Entrepreneur Interview – Kelly Jackson

April 2, 2015

Kelly Jackson serves as Executive Director of a non-profit organization called StandUp! For Change, which was derived from her childhood. Kelly’s grandmother was a community caretaker. They spent most of their summers cleaning peoples’ houses, yards, laundry. What they did during those summers… something took root. Kelly started a neighborhood project, and it has turned into a non-profit. Now they are full-fledged in the community helping the homeless.

Interview Q & A

1. What is your business/Business Name?  What does your charity do?
StandUp! For Change – We provide outreach services, we provide education; and we have other initiatives. We focus on the homeless within the youth community. We teach classes, service the kitchen, prepare packages and distribute those. I Rise, teaches them to be leaders through service. They have something intrinsic to each of them. They painted a 15X20 foot mural at the City’s largest homeless shelter. We have a winter initiative where we collect hats, coats, gloves, scarves. It’s called, Campaign Cover Me. We are located in Cleveland, Ohio.

2. Why did you get into this field?  What opportunities did you see?
I went through college, and got my undergraduate and masters degrees. I worked in a college, and felt the constant tug, and answered the call, and this is where it led me.

3. What have been your biggest challenges?
Funding – I think it’s the biggest challenge for any non-profit. But we get it done. The need is there. We have homeless shelters that are overflowing with people who need service.

A lack of awareness about the community. There are so many myths and misconceptions about the homeless community. 

4. What has been your greatest reward?
Being able to help, and see the smiles on people’s faces. Seeing the expression on people’s faces when you come. Knowing that you’re doing something important. That’s especially important for the kids because of the transient nature of homelessness.

5. If you could change something, what would it be?
I would eradicate homelessness completely. The fact that we have a country this abundant in resources, the fact that we have people sleeping on the sidewalks is mind boggling.

6. If you could give a new entrepreneur advice, what would it be?
Just do it. I think you have to walk into your purpose without any restraints or inhibitions.

7. Social Media.  Yay or Nay?
Yes.  We use it. We show tidbits of what we’re doing. We have to be careful of what we post to not show faces. We share a lot of stories of what’s going on within the homeless community in the country.

8. How do you market your service?
Word of Mouth. We started at the city’s largest shelter. A lot of community members know about what we do.

9. What is unique about your charity?
I think… We are fiercely dedicated to the people we serve. We are on the ground, in the middle of our community. In the middle of winter, in a snowstorm, we’re handing out blankets.

10. How can people get in touch with you?  What’s your website/Contact information?
They can go through the website.  http://standup4change.org/

We’re also on social media – Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.

11. Anything else?
Meal project, “Operation Beautification” —  We took youth down to feed meals to the homeless population. One of the youths said, “This is depressing Kelly”.  I asked the youth what they thought we should do, and they said, “We should paint”.  It led to an awe-inspiring mural. In addition to it meaning so much to the men in the shelters, it meant so much to the kids who were participating.

Categories

More Posts:

Nyago Michael Emmanuel

We invite many people who can invest in our Akiba Ya umoja community benefit savings and investment group of Uganda to enable us expand our operations in Uganda

Soe Tun: The Copy Doctor

Autistic kid finds out that he’s unemployable and doesn’t enjoy most social settings. Decides to be a pro copywriter as a result.

Annie Anderson – Business Strategist & WordPress Creator

Annie Anderson is the owner and digital creator at Midnight Rebel Digital Co. With over 25 years experience in design and development and more than 15 years experience with WordPress, Annie is a great person to have in your corner when it comes to websites, tech, and systems.

Fundraising 101: A Practical Guide for Entrepreneurs 

There are many great ideas that failed to become a reality because of the lack of funding. Start-ups need funding to stay alive, and entrepreneurs understand the importance of getting the necessary funding for the company to move forward in the early stages. In many...

Entrepreneur Interview- Anu Ramani

Anu Ramani is Managing Director of Isoline Communications, a London-based independent content marketing firm specializing in the technology B2B industry.

Entrepreneur Interview – Jeremy Ellens

Jeremy is the co-founder of LeadQuizzes, a quiz and survey software built for marketers to increase their leads and learn about their audience. Their users have generated over 4.7M leads and 73.9M questions answered.

Entrepreneur Interview – Lisa Kroese

Lisa Kroese has appraised and helped sell millions of dollars worth of art, antiques and personal property. She owns Expert Estates LLC, an estate liquidation and appraisal company in California. She also runs an estate sale business membership site.

Entrepreneur Interview: Brenda Miller

As a child, Brenda saw her mother run a successful beauty salon. Now, she reaches out to other business owners to improve their operations.

Entrepreneur Interview – Emily Kil

Emily Kil is the owner of Eco Bear Biohazard Cleaning Company – a company that provides biohazard, unattended death, suicide, crime scene, and homeless encampment cleaning services in Southern California.

Entrepreneur Interview – Myrtha Dubois

Myrtha Dubois knows all too well about life’s interruptions, such as feeling stuck, being overwhelmed, confused, frustrated, and running out of time. Time and time again, she rose to every interruption with three guides.

Nyago Michael Emmanuel

Nyago Michael Emmanuel

We invite many people who can invest in our Akiba Ya umoja community benefit savings and investment group of Uganda to enable us expand our operations in Uganda

All Categories

Business Operations

Entrepreneur Interviews

Marketing, Networking, & Social Media

Self Care & Personal Development

Working Moms

Business Software and Technology

Entrepreneurship & Small Business

Organizing Tips

Sales

Career Building

Family Businesses

Inspiration

Starting Your Own Business

Work-Life Balance

Communication

Hiring Help

Management & Leadership

Time Management & Priorities

Women in Leadership

Recent Posts

Elements That Should Be Part of Your Company Retreat

Elements That Should Be Part of Your Company Retreat

A company retreat is an excellent opportunity for team-building, learning new skills, and fostering relationships between colleagues. Whether your team is large or small, a well-planned retreat can be an invaluable investment in your company's success. We will explore...

How to Make Employee Health a Priority

How to Make Employee Health a Priority

Prioritizing employee health is crucial for creating a healthy and productive work environment. By investing in the health and wellbeing of your employees, you can improve morale, reduce absenteeism, and build a positive company culture. Here are some tips on how to...

Why You Should Run Your Business on the Latest Technology

Why You Should Run Your Business on the Latest Technology

In today's fast-paced business environment, keeping up with technological advancements is essential for success. Implementing the latest technology can offer numerous benefits, such as improved productivity, enhanced data security, and reduced costs.  Improve...

What are local links and how to earn them

What are local links and how to earn them

What local links are and how they might assist local businesses develop an efficient SEO strategy are covered in this article. Local links allow visitors to learn more about a region and its businesses by connecting websites from the same area that are relevant to one another. They must be pertinent to the neighbourhood and offer valuable resources or information. Content marketing, reviews, sponsored content, social media, and directories are all ways to generate local links.

Ways for Increasing Property Management Lead Generation

Ways for Increasing Property Management Lead Generation

Property management is not a simple job, there are multiple tasks that a property manager should complete for various property investors. Marketing is one of the difficult parts, but it’s crucial. You can only attract tenants to your property and gain income after you have generated leads. Therefore, you should try your best to come up with smart and effective strategies to get your company known.