Today we’d like to introduce you to Colby Chapman.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Greetings All, pleasure to meet you digitally! I am a native of Harvey, Illinois. I attended Thornridge High School and continued my post secondary studies at Southern Illinois University, in Carbondale, Illinois. I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Criminology and Forensic Science and Master of Science in Education, in Program Leadership. Immediately following completion of my masters program, I began interning for Walmart, at the end of the twelve week program, I was offered an opportunity as Assistant Store Manager, where I focused on customer service, employee retention, and diversity practices. While education has always been my passion, like most students coming out of college, I jumped at the opportunity offering a livable wage. Nevertheless, working in retail prepared me with the necessary leadership skill sets for education. I transitioned, into high school education with Chicago Excel Academy, in 2013. Currently, I serve as the Director of Student Services for Excel Southwest, located in the South west side of Chicago, where I have the distinct opportunity to help students navigate their post secondary plans via educational, social, mental, and physical platforms.
I was convinced early on that working within education was not enough to strengthen communities and signed up at Loyola School’s Law Clinic in 2014, to start my own 501c(3) organization, Financial Literacy Leaders of America. Through the non-profit organization, we created the PennyUp program, to educate, inspire, equip, and financially aide youth with innovative financial resources. Since creating, the organization has worked with 132 youth and 57 social service organizations. Through a host of collaborative events, PennyUp, has provided numerous: back to school drives, financial literacy classes, college tours, community clean ups, homeless feedings, and even assisted, financially with a student driven collection, of 131,000 pennies, to start the first prom for Excel Academies in 2014.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The road has surely not been easy, but strategic relationship building makes the transition that much smoother. Subject matter experts often more times than not, hold the gems to work smart and not hard. This, coupled, with your own individual research, will take your business to the next level, of course along with patience and dedication. Particularly for me, I find difficulty within the execution piece, because I want to ensure everything is perfectly set, but these serve as opportunities to build your best team. Faith, family, and friends have been my biggest motivators and critics, but the balance in between allows transparency and an opportunity to aim for excellence in various capacities. Surrounding yourself with like minded individuals who are just as passionate about your ideas, promote healthy relationships. Furthermore, reading, listening to audio books, attending networking events, and just being bold enough to send that email or make a phone call to seek mentorship or propose an idea, when the opportunity presents itself. Yes, you will hear no, but persistence is key and when you are prepared, “your gifts will make room for you”!
So, as you know, we’re impressed with PennyUp – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
As the Director of Student Services, I assist with helping students define their post secondary plans, this includes surveying students, college visits, interactive activities, and career exposure to the field students are interested in. Daily, I build strategic partnerships with a variety of educational, social, mental, and physical programs to provide a myriad of resources to students.
Fortunately for me, I have been able to truly define my passion for working with students, by providing innovative resources and opportunities. PennyUp has three programs, these are the Pennies Up Program,#500CentsProject, and PennyBanks.
Pennies Up provides students with basic financial literacy principles through a twelve-week program, an incentive of the program is that students have the opportunity to set up bank accounts via Bank of America student checking program. Additionally, students attend cultural explorations, such as visits to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, to learn the history of money, how banks operate, and career opportunities in finance.
The #500CentsProject partners with a diverse range of artists throughout the Chicagoland area. Each artist is given 500 pennies to create artistry, our second installment is scheduled this upcoming fall, and as a way to explore the versatility of art, we are seeking fashion, jewelry, and poetry artists to provide their twist to pennies. The project aides our program using art as a vehicle, we ask each artist to donate 15% of earned proceeds, to the Penny Bank program.
Penny Banks has not officially launched, but we are in planning phases. The idea of Penny Banks is to couple with businesses and organizations to place penny banks inside their establishments, as apart of there social responsibility. We ask consumers to donate just one cent per purchase. This collaborative collective fosters growth and revolving door economic sustainability. Our goal is to collect 1,000,000,00 pennies that equates to $10,000 dollars to disperse amongst Cook Counties most disenfranchised communities to organizations seeking change. Organizations will be able to apply via a website application and panel will select organizations.
Which women have inspired you in your life? Why?
My mother, aunts, nieces, girlfriends, and a wide range of community sheroes that I know personally and from afar have been my biggest inspiration. My mother is truly my hero and constantly instilling the value of forwarding progression. She always provides a balance of support and constructive criticism and been my biggest role model. Through my mother, I’ve seen first hand, the power of consistency and determination.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.pennyup.org
- Phone: 618-303-2786
- Email: cchapman@pennyup.org
- Instagram: PennyUp_
Image Credit:
Kenneth L. Dixon Photography, High Vision Films Media and Design
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
