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These camps provide an opportunity to share in a common experience that fulfills a sense of community and individual identity. It is our hope that every adopted child will leave a heritage camp knowing more about who they are and where they came from, and that every member of the family will have a better awareness of and sense of pride in their adopted child's birth heritage. The camps let children and families relish in being part of a larger group “just like themselves.”
There is good food available. Everyday We Don’t Waste distributes nutritious restaurant grade food to vulnerable populations. We believe we have a responsibility to find solutions to hunger and reduce food waste in a collaborative manner.
The Big Brother Big Sisters of Colorado produced a short documentary that gives you an intimate look at the relationships and benefits of the program. Whether you are thinking about becoming a "Big", giving a donation, or just learning about the organization, the video illustrates the significance and power of being a Big.
Freedom Service Dogs (FSD) enhances the lives of people with disabilities by rescuing dogs and custom training them for individual client needs. We provide lifetime support to our client-dog partners to encourage increased independence and the loving, therapeutic bond between canine and human. http://www.freedomservicedogs.org/
Established in 1993 as the philanthropic arm of the Home Builders Association, the Home Builders Foundation is a Denver-based nonprofit whose mission is to provide accessibility solutions and home modifications for individuals with disabilities and financial need.
The Young Philanthropists Foundation (YPF) is a Denver-based nonprofit organization dedicated to engaging youth in philanthropy by creating opportunities for kids and families to give back to their communities.
The Mission of the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra is to provide innovative discovery and distinctive experience through the brilliant performance and vigorous advocacy of the symphony orchestra and symphonic music repertoire for the benefit and enrichment of the community.
Chris Franks read this article in Entrepreneur Magazine about how so many entrepreneurs are fascinated with the idea of striking out in their very own startup because they think it means they get to wear hoodies & flip flops everyday. ERICA BELL AND KATIE FINNEGAN write
“Myths that come with striking it out on your own, Hoodie-jeans-flip-flops style. Delving into the start-up world means having to don an even wider array of attire choices. Since you're doing everything, you'll need to look a number of parts.”
Of course, Sandy Grason jumped right on this show idea!
We'll answer all of these questions and more on today's Starto TV episode: Start Up Fashion Police ** Special Shout out Dane at Aksels.com for today's fabulous wardrobe ** Follow us on twitter @startotv
Here is the link to Sandy's Top Tip for Buying & Wearing Fabulous Hot Mogul Shoes.
Resources:
Emmi @ AMansWorldCo.com JCrew- Jack Knows Best Polyvore.com
Bart Lorang, Co-Founder of Full Contact joins Chris Franks & Sandy Grason in the Starto TV studios for a discussion about how to find and hire amazing people. Watch Sandy's interview with Todd Vernon, click here.
Watch Chris's interview with Jim Franklin, click here.
Watch Bart's Colorado Technology Entrepreneur of the Year Award, click here.
Gary Vaynerchuk has quite a story. From nearly flunking out of school while making a small fortune selling baseball cards to becoming one of the best known names in the world of entrepreneurship to future owner of the New York Jets...He has quite a story and one that I got an opportunity to hear as I sat down with the man himself, moments before he took the stage for the kickoff event for Denver Startup Week. Can entrepreneurs be made or are they born? Is his son's name a secret nod to the Jets backup QB? Why do Americans spend time doing sh*t they despise?
We covered all this and more with Starto TV's Interview with Gary V.
The America Cup International Fly Fishing Tournament is a catch and release, fly-fishing tournament with International, U.S., Men's, Women's, Youth and Adaptive anglers competing on the best trout waters in Colorado. 5 person teams compete for gold, silver, and bronze medals and The Cup. The tournament is organized and operated to promote U.S. and international competition in the sport of fly fishing and to provide program and monetary support to Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, whose mission is to assist in the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled active duty military personnel and veterans through fly fishing and fly tying education and outings. [youtube width="560" height="315" video_id="2oLMhgBTz1E"]
Pulitzer Prize winner Hedrick Smith stopped by the ICOSA Studio to discuss his new book Who Stole the the American Dream, an insightful guide that documents the dismantling of the American Dream over the last four decades, as Gayle Dendinger hosts this episode of Leader to Leader.
This is a book full of surprises and revelations—the accidental beginnings of the 401(k) plan, with disastrous economic consequences for many; the major policy changes that began under Jimmy Carter; how the New Economy disrupted America’s engine of shared prosperity, the “virtuous circle” of growth, and how America lost the title of “Land of Opportunity.” Smith documents the transfer of $6 trillion in middle-class wealth from homeowners to banks even before the housing boom went bust, and how the U.S. policy tilt favoring the rich is stunting America’s economic growth.
Smith talks to a wide range of people, telling the stories of Americans high and low. From political leaders such as Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, and Martin Luther King, Jr., to CEOs such as Al Dunlap, Bob Galvin, and Andy Grove, to heartland Middle Americans such as airline mechanic Pat O’Neill, software systems manager Kristine Serrano, small businessman John Terboss, and subcontractor Eliseo Guardado, Smith puts a human face on how middle-class America and the American Dream have been undermined.
This magnificent work of history and reportage is filled with the penetrating insights, provocative discoveries, and the great empathy of a master journalist. Finally, Smith offers ideas for restoring America’s great promise and reclaiming the American Dream.
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We in the startup world all too often get caught up in a vicious cycle. Investors want to see traction. Well if traction = users, how the hell am I supposed to demonstrate traction if I can't raise any F*%#^&$ money to get users!
It's a tough question that has left many a startup floating motionless in the startup Purgatory.
A company I ran across recently has come with an ingenious way to solve this problem. Wahooly wants you to forget about raising money and start raising traction. Instead of raising money and spending a bunch of it in trying to get users and maybe just maybe one or two of those users will be an influencer.
That process sucks.
Instead Wahooly takes a small little piece of your company and immediately connects your product in to a whole truck load of influencers. Your company gets a shortcut and you don't have to sell off a big chunk of equity.
Todd Vernon, Founder & CEO of Lijit talks to Sandy Grason about:
Some of my favorite quotes from Todd are:
"I believe humility is the best tool you have as a CEO"
"Are you really just a cowboy that wants to get paid a lot and likes saying you work at a start-up because it's sexy?"
"How comfortable are you being uncomfortable?" Disclaimer: Todd may have stolen this quote from Brad Feld, and Brad may have stolen it from Sandy Grason :-)
Here's a link to the article in Inc magazine with Todd's great advice for finding great people for your company: "Ask These 5 Questions Before You Hire".
Guy Kawasaki is an entreprenurial icon. He has evangelized for powerhouse companies like Apple and written several best sellers about how to get take your business from the garage to the marketplace. His latest book, Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions, he explains how to influence what people will do while maintaining the highest standards of ethics.
The book explains when and why enchantment is necessary and then the pillars of enchantment: likability, trustworthiness, and a great cause.
The next topics are launching, overcoming resistance, making enchantment endure, and using technology. There are even special chapters dedicated to enchanting your employees and your boss.
Finally, because there are times you may want to resist enchantment, there’s even a chapter about how to do this too.
If you want to change the world — or even part of the world, this book is for you. To interact with the Enchantment community, go to the Enchantment Facebook page.
Check out ICOSA's interview:
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Starto Shorts: Great Companies are created by great entrepreneurs, this week we talk to Brad Feld & David Cohen about how you create a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem in your community. Brad Feld dropped by the garage to give us a sneak peek at his new book StartUp Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your Community, he explained one of his key ideas called The Boulder Thesis. Brad suggests that taking a long range, 20 year view and staying invested in your community will get you some pretty amazing results.
We also took a trip behind the scenes at Tech Stars, met some of this year's founders and sat down with David Cohen to learn more about what the last six years of working with new start ups has taught him.
For this week’s show, we are joined by many members of the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce. And we’ll be talking about strong, thriving communities and what really spurs economic development in those communities. The South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce
In 1921, a group of 74 forward-thinking business executives organized the beginnings of the South Metro Denver Chamber. Today, with 91 years under our belt, the South Metro Denver Chamber is one of the most influential forces in local government and regional economic development. With more than 1,300 members incorporating over 85,000 employees, the Chamber is actively involved in public policy and providing valuable resources to its members. The organization believes that individuals working together are a true force to be reckoned with.
[styled_box color="black" title="Guest(s) Appearing on This Episode"] John Brackney - President & CEO Denver Metro South Chamber Becky Takeda-Tinker - Colorado State University, Vice Chair, Leadership Initiatives Jeff Holwell - Director, Economic Development Group, Jeff Wasden - PROformance Apparel, Vice Chair, Public Affairs[/styled_box]
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[dropcap]This week’s guest is former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, who now serves as the director of the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University. We talk to Governor Ritter about the center’s current projects, how they are supporting the growth of a clean energy economy across the United States, as well as Clean energy’s role in the economic recovery.[/dropcap]
The Center For The New Energy Economy 
The Center for the New Energy Economy will provide policy makers, governors, planners and other decision makers with a road map that will accelerate the nationwide development of a New Energy Economy.
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Elected as Colorado’s 41st governor in 2006, he was the first Colorado-born governor in more than 35 years. He quickly established Colorado as a national and international leader in clean energy by creating a New Energy Economy and tripling the state’s renewable energy portfolio. In a state with substantial fossil energy as well as renewable energy resources, Gov. Ritter created policies that balanced energy production with protection of air, land, water, wildlife and communities. Gov. Ritter also worked on creating a 21st Century transportation system in Colorado. In Gov. Ritter’s four years as Governor, he built the New Energy Economy that created thousands of new jobs and established hundreds of new companies; enacted an aggressive business-development and job-creation agenda that was focused on knowledge-based industries of the future, such as energy, aerospace, biosciences, information technology and tourism; initiated sweeping K-12 education reforms to give Colorado children the skills and knowledge they need to compete and succeed in a 21st century global economy; and, improved access to quality and affordable health care for many of the 800,000 Coloradans who lack health coverage. Gov. Ritter earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from Colorado State University (1978) and his law degree from the University of Colorado (1981). Ritter served as Denver's District Attorney from 1993 to January 2005. He earned a national reputation as one of the country's most effective and innovative prosecutors, and several of his programs continue to serve as state and national models.[/styled_box]
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Phil Lawson is the founder and CEO of Spherit Inc. Spherit is a company that looks at the whole of a complex issue and makes sense of it. Through an online questioner system a chart is created that reports the shape and pattern of a company. One element the chart produces is staff ability for example is an employee ability being fully used. The application that does this is called Sphere and it has countless applications. It can also be used in the areas of health, personal relationships and individual career goals. The purpose of the application is to assist in navigating to the best possible outcome.
Lawson is also the author. Being Spherical — Reshaping Our Lives and Our World for the 21st Century is a book about navigating through change. Lawson co-authored, It's Going to be OK (but not like we thought), “A story about absolute certainty, confounding bewilderment and an inescapable transformation,” says Lawson.
For more information, visit; www.engagesphere.com
The Girl Scouts Women of Distinction are committed to increasing the impact of the Girl Scouts by volunteering and financial giving. Leaders are chosen by their dedication of service and leadership. This year’s Girl Scouts Women of Distinction is Faye Wilson Tate.
Fay Wilson Tate is the vice president and director for Global Diversity and Inclusion at CH2M HILL. CH2M HILL is a global engineering consulting firm.
The Girl Scouts’ program has played a role in Tate’s community stewardship as she was a Girl Scout herself. The Girl Scouts also teach respect, teamwork, friendship and inclusion.
2012, is the Girl Scouts’ 100th anniversary. And as so Girl Scouts Colorado has named 100 Colorado Girl Scouts, Generation WOW! The Generation WOW honor is given to girls who have exhibited a high level of volunteer achievement and made significant contributions to their community; demonstrated strong leadership skills; participated in a service learning project; promoted healthy attitude, both in mind and body; demonstrated exceptional interpersonal skills in teamwork, conflict resolution and goal setting; and embody the Girl Scout Promise and Law.
The Girl Scouts’ impact on girls and youth is endlessly positive with several girls being able to articulately share their Girl Scout learning experiences. This is evident in Generation WOW girls―Kaycee Bischoff and Cristina Trimpe and all of Girl Scout troop 4145.
To be part of the Girl Scouts and this up-coming centennial year visit, www.girlscouts.com.
