Issue: Vision Section: Advisory Board

Executive Director Iowa Business Council

The 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 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.

Issue: Visiont Section: Advisory Board

Founder, President and JourneyWoman

Dafna 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 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.

Issue: Visiont Section: Advisory Board

Chief Executive Officer Business Genetics

Vic 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, coach-oriented 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 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.

By: Jan Mazotti Issue: Vision Section: Letter from Editor

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.”

“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.”

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

By: Gayle Dendinger with Annette Perez Issue: Vision Section: Letter from Publisher

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, results-oriented 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.

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.

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 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 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

By: Maria E. Luna Issue: Vision Section: Book Review

Eve Blossom’s Profitable Social Venture

It 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 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.”

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

By: Keenan Brugh Issue: Vision Section: Book Review

The Future Is Much Better Than You Think

Doom 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 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 resource-liberating 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

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.

By: Amy Schilling Issue: Vision Section: Academia

Industry’s Role For Transformation In Education And Workforce

Jamai 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.

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 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 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 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.innovate-educate.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.

By: Academia Issue: Vision Section: Academia

One Educators Attempt at Institutional Reform in America’s Schools

Dr. 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-holds-barred vision, charts the path for an America where 100 percent of high school graduates go 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 four-year 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 racially-diverse 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.

By: Keenan Brugh Issue: Vision Section: Collaboration Close Up

New 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 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.”

Board of Advisors:
• Kristin 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
• Larissa 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.