Build an organization that is growth-minded, values-based, and innovative using the six steps to "responsible impact."
At age 16, Michael 'Piecez' Prosserman, a professional b-boy (breakdancer), completed a school project that would grow to become a hip-hop-inspired mental health charity with global reach. Through a process of continuous discovery and reflection, Prosserman and his team grew UNITY to the point where it benefitted over a quarter of a million young people. In Building Unity, Prosserman breaks down the six steps to discovering "responsible impact" and building an organization that is growth-minded, values-based, and reflective of the needs of its community. Using stories of his own evolution, learning, and growth as a leader over 15 years, Prosserman parallels the creativity found in breakdancing with the innovation needed to build a sustainable non-profit.
Six steps to discovering "responsible impact":
• Spark is the inspiration, the big "why," the motivation to wake up and do something.
• Build is the testing ground to clarify ideas, understand community needs, and challenge assumptions.
• Trust involves building the culture of your organization, leading by example, and hiring people with dreams. Trust sets the stage for growth by empowering awesome people.
• Grow is about finding the right size for your organization to create a responsible impact.
• Evolve is knowing when to step back so others can step forward by building a succession plan that leaves your organization in good hands.
• Re-Ignite is building from past experience and lighting the next spark within yourself.
In his first book, b-boy turned CEO Michael Prosserman breaks down his six steps to discovering "responsible impact" and building a successful non-profit or charitable organization. Through personal storytelling, he takes the reader through the pressure points of growing a social purpose organization.
Like I said, I was a quiet kid. Even to this day, when I'm angry, I want to beat up the floor. But stress provides a creative opportunity for me: it fuels my dance. The biggest challenges in my life have given rise to new angles and perspectives to fuel my creativity. It's when I have the most to share, something to say, but words can't express the story. It's the raw expression birthed from experiences translated through movement. I express, create and heal in order to better understand my experiences. I turn pain into power.
In 2003, I had an idea. I wanted to share Hip Hop as a tool to create social change. Hip Hop was such a powerful tool in my life. Hip Hop was an expression, an outlet, a voice, a platform, a community. In grade 11, as part of a group project in my entrepreneurship class, our teacher, Mr. Izumi, gave us a practical real-world assignment. We had to write a business plan for an entrepreneurial venture that we would have to execute to raise money for a local charity of our choice. Our group ran an event we called "Hip Hop Away From Violence." We donated the proceeds from the event to the charity Leave Out ViolencE (LOVE), a charity that worked with youth in underserved communities, providing them outlets and alternatives to violence through photojournalism.
The first event was a miserable failure. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong. We needed to sell enough tickets to fill the school gym which held up to four hundred students. A few day
