I’m inspired by the commitment of the board members to launch a startup that will truly make a difference. It’s not as if they don’t have busy enough lives already. They could use their philanthropic dollars and hours in so many other ways. Also, this is my first time working with others to build something from scratch, so I’m learning a lot.
Quick—think of the last three things you bought. Here’s my list: earmuffs for my eight-year-old, lunch out for my wife and her mother, and a wireless charger for my smartphone.
The end of the year is approaching, and as we give thanks and celebrate with our friends and family, we all are also thinking about how we can help those in need. In my mind I think about this not as making a donation to a worthy cause, but targeting my resources to programs that provide opportunities and options to those in my community, particularly young women.
Family Services Inc.’s Keys to Success Program helps teen mothers (who are still in school) and their young children, who participate in the Early Head Start program that focuses on achieving positive maternal and child health outcomes and promoting school readiness.
Marsean and Jerell are so bright and imaginative that when I met them I wished I could offer them both jobs on the spot. Unfortunately, they are in eighth and ninth grade, respectively, at Friendship Tech Charter School, so the employment contracts will have to wait.
We are investing a half million dollars in high-performing organizations in D.C., suburban Maryland, and northern Virginia that equip low-income people in our region with the skills to secure jobs with a future. This also improves the talent pipeline for our region’s economy.
