Sacramento, CA – Today the Sacramento Philharmonic announced a week of concerts and events by the renowned pianist, teacher, conductor, humanist and laureate of the 2007 Kennedy Center Honors, Leon Fleisher. A fixture in the American music scene for over six decades, Mr. Fleisher will perform the following concerts with Sacramento Philharmonic musicians:

Thursday, May 14 at 5:30pm (doors open at 5:00pm)
“Sacramento Philharmonic for the Homeless”
Westminster Church, 1300 N St, Sacramento, CA
Moved by the plight of Sacramento’s homeless, Mr. Fleisher and Philharmonic musicians created this unique event to raise much-needed funds for housing and other services for the city’s homeless.
NOTE: This is a free concert and open to the public. All donations will go to Sacramento’s Gifts to Share

Saturday, May 16 at 8:00pm (doors open at 6:45pm)
“Leon Fleisher, Renaissance Man at 80”
Community Center Theater, 1301 L St, Sacramento, CA
Performing under the direction of Mr. Fleisher is a first for the Sacramento Philharmonic. The concert will include Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 in E minor (“New World Symphony”), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Concerto No. 7 for Two Pianos and Concerto for Piano No. 12. Concert sponsors: McDonough Holland & Allen, P.C. and Sutter Medical Center Foundation of Sacramento, CA. Guest artist sponsor: Barbara K. Jackson of Davis, CA.
NOTE: For tickets call the Community Center Theater Box Office at 916-264-5181 or www.tickets.com. For group sales call the Sacramento Philharmonic offices 916-732-9045 ex. 103 Greg Wellman.

EDITOR’S NOTE: In March 2009, Mr. Fleisher released his first two-handed concerto recording in over 40 years. The release includes Mozart’s Piano Concertos No. 12 in A Major, K. 414; No. 7 in F Major for two pianos, K. 242 and No. 23 in A Major, K. 488. You can purchase it on Amazon.

Sounds like a fabulous week and a wonderful cause. Let's get behind this generous donation of talent by a gifted artist.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

I found this moving piece in my email today from my wife Gillian Parrillo who is on travel with World Pulse in Cambodia:

We thought you would like to know that Jensine has posted to the group "Journey to the Heart of Cambodia."

In a post titled "Cambodian Valentine," Jensine wrote:

Cambodian Valentine

Each day pours onto itself – a streaming trail of lotus petal, carved stone and dusty road tuk tuk memories now.

Leading us to today – our final day. “How could we have bonded more?” asked our group last night, laughing…Valentine silk in red, maroon, and pink across our shoulders.

ABOVE ALL, the voices came in towering waves. We circled together, leaning in to hear the leading voices of Cambodia’s women……

-Elected member of parliament and women’s champion, Mu Sochua’s told her struggles, dreams and lifted her rallying cries. With her young associate by her side, we felt the next wave of Cambodia’s political future.

-In the garbage dumps, we filed past sleeping baby goats under cars and on heaps. Young teachers led us by the hands to their classrooms where bursting children practiced their English and awed us with their determined joy. Our visit ended in an explosion of traditional, precise and earnest - Khmer dancing by the young students. Their People's Improvement Organization school led by Phymean Noun (in Canada fundraising), recently profiled on CNN, made our eyes wet we parted with many high fives, and giggling girl hugs.

-International Journalist, Author and media trainer Putsata Reang– wowed us with her gripping life story and her illuminating take on land-grabbing and the upcoming Khmer Rouge tribunal.

-Sex Slavery warrior Somaly Mam and her colleague presented sobering and gripping account of the horrors young women and girls face in Cambodia today. They shared their programs – including taking on local police authorities and the new programs bringing together the voices of survivors. Some from our group visited her center the next day, moved and shaken into a new reality through the girl’s expression.

-The Founder of Cambodia’s Women’s Media Center, the distinguished Tive Sarayeth – impressed us with the achievements of her programming and decades of work. She shared with us the realities of reaching Cambodia’s mostly rural women with vital health and educational programming with her 70 member staff.

-We walked alongside landmine survivors and their advocates in the Veterans International rehabilitation center - we felt the plastic limbs in our hands that allow mothers to hold their children again and advance their lives. We learned of the 40% of Cambodian land still poisoned with these weapons.

And woven through it all - author Loung Ung’s open armed embrace….her constant interpretation and vocal path of light …… allowing us to see the Cambodia she loves through her eyes.

The increasingly heavy understanding of Cambodia’s corrupt and violent past and present blanketed everything. History of war, feminine repression, toxic contamination, genocide – echoes of baby cries richocet off smeared walls, torture devices left in their place….in the museum.

The bird calls at sunrise swooping across the towers of Angkor wat… echoes across etched pillars….incense and guana smudging the air and stone. A sacred civilization, with many teachings.

Our dinner tables - always heaped with food and stimulating conversation – as we processed, grappled, mourned and celebrated together. We left each speaker and group with a contribution…. furthering the political work, investigative work, human trafficking work, ramps for the landmine center, and even costumes to light up the children’s spirit for performances.

For some, punctuated with cool pool dips, healing massage, Cambodian haircuts, freeing walks… and many many bows and smiles.

And much more….left to linger in our senses forever. We raise our cold water glasses, our resources, our talents and voices to stand in solidarity with the Cambodian women from this moment onward. Deeply personal, deeply committed.

To Cambodia, with Love
Jensine

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 5:40 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

I just received this note from my son Nathan:

Hello Friends and Family,

Many of you do not know this, but I am currently in Hanoi, Vietnam for the next four months volunteering for an organization called Kiva.org. Kiva is a microfinance organization based out of San Francisco with a very simple mission: to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. Kiva's business model is actually very innovative in the Microfinance industry. They find lenders like you and me all around the world who want to lend $25 to a poor borrower somewhere in the developing world with no returns other than hopefully getting some type of journal update about the borrower that they have lent to. This journal updating, in short, is my role with Kiva. Only 20% of all borrowers have a journal update about them, and Kiva wants to increase this because these updates are what keep lenders coming back! The best part about it is, once you get your initial $25 back you can re-lend again! Theoretically, if your borrower doesn't default (defualts are less than 2%! better than typical commercial bank loans!) you could lend that $25 an infinite number of times.

While these journal updates are my primary role as a Kiva Fellow I will also be doing other things including helping my microfinance institution in Vietnam (SEDA) do a operational cost benefit analysis, create press releases, and blog about my experience. The blogs, in my opinion, will be the most fun! With that I would all love for you all to read my blog as often as possible. I will have two of them: a personal one and a Kiva Fellows one. My personal one I will update hopefully on a daily basis, but the Kiva Fellows one maybe once every week or two. With that said, my first big Kiva blog will be posted this Friday the 13th!

Here are the links to my blogs:
Personal: http://nmcutler.wordpress.com/
Kiva Fellows: http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/

Furthermore, I encourage you all to become members of Kiva.org and start lending! It's quite addictive and for a great cause.

With Regards to everyone,

Nathan Cutler

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

Next month, our son Nathan will become a KIVA fellow. He is going to Vietnam for 4 months entirely on a volunteer basis and will be paying his own travel and expenses. We are so proud of him.

If you are not familiar with KIVA, check them out. Since October 2006, they have lent, through the generosity of more than 400,000 lenders, more than $55M to almost 80,000 entrepreneurs. The repayment rate is 97% and 78% of the loans are made to women. KIVA allows people just like you to forever change the lives of women around the world.

I was first introduced to KIVA in December 2005 when my daughter gave me a $50 gift certificate for Christmas. Since then I have lent the money multiple times to women entrepreneurs of my choice in many countries around the world.

Here is an amusing video produced by one of the KIVA fellows explaining the process:

A Fistful Of Dollars: The Story of a Kiva.org Loan from Kieran Ball on Vimeo.

Kudos to Nathan and the other KIVA fellows. And kudos to the founders of KIVA.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 3:45 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

Arzu, a non-profit corporation, is bringing the traditional rugs of Afghanistan to the West. Recent conflicts in Afghanistan had caused disruption to the traditional patterns and techniques and, worse still, stable employment, education and benefits for the female weavers and their families.

Arzu is working to change that. It employs 700 women plus their families in 10 villages. Proceeds from the sale of the rugs, from $1000 to 18,000, are invested in village school and health care.

Since 2004, 700 rugs have been sold. Production is hoped to be at 1,200 a year soon. You can check them out on the Arzu website.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 7:28 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

Last year I baked each of our neighbors a loaf of banana bread. Actually I baked them two each. The dog jumped up and ate the first ones while they were cooling, so I had to start over.

This year, I wanted to do something a little more meaningful. And something that the dog couldn't eat! I thought about making a charitable donation in my neighbors' names. I had done that for one of them on his birthday last year. But then I read a story in the Dallas Morning News today about Mark Bent who created the BoGo.

BoGo stands for Buy One Give One. And a BoGo is a solar powered flashlight that uses highly efficient LEDs to convert sunshine into bright clean light. But the best thing about BoGos are that when you buy one, the company gives one to Africa.

More than a billion and a half people around the world have no electricity. Instead they use lanterns that burn expensive kerosene. The cost of kerosene is often 30% of a family's income. The kerosene provides very poor light, even in a small hut, but it emits lots of noxious pollutants.

So I ordered 3 BoGos and 3 BoGos are winging their way to Africa and changing the lives of 3 families. And my neighbors get a cool looking solar powered flashlight as part of the deal.

I think I met my requirement of a meaningful gift for our neighbors. Now for 2008.....

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 4:48 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

Bill O'Reilly is a moron! Mark Cuban refrained from saying it after Bill O'Reilly's ugly comments in November about Cuban and the movie "Redacted". But I feel free to say today what Cuban didn't, after seeing Mark Cuban's actions last night for the fourth year in a row.

Allow me to set the stage:

O'Reilly alleged that Cuban was anti-American and ran a campaign to have fans take "Support Our Troops" signs to the Dallas Mavericks - San Antonio Spurs game on November 15. Well, instead Cuban outclassed O'Reilly and arranged for the Army National Gaurd to hand out Defending Freedom t-shirts to every fan .

And then last night at the Mavericks - Jazz game, every front row seat was occupied by military personnel, as guests of Mark Cuban and the Mavericks.

In a press release from the Mavericks:

Tonight for the fourth consecutive year, Mavs front row season ticket holders have banded together to provide a special tribute to injured U.S. military personnel title "Seats for Soldiers".

Approximately 130 members of the U.S. military will enjoy the special experience of sitting in front row seats valued at over $200,000. American Airlines is providing jet transportation to Dallas from Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. In addition, American Airlines flight crew and flight attendants are donating their time for this special occasion.

As my wife Gillian Parrillo and I settled into our seats for the game, I happened to spot one of the soldiers sitting on the Mavericks' bench that looked like someone I knew. And sure enough it was TSgt. Israel Del Toro, whom I met at the Ft. Hood TACP Expo in June.

TSgt. Del Toro is an unbelievably remarkable human being, having suffered burns over 80% of his body from an IED explosion in Afghanistan. And there he was, guest of Mark Cuban for the second time in two years, sitting on the Mavs bench. (click here for a must see video of Del Toro, as he tells his story)

And now back to the class of Mark Cuban.

Rather than ranting about Bill O'Reilly, Mark quietly goes about his business, touching the lives of many like those 130 wounded solidiers. Time and time again, I've seen Mark do it not only for the soldiers, but also for young entrepreneurs such as the Sacramento Entrepreneurship Academy where I saw him speak pro-bono. I expect he will continue to do more.

And what is the moron doing? Being outclassed by Mark Cuban, no doubt.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 12:36 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

Congratulations to Karen Armstrong, Dave Eggers and Neil Turok, winners of the 2008 TED Prize.

Each winner will receive $100,000 and be granted a WISH to change the world.

Click here to see the video announcement.

My daughter Rebekah introduced me to Dave Eggers in 2000, with his first book "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius". I look forward to hearing Dave's wish in February. I bet it will have something to do with education or Africia. Perhaps both.

About the TED Prize:

The TED Prize was introduced in 2005, and it is unlike any other award. Although the winners receive a prize of $100,000 each, the real prize is that they are granted a WISH. "A wish to change the world." There are no formal restrictions on the wish. We ask our winners to think big and to be creative. The goal is that it creates an incredible sense of excitement and common purpose. It inspires the TED community, and all those who hear about the wish, to offer their help in making the wish come true.

Three winners are chosen each year. They could be anyone with world-changing potential: inventors or entrepreneurs, designers or artists, visionaries or mavericks, story-tellers or persuaders. But they must be people who the judges believe have the ability to inspire others to do something great for the world.

Our new winners will announce their wishes at TED2008 in Monterey, on February 28, 2008, and their presentations will be released online to the world shortly afterward.

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 9:32 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

This week I have spent several hours undertaking site visits for potential investees. But it's not what you think. The investees are local non-profits and I am volunteering on behalf of a local engaged philanthropy organization.

It has been exhilirating to learn that all of the business skills I acquired while working in corporate America are completely transportable to the non-profit world. There are still Boards that need to be effective, there are still financials, there is still money to be raised, there are still issues with staff and, most importantly, there are clients to be delighted!

As I am driving home from one of the visits, I get a call from an old colleague. He tells me that he is quitting his job and going to work for a non-profit. He expresses the same thoughts that I have been having. It sure is good to go to work and feel like you did some good - like saving someone's life, giving them a second chance, making them stand tall.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 12:17 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (2)

One hundred thousand dollars in sales per week … 90% net margin … 90% repeat business … On an investment banking teaser, this company profile would have generated widespread interest among the investment community—had the core product not been crack cocaine. A large percentage of inmates come to prison as seasoned entrepreneurs, having run highly successful enterprises such as drug rings and gangs.

They know how to manage others to get things done. They are passionate, intelligent and willing to take risks. Even the most unsophisticated drug dealers inherently understand business concepts such as competition, profitability, risk management and the development of proprietary sales channels. What if these influential leaders ran legitimate companies.

So begins the blurb on a website of a truly amazing non-profit. Founded in 2004 in Harris County, Texas where more prisoners are released than any other county in the state, Prison Entrepreneurship Program (PEP) took a look at the problem:

One out of 15 individuals will serve time in prison during his/her lifetime. U.S. taxpayers spent $60 billion on corrections in 2002—up from $9 billion two decades earlier—making corrections the second-fastest growing government spending category after healthcare. More than 600,000 prisoners are released each year, with two-thirds returning to the criminal justice system for violating the law within two to three years.

Inmates are released with only the clothes on their backs, up to $100 and one-way bus tickets to the cities where they were convicted of their crimes. Contributing to recidivism statistics is the fact that former prisoners are repeatedly rejected by employers, public housing facilities, families and even churches.

That's where this novel PEP program gets involved. It offers:

In-prison Business Plan Competition (BPC)

Reintegration Services, including: Re-entry Services; Work Readiness Program; Executive Mentoring Program; Entrepreneurship School; Access to Financing.

The results have been incredible:

Worked with more than 250 inmates in two prisons; currently conducting sixth BPC, in which inmates create comprehensive business plans and present concepts to judging panels of nationwide executives. BPCs culminate in formal cap-and-gown graduation ceremonies.

Recruited more than 200 top-level business executives to participate in more than 20 prison events that had never before taken place behind bars, including venture capital panels.

Established partnerships with MBA programs at Harvard, Stanford, Cal-Berkeley, University of Texas at Austin, Rice University, the University of Dallas and Texas A&M Universities to provide weekly volunteer business plan advisory services for inmates.

Assisted two inmates in filing provisional patent applications with U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Maintain participant employment rate north of 93%, typically within one month of release.

Launched Entrepreneurship Schools in Dallas and Houston, and recruited more than 60 instructors, ranging from public company CEOs to venture capitalists.

Recruited and trained 60+ Executive Mentors, consistently maintaining a waiting list of executives desiring to coach participants.

Assisted 32 participants in the launch/operation of entrepreneurial businesses in industries including power washing, computer services, landscaping, catering and automotive repair.

Maintained a participant recidivism rate of less than 3%

With the cost of incarcerating a prisoner running $45,000 per year, this program makes so much sense. Congratulations to founder Catherine Rohr. You can listen to her story and also to several of her students here courtesy of Aflac.

Let's spread this amazing program nationwide. And let's start with California where in 5 years, if current spending rates continue, we will spend more on incarcerating inmates than educating college students. Something is terribly wrong with that statistic.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:10 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (2)

A friend sent this to me today. A video about a remarkable woman, an artist, who uses her talents to lessen the suffering of relatives of soliders who have lost their lives in Iraq.

Who says one person can't make a big difference?

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:26 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

Pierre and I have officially become engaged philanthropists. We joined the Dallas chapter of Social Venture Partners - a community of social entrepreneurs. From the SVP website:

SVP links community professionals and nonprofit organizations to make a hands-on difference. Social Venture Partners was the inspiration of former Aldus Corporation President Paul Brainerd. Additional founding members include technology industry leaders Scott Oki, Ida Cole, Bill Neukom and Doug and Maggie Walker. The vision of the founders was to build a philanthropic organization using a venture capital model, where Partners actively nurture their financial investments with guidance and resources. Social Venture Partners is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization dedicated to addressing social and environmental issues.... Each Partner commits to a annual capital contribution... for at least two years. As responsible investors, Partners have a genuine interest in providing whatever it takes to help bolster the success of every one of our Investees. Partner involvement ranges from hands-on work, such as setting up a website, to management support in the areas of finance, strategic planning, fund development, legal, marketing and more. Although Partners are not required to contribute time and expertise, over two-thirds do.

We are excited to assist with the many good (and pressing) causes in Dallas which are looking for business assistance as well as capital. I am already involved in a couple of the investees - one particularly that assists youth who have just aged out of foster care. They have the opportunity to receive free college tuition at the state's schools, but figuring out how to get the benefit, manage all of the housing, financial aid issues, and then successfully navigating through college when their secondary education has most usually been very disrupted, would be tough even for those from a privileged background, especially without the assistance of a parent or guardian. In addition, we attended the monthly luncheon and had the opportunity to hear Omar Jahwar, the director of Vision Regeneration, one of the DSVP's investees. Omar has found a way to be a positive voice to the gang members in the most disadvantaged areas of Dallas. Not only does he reach the leaders but he then recruits them to be leaders of the positive programs that Vision Regeneration offers. (Sound like a good guy to come speak in Sacramento so we could use some of his fabulous experience to solve our every growing problem that leaves so many of our young people dead or in jail?) His quote that still haunts me: "When good voices are silent, bad voices sound good." Omar knows how to work the streets, but he needs help in dotting the i's and crossing the t's when it comes to applying for and administering grants, setting up a board, financial accounting. That's where the volunteers from DSVP come in.

We are thrilled to be a part of it and excited to contribute whatever we can in terms of what we have learned from our long careers in the corporate world. And a great side benefit, we have begun to meet some generous, open-hearted, smart people whom, we are sure, will soon become our new friends in Dallas.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 9:30 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

Pierre forwarded me a link to Social Edge today and asked me to check it out. It has a wealth of information that I plan to monitor and report on over time, but one item caught my eye immediately. A two-week in-residence program at Santa Clara University where faculty and mentors will assist social entrepreneurs learn key business skills for managing sustainability and scalability. More than one hundred applied, and here are the 19 who were selected for the program. Some amazing, life-changing (even world-changing) ideas here. Who said being a social entrepreneur can't be just as exciting as a for-profit entrepreneur?

Caroline Nyami-Kisia AfriAfya, South Africa AfriAfya uses modern information communication technologies (ICT’s) to provide relevant, actionable health and development information to disadvantaged communities in rural areas and in urban informal settlements in Kenya.

Elizabeth Hausler
Build Change, United States/Indonesia
Build Change builds earthquake-resistant houses in developing countries and changes construction practices permanently so that homeowners in seismically active developing countries are safe and satisfied.

V. Balakrishna
Centre for Women’s Development and Research, India
The Centre for Women’s Development and Research provides education and training for poor women to help them become economically independent.

Kristina Shafer
Cleangold Mining in Surinam, Surinam
The Cleangold sluice is an inexpensive, safe, non-chemical alternative that quickly recovers finer gold than mercury, thereby increasing the miner’s income without the health risks mercury poses to miners, wildlife and communities.

Rahul Barkataky
CFM: Community Friendly Movement, India
CFM thrives to create a global market for handmade products made by artisan communities in India so that they are able to create employment opportunities for those who are dependent on handicrafts for their livelihood.

Tim Bauer
Envirofit International, United States/Philippines
Envirofit International provides new solutions to global challenges by implementing environmentally friendly technologies coupled with appropriate business models for the developing world.

Lalith Seneviratne
Flowing Currents Pvt. Ltd., Sri Lanka
Flowing Currents deploys gasifier-based, biomass conversion systems for small-scale power generation at the village level.

Carol Tappenden
GreaterGood, South Africa
GreaterGood facilitates innovative engagement and effective, responsible giving by providing the South African public, NPO, and business sectors with an easy access to social investment opportunities through their unique website, national call-to-action campaigns, and specialized social investment services.

Angelique Smit
Ideas at Work, Cambodia
Ideas at Work manufactures, sells, and leases a manual water lifting device, that is designed for low-income Cambodian villagers (primarily women and girls) who are looking to improve their quality of their life and lighten the burden of household water collection.

Wayan Vota
IESC Geekcorp, United States/Macedonia
IESC Geekcorp increases the profitability and efficiency of small and medium sized businesses in emerging markets, with its unique reserve of international technology experts who provide firm-level technology-focused technical assistance, creating a vibrant and innovative private sector.

Dan Matthews
Meridian Design, Inc., United States/Worldwide relief
Meridian Designs develops and sells portable water purification devices, which are innovative in their size, capabilities, and low cost-to-manufacture.

Mohammed Abba
Mobah Rural Horizons, Nigeria
Mobah Rural Horizons provides an electricity-free refrigeration system, which is simple to comprehend and operate by African villagers, very cost effective, and which can be sustainably manufactured and sold.

Ramesh Nibhoria
Nishant Bioenergy Pvt. Limited, India
Nishant Bioenergy created the innovative Biomass Stove, which is smoke free, does not require handling of ash, and is low-cost. Designed for rural, poor people, the Biomass Stove creates local employment and saves time for women, and thereby enables them to spend quality time with their family and/or earn extra income.

Ian Thorpe
Pump Aid, United Kingdom/Zimbabwe
Pump Aid developed a low-cost rope-and-washer, hand pump, which yields1 litre per second and provides safe, clean water for domestic purposes, as well as a surplus for agricultural activities.

Joachim Ezeji
Rural Africa Water Development Project (RAWDP), Nigeria
RAWDP improves access to safe drinking water through household water treatment technologies and other interventions.

Karen Piegorsch
Synergo, United States/Guatemala
Synergo provides ergonomic, practical, and sustainable solutions for artisans to improve productivity and product quality, thereby substantially increasing artisan earning potential while concurrently preventing serious damage to artisan health.

Satish Sompalli
THRIVE, Great Britain/India
THRIVE provides low-cost LED lighting systems, which are fail-proof, consume very low power, provide clean lighting, and do not emit any smoke. The systems are distributed in rural areas where electricity is scarce.

Gavin White
Video Volunteers, United States/India
Video Volunteers provides community media solutions, which are a platform for community voice and local development for millions of poor and marginalized communities in the developing world.

Ravi Krishna
1298, India
1298 is an organization working towards saving lives by increasing the availability and awareness of emergency medical services in rural India.

As the website says: This is a transformational program for people with the power and vision to change the world.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 7:51 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (1)

May is National Foster Care Month. California currently has almost 80,000 children and youth in foster care. For some kids getting moved into foster care saves their lives but for many more it is the beginning of a life that affords them poor educational experiences, minimal medical care, and no opportunity to bond with mentors or role models. The prognosis for children who have spent time in foster care is poor.

These kids deserve a quality education, proper preparation for employment and a permanent relationship with a caring adult. One way to do this is to become a Court Appointed Special Advocate for these kids. Believe me, you will get as much out of building a supportive relationship with a child in foster care and guiding their cases through the crowded juvenile court system as they do. All these years later I am still involved with my two CASA 'children' who are now on their way to adulthood knowing that they will always have a person to call when the chips are down.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 7:44 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

I am about to shop for shades for my windows and after reading the following, I instantly knew from whom I would buy - Hunter Douglas. Doing good things as a corporation will definitely bring customers to your door and keep them there! And congratulations also to Davis-based MicroCredit Enterprises CEO, Jonathan Lewis, who constantly finds innovative ways to help the world's poor.

HUNTER DOUGLAS FUNDS ENDOWMENT FOR MICROFINANCE SUSTAINABILITY MicroCredit Enterprises to Operate Fund; Donation to Assist the Estimated 1.1 Billion Desperately Poor People Davis, Calif. – April 24, 2007 – MicroCredit Enterprises, a leading not-for-profit venture that provides philanthropic guarantor-backed microloans to aid third-world poor, today announced the creation of the Hunter Douglas Endowment for Microfinance Sustainability. Thanks to a generous contribution from Hunter Douglas, the leading manufacturer and marketer of custom window coverings in North America, MicroCredit Enterprises can continue in its quest to reduce global poverty through self-help opportunities. The Hunter Douglas Endowment for Microfinance Sustainability is a liquidity account that underpins the MicroCredit Enterprises financial model, acting as a cushion to guarantors and lenders. The Hunter Douglas donation to the endowment will leverage $10 million in overseas microloans, providing food security for 500,000 poor people (60 percent of whom are children) on an annual basis and in perpetuity. Every penny benefits the program; no overhead costs are paid by the endowment. “This endowment represents a commitment to hope and opportunity that will make a significant difference in the lives of desperately poor people,” said Jonathan C. Lewis, Chief Executive Officer of MicroCredit. “Moreover, with a securely funded endowment in place, MicroCredit Enterprises can now attract more microloan guarantors” California-based MicroCredit Enterprises is an innovative, anti-poverty venture which leverages private capital to deliver tiny business loans to destitute people. To date, the venture has secured $20 million in guarantees for loans to aid the desperately poor in developing countries. MicroCredit Enterprises uses the collateral assets of individuals and institutions to borrow debt capital that is channeled through overseas, locally-run, non-governmental microfinance organizations. Marv Hopkins, Hunter Douglas Inc President and CEO said “Micofinance is a proven concept that is close to our entrepreneurial roots. Microcredit’s innovative approach opens up a new way for successful entrepreneurs in the first world, to support poor women entrepreneurs in the third world, and we regard this endowment as an opportunity to help jumpstart that process. It is a significant step in our company’s ongoing commitment to enhancing lives in the community at large and our belief that we are all neighbors on this small planet.” Microcredit Enterprises has developed an innovative concept, which enables private individuals and charitable institutions in the US to support the extension of loans to high quality microfinance institutions in developing countries, by becoming guarantors. Rather than making cash donations, guarantors pledge assets, on which they can continue to earn a return. About MicroCredit Enterprises Based in Davis, California, MicroCredit Enterprises is an innovative, not-for-profit, anti-poverty venture which leverages private capital to make tiny business loans to impoverished people, mostly women, in developing countries. MicroCredit Enterprises uses the collateral assets and personal guarantees of individuals and institutions to borrow debt capital in the United States that is channeled through overseas, locally-run, non-governmental microfinance organizations. The impoverished loan recipients generally have no credit history, no collateral and no formal education, but with microloans, they create and build home-based businesses. MicroCredit Enterprises’ economic development objective is to reverse the cycle of poverty in economically distressed countries using the tools of the marketplace to provide self-help opportunities to millions of impoverished women and their families. On the Net: http://www.mcenterprises.org About Hunter Douglas Hunter Douglas Inc. is a national sponsor of Habitat for Humanity, covering windows in every Habitat home built in the U.S. and Canada. Headquartered in Upper Saddle River N.J., the company is the leading manufacturer of custom window coverings in North America. For more information, contact Hunter Douglas at 1-800-274-2985 or visit: www.hunterdouglas.com.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

The Chronicle of Philanthropy carries an article written by Caroline Preston entitled, "Long Hours, Low Pay Turn Off Young Non-Profit Workers." Based on results from a survey, the article says that few of the young non-profit workers expect to spend their entire career working in the charity world. The turn off - long hours and low pay. The low pay is driving men and minority groups out of the field leading to a lack of diversity. This leads to charities paying women lower salaries for comparable work. They speak about sexism and racism and glass ceilings existing in what they had believed would be a more equitable part of the marketplace.

This is a sad commentary on an industry segment that has much need of bright, motivated employees.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 10:06 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (1)

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are at it again. Trying to help disadvantaged kids get an education. They have donated $122 million to send hundreds of Washington, D.C. kids to college.

More than 2,200 students will be provided mentoring and college scholarships of up to $10,000 per year for up to 5 years. The students will be picked from neighborhoods where only one in three students graduates from high school and only one in twenty earns a college degree within 5 years.

The first scholarships will be handed out this spring to 175 high school juniors. Students will be picked based on several criteria including 'resilience' and 'demonstrated commitment to education' along with their high school grades and standardized test scores.

Good for you Gates Foundation. You are going to change a lot of young peoples' lives forever.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 5:58 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

In memory of

Raymond D. Nasher

1921 - 2007

Father of Citizenship

Thank you for your generosity and gifts to our community.

You left a legacy and will not be forgotten.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

A restaurant in a Dallas suburb has found a way to help charities while helping itself. Spurred on by a customer who wanted to raise money for a favorite charity, they turned 15% of their food sales to the customer's charity one Tuesday night. The charity actively promoted the event, the restaurant gained additional customers that night (and maybe repeat customers in the future) and the charity got about $1000. Now, every Tuesday night is charity night at the restaurant.

It's a win for the restaurant and a win for the charity. Sounds like a great idea for Sacramento's bustling restaurant scene.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 2:07 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (1)

Students from many Sacramento high schools, Health Professions High School, Christian Brothers High School, El Camino Fundamental High School, Granite Bay High School, Highlands High School, Laguna Creek High School, Loretto High School, Pleasant Grove High School, San Juan High School and Sheldon High School, have been hard at work to support a program that pays for food and housing for Sacramento children who live in poverty - 17% of all of Sacramento's children. The students, along with area artists, are making bowls which will be sold at the Empty Bowls luncheon, which will be held on Tuesday, March 13th from 11-2PM at the Sacramento Masonic Temple, 1123 J Street. Attendees will make a donation of $25 and will be served soup (in one of the bowls) prepared by area restaurants - including Michelangelo's and Scott's Seafood.

Funds from the Empty Bowls event are used for food and emergency shelter services provided by River City Community Services (RCCS). Started in 1968 as a food closet, RCCS is a non-profit organization that provides nutritionally balanced food and emergency housing aid to anyone in need in Sacramento County. In 2006, RCCS provided food relief to over 24,000 people in nearly 12,000 households – 8,000 of whom were children. RCCS is the only Sacramento food outreach program that provides nutritional counseling in addition to food supplies.

A limited number of tickets to Empty Bowls will be available at the door. Advance tickets can be purchased online at or at four Sacramento retail locations: the Avid Reader, 1003 L Street; the Trinity Cathedral Bookshop, located at 26th and Capitol; and the TravelStore, located at 855 Howe Avenue, Suite 5, and at 7456 Foothills Blvd.

For more information, contact Eileen Thomas via telephone at 916-446-2627 x3001 or via email at rccsa@sbcglobal.net.

What a great community event for a great cause.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 5:33 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

Mark Cuban gets a bad rap. There are lots of complaints, chief among them that he is arrogant. But one thing I knew, he doesn't just put his money where his heart is, he puts his heart where his heart is!

At this week's Mavericks game, I watched Mark come to his usual courtside seat at the American Airlines Center. Moments later, a wheelchair entered the arena and was pushed to the back of Mark's section. And then ever so painfully a young man rose from the wheelchair and painfully inched his way to the seat next to Mark. As he approached, Mark reached out and hugged him. It was pretty obvious that this was a returning US soldier who had lost one or both of his legs in Iraq. There was no flash, no pubic announcement, it was just a simple act of recognition and honor.

OK, nothing will ever make up for the sacrifice that these young men have made and continue to make in this devastating mess called Iraq, but being invited by a billionaire to sit courtside at a major sports venue at least says in some simple way, "We see what has happened to you, we can never make it up to you, but we want you to know we won't ever forget you."

And for those who believe that if you are against the war (which I would surmise Mark Cuban is having hired Dan Rather to work for him) you must be against the troops - I guess this simple act should put that charge to rest.

Hey Mark Cuban might be lots of things, but he has a heart and he's not afraid to show it. Not just by sending checks, which I am sure he does, but by reaching out on a one-on-one basis.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 9:13 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

World Community Grid is encouraging individuals to contribute their idle PC time to assist humanitarian research.

World Community Grid uses grid technology to establish a permanent, flexible infrastructure that provides researchers with a readily available pool of computational power that can be used to solve problems plaguing humanity. Grid technology joins together many individual computers, creating a large system with massive computational power that far exceeds the power of a few supercomputers. Importantly, World Community Grid is easy and safe to use. The project is supported by the IBM Corporation and a group of 160 companies, associations, foundations and academic institutions.

Individuals simply download and install a free, small software program on their computers. When idle, your computers request data from World Community Grid’s server. Computers then perform computations using this data, send the results back to the server and prompt it for a new piece of work.

In its first year, World Community Grid ran the Human Proteome Folding Project, which provided scientists with data on how individual proteins within the human body affect human health, enabling them to develop new cures for diseases like lyme disease, malaria and tuberculosis. Scientists now have descriptions of 120,000 protein domains that are critical to human well-being; without the benefit of this free grid technology, it would have taken 5 years to get these results, compared with just 12 months on World Community Grid.

More recently, World Community Grid launched FightAIDS@Home. FightAIDS@Home, which is sponsored by The Scripps Research Institute, is using computational methods to identify new candidate drugs to block HIV protease, a key molecular structure that when blocked, stops the virus from maturing and thus is a way of avoiding the onset of AIDS and prolonging life.

Possible future projects will address global humanitarian issues, such as new and existing infectious disease research; genomic and disease research; and natural disasters and hunger.

Wow, I think that is amazingly cool. You can sign up here.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 4:43 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

My plan for 2007 is inspired by a card I received at Christmas from my friend Linda. I put it in a frame on my desk and look at it often. I think it's just about perfect.

Help a Stranger
Praise a Child
Light a Candle
Share your Love
Sing for Joy
Lend a Hand
Pray for Peace
Understand

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 2:44 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

If you are looking for ways to distinguish your company when it comes to hiring new employees, consider embracing this great new trend:

More U.S. Bosses Giving Workers Time Off To Volunteer Employees are looking for companies that value philanthropy.

By Virginie Montet, Agence France-Presse
Dec. 26, 2006 -- An increasing number of U.S. companies encourage employees to volunteer their time cleaning coastlines, handing out food for the poor and other charitable work as a means of boosting their image and doing their part for the community. "Everybody does it, every big law firm has one now, every manufacturer," said Arthur Brooks, a professor at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Public Affairs and author of "Who Really Cares," a book about charity in America. "Philanthropy is really motivated by trying to build a reputation in the community," he added.

The trend has become so popular that major companies are setting up special departments to coordinate volunteer work and are hiring "volunteer coordinators" or "directors of community relations." Employees who choose to take part in such programs are given time off in exchange.

IBM for its part has set up an online portal for employees and company retirees informing them of volunteer programs, which in some instances are beneficial to the company's image. Employees, for example, can download ready-made presentations to make at schools on such subjects as information technology or security on the Internet. "We marry our commitment to volunteerism and community service with our on-demand business strategy," said Diane Melley, director of IBM corporate community relations.

Volunteer work "takes this incredible wealth of talent that IBM has as a company and unleashes the power of all of those people to try to make a difference in their community around the world," Melley added. "It also enables our people to get the IBM brand out there and to spread some of our technology which is also very beneficial to the business."

Brooks said the phenomenon has become such that many companies can no longer afford not to engage in altruistic activities. "It's something they have to offer to highly educated employees," Brooks said. "To remain competitive, they have to do it."

Tim Riley, head of personnel at Forrester Research, a marketing firm that offers employees a day off for volunteer work, said he has noticed over the years that more and more people interviewing for a job ask whether the company has a volunteer program. "I think it reflects a shift in people, younger people that want to work in a company whose values are similar to their own," he said. Tammy Morreali, director of national community relations with PricewaterhouseCoopers, agrees. "It's a big priority for college students these days," she said.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2006

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 1:10 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

Warren Buffett is my hero. He always has been and always will be. My son Nathan and I met Warren ten years ago at a Coca Cola shareholders' meeting. Warren was on the Board of Directors for Coke. Nathan, twelve years old at the time, was a shareholder and decided to attend the meeting in Wilmington, Delaware, as he knew how crazy I was about Buffett. And I still am!

Nathan stuck out at the meeting, being the only minor in the room. After the meeting CEO Roberto Goizueta and Warren Buffett spoke privately with Nathan. The conversation made a big impact on my son (detailed story for a future post).

Move the clock forward ten years. In June of 2006, the second richest man in the world, Warren Buffett, donated $30.7 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This single act, the largest charitable contribution ever, is making a big impact on philanthropy. Buffett's donation sets the standard. More and more wealthy people are following Buffett's action - giving in large numbers.

Warren Buffett, you are my person of the year for 2006! Ten years ago you made a big impact on my son (now employed by a Wall Street firm), and you are making a huge impact on the world of philanthropy.

Thank you.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 3:17 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

Jane Hanson, millionaire mentor, money manager, entrepreneur, and former Goldman Sachs banker, has put together a network of 15,000 professional women. Featured in the current issue of Fortune Magazine, 85 Broads focuses on mentoring and coaching college undergraduates and business school students. The networking program has partnered with more than 40 MBA programs and 100 undergraduate programs. UCLA and UC Berkeley are partners, but amazingly enough the UC Davis Graduate School of Management, who's dean is female, is not a partner.

I want to change this. Gillian and Nicole get moving!

Check out this YouTube video on 85 Broads.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 3:14 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

My vote for Sacramentoan of the Year (the Decade) goes to Rhonda Erwin who singlehandedly works all of the hours of her life to give a voice to the troubled youth of Sacramento. She never ceases to amaze me. This is Sacramento's own Mother Theresa.

A couple of days ago, she reminds us that there are hundreds of kids lingering in Juvenile Hall, many of them with no family or friend support and that a small gift from someone in the community could teach them what being loved is all about. Maybe a book, a card, or something of small value could make all the difference in the lives of these troubled kids who are facing woeful futures.

As I have written previously, Pierre and I were given a chance to help a young adult boy who was in Juvenile Hall and we are strong believers that sometimes, and sadly too rarely, a small showing of support can change a young life for the better.

So back to Rhonda and her latest quest for the day. She writes:

Today I contacted Juvenile Hall facility to find out what wards need and can receive for the Christmas/ Holiday season.... MANY do not receive any visits, magazines, books... Please if you can donate books, magazines, crossword /scramble puzzles... (Bibles are available for the wards..I wish we could give personalized Bibles...but this idea just touched my heart and I don't think we will have time) The Chaplain mentioned how seeing youth (gang members) cry reading the Bible, young girls who are arrested after being on the streets (because they have no home...) these children need love and they need to see a community loving them.

I received many responses to the request for Christmas donations for the juvenile hall wards. AND I THANK each of you. Today I received a response that expands my heart. The family of 16yr-old September 22, 2006 murder victim Donte Walton emailed wanting to know where to drop off apples, oranges, baskets. The family has also offered to make baskets and wanted to know what type of books and magazines they can send. Donte's aunt wrote "it is really hard for me to get into the Christmas spirit this year with all that has happened to my family but I feel doing something anything to benefit someone in need would help me to move forward." ... This event is about more than showing love it will be about reaching out to educate, inform and doing so in the spirit of love. I previously mentioned I would like to make this an annual event. I would like the memory of Donte Walton to continue to live through giving. I would like the wards to know of the life and the tragic death of 16yr old Donte Walton. Perhaps through this families tragedy/suffering/heart a life will be saved, a life will be changed, a life will be affected. I didn't realize the family would receive the email and I would like to desperately make this event special for Donte, his family and all families who have lost a child as a result of youth violence.

Please contact Senior Chaplain Dan Thompson at 916-875-5050 or myself at 916-256-5975 for more information

Pierre and I are contributing. I hope many of you will also.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 3:27 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (3)

Pierre and I have written extensively about TED. Here's a reminder of the program from the TED website:

For the past 20 years, members of the TED community have gathered together to share ideas and passions that are big enough to change the world. In this spirit, we created... the TED Prize.

Each year we will honor a maximum of three individuals who have shown that they can, in some way, positively impact life on this planet.

We are looking for inventors and entrepreneurs, designers and artists, visionaries and mavericks, protectors and persuaders. Our goal is to honor and empower these people by connecting them to the formidable resources of the TED community. Our prize-winners may be very different, but they will have this in common: They will be doing something that has extraordinary potential. Something whose positive influence could spread, transcending borders. Something that can contribute to the future of life on earth.

Rather than simply receiving financial support, winners of the TED Prize will be granted something extraordinary: something which children dream about, but which adults assume is merely the stuff of fairy-tales.

They will be granted a WISH to change the world.

They may wish for anything. And we will seek to make their wish come true.

We will allow our winners several months in which to formulate their wish. We want them to think big, and we want them to fully understand the range of resources the TED Community may be able to offer them. We are willing to spend -- in hard cash -- $100,000 on each winner. And our goal is to convert this into received value that is an order of magnitude greater. How?

By connecting our winners into the heart of the TED community
By tapping into the enthusiastic support of our team of sponsors and partners
By working with our winners to deliver something creative and big and bold and wonderful.
The nominees themselves may or may not see themselves as world-changers. But it's our goal that the TED Prize will help them take their work to the next level.

So, with that background in mind, the 2007 winners have been announced.

1. James Nachtwey is one of the best-known and most highly regarded current photojournalists.... Nachtwey has devoted himself to documenting wars, conflicts and critical social issues. ...He is known for getting up close to his subjects, or as he says, "in the same intimate space that the subjects inhabit," and he passes that sense of closeness on to the viewer. In putting himself in the middle of conflict, James' intention is to record the truth, to document the struggles of humanity, and with this, to wake people up and stir them to action.

2. E. O. Wilson. One of the world's most distinguished scientists, E.O. Wilson is a university research professor and honorary curator in entomology at Harvard University. His most recent work has focused on drawing public attention to the impact human activity has had on life on the planet. ...he produced what may be his most important book, The Diversity of Life. In it he describes how an intricately interconnected natural system is threatened by a man-made biodiversity crisis he calls the "sixth extinction" — the most devastating trauma since the extinction event that laid waste the dinosaurs and other creatures 65 million years ago. In it he notes that the 1.5 million species named so far by scientists represent only a tiny fraction of the tens of millions that may be out there. Wilson's prediction that 30 percent to 50 percent of all species would be extinct by the middle of the 21st century was meant to provoke and it did. With the human population expected to reach 9-10bn by the end of the century and the planet in the middle of its sixth mass extinction — this time due to human activity — the next few years are critical in maintaining anything near the current level of biodiversity. Wilson believes, "The two major challenges for the 21st century are to improve the economic situation of the majority and save as much of the planet as we can."

3. President Bill Clinton. After leaving the White House, President Clinton established the William J. Clinton Foundation with the mission to strengthen the capacity of people in the United States and throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence. To achieve this, the Clinton Foundation is focused on four critical areas: health security, with an emphasis on HIV/AIDS; economic empowerment; leadership development and citizen service; and racial, ethnic and religious reconciliation. In September 2006, President Clinton hosted the second annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative, which is a non-partisan catalyst for action, bringing together a community of global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges, including poverty, climate change, global health, and religious and racial conflict. In its two years of existence, the Clinton Global Initaitive has generated over $10 billion in commitments to improve the lives of people living on 6 continents.

Pierre and I can't wait to see what amazing plans they bring back to the TED community and how the community responds. This is philanthropy at its best! We will keep you updated.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 7:04 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

A study by the National Endowment for the Arts measures the connection between engagement in the arts and civic participation. 51% of those who regularly visited art museums, plays or concerts did volunteer work compared to 19% who did not participate in the arts. Even those who read literature were more likely to volunteer (43% vs 16.4% for non-readers). In addition, arts participants are more likely to engage in outdoor activities such as camping, hiking and canoeing. Read: healthier lifestyle, less eventual drain on the community.

Bottom line: supporting the arts is a great way to get support back from the arts community.

Now, here's the scary part:

Literary reading among young adults dropped dramatically. In 1982, adults aged 18-34 had the highest reading rate among all adult categories. Today, they have the lowest rate among adults under 65. In addition, young adults' performing arts attendance is waning.

Seems like it would be a good thing if the arts organizations, supported by the local communities, work hard to get these young people involved given the very positive results of an engaged populace.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 8:36 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

Gillian has been a big proponent of Nicholas Negroponte and his One Laptop Per Child initiative (see her previous post). But Intel is a big skeptic. Why?

David Kirkpatrick writes in a Fortune Magazine, October 30, 2006 article "This PC Wants to Save the World":

Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child initiative is preparing to launch its dream machine. In early November, 5,000 test units are slated to start rolling off state-of-the-art production lines owned by OLPC partner Quanta computer of Taiwan, the world's largest maker of laptops.

These are big numbers. And they will grow. So where's Intel's beef? Apparently Intel's CEO Craig Barrett wrote a letter to Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo, objecting to their plans to buy the computers, claiming the laptop to be a "limited version of the modern PC". What's behind Barrett's concern? Perhaps it is the fact the laptop uses an AMD processor instead of an Intel processor?

This sounds like sour grapes to me. Intel should embrace the vision and not shoot down the program. What is so wrong with attempting to flatten our world and provide every schoolchild a laptop?

Intel, please work with Negroponte and help make his vision a reality. These are schoolchildren that the initiative is attempting to address, not shareholders' pockets.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 2:12 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (1)

Here's a good thing to get involved in. Pierre and I have enjoyed our times coaching the teams at the dry runs. Hanging out with smart, motivated young MBA students always gives back more than you invest. Try it. Here are the details:

UC Davis Graduate School of Management Presents...
The Seventh Annual Big Bang! Business Plan Competition Kickoff Event

Date: Wednesday, October 25th
Time: 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Location: Buehler Alumni & Visitors Center, UC Davis Campus Directions
RSVP By: Friday, October 20th Click here to register!

PLEASE JOIN US! The entire UC Davis and Sacramento area community—including faculty, students, staff, alumni, and local business people—are encouraged to attend. You will have the opportunity to interact with students, researchers and others interested in participating in the competition. Learn how you can get involved and boost your entrepreneurial spirit!

This FREE event will present you with all the details you need to participate in this year’s competition. We are pleased to present Michael Hart, CEO of Sierra Railways, as the keynote speaker for this year's Kickoff Event. In his speech, titled “Excitement of Entrepreneurship”, Mr. Hart will draw on anecdotes and examples from his own professional experience and reflect on his past involvement with the Big Bang! Business Plan Competition.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER... Michael G. Hart serves as President and CEO of the Sierra Railroad Company. Sierra, founded in 1897, is California's oldest independently owned railroad. Since Mr. Hart's acquisition of Sierra, it is now the parent company for a number of subsidiaries that provide freight operations, passenger and tourism operations, dinner train operations, film and television services, railroad constructions services, and renewable energy development.

Visit the Big Bang! web site for more information about the competition!

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 3:04 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

The conference provides a forum to network with senior leadership from business, finance, government, academia, philanthropic, and news media organizations. California state policy issues to be discussed include: budget concerns, energy, environment, job creation, home prices, immigration and infrastructure.

The mission of the Milken Institute is to "improve the lives and economic conditions of diverse populations in the U.S. and around the world by helping business and public policy leaders identify and implement innovative ideas for creating broad-based prosperity".

Click here to register.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 5:28 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

A request that Sacramento Executive publicize a worthy new local foundation with a mission to provide additional funds to ensure K-8 students get superior programs in Science, Technology and the Arts. If you can provide any funding or support, this seems like a great way to help stem the tide locally of what my esteemed husband calls the dumbing down of America.

Science, Technology & the ARtS (STARS) San Juan Education Foundation

An independent, non-profit community organization

Our Mission
Support and advance excellent education for all students in the San Juan Unified School District through a partnership with parents, educators, business and the community. STARS will mobilize funds from a variety of sources to benefit superior programs in science, technology and the arts.

Our Vision
Students in the San Juan Unified School District will receive an outstanding education in science, technology and the arts that will inspire a love of learning, help them to reach their intellectual potential and prepare them to lead in our quickly-changing global economy.

Our Foundation
STARS acts as a bridge linking our community with San Juan Schools. We realize that government funding alone is no longer enough for the high-quality education we all want for our children. We believe that strong public schools are the pillars of our community, and community investment in San Juan education benefits not only our students, but the community itself.

Although we work closely with the district and schools, we are a separate, volunteer-based charitable entity. The Foundation is a nonprofit 501 (c) (3) corporation and all donations made to it are tax deductible. STARS is joining more than 500 public education foundations already in the state that are helping to maintain quality education in their communities

Who We Are
Our board is made up of leaders from the community, business and education with business expertise, knowledge of our community’s resources, dedication and the creativity necessary for a fresh approach to achieving our mission. The district superintendent and two school board trustees are non-voting members of the STARS board. Our board is committed to the highest level of financial stewardship as we use our resources for maximum benefit directly to the schools and students we serve.

Programs
STARS will assist the district in identifying, enhancing and funding superior programs in:
· Performing arts
· Visual arts
· Music
· Science
· Technology

Innovative Learning Grants
Starting this January, the Foundation’s Innovating Learning Grant Program will award up to $1,000 to each school for 2006/07 to enhance science, technology and/or the arts. More information will be coming soon.

STARS-Sponsored Programs
STARS will coordinate and fund specific enhancement programs in our focus areas for every K-12 San Juan school beginning in the 2007/08 school year. Candidates for STARS-sponsored programs will be evaluated this school year for implementation next year.

Please Contact Us
We’re just getting started and we’d love to hear from you. If you have any questions, ideas or concerns, please let us know.

Science, Technology & the ARtS
San Juan Education Foundation
P.O. Box 1247
Carmichael, CA 95609-1247

Message Line (916) 971-7103

Website (after October 2nd ) STARSsanjuan.org

E-mail Joy Wake, co-chair, at echopeak@comcast.net

We plan to invite them to the next Sacramento Executive event in January so you can learn more, but if they raise a certain amount of funds prior to December 31, 2006 there are matching funds available, so act soon. Check your companies matching program also - a good way to give more.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 1:16 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

Two days ago I posted "Ten Reasons Why We Should Care About Poverty". The post was intended to get the juices flowing and thoughts moving on poverty. Poverty alleviation is one of four of the Clinton Global Initiatives.

The ten reasons are the basis for existence of Jonathan Lewis's MicroCredit Enterprise, a non-profit micro-financing company. MicroCredit Enterprises believes "ending savage poverty is both the right thing to do and in everyone's self-interest." This conviction is shared by the Clinton Global Initiative team.

What exactly is micro-financing? According to MicroCredit Enterprise -

MicroCredit Enterprises, a 501(c)(3) IRS non-profit organization (approval pending), is an innovative, anti-poverty venture which leverages private capital to make tiny business loans to people, mostly women, in developing countries who are living in extreme poverty. The impoverished loan recipients generally have no credit history, no collateral and no formal education, but with microloans they create and build home-based businesses.

MicroCredit Enterprises leverages the collateral assets of individuals and institutions to borrow debt capital in the United States which is channeled through overseas, locally-run, non-governmental microfinance organizations in order to make thousands of tiny business loans to local entrepreneurs. MicroCredit Enterprises' reverses the cycle of poverty in economically distressed countries using the tools of the marketplace to provide self-help opportunities to millions of impoverished women and their families.

Micro-financing, the MicroCredit Enterprise way, is a noble cause. The Sacramento Executive supports this cause.

As we watched the events of last week's Clinton Global Initiative unfold, I was pleased to see the Standard Chartered Bank in association with its partner ACCION International pledge $500,000,000 in micro-loans for entrepreneurs in Africa and Asia. The pledge will benefit 4 million people over a five-year period. This is a bold step forward in alleviating poverty.

Thank you Bill Clinton. Thank you Jonathan Lewis.

As I predicted earlier, philanthropy will be on a role for the next two decades. Micro-financing will be too. I have a dream - with the likes of Bill, Jonathan and others we can eradicate poverty.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 5:47 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

The billionaires' philanthropy march continues. At President Clinton's recent Global Initiative Conference, Sir. Richard Branson, of Virgin Group (Airlines, Music, etc.) fame, stepped up to a donation of all profits from his transportation businesses over 10 years to combat global warming — profits that he estimated would reach $3B. Yes, that was a B for billion. The $7.3B total pledged at this year's conference swamped last year's $2B.

Google’s billionaire founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, pledged free advertising on their search engine to any nonprofit group or charity that made a commitment through the Clinton Global Initiative.

Even Laura Bush was there to announce Play Pumps, a partnership aimed at bringing clean drinking water to communities in sub-Saharan Africa.

And the beat goes on. An amazing feat by an ex-President who brought together a non-partisan field of world leaders to create creative and far-reaching programs to better the world. He looks like he has found his niche and might give Jimmy Carter a run for his money on being the most productive President in solving world problems after leaving office. Too bad the press paid much more attention to his run in with Fox News reporter Chris Wallace and the length (or lack thereof) of Clinton's socks during the interview. It shows how divided we are and how sensationalism trumps real news. Personally, I am really sick of it and I don't think I am alone.

United we stand, divided we fall.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 9:17 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

The 2006 Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative will begin on September 20th. This effort, in only its second year, has already resulted in 300 commitments valued at more than $2.5B. For three days each September,

the initiative brings together some of the world’s best minds and most distinguished problem solvers to identify immediate, practical solutions

You can stay abreast of what's happening in real time starting on the 20th.

You can also check out the latest issue of Fortune magazine:

The power of philanthropy
Bill Gates has the money. But no one motivates people and moves mountains like Bill Clinton. He's even got Rupert Murdoch onboard. A look at how the former President has borrowed from the business world to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa and other scourges.

Replace your light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs.

Buy or rent a hybrid car.

Install solar water heaters or solar electric panels at your home or office.

Buy a flex-fuel car and fill your tank with ethanol.

Buy energy-efficient appliances.

Update your company’s energy management system with smart metering.

Ask your utility how to buy clean, renewable power.

Walk, bike or carpool to work.

Donate to organizations that install renewable energy systems in developing countries.

Invest in a clean energy fund.

Calculate your carbon footprint, reduce your energy use and then offset the rest with investments in clean energy.

Demand action from your elected officials on climate change..

Gates, Buffet, Clinton and the Google founders. All putting their personal spin on philanthropy. This is getting very, very interesting,

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 8:50 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

First, it was Bill Gates. Then add the considerable fortune of Warren Buffett. And now the Google founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, are weighing in. They have set up an organization and seeded it with $1B in capital and provided a mandate to work on solving issues involving poverty, disease and global warming. But as you would imagine, Page and Brin, as they often do, have provided a twist to the model. The organization they have set up is not a non-profit, but a for-profit.

This model, they believe, will allow the organization to fund startups, partner with venture capitalists, and even undertake political lobbying -something that a non-profit cannot do. Rumor has it that the first project will be to fund a highly fuel-efficient hybrid. The goal is produce a hybrid that will obtain gas mileage of more than 100 miles per gallon.

Are we entering a whole new era where we will look to the exceedingly wealthy, not governments, to fund cures for global problems? And will this result in more creative thinking and more nimble implementation? Let's hope so because if there was ever a time the world needed some new blood and large brains cells, this, in my book, is it.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 1:24 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, titans of America's commerce scene, are now titans of America's culture scene. Bill and Warren's greatness in business has now migrated to greatness in their philanthropic endeavors. They are trend setters. Philanthropy has always existed, just not on the level of Gates and Buffett. I suspect these two moguls have no idea what is about to happen as a result of their actions. Philanthropy will be the "in thing" for the next two decades.

Successful people take action. Successful people have passion. And the truly successful people help others succeed.

Last night I was fortunate to see action and passion in a man who I had never heard of until two weeks ago. A man who's parents immigrated to Boston from Russia and Germany. A man, in spite of his humble beginnings, who managed to attend Boston University and Duke University, and set off to Dallas to make his mark. 85 years old, this man has made his mark, building his fortune through real estate. Along the way he and his wife Patsy assembled perhaps the greatest private sculture collection in the world.

So great is this man's passion that he built two world class museums to house his collection - one at Duke University which opened last October and the second in Dallas.

Ray Nasher - a man of passion and action. Ray's philosophy is simple - a combination of commerce and culture makes a city better and stronger. Commerce and culture have a significant positive economic impact on a city. I am convinced Ray is right.

We should all have the passion, action and philosophy of Ray Nasher.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 5:32 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

The Kauffman Foundation, New York Times and Inc. Magazine have joined forces to co-sponsor EntrepreneurshipWeek USA.

From February 24 to March 3, 2007, entrepreneurs, educators, community leaders and young people across the US will celebrate the power of entrepreneurship and ignite the nation’s consciousness about the importance of being entrepreneurial. EntrepreneurshipWeek USA offers a tremendous opportunity to engage and encourage the next generation of entrepreneurs. The initiative will enhance on-going interest and provide an educational kick-start for the uninitiated, serving as an inspiration for young people to begin a journey to fulfill their potential as self-starters and entrepreneurs.

According to the Kauffman Foundation, the focus of EntrepreneurshipWeek USA is

to inspire, educate and prepare young people, primarily ages 14 to 25, to be America's next great entrepreneurs and innovators. With the theme,"What's Your Big Idea? Take it On!" the initiative is designed to serve as an inspiration for young people to think creatively and to turn their ideas into action - whether that means starting a new business, developing an innovation for an existing company or solving a problem that makes society better.

Let's get involved and support this effort.

Read more about EntreprenuershipWeek USA.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 5:46 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

The conference provides a forum to network with senior leadership from business, finance, government, academia, philanthropic, and news media organizations. California state policy issues to be discussed include: budget concerns, energy, environment, job creation, home prices, immigration and infrastructure.

The mission of the Milken Institute is to "improve the lives and economic conditions of diverse populations in the U.S. and around the world by helping business and public policy leaders identify and implement innovative ideas for creating broad-based prosperity".

Click here to register.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 5:36 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

Remember Michael Milken – the media scrooge of Wall Street during the 1970’s and 1980’s? What happened to Michael after his fall from Drexel Burnham Lambert in 1989? Michael Milken paid dearly - $200 million fine and twenty-two months in prison. What has he been doing since his release from prison? A lot.

He co-founded the Milken Family Foundation, renowned for teacher recognition – the foundation has recognized 2,100 K-12 teachers and principals with $54 million in National Educator Awards.

He established Faster Cures, an “action” tank dedicated to accelerating cures for life-threatening diseases.

He created the Prostate Cancer Foundation, whose competitive research grants to some 1,200 projects worldwide make it the world's largest philanthropic source of funds for prostate cancer research.

He’s been on the cover of Business Week where his quest for cancer cure was featured.

He’s been on the cover of Fortune Magazine under the headline The Man Who Changed Medicine.

He founded the Milken Institute with “a mandate to step outside the box and find new ways to create jobs and generate capital for entrepreneurs both locally and globally.”

The Milken Institute recently published a report on barriers to entrepreneurship. The findings of the authors, James Barth, Glenn Yago and Betsy Zeidman are startling –

A close look at the breakdown of distribution of business ownership by race, gender and ethnicity reveals significant imbalances. Women, for example, are under-represented as majority owners of firms, and the under-representation increases as one goes up the ladder. Much the same can be said of Hispanics, who account for 13.5 percent of the population, but just 7 percent of firms and less than 1 percent of revenues. African-Americans account for 12.4 percent of the population, but only 5 percent of firms and less than 1 percent of revenues. By contrast, for Asian-Americans, the percentages of firm employees and receipts are in approximate parity to the group's percentage of the population as a whole, and they own a share of firm numbers higher than their share of population.

What’s going on here? What are the true barriers and what can be done to tear down the barriers? The report attempts to answer these questions. This is very insightful research.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 8:47 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

A great breakthrough in producing laptops that one day could be provided to every child in the world. See previous blog
The last (and hardest) hurdle that had to be overcome to meet the $100 price point was how to make a cheaper screen. So, One Laptop Per Child founder Nicholas Negroponte hired Mary Lou Jepsen, display guru, away from her job as chief technology officer in Intel’s display division to become CTO at OLPC. And Jepsen has more than met expectations.

She claims to have developed a screen with a display that can be easily mass-produced in standard LCD factories, costs one-third of the price of traditional screens, has a higher resolution than 95 percent of the laptop displays on the market today, uses about one-seventh of traditional power consumption, and can be read in sunlight or room light without backlighting. Wow...amazing.

Here is the full interview with Jepsen conducted by Eric Lundquist for eweek.com

So, does the passion necessary to solve social issues make us stretch to solve the 'impossible?"

And how does this impact the 'traditional' display makers? Seems like they will be hardpressed to keep the cost of screens at their 'traditional' price levels now!

Ms. Jepsen, I am in awe!

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 8:15 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

According to the pioneering research of Harvard Business School professor Toby Stuart, successful entrepreneurs need to build strong social networks. Stuart lays out his findings in a paper titled "Social Networks and Entrepreneurship" (co-authored with Olav Sorensen). The paper was published in the Handbook of Entrepreneurship (edited by Olav Sorenson, Rajshree Agarwal and Sharon Alverez. Kluwer Academic Publishing, 2004).

In a press release by the Kauffman Foundation:

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Aug. 14, 2006) - To be a successful entrepreneur, the people you know are as important as your ideas, according to the winner of the 2007 Ewing Marion Kauffman Prize Medal for Distinguished Research in Entrepreneurship.

The Kauffman Foundation awarded the Kauffman Prize Medal to Toby Stuart on Aug. 14, 2006, at the Academy of Management annual meeting in Atlanta. Stuart is a professor at the Harvard Business School. Previously, he was the Arthur J. Samberg Professor at Columbia Business School and prior to that, the Fred Steingraber-A.T. Kearney Professor at The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

Stuart received the Medal for his pioneering research into social networks and their effects on entrepreneurship. His work points to the dynamics of networking and proves that successful entrepreneurs need more than good ideas and intelligence. They also need to be perceived positively in their networks.

"As an organizational sociologist, my research shows how social and industrial networks shape fundamental individual and firm outcomes in technology-intensive industries. Many of the core elements of the entrepreneurial process are dependent on the individual or firm's positions in a social network," said Stuart.

The Sacramento Executive publishers agree with Stuart's findings. Networking is key. The Sacramento Executive was created and exists with this sole mission - to link executives to the vital resources to be successful.

Speaking of networking - remember to sign up for the next Sacramento Executive event on September 20 at Lomo's. To register, click here.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

By now everyone knows what Warren Buffett did.The world's second richest person endowed the world's richest person's foundation - The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with a multi-billion dollar gift. The Gates Foundation addresses two key global issues - education and health.

Buffett's actions should encourage other mega-wealthy people to do the same thing. Who in Sacramento will do it the Warren Buffett way?

This is my dream - Sacramento pools its vast resources to create an entrepreneurship foundation patterned after the Kauffman Foundation. Ewing Marion Kauffman, founder of Kansas City based Marion Laboratories, Inc., created the Kauffman Foundation to help young people with disadvantaged backgrounds. The foundation with an asset base of $2 billion fosters education and entrepreneurship.

What's wrong with my dream? Sacramento can do it. Let's put a foundation together the Warren Buffett way.

Any takers? The Sacramento Executive stands ready to work with the community to make it happen.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 5:30 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

The TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference is an annual event where leading thinkers and doers gather for inspiration.

We have previously featured (via Podcast) the presentation that Tim Robbins and Sir. Ken Robinson made at the conference. Now we are pleased to recommend to you podcasts of the presentations of the three 2006 TEDPrize winners: Larry Brilliant, Cameron Sinclair and Jehane Noujaim. Not only does each TEDPrize winner receive $100,000 and a stunning trophy, but they receive something truly remarkable - one wish to change the world. They each have six months to prepare their wish and then the TED community helps to make each come true.

Easier said than done, you imagine. But the TED community is truly made up of the 'leading thinkers and doers' and it's going to be amazing watching what this 'community' can accomplish.

Watch these important podcasts and we will keep you updated on the wishes and their implementation progress. And to give you a flavor of the wishes that might emenate from this distinguished group of winners:

Larry Brilliant is an epidemiologist who led the successful WHO campaign to eradicate Smallpox. He was recently named Executive Director of the Google Foundation.

Jehane Noujaim is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, responsible for Control Room and Startup.com.

Cameron Sinclair is founder of Architecture for Humanity, and author of Design Like You Give A Damn: Architectural Responses to Humanitarian Crises In this presentation.

As Margaret Meade so aptly said: 'Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has'.

And thank you BMW for underwriting the free distribution of these amazing speeches.

Stay tuned.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (1)

Heartwarming story arrived as a press release today.

SACRAMENTO -- Teacher's Assistant Desirae Zine Starts out as a Bystander in Transitional Skills Training Class, and Learns Essential Skills for College and Career

When Will C. Woods High School Business Department teacher Dr. Edward Murphy won a Teacher of the Year Award from Wal-Mart in 2005, he didn't spend his prize money on a vacation or a new, big-screen TV. He invested the money in his students by purchasing The Job Journey transitional skills training program.

Dr. Murphy taught The Job Journey as part of his business class curriculum. Dr. Murphy's teacher's aide for the class was Desirae Zine, a senior and star golfer at Woods High School.

On Zine's first day in the class, Barbara Dwyer, CEO and creator of The Job Journey, was guest teaching. Dwyer called on Zine for an interactive role-play. Zine participated, but felt unprepared if called on in future classes. As teacher's aide, Zine was not required to complete the coursework, but she studied the materials and completed the worksheets as homework.

Along with completing The Job Journey coursework, Zine practiced the skills she learned in class, including goal-setting, communication, leadership, problem-solving, and teamwork, all necessary to succeed in interviews and on the job. Zine also identified her strengths and her interests and defined her college and career path.

When offered a golf scholarship, Zine turned it down, stating that she didn't want to fall behind academically because of golf. Instead, she applied for academic scholarships through the Vacaville Rotary and the Boosters Clubs through her school's career center.

On May 18, 2006, Desirae Zine was awarded the William J. Carroll Memorial Scholarship by the Vacaville Rotary. On May 24, Desirae Zine was also awarded the Rachel Davis Memorial Scholarship at the senior scholarship awards ceremony at Woods High School. She credits The Job Journey with her readiness for the application and interview process. "I felt prepared because of what I had practiced in The Job Journey," recalls Zine.

After her graduation from high school in June, Desirae Zine will be the first member of her family to attend college. She plans to attend Sacramento State University and study business and criminal justice or forensic science.

"Too many students of this generation are leaving school alarmingly unprepared to begin their lives as young adults," says Ms. Dwyer. "Schools and businesses are beginning to wake up to this fact. Schools such as Will C. Woods High School are moving forward by offering soft skills training to their students, giving these young people a chance to learn essential advanced communication skills, to set goals and achieve them, and to be remarkably successful and competitive in the workplace."

About Vacaville Rotary
Chartered in 1944, the Rotary Club of Vacaville has nearly 120 members. While many Rotarians are in business, the club does not exist to promote trade between its members. Rotary's motto is "Service above self." Our club is part of the world's largest service organization, Rotary International, which supports 1.2 million members in 168 countries, on every continent. Rotary is a truly diverse organization, having admitted women since the 1980's. The club actively seeks members from varied cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

The Job Journey (www.TheJobJourney.org) is a Sacramento, California-based organization that helps prepare students to transition into the world of work. The intense and highly interactive career preparation program is offered as a turnkey solution for schools and youth service programs, or as an independent-study package of DVDs with accompanying study materials. The Job Journey is produced by a uniquely qualified and highly motivated team of human relations, communications, and education professionals with a diverse and comprehensive skill set and a passion for their audience. "Changing a generation by turning young adults into young professionals."

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 7:54 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

Carlos Slim Helu, the fourth wealthiest person in the world (according to Forbes Magazine) and the "Warren Buffet of Latin America" comments on corporate philanthropy:

I've always said the better off you are, the more responsibility you have for helping others. Just as I think it's important to run companies well, with a close eye to the bottom line, I think you have to use your entrepreneurial experience to make corporate philanthropy effective.

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 9:20 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

Big Bang business competition finals are scheduled for 6-8 PM on Wednesday, May 17, at the UC Davis Activities and Recreation Center. Please plan to attend and support this student led initiative.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 9:08 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

Here's a chance to create a buzz among your friends and/or colleagues, build a stronger team, and do something good for a worthwhile organization...how much better can it get?

Explorit Science Center invites you and a team to join the fun for the 15th annual Corporate Science Challenge!

What is the Corporate Science Challenge? Imagine over 40 teams from regional businesses and organizations cheering as they vie for the title of "champions" by answering questions in a fast-paced science quiz game. This unique event benefits Explorit Science Center and supports high-quality science education programs for children, families and adults in the greater Sacramento region.

It's your team's chance to build spirit among employees and clients, beat the pants off your corporate competitors, mingle with political and business leaders and have a blast in support of science education. Your team members will talk about this event all year long!

The event takes place Thursday, October 5th at Freeborn Hall on the UC Davis campus. An elegant dinner and silent auction round out the fun-filled evening. Plus this year's theme - Viva Las Vegas - promises some entertaining twists.

Sign up by April 30 to lock in the early bird sponsorship rates. We can invoice any time you specify between May and August. Pledge a Gold or Silver Sponsorship to receive premier seating, bonus publicity and other special perks.

Contact Suzanne at (530) 756-0191 or suzanne@explorit.org for additional information. Maybe we could get a Sacramento Executive team going???

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 1:28 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

This great event to benefit Sierra Adoption Services will be held on Saturday night. There's still time to grab some last minute tickets, have a wonderful evening, and benefit a very deserving charity. I hear there are some super silent auction items also, courtesy of the hard work of Senior Partner Dave Cohen's wife. And the food is under the superb direction of the Supper Club, so it is sure to be top notch.

Give Sejal Ojha of Cohen¨Durrett a call at 916-361-8797. And if you can't make the event, ask her about sponsorsing her upcoming marathon run on behalf of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 8:44 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

The Kauffman Foundation, the foremost champion of entrepreneurism, has chosen to feature the Sacramento Entrepreneurship Academy on its giving back to entrepreneurism website. This is a great honor to those who have worked so hard over the past 20 years to found and grow this truly amazing Sacramento institution.

To the founder, local real estate developer Jim Corbett, the author writes:

Your personal story serves as an inspiration to others who wish to share their time, talent and money to help the next generation of entrepreneurs, whether it be as a teacher, mentor, or board member to other entrepreneurs.

The Sacramento Entrepreneurship Academy will hold its annual showcase event on April 6th. Come check out this unique organization and learn how you can be a part of giving back to the new generation of Sacramento entrepreneurs.

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 9:10 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

This is the unedited version of the article I wrote on behalf of the Sacramento Angels for the Sacramento Bee's insert in the February 3, 2006 edition in celebration of the SARTA Technology Index Luncheon.

On Wednesday, I attended the monthly dinner meeting of the Sacramento Angels, an angel investment group. Two companies made appealing investor-focused presentations and then the Angel members began their usual questioning. How big is your market? How did you measure it? Tell me about any successful exits your team has had? When are you going to be breakeven? What’s your exit strategy? What percentage of the company equity will this round buy? Will any part of this investment go to retire old debt? What is your distribution strategy? Lots of preliminary decisions to invest or not invest are made solely on the answers to these rapid-fire questions.

Continue reading "What Kind of Angel Are You?" »

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 12:39 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (1)

Cohen¨Durrett, LLP and The Supper Club will host the third annual Have a Heart for Children to benefit Sierra Adoption Services on March 25, 2006 at the Scottish Rite Temple. In its third year, this unique evening demonstrates how two local businesses can come together and have a huge impact in the lives of local children. “We are grateful to The Supper Club for joining us in our endeavor to help children waiting to be adopted. We think the food alone will be a real draw…and the evening will be a lot of fun”, says Dave Cohen.

Sierra Adoption Services serves children who are harder-to-place; children with tragic histories of abuse, neglect and abandonment. Since 1983, Sierra Adoption Services has found permanent homes for over 1,000 children. Over the past two years Have a Heart for Children has raised enough money to help place 8 children in a new, loving home. The goal for 2006 is to place 6 more children in forever homes.

For just $50 per person you can help. You will enjoy an evening of camaraderie, delicious food, entertainment, and a chance to bid on auction items including trips, golf and other sporting and civic tickets, artwork, wine, and much, much more. You may wish to donation auctions items as well.

To make a donation or to purchase tickets please contact Sejal Ojha at Cohen¨Durrett at 916-361-8797.

Sejal Ojha
Cohen Durrett, LLP

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 3:42 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

In October 2005, I joined a Rotaplast International mission to India. The Mission of Rotaplast International is to provide free reconstructive surgery and treatment for underprivileged children worldwide, to provide education, and to advance research in the prevention of cleft lip and palate. Part 1 can be read here and Part 2 can be read here.

Saturday – Day 5
Another heavy schedule lies ahead. An early breakfast is in order. We have asked for the kitchen to provide scrambled eggs supplementing the usual menu. A very Indian version is forthcoming, which some people actually find quite appetizing. The team members who brought peanut butter and packages of instant oatmeal are very much in favor as breakfast partners. These staples, accompanied by toast and the wonderful little local bananas have become the breakfast of choice for most. Sandi, an attorney in real life, but Medical Records Keeper for this mission, has brought a coffee press with Peete’s coffee beans much to some of our envy.

We are transported daily by 5 SUVs that run a constant morning and evening shuttle between the hotel and the hospital. We have learned that the most admired drivers in India beep the loudest and squeeze through almost imperceptible gaps between trucks, cows, goats, dogs and people, all at top speed. Sitting in the front passenger seat is not a big favorite for our team.

Continue reading "Rotaplast Trip to India (Part 3)" »

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 1:14 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

Forty years ago this month, PRIDE Industries was founded by parents of young adults with disabilities in the basement of a church in Auburn, CA. They hoped to provide a place for their children to learn skills that would allow them to become independent.

Today, PRIDE has 3,300 employees, making them the largest employer of people with disabilities in America. PRIDE generates $100M in annual revenues.

You can download the current annual report that contains a 40-year retrospective on their website.

A fabulous example of how ordinary people can make an enormous difference. Congratulations PRIDE.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 10:28 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

D.E.V.O.(Department of Enology and Viticulture Organization), a UC Davis student organization, that focuses on getting students to wine tastings, meeting important people in the wine industry and having some fun along the way has a novel fundraising idea. The funds are needed to support a planned educational immersion trip to Spain and Portugal this spring for 16 students, half undergraduates and half graduate students, along with one of their professors.

The fundraiser is a raffle. The novel part is that the prizes consist of some very interesting, old wines generously donated from the UC Davis cellar, along with some Spanish wines, and various others. Tickets are $1 each. The drawing will be held on March 15.

For a list of the wines and how to buy tickets, visit their website. Pierre and I are in... How about you guys?

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 6:00 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

In October 2005, I joined a Rotaplast International mission to India. The Mission of Rotaplast International is to provide free reconstructive surgery and treatment for underprivileged children worldwide, to provide education, and to advance research in the prevention of cleft lip and palate. Part 1 can be read here.

Thursday – Day 3

Today the real work begins. The opening day clinic is held where potential patients come from far and wide to be evaluated and ultimately accepted or rejected for treatment. A huge line forms outside the hospital, ranging from young to old, from minor to massive medical issues. Stations positioned for the most optimal patient traffic flow. Many of the team has experience gained from multiple previous Rotaplast and other international medical missions, others are brand new. Many of the younger team members have never had an opportunity to see many of the conditions that will present. The line of patients begins to wind its way through each of the stations, registration, pediatrics, anesthesia, surgery, dental, photo identification leading to an overall evaluation as to their suitability for surgery. Sweet faces of little children marred by obvious facial deformities and the parents who cannot speak our language but are literally begging with their huge eyes to help their precious child.

Continue reading "Rotaplast Trip to India (Part 2)" »

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 3:47 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it? | Comments (1)

Let’s imagine that we could make the Internet accessible to millions of children around the world. Let’s imagine how that would change the world as we know it. Frankly, I don’t think I can imagine the entire impact that it would have, it’s just too vast, but it would certainly be one of those giant steps that the world takes every 50 years or so. An amazing non-profit organization, One Laptop per Child (OLPC) created by faculty members from the MIT Media Lab, and led by Nicholas Negroponte announced, in January of this year, a goal to design, manufacture, and distribute laptops that are sufficiently inexpensive to provide every child in the world access to knowledge and modern forms of education. The laptops would be sold to governments and issued to children by schools on a basis of one laptop per child. These machines would be rugged, Linux-based, and so energy efficient that hand-cranking alone could generate sufficient power for operation. Mesh networking would give many machines Internet access from one connection. The pricing goal would start near $100 and then steadily decrease. What a goal!

Continue reading "Imagine One Laptop Per Child - Sacramento Challenge" »

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 1:25 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

Sacramento's Community Service Planning Council released a draft of the "10-year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness" in November. This draft document sets forth conceptual strategies to address chronic homelessness in Sacramento over the next ten years. The Council is soliciting county residents for feedback and suggestions on the plan. Click here for more information.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 2:01 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

In October 2005, I joined a Rotaplast International mission to India. The Mission of Rotaplast International is to provide free reconstructive surgery and treatment for underprivileged children worldwide, to provide education, and to advance research in the prevention of cleft lip and palate. The goal of Rotaplast International is to eliminate the incidence of untreated cleft lips and palates in children worldwide by the year 2025.

The trip I joined was supported by local Rotary Clubs primarily from Sacramento and West Sacramento with local housing costs being provided by the Karaikal, India Rotary Club. I was privileged to join this trip and will chronicle my trip in segments over the next few days.

Continue reading "Rotaplast trip to India" »

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 4:26 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

As reported today by Todd Milbourn in the Sacramento Bee, the Folsom Campus of Intel Corporation has raised more than $1.5M this year for the local chapter of United Way. The corporation matched employee donations. Many local charities will be the recipients of these donations, which have increased 45% this year.

That's what's called a Good Sacramento Corporate Citizen. Let's attract more!

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Gillian Parrillo at 2:40 PM | Permalink | Can you digg it?

With the holiday season upon us it is worth a reminder - Beware Of Charity Scams!!!!

We have all heard the horror stories over and over about charitable people being taken advantage of by the evil charity scamming organizations during the holiday season. Charity Navigator's article published after the Katrina disaster remains apropos and is worth reading. A summary of the main points are:

1. Do not respond to solicitations over email.
2. Be attentive to unsolicited emails and attachments.
3. Be skeptical of Hurricane Rita and Katrina websites.
4. Be leery of people that contact you online and claim to be victims of this summer's hurricanes.

Charity Navigator has a great tool for rating charities, both locally and nationally. The methodology for rating the more than 4000 charities in their database can be found at this website. According to Charity Navigator, of the 22 local Sacramento charities rated, two organizations have earned the coveted four-star rating - Friends of the River and Planning and Conservation League Foundation.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Can you digg it?