On the StartingBloc

by Tina Vasquez (Los Angeles)

What are the chances that Josephine Karianjahi, a Kenyan national, and Pennsylvania native Joel Thomas would ever meet under normal circumstances? Surely, slim to none.

Thanks to StartingBloc, a global organization that educates, empowers, and connects emerging leaders to drive innovation across sectors, not only were these two able to meet, but they were also able to join forces and make the world a little bit better.

StartingBloc’s signature program is called the Institute for Social Innovation and it takes place annually in one of three locations: Boston, New York and London. The institute is a fellowship program that mainly consists of a four-day conference in which students are provided with training, education, and the networks necessary to turn any career into a socially responsible one. It was at the 2007 Boston Institute that Joel Thomas met Josephine Karianjahi and decided to leverage her networks in Uganda and Kenya, thus expanding Nourish International, which provides the infrastructure and support for college students to implement long-term solutions to eradicate poverty worldwide.

The planning of these amazing, global events falls on the shoulders of philanthropist Taryn Miller-Stevens, who acts as Director of Programs for StartingBloc. Amazingly, she is one of just two full-time staff members. If enthusiasm could be transformed into manpower, Steven’s could run the organization herself. “When I read the word StartingBloc, hear the word StartingBloc, or say the word StartingBloc, there is an overwhelming rush of excitement and passion that builds up inside me. It [StartingBloc] has insane potential and I don’t want to stop working because that potential is just dangling in front of me waiting for us to give it legs and make it run,” Stevens said. Though she works hard to organize and implement all of StartingBloc’s programs, the organization is also in debt to its staff of over fifty volunteer alumni who also play a major role in keeping the organization running.

Since its inception in 2003, StartingBloc has graduated 850 Fellows from over 40 countries, many of whom have moved on to use the network as a way of establishing social enterprises in their communities and to secure socially-responsible careers. Just a few years ago, Stevens herself was one of these students hoping to make a difference and she was making strides well before she was turned on to StartingBloc. “I attended Tufts University where I was able to combine my varied academic interests by majoring in American Studies with a concentration in Corporate Citizenship and minor in Entrepreneurial Leadership Studies. My studies were complimented by my work in the Tisch Citizenship and Public Service Scholars Program, wherein my final two years I organized conferences on poverty in Massachusetts and socially responsible business,” Stevens said.

Stevens first heard of StartingBloc through a friend who participated in their Institute for Social Intervention. “My friend said I should apply for the program and that people she met through StartingBloc were doing incredible socially minded work in different sectors all over the world. I applied and was fortunately accepted,” Stevens said. Afterwards, things would never be the same. “After participating in StartingBloc’s inaugural Global Institute for Social Innovation at London Business School, I returned home with a new sense of purpose. In just four days my life was transformed; my peers and the speakers whom I heard from and met inspired me like never before,” the philanthropist said.

After graduating from college, Stevens did everything from interning in the Reebok human rights department during the company’s acquisition by the Adidas Group to working as a nanny and assistant basketball coach at her alma mater. Out of the blue and only two weeks into her coaching job, she received a call from StartingBloc’s Executive Director that would once again change her life, just as the Institute had. “After a trip to New York and several interviews with board members, I was hired by StartingBloc and worked from Boston during the winter of 2007-2008. Following the 2008 New York Institute and the best season in Tufts Women’s Basketball History, I made the best move of my life and landed in New York for StartingBloc,” Stevens said.

Stevens, who grew up in suburban Connecticut, has come a long way since her days at her family’s turkey farm. Now, based in Manhattan, she helps run a global network for socially minded leaders, all of whom are doing their part to change their small portion of the world. Though she’s traveled far and experienced a lot, what her parents instilled in her on her small family farm shaped who she became as a person and what became important to her. “My parents have worked their entire lives to make a better life for their family and community. They gave me a strong foundation for everything that I hold close to my heart- family and relationship values, community and team building, business, as well as experiencing new things and people. I wouldn’t be the same if it weren’t for them,” Stevens said- and neither would StartingBloc.