This edition of Movers and Makers is brought to you by Busch Systems
There are still good people doing great things in this topsy-turvy world and Data Gives Back founder Joe Lyons-Rising is certainly one of them.
Like most of us, Joe spent the last year and a half working from his basement. It was in a very spontaneous moment that his life dramatically changed.
Joe recalls sprinting upstairs to make the proclamation to his wife.
"I remember telling her that I'm going to quit my job start my own company, oh and by the way...I'm going to give 25 per cent of our gross revenue to charity," says Lyons-Rising.
From that moment on Joe's new social enterprise was born.
Data Gives Back gives a quarter of its gross revenue to Seasons Centre for Grieving Children, a charitable organization located in downtown Barrie that provides peer-to-peer support groups for children, teens, and their families grieving the death or life-threatening illness of an immediate family member.
There's a personal story behind 'why' and it goes back to the '80s when Joe lost both his parents to suicide.
"I wish a program like Seasons was available when I was a kid because grieving and dealing with the loss of parents to suicide is a decades-long process," says Lyons-Rising.
He feels the program is the best in the country that he's seen. "If it was around when I was a kid I have no doubt it would have helped me," says Lyons-Rising.
Through the social enterprise of Data Gives Back, Joe has been able to provide thousands for kids grieving with loss.
Seasons Centre for Grieving Children was founded in 1995 in the loving memory of Samantha and Jessica Ramey. Their father Rowley Ramey used their tragic death to help others. Rowley volunteers to this day at Seasons, running the operations of the charity.
"The giving model Joe created obviously helps support our programming but it also helps us provide a blueprint for others who are thinking about giving," says Ramey.
That business model or the social enterprise aspect of Data Gives Back, which provides insights coaching and analytic consulting for consumer packaged goods professionals and corporate teams, is now catching on at the corporate level.
"I've had some really profound discussions with professionals once they find about our cause and I've seen those discussions lead to more charitable giving," says Lyons-Rising.
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Featured image: Jon Meyer/Barrie 360
