In Place Impact

At In Place Impact, we find immense reward in empowering individuals to reach their aspirations. By nurturing these dreams, we pave the way for a sustainable future for them, their families, and the communities they call home. Our free classes cater to a diverse audience, including grade schools, universities, community members, veterans, and individuals within correctional facilities. We have had over 1,000 people take our free classes, and we receive requests from many more. Thankfully, the classes are starting to be replicated across America, and the world. There is no silver bullet to success for hashtag #impactentrepreneurs, but this anonymous, 3-minute self assessment tool can help identify initial strengths and weaknesses, and possibly help people focus on what they need to work on. Initially built for students at College of Charleston, this tool is now available to everyone. We hope it helps. https://lnkd.in/dBQknvSE #Dreams #Empowerment #CommunityImpact

Many thanks to those of you who have called and written to me on how I impacted your life while you were a student at CofC. Additionally, I would also like to thank those who have written and called in the hope that I was not stopping the work I have done in the community for so long. To be clear, the free evening classes for Vets, community residents, and at the prison, will continue. Through those classes I have helped hundreds of people achieve their dreams, and that will continue. That leaves students. Having played a pivotal role in making #charlestonsc a globally recognized hub of #impactentrepreneurship, and having helped students for over 11-years, that is not going to stop. I walked away from a total lack of respect and from being taken for granted, not from the students. Since announcing that I walked away from CofC, I have been approached by numerous educational institutions to join them. The approach that grabbed my attention was from a globally recognized brand/family asking if I would design a new kind of school. The cost and worth of a four-year #college #education in the #usa is quite rightly under a microscope. One only has to look at the amount of time spent in class as a percentage of the number of hours in a working year; the number of class hours dedicated to a "major"; and the cost per hour related to obtaining a degree and a "major", and it is plain to see that: A) Way more time and money is spent on classes that the majority of students have to take but do not want/need B) Charging for four years when a degree can be obtained in way less time is negligent, and a financial drain on families C) #Studentdebt is a huge problem in the US and is driven by the inefficient, institutionalized structure of our higher education system Tailored to students wanting a "one and done" year that provides them with an immersive education focused on "Leadership and Management Through the Lens of Profit for Purpose", the new school will have no electives, just the core lessons required for successful careers in business. In 1-year, students will learn more about how to build or contribute to a successful profit for purpose business than those majoring in business at a 4-year university. After all, shouldn't education be about the student? Classes will be taught by people who have had a proven career of building and leading successful companies. Each student will also take 12-months to design their own profit for purpose company, learning every aspect of business along the way. Some will remain in the free incubator offered to graduates. Imagine a #gapyear after high school (#travel), then a one and done immersive course providing the best of the best education in how to succeed in a business career! All in less time, and for less money, than it takes to get a undergrad degree today. Impact investors, and impact focused employers will be integrated into the school. My weekends just got really busy so watch this space. MTF.

I still receive questions about what motivates me to make a difference. As part of In Place Impact's Impact Economics model, I choose to donate my time to teach the award winning ImpactX Class I have designed and helped fund. I teach this weekly, and free of any charge at: The College of Charleston = 11-years The Al Cannon Detention Center in North Charleston for residents wishing to change their lives = 3-years The The Citadel for our amazing #veterans = 2-years Residents of the greater #charlestonsc community = 8-years We have had over 1,500 participants during this time and the innovations that have come out of the classes have been incredible. So back to the question - why? Just read the text on the image that came from a veteran. I will leave it right there. #impact #community #impactentrepreneurs #impactinvesting #socialimpact

22 months ago I became a Grandparent, and since then I have been doing a great deal of research on the demographic cohort I joined. There are over 70,000,000 Grandparents in the US, and our net numbers are growing by 5,000,000 per annum. It is fair to say, that as group, we have the most time, most money, most connections, most passion, and often the most desire to create a future for our Grandchildren that is safer, healthier, and happier than what we have today. As individuals, we can be pebbles that cause small ripples with the civic, education, and HOA leaders in our communities. But as a group, we can turn those ripples into tsunamis that will almost mandate changes for the benefit of our Grandchildren. It is for this reason that I started the "Grandparent Renaissance". A totally free, online community for Grandparents that may have the time, capital, connections, desire or all of them to fight for change. Run through In Place Impact, "GrandRen" spends its own time, money, and intellectual capital to source products and services that Grandparents can advocate for in their own communities. They do not even have to join GrandRen, they can simply connect directly with the companies we have diligence and highlight. GrandRen receives no remuneration for highlighting a company, product or service, nor does it receive any compensation for any sales, however, Grandparents wishing to advocate for their civic, education, or HOA leaders to adopt a product or service can receive commissions from the companies that provide them. Feel free to visit the platform at www.grandren.org. Our first Mission is to get harmful chemicals off, out of, and from around our Grandchildren, and we are supporting the "In Them, On Them, and Around Them" movement. When my daughter an her husband had Archer Cole I became even more purposed to create a future that is healthier, safer, and happier for him. I cannot do it alone, hence I have launched this GrandRen so that we can do it together.

At In Place Impact, we are excited to witness the growing number of individuals, teams, and potential public/private partnerships dedicated to enhancing the sustainability of their communities, cities, and countries across economic, social, and environmental dimensions for all stakeholders. We are actively contributing to this movement through our initiatives at https://lnkd.in/dxJtmAtX and https://lnkd.in/eyF2D6Yj. It truly "takes a village," and we are grateful to collaborate and support the endeavors of others in this pursuit. Together, we have the power to drive positive change. #future #sustainablefuture #inclusivecapitalism #inclusivecap #capitalism #futureism #socialimpact

A number of years ago In Place Impact was asked to design a solution for immigration. We agree, only under the terms that while doing so, we could include initiatives that would also help solve problems with infrastructure education, welfare, and healthcare. We are now opening challenging the hashtag #federalgovernment through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Transportation, to adopt the design we came up with. Here is a summary https://lnkd.in/eRzd2tSv. It is time our government embraced ingenuity and innovation from the Private Sector to fix our problems. #innovation #business #immigration #bordercontrol

I am excited to announce that we will be bringing Impact Economics to #Vienna #Austria. There is no doubt in my mind that the award winning and free #Impact #Entrepreneursip classes we teach in schools, universities, for the public at larger, and in prisons will add to an already vibrant startup community. Also, setting a framework for every community stakeholder to benefit, including businesses, investors, NGOs, and even the government add even more help. I was incredibly impressed by the innovation workspaces I saw, but in the end, I believe Startup House Austria 🏠 🇦🇹 will be the best place to launch Impact Economics from. Many thanks to Esther Hummel for the time and expertise she gave us touring the amazing facilities that make entrepreneurship so exciting in Vienna. Thanks also go out to Karin Zeltner and Matthäus Schweisgut for their time and expertise in helping foreign companies choose Vienna as a home. There is truly something special about #impact #entrepreneurs. Being around such passion, purpose, innovation, and energy makes hard tasks just a little easier. https://lnkd.in/eQKBK5Ff

Some "industries" become more successful the more they fail. Impact Investing & Philanthropy can face significant challenges or be perceived as failing for several reasons. Here are some key factors that contribute to this: 1. Ineffectiveness and Lack of Impact: • Misaligned Goals: Efforts may not align with the actual needs of communities, leading to wasted resources. • Lack of Evaluation: Without rigorous evaluation, it is difficult to determine whether initiatives are achieving their intended outcomes. 2. Short-Term Focus: • Palliative Care Vs Cures: Investors and Donors often want to see cures, but many initiatives simply find other ways to continue the "palliative care" syndrome. 3. Inequitable Distribution of Funds: • High Administrative Costs: A significant portion of funds can be consumed by administrative expenses, reducing the amount available for direct impact. • Bureaucracy: Complex and slow-moving bureaucratic processes can delay or hinder the implementation of initiatives. * Too much capital is spent on self-referential, echo-chamber style meetings where ides take precedent over proven solutions, and studies take precedent over solutions. 4. Lack of Accountability and Transparency: • Insufficient Reporting & Measurement: Organizations may lack transparency in how funds are used and what impact they are having. • No Return Accountability Mechanisms: Without mechanisms to hold organizations accountable, there is little incentive to ensure effective use of resources. 5. Influence and Power Dynamics: • Top-Down Approaches: Investors and donors can often dictate terms and conditions, which can undermine local ownership and sustainability. • Power Imbalances: The power dynamic between recipients of capital (Funds, NGOs, Foundations, etc.,) and the people the capital is meant to help can stifle innovation and responsiveness to local needs. 6. Fragmentation and Lack of Coordination: • Siloed Efforts & Egos: Efforts are often fragmented or duplicated, with little coordination among different investors, donors and organizations. 7. Misalignment with Local Needs: • Cultural Insensitivity: Efforts may fail to consider cultural contexts and local knowledge, leading to ineffective or even harmful interventions. • Lack of Local Engagement: Excluding local communities from decision-making processes can result in initiatives that do not address their real needs. 9. Overemphasis on Recognition: • Focus on Visibility: Organizations sometimes prioritizes activities that enhance visibility and prestige over those that generate the most impact. In Place Impact we like to replace the word "fail" with learn, but after so many years of a status quo, we are not sure just how much "learning" has occurred. #impact #impactinvesting #impactinv #philanthropy

And.... we've done it again. Killed a Goose that was laying Golden Eggs. Not without warning we might add, as this article published by our founder over 10-years ago clearly stated https://lnkd.in/ed88UbUD. Impact, DEI, and ESG have been hijacked and weaponized to such an extent that they are now being cancelled out. However, as we at In Place Impact knew this was coming, we have had time to create their replacement. Soon, gone will be the days of individuals being pushed to support the kind of future others wish to see. In the very near future, everyone will have the ability to support the creation of a future they wish to see. Freedom of choice, combined with the knowledge required to systematically always support the creation of the future any individual wishes to see is just around the corner. If individual choices happen to fall into collective choices, so be it, but no longer will collective choices be the only alternative or be shoved down our throats. We all have a why, it is time for everyone to be able to support their own. #impact #investing #consumerism #philanthropy #ESG #DEI #futurism #innovation #fintech

For those of us old enough to remember, the world missed the UN’s 2000 MDGs in spectacular fashion. Now, we are about to miss the SDGs by a similar margin - huge! However, in its infinite wisdom, and along with a load of sycophantic “saviors”, the massage is still “The SDGs by 2030”. We will be lucky to achieve them by the end of this century, and we at In Place Impact are tired of this misleading and disingenuous narrative. We need to start telling the truth. The date set in 2015 was literally insanity to begin with, and people are losing hope because they are so far “behind”. It is time to admit 2030 defeat, and to tell the world there needs to be a reset on the date. https://lnkd.in/dJKmGBM #sdgs #truth PVBLIC Foundation