Opportunity Through Entrepreneurship Foundation

Blueprint for Survival

This spring, the Foundation Board voted to target out of work and laid off residents of Maricopa County for our entrepreneurial training.  The Board agreed that enough people were laid off that wide-ranging outreach was necessary to help people consider alternatives to the traditional job search.

Using as a template the LaunchPad initiative of the Kauffman Foundation, which targeted the same population, we developed a three-hour workshop called Blueprint for Survival, and offered it six times this spring to crowds that overflowed the room (after the first time).

We had a great deal of community participation in the program, especially from one person, Derek Neighbors, co-founder of Integrum Technologies and Gangplank, who volunteered his time and talent to help us offer the program, and actually also hosted it at Gangplank four times.

Gangplank, which itself is a community service, has joined forces with us to help struggling entrepreneurs get started and grow. It will be a prime player in our major fundraiser this fall, the 4th Annual Arizona Entrepreneurship Conference

A Wonderful Testimonial from Tumbleweed!

"Both DIG and TumbleTees are growing steadily. We just got approved as a
Vendor for Magellan for selling T-shirts, and have been invited to get
listed as a City of Phoenix Vendor for them too. DIG partnerships
continue to grow. Steven is doing a wonderful job. We are not offering
classed to the community during the week that we charge for and local
community artist do the teaching mostly as volunteers or for a piece of
the proceeds. The ASU partnership with the Art Department grew as ASU
named the DIG their main project in a $1 Mil Grant from BofA. We don't
get cash, but don't have to pay artist any more either.

Be watching for TumbleDogs, a hot dog care busines, that is about to kick off
Entrepreneurship is of the most exciting programs we do in my mind.

Thank you for all you have done to make these entrepreneurial programs
entrenched into our culture.
--Dick Geasland, LCSW
Executive Director
Tumbleweed Center for Youth Development

We *Will* Offer a Program This Spring!

The money to run a new program this spring was raised last week in one fundraiser, in the middle of the financial meltdown, by a small, hands-on committed board and a larger group of supporters and volunteers. We are going to be in talks with the Casey Foundation, a licensee of foster children, to teach entrepreneurial skills to kids transitioning out of the foster care system.  This is a population dear to our hearts.

I cannot thank our board, chaired by Joan Koerber Walker, and consisting of Patrick Sullivan Jr., Dave Lee, Rhonda Lintner, Steven Groves, and Merlin Ward, enough. Nor the guys at Gangplank, a local accelerator for software startups. Nor our sponsors.

Wednesday's fundraiser, the Third Annual Arizona Entrepreneurship Conference,  was one of the best days of my life. Not only did 250 people show up in the middle of a recession to see each other and help each other, but the feeling of hope and optimism among the entrepreneurs and funders in the room was palpable. Those who were not overtly hopeful were at least indifferent to the roiling world
around them in the way only entrepreneurs can be. These are the skills the Foundation wants to share with out disadvantaged populations: the feeling of empowerment, the tolerance of risk, the acceptance of both failure and success as equally instructional, and  the business acumen to accomplish more than sticking to just a survival-wage job.

I stood looking out at the crowd of people who believe the power of thecommunity to manifest its own economy and I nearly wept. Comments from more objective attendees and some of the presentations from the speakers, are here.

And we raised more money than we have ever raised with these conferences in the past. This is largely because of Microsoft, whose BizSpark program for startups just happened to launch in Arizona at the conference. Microsoft selected us as a network partner for BizSpark, and then put what for us is a large amount of money into the conference. We also had a great law firm sponsor this year, Osborn Maledon , and a new sponsor, C-Scan Technologies, auditor of clean rooms, and another new sponsor, HSLFinancial
And our loyal sponsors Infusionsoft ,Wells Fargo , the City of Tempe ,and the Business Journal all stuck with us!

People who weren't in a position to contribute treasure contributed time and talent, most specifically Gangplank the East Valley accelerator and Silent Dispatch, who gave us the geek equivalent of "loaned executives." And without Rhonda Lintner from C-Scan, Steve Groves from Silent Dispatch, Merlin Ward from ResponsiblePartying.com and Brian Shaler from Bit Gravity, I would have been dead in the water. There's more, but I will spare you.

There were several notable moments for me that I'd like to recap:

GaryVee pounding his shoe on the podium
and telling people to know their customers

Matt Mullenweg  telling us he started Akismet because he didn't want his mother to see the spam on blogs

Dan Willis of Microsoft announcing the BizSpark program in Phoenix, a
stop on its launch roadshow that he added just for us

Allan Kaplan of Limelight Networks telling us that, indeed, you could raise large amounts of money in Arizona if you had a good enough plan and sharing with us how he had done it multiple times

Shahi Ghanem, CEO of EmpowHer.com announcing
the launch of its new site on which women share their health experiences

Jonathan Smith, President of Earth911 ,telling us the company was going to start monitoring where recycled products go after they are responsibly disposed of by the last user after that horrifying 60 Minutes Video a couple of weeks ago about e-waste dumped in China.

The Foundation's concept of providing information to entrepreneurs who will pay to receive it, and turning around to use the proceeds to teach future entrepreneurs who cannot, seems to be working..
If you want to see the photos and the video, the links to aggregated feeds are here.
 

A Short History of OTEF and the Conference That Funds Us

Insert Image Here: Photoshop!
Originally uploaded by l0ckergn0me

Our annual fundraiser, the biggest gathering of entrepreneurs in Arizona, is coming up on November 19th. If you'd like to support us, register here: http://www.azentrepreneurship.com A stellar group of entrepreneurs will gather to hear some of the biggest names in recent startup history, and the proceeds will come to us!

Chris Pirillo, Geek, Entrepreneur, Early Adopter, and Media Personality, will live stream into the Third Annual Arizona Entrepreneurship Conference from Seattle.

If you have any photoediting skills, please help us add our logo to his t-shirt or in the frame.

Cup O’Karma Events

The National Advocacy & Training Network (NATN)/SEEDs program opened Cup O’ Karma: Community Café for a Cause, which offers great coffees, teas & beverages; on the job training for SEEDs residents while generating revenue to support the non-profit agency’s programs and services. http://www.myspace.com/cupokarma

We are hosting two upcoming events at the cafe (details below) located at 1710 W. Southern Ave, suite B-7, Mesa, 85202 (formerly Into the Bean, between Longmore & Dobson, across from MCC). Invite your family, friends and colleagues. Proceeds to benefit the SEEDs program. Hope to see you there!!! Please RSVP.

Jewels by Parklane:

Gods Garden Treasures - http://www.godsgardentreasures.com/

Jewels by Park Lane - http://www.jewelsbyparklane.com/

Event Date: Thursday, August 21st at 6:00 pm

Event Features:

- Free flower tea for attendees.

- Jewels by Park Lane showing and purchasing options

- Brief presentation from NATN/SEEDs

The Bravery Project

Reception Date: Thursday, September 4, 2008 from 7:00 – 9:00 pm

Showing Dates: September 1 – September 30, 2008

Reception Features: Live music, free food and one (1) free beverage. The evening will include a brief presentation from The Bravery Project, Support, Education, Empowerment and DirectionS (SEEDs) and a SEEDs woman who participated in the Project.

I am so thrilled to report that, at long last, the business plan we helped the women from SEEDs write last year is about to be executed. They closed today on a coffee shop in Mesa, which was sold to them for $1.00 by someone who was tired of running it. The women will take it over, change the name (Cup o Karma) and begin to run it.

The Workforce Investment Act will provide funds to employ the women as they learn job skills. I believe this is a wonderful use of WIA funds, because the women will be working in their own business, and they will be very motivated.

I think Mona Lou Collery, the the Executive Director of SEEDs, is a true entrepreneur herself, because not only did she start the non-profit safe house, but she also started the business for the women.

I'm practically in tears over this. I can't wait to help them make it a success, and Ed and Phil feel the same way. When I started this foundation, I wanted to do exactly this!!!!!

In other news, the Conference ( our major fundraiser) looks like it will be a big blow-out this year. We have more and better presenters than ever, and a wonderful committee of volunteers helping me organize, including most of our Board members.

Drop-In Gallery front view
Originally uploaded by Blackerby Associates

Drop-In Gallery south wall
Originally uploaded by Blackerby Associates

This is where, after the transient youth create the art, it is sold and 70% of the proceeds returned to the artists.

Cameron places the screen on the blank shirt
Originally uploaded by Blackerby Associates

Here are the Tumbleweed kids in their nascent t-shirt business. This is the program OTEF is helping to launch. They have many orders coming in already.

drop in gallery
Originally uploaded by a_hoss

What a fabulous morning! We met with twelve Tumbleweed program managers in our first FastTrac(R) New Venture session. We are going to help them expand the Drop In Gallery and the accompanying t-shirt printing businesses safely (without risk to Tumbleweed) and train the managers to train Tumbleweed youth to intern at the DIG and start their own ventures.

One of the most exciting facets of this business is that Tumbleweed has a program for refugee youth. Many of them will not be able to stay in the United States, so the goal is to send them back to their own countries (mostly Central America) with skills to start their own businesses or create crafts that can be imported by Tumbleweed and sold at the DIG.

As usual, I feel blessed to provide some help to Tumbleweed, which helps so many others. And I'm doubly blessed because, as usual, I have the strong support of Phillip Blackerby and Ed Nusbaum, two fantastic facilitators and business counselors.

This morning I made my first visit to The Drop-In Gallery (DIG) at 917 N. 5th Street in Phoenix. The Gallery is operated by Tumbleweed Youth Development Center, a drop-in shelter for runaway youth. The shelter has started a program through which young people who stay at the center can create art, which is then framed and sold at the First Friday Art Walks in downtown Phoenix. The kids get 70% of the proceeds of their art; the remainder goes to the Center to pay for the art supplies.

Steve Serrano, who runs the drop in shelter down the street from the Gallery would like to learn how to expand the business beyond selling art to selling custom designed and printed t-shirts created by the kids.nmThat is where OTEF comes in. We are going to offer our entrepreneurial education program to the artists this spring, at the gallery itself.

This won't be an academic exercise; the business is already up and running. Our goal is to expand it. I was so excited that I can't wait to start!

This is a perfect example of what can happen to the lives of ordinary people through entrepreneurship and creativity. We are so happy to be working with Tumbleweed.

If you live in Phoenix, drop in at the Gallery. If you don't, find the Tumbleweed Drop In Gallery on MySpace and friend it.

This is Michael Gerber, author of "The E-Myth" wrapping up the Second Annual Arizona Entrepreneurship Conference by telling the audience that entrepreneurship isn't about money, it's about meaning. He urges entrepreneurs to find out what they are passionate about, and to "dream big, think small, act even smaller" in creating a small prototype of what they hope to achieve one day.

Michael is all about transformation, and about the transformative power of entrepreneurship. The conference was outstanding, and two of the SEEDs women got to attend, thanks to Wells Fargo, who donated their seats.

More on the Stealthmode blog and on Flickr.

One a year we have a major fundraiser for OTEF. Not a ball, not an auction. Instead, we have a day in which we help entrepreneurs who can afford to pay a small fee for the information, and raise money for those who can't. Our registration site is live, so register early and help us continue our entrepreneurship programs.

So if you are looking for funding or need a new go-to-market strategy or a partner, you can find them all at the Second Annual Arizona Entrepreneurship Conference - a must-attend for anyone in or contemplating an entrepreneurial venture.

The theme of this year's conference is "Success" - yours and that of such Arizona successes as Limelight Networks, Jigsaw Health, and Zenter. Don't know them? You SHOULD...

Phoenix Airport Marriott Hotel
November 8, 2007 from 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM
Reception and meet-up starts at 4:30 PM

You can register at http://www.azentrepreneurship.com

Here's the SEEDs graduation photo. The women really do look happy.

And here are the facilitators, Ed, Phillip, and Francine with (on the floor) Mona Lou Callery, Executive Director of SEEDs with the plants (grown from seeds) the women gave us as gifts.

In this photo, Ed and Phillip, two OTEF facilitators, talk to the SEEDs women about their business idea.

If the response of the participants in a program are an indicator of the program's success, our first program (at the SEEDs) house was an unbelievable success. At the end of the program, we did come out with a business plan for a business to be started and run by the SEEDs participants as a way of supporting the charity. Is this new? Not really, because nonprofits start thrift shops and second hand stores all the time. What's new is that this business was not planned by the Board of SEEDs, but by the participants.

What's new is how the women in the program feel about having created something among themselves. In the three months of delivering the progam, I have noticed that only one woman of all the participants has relapsed. The rest have gone from a group of depressed, down-on-their-luck victims to a room full of attractive,vibrant, potential entrepreneurs.

THEY (not me) attribute a lot of their recovery to being involved in the program and being able to create something -- a business. They gave us potted plants yesterday, in pots they had designed, with seeds they had planted,with instructions on how to make these plants grow. It was "payback" for us teaching them how to grow their own business.

We've got the plan, we've got the numbers, and there is no reason why this business can't start, grow, and contribute to help support and grow SEEDs.

My co-facilitator, Phil Blackerby, who spent ten Sundays down at the SEEDs house and finished gloriously by crunching the numbers for the business plan and giving the women a set of spreadsheets that represented their own work and research into planning the business, was equally touched.

I'd like to thank the women of the SEEDs program for volunteering to be our pilot project, and for throwing themselves into it with such enthusiasm and effort. I feel validated in the foundation's mission -- that the principles of entrepreneurship not only grow businesses, but grow the people in them as well.

There is a great article about us by Andrew Johnson in today's Arizona Republic.

We are in week 8 of our program with the SEEDs house. Yesterday we could see the difference SEEDs especially, and to a small extent our program, has made with the women who live there. They are actually beginning to dress and look like the entrepreneurs they are trying to become. And the energy level is so high!

We are working on the numbers for our business plan. We had Judi Butterworth of DeRito Partners, one of the Valley's top retail brokers, speak to us yesterday, and tell us what landlords are looking for in a tenant, and how to look at a triple net lease. It was an eyeopener for everyone in the room, including me. The women are engaged in a homework assignment for next week: figuring out the startup costs for the business and the ongoing operating costs. Phil Blackerby will then put them on a spread sheet to take to backers.

The current name of the business is Passionate Pursuits, and it will be a cafe with a retail component that sells both crafts created by the residents and secondhand items such as baby clothes and furniture. Although it will not have a full kitchen, snacks and sandwiches will be available, along with anything else welcoming.

There will also be a space for AA and NA meetings on site, and they will be comfortable and inviting. Three different revenue streams will be provided for SEEDs.

On the walls of this destination hangout will be the stories of some of the SEEDs women and their journeys into and out of domestic violence.

I can't wait until we get this opened. OTEF will remain in counseling mode with these women until we do!

Happy Easter! No program next Sunday.

Last Sunday we came closer to helping the SEEDs women realize their entrepreneurial dreams. We are closing in on one over-arching business that will contain all the others and help make SEEDs self-sufficient. Tasks have been assigned in the writing of a business plan that will contain plans for both profit and mission.

In the mean time, we are all bonding. The women have been through so much!

I was also contacted by another program, part of the Phoenix Rescue Mission. We will have a conversation about our program and whether it's right for them, too.

And now to fund OURSELVES...I've begun planning the Second Annual Arizona Entrepreneurship Conference, which will once again benefit OTEF. We've already begun the preliminary planning. This year, we are looking for better pre-event space and easier parking. I'm in discussions with both the Biltmore and the Airport Marriott on 44th Street, which is right off the freeway.

Pat Sullvan has graciously agreed to be one of the keynotes, and we are going to try to get Ken Blanchard to speak as well.

Now is the time to submit your ideas for making the conference better and more relevant. What does it need? What can you contribute? Should we build it around financing? Business models that work?

Well, the REVOLUTION IN MARKETING conference on Thursday was a big success, with over 170 registrants. We don't know how much we made yet for OTEF, but it looks like we made something. And most important, we gave our audience a chance to learn something and have some fun. I will keep you posted! Check out my other blog for the details about the conference.

"Well, I've read the blog. Does that make me a blogger? I was going to respond on the page about exactly how incredible you, Phil and Ed are! I'm not sure if you really have any idea how these women are really feeling and what you are all doing for them. I get to sit with them afterwards and talk to them. Whether they open a business for themselves after these classes are over is not the only way their lives will probably forever change. They truly are so grateful for this opportunity and the fact you all take this time to meet with them on a Sunday. They obviously realize Sunday is a day that could be spent on non-working time."

This email I received from Mona Lou of the SEEDs houses makes me understand why we are doing what we are doing and what its value can be. I felt the same way when I launched my former foster child's business and saw how just the idea of having options and choices expanded his horizons. Loss of control is demoralizing, and dead end jobs with incompetent supervisors are a big contributor to feelings of being out of control. In my experience, the success of the business itself is almost secondary - the key is that entrepreneurship restores feelings of control over one's own destiny.

Yesterday at the SEEDS House, the entire FastTrac facilitation team (Ed, Phil, and Francine) helped the women in the house, which is a safe house for recovering victims of domestic violence, articulate their business concepts. These women are wonderful, but they are struggling in dead-end jobs to support themselves and their children. They graciously agreed to be a pilot program for the Opportunity Through Entrepreneurship Foundation. Every Sunday afternoon we sit down with them and help them create business plans. Once we have the plans, we will use our networks to get the plans funded. That's the mission of the Foundation -- to provide Opportunity Through Entrepreneurship for economically disadvantaged populations.

The afternoons have been incredible so far, both for the facilitators and for the women. Yesterday I was literally jumping up and down with enthusiasm for these concepts.

Here are the rough concepts the women are working on. We are hiding the special details that make these businesses different and we hope successful, because those details are the intellectual property of SEEDS and the women in the houses, and we don't want to reveal them before they are properly protected. When the business plans are written, we will take the plans public.

1) a company that would make jeans that actually fit women (a mass customization manufacturing business

2) a company that makes and sells South Beach diet recipes into the state and municipal government buildings downtown for healthy lunches (this is a home-based business)

3) a store that provides drive-through convenience items for seniors and mothers

4) a second-had clothing store

5) a home-based business that sells the arts and photography of the residents

A portion of the proceeds of all these businesses will go to support SEEDS. Thus, these are all social enterprises.

Right now we are investigating how to set up the companies -- many of the women want to make the businesses not-for-profits that employ former domestic violence victims and pay them a living wage. We're going to get legal advice on whether to set up all the businesses under the SEEDS 501 c(3) or make them separate companies.

If any of these businesses work, they would provide jobs, help support SEEDS, and -- most important --give hope to these women who have been through unimaginable trauma at the hands of people who were supposed to love them. Help us help them by signing up for the Revolution in Marketing Conference on March 1.

Or if you can't go, send a check made out to the Opportunity Through Entrepreneurship Foundation for $75.00 to Francine Hardaway at 2438 E. Whitton Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85016 and I will use it to provide a scholarship for an entrepreneurship student who can't afford to go.

Next Sunday afternoon, we will discuss the money management aspects of becoming an entrepreneur with the women. If you live in Phoenix and are interested in volunteering your time and talent, especially if you are an accountant who knows how to do books for a non profit, an attorney who helps set up businesses, or an expert in any of the industry segments above, call Francine at 602.910.5622. We also need people who have had experience with the Delancy Street project in San Francisco.

Ed and I kicked off the Pilot Program at the Phoenix SEEDS house yesterday afternoon. There are a dozen women in the program, and the Executive Director, Mona Lou Callery, also has good business ideas. We are going to go in two directions: 1) establishing a business that will suppport SEEDs itself, and 2) working with women residents who wish to try to achieve self-sufficiency and opportunity through entrepreneurship.

We are using the First Step FastTrac materials. Our goal with this pilot program is to see if we can get Mona Lou up and running with one of her business ideas, and to sow the seeds of entrepreneurship in as many of the women as want to be entrepreneurs.

SEEDs is a safe house for domestic violence victims who are in recovery or have been released from prison. The women are wonderful and enthusiastic about the program; they are scrambling right now for jobs, and face transportation issues, self-esteem issues, income issues -- and all the other issues.

We will be looking for people who want to co-invest with the SEEDS women on their projects as those take shape. We're not sure yet whether loans, mortgages, or equity will be involved, so stay tuned. We are very excited!

The first person going through our entrepreneurship training, Jerry K., has begun his handyman business. He has now secured his second handyman job, which he uses to pay expenses that are more than his "day job" will cover. But for him, a former felon, it's not about the money. For the first time, he sees options and opportunities. For the first time, he's not afraid that if he gets laid off, he will not be able to pay his restitution and will get put back in prison. He feels hopeful that he will be able to support himself and live as a man.

This foundation will be making changes like these in our society one person at a time. We are teaching people to fish. To help us, please register for and attend our entrepreneurship conferences. The next one, "The Revolution in Marketing,"
is March 1, 2007 and will feature Robert Scoble, vlogger and host of "The Scoble Show" speaking on how social media will revolutionize marketing. For details and registration click here.

OTEF is not a traditional charity, it's a nonprofit dedicated to teaching entrepreneurship skills, and we are trying to develop into a true social venture: a business with a double bottom line (a mission and a margin). We have two annual fundraisers, both of which are educational.

I'm excited to announce that Robert Scoble, the famous former Microsoft blogger and now the vlogger from Podtech who just got off the John Edwards presidential announcement plane (covering how technology and social media will change politics) has accepted our invitation to keynote the next Arizona Entrepreneurship miniconference, "The Revolution in Marketing," scheduled for March 1, 8-11 AM in the Ethington Theatre at Grand Canyon University. This is a real coup for us, as Robert and his wife Maryam (who grew up in Iran and is an expert on "Girl Geeks") are both bloggers and experts on the use of social media. We have also planned our Second Annual Arizona Entrepreneurship Conference for Nov.8. This is our major fundraising event.

This conference is part of the Kauffman Foundation's initiative, National Entrepreneurship Week, and will benefit the Opportunity Through Entrepreneurship Foundation. We haven't decided yet on how much to charge, because that's determined by the cost of such items as food and expenses for speakers. It will probably be in the neighborhood of $75.

Only 300 people can fit in this conference venue, so mark your calendar, and we will let you know as soon as we have details for registration.

The First Annual Arizona Entrepreneurship Conference was held on November 8th, 2006 at the Ritz Carlton Phoenix. We filled the room (500+ attendees) and kicked off the fundraising for OTEF.

The Opportunity Through Entrepreneurship Foundation (OTEF) helps at-risk youth and young adults improve their lives and their communities by training and support to apply their innate talents in creating entreprenurial ventures, businesses, jobs, and successful lives.

More coming soon...

Chris Pirillo To Speak at the Third Annual Arizona Entrepreneurship Conference

Insert Image Here: Photoshop!
Originally uploaded by l0ckergn0me

Our annual fundraiser, the biggest gathering of entrepreneurs in Arizona, is coming up on November 19th. If you'd like to support us, register here: http://www.azentrepreneurship.com A stellar group of entrepreneurs will gather to hear some of the biggest names in recent startup history, and the proceeds will come to us!

Chris Pirillo, Geek, Entrepreneur, Early Adopter, and Media Personality, will live stream into the Third Annual Arizona Entrepreneurship Conference from Seattle.

If you have any photoediting skills, please help us add our logo to his t-shirt or in the frame.

The Women OTEF Helped Have Opened Their Business!

Cup O’Karma Events

The National Advocacy & Training Network (NATN)/SEEDs program opened Cup O’ Karma: Community Café for a Cause, which offers great coffees, teas & beverages; on the job training for SEEDs residents while generating revenue to support the non-profit agency’s programs and services. http://www.myspace.com/cupokarma

We are hosting two upcoming events at the cafe (details below) located at 1710 W. Southern Ave, suite B-7, Mesa, 85202 (formerly Into the Bean, between Longmore & Dobson, across from MCC). Invite your family, friends and colleagues. Proceeds to benefit the SEEDs program. Hope to see you there!!! Please RSVP.

Jewels by Parklane:

Gods Garden Treasures - http://www.godsgardentreasures.com/

Jewels by Park Lane - http://www.jewelsbyparklane.com/

Event Date: Thursday, August 21st at 6:00 pm

Event Features:

- Free flower tea for attendees.

- Jewels by Park Lane showing and purchasing options

- Brief presentation from NATN/SEEDs

The Bravery Project

Reception Date: Thursday, September 4, 2008 from 7:00 – 9:00 pm

Showing Dates: September 1 – September 30, 2008

Reception Features: Live music, free food and one (1) free beverage. The evening will include a brief presentation from The Bravery Project, Support, Education, Empowerment and DirectionS (SEEDs) and a SEEDs woman who participated in the Project.

Update on the Foundation's Programs

I am so thrilled to report that, at long last, the business plan we helped the women from SEEDs write last year is about to be executed. They closed today on a coffee shop in Mesa, which was sold to them for $1.00 by someone who was tired of running it. The women will take it over, change the name (Cup o Karma) and begin to run it.

The Workforce Investment Act will provide funds to employ the women as they learn job skills. I believe this is a wonderful use of WIA funds, because the women will be working in their own business, and they will be very motivated.

I think Mona Lou Collery, the the Executive Director of SEEDs, is a true entrepreneur herself, because not only did she start the non-profit safe house, but she also started the business for the women.

I'm practically in tears over this. I can't wait to help them make it a success, and Ed and Phil feel the same way. When I started this foundation, I wanted to do exactly this!!!!!

In other news, the Conference ( our major fundraiser) looks like it will be a big blow-out this year. We have more and better presenters than ever, and a wonderful committee of volunteers helping me organize, including most of our Board members.

Drop-In Gallery front view

Drop-In Gallery front view
Originally uploaded by Blackerby Associates

Here's the Drop In Gallery

Drop-In Gallery south wall
Originally uploaded by Blackerby Associates

This is where, after the transient youth create the art, it is sold and 70% of the proceeds returned to the artists.

Cameron places the screen on the blank shirt

Cameron places the screen on the blank shirt
Originally uploaded by Blackerby Associates

Here are the Tumbleweed kids in their nascent t-shirt business. This is the program OTEF is helping to launch. They have many orders coming in already.

We Begin the Tumbleweed Program!

drop in gallery
Originally uploaded by a_hoss

What a fabulous morning! We met with twelve Tumbleweed program managers in our first FastTrac(R) New Venture session. We are going to help them expand the Drop In Gallery and the accompanying t-shirt printing businesses safely (without risk to Tumbleweed) and train the managers to train Tumbleweed youth to intern at the DIG and start their own ventures.

One of the most exciting facets of this business is that Tumbleweed has a program for refugee youth. Many of them will not be able to stay in the United States, so the goal is to send them back to their own countries (mostly Central America) with skills to start their own businesses or create crafts that can be imported by Tumbleweed and sold at the DIG.

As usual, I feel blessed to provide some help to Tumbleweed, which helps so many others. And I'm doubly blessed because, as usual, I have the strong support of Phillip Blackerby and Ed Nusbaum, two fantastic facilitators and business counselors.

Tumbleweed and the Promise of Youth

This morning I made my first visit to The Drop-In Gallery (DIG) at 917 N. 5th Street in Phoenix. The Gallery is operated by Tumbleweed Youth Development Center, a drop-in shelter for runaway youth. The shelter has started a program through which young people who stay at the center can create art, which is then framed and sold at the First Friday Art Walks in downtown Phoenix. The kids get 70% of the proceeds of their art; the remainder goes to the Center to pay for the art supplies.

Steve Serrano, who runs the drop in shelter down the street from the Gallery would like to learn how to expand the business beyond selling art to selling custom designed and printed t-shirts created by the kids.nmThat is where OTEF comes in. We are going to offer our entrepreneurial education program to the artists this spring, at the gallery itself.

This won't be an academic exercise; the business is already up and running. Our goal is to expand it. I was so excited that I can't wait to start!

This is a perfect example of what can happen to the lives of ordinary people through entrepreneurship and creativity. We are so happy to be working with Tumbleweed.

If you live in Phoenix, drop in at the Gallery. If you don't, find the Tumbleweed Drop In Gallery on MySpace and friend it.

Second Annual Arizona Entrepreneurship Puts OTEF in the Spotlight

This is Michael Gerber, author of "The E-Myth" wrapping up the Second Annual Arizona Entrepreneurship Conference by telling the audience that entrepreneurship isn't about money, it's about meaning. He urges entrepreneurs to find out what they are passionate about, and to "dream big, think small, act even smaller" in creating a small prototype of what they hope to achieve one day.

Michael is all about transformation, and about the transformative power of entrepreneurship. The conference was outstanding, and two of the SEEDs women got to attend, thanks to Wells Fargo, who donated their seats.

More on the Stealthmode blog and on Flickr.

Our Big Fundraising Event is November 8th

One a year we have a major fundraiser for OTEF. Not a ball, not an auction. Instead, we have a day in which we help entrepreneurs who can afford to pay a small fee for the information, and raise money for those who can't. Our registration site is live, so register early and help us continue our entrepreneurship programs.

So if you are looking for funding or need a new go-to-market strategy or a partner, you can find them all at the Second Annual Arizona Entrepreneurship Conference - a must-attend for anyone in or contemplating an entrepreneurial venture.

The theme of this year's conference is "Success" - yours and that of such Arizona successes as Limelight Networks, Jigsaw Health, and Zenter. Don't know them? You SHOULD...

Phoenix Airport Marriott Hotel
November 8, 2007 from 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM
Reception and meet-up starts at 4:30 PM

You can register at http://www.azentrepreneurship.com

SEEDs graduation day

Here's the SEEDs graduation photo. The women really do look happy.

And here are the facilitators, Ed, Phillip, and Francine with (on the floor) Mona Lou Callery, Executive Director of SEEDs with the plants (grown from seeds) the women gave us as gifts.

SEEDS program photo

In this photo, Ed and Phillip, two OTEF facilitators, talk to the SEEDs women about their business idea.

Pilot Program Concludes Very Successfully

If the response of the participants in a program are an indicator of the program's success, our first program (at the SEEDs) house was an unbelievable success. At the end of the program, we did come out with a business plan for a business to be started and run by the SEEDs participants as a way of supporting the charity. Is this new? Not really, because nonprofits start thrift shops and second hand stores all the time. What's new is that this business was not planned by the Board of SEEDs, but by the participants.

What's new is how the women in the program feel about having created something among themselves. In the three months of delivering the progam, I have noticed that only one woman of all the participants has relapsed. The rest have gone from a group of depressed, down-on-their-luck victims to a room full of attractive,vibrant, potential entrepreneurs.

THEY (not me) attribute a lot of their recovery to being involved in the program and being able to create something -- a business. They gave us potted plants yesterday, in pots they had designed, with seeds they had planted,with instructions on how to make these plants grow. It was "payback" for us teaching them how to grow their own business.

We've got the plan, we've got the numbers, and there is no reason why this business can't start, grow, and contribute to help support and grow SEEDs.

My co-facilitator, Phil Blackerby, who spent ten Sundays down at the SEEDs house and finished gloriously by crunching the numbers for the business plan and giving the women a set of spreadsheets that represented their own work and research into planning the business, was equally touched.

I'd like to thank the women of the SEEDs program for volunteering to be our pilot project, and for throwing themselves into it with such enthusiasm and effort. I feel validated in the foundation's mission -- that the principles of entrepreneurship not only grow businesses, but grow the people in them as well.

Great Arizona Republic Article

There is a great article about us by Andrew Johnson in today's Arizona Republic.

Number Crunching Time

We are in week 8 of our program with the SEEDs house. Yesterday we could see the difference SEEDs especially, and to a small extent our program, has made with the women who live there. They are actually beginning to dress and look like the entrepreneurs they are trying to become. And the energy level is so high!

We are working on the numbers for our business plan. We had Judi Butterworth of DeRito Partners, one of the Valley's top retail brokers, speak to us yesterday, and tell us what landlords are looking for in a tenant, and how to look at a triple net lease. It was an eyeopener for everyone in the room, including me. The women are engaged in a homework assignment for next week: figuring out the startup costs for the business and the ongoing operating costs. Phil Blackerby will then put them on a spread sheet to take to backers.

The current name of the business is Passionate Pursuits, and it will be a cafe with a retail component that sells both crafts created by the residents and secondhand items such as baby clothes and furniture. Although it will not have a full kitchen, snacks and sandwiches will be available, along with anything else welcoming.

There will also be a space for AA and NA meetings on site, and they will be comfortable and inviting. Three different revenue streams will be provided for SEEDs.

On the walls of this destination hangout will be the stories of some of the SEEDs women and their journeys into and out of domestic violence.

I can't wait until we get this opened. OTEF will remain in counseling mode with these women until we do!

Happy Easter! No program next Sunday.

Creating a Social Venture

Last Sunday we came closer to helping the SEEDs women realize their entrepreneurial dreams. We are closing in on one over-arching business that will contain all the others and help make SEEDs self-sufficient. Tasks have been assigned in the writing of a business plan that will contain plans for both profit and mission.

In the mean time, we are all bonding. The women have been through so much!

I was also contacted by another program, part of the Phoenix Rescue Mission. We will have a conversation about our program and whether it's right for them, too.

And now to fund OURSELVES...I've begun planning the Second Annual Arizona Entrepreneurship Conference, which will once again benefit OTEF. We've already begun the preliminary planning. This year, we are looking for better pre-event space and easier parking. I'm in discussions with both the Biltmore and the Airport Marriott on 44th Street, which is right off the freeway.

Pat Sullvan has graciously agreed to be one of the keynotes, and we are going to try to get Ken Blanchard to speak as well.

Now is the time to submit your ideas for making the conference better and more relevant. What does it need? What can you contribute? Should we build it around financing? Business models that work?

Success!

Well, the REVOLUTION IN MARKETING conference on Thursday was a big success, with over 170 registrants. We don't know how much we made yet for OTEF, but it looks like we made something. And most important, we gave our audience a chance to learn something and have some fun. I will keep you posted! Check out my other blog for the details about the conference.

Why we are doing this...

"Well, I've read the blog. Does that make me a blogger? I was going to respond on the page about exactly how incredible you, Phil and Ed are! I'm not sure if you really have any idea how these women are really feeling and what you are all doing for them. I get to sit with them afterwards and talk to them. Whether they open a business for themselves after these classes are over is not the only way their lives will probably forever change. They truly are so grateful for this opportunity and the fact you all take this time to meet with them on a Sunday. They obviously realize Sunday is a day that could be spent on non-working time."

This email I received from Mona Lou of the SEEDs houses makes me understand why we are doing what we are doing and what its value can be. I felt the same way when I launched my former foster child's business and saw how just the idea of having options and choices expanded his horizons. Loss of control is demoralizing, and dead end jobs with incompetent supervisors are a big contributor to feelings of being out of control. In my experience, the success of the business itself is almost secondary - the key is that entrepreneurship restores feelings of control over one's own destiny.

Progress at the SEEDS House

Yesterday at the SEEDS House, the entire FastTrac facilitation team (Ed, Phil, and Francine) helped the women in the house, which is a safe house for recovering victims of domestic violence, articulate their business concepts. These women are wonderful, but they are struggling in dead-end jobs to support themselves and their children. They graciously agreed to be a pilot program for the Opportunity Through Entrepreneurship Foundation. Every Sunday afternoon we sit down with them and help them create business plans. Once we have the plans, we will use our networks to get the plans funded. That's the mission of the Foundation -- to provide Opportunity Through Entrepreneurship for economically disadvantaged populations.

The afternoons have been incredible so far, both for the facilitators and for the women. Yesterday I was literally jumping up and down with enthusiasm for these concepts.

Here are the rough concepts the women are working on. We are hiding the special details that make these businesses different and we hope successful, because those details are the intellectual property of SEEDS and the women in the houses, and we don't want to reveal them before they are properly protected. When the business plans are written, we will take the plans public.

1) a company that would make jeans that actually fit women (a mass customization manufacturing business

2) a company that makes and sells South Beach diet recipes into the state and municipal government buildings downtown for healthy lunches (this is a home-based business)

3) a store that provides drive-through convenience items for seniors and mothers

4) a second-had clothing store

5) a home-based business that sells the arts and photography of the residents

A portion of the proceeds of all these businesses will go to support SEEDS. Thus, these are all social enterprises.

Right now we are investigating how to set up the companies -- many of the women want to make the businesses not-for-profits that employ former domestic violence victims and pay them a living wage. We're going to get legal advice on whether to set up all the businesses under the SEEDS 501 c(3) or make them separate companies.

If any of these businesses work, they would provide jobs, help support SEEDS, and -- most important --give hope to these women who have been through unimaginable trauma at the hands of people who were supposed to love them. Help us help them by signing up for the Revolution in Marketing Conference on March 1.

Or if you can't go, send a check made out to the Opportunity Through Entrepreneurship Foundation for $75.00 to Francine Hardaway at 2438 E. Whitton Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85016 and I will use it to provide a scholarship for an entrepreneurship student who can't afford to go.

Next Sunday afternoon, we will discuss the money management aspects of becoming an entrepreneur with the women. If you live in Phoenix and are interested in volunteering your time and talent, especially if you are an accountant who knows how to do books for a non profit, an attorney who helps set up businesses, or an expert in any of the industry segments above, call Francine at 602.910.5622. We also need people who have had experience with the Delancy Street project in San Francisco.

Our Pilot Program Has Begun

Ed and I kicked off the Pilot Program at the Phoenix SEEDS house yesterday afternoon. There are a dozen women in the program, and the Executive Director, Mona Lou Callery, also has good business ideas. We are going to go in two directions: 1) establishing a business that will suppport SEEDs itself, and 2) working with women residents who wish to try to achieve self-sufficiency and opportunity through entrepreneurship.

We are using the First Step FastTrac materials. Our goal with this pilot program is to see if we can get Mona Lou up and running with one of her business ideas, and to sow the seeds of entrepreneurship in as many of the women as want to be entrepreneurs.

SEEDs is a safe house for domestic violence victims who are in recovery or have been released from prison. The women are wonderful and enthusiastic about the program; they are scrambling right now for jobs, and face transportation issues, self-esteem issues, income issues -- and all the other issues.

We will be looking for people who want to co-invest with the SEEDS women on their projects as those take shape. We're not sure yet whether loans, mortgages, or equity will be involved, so stay tuned. We are very excited!

One data point

The first person going through our entrepreneurship training, Jerry K., has begun his handyman business. He has now secured his second handyman job, which he uses to pay expenses that are more than his "day job" will cover. But for him, a former felon, it's not about the money. For the first time, he sees options and opportunities. For the first time, he's not afraid that if he gets laid off, he will not be able to pay his restitution and will get put back in prison. He feels hopeful that he will be able to support himself and live as a man.

This foundation will be making changes like these in our society one person at a time. We are teaching people to fish. To help us, please register for and attend our entrepreneurship conferences. The next one, "The Revolution in Marketing,"
is March 1, 2007 and will feature Robert Scoble, vlogger and host of "The Scoble Show" speaking on how social media will revolutionize marketing. For details and registration click here.

Exciting News About the Next OTEF Conferences

OTEF is not a traditional charity, it's a nonprofit dedicated to teaching entrepreneurship skills, and we are trying to develop into a true social venture: a business with a double bottom line (a mission and a margin). We have two annual fundraisers, both of which are educational.

I'm excited to announce that Robert Scoble, the famous former Microsoft blogger and now the vlogger from Podtech who just got off the John Edwards presidential announcement plane (covering how technology and social media will change politics) has accepted our invitation to keynote the next Arizona Entrepreneurship miniconference, "The Revolution in Marketing," scheduled for March 1, 8-11 AM in the Ethington Theatre at Grand Canyon University. This is a real coup for us, as Robert and his wife Maryam (who grew up in Iran and is an expert on "Girl Geeks") are both bloggers and experts on the use of social media. We have also planned our Second Annual Arizona Entrepreneurship Conference for Nov.8. This is our major fundraising event.

This conference is part of the Kauffman Foundation's initiative, National Entrepreneurship Week, and will benefit the Opportunity Through Entrepreneurship Foundation. We haven't decided yet on how much to charge, because that's determined by the cost of such items as food and expenses for speakers. It will probably be in the neighborhood of $75.

Only 300 people can fit in this conference venue, so mark your calendar, and we will let you know as soon as we have details for registration.

Arizona Entrepreneurship Conference

The First Annual Arizona Entrepreneurship Conference was held on November 8th, 2006 at the Ritz Carlton Phoenix. We filled the room (500+ attendees) and kicked off the fundraising for OTEF.

About OTEF

The Opportunity Through Entrepreneurship Foundation (OTEF) helps at-risk youth and young adults improve their lives and their communities by training and support to apply their innate talents in creating entreprenurial ventures, businesses, jobs, and successful lives.

More coming soon...