These nominees have created impact beyond the conventional definition of sustainability by promoting communities to thrive both economically and sustainably and broadening the reach of sustainability to new communities that could have been neglected.

Join us on August 8th at WHYY for the SustainPHL Awards as we celebrate the nominees and announce the recipients!

SustainPHL 2019 Social Impact Award Nominees

• Tiffany Yau
• Anna Welsh
• Blew Kind

Tiffany Yau

“Very transparently, I care about Philadelphia and its future.”

Through her work with Fulphil, Tiffany provides social entrepreneurship education to youth (high school students and college students) to help them pursue the next step in their career paths through an impact-focused lens.

They’re are all about providing access to those who need it most. Specifically, the problem they are solving is how 72% of high school students want to start their own businesses to make an impact. According to her research at Penn, it turns out this is greater than 80% in the Greater Philadelphia Area with a sample size of 210. However, over 62% aren’t even offered a course or tangible resource in high school. To broaden the reach of resources to promote sustainability amongst this Tiffany and Fulphil do three key things:

1. They are a “buy one, give one” model. For every tuition paid for our program, they invite a student from an under-resourced background to participate.
2. They invite global leaders recognized from Shark Tank, Forbes, the Ivy League, and more, along with rising Philadelphia leaders in the social entrepreneurial ecosystem, to serve as Changemakers in Residence (CIRs). CIRs are teachers who curate the curriculum who also share their own stories about their entrepreneurial journeys.
3. They promote communities to thrive economically and sustainably through their experiential learning/workforce development model.

Here’s a quick rundown of the impact Tiffany and Fulphil have made:

• Taught 1,500 students about social entrepreneurship
• Created 60+ startup ideas in just this past year across 10 high schools and 15 universities in the Greater Philadelphia area
• Invited 40 Changemakers in Residence

Anna Welsh

“Not only do we all have to nurture the planet, but we have to nurture the next generation.”

Anna Welsh is the Founder and CEO of littlebags.bigimpact, an accessory brand driven by a social and environmental impact mission. littlebags.bigimpact is a sustainable and social impact business that makes bags out of locally resourced and reclaimed materials that would have otherwise ended up in a landfill. The social impact? 15% of each bag is donated to support childhood literacy in underserved neighborhoods in Philadelphia.

Anna has been motivated by my environmental and social impact mission. While researching materials, she learned that nearly 100% textiles and clothing are recyclable. However, only 26% of secondhand clothing is recycled. Since then she was determined to reuse interior design textile samples and pieces to create littlebags. Since 2016, littlebags.bigimpact has rescued more than 2000 pounds of fabric from entering a landfill.

Anna’s social impact mission encourages her to do even more for underserved children. Upon learning that in Philadelphia, there is just one age-appropriate book for every 300 homes, s was astounded and knew she had to take action. She was determined to see a change in her community, so she partnered with Tree House Book,  a literacy center and giving library. In two years, littlebags.bigimpact has touched the lives of more than 5000 children, giving them new books to become readers, writers, and thinkers. In addition, littlebags.bigimpact has donated $4050 to buy new books.

Blew Kind

“I was taught to wonder, dream, and love people deeply.”

In 2009, Blew started out of her house in East Kensington, with her first project Leotah’s Place Coffeehouse in an effort to bring folks together over a cup o’ love. She spent 3 solid years loving on all types of folks, creating a safe space to remove barriers and find how we can connect and grow together. The building was shut down for various reasons, putting them out of business. With a lot of community love, she was able to open Franny Lou’s Porch in 2015, a space in the 21st century to educate the positive resistant movements and promote rest and peace, especially for marginalized communities. It is beautiful to see the colorful space come to life with the laughter of elders, children, black and brown folks, neighbors, activists, good music, sweet dialogue talking of difficult issues all around freshly baked biscuits. Plus, all the food and drinks are made in the values of local, organic, relational (to the Earth and each other), and love!

They also implement a horizontal leadership model, focusing on roles. Furthermore, valuing all voices, feelings, and presence, while lifting their skills and passions is what Franny Lou’s Porch strives to do. Blew’s role is to “lead the vision, lead the tribe, and organize sustainable and workable systems, all the while encompassing a radical loving way to do value-centered business. “

Here are some other ways Blew and Franny Lou’s have made and continue to make social impacts:

• Provided 25 youth internships
• Compost 80% of waste, promoting using the non-disposable gear and to eat in
• Provide rest and the space for local nonprofits, activist, and marginalized folk

Join us at SustainPHL on August 8th to find out who will become the 2019 Social Impact award recipient!

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Sarah is a junior at the University of Michigan studying Public Health and Chemistry. She hopes to pursue a future that intertwines her interests in education and public health. Her favorite way of learning is by listening to a good podcast (anything NPR). You can almost always find Sarah with a cup of her favorite beverage, tea. View all posts by Sarah Jang