SelflessTee is a fashionable apparel company on a social movement. It is a place where a community of creative souls can band together and share their artistic talent for fame, profit, and most of all, meaningful change by taking action towards a better future. How it works: SelflessTee will hold design contests for their partners, non profits that you, the community, will choose. Winning designs get turned into apparel that SelflessTee sells on their site. You’ll see 1/4 of their profits from all purchases in action when you follow online or join them in creating a better world right alongside their countless partners. They want to be very clear. SelflessTee is not only about the delivery of any one idea (i.e. serve 30k breakfast meals to low income kids). Instead, they’ve created a company that will sustain itself to continuously attack social issues of a community’s choosing, YOUR choosing, across the globe. The company’s founder Danny B. (Danny Bocanegra) already took action on a single idea- we want more!

Nextvoice247 has been grateful to see this idea germinate and now would like to see it grow to its fullest potential. So take a minute and help an idea grow by voting for the SelflessTee at the Pepsi Refresh Project contest.

VOTE HERE:

http://pep.si/dBRSb9

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emerging leader interview: John Heaven, CEO of Yangaroo from John Exley on Vimeo.

May I have your attention, please! In a new emerging leader interview, I was given an opportunity I simply could not pass up: to interview the very experienced and successful entrepreneur John Heaven (thanks so much to Matt Caldecutt! Follow him http://twitter.com/mcaldecutt).  John is the President and CEO of Yangaroo, a technology company based in Canada that provides customers with its patented Digital Media Distribution System (DMDS).  Yangaroo has been making headlines recently as they were named to the Canadian Business Top 100 Tech Firms and landed a deal with The Grammy Awards!

John has quite the background too. He has started 3 successful companies and played an instrumental role in successfully taking two companies public; including the $10MM Telepanel Systems Inc. where he served as the CFO.

In the interview, John talks about the exciting evolution of Yangaroo and their awesome story, the geographic and core business expansion of his company, and the re-branding of a young start-up into an industry leading company with patented technology and The Grammy Awards as a client. I also asked John about the advantages of being involved in the Canadian start-up scene. At the end of the interview, John gives his best advice to aspiring leaders, young entrepreneurs, and Generation Y as a whole.

Many thanks to John Heaven and I hope you enjoy the interview!

John Heaven

AUDIO INTERVIEW with President and CEO of Yangaroo, John Heaven.

LISTEN HERE:

http://www.whistletree.com/public/play/4774UBZT6RTALFEV

View John’s bio here:

http://yangaroo.com/AboutUs/OurTeam/ExecutiveTeam.aspx

Company website:

http://yangaroo.com/Home.aspx

fit for now & for the future-holiday health hints from Gennaro Ferra on Vimeo.

Gennaro Ferra, Fitness & Health Coach

NYC Celebrity Fitness Trainer Gennaro Ferra gives you some healthy fitness and nutrition tips to stay lean and in shape during the winter months and as Thanksgiving and Christmas approaches.

1. Drink two long glasses of water every morning before breakfast and keep drinking throughout the day. By morning our bodies are dehydrated so make sure you rehydrate before diving in to that cup of coffee or tea…

2. Eat a healthy and hearty breakfast every morning. This will kickstart your metabolism in to fat burning mode and make for a great start to the day.

3. Don’t eat too late or too much at night. Eat dinner before 7pm and stay away from starchy carbs and heavy meats.

4. Record all meals and exercise routines in a journal. This will keep you accountable and better able to assess your progress.

5. Don’t make excuses! We all have time for ourselves and spending it on our health and wellness should always come first.

For more on health, fitness and nutrition visit:
www.ferrafitness.com

Nextvoice247 is very happy to have Gennaro Ferra join us as a contributing blogger and contributor to the whole life balance we all seek. His approach and success is well-known – and he brings a fresh perspective on how simple it is to stay healthy and be a business person, parent or student. Gennaro is one of the world’s most symmetrical and defined natural physique stars. He is well known for his accomplishments as the trainer to the trainers having educated and coached many successful fitness trainers and coaches. He is a former NABBA Mr. Australia and Mr. Universe finalist. He was one of the first athletes to represent Australia as a World Natural Professional Bodybuilder.

• Bachelor of Education, Physical Education (Deakin University, Melbourne)
• Certified Fitness and Nutrition Coach
• Speed, Agility and Quickness Specialist(NESTA)
• Personal Fitness Chef (NESTA)
• CPR/AED & FIRST AID (American Red Cross)

Gennaro has appeared in and written for numerous health and fitness magazines throughout the world (see press) and has over 22 years of experience as a fitness, nutrition and lifestyle coach in Europe, Australia, and the United States. His clientele include business owners, celebrities, professional athletes, seniors, moms, dads, young adults and many others who have achieved greater personal and professional success as a result of his signature fitness programs. Gennaro is renowned for his mastery in exercise technique, intensity and variety and has developed a unique, balanced and efficient system of fitness training that guarantees you results safely and effectively.

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russell simmons & hip-hop change the world from VoiceBox | Nextvoice247 on Vimeo.



Courtesy

Global Grind

Russell Simmons has long been a hero of mine for what he has  accomplished on multiple business fronts. As an entrepreneur, it has been about nailing the things that would make a business successful. We are glad to bring you this post from blogger Sarah van Schagen.

Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons is the co-founder of Def Jam Records, a sometime reality star, and an entrepreneur who’s launched a number of successful ventures including clothing lines Phat Farm and Baby Phat. He’s also a yoga-practicing vegan who’s hoping to use his resources to make change in the world of hip-hop—and the world at large.

Describing himself as “hip-hop to the bone,” Simmons is quick to hail the power of that community in influencing politics, pointing to a recent change in drug policy in New York State. “That was because Jay-Z and Puffy and Rev Run and LL Cool J and many other people came out to rally,” he says. “A lot of politicians joined them, but the artists made the noise and created the energy and made the change.”

Simmons has high hopes for rallying that same energy in the fight against climate change—an issue, he admits, the community has yet to truly embrace. But he’s harnessing more than the power of lyrics and videos to get the message out. He’s recently given birth to a new-media company called Global Grind—a hip-hop HuffPo, if you will—featuring news stories, video clips, and celeb blog posts on topics ranging from music and entertainment to “politricks.”

Simmons has also taken on the role of spokesperson for the America’s Greenest Campus campaign, an effort to get college students (a key hip-hop demographic) to reduce their carbon footprint. The contest ran through October and offered prizes to the school with the most participants, the school with the largest percentage of carbon emissions reduced, and the creator of an online ad for sponsor SmartPower.

During a recent phone call—and between bites of a Gardenburger-topped salad garnished with both salad dressing and ketchup (a combination his staff poked fun at, he says)—Simmons talked about his commitment to reducing his own footprint, the brand power of hip-hop, and the importance of well-informed consumers.

Q. Tell me about the America’s Greenest Campus contest. Why have you signed on to help publicize this campaign?

A. The hip-hop community has not been as concerned about the environment as they could be, so if I can loan my voice and my resources … into growing it very quickly, then I believe that companies can create more awareness on this subject. It’s something that I’m very committed to, so I want to tie this educational vehicle, Global Grind, directly to this “America’s Greenest Campus” idea, and I want to see how I can help others to lighten their footprint.

Q. What role can young people play in helping change the way we think about climate change in this country?

A. [This campaign] is an educational tool and an empowerment vehicle. People don’t understand what it is to lighten their footprint, what steps to take. So if we give them the simple steps and we tell them exactly how much it affects the environment if they make certain changes—being a vegetarian, doing other things that make a dramatic difference in how much weight they carry in the world—people want to know that. When they realize that by changing simple things they can make a difference, it’s an empowerment vehicle.

Q. You’ve said that you used to live a life of overconsumption and abundance—how have your priorities changed over time?

A. One thing is that I’m an animal activist. I felt very disturbed about the way humanity treats its species on this planet. It was a spiritual matter, and it was not connected, at first, to the environment. And then when I found out that your footprint is so much heavier because you eat animals—that’s [a bigger] cause of global warming … than all forms of transportation put together—it became a part of my discussion when I was trying to get people to stop eating animals and abusing themselves by eating them. I didn’t realize how much they were abusing the planet as well.

Q. Hip-hop culture definitely trumpets a life of luxury and overconsumption, and that message is going straight to the youth, so it feels a little bit contradictory to say “hey, green your campus, lessen your footprint” but also be telling them “have the pimpest car and the blingiest bling”—

A. I’m going to interrupt you. First of all, the abuse comes from the top down. The president’s flying around in a private plane. Stop playin’! Everybody’s abusive and every channel’s abusing us … All the people pointing the finger at hip-hop need to point at themselves.

If hip-hop decides to buy something that’s popular in culture and talk about it, that certainly doesn’t make them more abusive. They’re more conscious, not less. They’re less homophobic, not more. They’re less violent, not more. They’re less racist, not more. But it’s wrong [to say that] in general, they’re less concerned.

I will say that it is a community that needs to be enlightened more. But that’s not the issue—their mission of getting ahead. That’s a mission America sends on every network, in every promotion, on every channel, and every commercial.

Because they sing about the things that people buy? I think that’s a reflection of us. They are reflections of us, and our dirt is coming right out of their mouths …

Q. Do you think the hip-hop community can lead the charge to help shepherd these changes?

A. You’ve gotta hope so, because the biz is depending on hip-hop to pick which color diamond is popular. The only way [the Maybach] beats Phantom Rolls Royce is to get rappers to choose it. Tommy Hilfiger’s praying that hip-hop discovers him again. So is Coca-Cola; [they’re] worried what hip-hop says versus Pepsi.

We need them; they’re the best brand-building community in the world. If we can get a large number of hip-hoppers to take this on, then they will have a greater impact in lots of forms of media.

Q. Are there any artists in particular who have taken on this cause?

A. I don’t have a rapper that I can point to the way I can point to Leonardo DiCaprio. But I’m going to work now as an individual, and I’m trying to find some leaders in the community who can make a huge difference.

Q. Have you done any work to move along environmental changes in the music industry—or have you seen any promising changes in the way the industry is run?

A. I don’t know that they’ve done a lot of work yet. The reason I signed on [to this campaign] is because I felt they were not serving this initiative. They work on many things that are social and political, but this has not been one. It’s not been on the forefront in their minds, and that’s why I’m trying to make a difference now by joining on. I’m not joining on because they have a lot of hip-hoppers involved in the environmental movement. I’m joining on because they don’t, and I think that we can put it in their face and they’re conscious people and a lot of them will join.

Q. What about your clothing lines? Have you made moves to ensure they have minimal impact on the earth?

A. Not as much as I should. It’s something we’ve talked about a lot. In fact, we had a discussion about making a lot of organic cotton for Wal-Mart yesterday.

Q. What’s holding you back on that front? What needs to happen so that it makes sense from a business point of view?

A. You have to get customers to value it. Some of these choices we want to make—in order for us to be competitive and still make a difference, we have to be profitable. There is a resistance on the part of some consumers that is making it more difficult. We have to promote the value of organic choices to the consumers … We’re working on it. It’s a marketing exercise.

Q. Do you feel it’s your role as a public figure to use your status to promote change?

A. I try to go to work every day and make sure my businesses have a light footprint in every area. I stopped my licensees a long time ago from making fur; my new companies are not making leather. I’m trying, you know? I try to every day do a little better, but that’s for me to sleep at night. If you live by example, if you speak in a way that people can digest it and see the value in it, then you can get people to join in. I know that as [people] learn to do better, they do better, they feel better, and they sleep better as a result of making a good choice.

This article is brought to you from the Seattle Editor of The Grist.

by Sarah van Schagen

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1. Can you very briefly describe yourself and list your contact information?

My name is Francis Dayamba and I am a junior civil engineer at Clarkson University. Despite my technical background, I have created a club that will allow me to cultivate my social engineering mindset and to express my concern about the lack of development in my continent of origin, Africa. The characteristics that I feel define me as a person are: well-roundedness, patriotism, enthusiasm and confidence.

Contact Information: dayambfo@clarkson.edu, Founder of D’AMUGE FUND Club.

2. Can you describe the organization that you started/helped to start?

The D’AMUGE Fund targets educational institutions, particularly primary schools, in an attempt to impact the dynamics of destitute communities in Benin. Education is becoming increasingly essential to one’s success in life. So, the logic behind this initiative is the more accessible education is the more of a chance students will have to succeed in life and the more they will be able sustainably help their country.

We intend to establish multi-faceted grass root level projects, in an attempt to address the causes rather than the effects of poverty. While these projects have been primarily established to increase educational accessibility, they also target entrepreneurship, infrastructure and health of the community.

An example of such a project is an initiative that builds a water tap in a school. While the water tap will be managed by both the staff and the students, water will be sold to the local community. Not only will this provide accessible clean water to the community but it will generate profit for the school. This profit is then to be saved until enough money is collected to build another water tap. This money would then be donated to another school to allow them to benefit from the same privileges and so the cycle would continues.

3. What was the process you followed to start your organization?

To begin with, I observed that in Benin there are industrious and honest people that are in  need of sustainable resources but do not know how to access them. Likewise, at Clarkson there is an interest amongst students to assist but lack the knowledge on how to do so. With that being said, the first step in the process of creating the club was to realize that both of these extremes existed. The club is merely a medium by which these two parties can benefit from one another.

The second step is to convert an idea into a reality by making your group officially recognized by an established authority, which in my case is the student senate. Before the D’Amuge Fund can be recognized by the student senate, a constitution has to be created which will be scrutinized. If it is approved the club is then officially recognized.

Thirdly, you must be willing to advertise your club in an effort to recruit members in order to build man power. At the same time, it is important to establish core members of your group that are dedicated to the cause.

This is currently the stage at which the club is at, but the next steps that the club anticipates to cover are:

Have a successful first meeting in which we will establish the direction of the club

Hold elections to determine officers throughout the year,

Build awareness on campus while following the mission.

At the end of the year, execute the plan that was designed in the beginning of the club.

4. Can you tell me the story of how you raised $650 and donated it to schools in Africa in person?

In order to build awareness of Africa, the club decided to sell West African bracelets to the Clarkson community while informing students, professors and faculty of the conditions that the average person faces in Benin. We created a brochure and a poster which we used at table in our student center between rush-hour times (12-1 and during the intermission of hockey games) and advertised for a total of 10 hours.  Out of curiosity, charity and concern the Clarkson community bought the bracelets and donated money. Overall, we were able to raise approximately 650 dollars.

The delivery of the donations to the school was the most rewarding aspect of the whole process.   We chose the School of Avossa because of the desolate conditions and its resilient and hard-working staff. The most challenging aspect was determining how we could distribute the funds in order for the money to be used as efficiently as possible. With much consultation with the director of the school district, an educational specialist and the director of a Non-governmental Organization (NGO), the money was distributed as follows.

The funds were used to purchase the cloth required to sew school uniforms, which were provided to all of the students of the primary school. We gave the cloth to the student’s so that the families do not become dependent on our help and are forced to contribute towards the expense of getting the cloth sewn. This will also help the local tailor, who will get an influx of clients from the school. We rewarded the top 10 students with merit-based scholarships and the poorest 20 students with need based scholarships. In addition they all received kits that consisted of a notebook, a pen and a pencil.

We decided to help the 20 poorest students because in this primary school it was found that there is a correlation between higher family income and success of children at school.

In addition to that, we donated Christmas presents to the school in the form of soccer and tennis balls, candy and cookies and various board games.

Along with that, the NGO called IFESH- Benin donated a variety of things from French work books to teaching manuals.

5. What is your ultimate goal for this fall?

Despite the impact that was made, more work is needed. So this year, we are going to set a goal to fundraise more than $2000 by seeking help from external sources such as NGO’s and co-operations interested in helping our cause. Once the money is raised, we would like to think of creative ways in which we can help schools whilst bolstering the economy of the local community. We would also like to build the cultural awareness of West Africa amongst the club and the Clarkson community.

6. What leadership qualities do you think you are honing from establishing and working with your organization?

Before I make any comments about my leadership abilities, I would like to mention that the group with which I am working is very laborious and consists of connoisseurs at particular tasks that they are doing to help the club. The most important quality that I bring to the group as a leader is my knowledge of the Beninese educational system and my interest in development. Both of these allow me to give a unique perspective on how the club should be run and what particular problems we should address. In a sense, I have an emotional attachment to both the club and the problems that we are trying to solve. The goal is to have this emotional drive resonate throughout the whole group.

7. How might people outside of Clarkson University help your organization?

At this stage, there are two ways in which people outside of Clarkson can assist in the clubs endeavors. Firstly, I would like people to brainstorm and find innovative ways to help the education facilities in small communities while positively affecting the economy of the community. Secondly, donations are always solicited and deeply appreciated. As the club develops out of its infancy stage, there will be a lot more tasks that can be accomplished by students outside of Clarkson. Hopefully, one day we can have the club grow to the point that we have more chapters all around the nation and they can help in their own way.

8. Can you tell me about any noteworthy accomplishments your club has had?

So far, the most noteworthy accomplishment has been the donated money to the school at Avossa. My father kept in contact with the school and apparently the following semester more students enrolled into primary school. This news in itself motivated me to continue the work that I am doing.

One of the main functions of this club is to change the mind-set of the people in these local communities. They must understand that they should not be content with their current quality of life. They must battle for better living conditions, better jobs and a better life. This fight begins with education, acquiring the knowledge to understand the circumstances of their situation and use this knowledge to improve their lives. When people in these communities are thinking along these lines, only then will I consider that the D’Amuge Fund has made noteworthy accomplishments

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This interview was conducted by Clarkson University Junior, John Exley, contributing blogger and emerging leader interviewer for Nextvoice247.

One More Shot At The Contest!! Message this.

Okay – so we have heard this phrase a couple of times over the past week or so. And Kevin Hall, author of Aspire! proclaimed it loud and clear for us:

Readers are leaders. Earners are learners.

Can't make it any more clear than that.

As you also know, I have been asked many times this week and over the past several weeks about what it takes to find your purpose. I spoke of the origin of the word coming from the Old French: prosperer, to take and to set in place.

Well I have found my purpose in general and that is to offer what I can to help other find their passion and intersect that with their talents and create a career or business. I reflect the world around me and us the tools such as social media and personal/professional focus to help emerging leaders, entrepreneurs and brands reach their potential. In a way I am the teacher I always played when we were kids. Except back then I was always the principal!!

Well today I am calling class to order and see how far the messages have translated from me and others to you and calling for a pop quiz. The grade is irrelevant, it's the measure of your ability to challenge yourself as a learner, earner, reader and leader. How bad do you want to find that purpose?

It is in you now, we just have to find what triggers it to bring it from an internal slumber to an external action.

So here's how this will work. There will be a series of quotes, statements, or belief statements. You need to match them with the correct thought leader listed below.

1. Leadership is communicating to people their worth and potential so clearly that they come to see it themselves.

2. Rather than ask, "Am I worthy of my goals?" we encourage you to reverse the question and ask, "Are my goals worthy of me?"

3. The cubicle is your temple, do not permit casual visitors.

4. Like caterpillars turning into butterflies prospects go through a 5 stage process: strangers, friends, customers, loyal customers, and former customers.

5. The way I treat myself reflects the way I treat others.

6. The genius of AND: Deep understanding AND incredible simplicity in leadership.

7. Some friendships are formed by a commonality of interests and ideas: you both like judo, camping or making your own sausage.

8. Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people's interest's first.

9. The leader must be clear about whom you are choosing to serve, because we, your followers require it of you.

10. I attract into my life that which I believe I am.

Associate one of these names to the numbers above.

John Assaraf, Marcus Buckingham,Bob Burg & John David Mann, Jim Collins, Stephen R. Covey, Timothy Ferriss, Seth Godin, Kevin Hall or David Sedaris.

If you email the answers into me (email is to the left of this post-comeone you can find it), the person with the most correct answers as of NOON on Monday May 18, 2009 will receive an autographed copy of the new limited-edition print of Aspire! by Kevin Hall and a Barnes & Noble gift certificate. In the event of a tie, my mother will draw names out of a hat. Trust me??

So can you take a message? This could be fun.

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