I am an activist/social entrepreneur, mentored by the best, i.e. Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry’s, Gary Hirshberg, Founder, Stonyfield Farm yogurt. It is in my blood, one of my heroes is Richard Branson, who has written several books, one of which is of significant importance to me, “Screw Business as Usual.” In it, Branson describes social entrepreneurship as the attempt to draw on business techniques to find solutions to social problems. I’ve spent the past 25+ years extremely active in this space. All of my work has centered around one essential philosophy: the power of business to effect change in this world.
Although my experience has been played out on a national and international levels, I believe that it can be equally effective at the community level, which is why am more than excited to bring this perspective to my current venture in real estate:
“That we can do well and good at the same time.”
In this case, that means supporting the communities that are supporting me and my business. This is why I have established a fund called give. live. thrive. where I donate 10% of all my commissions to organizations that serve the health and well-being of Shoreline residents.
I believe this way of doing business is unique to the real estate industry and am excited to pioneer its introduction. It expands and accentuates the fiduciary duties inherit in all agencies in this industry. In doing so, I join a small, yet growing, community of social entrepreneurs in Connecticut. I profoundly hope that this encourages others in a range of businesses and diverse industries to follow suit.