This past week I traveled to San Francisco, CA; Las Vegas, NV; and Atlanta, GA meeting with a series of truly remarkable people in three great cities. I thought I might take this space this week to share what a typical week looks like for me as I routinely crisscross the country seeing incredible things take place. Follow me on this adventure... In San Francisco, I had the privilege of a meeting with the founder of One Warm Coat, Sherri Wood, to discuss partnership opportunities between OWC and Surgance. OWC has now delivered over one million coats around the country to cold people in urban centers and been featured by Good Morning America, The Tyra Banks Show and others. But as Sherri shared the story with me, it is about more than just an act of mercy. It is a story of meeting a need, but also helping all of us find time in our busy lives to "do good" and give back as a lifestyle. She inspired me to do more. Speaking of giving back, I also met with Mike Ennis of Impact Resource Development who was in the Bay Area to work with the city of Oakland and various nonprofits seeking to develop their capacity to provide social services and work on issues of justice for those in need. Mike is a true "pro's pro" that brings incredible value to the organizations and cities he works with. He gave me several nuggets of information and wise counsel to build on as we grow the ability of Surgance to deliver community transformation. I also spent time with Dr. Allan Karr, PhD a professor, pastor and social entrepreneur leading efforts to bring mercy and compassion to the many refugees and immigrants that come to the United States each year with enormous needs. The work he does as a volunteer leader for Surgance is truly remarkable given his hectic and very busy schedule. We discussed the expansion strategy for this work. In Las Vegas I met with Cynthia Martin and Barry Diamond to follow up with the work that Allan and I had been planning. Cynthia and Barry lead local grassroots efforts to serve refugees in Las Vegas and are interested in multiplying their efforts through or in partnership with Surgance. It was a spirited discussion with several people passionate about making a difference for the better. I left encouraged and with a new friend and mentor in Barry. Peter Blue of Evident Productions, Eric Hoenigmann (a network engineer with CenturyLink), Dana and Shagufta Brown and I met to discuss a communications strategy to harvest and share the many, many stories of life change that are happening with Surgance programs and projects around the world. Peter and Eric have added enormous value to Surgance providing a road map for growth in public relations and communications, and Shagufta is a new volunteer with a tremendous skill set working to compile, edit and produce the stories coming in from everywhere. You will soon see the fruit of her labor. On top of these highlights, there were an additional 4 or 5 sessions with other community leaders, staff or key volunteers before I caught a flight back to Atlanta for a weekend with my family and then more meetings! The bottom line is that everything we are doing, including the connections we make, points toward community transformation and life change. Join us on this trip... brian AUDIA
President and CEO
Surgance, Inc.
Uncommon Partners. Common Ground. Changing Lives.
www.surgance.com <http://www.surgance.com/>
702.468.4637 cell
702.309.SURG (7874) office
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