When I met Tom Stader nearly 15 years ago, both of our organizations were just getting off the ground, and over the last couple of years he and I have spent a lot of time together hashing through EVERYTHING. Including the challenges that both of us faced as we built out our organizations, the stress of that work, the impacts of that stress on us, and how we look back on that now.
Topics that I have rarely seen addressed publicly, but ones that I am honored Tom agreed to share as an update to his first interview with me two years ago. When everything was seemingly on the cusp of going to the next level.
It is an interview that I would say is the most important to date, and I hope that viewers will see that while the work we are all doing is “good”, it is really, really, really tough sometimes.
Not a reason not to do it, but something that needs to be more honestly approached, and for which founders need better support.
About #EntrepreneursForGood Series:
Through this series, we speak with Asia based entrepreneurs whose mission it is to bring solutions to the environmental, social, and economic challenges that are faced within the region to learn more about their vision, the opportunities they see, and challenges that they have had to overcome.
It is a series that we hope will not only engage and inspire you, but catalyze you and your organizations into action. To identify a challenge that is tangible, and build a business model (profit or non) that brings a solution to the market
About Tom Stader:
Tom Stader is the Founder and Board Chair of The Library Project, an organization that donates libraries to under financed schools and orphanages in Cambodia, China and Vietnam.
He believes that education is the key motivator to breaking the cycle of poverty that exists in the developing world. In 2006 at the age of 32, Tom had a simple idea to donate libraries to two orphanages in Dalian, China. Soon after those libraries were complete, Tom founded The Library Project.
Since then, Tom and his dedicated team have completed 2000 library donations, impacting over 1,000,000 eager young readers. Tom is passionate about International Social Entrepreneurship and improving rural literacy.
About Rich:
Driven by the belief that change begins with a single step, Richard Brubaker has spent the last 15 years in Asia working to engage, inspire, and equip those around him to take their first step.
Acting as a catalyst to driving sustainability, Brubaker works with government, corporate, academic and non-profit stakeholders to bring together knowledge, teams, and tools that develop and execute their business case for sustainability.
Follow Rich
Website: http://www.richbrubaker.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rich.brubaker
LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richbrubaker Instagram: https://instagram.com/richbrubaker
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/richbrubaker
Contact Rich
[email protected]