Mr. Van Ajemian, Attorney and Social Entrepreneur
Attorney Van Ajemian is learning to be a social entrepreneur, preferring to work with innovative concepts and programs, like SAGE, as a means to improve the lot of humankind. Ajemian spends much of his working day drafting documents for nonprofit organizations, even editing the SAGE MANUAL OF BUSINESS IDEAS AND BEST PRACTICES.
Ajemian, a graduate of the UCLA School of Law, writes occasionally about concepts to democratize democracy in the United States. He believes that youth have greater potential to become assets to their communities, even before high-school graduation, than adults generally believe. He sees a need for each individual to learn and practice self-reliance to the extent possible, because of inherent limits to humans managing large systems, like national governments, effectively. He is supportive of SAGE because he sees the program as a needed experiment by which we will learn whether individual self reliance mixed with codependence in a small community would be optimal with regard to job security, health, emergency preparedness, sustainable communities, and a sustainable planet.
Ajemian has interned on Capitol Hill and in Sacramento, California. His avocation is foreign languages, and he likes to optimize his time by reading American classics in other languages, as when he read GRAPES OF WRATH in Spanish. Occasionally, he will play Bach’s “Invention No. 13″ without too bad a mistake or too long a pause.
Mr. Jerr Boschee, Founder Executive Director, The Institute for Social Entrepreneurs
Jerr Boschee has spent the past 30 years as an advisor to social entrepreneurs in the United States and abroad. To date he has delivered seminars or conducted workshops in 42 states and 15 countries and has long been recognized as one of the founders of the social enterprise movement worldwide. The NonProfit Times named him to its 2004, 2005 and 2006 nonprofit sector “Power & Influence Top 50″ lists.
Mr. Boschee is Executive Director of The Institute for Social Entrepreneurs, which he created in 1999, and is Chair and CEO of Encore! Service Corps International, a nonprofit he co-founded in 2003 to re-deploy former Peace Corps Volunteers and staff members on short-term assignments in their areas of professional expertise. He also served from 2001 to 2004 as an advisor to England’s Department of Trade and Industry Social Enterprise Unit.
Mr. Boschee helped start The National Center for Social Entrepreneurs in 1984 and served as President and CEO from 1990 to 1999. He has also been the catalyst and co-founder of The Forum for Nonprofit Leadership (1987); The Affirmative Business Alliance of North America (1989), currently known as the Americas Group of Workability International; The National Gathering for Social Entrepreneurs (1997), now known as the Social Enterprise Alliance; and many other organizations. The Alliance and the Gathering were the first two membership organizations created for entrepreneurs in the field of social enterprise. In addition, he has been a guest lecturer at academic institutions such as the University of Oxford (Said School of Business), the University of Cambridge (Judge School of Management), Carnegie Mellon University (H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy & Management), Northwestern University (Kellogg School of Management), Duke University, Stanford University, University of Minnesota (Carlson School of Management), and many others.
The Institute for Social Entrepreneurs provides seminars, workshops and consulting services for nonprofit entrepreneurs throughout the United States and draws on a virtual community of social entrepreneurs and others to collaborate on specific projects. Mr. Boschee is also continuing to partner with individuals and organizations to foster social entrepreneurship around the world; his work thus far has taken him to England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Switzerland, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Russia, Ukraine, India, Japan and Ghana.
During the past 40 years, Mr. Boschee has also been an executive for a Fortune 100 company, an executive for both regional and national nonprofits, managing editor for a chain of newspapers, a Peace Corps Volunteer, and a frequent writer, speaker and trainer in the social service and public policy arenas. He is currently Board Chair for SAGE (“Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship”) and is a member of the advisory committee for the Economic Opportunity Institute of the National Urban League; the national advisory councils for the Social Enterprise Alliance and the National Peace Corps Association; the adjunct faculty at The School for Social Entrepreneurs (London, England);and the Practice Advisory Council for the National Center on Nonprofit Enterprise.Mr. Boschee has three grown children and one grandchild. He and his wife, Linda Ball, live in Dallas, Texas.
Mr. Ed Byers, Principal, DeloitteTouche
Ed Byers is Principal with Deloitte’s Enterprise Risk Services practice in San Francisco. With over 13 years of experience at Deloitte, Ed has served numerous internal audit and consulting clients. He currently leads Deloitte’s Risk and Control practice for its Northern Pacific Region. His experiences include financial audit, internal audit, business process and IT reviews, SAS 70′s, developing and implementing IT systems, managing large scale system and data conversions, and developing and implementing quality assurance practices. Prior to joining Deloitte Ed worked for the State of California, IBM, and Procter and Gamble.
Dr. Richard N. Davis, Ph. D.
Richard Davis is Professor Emeritus, College of Business, at Chico State University. One of his primary interests in teaching and in practice has been entrepreneurship and small business management.
Dr. Davis served as Director of the Small Business Center and Director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at CSU, Chico. He was also Director of The Small Business Institute, overseeing more than 400 consulting projects with Northern California businesses. He designed the College of Business’ first course in small business management and entrepreneurship.
Dr. Davis served as a business consultant with the United States Agency for International Development and the United Nations in Africa and Southeast Asia. He currently serves as one of seven board members for SAGEGLOBAL, an international, non-profit organization whose mission is to expand Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE) program throughout the world.
Mr. Lauren Elliott, CEO & Founder, the PNN (Personal News Network)
Lauren Elliott is a pioneering game designer in the video game industry. With the development of the Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego series, he helped pioneer the Edutainment industry. He also founded the free Social network service and Blogsite, PNN.com and best selling author of 23 original computer software titles with over 30 million copies of work in circulation — including the Carmen Sandiego software game series from Brøderbund. Winner of over 50 awards in originality and lifetime sales categories, Lauren is also the founder and creative developer of several software development, Internet and book publishing companies.
Dr. Al Konuwa, Ph.D.
Alfred B. Konuwa, DPA, is the Vice President for Academic and Student Services at Woodland Community College
Fax: 530-666-9028
In 1981, Dr. Konuwa immigrated to the United States from Liberia, West Africa, where he served as the youngest Deputy Director of Civil Service from 1978-1981 while also teaching at the University of Liberia. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Liberia, master’s degrees in economics and public administration from California State University at Sacramento and a doctorate degree in public administration with a specialization in public finance and public policy from the University of Southern California. Currently, Dr. Konuwa is the Chair of the Business Department at Butte College.
Butte College SIFE’s flagship program from 1997-2000, Youth Entrepreneurship Camps, gave students broad-based opportunities to Learn how to identify and meet market needs and teaches technology, organizational skills, communication and ethics. All participants, including mentors, had the opportunity to earn one unit of college credit. Mentors were required to maintain correspondence with the children after the completion of the camp.
More than 100 college mentors taught more than 400 children in six northern California cities. At the conclusion of instruction, each student operated a business at fairs, malls or in the stores of one of Butte SIFE’s sponsors. In 2001, the program was expanded to
Botswana, in conjunction with an effort to establish a SIFE Team at the University of Botswana.
In 2000, Dr. Konuwa was chosen from nearly 100 national entries to receive the Leavey Award for Excellence in Private Enterprise Education and a $7500 cash prize from the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge (PA). The Leavey Awards recognize educators for their innovative approach to teaching elementary, junior high school, high school and college students about the free enterprise system.
Ms. Rieva Lesonsky, Entrepreneur and Business Woman
Prior to starting her own business, Rieva Lesonsky was senior vice president and editorial director of Entrepreneur Media Inc., which includes Entrepreneur magazine and numerous media brand extensions such as Entrepeneur.com, BizStartUps.com, Entrepreneur Mexico and Entrepreneur’s Be Your Own Boss. Each month, millions of established and aspiring entrepreneurs turn to Entrepreneur Media for the advice, guidance and inspiration generated by Rieva and her staff.
Rieva co-authored the books Start Your Own Business, Young Millionaires and 303 Marketing Tips and wrote Get Smart.
Rieva served on the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) National Advisory Council for six years. The SBA also honored her as a Small Business Media Advocate and a Woman in Business Advocate. For five consecutive years, she was named one of the Top 100 Most Influential Journalists by Business News Reporter. A nationally recognized speaker and expert on small business and entrepreneurship, Rieva has appeared on numerous national TV programs, including Good Morning America and Oprah. She can be heard regularly on The Dolan’s with Ken and Daria Dolan over the WOR Radio Network.
Rieva holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, Columbia. She is listed in Who’s Who in America.
During her 19-year association with Entrepreneur Media, Rieva served in various editorial and management capacities. Prior to joining Entrepreneur Media, Rieva’s career included research positions for a major Los Angeles publishing corporation, as well as at Doubleday & Co. in New York City.
Mr. Joseph Pedott, Owner, JEI Enterprises
Joseph Pedott was born April 14, 1932 in San Francisco. He attended the University of Illinois, where he and friend Daryl Peters, began the advertising company, Pedott & Peters. They successfully began producing commercials for automotive and retail companies and made a large amount of money by the time they reached the age of twenty-one. After making a bad business investment the partners focused on completing college. They began building up the company upon graduation.
Pedott & Peters worked together for several years before deciding to dissolve the partnership. Pedott then began working for R. Jack Scott, a Chicago advertising agency. Pedott worked for Scott for just over two years and during that time, out-performed those with more experience in the advertising field. Pedott left Chicago for San Francisco in 1956. He worked briefly at a small firm on commission before forming his own agency, Joseph Pedott Advertising & Marketing. Pedott’s firm was innovative in advertising techniques. The company was the first to use “dealer tagging,” a technique used at the ends of television commercials. During the last five seconds of the commercial consumers would learn where the advertised item could be purchased.
While attending a Chicago house wares show Pedott noticed the Chia Pet. He spoke with the product owner and learned that while the product was selling well, the owner was losing money on every Chia sold. Pedott bought the name and concept and reworked the manufacturing of the product after a trip to Mexico to witness first hand how the Chias were made. Pedott created a new company, Joseph Enterprises, Inc., (JEI) to manufacture the Chias. Joseph Pedott Advertising ran the advertising campaigns for all of JEI’s products while continuing to work for non JEI clients.
After improving the quality of the product, the “new” Chia arrived on the market in 1982 and quickly expanded throughout the country, sold largely at drugstores. Today, the Chia Pet has large name recognition among the American public and continues to be a popular gift, especially at Christmas time. The line has expanded beyond the original ram and bull shapes to include a variety of animals (pig, elephant, kitten, dinosaur, etc.) as well as famous cultural icons such as Jerry Garcia, Bugs Bunny and various Looney Tunes characters, and Homer and Bart Simpson. In addition, the Chia Herb Garden entered the market in the mid-1990s.
Pedott’s other success, the Clapper, came about through the advertising campaign for the Great American Turn On. Pedott discovered that the original product did not work properly and felt the owners were cheating their customers. JEI bought the product, including the patent, and reworked the electrical wiring to ensure that the company was selling a high quality product. As with the Chia Pet, The Clapper and its advertising, like the Chia, are familiar to a large number of Americans.
Allison Steltzner, General Manager and National Sales Director for Steltzner Vineyards
Richard Steltzner established his first Stags Leap District Vineyards in 1965 while concurrently engaging in vineyards management. Steltzner Vineyards’ first commercial release was in 1977, and the Steltzner Family established their own modest facility in 1983, with a 3,000 case capacity here in the Stags Leap District.
In 1989, Dick & Christine Steltzner began the expansion of their winery with a 710 foot underground storage tunnel, which has allowed increased volume as well as enhancing the quality and characteristics of wine storage. In 1992, the expansion was completed with a Mediterranean style structure providing a new laboratory, special event room, offices and reception area for winery visitors.
Today at Steltzner Vineyards you will find Dick’s children working with him to carry on his legacy here in the Napa Valley. Allison Steltzner began working with her father full-time in 2002 after completing her Bachelor of Sciences Degree at Chico State, majoring in business administration, with a minor in marketing. Allison is uniquely suited for her post as General Manager and National Sales Director for Steltzner Vineyards. Today, she is joined by Justin, as the second generation Steltzner family to work full time in the winery. Justin carries on his father’s farming traditions and works side by side with Dick to manage the ranch and produce optimal fruit from our estate. Their sister Laura makes her home in Casablanca, Morocco with her fiancee working in the cosmetics business.
Mary Ginno, Entrepreneur
Mary is an entrepreneur and business woman who lives in Chico, CA. She has owned and operated a cheese factory in Paradise, CA; she also is active in the real estate business in Northern California.