Stephanie's Role model's Page

 Adam Braun: 

Adam Braun, the founder of Pencils of Promise, was born on October 31, 1983 in New York City. He is an author, businessman, and philanthropist. He is also the CEO of MissionU and Pencils of Promise and the creator of the “for-purpose” approach. Adam graduated from Brown University with a bachelor’s degree in economics, sociology and public and private sector organizations. Before creating Pencil of Promise he worked at Bain & Company from 2007-2010. Adam had the idea to start Pencil of Promise after he went abroad for The Semester at Sea program while he was studying, and asked kids what they wanted the most in the world. One child told him that he wanted a pencil, and he noticed how happy the child was after receiving the pencil. Here is a quote from Adam:

” It began when I was in college, I was on a path to work in banking in finance, then I went on semester at sea. Each country I went through I'd ask the kids what they want most in the world, and I thought I'd collect the global interests of children I could map... In India one child's answer was a pencil, I gave it to him I watched the excitement was over him. It was such a beautiful symbol for his desire... To make a long story short I learned he'd never been to school before and that was the reality for millions of children, that inspired the name of the charity.” – Adam Braun

After that experience, he travelled the world and gave pencils to children over 50 countries. In 2008, he founded Pencils of Promise, a non-profit organization that focuses on building schools and providing education to increase literacy rates in Ghana, Guatemala, Laos, and Nicaragua. When he first started this organization, he deposited $25 to its bank account. Now, this organization has built over 400 schools in Ghana, Guatemala, Laos, and Nicaragua. I admire Adam Braun because of his kindness and dedication to improve education in developed countries. It’s also amazing how his trip to India influenced his goals in life and his idea to start Pencils of Promise. If I could interview Adam Braun I would ask him what his goals are in the future, and how this organization became so big. I’m curious to know how $25 became so much money that was able to build many schools.

References

Adam Braun. (n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2017, from http://www.altruisticinsights.com/adam-braun/

About. (n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2017, from https://adambraun.com/about/

Bertoni, S. (2017, April 18). Pencils Of Promise Founder Adam Braun Has An Audacious Plan To Reinvent College. Retrieved November 25, 2017, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2017/04/18/pencils-of-promise-founder-adam-braun-has-an-audacious-plan-to-reinvent-college/#3f41ab1f74d5

Founding Story. (n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2017, from https://pencilsofpromise.org/about/founders-story/

McGeary, L., & Neild, B. (2015, November 26). How I changed the world with a pencil. Retrieved November 25, 2017, from http://www.cnn.com/travel/article/adam-braun-pencils-of-promise/index.html

Ellen:

Ellen DeGeneres was born on January 26, 1958 in Metairie, Louisiana. She is an activist, talk show host, comedian, and animal activist. When she was growing up, she wanted to be a veterinarian but decided that she wasn’t “book smart”. Ellen went to the University of New Orleans as a communication major but dropped out after one semester. Before becoming a comedian, she waited tables, sold vacuum cleaners, painted houses, worked at restaurants, and worked as a legal secretary. However, she realized that she did not like following other people’s rules, so she decided that she would start her own business.

She first started performing comedy routines to her friends, then at coffeehouses and comedy clubs. In 1982, she entered a contest held by Showtime, and sent them a video of her stand up act. She ended up winning the contest and became recognized as a comedian. Ellen was in sitcoms such as ''Open House and Laurie Hill'', and starred in Ellen. In 1977, she came out as gay and started losing views on Ellen. In 2001, Ellen was asked to host the Emmy Awards, and impressed viewers with her performance. After, she hosted the ''Saturday Night Live and starred in Finding Nemo''. In 2003, she started her own show, called The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Her show was very successful and had 12 Emmy Award nominations in 2004. Her show won the 2004 Emmy for outstanding talk show. Ellen is my role model because she always tries to help others, provides humor and laughter to audiences, and stands up for what she believes in. Ellen is an advocate for LGBT and she always expresses her opinions on certain topics on her show. I admire how generous Ellen is because I always see her donate money to non-profit organizations, guests, and audiences that appear on her show. I also admire her perseverance, because even though it took her a long time to become a successful and well-known comedian, she continued working hard to get to where she is today.

References

Biography. (n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2017, from http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001122/bio

Ellen DeGeneres Biography. (n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2017, from http://www.notablebiographies.com/news/Ca-Ge/DeGeneres-Ellen.html

Ellen DeGeneres. (2017, April 27). Retrieved November 25, 2017, from https://www.biography.com/people/ellen-degeneres-9542420

 David Suzuki: 

David Suzuki was born on March 24, 1936 in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is a geneticist, broadcaster, and environmental activist. In 1958, he received a bachelor of arts degree in Biology from Amgerst College, Massachusetts. Then, he studied at University of Chicago and graduated with a doctorate degree in zoology in 1961. In 1969, David won the Steacie Memorial Fellowship as the best young Canadian scientist. In 1971, he started a CBC TV series called Suzuki on Science which made him a public figure. He taught at university, researched on genetics, and wrote about science and science policy. Suzuki believed that public awareness of science would help make better science policies which is why he appeared in many broadcasts.

In 1990, Suzuki founded David Suzuki foundation, a non-profit organization that promotes solutions to environmental problems. David participated in multiple activities such as the Blue Dot Tour which is aimed to bring attention that Canada does not recognize the right to live in a clean environment, and starred in shows such as The Suzuki Diaries to raise awareness about environmental issues. Even though David voiced his opinions on environmental issues, he is frustrated with the publics response. In a quote he says:

“We fundamentally failed to use those battles to get that awareness, to shift the paradigm, and that’s been then failure of environmentalism.” - David Suzuki

I admire David Suzuki because of his perseverance and dedication to inform humans about environmental issues. Even though there has not been much public response on environmental issues, David continued to remind people about climate change and the negative impacts humans have caused on the environment. Also, his coworkers thought that Suzuki was wasting his talents on broadcasting, but Suzuki continued to try to get public awareness on environmental issues.

References

Bailey, P. G., & Phillipson, D. J. (2015, March 4). David Suzuki. Retrieved November 25, 2017, from http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/david-suzuki/