There’s a concept of the Matthew Effect which uses math to illustrate what folks have lamented about for thousands of years – the rich get richer while the poor get poorer. Take tech for example – the rich and poor often have different problems, but because it’s more profitable to solve problems for the wealthy a disproportionate share of tech innovation focuses on solving problems for the affluent. However, it doesn’t have to be this way – and we have been blown away by the thousands of members of our community who have devoted their lives through their businesses, organizations and art to serve the underserved.

Torre Escott

As a Cleveland Native I remember what the city looked like when industrial market was at its peak and factories were booming. Once the factories began closing the City of Cleveland began an instant decline and never recovered. Many families were unable to adjust to the shift due to lack of education, training and resources which in turn led to high foreclosure rates, abandoned homes and homelessness. Today Cuyahoga County has 1..2 million abandoned, foreclosed and un-rehabbed properties. Read more>>

Marissa Aden

I’m incredibly passionate about showcasing all kinds and colors of love in my photography work. For a long time, the wedding industry has been saturated with portrayals of straight, white couples — there hasn’t been a diverse representation of what love actually looks like. You can go on Pinterest and type in “wedding inspiration,” and the majority of what you’ll see are photos of straight, white couples. My goal is to change this! For me, if just one person/couple can see themselves in my work and feel that they are seen, that’s enough for me. Read more>>

Jim Anthony

Serving others is a bit of a cliche, however we do some interesting things to make it real and tangible. 1. We have developed best practice protocols to address the huge increase in death and distress that is occurring around us in the workplace. Example: www.jimflink.com and a manual that we are still developing. To our knowledge no one has ever done this before to directly face down grief and distress. Read more>>

Adeola Lawal

I founded a 501(c)(3) organization called The Children’s Gift Foundation (CGF) in 2017 to provide underserved youth with new school supplies, basic necessities, and educational resources. We deliver items such as snacks, apparel, books, and personal essentials to schools and other nonprofits. In addition, we partner with organizations to host interactive learning experiences for students. Read more>>

Brielle Wright

We are serving underserved farmers and youth in rural communities in NC. We have started with talking to our famers and youth in our home town. We have had the opportunity aid farmers with increasing their agritourisim, grant funding, and engaging them with organizations that support farmers. We have also been able to work with organizations like Bread for the World, NC A&T, and Farm Bureau to create agriculture experiences for black and brown farmers and youth. Some of those experiences include conferences, farm tours, opportunities for advocacy, and more. Read more>>

H. Bello

As a Nigerian and African American in the United States, I’ve really been blessed to have lived in two countries thus far in my lifetime. Outside of just being exposed nationally, I believe it enabled me to gain varying perspectives across cultures, religions, governments, businesses, standards of living, family, love and so much more. I attribute all of this to as part of why I’m able to empathize and relate more with underserved groups. Read more>>

Vicki Casteal

For the last 20 years, I have spent my life supporting others in need. In need of an education, finding their purpose, belonging, making a way when others doubted their abilities. I am a former Intellectual Disabilities Teacher ( commonly known as Special Needs Teacher.) I absolutely loved my job, my students and my parents. We are to this day, Family. The greatest struggle for me was the underline question that I asked myself at the end of everyday, “Did I do enough?” I created a classroom environment that was different then others. Teaching them strategies to survive and thrive after they graduated from high school was my ultimate goal. How could I teach them to be as independent as possible, while showing others that they could. Read more>>