On this episode, Quilen Blackwell shares how he’s using a sustainable flower farm, shop, and delivery company to mentor at-risk youth.
Quilen Blackwell is the cofounder of the Chicago EcoHouse and Southside Blooms, organizations dedicated to eliminating poverty through sustainability. He’s the grandson of Arkansas sharecroppers who moved to Milwaukee so his grandfather could secure a factory job in the aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement when racial tensions were high.
After earning his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Blackwell went on to serve in the Peace Corps in Thailand. When he returned to the United States, he enrolled in a Chicago ministry school where God led him to commit to a life of community service.
He began by tutoring high school students in Englewood, where he saw the devastating impacts of inner-city poverty. Eventually he and his partner (now wife), Hannah Bonham Blackwell founded the Chicago Eco House to transform blighted urban lots into sustainable flower farms. That grew into Southside Blooms, which provides jobs on these farms and in a flower shop to at-risk youth.
Quilen is always amazed to see how God’s hand moved through the suffering his grandfather endured working the land in the Jim Crow South all the way to the freedom he now enjoys and shares with others.
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On this episode, Uli Chi explains how the scriptural truth that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” should impact the way we conduct business. He also shares other lessons from his new book, The Wise Leader.
Uli Chi has led for-profit businesses, nonprofit organizations, the theological academy, and the local church, gleaning a wealth of wisdom from each. As an award-winning technological entrepreneur, he founded a software company that developed 3-D virtual reality software, revolutionizing decision-making for consumers and businesses. He is the board chair of the Virginia Mason Franciscan Health System in the Pacific Northwest. He also lends his expertise to the advisory boards for the Benaroya Research Institute and the Virginia Mason Institute, both in Seattle. He serves as the vice chair at the Max De Pree Center for Leadership at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena.
Uli has been part of his local Presbyterian congregation for over fifty years and has served that community in a wide variety of leadership roles.
He’s the author of the new book titled, The Wise Leader.
The Wise Leader book site: https://depree.org/books/wise-leader/
See the link to the De Pree Center page featuring Uli’s content: https://depree.org/bios/uli-chi/