Ignite Miami events always pack the house. There are four (4!) TEDX groups in South Florida, with the next event set for Oct. 23. On Monday, Oct. 8, IdeaMensch rolls into town on a 48-state tour -- yet another opportunity to hear about local people who are bringing ideas, projects and companies to life. On tap to speak at the IdeaMensch event: Juan Diego Calle, CEO and co-founder of .CO Internet, Lucas Sommer, founder and CEO of Audimated, Rachael Luxenberg**,** founder and d CEO of LUST LIST, Dean Lyon**,** founder of Splinter Studios, and Mauricio Jimenez, founder of VaultBox. The event is 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at LAB Miami, and you can reserve your spot here.
It’s clear events like these are not only showcasing “ideas worth spreading” but are sparked by a passion for innovation. And now we also have our own chapter of the Awesome Foundation. With this group, your idea or project can be funded, too.
Every month, chapters of the Awesome Foundation around the world typically award $1,000 grants to local projects in a wide range of areas including technology, the arts, social entrepreneurship and beyond. The Miami chapter has just come together, with 12 local trustees, and it hopes to award its first grants early next year.
I talked
with two of the leaders recently about how the group came together in Miami.
Natalia Martinez, product strategist at Ultimate Software who also
volunteers her time as communications director at Roots of Hope, first heard about Awesome Foundation through
friends from college involved in a Boston chapter and she instantly
loved the idea. The concept was so refreshing and needed, especially in Miami,
she said. She began talking to the Knight Foundation and fellow trustee Tony
Jimenez, a director with Reliant Real Estate Group, chairman of Raíces de
Esperanza and a Miami Fellow.
What
appealed to both Natalia and Tony was that the Awesome Foundation grants will
help fund projects that can have a big impact on the community. It gives
members of the community quicker and easier access to the grant world than traditional outlets, and once a project
is selected the grants can be made quickly. The board of 12 trustees is a
smorgasboard of leaders from various areas. “We’re going to be the eyes and
ears of what is going on in the community,” said Tony. “It’s a cool
organization and I think it will do a lot of good. And yes, it’s pretty
awesome.”
The Awesome Foundation is still in the organizing phase but you can find the Miami chapter page here.
(Photos show Natalia Martinez and Tony Jimenez, two trustees of the Awesome Foundation's new Miami chapter.)