create a long-term legacy of success, even in periods of greatest financial weakness by creating a standard for business, government and all Colorado colleges and universities to unleash the collaborative power we have at our disposal.

We want to help strengthen our state, even in an economic downturn, collaboratively.

Creating broad-based leadership and bolstering vital relationships with state representatives, educators, business partners and customers both intrastate and interstate will be a driver in that goal. And, I believe when we network with people and ideas we can help each other create an education

and crucial to the long-term quality of life on all levels. Vision is the force that transforms endless possibilities into planned action. The time has come to start following your vision, utilizing your infrastructure and your resources, and transforming your theories into action!

Best,

- Gayle Dendinger

4100 Jackson Street Denver, CO 80216 Office: 303.333.3688 Fax: 303.333.4832 Email: janm@icosamag.com Website: www.icosamag.com All third-class postage paid at Denver, Colorado.

To view an electronic copy of ICOSA® (ISSN1938-209X) or to get your free subscription, go to www.icosamag.com.

Friend us at ICOSA Magazine® on Facebook or check the ICOSA® Channel on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/ICOSAmagazine.

The title ICOSA® is an analogy for great connections and collaboration. An icosahedron, the strongest of the polygons, combines 20 equilateral triangular faces together. We use this analogy because we believe that if we all work together and collaborate, we too can become stronger – just like the triangles.

Cover photo courtesy of The Carbon War Room 01.12 - 03.12

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LETTER FROM the editor

Vision Is Everywhere If You Are Willing To See It

A

visionary is defined as one who is given to impractical or speculative ideas; a dreamer.

They come in all shapes and sizes. Oftentimes, needle-moving vision has no definition—it is something that is characterized in the brain of the visionary and few others. However, our lives would not be what they are without amazing visionaries leading the charge into the great unknown.

Historical visionaries include the likes of Albert Einstein, Ben Franklin, Henry Ford, and Thomas Edison. But the amazing Steve Jobs former CEO of Apple Inc. and of Pixar Animation Studios, is someone in recent history that changed life as we know it, and succinctly shared his thoughts on vision.

VISIONARIES CAN CONNECT THE DOTS In his commencement speech at Stanford in 2005 Jobs talked about connecting the dots.

He recounted his college years saying, “After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out.

And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out ok. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made.”

While not an easy living, sleeping on the floor, and trading coke bottles for the 5₡ deposit to buy food, Jobs learned to follow his curiosity and intuition—something that would be priceless as he and Steve Wozniak started Apple.

During his speech, Jobs told of how his college offered one of the best calligraphy classes in the country, so he decided to learn, believing there was not practical application.

Wrong he was. Jobs said, “When we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them.”

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“You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life,” he declared.

GOOD OR BAD— VISIONARIES LOVE WHAT THEY DO The next part of his story really addressed success and failure. In his Stanford speech he shared the journey to success with Wozniak and Apple, the release of the Macintosh, and the devastating public firing by someone, whom he had brought in, when their visions no longer jibed. While considering leaving Northern California, Jobs realized he loved what he did. So he started again.

“It turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything.

It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life,” he said. And, during the next five years, he started NeXt, a workstation company and acquired Pixar Animation Studios from Lucasfilm in 1986, and sold it to Disney in 2006 for a valuation of $7.4 billion.

“I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple.

It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle,” he urged.

At his speech to the graduating seniors at Stanford, Jobs reminded them to live each day to the fullest—to remove the external expectations, the pride, the fear of embarrassment and failure—because just as surely as they were born they are going to die. He shared his story of learning about the cancer that would later claim his life and he said, “Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.”

» "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future." « - Steve Jobs

He urged the audience to embrace life.

“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma—which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition,” he said.

This issue of ICOSA is filled with visionaries of small and large organizations, in academia, across the government, and in community organizations that are absolutely moving the needle. These pages are filled with stories of leaders who can connect the dots, love what they do, have a sense for the future and are planful as to what comes next, and don’t waste time being drug under by naysayers. They have courage, they have foresight, they wisdom, they have dumb luck, they are in the right place at the right time—ultimately, they have vision.

They have a different eye, they have a different mind, they have great leadership skills, and they are on the forefront of change in the world. As Steve Jobs would say… “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.”

All the best,

- Jan Mazotti

There isn’t an app for this.

Live, learn, and work with a community overseas.

Be a Volunteer.

peacecorps.gov

INSPIRATIONS

Inspirations

By Rebecca Kersting & Annette Perez

T

he previous two issues of ICOSA featured stories that exemplified the building of a functional infrastructure, similar to a spider’s web, and the storing and sharing of resources, like bees in a hive. However infrastructure and resource management are only two of the five components necessary for true collaboration to occur. The third component is vision represented by the dragonfly and its many eyes.

Dragonflies and their close relatives, damselflies, are the only surviving representatives of the ancient flying insects. In fact, there are nearly 1,000 different varieties of the dragonfly on the planet.

The dragonfly’s large compound eyes are among its most notable features and arguably, its most important attribute. Each compound eye is made up of many smaller eyes. The individual smaller eyes are able to create images on their own. However, the real advantage

» A collaborative organization must see all individual images simultaneously by drawing them together into one flawless image. « ( 10 )

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to this adaptation is the ability to form a big picture by synthesizing all these images together instantaneously.

As one of the first orders of flying insects, another important characteristic of the dragonfly is its four lattice wings. These wings are not true appendages, like legs, but are actually extensions of the exoskeleton.

Although they appear to be quite delicate, the coordinated movements of these sturdy wings make it possible for the dragonfly to fly forward and backward, and even hover. These maneuvers are possible because the forewings of a dragonfly beat independently from the hind wings, increasing flight stability. Their wings are strong enough to propel them forward at 100 body-lengths per second. Interestingly, it is much more difficult for the insect to fly backward, which it can only do at a rate of three body-lengths per second.

Both organizational infrastructure and resource management are key to creating a strong and efficient collaborative team. And once an organization has these systems in place, a plan—a vision—must be prepared.

Like the dragonfly, a collaborative organization must see all individual images simultaneously by drawing them together into one flawless image. Vision helps to direct the team to a common goal. Comparable to the image created by the compound eye, imagine the big picture of an organization as being the sum of multiple perspectives combined to form one complete image. Collaborative vision combines past experiences with the constant presence of ideals to establish goals, dreams, and ideas for where organizations will go in the future. In this issue we will look at real examples of individuals and groups, who, like the dragonfly, are using their “compound eyes” to see the big picture.

Advisory board

Vic Ahmed

V

ic Ahmed is a hands-on, results-oriented executive with a proven track record of building and funding companies from the ground up and for growth. Over his 24 year career he has established multiple startup companies by providing the vision and strategy for each. This includes getting funding, executing tactical and operational plans, and recruiting management teams to lead the companies to success.

Ahmed understands people and skill sets. He built an entrepreneurial culture within the companies that he has worked with to promote initiative and results orientation among employees by goal setting, coachoriented oversight, and by establishing an environment that provides the tools to get the job done right.

Ahmed currently serves as the CEO of BusinessGenetics the world’s first scientific method for describing business. Its revolutionary business modeling approach is based on its proprietary Business Modeling Language which enables users to gain an exact and complete understanding of all aspects of the organization.

He is also a Managing Partner at Cast in Green, a Denver-based incubator and consulting organization that assists companies in “getting off the ground,” by putting together viable and achievable objectives and plans, assembling top notch management teams, and getting the organization funded.

Finally, as CEO of the most successful incubator in the U.S.—Plug and Play Tech Center (www. plugandplaytechcenter.com) has helped 600 companies by raising $750+ million. In June 2011 the first Plug and Play incubator outside of Silicon Valley opened in the Denver Tech Center. Plug and Play Tech Center is part of a thriving Silicon Valley community of more than 300 startups from all over the world. The Plug and Play Tech Center has a number of strategic partnerships, including 170 investors who participate in regular screening sessions exclusive to member. International, university, and corporate divisions create an ecosystem of innovation that goes beyond just startups.

Wearing many hats across various organizations, Mr. Ahmed participates in many boards. He is the Founder, Board Member and Chairman of The Indus Entrepreneurs, Rockies Region (TIE-ROCKIES); Board Member of the Colorado Secretary of Technology IT Commission; Board Member of the Colorado Governor’s

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Vic A hmed Chief E xecutive Officer BusinessGenetics 9200 Mineral Avenue Centennial , Colorado 80112 O: 303-791-0554 F: 303-648-4426 E: vicahmed@earthlink .net W: www.businessgenetics.net Innovation Initiative; Member of the Advisory Board for the Bard Center of Entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado; Board Member of ICAST which is a sustainable development for underserved communities; Board Member of ACET Park which is a joint venture between NASA, NREL and CAMT. Ahmed graduated from Washington University in 1987 with a bachelor of science in Computer Science and Systems Science and Mathematics. He also took graduate courses at Lahore University of Management Services for Information Systems and at Stanford University for Market Strategies for Technology Based Companies.

Advisory board

Dafna

Michealson

D

afna Michaelson is the founder, president and JourneyWoman for the 50 in 52 Journey, a project for which she traveled across America to all 50 states and Washington D.C., spanning the 52 weeks of 2009 to find America's problem-solvers and idea generators.

Through this journey, Michaelson has been sharing the stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things for their communities throughout the country, with the goal of changing the mirror we use that reflects who we are as a society and thus inspiring others to action.

The project received national attention from “CBS Sunday Morning,” NPR, CNN as well as KUSA-TV, Denver’s NBC affiliate, the Denver Post, 5280 Magazine, multiple radio stations, local news outlets, countless blog recognition, and social media for social good awards as the country became motivated by the Journey.

In 2010, Michaelson launched the Journey Institute and Journey Productions to help others mobilize their communities to action including through her radio show, conferences, social media engagement and her upcoming book.

Through her contract with the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, Michaelson has been developing workshops and classroom materials based on her 50 in 52 Journey to elevate youth to the role of community problem solvers and to create safe social and emotional learning spaces by working with faculty, staff and students to develop a base level of the workings of productive kind communities.

Additionally in 2010, as founder of the Women as SOCIAL Entrepreneurs

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Dafna Michealson Founder, President and Journey Woman for the 50 in 52 T: 303.250.9584 E: dafna .michealson@gmail .com www.dafnam.com

group, Michaelson brings together women in a supportive environment to grow business ideas that benefit the community.

Most recently, Michaelson joined the TED family first as a presenter for TedxDenverEd and now as curator of TedxCrestmoorPark: Breaking Boundaries, Building Community and TedxCrestmoorParkWomen.

Local community achievements include: Leadership Denver 2008, Denver Health Foundation’s Level 1 Society Board, Downtown Denver Partnership Leadership Program 2007, Mayoral appointment to the Denver Women’s Commission, Current Board Member of the Colorado Women’s Lobby, Past President of Denver Chapter of Hadassah, Current Member of Commerce City Economic Development Committee, Adjunct Faculty Member of Metro State College of Denver Center For Innovation Teaching “Entrepreneurial Promotions,” Youth Mentor: Metro State College of Denver Center For Innovation Young Entrepreneurs Challenge.

Michaelson has been recognized nationally, as well as locally, for her achievements. She was awarded the 2010 Person of the Year award by “Conversations Magazine.”

More recently she was recognized by “ColoradoBiz” magazine as a “Trendsetter” for being a social entrepreneur and “making a difference in business and beyond.”

As well as by David Siteman Garland of the entrepreneurial business series The Rise to the Top amongst “35 Female Visionaries You Need to Know.”

In 2011, Michaelson was presented the Go-Giver award personally by Bob Burg, author of the international best-selling series Go-Giver books, in recognition of her national and global achievements in community building.

Michaelson shares a beautiful Colorado lifestyle with her husband Michael Jenet, and their combined children Ryan 17, Gavriella 11, and Eytan 9.

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Advisory board

Elliott G. Smith

T

he Person

I became the third executive director of the Iowa Business Council (IBC) in September 2005. I was professionally educated and socially tutored at the University of Iowa (business degree, 1981) and Vermont Law School (Juris Doctor, 1991). I served as a law clerk for the Honorable Donald P. Lay, Chief Judge of the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Paul, Minnesota. A move to Chicago ensued where I worked as an associate attorney at two law firms, practicing primarily in commercial civil litigation. I then returned to Iowa in 1995 as the legislative liaison and a policy planner for the Iowa Department of Economic Development. Subsequent positions included serving as Vice President of Government Relations at the Iowa Association of Business & Industry and as President of the Iowa Taxpayers Association. Immediately preceding my arrival at the IBC, I spent four years as a member of the Iowa Utilities Board, appointed by then-Governor Tom Vilsack. I’m a native of Iowa City, Iowa. My beautiful wife and mid-state New York native, Kay, and I live in Des Moines with our two terrific auburn-haired kids!

The Work

The Iowa Business Council (IBC) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization whose members are the top executives of the largest businesses in the state, the three Regent university presidents, and Iowa’s largest banking association. Founded in 1985, the IBC’s purpose is to focus the personal commitment of its members in active leadership roles on major initiatives that offer opportunity to enhance Iowa’s economic vitality and improve the lives of its citizens. Council members identify economic issues, evaluate options, and assist in implementing solutions through collaborative public/private partnerships. Collectively, these companies and institutions employ over a quarter million Iowans and have committed billions of dollars in capital investment to the

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Elliott G. Smith E xecutive Director Iowa Business Council 100 E. Grand Ave . #160 Des Moines, IA 50309-1800 T: 515.246.1700 E: ibc@iowabusinesscouncil .org www.iowabusinesscouncil .com

state. On an annual basis, several hundred million dollars in financial contributions and thousands of volunteer hours are directed to numerous charitable causes around Iowa. IBC members also lead in technology innovation and grants procured for research and development. The Business Council focuses its efforts primarily in areas related to advanced technology, continuous process improvement, economic and workforce development, education excellence, health care and wellness, and operations continuity and security.

Toughest Part of My Job

Remaining civil and respectful to those who, during political discourse, ignorantly engage the disoriented popular fashion of universally vilifying everything that capitalism and free enterprise is about.

Biggest Career Breaks

When the late Serge Garrison took a flier and hired me in 1983 as a bill drafter for the Iowa Legislature; when the late Don Lay mercifully took me on as one of his law clerks in 1991; and, when David Lyons brought me back to Iowa to serve as the Department of Economic Development legislative liaison in 1995.

Personal Hero

Nile Clarke Kinnick, Jr.—college football’s Heisman Trophy winner in 1939. University of Iowa Phi Beta Kappa, cum laude Senior Class President, ranked third in his U of I law school class 1940. Grandson of an Iowa Governor, Kinnick’s Heisman Trophy acceptance speech is considered one of the most eloquent ever given (the Marion Sentinel endorsed a presidential run for Kinnick in 1956, the first year in which he would be eligible). 1939’s Walter Camp Award winner, Maxwell Award winner, Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year (finishing ahead of Joe DiMaggio, Byron Nelson, and Joe Louis), consensus All American, and Big Ten MVP. Kinnick was a U.S. Naval aviator who reported for duty in 1941 three days before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He perished in 1943 when his F4F Wildcat developed a serious oil leak that prevented him landing on the USS Lexington lest he endanger the crew.

Though he executed a perfect emergency water landing in the Caribbean Sea in view of the flight deck, the plane sank with Kinnick on board before rescue boats arrived eight minutes later. Shortly after his induction Kinnick wrote, "There is no reason in the world why we shouldn't fight for the preservation of a chance to live freely, no reason why we shouldn't suffer to uphold that which we want to endure. Every man whom I've admired in history has willingly and courageously served in his country's armed forces in times of danger. It is not only a duty but an honor to follow their example the best I know how.

May God give me the courage and ability to so conduct myself in every situation that my country, my family, and my friends will be proud of me."

Something About Me Not Everyone Knows

My great-grandfather, Fred C. Gilchrist, served seven terms in Congress representing northwest Iowa (1931-45).

I caddied for baseball great Billy Martin once. And I was on a tour of the White House when the attacks started on September 11, 2001.

Recent Good Books Read

Team of Rivals, by Doris Kearns Goodwin – a fascinating examination of how President Abraham Lincoln became a master politician, primarily by holding his allies close and his enemies closer.

Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, by Bill Bryson – a delightful, humorous, insightful recounting of childhood innocence and optimism growing up in a Midwestern town during the 1950s, wistfully revisiting the broader social and cultural mores of days gone by.

Best Books Currently Reading

Undaunted Courage, by Stephen Ambrose – a remarkably detailed account of the epic journey made by the Lewis & Clark Expedition in President Thomas Jefferson’s desire to find a water route from the U.S. interior to the Pacific Ocean.

An American Life: The Autobiography, by Ronald Reagan – the candid, insightful, sometimes witty accounting of a private and public life that led to an historic presidency.

Personal Interests & Hobbies

Family, bogey golf, the Iowa Hawkeyes and Chicago Cubs, collecting old sports cards, presidential biographies, and good music – as long as it’s ‘70s era or jazz.

First Job

Selling soda in the stands at Iowa Hawkeye football and basketball games during the late 1960s (pre-child labor laws).

Favorite Vacation Spots

The Cascade Mountains in Oregon, anywhere in Scotland, and Wrigley Field.

If I Had a Different Job

Golf course architect – creating layouts with no rough, hazards, or out-of-bounds on the right.

If I Could Wave a Wand and Change Something

Require civility, propriety, and respect in all public discourse and private interaction. Make personal responsibility, accountability, discipline, civic pride, virtue, and professional integrity the bedrock foundation for all U.S. citizens. If you can’t handle that, out you go.

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making air waves

Experience Pros Radio

What We Didn't Know…

And Why It Didn't Matter! By Eric Reamer & Angel Tuccy

“W

e can, and should be 'doing more'." Those are the words of Jan Mazotti, ICOSA Editor and former host of the Connect + Collaborate with ICOSA segment of the Experience Pros Radio Show. No small task, coming from the one whose company declared 2011 as the 'Year of the Do.' And boy, did we DO in 2011!

At Experience Pros, we are constantly amazed at the amount of milestones that accumulate on the road of forward progress—not because we are surprised to see them go by, but because in so many cases those accomplishments had been deemed impossible by those on the outside looking in. We should be very clear—'impossible' is not part of our vocabulary.

Early into our corporate development, we decided to focus our efforts on becoming a stand-out business consulting firm. We had the key elements of differentiation, but what we didn't have was a significant portfolio of businesses who had worked with us in the past.

We didn't have a working knowledge of some of the corporate language, much of which had changed with the birth of Web 2.0. The influx of new information into the marketplace would have been daunting to many companies.

However, we dug in and did the necessary due diligence, immersing ourselves into the worlds of our clients, learning their business as we simultaneously learned ours.

We had a vision of what we knew we could be, and were relentless in our pursuit of the goal. As a result, we developed a very successful business consulting practice with dozens of highly satisfied clients in our now-full portfolio. Little did we know that things were about to change yet again.

At about the same time that we launched Experience Pros University, tailored group training for small businesses, a friend approached us and suggested that we share our message with a larger audience, leading us to expand our vision to our next venture— the radio. It could be argued that we didn't exactly know how to do that either. But instead of tossing our hands in the air, we embraced what we did know, and set off to ( 18 )

01.12 - 03.12

» We had a vision of what we knew we could be, and were relentless in our pursuit of the goal. «

learn how to become talk radio hosts. We started our broadcasting careers in the Internet radio studio of a friend of a friend, and invested heavily in making the show sound as commercially viable as possible.

This strategy paid off, and within six months we were invited to move our show to AM 560 KLZ, the oldest radio station on the airwaves in Colorado. We faced some uphill challenges in those early days, but because

we weren't 'radio people' we were blissfully unaware of the odds stacked against us in terms of contracts and air time. Instead of being paralyzed by fear of the unknown, we broadened our vision to include being the very best at what we do. In this case, we aspired to build our little 30-minute broadcast into a three-hour nationally syndicated radio show.

‘They’ said it couldn't be done. But, our vision simply didn’t know who 'they' were!

The Experience Pros Radio Show is unique.

It's been called "the most positive business talk show in America." It features nothing but the best in business, from guests to topics. KLZ renewed our contract for another year, and then the improbable happened—a 90-minute segment of airtime opened up next to our already successful 30-minute show. We viewed this as the opportunity of a lifetime, and proposed to expand our show to a two-hour, daily format. There came the nay-sayers again, 'explaining' to us that just because we want the time, we were ever so ill-equipped to fill it with anything that anyone would want to hear. Fortunately, our vision was louder than their negativity.

From there, history has been kind to us. We did get the two-hour daily slot, and an extended contract with KLZ. We surrounded ourselves with equally visionary companies like ICOSA, The Growth Curve Institute, Boyer's Coffee and many others.

We syndicated into markets across America including Phoenix, Birmingham, St. Louis, and Minneapolis/St. Paul. And, we are well on our way to that vision of a three-hour nationally syndicated show.

Our takeaway—never let what we didn't know get in the way of the pursuit of our vision. It has been said that there is a right way and a wrong way to do anything. And while this may be true, we are quick to recall all that we didn't know—and why it didn't matter.

The Experience Pros Radio Show, hosted by Angel Tuccy and Eric Reamer airs daily from 10:00 to Noon (MST) in Denver, Colorado. For more information, please visit www.ExperiencePros.com or www.Facebook.com/ExperiencePros.

www.theinnovationintake.com

innovate + educate

    

PUBLISHER

    EDITOR



January 2012

Volume no. 1 | issue no. 1

MANAGING & CREATIVE EDITOR

  DESIGN

  

IN THIS ISSUE: 

ADVERTISING SALES

  TITLE GRAPHIC

FE ATURE S

    

 Jack Johnston: Honoring the Life & Contribution of a STEM Pioneer

  Take Flight with Retired Air Force General Ben Robinson

CONTACT

 

  Our Featured Interview with the Editor of U.S. News & World Report                              

D E PARTME NTS        

t h e i n n o vat i o n i n ta k e





Brian Kelly

                                                                     

Editor U.S. News & World Report

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                                                                                           

t h e i n n o vat i o n i n ta k e

Jack Johnston

Remembering a STEM Pioneer

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USAFGeneral Ben Robinson

  

From College Wildman to a Distinguished Career

by JAMAI BLIVIN

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                                         

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book review

Abundance: The Future Is Much Better Than You Think

Abundance The Future Is Much Better Than You Think By Keenan Brugh

D

oom and gloom is seen all over the news and can be heard in daily conversations.

However, this dominant pessimistic narrative ignores the possibilities of the future.

Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think is an excitingly optimistic new book by Steven Kotler and Peter Diamandis, chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation that introduces a refreshingly new change in perspective.

Exponential Technology Abundance introduces the famed inventor Ray Kurzweil and the Singularity University whose curriculum focuses on advancing the state of technologies such as biotechnology, computational systems, networks and sensors, artificial intelligence, robotics, digital manufacturing, medicine, and nanotechnology.

Kurzweil’s writings describe how technologies are improving at an exponential rate, and understanding what that means for the future.

Sometimes people have difficulty wrapping their heads around the concept of exponential growth—like in the case of linear growth—30 steps will come out to over a billion. It is the reason why the cell phone in your pocket is a million times cheaper, a million times smaller, and a thousand times more powerful than a $60 million super computer was in the sixties.

That’s a billion-fold increase in price and performance and miniaturization. Interestingly, the most dramatic increases in an exponential growth curve are in the last few steps.

Similar improvements in other technologies, such as those being studied at the Singularity University, will reshape industry and impact billions of lives. With this book, Diamandis and Kotler present compelling research and expert interviews designed to educate and inspire. Providing humanity with abundance is a great challenge, and Abundance outlines how.

“Scarcity is often contextual,” they pose to the reader. While people are overwhelmed by the scarcity they observe in their day-to-day ( 20 )

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lives, there also exists a broader historical perspective. Consider this example; Napoleon had offered his most honored guests utensils made of aluminum, while his other guests had to make due with gold. The context of scarcity changes because technology is a resourceliberating mechanism.

Besides the concept of exponential growth in technologies, the book examines how these technologies are and will change the lives of people globally in the near to intermediate future. In fact, they already are.

The Rising Billion A young person in Africa today with a cellphone has access to better communication technology than the President of the United States did 25 years ago. Abundance explores the concept of the Rising Billion— the phenomenon where the world’s poorest billion people are experiencing an unprecedented rise in global information and economic integration. In fact, mobile phones and the Internet are bringing education and market access to those that never had it before. Previously ignored, they are now becoming a valuable market for businesses.

Previously lost, their ideas and aspirations can now be a creative force heard around the world.

DIY... With others Not too long ago, advances in technology were often the

workings of individual inventors. Because of this system, major changes were infrequent and the process wasn’t efficient. Next came organized research and development that was conducted only by well-funded projects within universities, governments, and corporations.

Today, the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) movement is empowering and connecting individual innovators with capital and other like-minded individuals.

As a result of this shift, new technologies, such as 3D printers, can come about very quickly because of this networked innovation.

Technophilanthropists

Dr. Peter Diamandis Dr. Diamandis is the chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation, an educational nonprofit prize institute whose mission is to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity, and the founder of more than a dozen hightech companies.

He famously led a $10 million prize to encourage privatesector manned spaceflight. During the 2012 Consumer Electronic Show, he announced the Qualcomm Tricorder X Prize, a $10 million prize to revolutionize healthcare with a mobile diagnosis platform that could have profound accessibility and clinical effects.

Abundance also looks at a new breed of change agents, known as technophilanthropists. As we know, information technology has created some of the richest and most successful business individuals in history who want to make a difference. People like Microsoft’s Bill Gates, eBay’s Jeff Skoll, and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg are revolutionizing philanthropy by how they give. Referring to technophilanthropists, Elon Musk said, “They are now attracted to the biggest problems facing humanity, particularly in areas such as education, healthcare, and sustainable energy. The result will be the creation of new technologies, companies, and jobs that will bring prosperity to billions on Earth.”

Abundance is a must read for anyone who wants to understand how, “Humanity is entering a period of radical transformation where technology has the potential to significantly raise the basic standard of living for every man, woman, and child on the planet.”

Visit www.AbundancetheBook. com to learn more, buy a copy, and watch the great two-minute video produced by Jason Silva.

book review

Material Change, Design Thinking, And The Social Entrepreneurship Movement

Material Change , Design Thinking, and the Social Entrepreneurship Movement Eve Blossom’s Profitable Social Venture By Maria E. Luna

I

t is absolutely necessary for both business and design to build sustainable social enterprise. So how do profitable social ventures get started?

These are the basic foundations. Start with establishing a business that offers a product or service that is of personal interest and that a customer wants, this takes some experience.

Eve Blossom outlines a profitable social venture system in her book, Material Change, Design Thinking and the Social Entrepreneurship Movement. Taking a visceral reaction from a repugnant social condition, to researching facts, to what is really behind a problem requires a redesign of what leads society to a specific behavior. A social faux pas can be an opportunity for a social venture. Oftentimes, social ventures are structured as nonprofits so they lack equity, rarely become sustainable, and have low if any financial yield. Blossom, a successful social entrepreneur has developed a system for making social ventures profitable. She says, systems designs can be applied to many things like structures in a building, a product, or a business, and as such, a system can be designed to make social ventures profitable.

“Design is now understood as an approach, a way to view the world and create an ongoing lifestyle,” she says. An item’s lifecycle is the most important element in getting a product or service to be desired by a customer. Being a customer is termed more responsible than a consumer, because, she argues, “Being a customer unites people in shared experiences.”

The design approach is more than making a product aesthetically pleasing but it’s about, “Building a smarter framework of ecological, economic and social sustainability. It’s about deep systematic engagement,” Blossom asserts. In Material Change she says, “Design can also change the fundamental building blocks of business.” The building blocks are worth consideration because the alternative is uncivil—observing unemployment, human trafficking, and child labor injustices.

One way to go about creating a social venture is to keep in mind the following ( 22 )

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practices. Consider the entire lifecycle of a product or service from raw materials to disposal.

Focus first on developing the most sustainable areas and then address the smaller issues, like designing new products for the end of the lifecycle by ensuring that materials in the product last longer or are reusable.

Ensuring the transparency of product development is also important, as customers often want to engage in the larger sustainability experience.

The hidden trade-offs of many products can anger customers—trade-offs like child work houses, slavery, and work for room and board without wages. Balancing an item’s “true cost” to its price is becoming a trend, as well as purchasing value-driven products. Hidden costs can also be dangerous. Take for example finding a terrific sale on a DVD player for five dollars. Parts and labor surely cost more than five dollars. So what are the hidden costs a customer doesn’t see? Is it possible the hidden costs are pollution, increased exposure to carcinogens, unfair labor wages, no wages, or slavery?

There is good news too! An example of a sustainable company is Whole Foods, an international, $8 billion dollar organization with 54,000 employees who work towards creating a better person, company, and world. Their motto is, “Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet—our vision reaches far beyond just being a food retailer. Our success in fulfilling our vision is measured by customer satisfaction, team member excellence and happiness, return on capital investment, improvement in the state of

the environment, and local and larger community support.” They are a prime example of a truly sustainable enterprise.

They are a great example of how companies can encourage and ensure ethical production.

Blossom’s book also tells the story of collaboration between designers and artisans working in a for-profit social venture.

Lulan is that for-profit social venture which employs artisans in Asia and India to prevent human trafficking. Blossom identifies six components that create sustainability at Lulan including ecological, economic, social, cultural, communal and personal elements. Lulan also allows employees to choose benefits that suit them best such, like giving housing allowances or educational opportunities.

Material Change takes an in-depth look into all six components and their success.

Blossom, a “disruptive entrepreneur” describes other disruptive entrepreneurs as spirited business leaders who are redesigning method and models with meaning and profitability. A disruptive entrepreneur is someone who will, “Collaborate, excite, inspire, create, include, modify, adapt, and redefine.” The disruptive entrepreneur erases the singular genius hierarchy and uses collaboration for stronger results. When applied correctly this type of collaboration draws people in, new ideas develop, and profitable partnerships begin. Furthermore, roadmaps are offered in the book, offering guiding materials for social entrepreneurs. Additionally, Blossom is launching a new website offering products made using the profitable social venture system.

These items can be found at http://www. wevebuilt.com.

Blossom believes that collaborative social entrepreneurship can build a, “Container of collaboration, a place where rich relationships and partnerships can flourish, a place that becomes stronger than you ever imagined, it’s like an invitation to a really cool party.”

» Balancing an item’s “true cost” to its price is becoming a trend, as well as purchasing value-driven products. «

Material Change, Design Thinking and the Social Entrepreneurship Movement is available at bookstores and online retailers.

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TAKING ACTION AND INFLUENCING

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opinion

The Vision Pitfall

By David C. Blivin

A

ccording to Webster’s Dictionary vi-sion is defined as something seen in a dream or trance: a thought, concept, or object formed by the imagination: a manifestation to the senses of something immaterial: something seen.

Quite often influential leaders are said to have great vision. This ICOSA issue on vision contains a number of profiles of leaders across industries that have had significant impact on the world around us because of their vision.

But hidden below the surface is the important distinction which needs to be made between vision and impact. As Webster correctly points out, vision is not tangible, it does not involve action, there is no inherent result from having vision, or a vision. This can result in the great pitfall of many—the misperception that great vision leads to great results.

Conversely, according to Webster’s Dictionary lead-er-ship is defined as the capacity to lead: the act or an instance of leading. Naturally, those who are considered to be great leaders are said to have the ability to lead. But it is important to note that there is nothing inherent in the ability to lead that suggests where the followers will be led. So having a vision of a direction which will result in great collective impact must be married with leadership to attain the results commonly attributed to great leadership.

This is where leaders distinguish themselves.

It is not only that they have a vision for something different. They have the ability to translate that vision to a collective effort. They

» Vision is not tangible, it does not involve action, there is no inherent result from having vision. « ( 24 )

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have the ability to inspire, motivate and move to action many others behind a common vision that they can articulate. They can provide a focus to cause and action that others can support in execution. Great results require great vision, but a great vision will not result in a great outcome without leadership.

The Earliest Demands For Energy It is clear from their names that the Global New Energy Summit and Global New Energy Network are focused on supporting the

energy discussion. They are platforms which our energy leaders can use to communicate their ideas and hope to recruit supporters for their vision for the energy industry.

Access to energy is at the foundation of every society. It enables everything from basic lighting to global communication, yet it is generally taken for granted. We plug a device into an outlet and expect electricity to flow without giving it a second thought. Energy is the source of competitive advantage and the key to economic prosperity. Yet getting energy out of base elements, refined,

distributed and coupled with voltage control is a highly complex value chain.

Archeological sites show oil was used as a fuel source over 6,000 years ago by the Assyrians and Babylonians. The Chinese were using coal as fuel to smelt copper over 3,000 years ago. The demand for energy has been with mankind for about as long as we have been on the planet.

Access to energy is also often the source of conflict. Consider the vision Ben Franklin had of harnessing the energy of lightening; and the ultimately resulting emotional and political battles of direct current versus alternating current between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla.

The energy industry continued to evolve and so did the scale of the resulting conflicts.

Converting coal in order to power trains took place in the earliest stages of this country’s growth. The discovery of oil at the Drake Well in 1859 completely changed the way we and the rest of the world live today. The vision of oil as a source of illumination, and bringing that vision to reality required the multidisciplinary efforts of George Bissell, a lawyer; working with Benjamin Silliman, Jr., a Yale chemist; and James Townsend, president of a bank.

There is a direct relationship between energy consumption and GDP. The most economically developed countries are also the largest consumers of energy. Second world countries seeking to become first world (China, India, Brazil and Russia) are quickly becoming massive energy consumers. Their insatiable energy demands, coupled with developed nations’ insatiable demands, are adding extreme pressure to a market that is already heavily taxed in its ability to meet current energy needs. This year’s Global New Energy Summit (GNES) has added an international expo specifically to highlight the evolving energy initiatives around the globe.

The Energy Industry Today The energy industry today necessarily is taking a multipronged approach to meeting growing market demands. All of the traditional energy sources such oil and natural gas, coal, and nuclear are racing to find, refine, and deliver energy to the market. The companies in these markets are learning that they cannot meet market demand under the status quo. The demand is too great and continues to grow.

The traditional energy players, along with the various capital markets, are investing heavily in emerging technologies to supplement and meet market demands, as well as, to begin to address environmental concerns with fossil based sources. These investments include algae, biofuels, geothermal, hydro, solar, and wind. From a practical standpoint, what has been consistently highlighted by discussions at the GNES, the demand for energy is so great around the globe that a single source cannot meet the market requirements. Collaboration and cooperation across sources most often emerges as the most viable path to progress on both the policy and execution fronts.

strong interdisciplinary leaders recognizing the role each sector plays in bringing the future of energy to successful fruition.

In addition, greater efficiency in utilizing our energy is often cited as the most cost effective approach to reducing our demand for fossil fuels. Information technology is being applied to the grid, private homes and

Information Gathering and Sharing

» Great results require great vision, but a great vision will not result in a great outcome without leadership. « commercial buildings in an effort to throttle peak demand. There will always be a need for intelligence being applied to the power infrastructure, but the bigger question is: Who will be performing the management function—the private citizen or the utility company? The answer to that question will determine the number of IP-centric power management tool and device companies that remain in the market.

The 2012 Global New Energy Summit is hosting visionaries and leaders from across the sources and distribution industries, and from across the primary disciplines of science/ innovation, industry/markets, policy and capital. Among these, several are profiled in this issue of the magazine. These include Denis Hayes, Founder of Earth Day; Former Director of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Current President and CEO of Bullitt Foundation; Tom Daschle, Former Majority Leader of the Senate and Current Senior Policy Advisor with DLA Piper and Co-founder of the Bipartisan Policy Center; and Linda H. Blair, Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer for ITC Holdings Corporation. Many of these visionaries are also

While the theme is of this issue is vision, those profiled have demonstrated an uncommon capability to combine vision and leadership. In my roles as the executive producer of the Global New Energy Summit (GNES) and founder of the Global New Energy Network (GNEN) I have been fortunate to meet many of the above referenced. I can attest to their ability to inspire with clear vision and lead with a focus on results consistent with their vision.

We (the GNES and GNEN) don’t have the answers to the national and global energy debate. What we do have is the opportunity and ability to bring together visionaries and leaders, along with many of the key stakeholders to share ideas, collaborate, and generate new, innovative solutions to address the energy demand curve. Among those organizations contributing their leaders to the discussion are Los Alamos National Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, ConocoPhillips, Council on Competitiveness, The Brookings Institute, The Virgin/Branson Organization, and Patton & Boggs.

The 4th Annual Global New Energy Summit will be held in Colorado Springs, Colorado from April 9-11, 2012. This year’s Summit has added an international exposition for participants to explore what energy solutions other countries are considering and investing in to meet their needs.

There are participants from our national research laboratories, universities, capital providers, traditional energy providers, renewable energy providers and utilities. We invite you to join us to share in the information exchange and help in generating actionable ideas to solve global energy demands. To learn more about the Summit, or to register, go to http://www. globalnewenergysummit.org/register-now.

Further, don’t wait until April. Join the Global New Energy Network and begin to share your views now. http://www.globalnewenergynetwork.org.

David C. Blivin is the Managing Director at Cottonwood Technology Fund, the Executive Director of Global New Energy Summit and the Founder of the Global New Energy Network.

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Academia

Dr. Steve Perry

D

r. Steve Perry is an educational trailblazer who sardonically questions the engagement of not only teachers, but parents, in his latest book Push Has Come to Shove: Getting our Kids the Education They Deserve – Even if it Means Picking a Fight. In this passionate story, Dr. Perry is sometimes filled with the strength to win back the minds of today’s children and is sometimes filled with anger. At one point, Perry challenges his readers to “sue your child’s school district” in an effort to regain control of the nation’s educational institution and our youth.

Perry’s energetic and sometimes no-holdsbarred vision, charts the path for an America where 100 percent of high school graduates go

» "The standards of public education have students aiming toward being ‘proficient,’ when ‘proficient’ in the eyes of public schools is not good enough for colleges." « - Dr. Steve Perry

Push Has Come

to Shove

One Educators Attempt at Institutional Reform in America’s Schools By Brittany Noland ( 26 )

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on to four-year colleges; where daily attendance in public schools is 96 percent; and where the achievement gap between minority and white students is closed. He doesn’t hope these statistics will happen, he ensures them, and is willing to throw down the gauntlet at just about any group that could possibly prevent America’s youth from “getting the education they deserve.”

While Perry is known nationally as CNN’s education correspondent, he is first and foremost the dedicated principal at Capital Preparatory Magnet School in Hartford, Connecticut. The school, which opened in 2005, has seen 100 percent of its graduates go on to four-year colleges. Over the years, Capital Prep has secured a waiting list of more than 2,000 students, of which 40 will get spots in grades six through twelve.

He attributes the success of the school to high standards, longer school days, a year-round

school year, dedicated staff, and a refusal to give kids a mediocre education.

His commitment to the children of Capital Prep is evident every day, waking up at 4:45 a.m. to pick up students underprivileged neighborhoods so that they can make it to school on-time—or at all. The students wear uniforms and come to learn, otherwise, they are asked to leave. They participate in a range of typical courses and are even encouraged to take additional college level courses offered at the school. As principal, Dr. Perry also holds his teachers to the same rigorous standards as his students so that the children at Capital Prep are able to achieve everything he’s envisioned for them. And that means every child that Capital Prep sees come through its doors, will leave holding a diploma with an offer to a fouryear college.

The success of Capital Prep has helped to prove some of Dr. Perry’s theories about how to fix public education in America.

In the book he begins by pointing out the low-standards that the U.S. holds its students to; stating that a high percentage of students go on to college, only to have to pay for and pass remedial education classes before taking regular college-level classes offered by these same institutions. He notes, “The standards of public education have students aiming toward being ‘proficient,’ when ‘proficient’ in the eyes of public schools is not good enough for colleges.” Comparing the educational standards of the United States, Dr. Perry argues that we are losing the educational race with countries like Finland, Korea, and China.

According to Dr. Perry, the failings of our public schools are everyone’s problem. Whether a disenchanted suburban parent, or one who sends their child to an urban, low-income school, we all are sinking together. He accuses the “raggedy-ass schools” with ineffective teachers for the underperformance of the nation’s students. He criticizes schools and teachers who don’t care, or who accept mediocrity. He blames the administration. He blames just about everyone. More than anything, he loathes the teacher’s unions that counter every attempt at educational reform and who fight against the suggestion of longer school years and extended hours. He believes it is this same union that will not

let certain teachers work more, even if they want to, because their contracts do not allow it. “Teachers unions make it a lengthy and almost impossible task to remove incompetent teachers,” he says.

And while the teacher’s union is a cause for contempt, it is the Board of Education, who he challenges every day by running Capital Prep differently than regular neighborhood schools—and succeeding in sending some of the poorest, most raciallydiverse students in the country to college.

He challenges parents for either not caring or for trying too hard to be friends with their children rather than parenting them. He expresses sadness and anger when he looks in the stands of his school’s football games and sees only faculty. He asks parents to do something instead of making excuses— protesting that poverty, race, and adversity are not reasons for children not to succeed.

“Many of our students are poor where money is the measure, yet every single one is rich in promise and potential,” declares Perry.

While his vision and passion have proven to be extremely effective at Capital Prep, comparing the success of magnet and charter schools to the performance of neighborhood schools is often like comparing apples to oranges. Neighborhood schools serve every student in their respective geographical area—they have to accept and work with these students. Whereas charter and magnet schools do a lottery or have an application process to draw in students who apply—they have a choice to educate motivated students. They do not have to take the below-grade-level child who gets transferred right before standardized testing, neighborhood schools do, affecting the scores of effective public schools.

Push Has Come To Shove does a great job outlining the issues facing our current educational system, but lacks measurable solutions. While having teachers who care, a dedicated principal, longer hours and year-round school have certainly proven to be effective for Capital Prep; Perry does not present any actionable or scalable solutions that could be implemented nationwide. He decisively speaks to the incompetency of some teachers, but does not address the issue that great, dedicated teachers are in low supply. He firmly states that budget cuts aren’t an excuse because teachers who care will get it done, but fails to acknowledge that many great teachers who do care, and who are effective are being laid off.

This book challenges all sides of the educational debate. Wherever you stand on this debate, Dr. Perry will strike a chord for you. Push Has Come To Shove delivers an overall good read.

It is full of interesting, conversational, passionate language and raises a lot of questions for parents and educators alike. Whether you agree with his views or not, it helps to raise many issues around public education that provides food for thought. Dr. Steve Perry is not only trying to close the achievement gap between races, but he is also trying to improve education for the whole of the United States through educational reform.

He calls to parents and educators to join the fight. Some see him as an inspiration, others find him too extreme; but one thing is for certain, he cares about America’s children.

» The failings of our public schools are everyone’s problem. «

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Academia

Innovate+Educate

A Passion For Education And

The Underserved Industry’s Role For Transformation In Education And Workforce By Amy Schilling

J

amai Blivin, CEO of Innovate+Educate, turned 40 and decided it was time to follow her passion and become a teacher. She retired from a successful career as a portfolio manager in the investment industry, and began teaching. But, after working in North Carolina with one of the top industry associations, she soon realized that she had a bigger calling and in 2009 approached Intel and Lockheed Martin to form what is now Innovate+Educate.

Today, Innovate+Educate is one of the nation’s top industry-led Board of Directors working across and within states to advance STEM and workforce development. The Board of Directors includes major thought leaders from some of the top companies in the country, including but not exclusively Intel, Monster, Lockheed Martin, Apple, IBM, Cisco Systems, Rockwell Collins, and AT&T. The partnerships have grown beyond 100 in number with key collaborators including Business Roundtable, the Business Higher Education Forum, Battelle Memorial Institute, and top states’ Governors, Lt. Governors and state leadership. The organization has since expanded to key geographic regions including Dallas and El Paso, Texas; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Washington, DC.

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Blivin’s Roots Blivin’s work was spurred by her childhood as a preacher’s daughter in El Paso, Texas. Her father brought home his used pulpit and Blivin would preach to her dolls every Sunday. She also pretended to be a teacher, lecturing her dolls every afternoon and helping them with their homework assignments. Between teaching and preaching she was a very busy young girl. But somewhere along the way, between her parents’ divorce and her rapid transition from “country club life” to dire financial straits when she was 12, Blivin turned to survival mode, working full-time beginning at age 16 and then putting herself through college. She went on to graduate college in three years, magna cum laude, with a finance degree and was recognized by the University of Arkansas as the top finance major in 1983. She then received her MBA in 1988 and moved into investment

banking. She describes turning 40 as a turning point in her life, deciding to leave her investment career behind and focus on her passion for teaching and working with the underserved.

After working closely with industry in her first career, moving into teaching for several years, she was then asked to serve as Director of the North Carolina Technology Association (NCTA) Education Foundation in Raleigh-Durham. Blivin’s first job with NCTA was under a U.S. Congressional appropriation to develop a rural education technology project in one of the most impoverished regions of the state.

Working closely with industry partners including IBM, Cisco Systems, SAS and others, Blivin’s region was recognized as one of the leading technology demonstration projects under the appropriation, and more importantly, Blivin had found her passion—tangible results with industry as the driver.

The ‘Business’ of Education: Why Industry Is The Answer It was Blivin’s experience in industry and then education that created her vision for Innovate+Educate and the role the organization could play in addressing the critical challenges our country faces in remaining and/or regaining our global competitiveness. She believes that there must be a new paradigm for public-private partnerships (PPP), as the traditional model is antiquated and proven ineffective in advancing sustainable solutions to the issues of education and workforce facing the U.S. today. She believes that industry must be the driver of this paradigm shift because industry understands two very important business concepts that education never has— supply and demand and return on investment.

Education is SUPPLYING a ‘product’ that industry DEMANDS—a skilled workforce.

The problem is that there is a significant gap between what our industries need and what is coming out of the education pipeline. We have open jobs that are going unfilled because people lack the skills needed to do the jobs.

The education statistics speak for themselves—Hispanic dropout rates across the country are close to 50 percent, there are 10 million unemployed in the U.S. and 3 million job openings in which employers say they cannot find the skills needed to fill the jobs. In January, 2012 The Brookings Institute released a report from the final

» Industry must be the driver of this paradigm shift because industry understands two very important business concepts that education never has—supply and demand and return on investment. «

Jobs Council report with a statement from DuPont CEO & chairman, Ellen Kullman saying, "The U.S. economy has traditionally been an engine of innovation, fueled by a highly skilled workforce and generating technologies and products sold around the world. Today, that American innovation and competitiveness is at risk. As the skills required in the 21st Century workplace grow ever more technical and complex, our education and worker training systems are not keeping pace. In fact, in many areas we seem to be losing ground. Companies are struggling to fill available jobs with skilled workers even while Americans are unemployed. We can and must ensure we provide our citizens the education and skills to compete in the global economy and ensure U.S. companies have a skilled workforce.”

An Enormous Undertaking Despite what seems to be a growing collective consciousness around STEM, education and workforce development, Blivin is the first to say that the work is just beginning. With

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Academia

Innovate+Educate

Innovate+Educate now recognized as the voice for industry and education/workforce, Blivin believes that there must be a true national movement to address the change required. She believes that education itself is “broken” and references the 35 percent tipping point theory—that once anything reaches 35 percent, the statistical validation shows that change must occur. With high school dropout rates across the country already greater than 35 percent, Blivin believes education, in the way it exists today, can no longer be validated as effective. Nothing occurring today in policy, whether it is No Child Left Behind, Common Core initiatives for higher standards, or teacher pay for performance initiatives, will address the tipping point we now face. We must work collectively with the greatest urgency if we are to not fail our children, our economy and our nation as a whole over the next decade.

The only way we can address the situation our country faces now is looking at what education should look like. Innovate+Educate believes that we must look at the impact of when, how, and where young adults learn by expanding access through hybrid models of education. With 72 percent of all high school students graduating with the need to both work and attend higher education, we must expand opportunities for when and how learning occurs. Today, much of the U.S. population (with a rising Hispanic demographic) must begin work at age 16, so it is no coincidence that this is when we see dropout rates at the highest levels. She strongly believes industry involvement is critical and must be open to creating opportunities for our young adults to be able to stay in school while also working.

Blivin understands this need intimately, as she worked full-time while putting herself through college with no financial support from her family. If industry can adopt this kind of flexibility in their hiring and training strategies, it allows students to continue their education at a financial pace they can keep up with so they do not have to dropout. And with poverty on the rise in our country, this problem will not

» We must work collectively with the greatest urgency if we are to not fail our children, our economy and our nation as a whole over the next decade. « ( 30 )

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» It is not education’s responsibility to solve poverty, but at the same time if the models of reform do not address this fundamental variable, the reform will never work. « be going away; it is a fundamental shift in our nation and cannot be ignored. Blivin believes that if the current models of education reform do not address or factor in our growing issues with poverty, then dropout rates will continue to rise. It is not education’s responsibility to solve poverty, but at the same time if the models of reform do not address this fundamental variable, the reform will never work.

So, what will address these overwhelming issues and where does Blivin believe Innovate+Educate fits into the big picture? The theory she has built her organization on is that industry must be the driver in re-thinking both their investments in education (which is in the billions of dollars), as well as the pathway to employment and education for our young adults in the United States. As I sat with her at Starbucks, she described her own children’s pathway through education first in Little Rock, Arkansas, then Durham, North Carolina, and finally in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She made a compelling statement, “Public education is really only working for about one-third of the U.S. population. The wealthy attend private school as soon as possible, the middle class work the system to get their students in the best public schools within the best neighborhoods, and the rest are left behind.” Given the demographic trend of our becoming a majority/minority (Hispanic) nation, we can no longer ignore this reality, nor should we want to. Blivin believes that it is our responsibility as a society to provide opportunity and access to every individual in this nation.

The Vision Going Forward Innovate+Educate continues its work in advancing STEM education and workforce development and placing industry at the forefront of the conversation with states and policymakers. Blivin continues to put her vision and personal experiences at the forefront of the work. She will always give full credit to her board of directors, who themselves have a passion and vision not just as representatives of their companies but also as individuals believing they are part of the solution.

Innovate+Educate (http://www.innovateeducate.org) has partnered with U.S. News & World Report and STEMconnector (http:// www.stemconnector.org) on what is expected to be the largest Summit held in the U.S.to address our STEM and workforce crisis in June, 2012. Join the conversation and get involved at http://usnewsstemsummit.com.

Amy Schilling is the Editor of The Innovation Intake the first nationally distributed digital publication dedicated to producing and driving high level conversation around critical STEM issues. With contributions from the nation's thought leaders in the areas of policy, industry, education, media and philanthropy, The Innovation Intake aims to turn conversation into action and take the idea of information sharing to a whole new level. Subscribe today to editor@innovate-educate.org.

GOVERNMENT

Rethinking U.S. Policies Towards Russa

Beyond “Reset” to Innovation and a Fundamental Rethink of U.S. Policies Towards Russia

By Deborah A. Palmieri, Ph.D.

I

have pondered and studied the ups-and-downs of U.S.-Russian relations over the course of my career. Yet, I remain baffled why the U.S. and Russia cannot find that common foundation for trust and expansive cooperation. There are so many reasons why this makes good sense, but it just doesn’t happen. Back in 1835, Alexis de Tocqueville, well ahead of his time, in Democracy in America wrote, “There are now two great nations in the world, which starting from different points, seem to be advancing towards the same goal: the Russians and Anglo-Americans… Each seems called by some secret design of Providence one day to hold in its hands the destinies of half the world.” But, 177 years later, we have yet to achieve that synergy and belief that our destinies can intertwine.

And Americans still see Russia as “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma,” as Winston Churchill once mused.

Troubled Relations Hopeful dreams of friendly cooperation of the two large and potentially powerful countries in the 19th century gave way to the realities of power politics and superpower competition in the 20th century. Distrust and suspicion arose as a result of the implementation of Marxist philosophy and approaches in Russia’s transition from Czarism, to the growth of modern industrialism based on one party communism and command-style planned economics. Bolshevism, Leninism, and Stalinism threatened a young United States as it experienced its own burgeoning economic growth and political system with different outlooks and principals based on capitalism, free markets, and individualism. The cultures clashed.

and growth of communist movements worldwide, including in the U.S., the arms race and superpower competition would define the bilateral relationship for most of the 20th century’s second half. So the relationship was embittered with growing conflict, mistrust, suspicion, growth of nuclear capability, and a race to expand spheres of influence in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

Nonetheless, bright spots such as the success of the SALT agreements, space cooperation and the opening of the Soviet economy to American companies such as Pepsi and Monsanto, as early as the 1950s and more so by the 1970s, showed a desire for joint cooperation and goodwill. But landmark events like the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the U.S. boycott of the 1980 summer Olympics in Moscow, President Ronald Reagan’s characterization of the “evil empire” and launch of Star Wars, fostered resentment and estrangement.

Perestroika, Opening, Collapse By the end of the 1980s, both sides realized change was needed and with Gorbachev’s perestroika in the air, President George H.W. Bush proclaimed, “We stand at the threshold of a brand new era of U.S.Soviet relations,” while President Mikhail Gorbachev echoed, “The world leaves one epoch of Cold War, and enters another epoch.”

These leaders opened communication, including taking a joint position against Iraqi occupation of Kuwait.

Everything changed again with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. With its empire deflated, territory reduced, economy in shambles, national psyche demoralized, and superpower status gone, Widely differing historical, cultural, and religious traditions conflicted and a new power equation emerged. President Boris Yeltsin reached out vast geographical distances contributed to a lack of direct observational to America for help and assistance to support a fledgling democracy, knowledge and the ability to travel and communicate easily. but as with Marshal Plan aid, not much support was forthcoming, despite a Clinton-Yeltsin pledge for a “new democratic partnership.”

Condemnations of Russia’s choice of path to economic development Numerous Western advisors like Jeffrey Sachs promised that “shock with socialist foundations gave way to profound disagreements over therapy” would save the Russian economy, but between 1990 and the post World War II settlement and ensuing Cold War. This happened 1995, GDP and industrial output declined by 50 percent. With a despite joining forces as Allies to defeat Hitler’s tumultuous political system, organized crime fascism and the Axis powers—a war in which found a fertile ground in which to flourish, and the Soviet Union suffered casualties of over 26

by August 1998, a massive financial crisis shook million, and the U.S. over 300,000. The industrial Russia to its foundations, as debts defaulted and agricultural base of the Soviet Union had and the ruble lost two-thirds of value in less been decimated, not to mention the population than a month. President Yeltsin lost credibility, loss, and while hopes were high for Marshall and resigned December 31, 1999, turning over Plan aid on a magnitude parceled to Western power to acting Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Europe, it was never forthcoming. By 1949, who was elected to power in March 2000 by a - Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak and on the heels of the Chinese Revolution wide margin.

» "Moscow is

determined to maintain a strategic nuclear balance with the West." «

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Traditions of Cynicism and Disrespect It takes two to tango—and blame for poor relations rests on both sides.

What I have seen through my own career is that American attitudes towards Russia are often based on one-sided thinking revolving around our own interests. My comments here will focus on relationship failures solely from the American side. An often imperial attitude, suspicion, and mistrust are based on past rivalries between the countries, especially commencing during the Yeltsin era when Russia was weak and needed help. But certainly during the Cold War, many State Department officials adopted a preaching, criticizing, negative and belittling posture, and determined that Russian sovereign interests could not and would not be considered, despite talk to the contrary. I know direct-hand many examples of demeaning treatment of Russian nationals at the passport window at the American Embassy in Moscow, where Russians who waited in lines for hours, came to Moscow from Siberia because they were required to appear in person, brought bushels of employment, housing and personal documents to prove they were not a flight risk, answered detailed questions about their personal and professional lives but still had “denied” stamped on their application papers with no reason offered and no appeal available.

Even ministry level officials, top scientists and academics experienced denials, delays, and trip cancellations as a result of similar treatment.

naturally. Yet, we don’t think it is expected that the largest country in the world should expect reciprocity and respectful treatment, a country whose borders are far closer than our own, to trouble spots like Iran and the Middle East, and the terror outposts of Al-Qaeda.

Impasse: Missiles in Europe, Art Exchange, Russian Elections When President Obama came to office, he announced a policy of “reset” towards Russia, one designed to reverse the estrangement from Russia of the recent Bush years and enhance communication and cooperation. Yet, despite that, there is a logjam of big areas of conflict. One is Obama’s proposed missile defense system in Europe, used allegedly to deter threats from Iran, and known as The Phased Adaptive Approach (PAA). Between now and 2020, PAA will deploy a sophisticated new generation of missiles and receptors in Poland and Romania, with radar systems in Turkey and on ships in the Mediterranean at a staggering minimum cost of $10 billion annually, or at least $100 billion of American taxpayer dollars over the next ten years. The PAA has provoked Russians who fear it will upset the current strategic balance and their reaction has been incredulous and angry—considering that when Obama came to office, he scrapped the Bush plan for missiles in Europe, permanently they thought.

» Obama’s reset policy did

It’s a curious thing. We expect our own national security interests and pride to be respected,

not change the underlying thinking about Russia. «

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GOVERNMENT

Rethinking U.S. Policies Towards Russa

President Medvedev warned the U.S. that progress in disarmament and arms control could stop, and that in retaliation, deployment of tactical missiles in western Kaliningrad was a serious option. This would entail a new sophisticated generation of missile defense penetration systems and advanced warheads. Medvedev alleges that U.S. and NATO have disregarded Russia’s sovereign interests and security concerns, causing little meaningful progress to be made. So, when both countries can least afford it, we could be approaching an intensified arms race. Furthermore, Russian efforts to secure written legal guarantees that the new system will not hinder Russian defense have been rebuffed by the U.S. and NATO. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expresses this frustration, “Now they do not want to give us such guarantees. And without this we will have to look for other ways to ensure our own security.” Adding to that, Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak declared, “Moscow is determined to maintain a strategic nuclear balance with the West.”

The unilateralism of it all gnaws at the Russians, as expressed by UN Russian Ambassador Vitali Churkin, “Unilateral build-up of strategic missile defense complicates the process of nuclear disarmament…

It is hard to imagine a situation, in which a significant reduction of nuclear arms is made simultaneously with missile defense build-up, designed to give military advantage to one of the parties.”

A second example of impasse pertains to cultural relations in the area of art exchange. Russia has called a halt to all art loans from Russia’s museums and collections due to the Chabad-Lubavich dispute over Jewish religious documents and books held in Moscow since World War II, known as the Schneerson Library. Such an embargo was never been experienced so bitterly even during the darkest moments of the Cold War, when cultural and art exchanges were unimpeded by politics.

A U.S. District Federal judge ruled a default judgment against the Russian Federation in the Chabad lawsuit, stipulating that Russia must return the collection to the New York-based Chabad. At various times, Chabad representatives threatened to seize Russian-owned art on loan in American museums as leverage to coerce Russia’s compliance to turn over the Schneerson Library. While the State Department claims it has made sufficient and necessary guarantees, and Chabad has back-tracked stating it will not seek court orders to enforce the judgment, Russia is not satisfied and demands written and legally binding guarantees, which have not been forthcoming (as of the date of this publication).

So an impasse at what should be a routine state matter with joint resolution has meant that Russia cancelled scheduled loans to The Met in New York City, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Getty, Los Angeles County Museum and more. And, the Museum of Russian Icons outside Boston was caught in the middle too. Icons from the Andrey Lublev Museum on loan through mid-2012 were seized when a “force majeure” warrant was slapped on the museum. Despite a contractual agreement and only midway through the term, under this unusual and rarely used order, the loaned icons were hastily packed up and shipped back to Moscow. Russian diplomats felt they could not rely on the word of the American government. Potentially, a court order against the icons, even if not enforceable, could have held Russian treasures in escrow for years with bitter and costly legal wrangling to free them. The Russians didn’t want to take that chance.

In another area of breakdown, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticized the Russian parliamentary process in December 2011, even before there was evidence of irregularities, according to Russian ( 34 )

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spokesmen. Concerning the election, Secretary Clinton called for a “full investigation” and made accusations of fraud and intimidation on the part of the current regime. She also said, “The Russian people, like people everywhere, deserve the right to have their voices heard and their votes counted. And that means they deserve free, fair, transparent elections and leaders who are accountable to them."

They believe her comments in part were aimed to incite the massive demonstrations that followed the elections and that her comments constituted domestic interference.

Moving Forward: Innovation and Rethink Concerning the aforementioned issues, both sides cannot agree.

Obama’s reset policy did not change the underlying thinking about Russia. American government can do more to better understand Russian concerns. This makes for better diplomacy, including business relations and can result in huge cost savings and benefits for Americans. Unilateralism and inflexibility is symptomatic of a longstanding inability to react to fundamental Russian core values with a spirit of negotiation and understanding. A lack of respect, coupled with traditional imperial thinking, not to mention deep-seated fears from the Cold War have contributed to the growth of this dysfunctional relationship. It’s in America’s interest to fundamentally rethink our policies and the benefit that positive relations can bring to the table.

We muddled through our relations with Russia during the turmoil of the nineties under Yeltsin and the reforms of the Putin years, with

few if any significant breakthroughs. Part of the reason was that we negotiated from a position of economic and political strength, and there was no compelling reason for any changes or flexibility. Russia under Yeltsin was weak and struggling, but then Putin began to log impressive gains in growth, focusing inward on domestic reform, managing its own Chechyan and terror threats, and creating viable legal, financial, and taxation regimes. As the Russian economy began to recover, first under Putin, and then under President Medvedev, simultaneously the American economy was experiencing a number of shocks, with a collapsing real estate market, financial woes, and soaring debt.

Under the Obama administration, despite the good intentions of “reset”, neither art, missiles or election monitoring are immune to failed diplomacy. Nor has the administration made it easier for Russians to obtain visas to fuel their great desire to come here and spend money in American as a tourist destination. Burdened by an antiquated visa system with a pendulous application process and often rude and sometimes even humiliating treatment at the U.S. Moscow Embassy, after a long wait or hours-long flight from interior Russia, Russians are taking their spending power to Europe, Latin American and the Middle East. The American tourism industry and local businesses across America lose out because an out-of-touch government has maintained decades old barriers, stifling the free flow of people and commerce. The visa system is in great need of reform and requires streamlining and the application of technology to ensure security, while allowing for travel viability. The idea that massive numbers of Russians want to violate their visas and sneak into the U.S. has long been assumed by the State Department, but now, is unrealistic. Russian tourism can generate hundreds of millions in revenue for struggling U.S. states and cities, as well as industries from airlines to souvenir shops.

» Unilateralism and inflexibility is

symptomatic of a long-standing inability to react to fundamental Russian core values with a spirit of negotiation and understanding. « It’s not a hugely complicated matter to change and shift course.

Time is of the essence, and while we delay and preach to the Russians about how they need to change their system, we increasingly lose traction. And, if we don’t extend the olive branch with goodwill, we encourage Russia to cement partnerships elsewhere, such as China. The U.S. might want to be concerned by Sino-Russian rapprochement, especially as our policies estrange both these important and growing powers.

In many ways, the combined resources of these nations can leave the U.S. vulnerable in the event that their alliance grows, and we become isolated or estranged from both, which is not a remote possibility. China and Russia share common interests, a long geographical border, and a prior communist history. Although they fundamentally distrust, and even dislike each other, but both are pragmatic enough to join interests, especially given current U.S. policies. We have offended Russians over missiles in Europe, the Chinese over stationing troops in Australia, and overall accusations of unfair trade practices.

We now need to focus on those core values that we expect from others but have been wont to give—respect, trust, understanding and wisdom. If a “reset” is to genuinely take place, it needs to start with our thinking and assumptions. We also need to facilitate commerce, trade and travel by simplifying our visa system and standardizing it to EU norms for Russian nationals.

America needs to set forth a revitalized standard of leadership and embrace realpolitik norms of conducting diplomacy and business.

Our old-fashioned moralizing and preaching looks patronizing and out-of-date, and that undermines the credibility and respect that others hold for us. Now, policies based on pragmatism and realism are needed more than ever which emphasize practicality over ideology in order to maintain and secure our national interests.

Improving relations with Russia is sound pragmatic policy and good business for America. Re-thinking the viability of the European missile system alone could save at least $100 billion over the next ten years. In its place, we should work jointly with Russia, Europe and NATO to ensure our security and spread defense costs among our friends and allies.

By reforming our Cold War based visa system and facilitating Russian tourism to American resorts and cities, we can generate billions in tourist revenue for our airline, hotel, resort and tourism related companies, both large and small. By streamlining travel for business travelers from Russia to the U.S. and vice-versa, we facilitate the growth of trade, investment and productive business relations.

The foreign policy of the U.S. and government attitudes and actions should be accountable to the American public. In the past, politicians made foreign policy decisions giving little consideration to cost consequences, both short and long-term. Our policy towards Russia generated huge costs for our budget—costing billions in lost business revenue that went to other countries and foreign markets. But now, our thinking should shift to how to craft policy changes in a new era that can generate economic benefits and goodwill in diplomatic relations. This is the way of the future. At a time when 48 percent of Americans are categorized as low income, when the net worth of U.S. households is shrinking, and our budget deficit is nearly $1.3 trillion and government debt tops out at $15 trillion, the time is past due to innovate and re-think. Our foreign policy thinking towards Russia should focus on creating prosperity and productivity. We can benefit enormously by minimizing conflict oriented diplomacy and reigning in military spending on the missiles in Europe project, which will create a next generation arms race with Russia.

Is there hope? There is always hope, and I believe a sober assessment can and should be undertaken by our policy makers in Washington to improve relations with Russia. It is in our national interest to do so. Russia, as the largest country in the world, with a highly educated population who loves to travel and learn, with a growing middle class with ever increasingly amounts of disposable income is a market which can deliver huge benefits to the U.S. and in turn receive them. But most importantly, the U.S. and Russia share common regional and global security goals and threats and enjoy great structural economic complementarities. There exists an enormous potential for trust and mutual understanding.

Dr. Deborah A. Palmieri is Honorary Consul General of Russia in Colorado and founder and president of Deb Palmieri Russia LLC and Institute. Special thanks to Ricky Packard and David Springer for research support.

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GOVERNMENT

ACORE

In addition to his ACORE presidency, Admiral McGinn lends his expertise to, among other energy and climate boards, the CNA Military Advisory Board. The CNA Board comprises 11 recently retired three- and four-star generals and admirals, examining the national security implications of climate change and the nexus of energy, climate change and national security.

McGinn believes America’s heavy dependence on fossil fuels poses significant security risks to the country and our military. This is not a new issue for him. He became interested in national energy security issues during the OPEC oil embargo in the 1970’s when there were long lines at gas pumps. “We were relying too heavily on imported oil. I realized then how vulnerable we really were, and I haven’t lost focus on the critical link between energy and America’s economy and national security,” recalls McGinn in CNA’s Voices of Experience.

Further, he believes, our dependence on fossil fuels comes with associated security, environmental and health costs. “America’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels comes at a cost that is not fully reflected in the amount paid at the gas pump,” says McGinn. “Every time we fill up, we need to understand the costs involved, especially the high price we pay with the lives of the men and women of the armed forces.”

Vice Admiral

Dennis McGinn Creating a More Secure and Prosperous America

M

By Kelly de la Torre

any people understand the direct link between oil and America’s enemies.

But what they may not understand are the realities of our oil dependency as a nation. As a 35-year veteran of the Navy and President of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), Vice Admiral McGinn understands these realities because he’s experienced them. The good news is that his knowledge and experience puts him in the ideal position to change our dependency on traditional energy sources by creating opportunities for Americans. Better yet, he’s leading the charge. ( 36 )

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Our dependence on oil undermines our national security on multiple levels. Vice Admiral McGinn explains that oil’s pervasiveness in America’s energy policy forces the country to engage at various levels with hostile and unstable regimes, weakening our international leverage and putting our economy in a precarious position. According to one CNA report, “The United States consumes 25 percent of the world’s oil production, yet controls less than three percent of an increasingly tight supply.” The trouble is that oil is traded on a global market, a market that is vulnerable to manipulation by those who control the largest shares. “Without bold action now to significantly reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, our national security will be at greater risk,” testified Vice Admiral McGinn, before a U.S. Senate panel. “Fierce global competition and conflict over dwindling supplies of fossil fuel will be a major part of the future strategic landscape.”

America’s goal should be, he believes, to relieve our oil dependency by diversifying our fuel supply, increasing the efficient use of fuel and increasing our use of low carbon technologies.

Moving toward low carbon energy sources and technologies also helps confront the challenge of global climate change. “Climate change poses a serious threat to America’s national security, acting as a threat multiplier for instability in some of the world’s most volatile regions, adding tension to stable regions, worsening terrorism and likely dragging the United States into conflicts over water and other critical resource shortages,” testified Admiral McGinn before a Senate Committee. “The truth is, climate change aside, our energy choices have a direct bearing on our economic well-being,” he says. “If we’re not economically strong and stable we aren’t going to be militarily stable.” To address these challenges, there needs to be recognition that “climate change, national security, and energy dependence are a related set of global challenges.”

“In 2008, we sent $386 billion overseas to pay for oil—much of it going to nations that wish us harm. This is an unprecedented and unsustainable transfer of wealth to other nations. It puts us in the untenable position of funding both sides of the conflict and directly undermines our fight against terror,” testified Vice Admiral McGinn, before a U.S. Senate panel.

With challenge however, comes opportunity. Positive action is an imperative for our economy, our national security and for the safety of our men and women in the armed forces, emphasizes Admiral McGinn. As Americans we have a history of standing behind our military and we must recognize that national security is not only the responsibility of the military. “Americans made clear sacrifices during World War II for reasons that are obvious in hindsight: they understood the stakes, and they were asked,” he said. The good news says Admiral McGinn and ACORE, is that the changes needed today to move to a more secure nation aren’t sacrifices—they are ways to utilize new technologies to live more sustainable, secure lives. “There is no free lunch when it comes to our energy choices,” says McGinn, “but by taking a systems approach, we can make changes without making the kind of sacrifices that Americans were called on to make in World War II—and the result is better security and economic opportunity with the added benefit of mitigating the causal factors of climate change.”

For example, according to McGinn, 97 percent of transportation energy is petroleum based. We need to change this by energy efficiency; squeezing every bit of value out of every gallon of gas. One critical step is to continue to increase our vehicle energy efficiency standards. Another critical step is to develop flexible fuel vehicles and open fuel standards where consumers have greater choice and vehicles are capable of operating on a variety of liquid fuels, for example, gasoline, alcohol fuels (e.g., butanol or ethanol), biodiesel or any combination of fuels. This type of flex-fuel vehicle would also complement hybrid vehicle technology like plug-ins and further increase the economic benefit. Flex-fuel capability directly impacts our national security by reducing our oil dependency, and it should become a standard feature like safety belts and airbags.

the CNA Board in their report, Powering America’s Defense. A more robust grid will facilitate integration of a more diverse portfolio of energy generation including solar, wind, hydro power and geothermal power, and will significantly reduce the emissions resulting from power generation. Equally important, the electric grid is a significant vulnerability in our domestic energy structure and the economic impact of an attack could be staggering. During the blackout in August, 2003, an estimated 50 million people lost power, shutting down sewage plants, gas and water pumps, cell phones, and television stations. The economic loss was estimated between $7 and $10 billion. The event was found to have been caused by the failure to trim trees near a power line, clearly demonstrating the extent of our vulnerability. “To the extent that the resiliency of the grid continues to decline, it increases the potential for expanded and/or longer duration outages from natural events as well as deliberate attack.”

» America’s heavy

dependence on fossil fuels poses significant security risks to the country and our military. «

Fuel choice further applies to the electricity sector. “Although fossil fuels have supported America’s economic and military growth through the twentieth century, this growth hasn’t come without a cost in terms of environmental impact, health impacts and vulnerabilities to outside forces,” explains Admiral McGinn. To transition to a more diverse energy portfolio however, he believes we need to make complex choices, and these choices must be made while considering the linkage between energy security, economic security, environmental security and national security. In other words, we need to recognize that there is a cost related to each of these critical elements. For example, while coal is an abundant natural resource, of all the fossil fuels, it most impacts greenhouse emissions while releasing other serious toxins into our atmosphere.

These and other external costs should be accounted for. “If we’re really honest and capture all the costs, direct and indirect, we make better energy choices,” urges McGinn.

Another safety concern is our domestic electric grid. “A fragile domestic electricity grid makes our domestic military installations and their critical infrastructure, unnecessarily vulnerable to incident, whether deliberate or accidental,” wrote McGinn and

Security, infrastructure, and climate threats are more than challenges—they are opportunities— opportunities to create industries around energy efficiency and renewable and low carbon technologies. Notes Vice Admiral McGinn, “One of ACORE’s guiding principles is that we are for all kinds of renewable energy, and against none. ACORE is about building a more secure and prosperous America with clean renewable energy because that is part of the solution. We need to apply every technology and efficiency to solve our energy challenges. There is no ‘one size fits all’ energy solution.” The energy platform can’t be rigid. The platform needs to evolve depending on variables like need, geography and availability of resources, to name just a few.

For example, solar might be the best resource for Arizona while wind is better in the Midwest. We are looking at an integrated system of variable parts and we need to look for solutions to fit with that system.

Vice Admiral McGinn sums up our current position this way, “The ‘Greatest Generation’ took on the challenges of 60 years ago. We can be the ‘Next Greatest Generation’ in the 21st Century by taking on the new challenges of today that are threatening our way of life. We can do something about these challenges. The beauty is that to do so doesn’t mean sacrifice—it means more jobs, more national and energy security, and more economic security. Let’s get over the fear of the future and do something now to shape a better future for all of us. Business as usual is not the answer.”

Kelly de la Torre and Sue Carriere are attorneys who understand the solutions that advanced energy can bring to the military, the U.S. government and our nation. They are working to bring together partners from various industry sectors and government to identify barriers to implementation and encourage dialogue and consensus on industry solutions. To find out about ALG | Attorneys and how ALG can help bring your company’s energy solutions to these discussions contact or Kelly de la Torre at 720-536-4600 or please go to www.antonlaw.com.

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BUSINESS

The New Energy Economy

Vision is More Than an

Ah-Ha Moment National Cleantech Initiatives By Kim DeCoste & Gayle Dendinger

W

hen former Governor Bill Ritter announced Colorado’s focus on “The New Energy Economy,” business and industry experts recognized tremendous opportunity in the state. Poised with the right economic and environmental resources, Colorado could take a lead in furthering innovations underlying clean renewable energy, while building a strong economic base in a relatively new industry sector. With a long and proud history in traditional energy, many in Colorado were not thrilled with the new direction and did not support this focus.

Colorado was one of the first visionary states to recognize that there might be an opportunity in the area of clean technologies. Beyond the positive economic upside, there was also the notion that exploring alternative clean technologies was a way to diminish our reliance on foreign oil. We had the triple-positive potential of being able to do good work, while doing something good for the planet, and our country’s security as well. What could be hard about that?

Too often, people perceive a vision as just an “ah-ha” moment—a flash of light that brings a great idea forward. A vision is basically an idea that may start as an inspiration, but only reaches its potential through thought, work and having people share the vision and build upon it, creating value over time. Few realize the challenge beyond that to really make that great idea come to fruition. Everything does not always come together at a point in time and work perfectly, in fact, it rarely does.

So, what are the components of vision and leadership? It consists of leadership that can recognize a need; can recognize an opportunity; identify like-minded individuals to help; converting individuals who are traditional naysayers; and being able to work together over time to build lasting value.

Recognizing needs in the new energy space has not been difficult. In fact, there is an infinite amount of data supporting the notion that the United States is a huge consumer of the world’s energy supplies and with ever-growing economies in places like India and China, demand will only increase. We know that that there is a finite amount of energy being developed currently in the United States. Therefore, it should not be difficult to make the case that all forms of energy should be explored to determine how they best fit into the bigger picture.

Founded in 2008, Colorado Cleantech Industry Association (CCIA) became Colorado’s only industry-led, industry-focused

Recently, Tom Plant, senior policy advisor for the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University, acknowledged and recognized the work that former Governor Ritter did in contributing to this vital energy sector. Not only was progress made in the areas of research, development and application, but it also had a meaningful effect on employment in the state. Pew Charitable Trusts places Colorado as number three in the U.S. for cleantech venture capital financing; number four in the country for percentage of jobs in the cleantech sector, and Colorado is home to more than 300 companies producing cleantech products. Pew further states that Colorado’s cleantech sector is growing faster than any other in the state.

The vision has enabled the state and its business community to be able to attract meaningful employers such as Vestas, SMA and recently General Electric, among several others. These companies will be able to combine their resources and vision to align with the infrastructure that has already been built through the vision of their predecessors and continue to create a more robust economy.

As for converting individuals, three or four years ago it seemed that people were in one of two camps, they were either pro-alternative energy or they placed exclusive emphasis on fossil fuel development. We are starting to see people come together to build a comprehensive plan to accommodate varied sources of energy and to begin building a structure that accommodates more of the alternatives according to their strengths.

As CCIA Executive Director Christine Shapard wrote, “For too long the ‘us versus them’ mentality between traditional energy and new energy and the political divisiveness it has engendered has taken the focus away from the more important issues of worldwide power needs, national security, job creation and international economic

» We had the triple-positive potential of being able to do good work, while doing something good for the planet, and our country’s security as well. What could be hard about that? « group, with a voice from the clean technology industry sector. Its mission is to provide public policy leadership, development, and education for clean technology organizations around the state. CCIA offers a single point of contact to negotiate and partner with governments, economic development agencies, research institutions, laboratories and others. Led by an impressive board that correctly brings together the best leaders in clean technology from every professional arena, academia, and public policy, CCIA speaks with authority and can carry the vision forward.

» Colorado’s cleantech sector is growing faster than any other in the state. «

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competitiveness. If we are to meet the power needs of the latter decades of the 21st century, we will need every type of energy source and efficiency measure to be economically viable and available within the United States.”

The work that has been done by NREL, the universities and tech transfer initiatives such as the Energy and Engine Conversion Laboratory at Colorado State University – Ft. Collins and others, has provided an outstanding foundation. Like-minded companies with more resources and even greater vision recognize the work and are able to provide support and direction for greater results and greater efficiencies. From the initial vision, countless other great ideas are spawned and momentum continues to increase.

The Colorado Cleantech Industry Association has recently expanded its reach through a new chapter affiliation of what is now called the “Advanced Energy Economy” (AEE). AEE is an outstanding example of collaborative leadership that addresses the energy issue from multiple perspectives with a diverse leadership team and board who approach the issue from different angles. Led in part by Tom Steyer, head of San Franciscobased Farallon Capital Management and prominent Democrat, AEE has an impressive and surprising leadership team that includes such unlikely members as former Secretary of State under Ronald Regan, George Shultz.

The coming together of these two unlikely partners has caused a strong bipartisan relationship to be born to ensure that California’s controversial Proposition 23 was not overturned in 2010 elections. Though motivated differently, Steyer and Shultz agreed that maintaining the energy standards California had implemented was imperative for economic growth, the well-being of the environment, and national security. Coming together in common vision does not always require common motivation.

Steyer makes a compelling case for alternative energies. In the case of AAE, they define advanced energy as energy that is “affordable, abundant and secure.” Steyer asserts, “It’s time to look at energy as a necessity for America, not an option. As global energy demand continues to grow, America has the opportunity to lead the world toward new ways to generate, use, and conserve this vital resource. If we do, it will advance our economy, improve our health, and increase our national security. Not to do so would be a tragedy.”

Expanding, therefore, on CCIA’s vision for Colorado, AAE is positioned to do the same at a national level. Hemant Taneja, Interim CEO says, “AEE will provide a unified business voice that can develop meaningful public-private

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BUSINESS

The New Energy Economy

partnerships at the state, regional and national levels.” “I am confident,” he says, “that this bottom-up approach is the key to building our advanced energy economy.”

And so we see that this bottom-up approach may be what is needed with respect to driving the conversation forward at the national level. Steyer is the first to admit that a national standard dictating energy consumption policies would not be ideal at this time. As the industries are finding their way, regional and state policy makes more sense.

In an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box in December, 2011, Steyer talked about energy

needs and consumption practices in different states. He cites the example of Ohio vs.

California. Ohio is a coal-based manufacturing state and quite different from California, which is a huge energy consumer, but has very little coal or manufacturing. He purports that the best practices for conservation and energy development will be born in local markets and put forth for national consideration, not the other way around.

It is also unfortunate that while some have the vision and the stamina to drive the conversation, and indeed the business itself forward, others continue to politicize these

» "For too long the ‘us versus them’ mentality between traditional energy and new energy and the political divisiveness it has engendered has taken the focus away from the more important issues of worldwide power needs, national security, job creation and international economic competitiveness." « - Christine Shapard

energy questions, making them polarizing and stagnating discussion on issues that matter in the quagmire of an election year. The vision that should be adopted at the national level is just as CCIA and AEE have put forward—explore all the options, exclude no possibilities, understand that any burgeoning energy resource is going to require some initial financial support through subsidies or tax breaks/incentives, but eventually, as we are now seeing with some wind and residential solar to varying degrees, viable options will inch closer to parity on cost with traditional energy. Then the consumers really do have choices and markets are expanded.

Nobody in the mix is advocating for government subsidized alternative energy to compete with traditional sources. Hemant Taneja sees an event horizon of 5-8 additional years, perhaps where some fiscal support will remain necessary. But then markets and consumers can decide. We just have to get the technologies to that point.

Looking at the leadership mix on alternative energy, we see the Colorado Cleantech Industry Association and the Advanced Energy Economy as truly visionary leaders. Sparked with a good idea, recognizing a need, bringing together the right mix of people, converting opponents into advocates and leveraging all the strength they can muster, CCIA and AEE reflect some of the best of America—vision driven by the will to affect meaningful and long-term change. ( 40 )

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The Honorary Consulate General of Russia in Colorado The Honorary Consulate General office serves as a liaison and advocate for Russian citizens in Colorado; promotes understanding between the U.S. and Russia; and promotes business, trade, educational, technological, and cultural exchange between Colorado and Russia. Dr. Deborah Anne Palmieri is Honorary Consul General of Russia in Colorado.

DEB PALMIERI RUSSIA LLC ™ CONSULTING AND ADVISING FOR COMPANIES DOING BUSINESS IN RUSSIA

Dr. Deborah Anne Palmieri is a nationally known advocate for U.S.-Russian business cooperation and cultural understanding.

Deb Palmieri LLC offers expert assessments of the marketplace, corporate training, executive coaching, feasibility analysis, conflict resolution, special projects, and access and introductions.

WHAT THE CONSULATE DOES:

• Organize regular cultural, business, and educational events • Serve as a center for education for Russians in Colorado • Support the local Russian community in metro Denver • Promote positive relationships between Colorado and Russia

1552 Pennsylvania Street • Denver, Colorado 80203 • Direct (720) 980-4829 • Tel/Fax (303) 831-9181 Deb@DebPalmieriRussia.com • www.DebPalmieriRussia.com • LinkedIn – Deb A. Palmieri

The Hororary Consulate General of Russia in Colorado

@RussiaConsulate

BUSINESS

Inspire Capital

A Vision For How

Investing Could Be And Why It Will Help Society By Beth Parish

F

or-profit organizations in the United States make money providing goods and services needed and wanted by the consumer (Madura, 2007), with the publicly traded company traditionally focused on using the profits to increase stockholder wealth.

While a company has fiduciary responsibilities to the holders of its stock, companies are also frequently pressured by the stock analysts, public, television talking heads, financial journalists, and boards of directors to meet quarterly earnings goals, where the complex profit equation comes down to the simple concepts of income minus expenses.

Potential investors may also use this simplified look at profits to evaluate the success of a company, choosing where to place their money based largely on the bottom line numbers.

With this singular bottom line focus, a greater reduction of company expenses leads to more profits being delivered to the bottom line, and greater potential to increase shareholder wealth, or at least so goes the argument. While reducing expenses sounds smart theoretically, in practice, expense reduction can happen in ways that have a significant human and profit impact. Derek Scarth, Managing Director of Inspire Capital Partners (Inspire) says that oftentimes when a large, stable, corporation announces a layoff or reduction in employee benefits or training, the company’s stock price often rises as the market anticipates the salary savings moving to the firm’s bottom line. Noting this trend, Scarth openly wondered, “As an investor looking to increase personal wealth, are we encouraging companies to fire people? As an investor, as a participant in the U.S. Free Market economy, is our vision of the world one that centers on maximizing shareholder wealth through

» As an investor looking to increase personal wealth, are we encouraging companies to fire people? «

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- Derek Scarth

collateral damage that includes layoffs and a view that employees are merely expenses of a firm, and not key resources that should be invested in?”

Long before the spread of the Occupy Wall Street movement started, where consumers and the general population challenged the greedy behaviors of traditional investment firms and corporate America, Inspire Capital founder Rick Wynn and his partner Derek Scarth knew that a traditional approach to investing failed to consider many of the of the profit-enhancing attributes of for-profit corporations. Focusing on the simple equation of income minus expenses and centering solely on the shareholder and his or her wealth, leaves out some of the most important aspects of what makes a business financially stable and successful. Wynn and Scarth—two renegades who have 30+ years of combined investment experience—have a vision of how they can

positively impact the investment industry, and how investors and consumers can build and support businesses that are looking beyond the shareholder towards all of a firm’s key stakeholders, including the greater community.

Not ones to sit and complain about the greed of Wall Street, Wynn and Scarth went searching for businesses that delivered financial success, but did so through a systems-thinking approach where the firm itself was committed to creating wealth for all stakeholders—including customers, employees, and suppliers, investors, and the community—not just shareholders. Inspire’s investment strategy is supported by academic research from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as empirical research from the Great Place to Work Institute and Bentley University.

A New *Inspired* Vision Prior to founding Inspire Capital in September, 2008, Wynn had worked for over 12 years with large investment managers Putnam, Berger Associates (now Janus Funds), and Eagle Asset Management (now Raymond James Financial), where he managed both public and private equity portfolios. Unlike many of his investing peers, prior to working as an advisor, Wynn spent five years in the environmental and process instrumentation business with a venture-funded start-up.

Wynn’s unique combination of corporate, public, and private equity experience gave him a unique perspective on firms’ success factors. He got tired of the market’s obsession with short-term earnings and drew on his experiences to develop an investment strategy that actually could enhance financial returns, while investing in more purposeful companies.

After successfully liquidating the private equity portfolio he was managing for TH Lee, Putnam Capital, Wynn immediately founded Inspire Capital Partners.

Early on, he found important academic and empirical support for his new investment approach and made connections with thought leaders from around the world in various industries. Studies from these institutions provided the quantitative support for Inspire’s new investment mandate—those that have high employee engagement and satisfaction rankings and consistently generate superior risk-adjusted returns for investors. Sadly, Wynn’s timing could not have been worse.

During Inspire’s first six months of existence, the market was down 40 percent and the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme had just hit the press. Undeterred, Wynn forged ahead, attracting additional thought leaders to support Inspire’s fundamental strategy. Wharton’s Alex Edmans and Amy Lyman, co-founder of the Great Place to Work Institute eagerly joined Inspire’s advisory board.

Wynn also became a regular attendee at the “Conscious Capitalism” conferences and was a participant in the 2009 Summit on the Future of the Corporation, as well as the 2010 Aspen Institute Summit, where he met with industry leaders to discuss the problems and possible solutions for investor short-termism.

Wynn approached friend and former colleague, Derek Scarth to consider joining him at the company. Scarth accepted, and in August, 2010 they invested their own money to create an investment performance track record for Inspire. Now in early 2012, Inspire’s top-tier performance is proving out the theory— investors can earn superior risk-adjusted returns by owning purposeful, employee-centric firms.

Before joining at Inspire, Scarth spent over 12 years as an equity analyst and portfolio manager for several Denver-based investment management firms, most recently as a partner and portfolio manager for Denver Investment Advisors (DIA). Prior to that, he was the manager of investor relations for Newmont Mining, a large, publicly traded company in the S&P 500. In early 2010, Scarth left DIA, frustrated with the traditional investment industry model and longing to find more purpose in his career. Wynn asked Scarth to read Firms of Endearment and other research pieces that formed the basis for their investment strategy. And, in July, 2010 Wynn and Scarth began the process of taking Inspire from an investment concept to an operating investment firm. Eighteen months later, the company has fulfilled Scarth’s hopes—enabling him to find purpose through investing in and supporting purposeful, stakeholder-driven firms

while simultaneously leading the investment management industry in much-needed change.

Companies That Have The Vision Any consumer who has walked into a Whole Foods Market (NYSE - WFM) knows the store feels different from a traditional grocery store. This different feel may be a result of the stakeholder approach advocated

by Whole Foods founder and CEO John Mackey. Mackey advocates that corporations should “create value for all of its constituencies” not just the stockholder. Focused on all stakeholders—the employee, the consumer, the community, suppliers, and the stockholder— Mackey grew Whole Foods from $290,000

line, expand beyond U.S. consumer and retail firms. Another long-term Inspire holding is pharmaceutical manufacturer Novo Nordisk (Novo) of Denmark (NYSE - NVO).

Discussions with Novo, the global leader in treatments for diabetes and hemophilia, have shown the link between purpose and profits.

Novo integrates a stakeholder approach to their patient-centric business model, especially in their commitment to making diabetes care available globally, at prices that are affordable in every market. Novo incorporates a lowpriced insulin strategy to those low and middle-income regions where resources are limited. This differentiated pricing model allows greater access to life-saving treatments around the world, and incorporates a pricing structure that slides. For example, Novo

» A traditional approach to investing failed to consider many of the of the profit-enhancing attributes of for-profit corporations. « in sales during the first year of operations to over $9 billion in sales during fiscal year 2010 (Datamonitor, 2011; Hamel & Breen, 2007).

While total sales are certainly a measure of success, Whole Foods also topped the competition when measuring profit per square foot (Hamel & Breen, 2007).

Although the Whole Foods stakeholder approach may be familiar to both consumers and investors, there are several other examples of companies who are investing in employees, involved with the community, and considering suppliers as they take a systems approach to doing business and delivering a profitable bottom line.

For example, looking at retailer Costco (NASDAQ - COST), Richard Galanti, the company’s CFO shared with Scarth and Wynn that investing in employees contributes to the bottom line. In the case of the warehouse giant, healthcare is just one example. Costco pays a higher percentage of employee healthcare costs than peers, but overall, pays lower healthcare costs per employee and experiences less sick time. Interestingly, Wall Street analysts have criticized Costco for years, saying that they are too generous with their employee benefits packages, based on traditional analysis of financial ratios. Costco executives, however, understand that this analysis misses the mark. Inspire does too— chuckling at the mentality of Wall Street’s short-sided research—but loving that it creates an opportunity for Inspire investors.

Inspire’s target companies, those that look beyond the shareholder and the bottom

can offer insulin in underdeveloped markets at or below 20 percent of the average price of insulin in developed areas. This strategy is highly motivating to employees, as they experience a deep sense of belonging and purpose by working for the firm. From 2009 to 2012, Novo has been on the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For in America listing, and the company, or its global divisions, have appeared on the Great Place to Work annual country listings an astonishing 89 times.

Vision For The Investor Individuals have a moral code by which they live their lives. This code can be influenced by family, community, schooling, religion, and associations. For many, this code has not influenced their investment choices. As Scarth says, “Often the investor has separated their money decisions from how he or she chooses to spend their life.” They may be a teacher, who invested in Enron, because the profits were great, or a police officer who has his or her pension money invested in a private equity strategy that is inherently not supportive towards employees. The work of Inspire is enabling investors to align their investment choices with their values in ways that can be profitable personally, and to the larger community. The investor who wants their values to align with investments, should not sacrifice on financial return. In fact, over the long run, financial returns should actually be better. Prevailing wisdom is that investors pay

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Inspire Capital

a feel-good premium, in the form of sacrificed returns, to invest in companies that do well for employees and society. Inspire is trying to change that perception and educate investors that they can have their cake and eat it too. According to Wynn, “Investors that ignore key company attributes, such as employee satisfaction, are likely leaving money on the table.”

Wynn and Scarth note that while their research and investments consider environmental, social, and governance criteria, they do not consider themselves sociallyresponsible investors (SRI). According to Wynn, there is a key difference between Inspire’s approach and many SRI firms. “SRI firms often seek to avoid negatives whereas Inspire focuses on positive identification of firm behaviors.”

For example, many SRI firms will merely avoid companies with human rights violations, assuming that all remaining firms are “good.”

By contrast, Inspire proactively identifies firms that are explicitly committed to creating great workplaces for employees. “The mere avoidance of a problem is not a compelling reason to invest at Inspire. We are looking for true greatness on a global basis,” says Wynn.

Proof That The Vision Works The investor saving for the future will be the first to admit that he or she cannot sacrifice in order to support the stakeholder approach, if the stakeholder approach does not deliver.

Wynn and Scarth agree, and state emphatically that the academic support for their strategy strongly suggests that investors can, and should, earn a higher risk-adjusted return by employing a stakeholder approach. They draw their academic and empirical support from several sources including a well researched article from Alex Edmans of the Wharton School of Business. Dr. Edmans article, “Does The Stock Market Fully Value Intangibles? Employee Satisfaction And Equity Prices” in the Journal of Financial Economics (2011), details the positive relationship between employee satisfaction and stock performance. And, in their book Firms of Endearment: How World Class Companies Profit from Passion and Purpose, authors Rajendra Sisodia, David Wolfe, and Jag Sheth highlight numerous companies that have delivered financial success by focusing on a shareholder approach to business.

Investors wishing to do their own homework on this strategy can access these resources to learn more. Edmans concluded that, over the 25-year period from 1984 to 2009, investors would have earned a 3.5 percent annual risk-adjusted return premium over the market by investing in the list of publicly traded ( 44 )

01.12 - 03.12

companies on the 100 Best Companies to Work for in America. While Wynn and Scarth agree that an employee focused company is a wise investment, Inspire does not just invest passively in the complete Best Companies list. The Inspire strategy is to actively select employee-centric firms around the globe who trade at significant discounts to their estimate of fair value.

Moreover, Wynn and Scarth’s investments align with their personal beliefs and support a new vision for what the market can be. In fact, their first 18 months of results support the premise that the investor does not need to sacrifice profits in order to support the community, the employee and the stakeholder.

As seen in the chart below, the financial returns are impressive:

Since Inception (8/09/2010 – 12/31/2011) Inspire Capital Partners (Gross) +50.52% +14.03% Vanguard S&P 500 ETF +14.84% +2.14% iShares KLD 400 Social Index Fund +13.03% +1.50% Although these results come with the standard disclaimer found below, the hope is that investors will see that personal values do not need to be misaligned from investment strategies.

Investing does not need to follow the bottom line focused status quo, there is value to the investor, the community, and the greater society of a stakeholder approach to business that values the employee, the consumer, the supplier, the environment, society and the shareholder.

Derek Scarth and his sons

This article was assembled by Beth Parish, a candidate for an Ed.D in Organizational Leadership; her research is focusing on how social mission impacts consumer purchase behavior.

Derek Scarth and Rick Wynn from Inspire contributed their research, stories, and personal missions to this work. Inspire can be reached at inquiry@inspirecapitalpartners.com and Beth can be reached at bparish@regis.edu Datamonitor, (2011, May 13). Whole Foods Market.

Retrieved from www.Datamonitor.com through ebscohost.

Edmans, A. (2011), Does the stock market fully value intangibles? Employee satisfaction and equity prices. Journal of Financial Economics, doi:10.1016/j.jfineco.2011.03.021.

Friedman, M., & Mackey, J. (2009, March). Two views on the social responsibility of business. Excerpts from 'The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits' and 'Rethinking the social responsibility of business: Putting customers ahead of investors'. Social Education, 73 (2), 89-91.

Hamel, G., & Breen, B. (2007). The future of management. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Retrieved from http://common. books24x7.com.dml.regis.edu/book/id_23568/ book.aspx.

Madura, J. (2007). Introduction to business (4th ed.). Mason, OH: Thomson South-Western.

Sisodia, R., Wolfe, D., & Sheth, J. (2007). Firms of Endearment: How World Class Companies Profit from Passion and Purpose. Prentice Hall.

Performance Disclaimer: Inspire Capital Partners, LLC is an Investment Advisor registered with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the State of Colorado. The performance data quoted represents past performance and does not guarantee future results. Current year-to-date performance may be lower or higher than the performance quoted. The performance presented here is that of a representative account. The performance of the account is presented gross of fees. Gross of fees performance returns are presented before management, custodial fees, but after trading expenses. A return in this investment would have been reduced by the advisory fees and other expenses it may incur. A fee schedule for Inspire Capital Partners, LLC’s services is available in Part 2A of Form ADV. Fees are collected quarterly, which produces a compounding effect on the total rate of return net of management fees. Risk is inherent in this type of investment, and future performance may involve the possibility of loss. The U.S. dollar is the currency used to express performance. All performance data were calculated using Fact Set Research Systems’ Portfolio Analytics.

BUSINESS

Wikipedia: The Online Encyclopedia

The Wonder of

Wikipedia

An Interview with Jimmy Wales By Jan Mazotti and Annette Perez

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ecently, ICOSA sat down with Jimmy Wales, founder of the nonprofit encyclopedia giant Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation, as well as Wikia, to discuss his strategic vision, entrepreneurship, and the importance of Wikis in modern life.

WIKIPEDIA Wikipedia exists to give a free encyclopedia to every single person on the planet in their own language—and it does. It is also a charity.

Wikipedia is entering its 11th year and currently ranks the sixth most visited website on the Internet, with 365 million worldwide leaders. In fact, it is estimated that Wikipedia receives 2.7 billion monthly page views from the United States alone, but is growing as the Internet becomes more prevalent in developing countries. And while English accounts for only 22 percent of content, the English edition of Wikipedia has nearly 3X more articles than its closest competitors.

As of January 2012, there were 283 different language editions of the free and collaborative encyclopedia, with nearly 100,000 active contributors.

They arguably have the largest collection of knowledge and information ever publicly assembled—an amazing feat considering that the expansion of information on the Internet is nearly unfathomable. While it might be difficult to understand the technical aspects of its growth, it is important to understand how this shift in organizational thinking is going to fundamentally change the way we learn and share information. It is expected that the Internet collectively produced 1.8 zetabytes of information in 2011, whether it be through Internet articles or text messages.

A zetabyte is 1021 or one sextillion bytes. In fact, if all of that information were songs on an mp3 player, it would take 3.1 billion years to listen to all.

Furthermore, the organization is focused on creating a neutral point of view—a core policy considering its strong support by and for the community. “Obviously having a policy of neutrality and a community committed to neutrality doesn’t mean it’s perfect. Humans are humans, a group of people can share a set of biases without even noticing it,” contends Wales. “The open democratic process always allows someone to come in and thoughtfully challenge the group and include feedback in the article.”

When asked about how Wikipedia has played a role in expanding informal education, Wales smiled and excitedly said, “While the total amount of formal education is not declining the amount of informal education has absolutely exploded!” He used

that sheer joy of learning—of following their passion, following whatever is interesting at the moment,” Wales said proudly.

Early in its history, Wikipedia was not favored as a research resource by many in the education arena. However, the perception by educators is shifting quickly, in part because of its popularity with students. “To tell them not to is like saying don’t listen to rock and roll music. What we say is ‘yes you should be careful using Wikipedia as it can contain errors.’ We believe that in this era, we should be teaching students how to use Wikipedia, how to approach the Internet, and how to approach information and knowledge,” said Wales.

He went on, “Wikipedia may inspire you to go deeper—maybe start reading about space or physics—and want to study that topic. I think this accessibility makes us a wellrounded people and supports new innovation.” Innovation comes from cross-disciplinary understanding in science, business and technology.

And, to be on the forefront of innovation, a person has got to dig deep and stay on the cutting edge. Wales contends, “To be on the forefront you don’t want to be repeating what the last four researchers did—you must bring in influences and ideas from other fields. By necessity, you can’t go really deep unless you are able to grasp the basic insights and be able to collaborate and reach out to people. Wiki’s are all about connection and collaboration. They really are the defining technology of bringing people together— very diverse people from all around the world—to build something.”

Although an entrepreneur, Wales says he knows he made the right decision by making Wikipedia a nonprofit organization.

“Encyclopedic knowledge has a distinctly noncommercial role of information on the Internet,” he says. “It makes more sense to be a charity and to be in that framework.”

» "While the total amount of formal education is not declining the amount of informal education has absolutely exploded!" «

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- Jimmy Wales

the example of traditional media to make his point. “Thirty years ago if you turned on the radio and heard that something was happening in Azerbaijan—you kinda knew where it was and you might know what was going on. But, you had to go to the library and look the information up to learn more, and no one had the time. Today, people will immediately check it on their phone.” he said.

Wikipedia has also become a “go to” resource for students, as well as a learning source. “People go to Wikipedia to find out about one topic and then get sucked into reading about other topics. For example, someone could end up reading about the King of Spain when the original search was about World War II. It’s a fabulous thing, especially for young students who just have

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BUSINESS

Wikipedia: The Online Encyclopedia

WIKIA Because there is a growing market for wiki style pages for nonencyclopedic knowledge Jimmy Wales founded, Wikia, a 100-employee collaborative publishing platform that enables people to discover, create and share content on any topic globally.

Wales says, “We’re building the rest of the library. It’s the kind of work that doesn’t belong in the encyclopedia or the dictionary.” Although relatively new, Wikia is ranked as about 50th in terms of popularity. This for-profit business is growing and currently has over 275,000 articles on topics such as video games, television shows, movies, food, and current events. Wikia provides value to those who want to share their expert knowledge with users who want to learn about a topic. “For example there is LOSTpedia, which is about the TV show LOST. There have been thousands of articles on this one TV show and has every detail you would ever want to know,” said Wales.

With a vision for growth, Wikia will open its new sports vertical market, as the world approaches the Olympic Games in London later this year.

THOUGHTS ON CONSUMER-GENERATED MEDIA When we think about social media we need to think far beyond a little bit of hype on Twitter and Facebook. “It’s really about connecting with your consumer—your most passionate fans—so they become evangelists.

But, you can also learn things from them. You can actually modify what your making based on the feedback from these passionate users,” declares Wales. Coming back to the LOST example, Wales describes how the writers for the show took note of the fan feedback and how it became a huge collaboration between the fans

» "People go to Wikipedia to find out about one topic and then get sucked into reading about other topics." « - Jimmy Wales

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» "Wiki’s are all about connection and collaboration.

They really are the defining technology of bringing people together—very diverse people from all around the world—to build something." « - Jimmy Wales

and the creators, and how they worked to design something that appealed to people on a broad basis. “You’re not going to get this from Facebook comments,” said Wales.

In the new information economy where ideas are commodities, Wikipedia is an invaluable public good and it’s an ever expanding platform.

Wikipedia is by far one of the most popular information sources in the world—and those that are part of the organizational team would not have it any other way. They are committed to the movement of free, Internetbased knowledge, believing that access to information empowers people to make rational decisions about their lives. They believe access to information is a basic human right. The team also strives to share information with every human being—no matter their race, color, creed, religious affiliation, or socioeconomic status. They want to provide the venue for all people to share their knowledge.

Moreover, they believe that mass collaboration among a diverse set of contributors, combined

with consensus building are powerful tools in creating accurate and unbiased content. Every day they strive to provide accurate, neutral, verifiable, comprehensive, and unbiased information so that every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge.

Going forward, Wikipedia hopes to have served over 1 billion people and increase the number of online articles to at least 50 million.

They continue to encourage their avid readers to become contributors and hope that there will be a substantial increase in content generation from female and foreign sources. It is a big goal. But if there is anyone who can pull it off it is Jimmy Wales. And, although he spent his early career as a futures and options trader, he says, “I’m not particularly money motivated.

It’s perfectly fine to be prosperous but for me it’s not the most interesting thing in the world.

My job now is so interesting and amazing—I wouldn’t exchange it for all the money in the world. What motivates me is interestingness— doing something interesting!” And, what he is doing is certainly interesting.

BUSINESS

Senator Tom Daschle

U.S. Senator Tom Daschle’s Vision on Energy

By Martha Young

S

enator Tom Daschle has led a life of public service—one instilled by his parents—who believed that public service was an honorable profession.

After finishing college in 1969, he entered the United States Air Force as an intelligence officer with the Strategic Air Command. He left the Air Force in 1972 to sow the seeds of what would become a 26 year career on the national political stage.

Laying the Groundwork for Bipartisan Consensus Building In 1978, Tom Daschle was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat from South Dakota. He ran as a conservative Democrat, putting some ideological space between himself and the socially liberal platform of the party. His vision for the country during this time was steeped in the foundation of national security and quality of life. Throughout his tenure, Daschle repeatedly voted his constituents’ values over party lines. ( 50 )

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While serving in the House, Daschle worked on the Agriculture and Veterans Affairs Committees and the Select Committee on Hunger, and was elected to the House Steering and Policy Committee in 1983.

His House Committee work clearly reflected his values and vision for the country.

Through the Agriculture Committee, Daschle stood by the country’s farmers through the farm crisis in 1985, writing the Emergency Farm Credit Act. He also contributed major provisions of the Disaster Relief Acts of 1988, 1989 and 1993 to assist with farm recovery after devastating natural disasters. Through the Veterans Affairs Committee, he advocated for his fellow veterans harmed in the line of duty.

Successful legislation included compensation to veterans who were cancer victims due to exposure to Agent Orange, and passage of the Veterans’ Benefits Improvement Act of 1994, which authorized payment of disability compensation to Gulf War veterans.

Daschle was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986 and served as minority leader and majority leader, twice in each role, over the course of his tenure. As a senator, Daschle strengthened his vision for the country, emphasizing compromise and bipartisanship.

In 2001 the Senate was evenly split between Democrats and Republicans—an unusual circumstance at the time. He worked with Trent Lott, the Republican Leader, to develop new rules to share power and the agreement passed the Senate unanimously.

Daschle’s Vision for the Country Expands Over the course of time, Daschle’s vision for the country has expanded beyond the halls of Congress. He said, “It is up to all of us to forge consensus. The people of the country need to share their thoughts and ideas with their representatives. It is easy to do with a phone call or an email. The people need to pay attention to political issues and put pressure on their representatives with a tone of urgency.”

Energy, the environment, sustainability and health are interrelated issues, and the country cannot legislate on one aspect without impacting the others. These are complex issues, but if we are to develop a national energy policy, citizens can no longer remain complacent. Citizens must challenge the status quo. Many government and business players are advantaged by maintaining the status quo—and many of them are outside of the country’s borders—causing undue influence on the ability to move forward.

Daschle notes, “We are not lacking information on each of the factors that compose the country’s energy challenge and suite of solutions. We are in need of firm decisions and setting a direction that is backed by the people.”

Vision for the Future Daschle is bullish on America saying, “We are the most innovative society the world has ever known. There is a growing realization—an awareness—throughout the country that to create better policies requires involvement. We are seeing the seeds of engagement beginning to sprout across the country. I am very optimistic that the country will come together to build a strong energy solution portfolio that is sustainable for our country’s future.”

Tom Daschle has moved off the congressional stage into a role that is well suited to his consensus building skills. He is a senior policy advisor at DLA Piper’s Government Affairs practice. He also serves as a member of DLA Piper’s Global Board. His work has enabled him to emerge as a thought leader on climate change and renewable energy policy.

Daschle is a keynote speaker at the Global New Energy Summit (GNES) being held at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado, April 9-11. The Senator said, “GNES is one of the premier energy conferences. It brings together all of the energy stakeholders to discuss and share ideas specific to policies and issues. It draws a wide array of participants.” To learn more about the Summit, and to register to hear Senator Daschle’s address visit www. globalnewenergysummit.org.

Martha Young is principal at NovaAmber, LLC, a business strategy company based in Golden. Young has held positions as industry analyst, director of market research, competitive intelligence analyst, and sales associate. She has written books, articles, and papers regarding the intersection of technology and business for over 15 years. She has co-authored four books on the topics of virtual business processes, virtual business implementations, and project management for IT. Young can be reached at myoung@novaamber.com or on Twitter @myoung_vbiz.

BUSINESS

Kim Jordan

B

Summon The New Belgium Dream A Profile of CEO Kim Jordan By Michael Connors ( 52 )

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eer. How I love to opine about the virtues of the Valhalla of hops and I am fortunate to be able to touch on the topic for ICOSA a second time. For those who are interested in such matters, there is an entire culture built around beer and it is one of unity, community and compassion. Here in Colorado we have many smaller breweries— not to knock Coors and Budweiser—that have passionately pursued the niche of craft beer.

And I believe there is no microbrew finer than my personal favorite Fat Tire.

I had the opportunity to talk with Kim Jordan, CEO of New Belgium Brewing, during a recent ACG Denver event. She is a compelling public speaker who has a genuine passion for what she does and who she works with, thus when she speaks about New Belgium she is simply telling the story of the brewery which is entwined with the story of Jordan herself.

ICOSA featured New Belgium in its 2009 issue on conscious capitalism because of its remarkable culture and approach to the environment and community. What they have there is truly special and unique. But because of the theme of this issue—vision—I want to focus on how Jordan’s leadership and vision have helped shape, foster, and perpetuate the culture of sharing and compassion that permeates their business.

Jordan noted in her talk that beer is a culmination of art, science and food. It is from this perspective that she tells the story of herself and her then husband, Jeff Lebesch, envisioning a future for their craft beers.

She explained that before they ever sold any beer, they went on a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park and we talked about what they wanted this baby company of theirs to be. She said, “We wanted to produce world-class beers; we wanted to promote beer culture and the responsible enjoyment of beer; we wanted to be environmental stewards; and to have fun. . . . But one of the things I learned from this is that codifying what you want to be really helps focus energy in a core direction. We still live by this today—more than 20 years later.”

So while he created the beer, she was involved in everything else—and today the organization and its character speaks for itself.

In fact, she was New Belgium’s first bottler, sales rep, distributor, marketer and financial planner.

And, it is only from a foundation rooted in practicality that a vision can arise and thus be sustained. In many ways the sustainability of

a vision can only be brought about by sound fundamentals that help guide, shape and perpetuate the identity of an organization.

Jordan comes from a Quaker family and was raised in the 1960’s so the drive and desire to compassionately change the world were embedded in her DNA. It is from this background that her influence and vision for New Belgium is heavily focused on sustainable practices, both environmental and social.

I believe that a good barometer into someone’s professional and personal world view is really enveloped in their mentors. When I asked Jordan about hers, she pointed to the work of Patagonia’s Yvon Chouinard—whose thoughtful work was woven throughout

her speech. Both share similar corporate structures and business philosophies, but one is a brewer and one is a sporting goods company. Patagonia started when, as a young rock climber, Chouinard started developing equipment that was effective, yet kind to the environment. A standing saying at Patagonia echoes the sentiments of New Belgium, “We can't bring ourselves to knowingly make a mediocre product. And we cannot avert our eyes from the harm done, by all of us, to our one and only home.”

These values seem to mesh almost identically with the culture that Jordan has encouraged and worked hard to instill. “We had to picture what collaboration looks like

» In many ways the sustainability of a vision can only be brought about by sound fundamentals that help guide, shape and perpetuate the identity of an organization. «

The New Belgium Team

here because we’re so immersed in this reality, that for us, it’s as natural as breathing,” said Jordan. She went on, “Our employees never have to hide behind their true personalities.

No matter what they do or who they are, they are New Belgium.” It’s a company steeped in leadership and vision to sustain and promote the growth of a corporate culture, while nourishing its people, and inspiring them to make a difference.

A visionary leader is much like a prism—a confluence of angles that helps focus the varied and disparate rays of their organization into the compact beams of color that help guide their people into the future, while maintaining the essential characteristics of the company that made them great to begin with. Jordan clearly understands the vital necessity of running a successful organization based on best practices in order to carry out her vision and this is what helps make her a successful leader and visionary. I asked her where she sees her organization decades from now and her answer was illuminating. She said, “It’s one of the interesting things about having a vision like ours; the purpose is to be a profitable brewery that makes our love and talent manifest; in some ways it’s so essential to be enduring always. And so, if 100 years from now if that essence is still core to how New Belgium shows up in the world—that will be fabulous.”

The final and key component to building a successful dream is finding people who share in that dream and are passionate about its success.

The people that give her the most inspiration are those around her on a daily basis. New Belgium has a culture of collaboration at its core. “I get a lot of my inspiration from my coworkers… They’ll say ‘hey we should do this,’ and it will be about being better than we currently are. I have many pinch me moments with them and they often bring me to tears because I am so inspired by them.” When all levels of a company have access to such invested and truly interested ownership/leadership, there arises an openness where ideas can flourish and innovation can thrive. It is at this nexus where visionaries are born.

Personally, I am intrigued how beer becomes the emollient that brings festivities to life, when enjoyed responsibly. And, there is certainly a beer culture and beer people, as demonstrated by what New Belgium has accomplished, at its core.

Moving forward, Jordan’s greatest challenge may be to keep that sense of a small community brewery, as their success forces them to grow in order to fill the needs of an expanding and global marketplace. All I have to say is, ‘Good Luck Kim! You have my support. Oh yeah, one more pint of Fat Tire please.’

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BUSINESS

Embracing New Technology Capabilities

Embracing New

Capabilities Traditional Technology Strategies Will Fail to Execute Your Vision By Manish Sharma and Dave Guevara

B

eware!

Your traditional technology strategies are or will soon be obsolete. How can that be when the executive team already understands that vision defines the longterm view of the company to investors, customers and employees?

Executives have strategies they believe translate corporate vision into achievable, high-level goals. Technology is a part of all of those strategies. It is important to know, the convergence of mobile, social media and cloud technologies will disrupt traditional corporate information technology (IT) strategies. Walmart provides an example of how to adapt technology tactics to enable your vision and strategies.

Walmart describes themselves as a global retailer who is committed to saving people money so they can live better. Their customer vision is “to earn the trust of their customers ( 54 )

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everyday by providing a broad assortment of quality merchandise and services at everyday low prices (EDLP).”

This global low-cost retailer is also known for being a technology leader, not just in IT but also across their operations. In 2008, Walmart demanded that a supply chain strategy become standard practice for their 700-store Sam’s Club line. They mandated that all Sam’s Club suppliers comply with Walmart’s threeyear radio frequency identification (RFID) inventory technology requirement or pay penalty fees.

In 2011, Walmart acquired Kosmix to form @Walmartlabs to further their digital strategy around marrying internal customer store transaction data with information patterns mined from social networks. What they are building is the “Social Genome” based on millions of tweets, Facebook messages, blog postings, YouTube videos, and community posts. As reported by Olaf De

Senerpont Domis in “The Deal Magazine” (Nov. 28), @Walmartlabs continued to build their technology strategy by acquiring OneRiot, a Boulder, Colorado-based company developing target ads using social media data, and in November 2011, Walmart bought Grabble, which develops point-of-sale technology for cellphones.

So you are probably wondering what this means to everyone and the executive team.

Or, how can the team find the appropriate technologies, where to apply them in terms of business outcomes, and what it means for competitive differentiation? There are three criteria to understand and apply, no matter which method or best practice you use for strategic planning when it comes to technology strategies.

1. Determine how customers, employees and supply chains use social media and mobile technologies; 2. Use an outside-in perspective throughout execution of the vision and strategies; and 3. Become flexible and adaptive to test new ideas and to respond to unforeseeable events like a global recession and slow recovery.

Use of Social Media and Mobile Technologies Over the last five years there have been a few trends that have heavily impacted the IT capabilities landscape. The first is the growth in consumer-based IT with the advent of smartphones and smart devices that provide the user with ubiquitous access to information.

The second trend is social collaboration based on social media like Facebook, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, YouTube, Twitter, blogs and community sites like OneWorldTV. Gartner, Inc., the world’s leading IT research and advisory company, suggests that cloud, social media and mobility technologies will disrupt companies’ strategies in many industries. “Many industry business models will be challenged through 2015, as customers continue to adopt an always-connected digital lifestyle and market competitors exploit emerging technologies to achieve business growth and success,” says vice president and distinguished analyst Kimberly HarrisFerrante in a January 4, 2012 “TechJournal” article. She adds, “Cloud computing and social media will continue to provide industries with new avenues for effective customer communication and engagement, facilitating increased revenue and sustainable interaction with key customers. New

technologies such as media tablets and advances in mobile will have a disruptive impact on many industries, requiring changes to existing processes and propelling business transformation.”

In fact, technological mobility has untethered the workforce from the PC and made information access a part of consumers’ and employees’ lifestyles. Social media outlets have allowed people to collaborate in a medium that is most desirable to them without having to seek approval or wait for internal IT capabilities to be available. Although these trends do not directly affect the way IT capabilities are delivered to run a corporation, they have a direct impact on how to create a vision for IT. These trends represent a new way of envisioning access, reach, and channels for services used by internal and external stakeholder groups. Instead of having a vision that talks about IT services and capabilities, the corporate vision and strategies must address what will please the end user. Hence, the new order is to have a vision that is derived from looking from the outside-in and not inside-out, as has traditionally been the case.

Outside-In Perspective An outside-in vision strategy describes how a company engages the perspective of customers, as in the Walmart example. And while corporate vision may already be stated from the customers’ perspective, it is important to ask how many of the strategies translate that outside-in perspective into implementation plans.

that your employees’ and business partner’s experiences are also aligned. But, this is so much easier said than done. It requires a shift in mindset throughout management and technology implementation leaders—both business and technical.

With regard to information systems, the outside-in approach means mapping business capabilities—functional capabilities with the required performance or quality level—to the systems capabilities delivered through IT systems. This approach considers end user satisfaction with IT capabilities, not with the “why’s” of what can’t be done.

Aligning business and IT capabilities in this manner leads to an unbiased view of required IT capabilities, no preconceived notion of fulfillment, and an opportunity for reassigning ownership where it belongs.

Historically the vision for IT was internally focused on improvements that would provide bigger, better and faster services for the enterprise. This worked well when IT mostly delivered a set of enterprise services that required large investments, thus leading to an emphasis on optimizing utilization of the assets created by these investments.

However, with the self-learn, self-govern and self-directed nature of social media, and the ubiquitous access to information from mobility makes these corporate assets likely to be only a part of the needed capabilities to support communities of customers, employees and business partners—like Sam’s Club suppliers.

Any technology strategies must now look at the internal and external ecosystem that will provide the ability to validate, adapt and respond to customers and markets in a durable, competitive and profitable manner.

Moreover, the outsidein view needs governance, with emphasis on the speed in validating new ideas before committing to full-scale investments.

Organizations should allocate budget for business units to explore their ideas using IT capabilities that can be implemented rapidly, and not necessarily using internal IT capabilities. This helps in the validation of newer technology options without the enterprise rigor that can delay realization of the expected business performance levels called for by outlined strategies. However for this approach to be successful, companies must have previously created the ability to be flexible and adaptive in testing new ideas followed by a structured migration plan to move new capabilities into full-scale production.

» Technological mobility has untethered the workforce from the PC and made information access a part of consumers’ and employees’ lifestyles. « A key question is how well the outside-in perspective aligns with certain initiatives and programs to help execute the stated vision?

Or, how many initiatives got derailed when technologies were deployed? Every executive has been cautioned to never allow vendor or technology strategies dictate business strategies. It is imperative to stop guessing and define business and technical capabilities so that the customer’s experiences are consistent with the corporate vision. When working on internal business functions, the same capabilities mapping approach will assure

Become Flexible and Adaptive Business and technical capabilities that are derived from an outside-in perspective produce the behaviors in systems and people, which create the desired experiences for customers, employees and business partners—like supply chains—both upstream and downstream. One can’t assume that traditional strategies will show how to apply the technologies described by Gartner analyst Harris-Ferrante—cloud computing, social media, and mobility. Anthony J. Bradley and Mark P. McDonald, authors of the 2011 article “The Social Organization” state, “Businesses must embrace new capabilities that allow them to test and validate ideas, adoption rates, and to tap the collective genius of customers and employees.”

Your business and technical leaders need the ability to quickly prototype and validate their ideas without the traditional timeframes and disruptions to production systems.

However, a common failure is to use oneoff solutions that cannot grow to full-scale production. Validating ideas on a small sample of customers—hundreds to a few thousand—is valuable, but there must be a migration path to transition to a full-scale solution for hundreds of thousands to millions of consumers. This is where the required IT capabilities need to be evaluated for the scenarios where the pilot validation programs have succeeded.

These solutions are likely to be derived from a mix of internal IT and consumer-based technologies. And because the components of these solutions are available from outside internal IT, businesses have the option to procure them directly. This helps the speed of validation and deployment, but it may not be fully scalable and the total lifecycle costs may not fit the economic model across a full-scale rollout. Thus, it is necessary to look across the lifecycle to full-scale operations early on, especially when new ideas are being validated with customers or the intended audience.

Lastly, do not make the mistake of demanding this flexibility and adaptability from the business operations that are critical to sustaining your revenue base at the current profitability levels. Charter teams within, or better across, business units who are knowledgeable about your business model(s) and their economics. These teams can then explore new ideas using business and technical capabilities that are not constrained by the governance and demands of your critical business functions. Their charter should include the accountability to define a path to full-scale deployment.

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BUSINESS

The Carbon War Room

Energy Battles and

Market Barriers An Interview With Jigar Shah and The Carbon War Room By Kelly de la Torre and Jan Mazotti

S

cientists are more confident than ever that climate change is causing negative effects such as sea level rise, stronger storms, and drought—to name just a few. These extremes can and have already had devastating effects on society and the global environment. The good news according to Jigar Shah, CEO of The Carbon War Room, is that we can mitigate the effects of climate change by deploying existing and cost effective technologies and create wealth at the same time.

The target is huge—business and consumers alike must reduce emissions by 17 gigatons by 2020 is paramount. However, our opportunity to do well by doing good is even bigger.

Shah and The Carbon War Room have their eyes on this target. To launch the attack, The Carbon War Room has identified seven theaters that are material to winning the war against climate change. Each battle represents over 1 billion tons, or more than 2 percent, of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions annually.

To be clear, the question is not whether we have the technology. In fact, we already do. The Carbon War Room focuses on failures in the marketplace and how to remove these barriers in order to scale cost-effective solutions. “To identify these failures, we simply need to open our eyes. It’s Business 101,” says Shah. Fifty percent of the climate challenge can be tackled with existing technology, market, and policy conditions, advocates the War Room.

The process is simple. To identify market barriers The Carbon War Room first takes a top-down global look. For example, the potential for commercial energy efficiency is 1 gigaton of carbon savings through the use of energy efficiency retrofits. The next step is to identify the costs for achieving that 1 gigaton of carbon emission reductions. Once the numbers are generated, the strategy switches to a bottom-up approach. Specifically, what is preventing achievement of these numbers and what is the solution? From this analysis, The Carbon War Room creates a hypothesis for change, and ultimately, direct capital to the sector in order to take new solutions to ( 56 )

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Jigar Shah, CEO

scale. “This approach allows us to combine knowledge, enthusiasm, energy and finance to unlock the potential of the technologies and businesses of the future,” declares Shah.

This isn’t theory; this is a call to action. The Carbon War Room is mobilizing entrepreneurial and business forces to target market failures.

Inherent and fundamental to this strategy, however, are the economic opportunities that transcend carbon reduction. “In the face of great stagnation we need to build, so people are doing something,” says Shah. “This is the greatest wealth-generating opportunity of our generation.”

A visionary devoted to gigaton-scale reduction of carbon emissions, Shah refers to himself as a capitalist who firmly believes that we can “do well by doing good.” He believes it because he’s done it. Shah is a longtime advocate of solar power and founder of SunEdison, a solar services provider that now has more solar energy systems and megawatts under management than any other company.

At the start of his career, however, investment in solar required huge up-front installation costs, a model that was effectively killing industry growth. It is this type of market failure that frustrates him. He says, “This is a classic example of a failure to align interests.” Shah identified the fundamental problem—how the energy industry operated was out of alignment with the means of producing solar. It was upon this premise that he launched SunEdison.

For Shah, it was a matter of going back to basics. As he started SunEdison, Shah figured out that the high cost of owning and operating a rooftop solar array posed a real barrier to development. By implementing market mechanisms for the solar industry that already existed in the conventional energy industry, like power purchase agreements which guaranteed a return for investors, he was able to repackage solar as a low risk investment and propel the industry forward.

The SunEdison business model created by Shah stimulated significant growth for the solar industry, but he was just warming up. Shah has since moved on to lead The Carbon War Room, an independent nonprofit, founded by Sir Richard Branson, to harness the power of entrepreneurs to unlock gigaton solutions to climate change. Aptly named, The Carbon War Room is actively coordinating teams of entrepreneurs, business leaders, policy experts, researchers, and thought leaders to focus on market-driven solutions and drive implementation in the war against carbon emissions. “It’s not enough to come up with the idea,” says Shah. It is the job of The Carbon War Room to slog through the details and implement new mechanisms, and it is working.

The Battle for Renewable Jet Fuel One of the major battles identified by Shah is jet fuel emissions. The Carbon War Room reports that the aviation sector currently accounts for two percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, but the sector will grow to account for over five percent of global emissions by 2020. And, argues Shah, providing viable renewable alternatives to jet fuel is the most permanent way to reduce the sector’s carbon impact. The War Room found that although tests have demonstrated the efficacy of renewable fuels for years, and while renewable fuels’ potential impact on the industry and on emissions is great, use of renewable fuels in aviation is not scaling in proportion to its market potential.

The Carbon War Room identified an information gap—the market barrier— between the aviation sector and renewable fuel manufacturers regarding the quality and sustainability of renewable fuels. This lack of information prevented the aviation sector from identifying opportunities to support promising solutions through investment. To address the information gap, The Carbon War Room partnered with Elsevier to launch RenewableJetFuels.org, a database designed to provide information relating to viable jet fuel opportunities by providing in-depth scrutiny of the renewable jet fuel supply chain companies.

The launch of the website on December 4, 2011, provided an assessment of the top five renewable jet fuel supply chain companies in terms of

said is suddenly so obvious that you wonder why you didn’t see it before. One example he gives is related to shipping. He explains it this way, “If you were moving from Denver to New York and someone told you that one moving truck costs $39.95 a day and the other costs $42.95 a day which one would you choose?”

“The $39.95 truck,” I respond.

“Even if it costs more in fuel costs to get from Denver to New York,” asks Shah?

Oh, another smack to my forehead – I needed the right information. It’s the second battle targeted by The Carbon War Room.

The War on Shipping Inefficiency The Carbon War Room reports that shipping as a stand-alone nation would be the sixth largest CO2 emitter, with sulfur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxide (NOx), and related particulates among the worst globally.

Surprisingly, the top 16 ships produce as much SOx as the global auto fleet. And notably, just 15 percent of the ocean vessel fleet accounts for 50 percent of emissions. The Carbon War Room reports that just a 30 percent efficiency savings through the uptake of technologies and operational measures at current bunker fuel market prices would equate to a $70 billion saving across the industry.

Remarkably, however, even with proven technologies identified to provide tremendous fuel and emissions savings, coupled with short payback periods, the technologies have not been embraced and systematically introduced. Technologies like satellite weather routing, rudder propeller technology, waste heat recovery technology, and friction reducing hull coatings, present huge economic efficiency and carbon reduction opportunities, yet few fleet owners have begun implementation.

To address this, The Carbon War Room gathered the sector’s key experts and asked them why the shipping companies weren’t addressing efficiency and why their customers weren’t demanding it. The simple answer—and another “V-8” moment—was that no one had asked for fuel economy. The Carbon War Room once again identified an information gap as the market failure. The shipping customer pays the price for fuel, but the information about which ships were more fuel efficient wasn’t available. With appropriate information available to the shipping customers, the incentive to retrofit could then be driven by the market and by the decision of the shipping customers to use the ships that were most efficient.

» We can mitigate the effects of climate change by deploying existing and cost effective technologies and create wealth at the same time. « economic viability, scalability and sustainability.

“By keeping the site in beta format, producers can continually update and re-submit data.

This is then reviewed by experts, enabling RenewableJetFuels.org to be the independent gold standard for investors and airlines in the market,” said Suzanne Hunt, Operations Lead at The Carbon War Room.

Shah’s true vision is to create the market conditions to scale technology by identifying and fleshing out common sense solutions that can cause change to occur. In fact, the more you talk to Shah, the more “V-8” moments you have—moments where you want to smack your hand on your forehead because something he’s

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The Carbon War Room

As a result, The Carbon War Room launched ShippingEfficiency.org for the purpose of increasing information flows around international shipping's energy efficiency.

What’s more, it did not take long for the shipping companies to recognize that with informed consumers, they could quickly gain market share through simple energy efficiency upgrades and basic communications. Shah argues, “It is critical to align the economic and environmental interests in order to facilitate crucial capital flows. The transformations we seek will be self-financeable by the industry and will lead to decreased operating expenses.

The 2020 fleet could save CO2 emissions by over 0.5 billion tons annually, putting it on a path to reductions of over one billion tons a year by 2050.” In addition to increasing information flows and communication, The Carbon War Room is targeting legal and policy innovation to help accelerate the adoption and enforcement of international regulations on shipping efficiency and permanently embed efficiency as a crucial metric.

The Green Capital Global Challenge

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To explain, Shah tells a story about the role of cell phones in rural poverty reduction and how advances in information and communication technologies have opened a range of opportunities for rural areas in underdeveloped parts of the world. In his example, he tells of how people would historically walk six or more hours and wait for a bus that may or may not be there. Now buses can text with the arrival time so an all day walk is not wasted. While cell phones provide access to necessary information, however, these rural areas don’t have the means to charge them. “People would pay for more minutes if they could use them,” said Shah. So, to address the charging issue, one company has deployed a 20-watt solar unit for homes in exchange for an incremental extra charge on the cell phone bill. It simply makes market sense. People were paying $3 for diesel to run a generator and that diesel is subsidized by the government, so now the government is also saving.

2 The financer of the solar makes a 40 percent rate of return.

Shah asked what is stopping this model from being rolled out everywhere, and what they found were some transaction and robustness issues, for example, technology to prevent reverse engineering to circumvent payment, but nothing insurmountable or even terribly difficult. These solutions are simple and are the types of solutions that Shah and The Carbon War Room are using to change the world and make our lives better. It’s about economic opportunity with environmental benefits.

Shah is very clear that we need to stop talking and start doing. Countries like China and India have agreed to emissions regulation, not because it’s good for the environment, but because they recognize that this is the largest wealth creation opportunity for this generation. Shah advocates that we have the technology, the passion, and the knowledge.

We need to mobilize and facilitate necessary capital flows and to do this we need to wake up and focus on these opportunities. If something is not working, we need to take another look and examine why. Our generation has the opportunity to write a new story; a story that will benefit our society, the global economy and the next generations. What comes next for Shah after The Carbon War Room? I was surprised to hear him say he doesn’t know.

However, it does not seem to matter. Whatever comes next for Jigar Shah, we can be certain that it will propel us forward so that we can all "do well by doing good."

» "The 2020 fleet could save CO emissions by over 0.5 billion tons annually, putting it on a path to reductions of over one billion tons a year by 2050." «

Another battle identified by The Carbon War Room is commercial energy inefficiency. It is well known that deep energy retrofits can achieve significant emission reductions and energy savings. According to Shah, the solar industry is about a $70 billion market annually, but we spend only about $10 billion each year on energy efficiency measures that would reduce the amount of energy we need. So the question is, why would we not be investing in technologies that can be paid for immediately through energy savings?

Again, this is another example of something that makes sound financial sense but it isn’t scaling like it should. An identified barrier limiting investment in beneficial retrofits for solar included high up-front costs and the widespread difficulty in securing capital. Therefore, the solution was to address the barrier of capital flow to the market.

To mobilize an attack in this battle, The Carbon War Room brokered the launch of the PACE Commercial Consortium (PCC) to focus on how to unlock billions of dollars of private investment money for energy efficiency measures in commercial real estate by using a mechanism that already existed— the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program. The problem with the existing mechanism, however, was that municipalities were required to pay large, up-front payments ( 58 )

that they didn’t have. And, there were not adequate mechanisms in place to unlock private investment for the work. So, key to the PCC strategy was the critical collaboration of its members, each providing an important piece of the puzzle in terms of experience in engineering, risk management, program design, administration, and capital.

- Jigar Shah

Through PACE, private capital has the opportunity to provide millions of dollars in stimulus monies to cities in crisis while the cities bear minimal risk. In Miami and Sacramento alone, more than $650 million of private investment is available, and the potential stimulus for other states is also staggering. According to PCC, for every $1 million invested in commercial real estate energy efficiency retrofits there would be on average, $4 million in tax revenues at all levels, $10 million in economic activity, and 60 jobs created.

What you realize talking to Shah is that it doesn’t take but a few “V-8” moments to see a pattern. He tells it is like it is. The Carbon War Room is trying to solve real problems and by doing so, move things forward. They are doing things that make economic sense, and it just so happens that a side benefit is that their work is saving the planet.

Clearly, the other aspect is that Shah’s strategy is not to urge reform through education about the positive benefits. Instead, it is a strategy to demonstrate the successes of what they’ve done and urge businesses and consumers to pay attention and care, while making positive change faster.

Recognizing and inspiring breakthrough achievements in the fight against hunger

The World Food Prize Foundation was created by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, 25 years ago, and seeks to bring hunger and food security issues to the forefront.

Each year, the $250,000 prize is awarded to deserving individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world. In conjunction with the award ceremony, the three-day Borlaug Dialogue international symposium attracts more than 1,400 people from 75 countries, including global business executives, policy leaders, the world’s top researchers, farmers and others. The World Food Prize also coordinates several youth programs, such as its Global Youth Institute, which aims to inspire young people to work in careers involving food security. In 2011, the World Food Prize unveiled the new Hall of Laureates, in Des Moines, Iowa, which serves as a landmark to celebrate the world’s hunger fighters and the history of agriculture, and as an educational center and meeting place to confront our future global challenges.

www.worldfoodprize.org

BUSINESS

Cathey McClain Finlon

A Visionary

Career

An Interview With Cathey McClain Finlon

W

ith insight, determination and perspective spanning over a four decade career, Cathey McClain Finlon is a commanding and luminary force in the Denver area and beyond. Her belief in the constant path of learning, combined with her belief that growth leads to change, are hallmarks of a stellar career, where she currently serves as president of the Denver Art Museum and chair of the Board of Trustees of The Children’s Hospital.

By Judith B. Taylor with Jan Mazotti

THE BACKSTORY The daughter of a Presbyterian minister, McClain Finlon decided at an early age that work was a path to meeting her goals. Selfdescribed as rebellious and strong willed, Finlon had the desire to branch out and be adventurous as a young woman. She was encouraged to leave the nest with the “you can be anything” attitude.

After receiving her Masters degree, Finlon headed to Philadelphia with little cash and lots of desire. Her first position was

with the Philadelphia Museum of Art and involved development. Her next stop was the Denver Art Museum when it was the Gio Ponti Building.

Moving on from the art world, Finlon took up marketing and advertising. Under her ownership of McLain Finlon Advertising, beginning in 1985, she built her company to one of the top 50 agencies in the U.S., as ranked by both Ad Age and Ad Week. Her company also consistently ranked in the top five Colorado-based, woman-owned businesses. INC. recognized McLain Finlon with a Top 100 Inner City Award and hundreds of creative awards including 5 Clios. She was a founder of Linhart McClain Public Relations as well.

An avid sportswoman, Finlon has cycled all over the world and climbed almost half of Colorado’s 14ers. She is also active in her community and her board work is extensive. She is past chair of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce and of the Junior Achievement board. Her board service also includes the Denver Art Museum, Denver Public Schools Foundation,

Photo Credit: Evan Meyer | Shutterstock.com

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Advisory board of the University of Denver - Daniels College of Business and the Center for Colorado’s Economic Future at the University of Denver. She has also served on the boards of the Colorado Outward Bound, National Repertory Orchestra, Alliance for Contemporary Art, World Trade Center and is past chair of the Denver Advertising Federation. Finlon served on the board of the American Association of Advertising Agencies which represents the top agencies in the U.S., as well.

VISIONARY IDEAS INTO ACTION Finlon has several themes underscoring her career and many lessons learned that she willingly shares. She knows that realizing one’s vision in a business environment generates challenges and she has likely dealt with them throughout her career. “The way to grow is to change,” Finlon says. “It is important to look for shared values because it is not perfect in business.”

Her journey through the years carried career lessons including the need for change and teamwork. “Connecting to common values sets the stage for continued growth. Being part of a team is essential with constant nurturing and hatching,” she said. “For things to change, I have to change.”

In growing the advertising agency to an Ad Age Top 100 U.S. agency, responsibilities had to be shared. Finlon could no longer do it all—she had to let go a little bit. She said, “When you are part of a team, you give up some things. You need someone who knows more than you, and that can be scary.” To allow herself to let go, Finlon says that she had to “revise” herself quite a bit. “Constant revising allows for striving to be the best,” Finlon declared.

Working with industry and community boards to build skills was paramount to the success of her endeavors as well. She credits her active board participation in helping her take newly learned skills into her company.

» "The way to grow is to change. It is important to look for shared values because it is not perfect in business." « - Cathey McClain Finlon

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Cathey McClain Finlon

She is committed to connecting and collaborating. In fact, she has spent up to 30 percent of her time on boards. She says, “It is important to participate in our community in any way we can.”

LESSONS LEARNED DURING A FORTY YEAR CAREER There are five key lessons—themes—if you will, that Finlon believes are important to positive personal and professional endeavors. She frames each in personal anecdotes of challenge and success.

Theme One: Opportunity and serendipity are spectacular friends.

With $500 in her pocket, Finlon left home to work for the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The thing was, she didn’t have a job there yet and they were not interested in her professional skills (or lack thereof ). She worked tirelessly to get someone there to notice her, to no avail. With her last dollar in her pocket, she interviewed with a fundraising firm and got the job—as a contracted fundraiser for the museum. In a suit bought on layaway, Finlon walked into the interview looking and feeling great, but a bit intimidated by the Degas ballerinas on the wall. Passing the first interview, she proceeded to meet with a member of the executive committee, Elizabeth M. Greenfield, who was well-known in the art community and “had a Jackson Pollack over her fireplace.” She got the job and came to realize that had it not been for the last ditch effort with her resume her career could have gone in a completely different direction.

After performing well in her role as a fundraiser, she asked for a small raise and was told by her boss, “I can go out on the street today and find any other girl to do this”….and click, I knew I had to get out of there.

Which leads to theme two.

Theme Two: Run, don’t walk away from unacceptable situations.

See them. Know them. Respond to them. Have a plan. She said, “I had outstanding mentors, respectful references, and a way to grow, but there is no substitute for a bad boss.

I couldn’t change this person’s mind about my value, so on to the next job—The Denver Art Museum.

Theme Three: Mentors Matter.

They make a real difference. They pick you. You earn your way with them.

Through her early career, Finlon found herself in the midst of some

of the best minds in the art community.

And, as the youngest development director in any U.S. art museum, and one of only a few women, Finlon says, “I had a plan for how to revolutionize fundraising. I was young, assertive, and full of myself.”

She launched a fundraising campaign and Fred Mayer, a quiet, brainy, savvy businessman who was a serious art collector, picked her to mentor. Finlon recounts how Mayer worked with her over the years. “I asked him to endorse a campaign. Instead of endorsing the campaign, he asked me what he should do—what should he give. In that moment, he touched me. In that gesture, in

» "Connecting to common values sets the stage for continued growth." « - Cathey McClain Finlon

asking my opinion, at my young age, he gave me trust and respect, and would give me that trust in years to come. And he laid on me the deep responsibility to perform for him.

It was a breathtaking moment. He would go on to advise me off and on for many, many years. And, these relationships from the Denver Art Museum have formed a family of connections—never for business—but always for spirit that has sustained me.”

Theme Four: Hard work can be the difference between success and failure.

After several years at the museum, Finlon was recruited by a Boulder-based advertising firm and she said, “My life changed!” She expounded on how, with no business experience, she took her entire $10,000 savings and put it into the agency, how she bought it completely less than three years later, and how she

learned that breaking even wasn’t a great thing—the company needed to grow. So she began to read and learn more. “I read every book I could find about how to be a better leader, how to work with teams, how to build business, soak up learning wherever it would come,” she said. It was the mid-1980s—times were tough and business was pressure-filled. She was afraid for her business and reputation.

But her father, a modest man who never made more than $13,000 a year called one day and told her he had set aside $10,000 for her in case she got in trouble.

At that point, Finlon knew she, “Had to stay the course.”

Theme Five: Work must have meaning and value every day!

“It troubles me that today that many women feel that they cannot find meaning in their work—except if they move into the nonprofit world. I don’t understand that, considering that both nonprofit and for-profit worlds are stimulating and motivating,” declared Finlon. She talked about her advertising agency and how as they added new people and capabilities to the business that they had to look for, “Meaning in their work—beyond the ads.” As a result, they created the McClain Finlon Global Do Good Grant which was a competition for employees to get an all expense paid trip anywhere in the world to do some good. The catch—they had to make the rest of the organization understand the need before the trip, and then share their learnings with the agency upon return. She said, “We sent emissaries to a Romanian orphanage and Tanzania and heard stunning presentations of first hand experiences of these Global Do Gooders.” She recounted a story of an employee that went to Rwanda. To raise funds, one of their employees grew an enormous head of hair and the receptionist’s partner, a hairstylist, shaved it all off. As the stylist cut, the other employees threw dollars into the stairwell where they were working. This haircut raised an additional $3000, which was used in Rwanda to buy clothing for children, 10 female goats, school materials and a huge water tank. “The presentation upon their return about the terrible destruction in Rwanda and the impact of these small gifts was unforgettable,” she said.

It was not just traveling abroad

» "Creating meaning in work is about doing work professionally and with satisfaction—about striving to do it different and better than ever—by seeking new ways to replace the old—and it is also about finding the way to personally give to others. It’s only in our heads to realize." «

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- Cathey McClain Finlon

The new Denver Art Museum

that brought meaning to employees at the agency. Together they created the McQuick, the world’s shortest St. Patrick’s Day for Busy Corporate Executives. It was a 10 foot parade complete with floats, motorcades, and horse patrols.

Finlon proclaimed, “Creating meaning in work is about doing work professionally and with satisfaction—about striving to do it different and better than ever—by seeking new ways to replace the old— and it is also about finding the way to personally give to others. It’s only in our heads to realize.”

GOING FORWARD As Finlon looks back at her career, she emphasizes the connection between art and ideas—the importance of people engaging in

» "In that gesture, in asking my opinion, at my young age, he gave me trust and respect, and would give me that trust in years to come." « - Cathey McClain Finlon

an art experience. Creativity at every level is paramount. “We all have options. Our vision comes from a world of inclusion. It embraces all kinds of people and skill sets across many diverse audiences.” Finlon also loves her work in the nonprofit arena. “It is a heart thing,” she says.

She goes on, “I love women in the workplace. I want for them to achieve balance—to perform and receive recognition and reward. To be respected completely. To entrepreneur as I did with belief in a positive

outcome.” “Collaboration is vital,” she says.

“Being part of a community and being a participant are very important.”

“Today, I am on a mission at the Denver Art Museum,” she says. “I have skills that are useful to it. We have new and dynamic programs. We have an extraordinary team, unbelievable board, an incredible facility. I for one will take these moments in time to use what I have to move it upward. I have not really come full circle. I am continuing to climb the stairs.”

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BUSINESS

External Based Thinking for Technology Vision

Focus Strategies Externally

Building Vision Around Technology

By Lisa Jasper

I

n the “old days” or even as recently as the last decade, large companies had a scale advantage in the area of technology that helped them compete.

We call the large, old, slow organizations “Goliath” companies and their young, nimble competitors “David” companies.

Goliath companies are often constrained by their own scale with aging, rigid technology infrastructures, whereas the David organizations are enabled by a combination of readily available technologies that help them move faster and compete more effectively than the big firms.

Goliath companies have struggled with strategic technology challenges for years, and the challenges are only increasing as the technologies that enable their David competitors are becoming ( 64 )

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more threatening. Most Goliath organizations spawned a second head to try to think about and work on this problem. They have “the IT (information technology) head” and “the business head.” These two heads have been so focused on trying to work with each other that they are losing sight of their real competitor.

The “IT head” has focused over the last couple of decades on vague statements like “aligning business and IT,” “serving the internal customer,” “running IT like a business,” or “being a trusted advisor.” These were all well-intentioned messages, but they are distractions from real IT strategy—strategy that can make or break a business.

We propose a simpler way to build vision around technology.

When organizations think about IT strategy, they often focus first on cost optimization within the department. New leaders—CIOs, CEOs and CFOs—often identify opportunities to save money by making improvements in the IT organization, which ultimately boil down to a mission statement similar to, “We will deliver high quality, cost-effective solutions to meet business needs.”

Yes, there are real opportunities to cut costs or improve quality within many IT organizations using process improvements, organizational improvements, and technology consolidations. However, an IT strategy that centers primarily on optimization of IT itself is leaving real opportunity on the table.

The strategy must establish a vision that expands beyond the boundaries of the organization—one focused on what the business can really DO with technology.

Take a for-profit company, which by its definition, is in business to make money. Profit is a derivative of revenues and costs. A technology strategy for a for-profit company needs to clearly articulate a vision for how technology will reduce costs and/or increase revenues.

But wait! Didn’t we just say that focusing on cost optimization is not sufficient? Yes, but the IT strategies we spoke of before focused primarily on reducing IT costs, which are often insignificant compared to the costs of other business processes around the company.

The further IT can push its strategies beyond the boundaries of its organization, the higher its impact will be. In fact, many companies have found ways to reduce costs through the application of technology, but few have pushed cost reduction as externally as they can. Walmart, on the other hand, has. They have applied technology innovatively to reduce costs of integration with their vendors and suppliers.

Still, the biggest opportunities to apply technology often relate to increasing revenue and this is where many technology strategies fall short. These investments often require a leap of faith and more experimentation, and are often harder to measure. But as we’ve seen with start-ups and big companies alike, technology can be a game changer in attracting and retaining customers and getting the right products to them.

Amazon, for example, has locked me in. Their mobile app is so easy to use; the majority of my purchases are done through my iPhone. To crystalize this concept, let’s take a few strategic goals that could be

employed at a large online retail provider like Amazon. First, decrease IT costs by 10 percent through virtualization, while reducing HR headcount by half using self-service features. Another goal, move 90 percent of vendors to automated ordering and payment by 2013, while growing average order value over the next two years by 20 percent through website personalization. All of these goals are fine, and they might be employed in some combination.

Note, though, that as they grow more externally focused, they also grow in their impact to profitability.

Externally-focused strategy thinking is intuitive. It may even seem so obvious that you wonder why more organizations haven’t figured it out. While many companies do have objectives like this, they are buried. And as we mentioned in the introduction, the focus on “aligning” the two heads of Goliath has really complicated things within most large companies. As we will discuss in the next section, the simplicity of this kind of externally facing technology strategy is what helps the whole organization really get aligned.

high rating on (internal) customer satisfaction surveys.

Does this sound familiar?

Take the on-time, on-budget delivery measure—one that exists in practically every organization, whether on a scorecard or as part of other reporting. It is good to be on-time and on-budget, but achieving that objective alone does not mean technology will positively impact the company. People could be working on the wrong projects or delivering the wrong outcome, causing inevitable failure. So an elevated focus on this measure is risky.

What if we took a different view?

What if we measured our technology strategy on its more direct impact to business objectives? This is where the objections often really get strong. We often hear, “I don’t have the ability to influence those measures!” or “My business leadership doesn’t really care about that!”

It is a mind-shift, for sure. But if the technology strategy and the scorecard that measures its success doesn’t expand its view, there is no way to expand its impact. Take the externally focused strategy above: “Grow average order value by 20 percent over the next two years through website personalization.” We all know objectives need to be SMART (specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, timebound) and externally focused. When goals are constructed this way, it is something professionals really could rally around. It is a strategy that could help drive decisions.

When executive teams are focused together on making decisions and implementing changes that drive business results, it shifts the whole energy of the company to one that works together versus one that points fingers. That’s when IT and the business are aligned and when the CIO is seen as the trusted advisor.

Internally focused measures around costs, quality, or timeliness may still be necessary to ensure the IT organization is optimized, but they are not sufficient as a technology strategy alone.

To summarize, thinking strategically in the technology world requires a joint push to an external perspective. It requires starting with what technology can really do for an organization, knowing that the specifics may change based on the type of organization you have. But, external-based thinking is the way to start.

» The most successful IT leaders are those who drive business outcomes through technology innovations. «

» The further IT can push its strategies beyond the boundaries of its organization, the higher its impact will be. «

Rally Around the Common Goals Most large companies think about business strategy and IT strategy as separate endeavors, and many actually have two distinct processes for developing these strategies. IT often waits for the larger organization to hand over its business strategy and then develops a strategy to support it.

Instead, companies need to develop and agree to strategies cohesively. Everyone in the IT organization needs to understand how technology is going to help achieve the overall business’s objectives. And, business leadership must understand how technology will drive business results. This joint focus has several distinct benefits to the organization as a whole.

First, it gets teams collaborating on common objectives. No longer are IT people trying to serve the needs of business people.

By honing the focus to business outcomes that can be achieved through technology, teams can work together to make good decisions.

Second, this focus helps develop IT managers into business leaders. One of the biggest development needs for most IT managers is for them to understand and focus on the business as a whole. The most successful

IT leaders are those who drive business outcomes through technology innovations.

CIOs sometimes get it, but they haven’t trained their team to do the same. Spreading this focus through the IT leadership team will help get those leaders in the right conversation, while training them about what is really important to the entire business.

Finally, this focus helps inspire the IT organization as a whole. Technology workers are a unique breed. Most knowledge workers want to feel like their work has a purpose, but IT workers in particular are really motivated by the meaningfulness of their work. The number of IT organizations who have low morale because projects aren’t valued by the business as a whole is disheartening.

Communicating a strategy about how technology changes the business as a whole, and tying individual work to it, will increase employee engagement.

Keep Score Based on Business Outcomes A typical IT scorecard, whether explicit or implicit, tends to have measures that say, deliver 90 percent of projects on-time and on-budget; follow technology standards and use approved vendor lists; and gain a

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BUSINESS

ITC Holdings Corporation

ITC Holdings

Corporation Investing in Electricity Transmission Infrastructure

F

By Kelly de la Torre

or Americans, electricity is both pervasive and essential. We love it and our appetite for it keeps growing. The average household today owns 26 electronic gadgets. Electricity consumption doubled since 1980 and is expected to grow by another 25 percent by 2030. We take for granted that when we flip a switch a light will come on and when we plug in those gadgets they will recharge. Can our existing grid continue to support this kind of growth?

The majority of the existing transmission system was built more than 30 years ago and has received only minimal incremental investment since. This underinvestment and the lack of proper maintenance has led to brownouts and chronic inefficiencies.

According to the Department of Energy, transmission and distribution losses in 1970 were about five percent. Today, they have increased by 90 percent. In total, outages and power quality disturbances cost the American economy $100 billion every year. Ask Linda Blair and she will agree that we are asking our grid to do things that it was not designed to do.

Linda Blair is executive vice president and chief business officer for ITC Holdings Corp., the largest independent electric transmission company in the United States. ITCs sole focus is to invest in electricity transmission infrastructure to increase reliability, reduce constraints, increase access to competitive energy markets, and lower the total cost of delivered energy.

“Since its inception in 2003, ITC has had a vision to become a leader in the build-out of a more reliable and robust transmission system capable of meeting the needs of a 21st century, energy-intensive economy,” said Blair.

“Although progress has been made, there is much more work that needs to be done.”

America is at a transition point and a robust transmission infrastructure is critical to the country’s ability to grow our economy and remain competitive on a global scale.

living by living electrically!” The result was a revolution in the quality and ease of domestic life. Consumers now had electric-powered vacuum cleaners, clothes dryers, toasters, refrigerators, televisions, radio and even air conditioned movie theaters.

Today, a campaign to encourage use is unnecessary. Today’s electric grid is a 164,000 mile, highly-integrated network of transmission lines and control facilities, interconnecting over 750,000 MW (megawatts) of generating capacity to millions of customers and 3,000 utilities in all regions.

Recent blackouts have highlighted how vital this infrastructure is to our nation’s economy.

According to reports, during the blackout of 2003, 50 million people lost power for up to two days, and the economic impact of the event was estimated at a staggering $6 billion.

But that’s not all. The Electric Power Research Institute estimates that unreliable power adds a 44 percent surcharge to the cost of U.S. electricity. Adding to the mix, new EPA air regulations could alter the U.S. generation fleet and accelerate the shutdown of older generation facilities leading to more stress on our power grid. The current environment prevents the grid from meeting these challenges in a timely fashion.

As Congress debates the idea of a federal Clean Energy Standard, 33 states have already enacted laws to drive the growth of renewable energy sources. In many cases, these resources are far from population centers and require new infrastructure to reach consumers. Furthermore, the progressive integration of intermittent natural resources—such as wind— necessitates a robust transmission grid that will support this type of generation for those times of day when the wind is not blowing. What is needed is an extra-high voltage transmission grid designed to bolster the existing infrastructure and efficiently move power to the consumer.

However, the grid system is governed by a combination of state, regional and federal agencies to deal with mostly local-level incremental changes. This archaic and outdated regulatory structure is fractured across multiple jurisdictions on the local, state and federal levels. This fragmented regulatory structure is ill-suited to manage the transformational changes to the national electric system expected in the coming decades.

The good news is that with leadership of companies like ITC, progress is slowly being made to change these outdated rules and drive investment in the grid.

» Transmission and distribution losses in 1970 were about five percent. Today, they have increased by 90 percent. In total, outages and power quality disturbances cost the American economy $100 billion every year. «

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To explain, we can look to another visionary known as the Wizard of Menlo Park, Thomas Edison. It was Edison’s vision to create a system to deliver electric light into private homes in the late 1800’s and ultimately, his vision revolutionized our way of life.

During the postwar era of the 1950s and 1960s, the power industry’s growth transformed America and the American way of life. The opportunities provided by electricity seemed endless. Remarkably, in 1956, to keep demand high and increase public awareness, General Electric launched its “Live Better Electrically” campaign. The campaign, supported by 300 power utilities and 180 electrical manufacturers across the nation, was designed to extol the benefits of “better

“A number of regions have identified ways to pay for updates to the grid by more closely associating the costs with benefits that consumers will receive,” said Blair. “These new cost allocation formulas allow for smarter planning across regions— planning that more precisely defines how much transmission should be built, for what purpose and where.”

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission also finalized a new rule in July 2011 that is anticipated to define a new era in transmission development that reflects the evolution of our power grid and our energy future as a whole. The rule should significantly increase regional planning of transmission systems instead of utility footprint only process, and put in place a process for allocating costs to those who benefit from new transmission facilities— even for those systems that cross state boundaries and rationalize the allocation of those costs.

We’ve come a long way from the days of the “Live Better Electrically” campaign. Electricity is integral to our way of life and our way of life is vastly different than in the 1950s.

We need new solutions to our energy challenges and new leaders to guide us. Edison’s vision got us to where we stand today and taking us to the next level begins with a comprehensive national energy policy.

“Having a national energy policy in place will set the standard for our nation’s utilities generation portfolio and provide regulatory certainty that will facilitate the building of a new transmission network and bring new generation resources online— whether it is wind, nuclear or clean coal technologies,” said Blair. “A national energy policy should include independent planning of the grid, federal backstop siting authority and regional cost recovery processes across a wider geography to recognize the broad-based benefits of regional infrastructure. A single, cohesive plan for America’s transmission system that begins with a national energy policy will support energy markets and benefit the entire nation,” said Blair.

Just as important, these infrastructure improvements will require a skilled workforce.

However, in addition to reliability challenges and outdated regulatory structure, the energy industry is facing a significant impending

» America is at a transition point and a robust transmission infrastructure is critical to the country’s ability to grow our economy and remain competitive on a global scale. «

challenge—an aging workforce. Now is the time to begin educating the next generation of engineers, scientists, and utility workers who will rebuild our nation’s energy grid.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics indicates that 30+ percent of the existing utility workforce nationwide is or will be eligible for retirement in the next five years.

There is significant job creation potential for skilled workers in this sector, assuming that the appropriate political framework and regulatory environment is provided for growth. We must immediately begin developing tomorrow’s energy industry

workforce to be prepared for future demands. Partnering with community leaders and educational institutions can provide a significant step forward and is just another area where Blair and ITC continue to lead. ITC has already taken steps to address this issue by making focused investments in the workforce of tomorrow by offering apprenticeship programs and partnering with community colleges and unions to educate and train utility workers.

“We have received an overwhelmingly positive response to our education partnership initiatives,” said Blair. “We will continue our emphasis on developing the energy industry workforce of tomorrow.”

Just as ITC has been recognized for its leadership, including ranking on Fortune’s Fastest Growing Companies for several years, Blair continues to be recognized for her contributions to the community, which include serving on various community boards and being honored as one of Michigan’s Women Who Lead by the nationally-known WJRAM 760 morning show host Paul W. Smith. Blair’s leadership in this area is underscored by ITC’s ongoing commitment to the communities it serves, a cornerstone of its business and its mission to be a best-in-class transmission provider.

About ITC Holdings Corp.

ITC Holdings Corp. (NYSE: ITC) is the nation’s largest independent electricity transmission company. Based in Novi, Michigan, ITC invests in the electric transmission grid to improve system reliability, expand access to markets, lower the overall cost of delivered energy and allow new generating resources to interconnect to its transmission systems. ITC’s regulated operating subsidiaries include ITCTransmission, Michigan Electric Transmission Company, ITC Midwest and ITC Great Plains. Through these subsidiaries, ITC owns and operates high-voltage transmission facilities in Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Missouri and Kansas, serving a combined peak load exceeding 25,000 megawatts along 15,000 circuit miles of transmission line.

Through ITC Grid Development and its subsidiaries, the company also focuses on expansion in areas where significant transmission system improvements are needed. For more information, please visit: http://www.itctransco.com.

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BUSINESS

Lockwood International

Lockwood International Vision In Motion By Michael Connors

R

ecently having the pleasure of interviewing Tom Lockwood, son of the late founder Frank Lockwood, I came to understand very quickly that his vision for Lockwood International is firmly rooted in simple, yet timeless truths. Do what you say you will do and maintain your integrity— simple as that.

From these professional and personal tenants, Lockwood International has grown from a small family valve business into an international force to be reckoned with.

What’s more, Lockwood International is positioned to maintain visibility across a multitude of industries especially with larger companies. All the while, the company has invested in its operations and is aggressively reaching out to smaller and mid-sized ( 68 )

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organizations as well. As a result of growing with their customers, Lockwood has become a powerful player in the industry.

Houston-based Lockwood International exemplifies that staying true to your vision and being consistent in your practices will lead to professional and personal triumph.

What’s special and noteworthy is that they have maintained their core belief: If you treat your customers well and provide an honest value, your size won’t matter and you will continue to be successful. And, at the heart of their achievement is the culture of a small family business whose vision is based on a simple and sustainable contract between customers and employees promoting family values and community investment.

From the beginning, founder Frank Lockwood had a dream, and his sons Tom

and Mike have perpetuated and nurtured that dream. In fact, Frank Lockwood opened the doors in 1977 and their customers soon realized the value of a reliable one-stop shop for valves. Mike and Tom Lockwood took over the reins in 1987 and have led the company to become one of the most respected and reliable valve resources to all industrial sectors. Through customer loyalty and the dedication of well over 250 forwardthinking employees worldwide, Lockwood International has become the global leader in valve distribution and now offers machining and automation services.

It may sound simplistic but to build and maintain a reputation of respectability and reliability is not an easy feat and is due in large part to the fact that they remain a privately-held family business. Tom

» If you treat your customers well and provide an honest value, your size won’t matter and you will continue to be successful. «

Lockwood, speaking of his father, told the story of how his father was working for a company that was bought out and he remembers his father saying, “I don’t want to go to another big corporation with a bunch of accountants running your business.” So he started his own company in 1977. In 1987 Frank Lockwood passed away. But Tom and Mike took the reigns and continued to build a monument to visionary leadership.

One of their first large contracts was awarded in 2001 by Exxon Mobil. Owner Tom Lockwood describes their visionary approach to corporate growth from when they won the historic contract. “When we won the North American valve contract with Exxon Mobil we had to open a series of branches to support the business. Today we operate in Baytown, Houston, Beaumont, Chicago, and Los Angeles, Alberta, Sarnia, and Baton Rouge.

But, the growth didn’t stop there. We then took on projects in South Africa, Singapore, Italy, and Brazil. And then the next contracts with INVISTA and Koch enabled us to grow even more.”

The future at Lockwood International is looking bright. Tom Lockwood declares, “I think we can double our size in the next 10

those that work for them. Tom Lockwood knows that achievement is based on collaboration and when those around you share their core values—it becomes a force of nature.

Always to the point, Tom Lockwood describes the underlying “magic” at the company. “First, do what you say. Next, although things can go awry—always keep your integrity.

The one thing you can never lose is your integrity. It may not be the most profitable thing, but always do the right thing and do what you say,” he says.

The Lockwood leadership can be described as those that walk the walk and talk the talk. Tom Lockwood says, “We have a lot of people that really work hard.

And, I think we try to treat everyone fairly.

Being a private company without the pressure from accounts and stock prices and things like that we can be more flexible with the way we operate. Another thing, I try not to ask someone to do something I am not willing to do. I want to see us all succeed.”

The approach undertaken at Lockwood International is certainly visionary, especially in an industry that is often characterized by greed and industrial corruption. We see Lockwood International as a case study of vision in motion.

» The one thing you can never lose is your integrity. It may not be the most profitable thing, but always do the right thing and do what you say. « - Tom Lockwood

years. We’re going into new markets. We’re pushing to get into the pipeline business. We have inventory and we’re chasing pipeline companies. The U.S. is full of natural gas, so now everyone agrees we have to use more natural gas. It’s cleaner and abundant so let’s use more of it. That is one area we are trying to grow.” Having vision means that you never rest on your laurels and the Lockwood brothers are certainly looking forward trying to build on their success, while maintaining what’s special about the company.

Lockwood International is a family run valve company that respects and values

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BUSINESS

Council on Competitiveness

Manufacturing Is The Cornerstone of

American Competitiveness An Interview with Deborah L. Wince-Smith By Bill Groh & Kelly de la Torre

D

eborah L. Wince-Smith, president and CEO of the Council on Competitiveness (the Council) is a true advocate working to create the necessary market conditions for America’s industry to regain its position as a leader in global markets. The Council was founded in 1986 to address the reasons why America was losing industrial market share to other countries.

The Council identified that advances in technology, globalization and challenges to energy sustainability created a different playing field for America’s industry and that American companies needed to make changes to remain competitive. These issues are critical to America’s competitiveness and “we must not surrender,” urges Wince-Smith. “America’s economic portfolio requires a healthy and growing manufacturing sector to tackle the grand macroeconomic problems facing the country, like job creation, debt reduction and infrastructure investments.”

Wince-Smith spearheads a national strategic initiative to promote continued U.S. economic growth in an increasingly competitive global economy. In spite of today’s troubling crisis of economic confidence, and the uneasy notion that American business and industry will soon be outmaneuvered by those in countries such as India and China, it is her position that America can meet these challenges head-on through a national collaborative effort to draw upon America’s unique and greatest resource — innovation.

The Council’s initiatives focus on the premise that American industry must innovate to stay competitive in a global economy.

Instead of attempting to slug it out with low labor cost factories overseas that produce basic goods, American industry should refocus on creating cutting-edge products that satisfy the consumer’s needs and wants in new and innovative ways.

In 2004, Wince-Smith spearheaded the groundbreaking National Innovation Initiative (NII), which played a pivotal role in ( 70 )

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creating a reinvigorated U.S. competitiveness movement. The NII brought together private and public sector leaders at all levels of business and government to develop a private-sector driven innovation agenda, helping to shape the bipartisan America COMPETES Act, creating state and regional innovation initiatives, and bringing a global focus to innovation.

The Council has recently published Make: An American Manufacturing Movement, a call to action to unleash America’s manufacturing potential. “Manufacturing transcends political ties and ideological boundaries. It is a cornerstone of American independence, economic prosperity, and national security that we must not surrender,” advocates Wince-

» The Council identified that advances in technology, globalization and challenges to energy sustainability created a different playing field for America’s industry and that American companies needed to make changes to remain competitive. «

Smith and the Council. The report outlines a strategy that focuses on four key factors: talent, technology, investment and infrastructure. As these factors interconnect to drive renewed American competitiveness, a key part of the Council’s mission has been to recognize the ripple-effect that energy efficiency and innovation can have.

“Energy, really, is everything. It’s the lifeblood of the economy. It cuts across every activity, it also has a huge impact on how we make things, how we transport things, how we use things, and, quite frankly, that has been

» "America’s economic portfolio requires a healthy and growing manufacturing sector to tackle the grand macroeconomic problems facing the country." « - Deborah L. Wince-Smith

true since the beginning of human civilization.

So the innovation machine that we need to stimulate, grow, and maintain in this country is more important than ever, given the challenges of climate change, environmental stewardship, and scarcity as well,” says Wince-Smith.

The manufacturing sector uses approximately one-third of the energy consumed in the United States. It is critical to competitiveness that manufacturing firms have access to low-cost, dependable energy supply. According to Wince-Smith and the Council, “The United States needs a system that develops domestic energy resources— renewable, traditional or otherwise—along with efficiency efforts, to achieve energy security. The transmission grid currently wastes a third of energy produced.” To achieve energy security for our manufacturing sector we need to invest in infrastructure and we need to diversify our energy portfolio. “The Council does not believe there is a single solution to providing abundant, secure, clean and reasonably priced energy.”

Natural gas, however, has the potential to revolutionize manufacturing in the United States. Natural gas is playing an increasingly important role in addressing the needs of manufacturing in the United States.

Technological advances to extract natural gas are creating increased opportunities for production,

job creation, and to address our energy security.

“We use natural gas not only as a source of electricity, but as a feedstock for products such as plastics, fertilizer and pharmaceuticals.

Affordable natural gas provides manufacturers with the ability to expand their facilities, increase production and create even more jobs,” says Wince-Smith and the Council.

Access to low cost and reliable energy is critical to the manufacturing sector and to our success as a nation. According to the

Council, abundant supply and low prices for gas have allowed some energy intensive manufacturers to expand facilities and have even allowed companies to substitute coal for gas and save millions of dollars a year. “In order to fully capture the economic benefits of shale gas production, a balanced regulatory regime and enforcement capability needs to be established that ensures best practices to protect water supplies, while not hampering development,” advocates Wince-Smith and the

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Council on Competitiveness

Council. Cleaner energy supplies of this magnitude could be a game changer, but a comprehensive approach is still necessary. One energy source alone is not enough to address industry’s energy challenges or to reverse the trade deficit.

The Council’s comprehensive approach to the energy question starts with promoting a regulatory scheme designed to promote energy efficiency. “Energy competitiveness begins with energy efficiency and the creation of legal and regulatory environments that reward it. The way our utilities are structured, they do not reward consumer or end-use efficiency.” Beyond efficiency, developing smart, sustainable, and resilient energy supply is about cultivating multiple energy sources and helping to break down artificial cost barriers by pursuing a national transmission superhighway.

“We were very, very purposeful in not picking winners and losers in energy sources, but what we argue and continue to argue is we have to use a portfolio of energy sources in a way that meets demand, rewards efficiency, and provides competitive cost advantage for U.S. industry and U.S. consumers.”

Wince-Smith contends that America must address state and regional regulatory barriers that prevent the national use of regional energy resources. In fact, with the implementation of a national transmission superhighway, regional power sources such as wind energy could be used nationally, distributing surplus energy from one region to another where such power is not available.

Innovation itself, however, requires greater capital investment not just in the development of new technologies, but in the infrastructure necessary to implement them. Wince-Smith argues that the United States can encourage much of this investment by modifying its corporate tax structure. “By eliminating double-taxation and allowing the repatriation of foreign earnings, we can take the trillions of dollars in profits that are sitting outside of the United States produced by U.S. enterprises, and get some of that money back into this country to invest

» "Manufacturing transcends political ties and ideological boundaries. It is a cornerstone of American independence, economic prosperity, and national security that we must not surrender." «

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- Deborah L. Wince-Smith

generation of highly skilled workers involves harmonizing the curriculums of high schools, vocational schools, and fouryear colleges with the specific needs of emerging high-tech industries, through programs that emphasize problem-solving, mentoring, partnering with local industry, and initiatives that can provide students with hands-on experience. With such training and opportunities, American industry and manufacturing can recruit and develop the workforce necessary to implement the technology and infrastructure capable of leading the way to renewed American competitiveness in the 21st century.

Wince-Smith notes that while the Council’s work is at the forefront of President Obama’s agenda as noted in the recent State of the Union Address. She urges, “We must aggressively pursue policies that ensure America remains a global manufacturing destination. We support the President’s intentions, but stress that some of his proposals need to more fully recognize the realities of the global marketplace. The Council stands ready, and we are well-positioned to work with the Administration, Congress, and other key stakeholders to ensure America’s enduring leadership in global manufacturing.”

The Council on Competitiveness’ latest publication, Make. An American Manufacturing Movement, is available on the Council’s website at http:// www.compete.org/about-us/ initiatives/manufacturing.

in our own infrastructure.” Without such domestic investment, cutting-edge technology innovations are implemented overseas where greater capital investment is available.

Development of domestic energy technology is also tied to job growth, including not just research and development, but highly technical jobs which do not necessarily require a four year college degree. Training the next

ALG | Attorneys understand the solutions that advanced energy can bring to the military, the U.S. government and our nation. Bill Groh, Kelly de la Torre and the ALG team are working to bring together partners from various industry sectors and government to identify barriers to implementation and encourage dialogue and consensus on industry solutions. To find out about ALG | Attorneys and how ALG can help bring your company’s energy solutions to these discussions contact or Kelly de la Torre at 720536-4600 or please go to www.antonlaw.com.

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BUSINESS

Diversity Capital Markets

Diversity Capital

Markets

A Visceral-Based Approach By James Pérez Foster

W

hen looking through the statistical lens of demographic trending, we find a U.S. Hispanic market, north of 50 million individuals large and representing one out of every six Americans. According to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau Survey, by 2050, one out of every three Americans will be of Hispanic-decent. Is this a statistical anomaly, or bona-fide mega trend that will shape and define new corporate DNA, retail strategies and consumption behaviors?

Goldman Sachs recently wrote; “The Hispanic market growth is the most meaningful demographic shift in the U.S. Economy since the Baby Boomer Generation.” The Census Bureau also acknowledges not only the Latino population growth but recognizes that it now represents the fastest growing small business segment in the U.S. economy with over nearly $50 billion in annual capital requirements and a hiring source to a vast unemployed market place. With U.S. small businesses now responsible for over 60 percent of new job creation over the last 10 years, we start to understand the opportunity and necessity to educate and incubate small business owners.

Washington D.C. has not only thematically embraced these growth markets, but it has also recognized that financial services firms can act as catalyst for small business growth and job creation. The global economic landscape has heightened stakeholder demands among the larger global financial institutions for increased transparency and more focused efforts on community regeneration and socially responsible capital deployment initiatives. With the phased rollout of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform & Consumer Protection Act, there are now mandated Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) requirements among U.S.-based OCC and FDIC chartered banking institutions.

Additionally, the new CRA requirements place

a particular mandate on these institutions to establish and/or increase their efforts towards accessing under-recognized, minority and socio-economically diverse demographic markets. As these institutions evolve their underwriting credit criteria, banks in general will seek CRA credit and minority-market access and educational platforms via capital investment and joint venture opportunities. For some financial institutions, donating money towards an annual community-based financial literacy event may suffice alone but for others,

purchasing power. This market, containing geographic, socio-economic, linguistic and religious diversity defines a highly segmented opportunity, each requiring an approach defined by authenticity and cultural relevance.

A culturally effective approach considers the subtleties and nuances of a fluid and highly dynamic changing immigrant profile.

One of many proven channels of success focuses on the micro-leadership circles within community-based centers. Migrant and non-migrant markets habitually rely on community and faith-based resources for information and direction cues.

Effectively courting the leaders within these markets begins with the understanding that a grassroots and cultural approach can add credibility to a “message” and significantly shorten the closing process.

The scalability of a financial services firm is effectively enhanced when achieving “buy-in” and support from community leaders who ostensibly place their endorsement behind a corporate community initiative. With the foundation of a trusted relationship in place, “messaging” within these community centers can include: Initiative led education and literacy programs, awareness programs and access to specific target markets through the empowerment of key “ambassador” community members to support on-going initiatives.

The impact achieved through measured and meaningful community mobilization is often times, a more receptive and ultimately more reactive target audience.

For me, as a former Wall Street portfolio manager, I saw the economic viability of the diversity markets and turned it into a personal crusade to make a difference in the world.

How could I ever forget my second month on the job as a wide-eyed freshman with Merrill Lynch’s Private Client Group in New York City? With our professional development training managers encouraging us “newbies” to focus our target market efforts on professional

» "The Hispanic market growth is the most meaningful demographic shift in the U.S. Economy since the Baby Boomer Generation." «

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- Goldman Sachs

the need to support, advocate and advance the under-recognized, is to also incorporate these priorities into the DNA of an organization.

Financial services companies of all sizes are quickly evolving their marketing and access strategies to court the country’s diversity markets by distinguishing their marketing preferences, as well as social, consumption, and spending behaviors. While some term and often rebuke reference to the immigrant-centric profile of the U.S. population as a “melting pot”, many now opt for the more contemporary description of immigrant societal integration as a “mixed salad” by maintaining their cultural heritage and belief systems. One thing for certain is that the U.S. minority markets are requiring a more tailored, authentic approach that can be achieved though focused community mobilization.

Examining the unprecedented growth within the U.S. Hispanic market alone, 2010 U.S. Census data now confirms a demographic market with $1 trillion in household

segments that felt accessible to us, I spent my first couple of weeks focusing on cultivating financial advisory relationships with doctors. My parents both being doctors, this felt like a natural hand-in-glove scenario, until I quickly realized that doctors, for the most part, were only available to speak for the 30-seconds they had in-between patients. I knew I needed something deeper than commerciallength conversations. I sought to build meaningful relationships with my clients and I opted for a more general demographic target. Being the grandson of both Dominican and Cuban immigrants my mother and grandmother, had instilled into our family a rich exposure to Latino culture and heritage. While vast in its segmentation and dynamic fluidity, I felt that tapping this historically under-recognized market from the perspective of Wall Street was worth trying. But culturally speaking, I had much to learn.

At Merrill Lynch, I quickly came to know a senior financial advisor who had focused

» The new CRA requirements place a particular mandate on these institutions to establish and/or increase their efforts towards accessing underrecognized, minority and socio-economically diverse demographic markets. « his portfolio on Hispanic-owned businesses.

Having an early collegial relationship with him, I sought his advice. Jorge sat me down and explained to me that if I was truly directed to work with the Hispanic market, than I would have to expect a different type of client courtship process. I would come to expect and experience a visceral-based, relationship with my clients that didn’t always materialize into closed business right away.

But rather, with the proper invested time,

with coming to know my prospects at near-familial level, I would blossom these prospects into long-term and trusted financial relationships.

As a living tribute to my now, late-grandmother Patria, my wife and I moved to the Denver Metropolitan market to found the first national Hispanic-focused commercial bank in the United States—Solera National Bank. The bank, originally founded as Patria Corporation became a city-wide cause marketing campaign to embrace and ultimately solve the economic, financial and education gaps with a financial banking solution. The ownership of this new bank, and eventual accountability for the bank’s early success, was within the community in which it now serves. It started with coffee meetings, literally hundreds of meetings with area executives to proactively solicit feedback for bank concept.

Individual meetings then led to larger townhall meetings, four to be exact, that were conducted more similar to a focus group setting, while playing the role of educator

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Diversity Capital Markets

and provocative cheerleader. Culturally speaking these sessions achieved something far more important than just buy-in, but rather me showing a token of my respect to my new Denver community that this bank also belonged to them. Alas, a community awareness initiative that quickly became a cause-driven campaign to fill that gap.

Once a sole passion project, the proposed bank became a shared vision of a dedicated 25-person organizer group—a group of impressive community leaders including lawyers, CEOs, retired bankers and teachers who rode with me through the ebbs, flows and intricacies of the national and state banking regulatory process. Our group came to obtain its conditional approvals from the federal government in 2007, and as such, became the first national banking charter in the state of Colorado in over seven years. At the same time, Solera National Bank became one of the first Hispanic-focused national banks in the U.S. The incumbency of our organizer group fueled a grueling, but thrilling capital raise process that raised the bank over $25M in capitalization in only a few short months.

The mammoth proposition to the Denver community was a bank whose ethos centered on the fundamental truth that a single bank could change the lives of its community members—one individual, one family, one business at a time.

I spoke to Patria every day on my long drive to the bank. She became a beacon of light and a rainbow of positivity through the triumphs and hardships within the bank opening process. Embedded into me everyday was her simple message to stay positive, knowing that once opened, the bank would be changing the lives of individuals who once felt overlooked and ignored. The bank would serve as a touchstone to a demographic of hard working Hispanic individuals who shared the same financial goals as any other segment of our economy—the affordability of a child’s

» That U.S. minority markets are requiring a more tailored, authentic approach that can be achieved though focused community mobilization. « ( 76 )

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educations, the ownership of a home, and the financial dignity of retirement. This is what drove us to open and succeed.

Patria passed away one month after the bank opened at the young age of 98. Her elegance and soulful message carried me through, and laser targeted my sights on dedicating a career to the cultivation and advancement of U.S. Diversity Markets.

The difference? I now understand that to authenticate my approach to these markets requires community activation, subtlety, cultural sensitivity and patience. The reward?

The earned loyalty of a client as they evolve through the maturation of business and personal net worth growth.

While the banks’ founding certainly serves a regional good, it is only one example of many who deem the U.S. Hispanic market not only a viable one, but a powerful one.

It is the group that is 50 million strong and now represents 53 percent of all births in the U.S. economy. With more than one-third of the nations Hispanics being under the age of 18 years old, it is an exceptionally young demographic that will come to shape and influence the future of retail, finance and politics. This segment of “future decision-makers” provides an opportunity for financial companies to court, cultivate and educate this young segment market into loyal, long-term customers.

Diversity Capital Markets seeks to embrace the differences, not the similarities in Hispanic-owned businesses, and correlates a culturally relevant courtship to this virtually untapped market. The viability of the U.S. Hispanic market will continue to evolve and impact the consumption demand and purchasing behaviors of America’s largest ethnic population and one that is growing five times faster than the general market, according to the US Census Bureau. And, with Hispanic consumers demanding more authentic ethnic services and product in more locations, corporate America is rushing to high-density Hispanic neighborhoods to comprehend and ultimately access the markets’ cultural nuances and trends. Companies are revamping conventional marketing approaches and tailoring delivery systems to a market that at its core, may only share the Spanish language in common.

The U.S. Hispanic markets’ composition constitutes members from the countries of Latin America, the Caribbean and Spain, yet the market’s domestic diversity includes variations and differences; nationalistically, linguistically, religiously and most importantly, culturally. According to the book, Hispanic Marketing: A Cultural Perspective by Felipe and Betty Ann Korzenny, “The glue that binds Hispanics together is a shared background of beliefs, values, perceptions, and orientations derived from a common experience harkening back to the Spanish colonization of Latin America.”

This demographic market, with its unprecedented growth has certainly caught the attention of conventional capital sources like regional and community banks, and has now caught the eye of unconventional capital sources like private equity and venture capital. Capitalists embrace the magnitude of the demographic trend and continue to seek investment and approach strategies to court the often misunderstood, and highly segmented U.S. Hispanic market. Hispanics now represent one of the fastest small-tomidsize business growth sectors in the U.S. in industries including media, pharmaceuticals, oil & gas, retail, financial, and food services.

Each industry has complex capital and growth requirements but it is the underlying approach of capital markets to earn and maintain the most profitable, long-term relationships.

Understanding that small businesses are a catalyst to necessary job creation, financial services giant, Goldman Sachs

and its 10,000 Small Business Program is a noble example of bridging the gap between Wall Street and Main Street. The nascent program exemplifies the importance of community education for unlocking the potential of small businesses. The $500M program launched in 2009 deploys a rigorous educational process through community partnerships with Babson College and LaGuardia Community College. Integrating financial deployment partners such as Seedco Financial Services, Goldman’s program is sending a strong message to its industry counterparts that when small businesses and their owners are given the right tool sets, coupled with time-invested financial guidance, the scalability of today’s small

financial credits to low-income entrepreneurs to help clients establish creditworthiness and financial self-sufficiency.

Today, the microfinance industry has blossomed with thousands of registered Micro Finance Institutes (MFIs). In Denver, Colorado under the stewardship of an exemplary founding team and supportive board of directors, the Rocky Mountain MicroFinance Institute (RMMFI) provides lending, education, and ongoing coaching to grow Denver Metropolitan entrepreneurs and their businesses onto a pathway of sustainability and self sufficiency. The success of RMMFIs nonprofit business model beholds the importance of not only the acumen and passion of those behind it, but a city and its diverse communities that has rallied behind the entity in the form of pledged gifts and volunteerism.

While some conventional lending institutions are doing a better job than others, the flow of capital to existing, cash-flowing companies has been contracted substantially.

Small businesses now look to nonconventional sources of capital like private equity and venture capital to fund complex growth and operating capital needs. Within the current economic contraction, varied capital providers are playing an increasingly larger and more meaningful role in stimulating business growth within diverse industry sectors as well.

Whether the passion of a single entrepreneur who solely sought to make a small difference, or the collective will of a community to provide the incubation tailwind of our nation’s diverse small business markets, the opportunity is not only vast, it is paramount. Serving as a critical stepping-stone for the nation’s economic recovery and job creation stimulus, diversity ownership of our country’s small business segment must be addressed with cultural specificity and consistency.

» A culturally effective approach considers the subtleties and nuances of a fluid and highly dynamic changing immigrant profile. « business owners is exponential. The 10,000 Small Businesses Program is expanding its educational incubation programs into other key national markets including New Orleans, Chicago, Los Angeles and Houston.

With so many small business growth markets, we also find the genuine efforts of other for-profit and nonprofit organizations inspiring and educating the next wave of entrepreneurial leadership. The effectiveness of microfinance organizations has long been touted by its most visible spokesperson, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Muhammad Yunus, economist and founder of Grameen Bank. Also known as the “Father of Microcredit,” Yunus and Grameen Bank became an early template for issuing small

James Pérez Foster is Head of Capital Markets for touchPoint Partners, based in Boulder, Colorado. In his current capacity, Pérez Foster heads research and capital & donor fundraising initiatives for global clients including Geneva Global (Social Impact Fund), National Geographic and StarShine Academy. The firm, specializes in fundraising, cause marketing awareness campaigns and corporate social responsibility (CSR) program design and implementation for socially purposed enterprises.

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BUSINESS

Mike Stemple

Mike Stemple Visionary, Entrepreneur, and Innovative Best Practices Guru By Maria E. Luna

M

ike Stemple’s business acumen has accrued over a decade of experience, including career accomplishments that encompass art, entrepreneurship and athletics.

Stemple is a Colorado native most famous for the hockey mural on downtown Denver’s Old Chicago wall. These murals ultimately paid for his college education.

Stemple decided to stop making other people money and start his own business in 2000, and over a 10 year period, created 15 businesses in all. One of the more successful companies was SkinIt, which boasted a $100+ million valuation. One of its subsidiaries was Original Wraps (SkinIt for cars), which he sold to 3M. Or, in 2009 Stemple created Odojo, a software application allowing parents to monitor children’s social networks for inappropriate content, as well as leaks of children’s personal information. In 2010, Odojo was acquired by SafetyWeb. Currently Stemple is working on building Mosoro, a tech company that develops leading edge Bluetooth accessory solutions, also known as Appcessories, for smartphones.

An avid runner, Stemple is a sponsored athlete who runs nearly 155 miles at once in the Sahara and Gobi deserts.

Stemple serves as a director and mentor with The Founder Institute, a global network of startups and mentors that helps entrepreneurs launch meaningful and enduring technology companies. The Institute has a four month idea-stage incubator program, which helps entrepreneurs launch their dream company, all while receiving expert training, feedback, and support from experienced startup CEOs. “It’s an incubator program for people who have a day job. So how do you learn from mentors who have been there and done it and been successful? But you can’t take two months off to go to Boulder to do Tech Stars. You can’t take a couple months off to go to the Silicon Valley and do Y Combinator. The Founders Institute fills that gap,” he says.

Because The Founder Institute only runs certain times of the year in certain markets, Stemple is trying to fill the gap with another ( 78 )

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innovative company, Inspirer. He says, “There are so many people who have brilliant ideas and want to go create a company—they just don’t know how to do it. And then there are guys like me who have built 15 companies across all industries including technology that want to share that information. There is just no formal framework to do it. Inspirer was created to fill the niche of helping corporations build better products, processes, and technologies. Our culture has finally accepted a career choice of being an entrepreneur. It’s finally in vogue.”

ICOSA had the distinct pleasure to discuss Stemple’s newest adventures.

Teaching Innovation Stemple: Inspirer is my 15th company and probably my last. Building technologybased businesses I’ve amassed a great deal of knowledge. I’ve also been a director at the Founders Institute; an incubator that has helped launched over 400 companies in 20 different markets all around the world.

Running the Denver branch I have learned much more about innovation and building companies. I wanted to encapsulate all of the lessons learned into a series of lectures and workshops where I could go out to larger companies that are having problems with innovation and demonstrate best practices, as well as thoughts and ideas that I have picked up along the way to help them be more effective innovators or innovation companies.

Personally teaching and sharing my philosophies on innovation mean a great deal to me. That is why I created Inspirer. Over time I think it will morph into an innovation talent agency. It just so happens I know several smart and talented individuals who all have created amazing tech companies, who are all passionate about sharing their life lessons and the lessons they have learned about building tech companies with other people. They just need a framework. I think Inspirer will be at a point next year where we are a kind of a middle-ware provider of innovation, helping innovators work with large and small companies.

People want to be in control of their own security. Innovators in large companies have

largely left to create start-ups and what is left is a lot of MBA’s. The big brain drain of the Fortune 500 has happened. But Fortune 500 has brand recognition with the consumer. They have infrastructure, money, they have all the things that make innovation successful. So there is this big gap between innovators in the start-up world and large Fortune 500 to Fortune 1000 worldwide that are craving innovation. That is where you see a lot of mergers & acquisitions activity. For example, Google does a tremendous amount of M&A activity where they innovate somewhat internally, but they have a lot of innovation through acquisition. And a considerable amount of people think they can get into that supply line.

Inspirer is approaching it from a different point of view. I believe everyone is an innovator. Everyone has the same capabilities from childhood to come up with fanciful creative ideas. If you watch any five year old with a sketch pad and a crayon you see very innovative children. Along the way they get caught up in this belief that they are either left brain or right brain. They start to think I’m a technologist, I’m a designer. I need to do this or I need to do that. They don’t spend much time in the American education process focusing on making our children more well-rounded. They try to make factory workers and we don’t have factories in American anymore. We are not educating our kids to be knowledge workers— being a knowledge worker takes both creativity and analytical skills.

Inspirer is helping Fortune 500 companies figure out how to foster innovation internally.

How do we turn an MBA into an innovator?

Just because we lost innovators to the start-up world doesn’t mean that we can’t innovate. We can teach our accountants, our finance people, manufacturers, even the director of products to be better innovators. We can foster a sense of innovation by helping people understand a toolset to be an innovator is really knowing how to think analyticity, but explain visually. Inspirer’s vision is to foster innovation at any company with the existing employees already in place.

For many, accounting seems monotonous.

Why is that? We are taught that it’s boring and monotonous. There is magic in numbers. There is a sense of satisfaction when everything adds up. There’s a sense of power in numbers. And when you understand numbers you understand a trend. So accountants are the first ones in a business to understand the potential in a trend.

I just did a talk on trends and how you model trends and make trends visual. Accountants are usually the first ones, to detect trends in the numbers and express them visually so everyone

to bridge the gap to that opportunity—the technologies and the infrastructure. It’s about thinking backwards from the future, or closing the “innovation gap.”

Collaboration And Innovation

» We are not educating our kids to be knowledge workers—being a knowledge worker takes both creativity and analytical skills. « - Mike Stemple

can understand it. They could be the largest source of innovation in the business.

If you put a white board marker in anyone’s hands and give them the tools necessary to think like an artist and think like an innovator, anyone, at any time, can come up with a product that could move the needle for the business in a positive way. Everyone in every business is a trend hunter for the business. The best ideas are going to happen if everyone is monitoring and creating their own trends in their department and are visually able to explain it. And if the management team creates a set of symbols, charts and graphs that anyone, at any time can draw the business model, then anyone at the organization at lunch can communicate with one another on a common framework and come up with the next big thing.

That is why I have built so many companies—because I can visually express ideas. I know how to monitor trends and create opportunities. That is what I teach at Inspire.

Stemple uses “visual innovation” using a white board to encapsulate processes. He monitors a series of trends continuously ranging from blog posts on a variety of subject matter and reads hundreds of magazines each month. He then searches for the future opportunity where trends come together.

Where the trends interact is where ideas come from and the possibility to form a company. He then estimates a day the trends will interact.

From that date he goes back to the current time and speculates what he needs to start building

Stemple: “Collaboration is valuable. I approach it from an innovators point of view.

I see innovation as art and it’s hard to create artwork through collaboration. Numerous people can contribute to creating market opportunity and finding when trends collapse to an opportunity. You need one person to takes ownership of the innovation.

Apple Inc. is very effective with that.

A large team of individuals create the iPhone, but only a few people are in charge of the actual aesthetics, design, and capabilities. For example, there are considerable amounts of people who build a skyscraper, but there is usually only one architect. That is what is missing in America and I think that is why innovation in the Fortune 500 has disappeared. The whole idea of teamwork is trumped above and beyond the product that any one individual can contribute.

We don’t idealize certain members of the team that perform at higher level, so what happens at larger organizations is that if employees don’t feel like they are ever going to be recognized as better than or greater than their contemporaries, they kind of just become “part of the machine.” This fosters a culture where employees never want to take a risk—never want to take a gamble—because they know they are never going to get recognized. So they keep their head down and collect the paycheck. Those that don’t fit that mold—the innovators—are very different. The group that invented open source code is a great example. Team-based programming was adopted so that open source code could grow exponentially. And instead of writing just one piece of code and being recognized, the work becomes a collaborative team effort. They all get the credit.

We all want to be seen as unique and different—to be recognized and respected. It’s hard to get that anymore. The number one thing people want in the workforce is to be recognized for their job, efforts and abilities. If you give that respect and credit to the employee you will get someone who is loyal and who will do everything they can to help the organization.

For more information about Mosoro, visit www. mosoro.com. Or for more information about Inspirer, visit www.inspirer.com.

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COMMUNITY

The World Food Prize Foundation

Continuing To Fight The

Green Revolution The World Food Prize Foundation By Jan Mazotti

"C

ivilization as it is known today could not have evolved, nor can it survive, without an adequate food supply. Yet food is something that is taken for granted by most world leaders despite the fact that more than half of the population of the world is hungry. Man seems to insist on ignoring the lessons available from history. Man's survival, from the time of Adam and Eve until the invention of agriculture, must have been precarious because of his inability to ensure his food supply. During the long, obscure, dimly defined prehistoric period when man lived as a wandering hunter and food gatherer, frequent food shortages must have prevented the development of village civilizations.

Under these conditions the growth of human population was also automatically limited by the limitations of food supplies.”

- Dr. Norman Borlaug In December 1970, Dr. Norman Borlaug, a native Iowan, presented his work and findings to the Nobel Committee. He knew a thing or two about the challenges of feeding the world’s hungry and won the Nobel Peace Prize for his research surrounding wheat improvement—getting more from the plants and helping them stand up better in difficult conditions such as disease or drought.

He took his initial findings and new “miracle wheat” from fields in Mexico and worked tirelessly in India and Pakistan, which were facing imminent starvation. By working with the two governments, enhancing agricultural methods and introducing new varieties of wheat, he saved millions of lives.

A pragmatic guy, Borlaug avoided “academic butterflies” interested only in publishing. He was a devoted and competitive spirit who didn’t mind the manual labor of the fields. That is why he won the Nobel Peace Prize.

President Lula

President Kufuor

» Visionary and

transformational leadership truly can effect positive change and greatly improve people’s lives. «

Understanding the criticality of hunger in the world and after winning the Nobel Prize, Borlaug approached the Nobel Committee and asked them to add a new prize—one for agriculture—to the mix. They said no, as Alfred Nobel, the man behind the prize, had already stipulated the components of the Nobel Prize in his will. There was nothing they could do. ( 80 )

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Frustrated, but not out, Dr. Borlaug, started the World Food Prize in 1986 in New York with the sponsorship of the General Foods Company. It functioned well for a few years, but a 1990 New York Times story detailed the loss of sponsorship by General Foods upon their acquisition by Philip Morris. Realizing that Des Moines was the bread basket of the world, The Des Moines Register picked the story up and business leaders all over Iowa discussed hosting the World Food Prize. Shortly thereafter, the Iowa legislature and a businessman named John Ruan stepped up and together sponsored the Prize. Over time, the Prize has become the “Nobel Prize for food and agriculture,” and with an endowment by the Ruan family, a $250,000 annual prize is given annually to individuals who have advanced human development by increasing the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.

The United Nations Millennium Development Goals call for decreasing by half the proportion of people suffering from hunger by 2015. The bad news is that hunger may have spiked in 2009, as a result of the global food and financial crisis, causing progress toward alleviating hunger to be stymied in most underdeveloped regions. Despite some progress over the last few years, one in four children in the developing world is still underweight—and that number is twice as high in rural areas. However, those engaged with the World Food Prize appear to be making great strides in that area.

“Right now there is a huge challenge before us regarding population growth and how we will be able to feed the world. How are we going to make the best use of our global resources for the population? These are the same questions Dr. Borlaug and his teams were dealing with in the 1970s.” said Ambassador Kenneth M. Quinn, president of the World Food Prize. “He had seen firsthand the starving people around the world during his travels. He knew these issues up close and personal.

And he felt so strongly that he started our organization to shine a spotlight on those who were making strides in enhancing the world’s food supply,” he said.

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COMMUNITY

The World Food Prize Foundation

THE PRIZE The Prize has gone to many internationally renowned people who have helped increase the quality, quantity, or availability of food in the world or who have been instrumental in moving the needle forward in the food, hunger, and agriculture industries including, recently, David Beckmann, President of Bread for the World; Jo Luck, CEO of Heifer International, as well as others from around the world including the United States, Ethiopia, Brazil, India, China, Sierra Leone, Denmark, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Bangladesh.

It’s been awarded to everyone from politicians, to economists who give small farmers microloans, to people who work in NGOs, to scientists. The 2011 World Food Prize Laureates, celebrated at the 2011 Laureate Award Ceremony and Borlaug Dialogue International Symposium in Des Moines, were John Agyekum Kufuor, former President of Ghana, and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, former President of Brazil. Both were chosen for their personal commitment and visionary leadership while serving as the presidents of Ghana and of Brazil, respectively, in creating and implementing government policies to alleviate hunger and poverty in their countries and their ties to the Millennium Development Goals.

» "With world

The significant achievements of these two former heads of state illustrate that visionary and transformational leadership truly can effect positive change and greatly improve people’s lives.

President Kufuor launched the Ghana School Feeding Program, which provides one nutritious, locally-produced meal per day to over one million children in kindergarten through junior high school, dramatically reducing chronic hunger and malnutrition while boosting attendance. Under President Kufuor’s leadership, Ghana became the first subSaharan African country to cut in half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger and poverty, in alignment with UN Millennium Development Goals.

President Kufuor also significantly increased smallholder (small farm) production through economic investment in the agricultural sector and by creating incentives for private investors to partner with local farmers.

President Lula made it a priority to build critical policies that would ensure three meals a day for all Brazilians, achieving the UN Millennium Development Goal to ( 82 )

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population projected to climb to 9 billion by 2050, amidst a wide range of new agricultural, environmental, climate, health, geopolitical, economic, and demographic challenges, Forgrave said, “We’re really trying to connect all of the players and the next generation to work in these fields and make progress. That’s one of our main goals!" «

halve the proportion of people suffering from hunger and poverty.

President Lula created the “Zero Hunger” initiative to provide greater access to food, strengthen family farms and significantly enhance rural incomes and today, 93 percent of children and 82 percent of adults now eat three meals a day in Brazil. President Lula’s policies focused on improving educational opportunities for the poor and ensuring their inclusion in society. He used a collaborative approach, calling upon all levels of government and society to implement reforms.

THE BORLAUG DIALOGUE & THE GLOBAL YOUTH INSTITUTE The Borlaug Dialogue is a three-day event which has been called “the premier conference in the world on global food security.” In 2011, the symposium brought in 1,400+ people from 75 countries that included political leaders, researchers from around the world, business executives, and farmers to discuss how their efforts connect and what they can do to improve global food security.

With the world population projected to climb to 9 billion by 2050, amidst a wide range of new agricultural, environmental, climate, health, geopolitical, economic, and demographic challenges, the World Food Prize is “trying to connect all of the players and the next generation to work in these fields and make progress. That’s one of our main goals!” Quinn said.

And, it’s working. Celebrating their 25th Anniversary, The World Food Prize actively addressed how everyone can effectively work together to create more and better food in the decades ahead.

They brought in global leaders—U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack; USAID Administrator, Rajiv Shah; UN Messenger of Peace, Her Royal Highness Princess Haya Al Hussein; and President of Malawi, Bingu Wa Mutharika. They brought in business leaders as well including World Food Prize Chairman John Ruan III; Deere & Co. Chairman & CEO Samuel Allen; Monsanto Company Chairman, President, & CEO Hugh Grant; DuPont President, Chair & CEO Ellen Kullman and other notables from related industries. The symposium has addressed everything from how participants could confront the hunger challenges of tomorrow, to the dualities of global hunger and obesity, to the challenges of global aging and nutrition, to dealing with cultural differences.

The Global Youth Institute is another program sponsored by the World Food Prize. It brings together more than 100 high school

students from across the U.S. and other countries to interact with the experts at the Borlaug Dialogue and discuss pressing food security and agricultural issues with international experts. Students must write a five-page paper on a food security issue from a preselected list of countries and topics—it might be irrigation, it might be women’s land rights, it might be nutrition—look at the issues, and come up with their own solutions. The students present their ideas on these issues surrounding global food security and hunger to global experts and former laureates. The top students are sent on international internships during the summer where they work at global research centers or in a new program with the USDA. “One of the things that Dr. Borlaug really believed in was inspiring the next generation to carry on this work—that they understand the importance of agriculture, as well as the whole food system,” said Megan Forgrave, director of communications for the World Food Prize. She went on, “These days kids think that their food comes from the grocery store. Because so many people live in cities now, we’re a bit removed from farms and the agricultural sector.”

“The World Food Prize is the forum for hunger and agriculture-related discussions. We have many partnerships with different organizations that really hold the expertise—we’re just the place to bring them all together and put a spotlight on this huge global issue,” said Forgrave.

Also in 2011, the World Food Prize opened its headquarters known as the Hall of Laureates in the former Des Moines Public Library.

Built in 1903 and sitting majestically on the Mississippi riverfront, the building has been fully refurbished and is designed to earn a LEED Platinum certification—one of a handful in the U.S. that are LEED Platinum certified and on the National Historic Register. Because of the global implications of hunger and food security, the building was infused with murals of humanitarian stories of those affiliated with the organization, agricultural history, global challenges, the great achievements of the laureates and Dr. Borlaug—making it a beautiful hall and an educational center.

When Dr. Borlaug and John Ruan talked about bringing The Prize to Iowa in 1990 they were both over 70 years old. “Here were these two older guys starting off to build this new thing—most people are

retired by then. They were men with vision, and they worked to make that vision a reality,” stated Forgrave.

And indeed, Borlaug and Ruan have left this legacy that has engaged all of the key elements of true community involvement—academia, business, community and government organizations—to come to fruition and cause positive change. It’s women, it’s men, it’s Africa, it’s India, it’s the U.S., it’s the biggest names in business, it’s the biggest names in NGOs, all coming together. The World Food Prize is a story of true vision, courage, and hard work. “They have engaged a diverse array of people at the World Food Prize, more than any other conference I go to,” said Rajiv Shah, USAID Administrator.

“When the Nobel Peace Prize Committee designated me the recipient of the 1970 award for my contribution to the "green revolution", they were in effect, I believe, selecting an individual to symbolize the vital role of agriculture and food production in a world that is hungry, both for bread and for peace. I am but one member of a vast team made up of many organizations, officials, thousands of scientists, and millions of farmers, mostly small and humble, who for many years have been fighting a quiet, oftentimes losing war on the food production front,” said Borlaug in his 1970 Nobel Lecture.

He went on, “For the underprivileged billions in the forgotten world, hunger has been a constant companion, and starvation has all too often lurked in the nearby shadows. To millions of these unfortunates, who have long lived in despair, the green revolution seems like a miracle that has generated new hope for the future.

There can be no permanent progress in the battle against hunger until the agencies that fight for increased food production and those that fight for population control unite in a common effort. Fighting alone, they may win temporary skirmishes, but united they can win a decisive and lasting victory to provide food and other amenities of a progressive civilization for the benefit of all mankind.”

Because of his achievements to prevent hunger, famine and misery around the world, it is said that the visionary and determined Dr. Borlaug has "saved more lives than any other person who has ever lived."

Now that is vision in action!

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COMMUNITY

Work Options For Women

Changing One Life Can Often Change Others Along The Way

By Laurie Peterson

I

t was the first time that I can remember driving home in silence—no music, no talk shows, no noise. I had just finished speaking with an absolutely amazing woman, Anna, who was selfless, content, and resilient. It is a true pleasure knowing her.

» "Deal with tomorrow

become gainfully and permanently employed in the food service industry.

As friends and families filed into the church pews, Anna had a group of over 30 people in attendance supporting her. Shy and quiet, she was unsure of sitting down for a brief Anna and I met one evening at her place of interview to discuss what the WOW program work, The Corner Office in Denver. We sat meant to her and her family. However, as down to a meal that she had prepared that we spoke, Anna easily opened up about her - Anna day, and it was her first time actually sitting in experience with Work Options for Women. A the dining room of the restaurant. returned Gulf War Veteran, she found herself homeless after her six year service in the Navy I first met Anna last November at the Work Options for Women (WOW) as a medical assistant and ambulance driver. fall/winter graduation. WOW helps impoverished women gain the skills and confidence they need to work their way out of poverty and Unexpectedly, Anna found herself in a life-changing situation—she

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and learn as much as possible. There is so much to learn. That is what is next for now." «

and her significant other would become the guardian of two children for the next ten years. If they couldn’t take these children, they would have been put into the foster care system. Being a child of the system herself, Anna did not want that to happen. Sacrificing herself and her own needs, she set everything aside to raise these two boys in a home that provided love, guidance, and structure.

up perfectly; the workspace was spotless, organized, and extremely tidy.

After 10 years and realizing it was now time for her, Anna knew it she needed to re-enter the workforce. However, she did not want to rely on her previous experience in the medical field and with the Navy. She says, “I saw too many things and didn’t want to return.” Nearly homeless and having no work skills for the past decade other than taking care of the boys, she went to the Homeless Initiative. There, they recommended her to the Work Options for Women culinary training program.

As we wrapped up our tour and interview, I had the pleasure of seeing another WOW graduate that had been hired at The Corner Office. The camaraderie of coming from the same program was undeniable.

As we talked about what was next, Anna just laughed and repeated the question back to me. For her what’s next is starting small. “Deal with tomorrow and learn as much as possible. There is so much to learn.

That is what is next for now,” she says.

» She had to embrace

a different lifestyle— and WOW worked with her through all of it—the trials and the tribulations. «

Anna wasn’t the ideal candidate coming into the program because of her lack of skills. She was going to face an uphill battle where she would have to learn new skills while teaching herself how to refocus. Anna also had to relearn how to physically take care of herself.

Growing tired during the day, she was forced to visit the doctor and was diagnosed with diabetes. She had to embrace a different lifestyle—and WOW worked with her through all of it—the trials and the tribulations. During this time, she learned to put herself first and sustained herself with the personal motto—accomplish, conquer, succeed!

Taking me on a tour of the kitchen, I saw where Anna worked as a prep cook, getting everything ready for the day. Spices were lined

It’s Graduation Day! As the church became crowded with friends, family, and loved ones, Work Options for Women anxiously celebrated its second student graduation of 2011.

Ten students received their graduation certificates, and six were able to join in an evening of celebration. Well over 60 friends and family members showed up— proud, loyal, and supportive!

This was the second graduation since I joined the Work Options for Women staff. The emotion, pride, and admiration I have for these five women and one man are hard to express adequately. Having the honor of personally interviewing each person and learning more about them and their journey through WOW, my emotions

I applaud Anna, thank her for her time, her positive attitude, and her willingness to share her story. What’s more, WOW has trained and placed more than 300 women in similar situations in the cooking and food service industry. WOWs job placement and retention metrics are very impressive. Each year from 2006 through 2009, 94 – 100 percent of WOW's students were placed in jobs. During those years, 75 percent of WOW graduates scheduled to mark their one year anniversary of employment successfully did so. And, all of the WOW graduates significantly increased their employment income by working hard, maintaining employment, and receiving raises.

After twelve years of service, WOW remains the only comprehensive job-training program in the Denver area with a consistent track record of helping women end welfare dependence and build the skills necessary to become self-sufficient. To learn more visit www.workoptions.org.

were pulled in many directions. Biting my lip, I refused to breakdown, blinking back tears as intimate details were uncovered through basic questions like what is your favorite thing to cook? How did you learn about WOW? List three words to describe yourself. What is next for you?

As these questions seemed simple enough, tangents would happen, taking me down roads I wasn’t prepared to follow. One student had just lost their mother that very week. One student came to WOW through a cousin who had completed the program five years ago. She joined WOW as a promise to her cousin to follow her dream of cooking, although her cousin had committed suicide just a year ago. One student was a veteran, and another was an

adoptive mother for children without a home. Then there was the student who became her daughters’ role model after completing the program—showing them a different path from welfare and homelessness.

One consistent message…they are all happy. Each student used those words to describe themselves. Though their lives have been filled with challenges and obstacles we can’t possibly comprehend, they are happy.

I left graduation humbled, tears streaming down my face, but with an inner happiness that I love my job, I love what I do, and I love who I do it for. Unfortunately, I must wait another six months before the next graduation, but I am already excited to meet the next round of students.

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COMMUNITY

American Petroleum Institute - Houston

American Petroleum Institute - Houston The Beginning of the Production Division By Emily Haggstrom

T

he first commercial oil well in the United States was developed largely through happenstance in Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1859, with petroleum originally being produced as a byproduct when distillers were manufacturing kerosene for lighting fuel prior to electricity. Once the light bulb was discovered, the need for kerosene diminished, and oil lost its favor.

Technological advances continued to be made, however, as scientists established base formulas showing the importance of the substance as a source of energy as well as a lubricant.

By 1870 Standard Oil was established and petroleum production had drilled down to the core of America, injecting itself into industries and seeping into the lives of private citizens. By the early 1900’s, after some refining, the automobile had won favor amongst those that could afford them.

The design of these coaches became more practical once their engines used gasoline in place of original engine designs that had required electricity. The need for gasoline solidified its place in society as filling stations were built to provide a steady stream of fuel to vehicle owners.

long, however, after Germany declared that it would invoke unrestricted submarine warfare, which ended up killing American’s on the Lusitania passenger ship in addition to seven merchant ships. On April 6, 1917 Congress issued a declaration of war.

As America became more involved in the war, President Woodrow Wilson assessed programs at home that effected proper mobilization. He came to realize that many of these agencies and their programs were in dire need of reorganization. One such organization formed from these changes was a group called The National Petroleum War Service Committee, designed to develop a closer cooperative relationship between oilmen and federal agencies.1

» At its inception, Mark

Requa, Director of the Fuel Administration for API, stressed conservation and also advocated that the API should standardize its own business procedures and accounts before the federal government instilled its own. «

Recognizing the increasing need of oil, John D. Rockefeller, founder and chairman of Standard Oil, started guzzling up smaller independents in his quest to expand the company’s empire. By 1909, it controlled everything from production, refining and sales to manufacturing. Standard Oil was king, and its monopolized commodity was amassing a fortune. Although an antitrust case had already been filed against Standard Oil in 1906, it wasn’t until 1909 that the U.S. Department of Justice sued the company to abolish its monopoly. By 1911, under the Sherman Antitrust Act, the Supreme Court ruled that Standard Oil was to be dissolved and divided into roughly 33 subsidiary companies.

As nations diverged on the battlefields of Europe in 1914, the United States chose neutrality. The barbarism of trench warfare eluded officials and in an election year, the prospect of initiating a war against the Central Powers was very unfavorable. Neutrality only lasted so

Soon, the independents that were formed from the dissolution of Standard Oil, came together in an effort to quickly mobilize vital resources and supplies that would help the war efforts and servicemen overseas. Motorized vehicles and oil had transformed the war front evidenced by Britain’s propulsion over the course of the war. However, it was after the war that it became apparent how important of a role the industry played during the war and how much more important they would become to the public through automobiles and manufacturing.

Demand plummeted and the industry became focused on how to stabilize production following the war. Policies were changing and the administration at the time was concerned mostly with foreign policy. Those within the petroleum industry worked together toward cooperation and adopted decisive measures to self-regulate and ensure best practices.

Every facet of the industry from refining and production to drilling and equipment manufacturers all agreed that a central trade organization to represent the industry, as it had been in wartime, was necessary. It would also help to establish consistency, enhance cooperation and solidify a voice for oil within public policy spheres.

Leaders from the Fuel Administration and members from the National Petroleum War Services Committee came together to develop a new trade association and the bylaws that they would operate under.

1 Nash, Gerald, United State Oil Policy, 1980-1964, University of Pittsburgh Pre, Oct. 15, 1968, p. 28. |

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On March 20, 1919 the American Petroleum Institute (API) was formed to “afford a means of cooperation with the government in all matters of national concern, foster foreign and domestic trade in American petroleum products, promote in general the interests of the petroleum industry in all its branches, and to promote mutual improvement of its members and the study of the arts and sciences connected with the oil and natural gas industry.”2 To this day the API is known for its advocacy, standardized oil field equipment and certifications. But at its inception, Mark Requa, Director of the Fuel Administration for API, stressed conservation and also advocated that the API should standardize its own business procedures and accounts before the federal government instilled its own. At the end of 1919, the Wilson administration had abolished all wartime agencies and the petroleum industry once again, was on its own. 3 Texas, on the other hand had always been on its own; locals in the area had heard of documented cases of Spanish explorers using asphalt, tar and petroleum to fix their ships in 1543.4 Like discoveries on the East Coast, settlers had seen oil seeping from the ground in Texas, which led to the state’s first successful well and commensurately the states first successful oil field. Oilmen from out east recognized the development occurring in the Gulf Coast and descended on the region. Most of the production at the beginning of the 20th century was from wells in Beaumont, the boomtown; but like most boomtowns, production declined and companies eyed new areas to explore and lease.

Institute, sponsored by the organization’s Division of Production. The group was tasked with organizing and fostering the spirit of economic cooperation among those directly engaged in the production of oil and gas, by promoting a free exchange of ideas among members. 5 Anyone who was actively engaged in the petroleum industry or whose aim was to further their work, was accepted into the group in exchange for their one dollar annual membership fee. The groups first meeting was held November 20, 1934.

At its onset, the chapter’s officers included executives and other managers from major producers like the Texas Co. (Texaco), Humble Oil & Refining (ExxonMobil), the Gulf Production Company (Chevron) and Shell. The unregulated environment brought members together at general meetings to discuss topics pertinent to the oil and gas industry and provided a forum where specifically skilled individuals could talk to their side of the trade; bringing crucial pieces of information through crosssections of the industry. As oil continued to dominate the city, Houston’s Chapter of the API became the largest chapter in the United States.

Robert Saucedo, Roy Pichardo, Doug McCullough and Martin Kershman at API – Houston's Monthly Luncheon

By the 1940s the U.S. lead the world in oil production. Oil and its industry were soaring. The Chapter thrived from the inclusive knowledge and benefits its members provided. The chairmen from previous years continued to support the group’s efforts and business outside of the group went on as usual. Products, technology and procedures continued to transform the industry. The group hosted events and conducted meetings as usual.

Texas was leading the nation in production.

In an effort to prevent resources waste, the Oil companies soon came to capitalize on Railroad Commission of Texas established the salt dome gushers that were quickly API – Houston's Student Guests from Booker T. Washington, the Oil and Gas Division to regulate the being discovered around Southeast High School for Engineering Professionals exploration, production and transportation Texas. As geologists and drillers sought of oil and natural gas in Texas.6 Hearings new locations to explore and develop, administration and management for the oil companies moved were conducted each month to determine how much oil the to Texas. After the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, Houston, the pipelines and refineries needed to transport and process, announcing railroad hub of East Texas and the newest city to open its own “allowable” maximum production limits for every oilfield in the shipping port, saw increased development. Infrastructure and state and restricting production to those levels. This effectively set transportation, transformed the city from just another boomtown nationwide pricing for many years. to the epicenter of oil.

Supply and demand continued to rise in the 1950s, but at the expense With extensive production occurring outside of Houston and the of foreign nations. The Organization of Petroleum Producing States Gulf Coast region, it could only be expected that a chapter of the (OPEC) unified, imposing an embargo, which sent prices skyrocketing.

API would form in Houston. On October 30, 1934, at the Rice Hotel in Because the United States was so dependent on foreign oil, when downtown Houston, a meeting was called amongst the Southwestern OPEC unilaterally reduced supply, America faced its first oil crisis.

District of the API to organize the city’s chapter. 75 oilmen attended Demand for oil fell and producers struggled to find new sources of the meeting discussing the benefits provided by local chapters that oil through exploration. The countries next oil shock in the 1980s led would produce direct and positive results to the local industry. It was to another sharp increase in pricing. The effects of the second shock then that the acting advisory committee elected the first officers to proved to be economically overwhelming, as drilling drastically serve for the Houston chapter; electing A.W. Thompson, of Thompson curtailed and employment decreased the sustainability for demand.

Drilling; C.A. Warner, of Houston Oil Company; Warren L. Baker, of the Gulf Publishing Company and; W.S. Crake of the Shell Oil Corporation. The Houston Chapter felt the sting from the oil shocks of the 1970s and 1980s. “We’ve handled these swings as best we could,” said Clyde From the conclusion of that first meeting, the city’s new group Perrere, the Chapter’s Chairman in 1974, “But we’ve never closed our would be known as the Houston Chapter of the American Petroleum doors.” Because Houston’s base was, and continues to be, not so labor 2 API’s History. Retrieved from http://www.api.org/aboutapi/history. 3 Nash, Gerald, United State Oil Policy, 1980-1964, University of Pittsburgh Pre, Oct. 15, 1968, p. 42.4 C.A. Warner, Texas Oil and Gas Since 1543 (Houston: Gulf Publishing Co., 1939).

3 Nash, Gerald, United State Oil Policy, 1980-1964, University of Pittsburgh Pre, Oct. 15, 1968, p. 42. | 4 C.A. Warner, Texas Oil and Gas Since 1543 (Houston: Gulf Publishing Co., 1939). | 5 (1934), Constitution and By-Laws of The Houston Chapter, American Petroleum Institute. Article 2, Object. | 6 About the Oil and Gas Division. Retrieved from www.rrc.state.tx.us/about/divisions/aboutog.php.

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COMMUNITY

American Petroleum Institute - Houston

intensive, its economy bounced back as oil field services, production and refining jobs continued to be a pillar for economic prosperity. As the landscape changed, imposing new and increasing regulations the chapter’s membership continued to be encouraged by many organizations throughout the community. And while some of the larger companies were not participating like they used to, small and medium-sized companies within the industry continued to play a vital role in the Chapter’s legacy by volunteering to assist running the group.

» API’s Houston Chapter continued

to encourage citizens, individuals and groups to become involved or affiliated to better understand the benefits that the industry provided both socially, economically and educationally. «

Lower pricing and the deflated dollar helped not just the city but the Chapter rebound once again.

The group continued to conduct its tournaments offering activities like clay shooting, tennis and golf.

Over the course of several years, the events helped to raise $10,000, which the board decided to invest into the educational system, as well as other charitable and civic organizations.

The group noted that over the years, through spikes and slumps, the industry had received and continued to receive support from the community at large that were either a part of the trade or directly benefited from it. In an effort to uphold the image of the oil and gas community, API’s Houston Chapter continued to encourage citizens, individuals and groups to become involved or affiliated to better understand the benefits that the industry provided both socially, economically and educationally.

The board’s decision led to the establishment of scholarship endowments in 1985 as well as an additional contribution fund for affiliated and complementary organizations that same year. The endowments were written so that the universities would select the recipients and present them to the board for approval. This gave all students vying for the scholarships an equal chance and helped forgo any favoritism that could arise within the group. The only conditions of the scholarships were that the student must attend a state supported public university and pursuing a degree in petroleum or geological engineering.

The terms of their charter stipulates that the group must work in cooperation and not competition with groups and individuals that lead to the success and betterment of the industry. So for years, from September to May the Chapter conducts monthly luncheons to educate members about new technology, trends, policies and regulations. Many people across the industry attend these lunches, but the ones that hold the most value are those conducted in ( 88 )

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unison with other leading industry associations like the Society of Petroleum Engineers, American Association of Drilling Engineers and the International Association of Drilling Contractors.

To really make the lunches valuable for all, the Houston Chapter also invites teens from local high schools whose focus is pre-engineering.

Because networking and education are so important, API Houston also holds five recurring events each year, where the income generated is applied to the Chapters endowment and other contribution funds. To date, Houston API has contributed over $2.3 million to Texas A&M, University of Texas, Austin, Kingsville, the University of Houston, Texas Tech and Louisiana State University. Other large contributions are given to organizations like the Offshore Energy Center, The Houston Science Engineering Fair, The High School Engineering Professions and the Weiss Energy Hall at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

“I see API, really as a way to get involved and get young people involved and interested in the industry,” said Perrere, “By creating fun things for our members, it gives them a chance to get close to their customers and learn about different companies. It helps develop camaraderie. Overall, it’s just a great group of guys and gals.” Overtime, policy issues, advocacy and public outreach about issues impacting the industry are now acted upon decisively in Washington. They continue to push educational endeavors while staying involved in issues facing the trade and supporting its members through cooperation and industry updates.

While the allure of the unregulated days of old still lingers on the faces of past chairman looking down from their framed perches lining the walls of the Houston Petroleum Club. A new era of regulation and policies continues to usher guests back into a world of fresh pressed suits and regal indulgence; where men come together to discuss the times. It is from atop the 43rdmfloor of the ExxonMobil building, just off the elevator, where Tuscan Travertine tiles lay along the oak carved paneled corridors guiding members and guests alike into warm stately designed lounges and dining areas. From here they are dazzled by a prodigiously designed Spanish tapestry and 30 foot floor-to-ceiling windows giving way to breathtaking views of Houston, where the API Chapter holds their meetings. Unruffled, this group and the spirits of their past come together year-after-year for the sake of industry cooperation, to deliver trade knowledge and awareness to the next generation of oilmen and their communities.

COMMUNITY

GOAL ZERO

Goal Zero Harnessing Power From The Sun by Michael Dale

A

s portable devices grow in popularity and use, the market for portable power to recharge them has grown exponentially. However, the majority of the solutions provided by some of the industry giants do not meet the needs of portable device users. While there are currently short-term solutions to recharging, GOAL ZERO has designed a longterm sustainable solution.

GOAL ZERO’s solar-based products are the first and only truly effective portable mobile power products on the market. With their fully integrated, full system technology, they are also the only products designed to be widely versatile.

Over the past several years, the mobile device industry has revolutionized the way we work, entertain, and communicate by providing us advanced mobile devices such as smart phones, laptops, MP3 players and lGPS devices. As part of this revolution, users are now given the tools to access the Internet and work remotely, but are now consuming power in places where they previously did not. GOAL ZERO systems can provide a “plug” for any power need anywhere, anytime.

The company’s solar panels utilize mono-crystalline technology, which is the most efficient and reliable type of panel, offering the highest wattage per square foot in comparison to other types of panels. Made from a single silicon crystal (as opposed to many smaller pieces of crystal fused together), the mono-crystalline solar panel also performs the best in low light and extreme temperature conditions. The solar panels are very durable and will only begin to see a very slight degradation after seven continuous years of use. They work extremely well in sunny conditions but will work even on an overcast day unless the clouds are extremely dense. The fewer clouds in the sky, the more effective the solar panels. Many GOAL ZERO power packs use lithium ion phosphate batteries, which in addition to being environmentally responsible, can be charged 2000+ times before beginning to lose optimal charge.

Providing a perfect blend of portability and power, GOAL ZERO products feature full solar energy systems—solar panels, power packs and accessories—each designed to work in concert with each other. And, unique daisy chain technology allows users to link multiple power sources together. These easy-to-use products come in a variety of sizes and wattage for any need, ranging from the ultraportable Guide 10 Adventure Kit, which can power a cell phone, GPS device, and speakers on an overnight hike, to the Extreme Explorer Kit, which provides enough power to fuel an entire base camp. ( 90 )

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In many parts of the world, electricity is an expensive commodity.

GOAL ZERO solar power kits provide a solution that is both sustainable and economical. For people living in areas affected by natural catastrophes, solar kits are an extremely useful and economical solution for power needs. In addition, the rechargeable solar kits are a more economical solution to continually buying traditional disposable batteries. For consumers who are interested in decreasing their dependence on traditional energy sources, GOAL ZERO products provide an off-the-grid power supply.

“We’re excited to be part of this new industry and provide portable energy to adventurers who need power in remote locations; humanitarian organizations and emergency preparedness groups providing power and light in extreme situations; or to soccer mom’s on the go. They all benefit from our products,” said Joe Atkin, President of GOAL ZERO. In 2012, GOAL ZERO introduced two landmark products to the portable power industry. The launch of the new Sherpa 50 Portable Recharger and the YETI 1250 Solar Generator at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas marked a major milestone for consumers looking to improve their experience while working or playing off the grid, as well as those seeking to secure the latest technology in emergency preparedness solutions.

The new Sherpa 50 portable recharger, which was recently recognized by the CEA as CES Innovation Honoree for Portable Power, will change how consumers power vital devices like phones and laptops. Weighing only 14 oz. (0.9 lbs.), this latest addition to the mid-size Sherpa line is less than half the load of its predecessor, yet it harnesses the same 50watt hour power capacity. The most compact of the Sherpa line, the new Sherpa 50 truly represents on-the-go power, as it measures less than 5 inches on each side and is only 1 ½ inches thick, allowing it to easily fit in any bag or briefcase. It also features a unique “Power Port” that will enable users to charge laptops directly from the recharger, thus eliminating the need for an AC inverter, as well as the computer’s AC power cable. Instead, users will be able to plug their device directly into the Sherpa 50 using one of its included connector cables.

The Sherpa 50 charges fully via solar panel in 5-10 hours or within 2-3 hours via wall outlet. It can in turn, power a smart phone for 10 hours; deliver 25 hours of music on an iPod; and afford users a valuable, extra hour of life on a dying laptop when a traditional wall outlet is nowhere in sight.

The Yeti 1250 Solar Generator is GOAL ZERO’s highest-capacity portable recharger to date and is the most easy to use, affordable, dependable and complete solution available for those looking to “trade-up” from their conventional gas-powered backups. The Yeti 1250 is a generating beast, standing 16 inches tall, 11.6 inches wide and 14.5 inches deep and weighing 103 pounds.

Much like its namesake, the Yeti 1250 is extremely powerful, but rarely seen or heard. It not only features multiple ports so you can charge several devices at once, but it offers a variety of output types, including AC, 1.5 amp USB, 33amp 12V DC, 6.6 amp 12V DC, which are compatible with a wide array of electronics from GPS units to refrigerators. All of the ports are easily activated with a flick of the master switch, but can also be micro-managed by a power group to individually protect circuits.

» In many parts of the world, electricity

is an expensive commodity. GOAL ZERO solar power kits provide a solution that is both sustainable and economical. «

The Yeti 1250 charges fully in 20-22 hours via sun or in 16-20 hours via a wall outlet. It can power a laptop for 30+ hours; support a printer through 18,000+ pages of printing; keep a full-sized refrigerator cold for two to four days straight and maintain subzero temperatures in a chest freezer for eight days. Furthermore, unlike traditional gasfueled generators, the Yeti 1250 never produces more power than is being drawn from it, so users needn’t worry about wasting power or unnecessary maintenance.

“At GOAL ZERO it’s not just about making an amazing product—it’s about the application of our products in consumers’ daily lives,” Atkin said. “We strive to take out the complicated guess work of utilizing a solar unit and build simplicity in, so that we can deliver the most dependable and useful solutions to our customers.”

GOAL ZERO believes the need for power solutions will continue to grow exponentially and is aggressively building solutions to meet those

» "We strive

to take out the complicated guess work of utilizing a solar unit and build simplicity in, so that we can deliver the most dependable and useful solutions to our customers." « - Joe Atkin

needs. Within five years, the company seeks to be recognized as the leader of portable solar power products. Within 10 years, the company plans to have millions of customers creating power on every continent.

GOAL ZERO is not an inventor of new technology, but rather an innovator of solutions. Solar panels and rechargers aren’t new by any means, however by empowering customers with innovative solutions and using existing technology in a way that has not been done before, GOAL ZERO is leading the revolution within the portable power industry.

For more information, visit www.goalzero.com.

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COMMUNITY

Rotary International

Service Above Self Rotary International By Kim DeCoste

T

he careful balance of tradition and innovation marks the success of Rotary International, one of the largest and most renowned membership organizations in the world. Rotary has a legacy of leadership that was born in the United States in 1905, when Chicago lawyer, Paul P. Harris, sought to create a club reminiscent of the friendly small town spirit he remembered from his youth. Harris and three other men began meeting regularly, “rotating” from one office to the other. Harris’s idea was to “have a fellowship composed of businessmen from different occupations, without restrictions of politics or religion.” Most of the early members were self-made— or still self-making—men who had “fought their way unaided” from farms or small villages to Chicago to build their lives. In fact, “Rotary afforded the first real opportunity (for members) to enjoy the intimate first-name acquaintance reminiscent of boyhood days far from maddening crowds.”

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The Chicago group quickly added to its ranks and over the next five years Harris helped launch similar clubs in San Francisco (2), Oakland (3), Seattle (4), and Los Angeles (5). The vision quickly expanded as Paul Harris imagined as an “Around the World Rotary.” Rotary’s egalitarian view encouraged members to know one another by first name as people first. Though business often transpires through Rotary relationships, even today Rotarians’ badges in the United States have the first name featured prominently and do not bear the names of the companies they represent, but rather the industry areas in which they serve.

The notion of fellowship is not a unique one, but the fact that Rotary’s earliest members recognized the power of their mutual association to connect and collaborate for the good of others is inspirational. By 1925, with more than 2,000 clubs internationally and an estimated 108,000 members, the organization adopted its motto, “Service Above Self.” Rotarians had realized they could help one another,

of course, but they could also spread their efforts more broadly for the benefit of others. In so doing, they strengthened their personal relationships, professional ties, and built stronger communities. By 1932, Herbert J. Taylor created The Four Way Test, which is the code of ethics that still guides the organization. It was adopted 11 years later and has since been translated into more than 100 languages. The test is a simple means by which Rotarians gauge their undertakings. It says, “Of the things we think, say or do: Is it the TRUTH?; Is it FAIR to all concerned?; Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?; and Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

» The notion of fellowship is not a

unique one, but the fact that Rotary’s earliest members recognized the power of their mutual association to connect and collaborate for the good of others is inspirational. « It is remarkable now when one looks at these simple foundational elements to see what an incredible organization Rotary has become.

From the small handful of men in 1905, today Rotary has burgeoned with membership of 1.2 million Rotarians in over 34,000 Clubs with more than 500 Districts in more than 200 countries or geographic areas. The roots of fellowship run deep and wide to form a dynamic and ever-relevant organization of like-minded albeit different people who seek, through fellowship, to do more not only for themselves and their communities, but for people a world apart whom they may never meet.

What truly differentiates Rotary is the audacity of its vision. Under its long tradition of varied global leadership, Rotary has identified enormously ambitious goals and continues to push forward with determination. Goals such as eradicating polio, for example, seem impossible. Or, ensuring clean drinking water for the people of the world, or promoting basic education and literacy internationally— are just a few of the goals the organization has undertaken. Wisely, Rotary also understands that it cannot do this work alone. It has assumed a leadership role not only in defining these ambitious goals but also in seeking partners who are equally motivated and invested to finding solutions.

Take the case of eradicating polio. When Rotary undertook this goal in 1988, more than 350,000 children globally were reported to have the illness. Thanks to the diligent effort of Rotarians around the world through fundraising and hard work, over 99 percent of the cases have been eradicated, with fewer than 650 cases reported in 2011.

Polio, with which most young Americans today are unfamiliar, is a devastatingly crippling disease and potentially fatal infection, which mostly strikes children under the age of five in countries in Asia, Africa and the eastern Mediterranean. It has no cure but can be prevented by a vaccine that can cost as little as 60 cents. Polio paralysis can occur within hours of infection and is almost always irreversible. It has been the world’s greatest cause of disability.

Rotary proudly announced on January 18, 2012, that it had succeeded in meeting the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s $200 million match to fund polio eradication. $200 million!

“The fundraising milestone was reached in response to $355 million in challenge grants awarded to The Rotary Foundation by the Gates Foundation to be earmarked specifically for polio immunization activities.” Happily, on January 13 of this year, India marked a full year with no new cases reported. Progress in the remaining areas will be challenging for various reasons, but Rotary and its partners in this effort remain determined to see the disease eliminated from our planet. Other partners in the effort include the World Health Organization, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and UNICEF as well as several United Nations agencies.

Part of the success of any visionary organization must come from its ability to define its goals. Rotary has done an excellent job of defining focus areas for its Foundation, which therefore helps individual clubs align their efforts. The Rotary Foundation is a charitable organization supported solely by voluntary contributions. It is managed by a board of trustees and trustee chair and provides financial support to the clubs and districts. This type of consistent planning and infrastructure alignment is essential to successful connection and collaboration as ICOSA defines it.

The service areas that the Rotary Foundation seeks to support are: • Peace and conflict prevention/resolution • Disease prevention and treatment • Water and sanitation • Maternal and child health • Basic education and literacy • Economic and community development For each of these focus areas, Rotary has identified internal and external resources and it encourages individual clubs to align their efforts behind these goals. This ensures streamlined and effective funding, accountability, and benchmarked, transparent progress that is consistent internationally.

Clubs take on their own signature projects globally and locally and support their district’s causes not only through donations but also through true involvement. Rotarians travel extensively and do much of the physical work as well. One only need pick up a copy of The Rotarian, a monthly members’ magazine to see the “World Roundup” where Rotary news from around the world is featured. In January, 2012, the highlights include 1) a window safety campaign in Oregon to prevent children from falling from buildings; 2) a 5.3 million Peso campaign in Tlalnepantla, Mexico to fund a school construction project; 3) a French club’s Opera fundraiser which funded 23,600 polio vaccine doses; 4) a Coronado, California club’s efforts to get 80,000 pairs of shoes to a shantytown outside of Port Elizabeth, South Africa; 5) a Vancouver Island, B.C., club worked with a school in Ghana to improve facilities at a school as well as provide necessary materials to support health and education; 6) a joint project between Indian and Finnish clubs funded desks for 83 schools in Hyderabad; 7) Rotarians worked on an “I wish” program in Korea to help elementary school children with funds to support their dreams; and 8) in the Philippines where only 1 in 100,000 women can afford vaccinations for cervical cancer, several clubs are working together from Hong Kong, Macau, Mongolia and Taiwan to get necessary health care to women. These highlights represent a fraction of the work Rotarians are doing around the world!

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COMMUNITY

Rotary International

One can only imagine the kind of leader required to drive actions and outcomes of such a diverse international organization.

Currently Mr. Kalyan Banerjee of Vapi, Gujarat, India is the President of Rotary International.

Mr. Banerjee is the epitome of what a Rotary leader should be. He is the chair of United Phosphorus, Bangladesh and a director of United Phosphorous, Ltd., which is one the largest manufacturers of agrochemicals in India. Mr. Banerjee and his wife, Binota, a social worker, moved to Vapi when it was a tiny town with no infrastructure. As he built a successful company and was able to contribute time and resources to his community through Rotary, they have been instrumental to the construction and success of multiple schools and the local hospital.

As Mr. Banerjee said in an interview about the partnership with his wife in his work, “one cannot clap with one hand.”

Mr. Banerjee joined the Rotary Club of Vapi in 1972—mostly out of “curiosity”—and has served in multiple roles from club president to district governor before beginning his international service in 1995, when he was appointed to the board of directors. He has served on multiple international committees ranging from the Poverty and Hunger Alleviation Task Force to the Child Mortality Emphasis Coordinating Team. He has come to understand the broad reach of Rotary International’s vision around the world and challenged Rotarians to “reach within and embrace humanity.” He went on to say in his acceptance of the presidency that he “can’t wait to write the history of good.”

Such is the way Rotarians at every level seem to be motivated, from the local club to the current and future leadership. In January of this year, ICOSA sponsored and attended the sixth Annual State of the State Luncheon and Culmination of 100 Years of Rotary Service to Colorado in Denver.

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, who is also a Rotarian spoke, as did several distinguished Rotarians. Among them was Ron Burton, who is the choice for the 2013-2014 Rotary International Presidency. We had a chance to sit down with Mr. Burton and were struck by his passionate dedication to Rotary and the potential for good it represents. Mr. Burton spoke of the good work being done now with polio and in other areas.

He has been a trustee of the Rotary Foundation and worked on multiple task forces. For all that Rotary has done, he talked about the “iceberg effect” and how they have just touched the tiny top (above the water) of the massive potential they have as Rotarians to “be the best they can be” and “give of them-selves.” Burton said he could “never repay Rotary for what it has done for me” and believes that through Rotary, members have more opportunity “to make a difference in ( 94 )

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the world and repay for the space we occupy.”

Burton is fully committed to continuing to build meaningful partnerships and alliances to spread Rotary’s reach. There is discussion of a possible alliance with the Peace Corps, about which he is excited. He wants to see the number of Rotarians continue to grow and suggests that recruitment should be a “constant thrust” of members not only to “replace themselves not just every year, but as often as they can.”

Rotary has made great strides, by the way, in expanding its ranks to women and younger people. There are still traditional clubs around the world that are men-only, but the majority have reached out to women since 1987 when they were first admitted. Burton, embraces women in the Rotary and said of them, “They reinforce our number and help us to do more good.” He looks forward to working closely with Mrs. Jetta Burton, saying, “My wife will be an integral part of my time as president.”

He was instrumental in helping his club in Norman, Oklahoma and surrounding areas break down the barriers of membership for women and continues to advocate for their involvement. The face of Rotary continues to change with new clubs springing up full of young people with greater vision of what Rotary’s potential may be in the future.

In the foreword of his book, My Road to Rotary, founder Paul Harris wrote about the journey from boy to man. He reflected on how the lessons he was taught as a boy helped him grown into the man he had become, and he reflects on the positive changes his younger self brought upon his older self. Rotary International is on a similar journey of discovery and growth and continues to learn and improve. The organization, which Harris founded, has become instrumental in so many parts of the world in making lives better, people stronger, and communities richer in talent and resources. The fellowship of Rotary has solidified relationships that expand beyond the reach of any individual member and collectively reflect the good that is within each of us when we connect and collaborate.

» The roots of

fellowship run deep and wide to form a dynamic and everrelevant organization of like-minded albeit different people who seek, through fellowship, to do more not only for themselves and their communities, but for people a world apart whom they may never meet. «

Harris’s words ring as true today as when they were first penned and they inspire us with the strength of one man’s vision, which was granted to millions for the good of all. Harris wrote, “The boy taught the man the necessity of being tolerant of all forms of religious and political faiths. He taught him not to be too critical of the views of others, whatever those views might be. The boy taught the man of the joys of neighborliness and friendliness and good will toward all. It took considerable time for these lessons to sink in—the grown up boy was too busy having a good time—but I am glad to be able to say that eventually the man took the teachings of the boy seriously and tried to extend them to all men.”

COMMUNITY

City Year

Visionary Leaders Bring

City Year to Denver Impacting the National Dropout Crisis One Student at a Time By Rebecca Saltman

A

little over two years ago business and community leaders from around metro Denver began raising the question of whether the organization garnering so much praise across the country—City Year—could address some of the issues confronting students in Denver Public Schools. Inquiries were made to the City Year headquarters in Boston to see what would be needed to cultivate a location in Denver. As local leaders joined the conversation, support increased, and the wheels started turning. However, attracting the forces for change took much more than a few conversations. It took great leadership, collaboration across multiple sectors, and a shared vision to make it a reality.

City Year is a nationwide nonprofit organization founded by Michael Brown, who still serves as CEO, and Alan Khazei whose mission is focused specifically on the high school dropout crisis. With 23 locations across the United States, as well as affiliates in London and Johannesburg, the organization has a tremendous reputation of success. The model identifies young leaders ages 17-24, called Corps Members, and leverages their talent, energy, and idealism to serve full-time in teams at local schools as tutors, mentors, and role models.

There are over 2,000 Corps Members across the country serving thousands of children and youth in urban school settings. These young leaders deliver targeted and school-wide interventions in literacy, math, attendance, and behavior, as well as providing support for after school programming. This intervention strategy targets third through ninth graders, providing consistent support to students throughout the entire school year. Corps Members serve high schools and the "feeder" elementary and middle schools generating the most dropouts.

Recent metrics compiled by program administrators revealed that 90 percent of all students tutored by City Year in 2010 improved raw literacy scores. Perhaps not so surprisingly, there was also a 55 percent reduction in the number of students with less than 90 percent attendance as a result of programmatic attendance support activities. These numbers are just samples of the impact that is being made across the country. In the Denver metro area, leaders had a shared vision to actively address the dropout crisis in Denver Public Schools—its hallmark was the 51.8 percent graduation rate.

The founding committee for City Year Denver was comprised of Ben Walton (Walton Family Foundation), Christine Benero (Mile High United Way), Scott Binder (formerly of Comcast), Barry Curtiss-Lusher (Bay Philanthropic Fund), Vanecia B. Kerr (formerly of TIAA-CREF), Nina Lopez (Colorado Department of Education), Jacqueline Lundquist (1874 Chairperson at Colorado College), Melanie Melcher (Colorado State Land Board) and Colorado State House Representative Joe ( 96 )

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» With more than 12 million students

projected to drop out over the next decade, it is estimated to cost the nation more than $3 trillion. «

» Recent metrics compiled by program

administrators revealed that 90 percent of all students tutored by City Year in 2010 improved raw literacy scores. «

Miklosi. These individuals, under the leadership of Ben Walton's initial $1million Challenge Grant, worked to provide leadership with introductions to key political, business, and civic influencers in Denver's cityscape. The idea was to develop a collaborative team from the government, education, and private sectors, who also wanted to improve education for Denver students.

This concept of collaboration was not new to those involved in the startup of City Year Denver. In fact, the entire organization operates as a collaborative model between multiple sectors. City Year, as an AmeriCorps organization, receives a portion of their financial support from the federal budget that spurs general volunteerism.

Additionally, City Year partners with school districts and enthusiastic private sector resources, all of whom are valued partners in the success of the program.

One of the founding committee members, Vanecia Kerr, was instrumental in helping organize the initial meeting with Superintendent Tom Boasberg and members of his leadership team.

Kerr attended this meeting with leaders from City Year to demonstrate that the business community was also interested in working with Denver Public Schools to address the issues.

After 18 months of planning, including intensive efforts to raise the necessary initial investments to match the $1 million challenge grant from the Walton Family Foundation, the implementation of a City Year Denver site received a favorable vote from the National Board of Trustees in January 2011. The founding committee was excited and Denver Public Schools immediately started planning to have its own Corps Members deployed in local schools by the fall of 2011.

In preparation for the new site, there was much work to do. A startup team was quickly identified and began hiring the initial 50 Corps Members. Marc Morgan, the startup director for Denver, had a rich history with the organization and was a great fit for the growth of the Denver work. He had worked his way up through the organization, serving in various roles at City Year Greater Philadelphia and City Year Boston. Because of his background, Morgan was instrumental in laying the groundwork for a full deployment in a few short months—one of the fastest startups in the history of the organization.

With less than two fiscal quarters to create a startup team and full time staff, City Year continued their partnership with Denver Public Schools (DPS) to outline where the work was needed the most. Five schools within the DPS system were targeted including Lake Middle School, North High School, Rachel B. Noel Middle School, Montebello High School, and the Denver Center for 21st Century Learning. Each of these schools would have "feet in the street" a team of Corps Members dedicated to serving their students.

By July 2011, the team was in place. Not only did City Year successfully partner with Denver Public Schools to establish the program, but a full-time team was selected to coordinate this effort. Jeff Park was identified as the executive director based upon his experience as a teacher, principal and leader of several nonprofit organizations in the past. Vanecia Kerr was selected as the managing director for external responsibilities overseeing marketing, intra-organization communications, and program development. Marc Morgan was also identified to continue in a leadership role for the site as the managing director overseeing the program and service efforts.

The mission is clear—keep students in school and on track to graduate.

Every 26 seconds a student quits school in America. We know that high school dropouts are three times more likely than college graduates to be unemployed and eight times more likely to be incarcerated than high school graduates. We also know that barely 50 percent of all African American students and less than 66 percent of Hispanic students will graduate with their class. With more than 12 million students projected to drop out over the next decade, it is estimated to cost the nation more than $3 trillion. And, thanks to the breakthrough research by Johns Hopkins, we also know who these students are as early as the sixth grade. So if we know who they are, City Year believes they can put the resources behind them to ensure they stay in school and on track and change the nation’s educational structure, one student at a time.

As for Denver, the City Year program is growing. They now have 50 Corps Members working 10-12 hour days with 500-700 students each day. The initial results are showing more consistent attendance and broader acceptance of school culture. With their red jackets and khaki pants, Corps Members have developed relationships with students that defy easy classification. Some students say that if it wasn’t for their City Year Corps Member they wouldn’t even be in school. It’s a fact, there is a special synergy in these peer relationships that transforms the students on a daily basis.

Going forward, City Year Denver is expected to expand beyond the initial five schools. But to reach the enormous amounts of students who are not on-track to graduate, the organization will need nearly 300 total Corps Members. Plans to generate the funding necessary in support of this goal are moving forward.

“Now that I’ve transitioned from the founding committee for City Year Denver to managing director, I have been able to see the full cycle of the startup process. When we first met with Superintendent Tom Boasberg, he expressed enthusiasm and a sincere willingness to partner with City Year to ensure the best possible outcome for the students. This commitment has continued through today and has now involved multiple leaders within DPS, partners in the nonprofit community and a growing list of support from companies like Comcast, Xcel Energy, and EnCana. We are so thankful for Ben Walton and the Walton Family Foundation, along with the Daniels Fund and the Anschutz Foundation who have all provided the initial investment to start City Year Denver. It is the collaboration from multiple sectors of our community that continues to fuel the success of our organization and ultimately the success of our students,” said Vanecia Kerr.

At City Year they believe that by engaging school districts, the private sector and the federal government through AmeriCorps, they can change the trajectory of students in America. In fact, they already are.

If you would like to support City Year Denver, please contact Vanecia B. Kerr at vkerr@cityyear.org or 720-308-7475. For more information on City Year, please visit their website at www.cityyear.org.

Rebecca Saltman is a social entrepreneur and the president and founder of an independent collaboration building firm designed to bridge business, government, nonprofits and academia. To learn more visit www.foot-in-door.com.

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DENIS HAYES

So, what does that mean?

The science of ecology’s fundamental principal is that everything is connected to and dependent upon everything else. Nothing survives when the delicate balance of clean air, water, food, sunshine, predator and prey is disrupted. We do not know the precise tipping point for any given species to become extinct, but we know extinction is a fact. The million dollar questions then are: What is the tipping point for extinction of the human race? What are the key tipping points of other species along the way?

Progress And Its Impacts Progress is generally seen as a good thing. The Industrial Revolution is often touted as a major inflection point of progress that brought massive changes in agriculture, manufacturing, transportation and economic policies. It brought people out of rural living into urban environments and created the middle class. It also brought mass production of goods, making them affordable to this new middle class. It brought improved transportation, enabling rapid movement of goods from coast to coast and border to border.

However, progress has a significant downside, specifically the unintended consequences of rapid change. The Industrial Revolution brought an extensive increase in population, consumption, and the associated waste. It brought massive increases in pollution of every type—including air and water—from the base source of energy production all the way through the production, distribution, and disposal of these mass produced goods.

It is through examining the impacts of unbridled economic gains that Denis Hayes’ vision of balancing human wants and needs with ecological science came to fruition.

Hayes’ Roots

Denis Hayes A Lifelong Environmental Advocate By Martha Young

D

enis Hayes, the founder of Earth Day and current president and CEO of the Bullitt Foundation, has devoted his life seeking to harmonize human needs and desires with the planet’s ability to support mankind. Utilizing every available venue to educate and evangelize, including articles, books and speaking engagements, and when necessary the courts and legal system, Hayes promotes the application of the principles of the science of ecology to the design of human ecosystems.

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Hayes’ work was spurred by his childhood community and the signs of progress that were literally sickening the residents and surrounding environment. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, he witnessed massive deforestation in the name of economic growth.

The deforestation brought environmental issues such as erosion and water pollution. The paper mill that dominated his hometown introduced excessive air and water pollutants that cascaded to human impacts, including respiratory illnesses.

Hayes dropped out of college and traveled the world, visiting developed and undeveloped countries. He witnessed firsthand what Charles Darwin wrote about in The Origin of Species, “All life on the planet is capable of adapting up to a certain degree then it will fail and become extinct.” This knowledge and message has been shared and published for over a hundred years from Henry Thoreau to Jared Diamond. Hayes returned to the United States and set out on his life’s mission, to make sure people understand that societies will collapse if not nurtured.

Ecology And The 1960s Hayes’ work as the national coordinator of the first Earth Day started in the mid-1960s, a period of time when big business was

at odds with workers and the environment; when citizens were at odds with all levels of their government; and when governments were at odds with each other. The 1960s saw the impact of DDT, Lake Erie being nearly killed by industrial and agricultural runoff, rivers in Ohio spontaneously combusting, and the introduction of Walmart and the promotion of mass consumption.

Mass media, specifically television, was also introduced into the family home in the early 1960s. With television came news, video footage and the education of large numbers of people to the issues of the times. There were widespread calls to action. The 1960s became the decade of protests. The time was ripe for Hayes to share his vision of harmonizing the needs and desires of mankind and earth.

As Hayes described the emerging period, “It was the Environmental Golden Age.” After the first Earth Day held April 22, 1970, President Richard Nixon saw an opportunity to engage the 20 million people in the streets who spanned all electoral demographics.

He created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with an executive order and signed the landmark Clean Air Act of 1970.

Additional legislation over the next few years included numerous bills specific to water and marine life, and most notably the Endangered Species Act in 1973.

» The million dollar

questions then are: What is the tipping point for extinction of the human race? What are the key tipping points of other species along the way? «

They are also faced with new and different issues never before seen—genetically engineered foods, peak oil, widening education and wealth gaps, and the rise of Second and Third World countries into First World consuming nations. The net result of the additional challenges facing the globe is that Hayes’ vision has expanded to include them.

For example, he argues, “We now need to not just reduce carbon emissions, or even to just reach ‘net zero,’ but we need to actually pull large volumes of CO2 permanently out of the atmosphere.”

The Vision Going Forward

» "All life on the planet is

capable of adapting up to a certain degree then it will fail and become extinct." « - Charles Darwin

Current State of Affairs Since the 1960s and 1970s, environmental awareness has ebbed and flowed—recently tilting more to the ebbing than the flowing.

Politics have grown more contentious, corporations more powerful in terms of guiding public policy, constituents more distracted and disengaged. However, Hayes has stayed with his mission for the past forty-plus years.

Hayes notes, “Environmental issues are global in nature. The institutions involved in driving change are slow, as they should be. I have faith that the issues are sufficiently important that the changes we need to see will come.”

Hayes is accurate in his assessment that change, albeit slowly, is occurring. Earth Day has expanded to over 190 countries, environmental awareness is on the radar of people around the globe, and food and sustainable energy issues make the news cycle on a regular basis.

The protestors of the 1960s are industry leaders of today. They come to the boardrooms and executive suites with more knowledge and understanding of the complex interrelationships of raw materials, production, distribution, consumption, disposal and the environment than their predecessors.

We have come full circle forty-plus years later, with Time naming The Protestor as Person of the Year in 2011. The tools for information dissemination, especially video footage, have improved with the introduction of social media, crowdsourcing, and flash crowds. The Internet offers near real-time communication between constituents and members of Congress, and local and state representatives.

The ability to engage the average person has become as easy as a few key strokes and clicking send.

Hayes’ progress has not stopped since those early days. He continues his educational outreach efforts through the Bullitt Foundation. He remains active on the speaking circuit, spreading his vision of using ecological science to map growth and development of human ecosystems.

You can get a taste of Mr. Hayes’ low key, yet impassioned style, by watching him deliver a brief synopsis of his vision and the driving factors behind developing Earth Day at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idKB0vrZwX4. Hayes will be sharing his thoughts and message as keynote speaker and honorary chair of the 4th Annual Global New Energy Summit being held at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, April 9-11. In addition to his honed vision, Hayes brings deep knowledge specific to energy issues to the Summit. He wrote a bestselling book, Rays of Hope, which was influential to energy policy decisions during the Carter Administration. He was director of the Solar Energy Research Institute, known today as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. And he taught energy engineering and policy at Stanford University for five years. To attend the Global New Energy Summit visit http://www.globalnewenergysummit.org/.

To learn more about the Bullitt Foundation visit http://bullitt.org/. Martha Young is principal at NovaAmber, LLC, a business strategy company based in Golden. Young has held positions as industry analyst, director of market research, competitive intelligence analyst, and sales associate. She has written books, articles, and papers regarding the intersection of technology and business for over 15 years. She has co-authored four books on the topics of virtual business processes, virtual business implementations, and project management for IT. Young can be reached at myoung@novaamber.com or on Twitter @myoung_vbiz.

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TIFIE Humanitarian

This vision took root in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where Workman fell in love with the people and their culture. He also recognized the massive challenges of daily life and lack of opportunities for livelihoods. Working in the DRC was a challenge, making it the perfect place for him to plant the first seeds that would become TIFIE Humanitarian.

Through his experiences with TIFIE in disadvantaged areas of Africa, Workman realized the severe need for a reliable power source there.

As a result, he founded GOAL ZERO to help deliver dependable, socially responsible, and eco-friendly power to people around the world. Together, GOAL ZERO and TIFIE Humanitarian foster economic development in underserved countries by establishing sustainable business enterprises that produce goods and services and create lasting jobs.

Business Minds and Humanitarian Hearts A New Business Approach to Charitable Work By Michael Dale

T

IFIE Humanitarian (Teaching Individuals and Families Independence though Enterprise), a Utah-based international organization, is pioneering a new approach to charitable efforts in West Africa. Founded in 2007 and dedicated to fostering long-term, self-sustainable philanthropic support, TIFIE trains individuals to establish sustainable business enterprises like agricultural development farms, medical initiatives, business entities, and successful distribution, transportation and construction service companies.

TIFIE believes in lifting the human spirit by supporting orphanages, renovating and building schools, supplying reliable and portable solar energy, developing water projects, and delivering life-altering change. With this paradigm-shifting approach to humanitarian aid, TIFIE strives not only to help those in need, but helps people realize their potential for self-sufficiency and prosperity.

Robert Workman began looking for humanitarian opportunities in 2005, after 30 years as a successful entrepreneur and owner of Provo Craft and Novelty. He wanted to focus on something that would more profoundly change people’s lives—giving rise to TIFIE Humanitarian.

During his extensive business travels, Workman had seen free-market concepts flourish in places like China and India, improving lives with fresh opportunity. His vision was to utilize tried-and-true business principles within a humanitarian model to provide sustainable change. ( 100 )

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GOAL ZERO and TIFIE were conceived to work together not only to provide access to portable power, but also to empower, by providing tools and skills for sustainable humanitarian efforts. TIFIE receives a portion of proceeds from all GOAL ZERO purchases, which covers the operational expenses for the organization. “Not only is this organization providing a basic necessity of light, but it is also teaching the value of financial responsibility one light at a time,” said Robert Workman. “Staying within our mission of providing long-term, selfsustainable philanthropic support, we believe these programs will make a tremendous difference.”

TIFIE’s local entrepreneur programming focuses creating food security and increasing economic prosperity through rural road repair, seed multiplication, market development, education, microenterprise, orphanage repair, water procurement and health and HIV projects.

Farmers receive agro-enterprise training to assist in building links to markets for increased profits. Currently, TIFIE is working to improve food production and climate mitigation by forming voluntary farming associations, thus providing farmers the opportunity to increase their economic benefits by ensuring resource conservation.

TIFIE also supports small enterprises in partnership with the Catholic Church and provides training, seed grants and technical assistance.

TIFIE has implemented a seed multiplication project with two local associations—comprised of almost 50 percent women. These groups have successfully multiplied cassava, corn, peanuts, cowpeas, soybeans and planted seeds on 120 hectares of land, almost tripling the income of each family involved. Moreover, TIFIE recently built a warehouse that houses excess goods before being transported to the market in Kinshasa.

Serge Tshibangu is a prime example of how the training and opportunities that TIFIE provides gives a family true independence.

Tshibangu has been working at the TIFIE farm in Dumi for over 18 months. Before moving to there, Tshibangu and his wife Kito lived in Kinshasa with their two children, Jasmine and Ivory. He is currently working at the TIFIE Farm as the agronomist, strategizing and implementing best practices for agriculture and animal husbandry.

Moving from the city to the farm was a huge change for his family, as life in the city included modern conveniences such as running water and flushing toilets. Thanks to GOAL ZERO however, Tshibangu can fully power batteries and lights out on the farm. And, he has taken the initiative to create his own business of producing and selling charcoal—DRCs only heat source for cooking—in nearby villages.

» TIFIE strives not

only to help those in need, but helps people realize their potential for self-sufficiency and prosperity. « Oftentimes, villagers make charcoal and sell it to generate income, and with the help of TIFIE, Tshibangu has been able to produce additional income as well. With the profits, Tshibangu has been able to purchase two hectares of land near the main TIFIE farm, where they are planning on building a large home. It is a positive step for them— owning their own property and raising their children in a clean and safe environment.

In many villages of the DRC, smallholder farmers rely on subsistence farming to meet basic nutritional needs. Farmers are discouraged from planting cash crops because of their inability to warehouse, protect, and transport their crops making it difficult to generate an income worth their time and effort. Furthermore, many farmers utilize agricultural practices that deplete soil nutrients, increase desertification, negatively impact water conservation efforts and otherwise make the land incapable of supporting crops in consecutive seasons. In addition, due to frequent droughts, poor harvests and a lack of technical expertise, the quality of agricultural seeds has declined over the years.

Since 2007, TIFIE has operated agriculture programs focused on helping farmers and villages improve food availability, food security and increase economic stability with sustainable agricultural

practices. TIFIE provides education and technical assistance to farmers in agroforestry and seed multiplication—encouraging changes to cropping patterns, reforestation and diversify of harvests that can enhance overall economic livelihoods.

TIFIE has experimented with cassava, pineapple, moringa, acacia, eggplant, hot peppers, and corn to identify which plants would thrive in the local area and would best help village farmers generate household income. The organization has planted 247 hectares of cassava, 100 hectares of sweet potatoes, two hectares of pineapple, and over 40,000 moringa and acacia trees.

The organization’s efforts at providing employment and sustenance through agriculture are based on the complex growth and production cycle of cassava—a highly nutritious, staple food for many African people that grows in poor soil/low rain conditions. And, at any given time, TIFIE’s farm in Dumi can easily employ up to 200 people. This combination of farming and agri-forestry provides sustainable employment to Congolese people from eight different villages, as well as providing them with agricultural training that they will be able to use for the rest of their lives.

For more information, visit www.tifie.org.

» "Not only is

this organization providing a basic necessity of light, but it is also teaching the value of financial responsibility one light at a time." « - Robert Workman

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Community Matters

Community Matters A New Vision for Social Innovation By Cristin Tarr

P

overty is not a political issue; it is a reality. In the United States one in five children are living in poverty. Our public schools are underfunded and underperforming, parks and recreation areas are deteriorating. In addition, medical needs are on the increase as obesity rates have doubled over the last three decades.

These are just a few of the statistics we don’t like to recognize as our own. Our communities are suffering and government can’t solve these problems alone. We must explore a new vision to accelerate positive social change where we live and work. We must ascertain—does community matter?

Is solving social issues in our community the government’s responsibility alone or a combined commitment of our citizens, nonprofits, and businesses? Traditionally, businesses write checks to nonprofit organizations to support their favorite charities, but surprisingly only five percent of the total giving dollars in the United States originate from the private sector.

The Center for Philanthropy at Purdue University reported that 79 percent of charities are financially stressed, with not enough resources to support critical social programs. Collectively, we must redefine the boundaries of capitalism and make a fundamental shift in how we fund and support social programs.

» Surprisingly only five percent of the total giving

dollars in the United States originate from the private sector. «

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the notion of companies directly committed to the common good of society. This commitment to CSR supports both social needs as well as environmental responsibility. Companies of all sizes are dabbling at giving to charity or recycling programs, but CSR is more than that. It is a business commitment using resources to support the greater good, while still focusing on profits. It can be scaled to all sized companies. Patagonia built their organization on CSR practices—protecting resources and people has been the forefront of their core business model. The very popular “Common Thread” campaign asks customers to pledge to only buy what they need or to repair, reuse, and recycle their clothing.

Important to note, authentic CSR practices positively impact company reputation. In fact, Reputation Institute’s 2011 Pulse Survey suggests that overall CSR practices are responsible for more than 40 percent of a company’s reputation. ( 102 )

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Milton Freedman wrote in 1970 in The New York Times “Social Responsibility of a Business is to Increase Profits” declared that profits are and should be the only goal of a company, and that giving back to the community should be funded on a personal level and not part of company’s business practice—unless it alleviates a tax burden. In 2011, however, Michael Porter suggested a new concept called shared value which he defines as corporate policies and practices that enhance the competitiveness of the company while simultaneously advancing economic and social conditions in the communities in which it operates.

John Kania, Managing Director at Boston-based FSG, and colleague of Porter’s, co-authored the recent article, “Do More than Give” argues that CSR is not a black and white issue. He says, “Responsibility is about individual values. Corporations won’t invest in societal issues on a sustained basis unless their management and employees see a strategic value in doing so. Companies should look to create shared value and align parts of their business to address social and environmental issues in their communities. The results are the value creation of long-term positive change for both society and company.”

» Companies should

look to create shared value and align parts of their business to address social and environmental issues in their communities.

The results are the value creation of longterm positive change for both society and company. « - John Kania

Kania’s opinion begs the question—will the private sector embrace this new paradigm and develop long-term business strategies to drive profits and benefit society?

place, and empowers community players to take action in their neighborhood. At the same time, Starbuck’s is extending its footprint and gaining value in emerging market areas.

Social innovation is a new vision where a company profits from creating social change. Jason Saul, a leading advocate and founder of Mission Measurement and author of Social Innovation Inc., describes five strategies of how companies of all sizes can demand profits, while positively impacting the community. The value is realized through paths such as opening new markets, developing employees, building closer ties to customers, advocacy, and attraction and retention of talent. This shift in practice changes the way we think about business and its role in our communities. Social innovation is the “DO” of social responsibility and philanthropy, producing a blend of impact and profits, and going beyond traditional philanthropy.

Integrating social innovation into a company culture takes thoughtful and committed steps. Every company, from a sole proprietor to a large multinational corporation can embrace and take action in social innovation and shared value through four key steps.

Social innovation is strategic, aligned and views greater good initiatives as a means of increasing profits—it is not just a glossy brochure or a big check to a random nonprofit. For example, Starbucks launched the UCO’s (Urban Coffee Opportunities) in over 100 locations in underserved markets such as Los Angeles, New York, and Detroit. The chain’s success includes a Harlem store, which led to the redevelopment and now a vibrant neighborhood. The UCO initiative creates jobs with health benefits, builds a local gathering

» We must redefine the boundaries of

capitalism and make a fundamental shift in how we fund and support social programs. «

Step #1 - Set Vision and Commit Step #1 requires transitioning from the traditional mindset that philanthropy is a cost of doing business, to one that embraces the idea that social innovation strategy takes leadership. It entails commitment of C-level executives to embrace community engagement as a method of creating shared value. It is imperative to have the commitment from the top and allocate critical resources, build a core strategy, get buy-in for stakeholders, and ultimately measure the positive impacts on both the company and the community.

Step #2 - Develop Strategy and Engage To create shared value, a social innovation strategy requires a vigorous, yet attainable goal, and clearly defines to stakeholders the benefits to both the financial bottom line and society. There must be advocacy linking employees and other company stakeholders with community activities that they are interested in. Executive leadership teams are important, but the commitment of the workforce and collaborative partners is what will move mountains. Employee engagement can and must be a value of social innovation. There are clear indications that engaged employees are more productive. The Society for Human Resources Management compared companies that had strong sustainability programs with companies that have poor

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Community Matters

ones and found that engaged corporations morale was 55 percent better than those with little or no engagement, business processes were 43 percent more efficient, public image was 43 percent stronger, and employee loyalty was 38 percent better—creating an obvious business value.

Step #3 - Implement, Innovate and Inform A strategy is only good when executed. Leveraging a company’s brand, innovation, core competencies, resources and partnerships responsibly, strengthens the workforce, communities, and economy.

No longer is community engagement a cost of doing business, rather it is a well-planned initiative that mobilizes workplace knowledge and expertise to solve social issues. There are several essential practices to transform goodwill efforts into a business return.

Educate and Empower A company’s workforce is their biggest asset. Educating on sustainable practices and giving tools to empower teams to solve both business and social challenges promotes innovation and good problemsolving skills. Through training and by recognizing individual success, companies are able to more aptly create buy-in and a long-term commitment to profitable social change.

Volunteer One of the most powerful ways for young executives to experience leadership essentials is through community and volunteer opportunities. Volunteering can be a hands-on, multi-generational, and team-building chance to introduce a holistic approach to building capacity in our communities. Matching and organizing volunteer programs can be interpreted by employees as an extra burden, but when employees are empowered, given resources and organizational support, they can focus on outcomes which are much more rewarding and successful. Offering employee incentives, such as days off to volunteer or bonuses for meeting or exceeding social

innovation goals, should be interpreted as tools as well as a company’s commitment to achieving shared value.

Collaborate and Communicate Consulting and communicating with all stakeholders is part of the value of social innovation. And, telling authentic stories builds both attraction and value. Many Fortune 500 companies dedicate a portion of their website, and in some cases exclusive sites and social media, to communicate sustainability and social accomplishments. These methods enhance brand loyalty and attract the new workforce—young professionals or Millennials—born after 1985. The 79 million Millenials are particularly attracted to companies that embrace strong CSR practices.

In fact, a recent study by Cone Communications found that 83 percent of Millennials trust a company more and 79 percent wants to work for a company that shows they are socially and environmentally responsible.

Step #4 - Measure, measure and measure “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it,” is a familiar phrase among CFOs. As every good business decision is made through setting goals and monitoring performance, social innovation and shared value creation is no different. An essential step is to measure key indicators and structure programs to monitor continued improvement. Many believe measuring social change is difficult, but it starts with simply setting goals. John Kania, a social impact advocate says that business must, “Figure out what your community goals are then figure out the indicators for success and begin there. It is not any different then what is on the business side.” He advocates that it is critical to continually evaluate and report findings from indicators and to monitor milestones to ensure a sustained company commitment and direction.

A great example that summarizes the social innovation process is GE’s brilliant campaign called Ecomagination. This unique program is GE’s commitment to imagine and build innovative solutions to today’s environmental challenges, while driving economic growth. GE mobilized their stakeholders to take action around the world to solve societal problems and create shared value. Furthermore, GE stuck with their core competencies, company mission, and set a vision. Through collaboration they built a strategy using employees as an advisory board, communicated and delivered results that were measureable and meaningful, and ultimately benefited society and the company.

What is happening to our communities is troubling, but not irrevocable if we work together. Listen to the new Bruce Springsteen’s release “We Take Care Of Our Own,” where he sings, “I've been stumblin' on good hearts turned to stone; The road of good intentions has gone dry as bone; We take care of our own.”

Let’s begin a new vision, because community does matter.

Cristin Tarr is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Business Service Corps.

Business Service Corps assists companies develop, organize, and implement ambitious and collaborative community outreach programs with measurable results while making a positive social change in our communities. Cristin’s passion to connect, collaborate and commitment to global citizenship is perfect for her roles in community relations, as a corporate trainer, speaker and facilitator. To learn more about Business Service Corps visit www.BusinessServiceCorps.com.

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collaboration close up

overcame the odds to become both one of the most successful tennis players ever and an equally successful leader.

An unwavering supporter of women’s rights, Navratilova encouraged the sold out audience to “Fight for rights—all rights—human, animal, women, gay and transgender.” She reminded the audience that the income disparity between men and women still exists, and women still earn only 81 cents on the dollar compared to

» "Turn your focus upward, rather than inward. Look outside yourself." « - Martina Navratilova

A Message of

Boldness Women’s Foundation Luncheon Is A Winning Event By Gail Frances

C

elebrated tennis player and keynote speaker Martina Navratilova shared personal insights of her challenges and successes at the 24th Annual 2011 Women’s Foundation luncheon.

“Think big, be bold, stay focused and accomplish more,” she reminded the audience.

And the response to the luncheon confirmed her message. With over 2,000 attendees, the luncheon raised more than $850,000 (gross) for the organization’s mission to help women and girls across the state achieve their full potential.

Navratilova’s message was both moving and inspirational. Born in Czechoslovakia, her family lost everything when they immigrated to the United States. Following the footsteps of her tennis playing mother and grandmother Navratilova took up the sport at

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the tender age of seven. At the encouragement of her father, the young Navratilova learned “to be good, to be bold … to go for it.” She said her father’s dream for her brought her dream to life.

Her touching story infused with loss, perseverance and many challenges kept the audience riveted. She became a citizen of the United States in 1981, “came out” shortly thereafter despite the discouragement of her handlers who warned of career suicide.

Risking everything Navratilova decided not to listen to those who placed limitations on her. In her words, coming out as a lesbian woman she ultimately gained things of greater value. She said, “The human spirit thrives on being authentic.” She went on to win 59 Grand Slam Crowns, a record nine Wimbledon singles’ championships, and

men. She didn’t miss a beat in her rhythmic mantra to, “Turn your focus upward, rather than inward. Look outside yourself.”

Personal hardship did not deter her determination. Sharing the surreal news of her breast cancer diagnosis while she was busy traveling between continents made obvious her tenacity. After wrapping her head around the devastating news she remained determined to stay focused on the solution, completing a third of her radiation treatment in France. “The only failure is when you fail to try or to give your best effort.”

Through her intimate journey, Navratilova encouraged the audience to adhere to the many messages she finds inspiring and to remember that focus is our emotional currency; mental clutter is not a good thing; you must own your own future: and to never give up—women have the same brains/ability as men. She also encourages finding work for which you have joy; maintaining a great attitude; recognize your gifts and changing what displeases you; and finally to remember to add value to the lives of others Tireless in her energy and commitment to her sport, to women, to lifelong active living, and the many issues close to her heart, Navratilova closed by encouraging all to “think bold.”

“The best way to predict your future is to create it. Own your future,” she exclaimed.

Gail Frances is a local writer with a background in finance, public affairs, marketing.

Reboot your IT Strategy

Technology Strategy Organizational Design Performance Improvement and Measurement Assessment and Coaching www.thoughtensemble.com

collaboration close up

A 25-year Old Treatment Becomes a Visionary Therapy for Those Suffering from Depression

By The Staff at MHCD

W

hat looks like an ordinary dental chair, upon closer inspection, is the latest technology in transcranial magnetic stimulation, most commonly referred to simply as (TMS) has arrived in Denver.

This revolutionizing technology located at the Mental Health Center of Denver’s (MHCD) Center for TMS Therapy, is the first community mental health center in the country to offer TMS therapy. “MHCD is recognized as the national center of excellence in mental health treatment,” said, Tom Base, Director of Business Development, who helped bring TMS to MHCD. “TMS allows us to remain on the forefront of innovative treatments and technologies.”

The Economic Burden of a Neurological Disorder Depression affects at least 18 million American adults each year, or more than 7 percent of the adult population. In 2000, the economic burden of depression was estimated at $83.1 billion in the U.S. A recent study sponsored by the World Health Organization and the World Bank found unipolar major depression to be the leading cause of disability in the United States.

While TMS technology has been around for over 25 years, residing mostly in academic and research settings, it has not been until recently that physicians have begun to explore the therapeutic potential of TMS

» "MHCD is recognized as the national center of excellence in mental health treatment « - Tom Base

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for the treatment of a variety of diseases— with depression being the most thoroughly studied to date. Since the late 1990s, more than 30 randomized, controlled trials have been published, and collectively demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of TMS for the treatment of depression. The FDA cleared TMS therapy to market in late 2008, with the first commercial TMS machines for clinical use only now being delivered.

TMS uses a magnetic field that generates similar power to that of MRI machines found in a doctor’s offices or imaging centers. Rather than creating an image, the TMS device generates a magnetic pulse that penetrates twoto-three centimeters into the brain, stimulating the region of the brain called the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which is thought to be involved with mood regulation and is often underactive in those suffering with depression. TMS is thought to facilitate the release of neurotransmitters, namely serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine that play a role in depression and to increase blood

flow to the area. TMS may also promote the formation of new connections, called synapses, between neurons, with consequent remodeling of the brain.

No Medication/No Side Effects TMS therapy is a non-invasive medical treatment that patients receive right in the doctor’s office. It is available by prescription and delivered under the supervision of a psychiatrist. It is a 37-minute outpatient procedure administered daily for four to six weeks. During the therapy session, the patient is wide-awake in a comfortable chair.

The small treatment magnet, about the size of a cupped hand, rests on their head, delivering focused magnetic stimulation. Since there is no sedation involved, patients are able to drive themselves safely home or to work immediately following the session.

There are no known side effects associated with TMS therapy other than some possible mild discomfort at the treatments site on the scalp. And, because

there are no systemic medications involved, TMS does not interact with other drugs or cause the side effects normally associated with antidepressant medications such as weight gain and sexual dysfunction. TMS may be a good alternative to traditional medications for pregnant and lactating women.

The Future of Neurobiology While TMS is currently only approved for major unipolar depression, it has shown promise in other psychiatric and neurological diagnoses. Currently, TMS is under clinical trials for Parkinson disease, Alzheimer’s disease, fibromyalgia, schizophrenia, stroke rehabilitation, PostTraumatic Stress Disorder, tinnitus and many other conditions.

Dr. Peter Wagner, one of the lead physicians at the Center for TMS Therapy at the Mental Health Center of Denver and one of the few certified neuropsychiatrists in the state of Colorado, he is particularly

interested in the future of TMS. “We are now able to directly and narrowly target and treat the affected area of the brain associated with a particular disease, in this case, depression. In the future, current and next generation TMS technologies may offer a completely different paradigm in how we treat a wide range of brain illnesses,” he said.

Thousands of patients across the country have been responding positively to TMS therapy. As one TMS patient recently said, “I’m not looking to be ‘antidepressed.’

I want my life back; TMS is the first treatment that offered me that.”

For more information about TMS therapy at the Center for TMS Therapy at the Mental Health Center of Denver, go to www.tmsmhcd.org.

Turn Swipe the Page The Age of Digital Textbooks By Tim Bungum

T

here was a time not too long ago when I would wake up in the morning, and lug an overburdened backpack full of textbooks across a college campus. It seemed a student like me should have expected sore shoulders and an empty wallet, but it was always rather depressing when those incredibly expensive textbooks would only be used in one class for selected chapters. And then, when I would try and sell them back, they would fetch next to nothing because the information was already obsolete. This routine proceeded for four years and cost approximately $4,000. I knew there had to be a better way.

While it is common knowledge that college tuition rates have been steadily increasing, few know that textbook costs have increased at twice the rate of inflation. The friction in the educational textbook industry has been building, and while there have been advocates trying to democratize information for quite some time, no one has been able to transcend the current textbook tradition.

The textbook market doesn’t operate like most consumer markets. First, the end consumers (students) do not select the product, and the product is not purchased by faculty or professors. Therefore, price is removed from the purchasing decision, giving the producer (publishers) disproportionate market power to set prices high. Similarities are found in the pharmaceutical industry, which sells its wares to doctors, rather than the ultimate end user (patients). This fundamental difference in the market is often cited as the primary reason that prices are so high.

Enter Apple Inc., the technology behemoth that brought us the iPod, iTunes, the iPad, and the iPhone. Fresh off a record earnings quarter of $13 billion in December 2011, Apple has set its next target on the textbook industry in hopes of streamlining the educational experience.

Apple Textbooks is aiming to accommodate the Gen Y learning process, by integrating visual, interactive learning tools that can be

updated to reflect current information, like making sure Pluto is no longer listed as a planet—sorry Pluto. The good news is that Barnes and Noble and Amazon are teaming up with the big publishers to increase digital textbook libraries.

Currently, educational institutions account for the majority use of print media, with textbooks accounting for some 200,000 tons of paper per year. With the introduction of digital paper use would decrease tremendously. Digital textbooks would also allow for indexing and searching, which has never before been possible in a print book, as well as note taking functions that can be backed up to the cloud. Furthermore, there are deep networking possibilities for classes working together—a student could carry thousands of books without adding any weight to their backpack.

The transition from analog to digital will definitely be subject to growing pains and hybrid mixes, but South Korea’s Ministry of Education has recently invested $2.4 billion to digitize their entire educational system by 2015. Then, the Korea Education and Research Information Service will house a massive server than will distribute content to schools and student devices. The move might be bold, but it just might be time for the educational system to swipe a new page.

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collaboration close up

A senior consultant at Deloitte, Kelly Quann is acting as the Executive Director of the Colorado Innovation Network.

Colorado Innovation

Network

By Keenan Brugh

N

ew companies create three million new jobs on average in the U.S. each year, according to the Kauffman Foundation, the world’s entrepreneurial research and advocacy organization. In addition to jobs, new firms also add wealth to the economy through the introduction of innovative new ideas in the market. Colorado’s Governor John Hickenlooper, recognizes the power of innovation and entrepreneurship more than most politicians. He himself has gone through the process of creating a successful business and views Colorado as a burgeoning hotbed for new technology and businesses.

With the announcement of the Colorado Innovation Network (COIN), Governor Hickenlooper laid out a vision for embracing new ideas and supporting the networks that make them reality. COIN is a collaborative effort among public, private, and academic organizations. This network acts as a voluntary focal point for the entrepreneurial community and opens the door for win-win situations. Ajay Menon, Dean of the School of Business at Colorado State University said, “COIN is designed to connect investors and entrepreneurs, and surround them with the access points needed to help them build

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businesses and enterprises so we can support Ken Lund and his outstanding team with the Economic Development Goals that he has set for our state.”

Increasing relationships with networks in areas like Silicon Valley and Boston are an important way to increase innovation in Colorado. A delegation of Coloradans from both the private and public sectors traveled to meet with entrepreneurs and investors to learn from them and to promote doing business in Colorado. Denver is currently the largest net gainer of migrating young adults out of any metro area in the U.S. according to the 2008-2010 ACS data.

This “brain gain” is valuable and combined with Colorado’s universities we are poised to provide an excellent environment for innovation. The Cross University Platform for Innovation, or CUPI, is acting as a bridge and fostering relationships between Colorado universities and those such as Stanford and MIT. Senator Michael Bennet announced, “We have the building blocks that we need. The effort that the governor is announcing gives us a mechanism to organize around, making sure that we don’t just talk about this—we actually are building an economy for the 21st century.”

» Denver is currently the largest net gainer of migrating young adults out of any metro area in the U.S. « Board of Advisors: • K ristin Russell, CIO & Secretary of Technology, Governor’s Office of Information Technology (CHAIR) • Vic Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer, Business Genetics, Plug & Play Colorado • David Allen, Assoc. Vice President, University of Colorado Technology Transfer Office • Peter Bryant, Senior Fellow, Kellogg Innovation Network • Charles Corfield, President & Chief Executive Officer, nVoq • Steve Foster, President, Business Controls • L arissa Herda, President & Chief Executive Officer, tw telecom inc.

• Adam Lerner, Director, Museum of Contemporary Art Denver • Ajay Menon, Chief Innovation Officer, State of Colorado • Monisha Merchant, Senior Advisor, U.S. Senator Michael Bennet’s Office • Casey Porto, SVP of Commercialization & Deployment, National Renewable Energy Laboratory • Mark Sirangelo, Chief Executive Officer, Sierra Nevada Space Systems • Kent Thiry, Chief Executive Officer, DaVita To learn more about the Colorado Innovation Network visit http:// coloradoinnovationnetwork.com.

Be curious. Take risks.

Be hopeful. Make a difference.

Change the world’s conversation.

“Abundance provides proof that the proper combination of technology, people and capital can meet any grand challenge.”

—Sir richard BranSon, Chairman of the Virgin Group “A powerful antidote to today’s malaise and pessimism.”

—ray Kurzweil, inventor, author and futurist, author of The Singularity Is Near “Spotlights scientific innovators working to improve people’s lives around the world.”

—arianna huffington, CEO, Huffington Post “A blinding glimpse of the innovations that are coming our way—and that they are helping to create. This is a vital book.”

—Matt ridley, author of The Rational Optimist

Pick up or download your copy today.

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Would Like To Thank The Following Friends For Their Inspiration

Vic Ahmed American Petroleum Institute Linda Blair David C. Blivin Jamai Blivin Eve Blossom Michael Brown Tim Bungum Ron Burton Carbon War Room Tami Carlson

Sue Carriere City Year Denver Colorado Cleantech Industry Association Colorado Innovation Network Michael Dale Senator Tom Daschle Kelly de la Torre Peter Diamandis Eileen Eckhouse Megan Forgrave Gail Frances GOAL ZERO Bill Groh Dave Guevara Suzanne Hammer Denis Hayes Melanie Hill Emily Jarrett Lisa Jasper Kim Jordan Vanecia B. Kerr Rebecca Kersting

Alan Khazei Steven Kotler Tom Lockwood Vance G. Martin Cathey McClain Finlon Vice Admiral Dennis McGinn Mental Health Center of Denver Dafna Michealson Brittany Noland Deborah A. Palmieri, Ph.D. Beth Parish James PĂŠrez Foster Dr. Steve Perry Laurie Peterson Eric Reamer Governor Bill Ritter Rotary International Rebecca Saltman Derek Scarth Amy Schilling Stan Sellner Jigar Shah

Vision SETTING a DIRECTION FOR the CHANGING WORLD January - M arch 2011 4120 Jackson Street Denver Colorado 80216 I www.icosamag.com

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