Tag Archives: social business

Holly Mosher – Bonsai (Celebrating the vision of Muhammad Yunus)

Posted on March 28, 2011 by JW Najarian | Leave a comment

Nobel Peace Prize winner, Muhammad Yunus

has long been and icon for me personally. I aspire to create the kind of world he not only envisions, but is actively engaged in creating. I love the idea of a Social Business and though I do not agree totally with all the concepts Mohammad writes about, the Grameen Bank and the belief that business can make a profit and still help others is the basis for what I try and create in the businesses and things I do.

I was at a Meta meeting and met Holly Mosher, who told me she just produced a feature length documentary film that explores the work of Muhammad Yunus and his vision from microcredit to social business. In fact Holly was preparing for the films premier screening when we asked her to stop by the Lounge and speak with us. Listen in to our interview with Holly Mosher … you’ll love her as much as we do.

Interview with Holly Mosher – Bonsai – Mohammad Yunus

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Holly Mosher

is an award winning filmmaker who brings socially conscious films to the public. After graduating with honors from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Holly produced a number of commercials and feature films. In 2004 she made her directorial debut with the documentary, Hummingbird. Afterwards, she produced the critically acclaimed films Side Effects, starring Katherine Heigl, and the follow-up documentary Money Talks: Profits Before Patient Safety.

She has served as a producer and executive producer on several films including: Maybe Baby, Vanishing of the Bees and FREE FOR ALL! Currently, Holly is in production on her second directorial project, Bonsai, where she is following the work of the Nobel Peace Prize winning Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank. Her films have received international press attention, and The Hollywood Reporter named her one of the top up-and-coming independent film producers.

Bonsai is a feature length documentary film that explores the work of Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus and his vision from microcredit to social business.

Why Bonsai?

“Sometimes I describe poor people as the bonsai tree. If you take the seed of the tallest tree in the forest and put it in a flower pot, it grows only as big as the pot will let it. There’s nothing wrong with the seed; simply we did not give it enough space to grow.

Poor people are bonsai people. There’s nothing wrong with their seed, society never allowed them the space to grow as tall as everybody else.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvawK4ZuerM&rel=0]

Holly Mosher: http://www.hollymosher.com

The Bonsai Movie: http://bonsaimovie.com

Other Works of Holly Mosher

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/filmmakerforchange/share-muhammad-yunus-vision-bonsaimovie/widget/card.html

Julie Hegle, Esq – Non-Profit Law, Structure and Grants with an Introduction to L3C

Posted on January 26, 2011 by JW Najarian | Leave a comment

Julie Hegle, Esq Discusses Non-Profit Law, Structure, Grants and the New L3C

Juliane Viskup, J.D., was a lawyer practicing in Winooski, Vermont. She favors representing women and children and is one of a growing number of lawyers who use the concept of collaborative law in their practices. Resolution of conflict is as much about preserving the human as it is about closure. Julie worked with Vermont HITEC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating jobs for unemployed, underemployed and disenfranchised individuals in Vermont.

Julie Hegle, Esq

In the past, she has also been involved with nonprofit organizations like the Heart Association, and The Bellwether School. As a current member of a UN Committee on the Status of Women NGO, Julie’s mission is to support women and their children in creating a peaceful, productive and meaningful life.

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NOTE: Julie Viskup is now Julie Hegle – Thanks

I recently met Julie at LeaderShift 2020 as I was trying to get a picture taken with Mark Victor Hansen. The picture did not turn out, but I did get to talk to a very nice person while I waited for Mark to finish speaking with an associate.

This was Julie Viskup, who I quickly found out, practiced Non-Profit law. Since I have recently been involved with building an association and starting a non-profit, I was very eager to talk to her. We were both going separate ways so we traded contact info and went on our ways. It was only a few days later that I spotted Julie at the Tapping the Source movie premiere.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg7-KhNey3c&w=480&h=385]
As I was doing media at the event I did not have the time to talk, but when I got back to the office I got in touch right away. It turns out that Julie’s work with Vermont HITEC allowed her to gain knowledge of all the facets of non-profit, law, structure, grants and many other issues that affect businesses that put cause and purpose ahead of profits.

I asked Julie to sit down with me and talk about all the various ins and outs associated with non-profits and social businesses with purpose and she graciously agreed.

We met in beautiful Malibu, CA for the interview and it lasted just under an hour. If you listen carefully you can hear the crashing waves in the background. I have put together a short video of our conversation and have added the whole interview to the podcast above.

Julie talks about how to use the questions in the graphic below to find out if you should go Non-Profit or For Profit and if you decide on Non-Profit, just how you should structure.

Julie Discusses:

The best method for determining whether or not you should set up your entity as a for profit or not for profit.
Different types of non-profits.
Gives great details about the new L3C entity structure that allows a business to declare purpose before profits
Problems involved in setting up a non-profit and how to best resolve them
Funding of a non-profit including grants and loans.
And Much, Much More