Family
Letting the Oil Run Off
When we sold the food business my parents started in the early 1980s a few years ago, I was deeply concerned it would kill my father.
That’s because it was the truest expression of his undivided self.
Work
The Siren Song
I have made a few colossal mistakes in my life because I’ve treated opportunities as obligations and said yes to things I should have said no to. What are we grieving when we say no?
Impact
Banana Season
In education we frequently hear, “It’s all about the kids.” But this is a profession like any other, and like all professionals, youth practitioners need to feel valued and fulfilled in their work. So here's some good stuff that happened recently.
Business
A Tale of Two Braids
Sometimes you have to get over yourself, as the hump standing in your own way, and just go for things. Trouble is, that's not how I was raised or what I was taught was right -- and I carry that in my hair.
Work
A Self-Made Retreat
Being away helps me realize so much about myself and my anxiety-inducing behavior patterns that hobble me in my day-to-day life, such as my complete and utter inability to settle into swaths of unstructured time.
Business
Peace Through Commerce
In September 2023, I rage-launched Los Compas Coffee, a coffee roasting social enterprise that teaches opportunity youth about the liberatory power of small business entrepreneurship.
Food
A Trip to a Warehouse ☕️
Being in the Klatch Coffee warehouse and training center was more than a learning experience. It was a throwback to growing up in a food warehouse and what my father built.
Impact
These Legumes Offer a Leg Up
Women's Bean Project is in two businesses: human services and food manufacturing. "Our goal is to deliver employees to the community who will show up everyday."
Impact
Vote With Your Feet to End Youth Homelessness
Hippy Feet brings jobs directly to homeless youth, bypassing transportation difficulties and other barriers young people face when seeking employment.
Impact
It's a Beautiful Day for Refugees
Beautiful Day is a thriving nonprofit with a mission "to help refugees, especially youth and the most vulnerable, to enter the job market and become welcomed, self-sufficient members of our community."
Impact
Unaccompanied Minors Become Unstoppable Women
The suburban oasis of RefuSHE offers a healing space where young women recapture their lives and learn to lead through heritage textile arts.
Impact
Impact is the Spice of Life
Burlap & Barrel's online store boasts products from 14 countries, searchable by name, flavor, and use. Each product profile includes a backstory as rich as its flavor, highlighting master farmers and generations of craft.
Impact
Vintners with a Vision for Impact
From humble beginnings, ONEHOPE has emerged as an award-winning winemaker that pioneered ecommerce, but cause has always been at the heart of ONEHOPE.
Impact
Artisans with Heart, Gifts with a Conscience
Preserving traditional Mexican art forms is central to the mission of Amigos Art & Pottery, a retail social enterprise that helps artisans transcend obscurity and poverty by showcasing and selling their wares for a fair price in the US.
Impact
Squeezable Toys, Teachable Moments
Shore Buddies began with a simple yet powerful idea: What if stuffed animals could be made from recycled plastic bottles? This company is proving that toys can be both fun and a force for good.
