Dr. Helene Gayle is the president and CEO of CARE, a humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. Out of all the passionate professionals interviewed on the 2007 Pursue the Passion tour, Dr. Gayle could easily be the most distinguished. Formerly the director of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s HIV, TB and Reproductive Health program, Dr. Gayle bring to CARE over two decades of experience, working in the global fight against HIV/AIDS, TB, and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Using what she has learned from posts at the Center for Disease Control, where she oversaw an annual budget of over $1 billion, and the Gates Foundation, where she oversaw over $1.5 billion in grants, Dr. Gayle now sets her sights on CARE’s target: extreme global poverty.

Although Dr, Gayle did her undergraduate studies in psychology, she ultimately entered medical school because it gave her a “broader way to influence peoples lives.” After medical school, Dr. Gayle continued to earn her Masters in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins University, because she saw the M.P.H. as a marriage between the medical world she aspired to enter, and the people’s lives upon which she hoped to impact. Dr. Gayle is incredibly humble about her
accomplishment, saying that she doesn’t “see [herself] as a pioneer until after the fact.” She strives, above all, to live a life that is very “fulfilling,” but also “makes a contribution.”

Under the incredibly adept leadership of Dr. Gayle, CARE continues its mission to make the world a better place, for even those often forgotten by much of society. For more information, and to see how you can help, please visit: www.care.org.

John Powers, founder of the Alliance for Sustainable Colorado, recognizes the extent to which Earth is in danger. Fear of overwhelming odds, however, does not imbue, in John, the apathy, towards natures, so prevalent in American society. In an age where Green Building has become a talking point in American politics, John is doing, and has done, a lot more than talking. The Alliance’s largest accomplishment, a renovated warehouse built in 1907, lies 18 blocks from the state capitol in downtown Denver, and houses numerous non-profits that share John’s commitment to green business.

The building is a symbol of more than John’s commitment to the environment. It is the permanent home of many non-profits, groups that often notoriously lack the financial stability to inhabit quality office space. In giving these groups a place, and a place to be proud of, John has also inspired a sense of community. This community, or alliance, works to eliminate the concept of special interests, hoping to place a larger scale environmental movement in everyone’s interest. Having been inspired by the strong sense of heritage in European communities, John hopes to instill, in his community, the same reverence for the past, in hopes of inspiring expectation and hope for the future. “You gotta protect this stuff,” John says of Earth’s natural resources, “Not because it’s worth money, but because it lets us live.”

Tommy Spalding, CEO of Up With People, almost went to trade school, because dyslexia left him at the bottom of his class, barely graduating high school. Two months after seeing Up With People, at his high school during his senior year, Tommy was traveling the globe with the group, destined to, 20 years later, take the reins of the organization. In his two years as CEO, Tommy has overseen an organization that takes students around the world, places them in home stays, does community service, and opens the eyes of people around the globe to the power of community service.

“Leadership is about how you react to failure,” says Tommy, who has seen his share of success and failure. One of Tommy’s most important leadership philosophies pertains to the American connotation of ‘community service,’ which is handed out in courtrooms across the nation. “If we’re going to build a great America,” Tommy warns, “it’s really about building an America of ownership, where community service is what you do when you do something right.”

Another vital piece of Tommy’s leadership is not how, but rather where, leading Up With People to not only developed nations, but also to emerging nations so in need of the inspiration Up With People offers. “If we want to be a truly relevant global program,” says Tommy, “we need to take our students to relevant places around the globe.”

Scott Hatley, founder of the non-profit Incight, is wheelchair-bound due to muscular dystrophy. That did not stop him, however, from graduating from the University of Portland, in 2001, and immediately starting his company, which offers employment and educational opportunities to people with disabilities. Scott was inspired by his summers spent at the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s summer camps. Scott realized that camp was the best part of the year for many of his friends, who did not otherwise envision themselves as normal people, with normal opportunities.

Scott’s success is incredible. Incight is currently supporting 70 disabled scholars, in their college career track program. These students receive not only financial support, but also the support of mentors, and internship programs; all of this is intended to help people overcome, what Scott calls, their “handicrap.” This is the term coined to describe all of the excuses and self-imposed barriers and limitations many disabled people must confront, if they are to find their way in the world. Really, it is applicable to every person, who must overcome insecurity and fear, and just go after what they love.

Darius Monsef IV, founder of the creative color design resource colourlovers.com, has lived and worked all over the world; he is 25 years old. Feeling restless with the peaks and valleys of the freelance design world, Darius decided his life needed to change. After the tsunami struck Thailand in December of 2004, Darius attempted to volunteer in the tsunami disaster area. As an unskilled worker, he was not allowed a position. Not a man to be told what he can and cannot do, Darius bought an open-ended ticket to Thailand, and started the non-profit Hands on Disaster Response, an organization that places unskilled volunteers in disaster areas. This organization has since provided relief in Biloxi, Mississippi, after hurricane Katrina, and in the Philippines. All in all, Darius spent 11 months, out of two years, working in disaster areas.

A compassionate man, Darius speaks of the fragility of life, and how experiencing that fragility hands-on, has inspired him to follow his heart. “Why live for Friday, Saturday and Sunday? Find something that makes you love every day.”

Colourlovers, Darius’ current main focus, has nearly 20,000 members and 500,000 page hits a month. Even away from the non-profit world, Darius is rabidly building a community, to someday take “design trends out of the boardroom,” and put them in the hand of the people. When asked what he would tell his 22 year-old self, Darius says, “Regret nothing. If I hadn’t made every mistake and weathered the lows, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

KIVA.org is a company that needs little introduction. A micro-financing operation based out of a humble San Francisco office, KIVA.org has grown in a single year from a four-person company with little investment a year ago, to a company with more money than it knows what to do with today. This is a problem, but for co-founder Matthew Flannery, this problem is at least on the better end of the spectrum.

After a premature midlife crisis at 22, Matt spent 4 years working in a job he did not enjoy, but learned from immensely. His entrepreneurial spirit brought him to Los Angeles, and what followed were a series of failed ideas, ranging from DVD vending machines, to a personal online clothing rental service.

Matt’s passion for KIVA comes out of his love for his wife, through her love for Africa. What started as a social entrepreneurship program in Uganda, has now become a service for developing nations all over the world. But even an idea as sound as the one behind KIVA is not invincible; at many points the company seemed on the brink of disaster. National exposure, however, from the New York Times and PBS, has catapulted KIVA to levels of what seems to be socially entrepreneurial stardom.

Visit KIVA.org today, and see how you can personally fund dreams across any divide.

At first glance, Cathy Anderson hardly appears capable of a furtive takeover of a company, yet that is precisely what she did. In 1997, upset with what she calls “ethical issues” in the San Diego chamber of commerce, Cathy moved the San Diego Film Commission, the organization she still heads, literally in the middle of the night. Through coordination with her fellow employees, who were also perturbed by issues of ethics, Cathy managed to secretively make autonomous a government funded organization, and neither she, nor her employees, ever missed a paycheck.

After graduating from college with degrees in film and theater, Cathy became quickly disillusioned with the meager compensation offered to the regular folks who tread among the stars. She left the industry to teach, but thanks to the support of her husband, who insisted she do what she love. This led her to a volunteer position with the film commission, from which she established herself as an invaluable leader.

She advises that only through communication was she able to earn the trust to take control in 1997, and suggests that all aspiring leaders focus on their communicative abilities. San Diego is lucky to have Cathy, and the $80 million dollars left in their community last year alone, by film, print and television crews capturing the beauty of what lies south of Hollywood.

Amanda Latimore looks like a model, which is not surprising considering she used to be one. To write her off, however, as just another pretty face, would be a dreadful miscalculation. A graduate of the University of Tampa, Amanda is doing research in Long Beach as an epidemiologist, but her life does not consist of white lab coats and microscope slides. Amanda’s background is in the social sciences, and she is using that background to help gain a better understanding of the habits of marginalized populations.

What is so admirable about Amanda’s work is that she dares to tread in areas that many consider taboo, even in the United States government. Her work largely pertains to people outside of the normal scope of everyday life. This includes sex workers, the homeless, and those suffering from the diseases related to HIV and AIDS. Amanda is an excellent source of perspective. She personally interacts everyday with people who struggle to survive, and therefore she is able to contextualize the problems she faces in her life.

Soon to be starting a coveted graduate program at Johns Hopkins University, Amanda will surely be on the cutting edge of social understanding for many years to come.

An aside:

If you think you’re having a bad day, here’s something to keep you grounded. One day a client of Amanda’s walked in her office and told her what had just happened. This woman told Amanda that during the morning, her son had been taken away by Social Services. Hours later, her house was repossessed. As she wandered down the street, she was mugged and stabbed in the neck with an ice pick. Then she went to Amanda to tell her about it.

Make you feel like you don’t have it so bad? Sure makes me think twice.

I received an email from Jonna Sotelo, a real estate agent that had come across what we were doing, and referred me to her sister, Nicole, for a possible interview in Chicago. In my exchange with Nicole I learned a few things from our correspondence.

1) She was passionate for making a difference through striving for women’s equality within the Catholic church.

2) At age 28, she recently was coming off a battle with cancer.

3) She graduated from Harvard with a full tuition scholarship.

Needless to say, it was enough to get our attention, and little did I know that this brief description hardly scratched the surface.

Read the full interview »

When we walked into the Chicago Housing Authority headquarters we wondered if we were in the right place. The unassuming security guard, who questioned the validity of my Arizona driver’s license, didn’t seem to fit what I had imagined of the organization that is single handedly changing the face of public housing in Chicago. But after meeting Rayne Martin a few minutes later, I began to realize that public service is only made possible by people with a passion for making a difference.

Read the full interview »