This will be a fun event, open to all. In addition to the presentations from our 6 Protégés, our band will be on hand, as will our judges, sharing some of the reasons they chose these 6 as Protégés.

Finally, the entire audience will get a opportunity to cast a vote for the Protégé they think is most deserving of a $3,000 bonus, provided by the Colonial Foundation. While this vote in no way effects the decision of our judges, it does provide an opportunity for everyone to voice their individual enthusiasm for a particular Protégé.

Again, this is open to all. Please join us at Colonial Church as we celebrate our Protégés and cheer them on into the next step of the Innové process which is to provide a successful incubation and launch.

• 9am Worship in the Meetinghouse 
• 10am Brunch
• 10:45am Innové Protégé presentations in the Meetinghouse

In short, while our runners-up didn’t ultimately become Innové Protégés, we think the world of these applicants and want to share them with you once again in the chance that your passions might align with theirs and create an opportunity for future partnerships with you.

Again, these runners-up have incredible potential and here they are in alphabetical order:

Ben Beard

Camden Neighborhood Development Redeeming neighborhoods by cultivating community and building hope.

Alex Campion

The Center for Girls’ Leadership Inspiring Girls Today to Lead Tomorrow

Keiona Cook

The Art of Sewing for Youth Touch the Hearts & Minds of Youth through the Art of Sewing

Tony Ducklow

Youth Forum You build the Kingdom, we’ll bring the fun.

Rachel Finsaas

Daylight Center and School in Kenya Educating young leaders to transform Kenya’s war-torn, nomadic culture.

Kent Goodroad

Redeemer Music Arts Academy Enriching peoples lives by building lifelong skills through music.

Jack Jorgensen

GoVo A web-based service that connects volunteers with local volunteer opportunities.

Mike Keller

Rock Ridge Dogsledding Adventures & Wilderness Ministry Transforming lives for Christ through dogsledding adventures and wilderness ministry.

Corey Magstadt

Launch Ministry: Making Successful Transitions Into Adulthood Launching emerging adults into their God given potential.

Thomas O’Neill

Helping Hands Helping aging adults live longer in their homes in comfort and dignity.

Ben Post

Social Venture Construction Company Deconstruct disparities through employment and business development opportunities.

Jesse Ross

Christian Role Models for Kids in Under-Resourced Communities: WyldLife Introduce disinterested adolescents to Jesus and help them grow in their faith.

Gabriel Rysdahl

I-ImpactNow Connect students and communities with cooperative development opportunities.

Marcos Stoltzfus

Seed-to-City Working in fellowship, growing healthy food for our neighbors in need. Click here to learn more.

The Sheridan Story fights child hunger by providing hungry children with a supply of non-perishable food for the weekend. Instead of The Sheridan Story simply dropping off food at a school, which results in little relationship, we enable and facilitate the development of partnerships between churches and schools. Churches sponsor a specific school, a commitment which encompasses owning the relationship with the school, paying for the food, and providing volunteers and planning to distribute food directly to the children at school.

Over 212,000 children in Minnesota live in food insecurity; over 100,000 of those are in the Twin Cities. Studies have indicated that children who participate in programs that provide a weekend food supply experience increased self-esteem, improved behavior at school, better academic performance, significant improvement in standardized test scores, increased interest in school, and better relationships with school personnel. Furthermore, studies show that programs like The Sheridan Story reach children who have fallen through the safety net of other food-assistance programs. Perhaps most shocking is that 68% of kids participating in these programs are hungry because their guardians don’t have the means to provide food, while 32% are hungry because their guardians do not have the willingness to provide food.

The Sheridan Story’s role begins with facilitating partnerships between churches and the schools. After the partnership is formed, our role intentionally moves into the background. There, The Sheridan Story manages the operations of the food portion of the project. The Sheridan Story’s operational role allows churches to focus on partnering with the school to distribute food to the children while also developing an intentional relationship with the school. In addition to our goal of providing food to hungry children, The Sheridan Story endeavors to build church-to-school partnerships that will result in a stronger sense of community, opening doors to other opportunities for the churches to serve their partner schools.

The Sheridan Story began three years ago in one school, Sheridan School, and has so far formed two church-to-school partnerships. Every Friday, these partnerships provide food for the weekend to about 350 children who live in food insecurity. Our expansion plan is to develop partnerships in 5 schools for the 2013-2014 school year, with a focus on schools where there is the most need. Full implementation of The Sheridan Story into these schools would result in an estimated 1500 children receiving food every weekend.

We want to solve the problem of food deserts, which are low-income urban areas where people do not have access to affordable, healthy food because they live in neighborhoods without a grocery store. Instead, these areas are overrun with convenience stores and fast food restaurants that sell highly processed junk food. For those without a car or limited transportation, getting to a grocery store to buy food is a huge challenge. As a result, many resort to feeding their families off the “value menu” or whatever they can find at the gas station.

Research shows that socio-economic factors such as where a person lives impacts a person’s health even more than the healthcare they receive. In the Twin Cities, people living in poverty are more than twice as likely to be obese and to have diabetes. To compound the issue, many low-income people live in food deserts where they don’t have access to food that promotes health. The two largest food deserts in the Twin Cities are North Minneapolis and the East Side of St. Paul where approximately half of residents are poor.

We are passionate about this project, in part, because we both grew up in poverty and experienced food insecurity during our childhoods. Unfortunately, the problem continues to grow: the gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots” is widening. We seek to bring reconciliation between these groups. Driven by our Christian values, we seek to address the social injustice of food deserts by demonstrating love to our brothers and sisters who are less fortunate by acting in service through the Twin Cities Mobile Market. The Bible calls us to love one another – and we believe we can fulfill this call by recognizing the needs of those around us and acting to address social inequities.

We will achieve this mission by launching the Twin Cities Mobile Market – a nonprofit grocery store on wheels that brings fresh fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods to “food deserts” and other underserved communities. Our goal is to provide healthy and fresh food at or below market prices in order to make it more affordable for those with limited incomes.

We will use a large, enclosed trailer (or a city bus once one can be procured) that we will convert into a mini-grocery store stocked with vegetables, fruits, dairy items, frozen meats, canned goods, rice, beans, and other basic staples. People shop in the mobile market like they would in a grocery store. Customers can pay using a variety of payment options, including credit, cash, food stamps and WIC.

Our strategy is to partner with organizations, local farmers, and other suppliers to purchase food at wholesale prices. As a social enterprise, we’ll maintain pricing high enough to cover basic operational costs but lower than those of a bricks and mortar grocery store. As a result, we plan to offer food at prices at or below market rates, making healthy food both accessible and affordable for people living in poverty.

Human trafficking is the 2nd largest criminal market in the world with an estimate of 27 million enslaved globally. The average age of entry into prostitution in the US and other developed countries is 13 years old. For developing countries the average age is 11.

While 80% to 90% of all human trafficking is sex trafficking and while this growth is primarily from the demand of men and boys, there has never been a more important time than now for an organization with MATTOO’s educational mission to exist and grow. To our and many others’ knowledge, MATTOO is the first organization to focus on this “demand side,” and will shortly have the first education program – that has been designed primarily by men for men and boys.

Bringing it closer to home and according to the FBI, Minneapolis is ranked 13 among US metro areas that have the highest level of human trafficking. This is from having 2 interstate highways, an international airport, an international port city (Duluth), a neighboring country and Indian reservations, where desperate poverty creates desperate circumstances.

MATTOO has a simple but profound saying:

“If there were no buyer, there would be no seller. If there were no seller, there would be no victim.”

MATTOO has seen tremendous success in transforming all types of men into champion’s of our message, and we are confident that God will continue to guide and equip us to make a powerful and lasting impact that leads to a decrease in sex-trafficking globally.

MATTOO was founded to address the “demand” side of sex trafficking by educating males on the myths and realities of sex trafficking. Our experience has shown one of the best ways to achieve our mission is to leverage events, conferences, public schools, prisons and other groups by empowering them with quality materials to educate their audiences.

Beyond Limits, a collaborative partnership venture based at Bethany College, will offer a two year residential post-secondary Christian campus experience and a Beyond Limits life skills certificate for qualified young adults with developmental disabilities. The program includes a customized selection of audited Bethany classes, independent living skills courses, and on-campus job placement and coaching to gain work skills in Bethany’s student work-study program.

The Students:
A selection process for students will be developed to ensure the success of the students and Beyond Limits. Applicants will be screened for appropriate social interaction and evaluated to help determine an ability to live semi-independently in a college setting.

The Strategy:
The challenges and obstacles associated with building such a program are varied and complicated. We will employ skilled, caring and daring individuals to help create, implement and monitor Beyond Limits. Initially, mini residential experiences will be offered to assess challenges, evaluate possibilities and develop strategies. A target date of January 2014 is set for the first full semester.

Housing:
Housing will be secured at Bethany’s on-campus apartments and dorms. Beyond Limits students will live together along with requited, trained and compensated Bethany Students who will help to ensure the success and safety of Beyond Limits students.

Typical Day:
Programming will include all aspects of a campus life typical for Bethany College students.
- Three to four hours a day of campus jobs will help students gain work skills. All Bethany students participate in this work-study program.
- One or two audited classes selected from Bethany’s current offerings based on student’s interests and abilities.
- One or two life skills classes designed specifically for the needs of Beyond Limits students.
- Three meals a day on the Bethany meal plan and inclusion at all Bethany College activities including chapel services, field trips, and college events.

The staff will consist of:
• Executive Director (develop, implement and lead programatic ministry to achieve outcomes)
• Administrator/Case Manager (support operational functions; guide students and parents in developing a personalized program that allows participants to succeed)
• Associate staff to include these part time and volunteer positions:
- Residential support (Bethany students, interns and staff to guide, monitor, assist, and help trouble shoot for Beyond Limits students).
- Instructors (Current Bethany professors and volunteer life skills instructors. Will direct students in and out of classroom learning environments).
- Campus pastor (Volunteer position. Will help students deepen their relationship with Jesus).

Three years ago we started Latitude a B2B company focusing on strategy, design, digital marketing, and production management. We started this company with a simple idea to do good business and do good. From the beginning we’ve donated 50% of all profits to empower people living in extreme poverty and built a sustainable business with the remainder of our profits. The model and the business are solid and in just over three years we have grown Latitude to $12.5M in annual revenue and given over $969,965 to give people in poverty a hand up.

To reach a broader audience, we are creating a direct to consumer website, thehelpery.com, for individuals who want personalized items such as business cards, calendars, signage, etc. TheHelpery.com will deliver quality printed materials to its customer base while educating them about how their purchase has helped people around the world. TheHelpery.com will be a conduit that connects people doing everyday business to people in need. As this happens the buyer will be educated and empowered about how their purchase is changing lives and may become more connected with humanity around the world.

We will set the standard for social responsibility in our field and everyone is welcome to join in. We encourage competition to create and do good business, to create a platform based on great values, to create a platform to serve people all over the world to the fullest, and to use our God given talents to unite people around the world.

God expects us to use out time, talents, and treasures to serve one another. By building thehelpery.com we are combining talents so that we can work towards exponential results to serve an awesome and mighty God. TheHelpery.com is a reflection of God’s love and is being built on Kingdom values to create solutions and serve the poor.

Exodus Lending will utilize a proven, innovative alternative lending model to provide free and low-cost payday loans. Combined with an incentivized savings plan and financial coaching, we’ll help financially stressed individuals build assets and avoid high-interest, serial payday borrowing.

How it works

Borrowing: Loan applicants must have an income and provide recent bank statements for review. Upon approval the applicant receives a small loan administered by Exodus Lending. The transaction happens at our partner bank and payments for the loan are deducted automatically from the borrower’s account based on his/her pay period.

To qualify for a free loan, borrowers must repay the entire amount within 13 days. To qualify for a low-cost loan with forgivable fees, borrowers must join Exodus Lending for one year. For one year, an automatic payment will be deducted from the member’s account based on what the member can afford without compromising other expenses.

For the first few months the deduction goes towards repaying the principal of the loan. A small amount goes towards forgivable membership dues.

Savings: After the loan is repaid, the paycheck deduction goes towards building the member’s positive savings account balance. Each pay period, he/she receives a rebate on membership dues paid during the borrowing period.

The cost of service is forgiven for members that stay with the program for one year. During the year members receive free financial coaching, if desired.

Upon successful completion of the program, participants generate a personal savings balance.

Sustainability: As more members join, Exodus Lending’s capital pool grows towards self-sustainability.

Founding partners provide the other keys to success. Currently Exodus Lending is in negotiations with a banking partner to generats loans and hold all monetary assets.

We believe Colonial Church is uniquely qualified to be a founding social investor. We feel blessed to have found that the skills and passions shared in the Innové process are an exceptional fit for our model. Colonial’s capital investment, ongoing skills coaching and missional dedication to social change entrepreneurship would provide the faith-centered leadership needed for success. In addition, other congregations have invested as well.

Exodus Lending will be managed by a qualified executive director/CEO, supported by a highly skilled board of directors and volunteer advisory board. A finance team will recruit investors and an outreach team will organize efforts to reach consumers. We’ll launch from the neighborhood church and grow into nearby storefront space with the mission to break cycles of poverty.

I was thinking about buying a book the other day. It is by Chip and Dan Heath, the brothers who wrote the bestselling Made to Stick and Switch. Their new book is Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work.

According to the authors, “When it comes to making decisions, it’s clear that our brains are flawed instruments.” Whether we rely on complex analysis or gut reactions, the results are about the same.

Well, that fills you with confidence about the selection of our protégés, huh?

So, how did Innové position itself to to not be “flawed instruments” and instead make the best possible decisions in regards to selecting our winners?

There are “four villains” when it comes to making decisions, and we’ve positioned our judges to be able to avoid these 4 pitfalls:

1. We have too narrow of focus. We are guilty of “spotlight thinking.” We focus on the obvious and visible. We miss important facts outside our immediate view.
2. We fall into confirmation bias. We develop a quick belief about something and then seek out information that confirms that belief.
3. We get caught in short-term emotion. We are too emotionally connected to the decision and struggle with being appropriately detached.
4. We are guilty of overconfidence. We assume that we know more than we actually do know and jump to conclusions, thinking we can accurately predict the future.

Instead, our judges:

1. Have a wide range of data sources, from a business plan, to presentation, and more. They’ll have a broad focus.
2. We have a strong, diverse panel of judges to reality-tests assumptions.
3. Judges have attained distance so they aren’t emotionally attached, but remained close enough to be very knowledgable.
4. Judges have working relationships with those closest to the process so that erroneous conclusions aren’t drawn.

And this process has been, and will be covered in prayer.

The judges will announce the winners in early-to-mid April and they will be introduced to all on April 21, 10:45am, at Colonial Church. Those in attendance on April 21 will even get to make a decision of their own as we’ll have everyone vote to give one of our winners a little “bonus” money. To be clear, voting on the morning of April 21 won’t determine the winners as an uninformed vote that morning would lead to the four pitfalls above, but we do hope that it will be an opportunity for everyone to at least share there affirmation of our winners.

The two types are very different in need and approach.

It’s been said that a new organization is like eight small boys chasing a chipmunk. There is lots of noise and confusion, scrambling in every direction, and a lot of wasted energy. The earliest stage of life for a new initiative is both motion and commotion, but not yet very much locomotion.

At this point almost nothing is done in an orderly way. Records are mess, thoughts and ideas are scribbled everywhere, and budgeting procedures can be haphazard. But there is great flexibility, unlimited motivation, a willingness to try new things, and the capacity to respond quickly!

To contrast, an organization with a couple of years to mature is generally quite orderly. It knows where it has been and has a good sense of where it is going. Procedures have been defined, there is a pecking order, and there is a patient advance along a settled path. It reminds you of a locomotive steaming down the tracks with everything functioning predictably and energy being transformed into forward motion. But this can lead to a decrease in learning and motivation, a little possibility of going anywhere except where the tracks lead.

Innové steps in to corral the chipmunk, our Navigators (mentors) and skills coaches giving valuable insight in terms of direction, procedure, budgeting, and discipline. Our aim is to help those idea-makers get on the right track.

On the flip side, our Navigators bring a fresh set of eyes that can bring zest, fresh thought, and renewed energy that is critical for existing organizations to go to the next level. We’re not looking to drive an initiative “off the rails”, but we will look where we can provide some steam.

Completely different needs, but our Navigators have seen it all.