Tar Heels senior studies leadership, carries it to the court for final home game.

By Andrew Carter
acarter@newsobserver.com

Posted: Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2012

CHAPEL HILL   Among the 45 students in Jim Kitchen’s 500-level business class at North Carolina, Tyler Zeller stood out for a couple of reasons. Seven feet tall, he carries with his height the high-profile prestige that comes with playing a leading role on the No. 6 Tar Heels basketball team.

But to Kitchen, a lecturer in UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, Zeller proved memorable for entirely different reasons. He admired Zeller’s organizational skills, the way he approached his work in the classroom. Kitchen said he admired Zeller’s thought process and his ability to plan.

“Tyler seems to be mature beyond his years,” said Kitchen, who taught Zeller in an entrepreneurship class during the fall 2011 semester. “And what I mean by that is he’s got a really good perspective on what’s important in life. It seems like he really believes doing things the right way for the right reasons, treating people with respect and working hard.”

Kitchen was talking about Zeller the student, but his description mirrors the kind of things that Roy Williams, the Tar Heels basketball coach, has said about Zeller the athlete.

Zeller will play in the final home game of his collegiate career tonight against Maryland at the Smith Center (7, ESPN), where emotions likely are to be running high on senior night.

Williams said this week that he’s likely to be carried away amid the spectacle of senior night. He described himself as “corny” that way. Zeller, though, is the opposite.

“I’d like to think that I’m not very emotional,” he said Tuesday. “But we’ll see what happens. I’m not a very emotional person, so I think that hopefully I can get through the beginning and play the game and then after the game, I think it’ll be much easier to relax and kind of enjoy the moment.”

A quiet leader

Zeller last week became the first basketball player in school history to earn academic All-America honors in two seasons. A business administration major with a 3.6 GPA, he was named the academic All-American of the Year by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Zeller said he hadn’t thought much about playing for the final time at the Smith Center, and he hadn’t thought much of what it means “until I got asked a million questions about it today.” It wasn’t that long ago, only three years, when Zeller was a freshman, learning from senior Tyler Hansbrough.

Now Zeller has emerged as the teacher, albeit a less outwardly intense one than Hansbrough was during his time at North Carolina.

“He’s the quiet leader,” Williams said of Zeller. “He doesn’t say much. But when he does, the kids have a great deal of respect for him. … His attitude, the respect he has from his teammates, there is no question they had a tremendous amount of respect at the start of the year, but I think it’s even more so now.”

A special influence

Zeller grew up in a competitive home, the middle son among three boys. His older brother played at Notre Dame, and his younger brother Cody is a standout freshman at Indiana.

It wasn’t until he reached high school, though, that Zeller learned he could influence people just by doing what he normally does.

“(I) kind of learned that I could be a good role model, the way I work, the way I compete,” he said.

And so it has been for Zeller during his senior season. He has spent a lot of time in recent years studying leadership and the concepts of it as it applies in the business world. On the court, though, he has led with an approach he learned all on his own.

At times this season, Williams criticized the intensity of his team. He wanted the Tar Heels to play with more passion, more energy.

Zeller consistently has provided both of those intangibles, especially since the beginning of ACC play, and has emerged as a leading candidate for ACC Player of the Year honors.

He admitted it was difficult even for him to find motivation earlier this season, when North Carolina played its share of games against lesser competition.

Once ACC play began, though, Zeller began spending more nights at the Smith Center, shooting alone and working on his game.

On a team full of all-conference candidates, Zeller has been the steadiest, most consistently productive player.

“He’s definitely become a much more vocal leader (in) his senior year,” said sophomore forward Harrison Barnes. “You know, I think that’s just experience, playing better, things like that. Now he’s really developed and embraced that role of being the senior leader for this team.”

While completing coursework toward his business administration degree, Zeller said he has taken two courses devoted entirely to the concept of leadership.

He is enrolled in a similar course this semester, and he has attended other seminars about leadership.

Among academics there is debate, Zeller said, about whether leaders can be made or whether the ability to lead is innate. He thought about that while he attempted to take on a greater leadership role when the season began.

“I’ve been through a lot of leadership courses,” he said, “and it’s something they always tell you – that you have to step into it. You can’t be forcing yourself into it. I think I’ve tried, but at the same time I try not to force it upon people. And if they listen to me, that’s great, if not, that’s what coach Williams is for.”

Said Williams: “When he’s out on the court in practice, and something’s not going well, he will say something. It’s in a definitive tone. It’s not, ‘Come on, guys.’ It’s not, ‘Boys will be boys.’ It’s, ‘Hey, guys, let’s get our blankety-blanks together and go do it the right way.’”

‘What are your dreams?’
BY LAURA OLENIACZ
loleniacz@heraldsun.com; 419-6636

DURHAM – While recruiting for a training and education program to be launched in Ghana as part of start-up nonprofit ABAN, co-founder Callie Brauel asked young women and girls the question, “What are your dreams?”

“It was hard for me,” the 25-year-old said, when she said she found that many of the girls she spoke with didn’t know how to answer. “You think about how many times you were asked that question growing up of what you want to be when you grow up.”

That was in the summer of 2010, when Brauel and the nonprofit’s other co-founder, 23-year-old Rebecca Brandt, returned to the African country of Ghana to launch ABAN, an acronym for “A Ban Against Neglect.”

Their program is now in its second year, offering courses in English, math and other subjects, and training in the production of batik bags and jewelry for homeless young women and girls.

The two had studied abroad in 2008 at the University of Ghana, and got the original idea for the nonprofit from their work on a class project. The idea was to use the plastic water bags that littered the city streets to make bags that they could sell – offering an environmental solution that could have an economic benefit.

They brought the idea to the nongovernmental organization Catholic Action for Street Children, where they were both volunteering.

They taught the children to make bags and said that in their first week, they sold about $75 worth.

When their study abroad came to an end, they stuffed their suitcases full of the purses to sell at their universities – Brauel at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Brandt at Concordia University Irvine in California – and recruited another student to continue running the project in Ghana.

Back in Chapel Hill, Brauel, an undergraduate at the Kenan-Flagler Business School, entered a course that helped her develop a business plan for their entrepreneurial idea.

Then in the spring of 2010, they won first place and $15,000 in the Carolina Challenge, a business and social venture competition, along with another $1,000.

They used the funding to travel back to Ghana to launch the nonprofit. They recruited girls and women, aged 15 to 20 years old, who had come through the organization Street Girls Aid that provides temporary housing for pregnant women.

In March of this year, they raised $30,000 from donations as well as sales of ABAN bags and other products.

They used the money to move the program into a rented home located outside Accra. The program now includes 18 women and girls, 12 of which have children, to whom they offer classes and training in making bags and other products.

Brandt said they also encourage the women to save their earnings by matching money they’ve saved. They hope that those savings will help the women further their education after the two-year program ends, or to enable them to start a business.

The nonprofit employs eight full-time workers in Ghana, and is supported by 15 interns, students at UNC-Chapel Hill, who offer services in marketing, grant writing, sales, and accounting.

“We’ve learned so much through this whole process, we’ve been blessed to have had so much support,” Brauel said. “I feel lucky to be doing what we’re doing.”

Jim Kitchen, a lecturer at the Kenan-Flagler Business School who was one of Brauel’s coaches in the course at UNC, said he believes the nonprofit will be successful as they grow their product sales channels.

“It’s an incredibly powerful story, and their product … has so much meaning to people, so I think they’re well on their way,” Kitchen said.

Brauel said their products are through outlets including One World Market in Durham, and at Foster’s Market in Chapel Hill, as well as online. They’re also hoping to sell at Whole Foods stores in Durham and in Chapel Hill.

Both co-founders have part-time jobs to help them meet their own costs, but they hope to eventually operate several different centers in Ghana, and have hopes for the graduates of their program.

“Every day I feel like more and more I want to see 100 percent of our graduating glass transition and never return to the street again, and be proud of who they are, and be able to share their story,” Brandt said.

Brauel added that when she returned to Ghana this past summer, she said she heard several members of their program saying that they dreamed of pursuing futures as doctors or military officers.

“That was so cool for me,” she said. “Mostly to see that they had started to think about that stuff, and that they knew that they had people that believed in them, and would believe that they were capable of accomplishing a lot with their lives.”

Kitchen also founded an incubator meant to foster the growth of social mission-driven enterprises, the Franklin Innovation Center, of which ABAN is a member. He said he believes people that are part of Millennial Generation, or Generation Y, are “much more apt to pursue social entrepreneurial ventures.”

“With UNC’s push toward innovation, there are a lot of students in the pipeline that are trying to create these meaningful organizations,” he said.

We usually get 7-8 pallets of canned food (corn, beans, potatoes, soup, etc.) and a lot of frozen chickens!

What I’ve learned from this job:

• The IFC serves 3,300 local households and provides approximately 1600 bags of groceries per month to families in need.
• They do so with very little governmental assistance –  - roughly 1/10 of the IFC’s operating budget.
• The organization is staffed by an incredible team of people dedicated to serving the needs of our town’s most disadvantaged citizens.  I am proud to know and work with these folks.

Sometimes, sports seem to defy physics: the reluctant bend of a deep homerun that seems to stubbornly hang in air before disappearing into an ocean of fans; the golfer’s perfect draw of an approach shot; Michael Jordan floating in for a dunk.

Watch a Ted Williams swing, watch him uncoil, and one might swear he could not have been created to do anything else in life. Purity comes to mind.

One stands in such awe when watching the Kenyan athletes of the local “Running Far” program.

They slip effortlessly past on a track as easily as running water, light as rain and pure as gold.

Many running fans have seen Kenyans they break the tape at marathon finish lines or in Olympic distance races. Seen up close, it can leave one breathless.

Ben Kurgat, coach and founder of the local Running Far program that currently hosts and trains four Kenyan runners began recently. These runners include Julius Kogo, 24, Isaac Birir, 30, Kirui Kipyegon, 29, and Kennedy Kemei, 32.

“We had an organized group of runners for several years, but with the start of Running Far, we’re trying to do things a little differently,” said Kurgat, a Kenyan who attended the University of Virginia.”

Running Far is about far more than running, he said.

“We’re refocusing the program, where ‘Running Far’ means running for a reason,” he said. “Each person in the program now does something to give back both to the community they come from and the community where they’re racing.”

A recent example included a visit to a Chapel Hill / Carrboro Pacers Youth Running Club practice in May, where over a hundred young runners from the local community got to hear stories from the Kenyans. Afterwards, the Kenyans joined group runs with the young athletes.

“Our athletes enjoyed themselves and said that it was a good cultural exchange,” Kurgat said of the event. “They felt like celebrities among the kids, but … the athletes were also reminded that what they have accomplished in running is not small. The session actually magnified their running achievements.”

Kenyan runners, left to right, Kennedy Kemei, Julius Kogo, Isaac Birir and (not shown) Kirui Kipyegon visit with youth athletes at a May 2010 practice of the Chapel Hill / Carrboro Pacers Youth Running Club.

Kurgat said Running Far also facilitates similar exchanges in Kenya between the athletes and those of their hometowns and villages.

“We’ve added (that requirement),” Kurgat explained. “They must also work with the kids back home — to teach them about the benefits of running and the opportunities they’ve discovered, like getting to see the world and things others have accomplished.

“It’s not just about coming (to the U.S.), racing, and then going back, coming, racing, and going back.

“We’re trying to give the program more meaning and more direction. Every participant benefits, and then, with their success, they can also help other athletes to succeed.”

Read full article online from Chapel Hill News.

My son Kenan and I had the opportunity to meet Richard Branson in New York in May 2010. My goals for the meeting were to discuss a leadership initiative/book that I had been working on and to inspire Kenan by introducing him to one of the finest social entrepreneurs who has ever lived. As you’ll see in the article, Kenan stole the show!

As seen in Wall Street Journal – May 7, 2010

This week, Sir Richard Branson was in New York for several press events: the Time 100 Gala on Tuesday as well as a daylong conference called The Courage Forum on Wednesday, which was sponsored by the Americas Business Council and was meant “to find inspiration in the brave individuals that inhabit our world today.”

Mr. Branson was also in town to meet Kenan Kitchen, an 11-year-old fledgling entrepreneur from Chapel Hill, N.C. Mr. Kitchen’s father, Jim, had bid on some time with Mr. Branson in an online auction a year or two ago, paying in the range of $10,000 to $15,000 for the experience. A trip to Ulusaba in South Africa, where Mr. Branson has a private game reserve, is in the cards.

“He wants to make sure his son will have a rich and fascinating life,” Mr. Branson said of the Kitchens, in a many-windowed conference room at MoMA, on a break from the Courage Forum. He had just finished signing a copy of Monopoly for the young Mr. Kitchen, who was dressed nattily in a crisp white oxford shirt and khakis and is a fan of the board game.

“I’ve been playing Monopoly in real life and as a game all my life,” Mr. Branson said. “Go to jail? Yes, done that once.”

Read the entire article online in the WSJ.

Location: Rashkis Elementary library, Chapel Hill
Sponsored by: Kramden Institute

On June 3rd, 10 elementary school students attending Rashkis Elementary in Chapel Hill were provided with Dell Computers and flat screen monitors by the Kramden Institute.

The children, known as “Kramden Scholars” are students who have worked hard in school yet do not have the financial means to afford a home computer.

These refurbished computers are donated by area businesses and Kramden volunteers fix, clean, update and make them suitable for use again. Computer programs similar to Microsoft Office are also provided to make the computers useful to the kids using them.

Deshera Mack, Rashkis Principal, Daniel Gonzalez, 3rd grader at Rashkis, Ms. Norwood Administrative Assistant at Rashkis, Cari DelMariani, Kramden employee. Picture by Jim Kitchen

Angela Vargas, a mother of 2 children at Rashkis, arrived at the Award Day 30 minutes early. “My kids are so thrilled to get a computer at home. This is a great feeling to finally get a computer for them.”
Daniel Gonzalez, a third grader in Mrs. Orr’s class, couldn’t wait to get his “new” computer. “I asked my teacher and Ms. Norwood every day when I was going to be able to get my computer.” He added, “I really need one to type school work and to get on the internet.” His father Roberto shook his head and agreed that having a computer at home would help Daniel and the rest of the family. “Daniel has agreed to teach me how to use it”, laughed the elder Gonzalez.

Deshera Mack, the principal at Rashkis, looked on as the children and parents were instructed how to use the computer by Cari DelMariani, one of Kramden’s employees. “It is like Christmas in June”, said Ms. Mack, smiling proudly. “It’s great to give these children and families the support they need to help them learn. It’s wonderful to provide them with something they didn’t think was obtainable.”

Jim Kitchen, who recently joined the Kramden Board, hopes that this is just the beginning. “I’ve been speaking with principals at other schools in the area and our mission is to help bridge the digital divide in community.”

To learn more about the Kramden Institute visit http://www.kramden.org/

Jim and Mark Dibner, Kramden’s Executive Director, examining laptop computers sent by ModusLink.

Jim Kitchen of Chapel Hill graduated with honors as valedictorian of the 2009 University of Tennessee-Knoxville Executive MBA class. Kitchen is president of Real Property Development, a commercial real estate company in the Triangle that specializes in multi-family and triple-net acquisitions. He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Read the entire article in the Raleigh N&O.