Archive for July, 2007

Lawrence J. Ellison, founder and CEO of Oracle Corporation for 25 years earned $706,077,000 in 2001 after exercising 23 million stock options that were granted to him ten years earlier.

Assuming a 40-hour workweek, this is equivalent to almost making $340,000 an hour.

–Guiness Book of World Records

Making the World Safer: Tammee Thompson

Tammee Thompson has a very important job: She helps keep the world safe. As President of the Asia division of GE Security, Tammee, 37, leads teams that develop products used in explosives and narcotics detection, video surveillance, fire detection, intrusion control, and much more. Currently, she’s working to expand GE Security’s presence in Asia, which means she has to develop products uniquely adapted to the local environment in each country, whether it’s Japan, India, or Australia. One day Tammee might be cultivating relationships with customers, and the next she might be leading a team of her colleagues. The aim is to create products that protect people and property in fields such as aviation, law enforcement, and banking. Learn more about this inspiring leader in this week’s Young & Professional Profile.

Helping Newcomers Adapt: Bright Move Network

Being a refugee or immigrant in a new country can be an overwhelming, daunting, and confusing experience. Clementine Msengi, 34, can relate. In 1995, she arrived in Iowa as a refugee from Rwanda’s genocide. Speaking little English, and not understanding American culture, she had a difficult time adjusting. Since then, though, Clementine has earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree, and started Bright Move Network. The organization helps refugees and immigrants in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area of Iowa adapt to life in the American Midwest, while also introducing the local community to its newest residents. It integrates newcomers into the community by matching them with mentors, offering skills training, and providing referrals to service providers. The goal is to empower immigrants and refugees with the skills and resources needed in order to be self-sufficient, contributing members of their adopted communities. To learn more about Clementine’s work as Executive Director of Bright Move Network, check out this week’s Nonprofit Spotlight.

It’s All in the Code, Designer Johanna Guevara

Would you define yourself by the area code you live in? Do 305s have more fun than 323s? One thing is for sure, there’s talent bursting at the seams in New York’s 718…or technically…7one8 Design. Johanna Guevara, age 27, launched this print and web design company in 2000 and has experienced a continual string of successes since then. With her greatest strengths in the arts, her biggest challenge lays in accounting, but overall she’s learned valuable business know-how and has plans in store for company expansion. Johanna loves a job where she works with clients to enhance their public image, help others sell their product or service, and make an overall imprint in the competitive business world. She’s an entrepreneur in every sense with an indescribable fervor and continual zest for learning. For more information on 7one8 Design and how to contact Johanna for your next marketing campaign, read this week’s Young & Professional Profile.

We recently put the spotlight on the talents and accomplishments of amazing young professionals across different time periods and across a variety of ethnic backgrounds – check out “What Have You Accomplished? (Part 1)” to see the breakdown of these superstars by odd ages (ages 21-35). This week we fill in the missing even ages so you get a complete picture of young success.

Charity Navigator Maps the Road of Aid Organizations

Americans nationwide are opening their pocketbooks at the billion – not million – dollar level communally. Climbing that corporate (or non-profit) ladder, you now find yourself able to join this community of givers…working hard, living securely, and giving back freely. But do you donate to your university? An environmental cause? Or maybe to international development? With thousands of organizations to choose from, all needing continual support for operational stability, you’ll need to turn to Charity Navigator as the one-stop shop of charitable and non-profit research. Fully investigating charities’ fiscal fitness, this web-based non-profit allows the user to sit back comfortably while making an informed decision on philanthropic giving. Founded in 2001, Charity Navigator weeds those non-profits looking only to make a quick dollar on uninformed, yet well-intentioned, donors and instead offers a thoroughly vetted list of quality aid organizations. Read our Nonprofit Spotlight to learn more on the history of this service and how it will help you leap forward into that fine world of philanthropy.

Atypical Textile Designer Oorbee Roy

Oorbee Roy, 32, is resurrecting a dying art form. One memorable summer day on the Jersey shore 20 years ago, Oorbee watched her mother draw an Alpona design in the sand. The ancient artistic practice comes from India, where women in some parts decorate the floor with geometric and floral patterns to mark religious and festive occasions. Oorbee became hooked on the art form and added her own modern twists to the designs. In 2002, she learned that Alpona was a dying tradition, and that fact motivated her to start her business, OM Home, so she could introduce the art form to a larger, global audience. The company sells colorful pillows and table linens embroidered with Oorbee’s modernized patterns, and she hopes to expand into bed linens and eco-friendly products next year. Her line of home accessories is made by Indian artisans near her familial home in India to ensure authenticity. To learn more about how Oorbee is reinventing Alpona, check out this week’s Young & Professional Profile

Turning Management into a Profession: Devi Vallabhaneni

Lawyers take the bar exam. Physicians take the board exam. Accountants take the CPA exam. Devi Vallabhaneni is working to get business managers to take the Certified Business Manager (CBM) exam. As President and CEO of the Association of Professionals in Business Management (APBM), Devi, 37, is trying to make business management a profession, with its own certification, code of ethics, and continuing education requirements. APBM designed the CBM credential, a master’s-level certification based on an MBA curriculum. It consists of a four-part, 16-hour exam that measures mastery of business management knowledge and skills. It can be taken during, after, or in lieu of an MBA. In a world with great variability in the education provided by MBA programs, a CBM certification lets employers know that a person has acquired a standard knowledge base and set of management skills, as measured by an independent organization. Check out what Devi is doing to turn business management into a profession with this week’s Nonprofit Spotlight.

McDonald’s is the largest youth employer in the United States. About 1 in 15 adults in the US worked for McDonald’s at one point in their lives.

7: The percentage of people who have worked for McDonald’s at one point in their life.
–Young Workers United