Getting Into The Right Kind of Trouble, And Back Out Again

Adam Swartzbaugh's talk at Kenyon College

Adam Swartzbaugh at Kenyon

Adam Swartzbaugh delivered a presentation this week on his work with the GENESIS Network and the US Army.

From The Kenyon Collegian:

Swartzbaugh started the GENESIS Network (which stands for Global Empowerment Networking to Enlighten Social Improvement and Sustainability) after doing relief work with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Thailand. His sister, Lauren Swartzbaugh, explained that the trip went longer than expected. "His stint was going to be brief, but he ended up falling in love with the people and was inspired by the level of community there," she said. "He was there for over a year, and over the course of the year you end up seeing a lot of things you wouldn't see. [Thailand is] one of the epicenters of [child prostitution], and that angered him to the point where he came back a different person, saying, ‘There has to be something I can do.'"

The GENESIS branch in Thailand, Kid Launch, has built three schools and currently educates 300 students, according to Lauren Swartzbaugh. The organization also just received a grant from the Australian Embassy for $17,000, which "is exciting because it helps us break ground for a new school in Thailand. … The most motivating factor [for our volunteers] is that success is measured in terms of schools built, or kids helped, and quite honestly their lives are saved because of it," Lauren Swartzbaugh said.

One of her brother's best qualities is his ability to inspire others, Lauren Swartzbaugh said. "After a conversation with him, you find yourself walking away all giddy and excited to make something impossible happen," she said. "He is truly one of the most remarkable human beings I've ever met, and I've traveled a bit and met some pretty profound people, but he takes the cake."

The title of Swartzbaugh's talk is "Getting into the Right Kind of Trouble and Back Out Again," apt for someone so young who has done so much. "This month I'm jumping out of planes and training with Italian special forces, in a couple months I'll be in Thailand building a school and in a couple after that I'll be in Afghanistan conducting long-range surveillance operations to disable an insurgent network," Swartzbaugh said in an email. "After that, who knows? We can change the world in any way we see fit — taking the first step and tripping a couple times is a part of the process. That's the message I hope to convey."

Video of the event will be available shortly.

Adam Swartzbaugh

On February 17th, at 6:30pm in Gund Gallery on the Kenyon Campus, we will have Adam Swartzbaugh, Executive Director of GENESIS Network, Founder of Kid Launch and 1st Lieutenant, US Army. Adam is one of those people whose resume will make almost anyone feel slothful. He and GENESIS have built schools on the Burma/Thailand border, helped dig wells in Haiti, worked on conflict resolution in Africa, and otherwise done a lot of great work in a short period of time with limited resources. More about Adam can be found on the GENESIS website, in this profile from Brown University, and at Boldfacers.com.

More events are scheduled for this semester. Please refer to our calendar.

Your New Four Year Career

Congratulations! If you're like the average American worker, your typical job will last for four years, instead of the twenty year tenure your parents enjoyed, according to Fast Company. In fact, many of you will change jobs annually. Forever. This can either be utterly terrifying or thrilling, depending on your attention span and how many times your parents will let you move back into their house. Welcome to the quicksilver career.

More: Generation Flux

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Entrepreneurship Day 2011

December 7th, we hosted three speakers who discussed unique applications of entrepreneurial management techniques.

Andrew Fernitz discussed his company, 312 Aquaponics, which develops aquaponics systems for specialty food production, research and educational purposes. The systems produce a 30% faster growth rate in most of the plant species tried, reduce the requirement for fertilizer, energy and water consumed, and allow simultaneous cultivation of farmed fish. Other advantages of aquaculture over traditional farming include shorter shipping distances from farm to table and avoidance of soil depletion.

April Yvonne Garrett, CEO of Civic Frame and host of Amplify Baltimore on TV25, discussed the importance of the social dimension in effective entrepreneurship:

"What you do has to come out of your own situation. And it has to be more than just giving people something--a turkey or toys at the holidays. Many of these people have never been asked their opinion like it matters before. We try to act as a bridge to connect them to the right resources."

Carl Kriss of Edge Productions discussed the production process for "Give and Take", his documentary about New York street musicians, and introduced the local premier of the film to close out the evening.

Left to right: Andrew Fernitz, April Yvonne Garrett, Carl Kriss

Three current students, Adrian Galbraith-Paul, Sean Grant and Reilly Brock presented a panel discussion on being an entrepreneur while still a student. Each had started a business after winning grant support as part of the Innovation Greenhouse / Burton Morgan Business Plan or Concept contests. Galbraith-Paul went on to intern with 312 aquaponics and to build his own aquaponics system. Grant and other members of the Entrepreneurship Club are currently selling panini, smoothies and other items in Gambier as Night Bites. Brock and his partner Jordan Rhyne just finished a season of operation at Last Call Food Cart, the 2011 competition champion.