Nov 5 2009 6:00PM – Nov 5 2009 7:15PM

RSVP Required!
Location: Kuhn Honors & Scholars House Rm 201

Contact: Cheria V. Dial
Contact Email: dial.3@osu.edu
Contact Phone: (614)292-3135

Description:
Learn about social entrepreneurship and how you might consider starting your own nonprofit organization with Honors Program alum Rob Emrich.

Rob currently serves as president of B.A. Mensch Consulting, an interactive digital agency. He is co-founder of the largest marketplace for speakers and event planners; and the Owner of Boundaryless Brands, a family of e-commerce companies.

Before embracing his pursuits as a entrepreneur, in 2002 Rob sold his car and stocks to fund the initial $2,500 investment and founded The Keren Emrich Foundation | Road of Life. That investment has since been leveraged to serve over 200,000 children internationally and generate an estimated $60 million social return on investment for cancer prevention for children.

Rob and his work have been featured extensively in the media, including coverage by NPR, PBS, Inc.com, and major daily newspapers. He sits on a number of boards, including The Columbus Jewish Foundation; and the Alliance of Nonprofits for Insurance, Risk Retention Group. Rob was also selected as a delegate to the Third Annual World Health Care Congress, and one of five delegates from Ohio for the First Nonprofit Congress.

Rob graduated with Research Distinction from The Ohio State University Honors Program, with a B.A. in Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Science and Reason. Please join us for what promises to be an informative and stimulating alumni fireside chat with Mr. Rob Emrich.

RSVP to Cheria Dial at the email address above no later than Tuesday, November 3rd.

Artie,  and I are hard at work attracting the attention of those in the meeting industry. We are committed to bringing event and meeting planners to the site to show off our wonderful membership!

Thanks to author Melissa Mercer for the flattering prose. We are not worthy!

Quick Links: About | Philanthropy | My Companies | Writing | Press | Contact

A Note as I turn 30

Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes.  I am flattered by your messages by email, facebook, post, text, phone, and everywhere.  Although I usually like to do something extravagant for my birthdays, this just didn’t seem like the right year.  Truth be told, I am not very excited to be 30, and I have to imagine that birthdays just get worse from here on out.  So in an effort to make birthdays better, I would like to pick up a tradition that learned from my Grandfathers.  On my birthday I will give presents to others.  I think it’s a much more fulfilling gift anyway.

This has been a fantastic year for me, despite the rough economy.  So, for my 30th birthday I have decided to start the Rob Emrich Philanthropic Fund, a donor advised fund, at the Columbus Jewish Foundation.  For those who don’t know, a donor advised fund is sort of like a philanthropic checking account.  I will use it to continue giving to my favorite cause, Road of Life, and a few others.  I think philanthropy is even more critical in tough times like these.  Anyone who has the capacity should consider starting a fund at any local community foundation, to consolidate and streamline your philanthropy. If you live in the US, you can  find yours here http://www.cof.org/Locator/

What do you want for your birthday? For everyone asking me what would like for my birthday, please consider making a donation to Road of Life.  You can donate online here:  https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=20213.  A $150 donation will sponsor an entire classroom of children, but donations of any denomination are appreciated.

So What are You Doing These Days? I’ll also take this opportunity to give a brief update on the projects I am involved with.

Road of Life: Our new site is up, and over 200,000 children have now used our program.  At $300 per child, that program has generated a $60 million social return on investment.  I couldn’t be more excited and proud of our impact. www.roadoflife.org

Consulting: My consulting practice has exploded this year and I am working with some wonderful clients.  The practice has morphed from nonprofit work into corporate digital communications.  Based on the spectacular response, I have increased our staffing and plan to expand the business. www.bamensch.com

SpeakerSite: This is such a fun business.  I started it with my good friend Artie Isaac (link) and in just over 5 months we have created the largest social network of public speakers in the world.  I have learned so much about the world of public speaking.  If you speak or need a speaker, check it out. www.speakersite.com

Book Writing: Unfortunately this has taken a back seat to other projects right now.  I have made some real progress in my thinking and writing, and would like to pick this project up later this year. www.robemrich.com

E-commerce: After founding Road of Life, I have always liked the enterprise of building a company, or nonprofit in that case.  After sharing an office at TechColumbus, a tech business incubator (link) last year, I really caught the bug.  I have built a few different sites which are going very well and continue to grow.  email me if you want more info

What are you doing for your birthday? If you are in Columbus there is a small gathering at Mac’s tonight at 8PM in the Short North 693 N High St.

Again thanks again to everyone who has contacted me, it means so much. Please keep in touch.

Rob Emrich

Quick Links: About | Philanthropy | My Companies | Writing | Press | Contact

Details:
Date: September 23, 2008
Time: 5PM -7PM
Location: COSI – Center Of Science and Industry 333 West Broad Street Columbus, OH 43215

Online Registration Here

Description

The titans of business today look eerily similar, most are older, white men with solid “brick and mortar” business experience gathered while working for the same company for the last two or three decades.

Will the next generation of leaders be so easy to describe?

Join our multi-generational panel to discuss the future of organizational leadership in Columbus, the differences between today’s leaders and the leaders of tomorrow. And ultimately, find out if Dylan’s lyrics are true, thirty years after they were written…

“The times, they are a-changin”?

Our Panel
Bob Milbourne
President, Columbus Partnership

Dawn Tyler Lee
Assistant VP,
Office of Government Relations, OSU

Rob Emrich
Founder
Road of Life Cancer Prevention for Kids
& President,
B.A. Mensch Consulting & Publishing

Moderated by:
Artie Isaac, Founder, Young Isaac

The Nonprofit Congress is a national movement to build a diverse network of local leaders to identify and address the challenges that all nonprofits face in meeting and advocating for community needs. Nonprofit Congress organizers Audrey R. Alvarado, executive director of the National Council of Nonprofit Associations, and Robert Egger, founder and president of D.C. Central Kitchen, were recently honored as NonProfit Times’ Power and Influence Top 50, an annual list of “leaders shaping the nonprofit world.”

At the National Meeting, hundreds of delegates from across the country will converge on Washington, DC to identify the values that all nonprofits share, develop a vision and priorities for the nonprofit sector, and exercise a collective voice. Their work will be informed by data gathered from over 100 Town Hall meetings in 40 states and the District of Columbia.

Nonprofit Congress delegates will represent the broad interests of the nonprofit sector and mirror the geographic and issue diversity of charitable organizations. Additionally, delegates will bring forward the concerns of traditionally underrepresented groups.

Registration for the National Meeting is open to at-large participants at www.nonprofitcongress.org/nationalmeeting.

“I am honored to represent Ohio at the Nonprofit Congress National Meeting,” said Emrich, the primary founder of Road of Life. “It will be invigorating to meet a group of committed individuals interested in strengthening charitable organizations. I hope to bring new strategies and connections back to Ohio.”

The 27-year old founder/chairman of Road of Life, a nonprofit agency with a mission to educate children about cancer prevention, doesn’t even have a desk chair in his downtown Columbus office. Instead, he stands up while working on his podium-mounted computer, taking phone calls, and overseeing his 12-person operation.

Perhaps Emrich’s upright work habit is emblematic of his commitment to “take a stand” against cancer. At age 7, the Shaker Heights native lost his two-year old sister Keren to neuroblastoma, a pediatric cancer of the nervous system. His parents, Joyce and Ron, established a concert series at the former Temple Beth Am in her memory, and Emrich wanted to continue that tradition in one form or another.

While he was in college at The Ohio State University, taking classes in philosophy and deciding on a career path, cancer hit home again – twice. His cousin, a young rabbi in Calgary, died of the disease, and soon after, his mother had a cancer scare of her own.

He decided to organize a fund-raiser with the goal of making “a substantial difference” in the fight against this dreaded disease. However, while researching fund-raising ideas, he learned there was “almost no work being done in the field of cancer prevention and even less for kids.” This struck a chord with the tall, blond young man who lost his little sister so long ago.

“One out of three people develop some sort of cancer in their lives,” he says, “and one out of two (cancers) can be prevented.”

So instead of creating a fund-raising event, Emrich began plans for a bigger organization that would combat cancers in another way. In 2002, the enterprising young man sold his car and $5,000 worth of stocks his grandparents had given him, hires his best friend Matt Youngner (another Shaker Heights High School grad), and started the Keren Emrich Foundation. The foundation spawned Road of Life, an organization whose mission is to “educate children about the smoking, fitness and nutrition decisions they can make to lead a healthier life.”

The ultimate goal, says Emrich, is to raise a healthier generation of young people with “a significantly lower risk of developing cancer and diseases of excess.”

Road of Life offers interested educators a free, comprehensive, 22-lesson health curriculum. Lesson #10, for example, compares the nutritional value of water and soda pop, using activities like relay races and experiments with fresh fruit.

Two full-time employees of Road of Life, a social worker and a health-education specialist, create the lessons, which are then approved by the organization’s board of directors. This fall, educators all over the country will be able to access the lessons via the Internet.

The group is also finalizing plans to provide all its health content for TeachForward, an online community developed at Harvard University. With TeachForward, educators can post their own lessons and search for, rate, and discuss lessons with teachers across the country.

It’s a misconception that all kids learn about eating their veggies and the importance of exercise during their regular gym and health classes, says Emrich. Lower income school districts, for example, don’t always make health education a priority.

“Ohio doesn’t really have health academic standards, especially for students ages 9-12,” he says.

To date, Road of Life has piloted its program in a number of schools around Columbus. Among other positive results, “we found that the program made students 26% more likely to know that smoking makes it harder to succeed at exercise and sports and 40% more likely to report eating fruits and vegetables every day,” says Emrich.

In April, the nonprofit received a $10,000 grant, one of 50 Compassion Capitol Project sub-award grants by the Ohio Governor’s Office of Faith and Community Based Initiatives. Road of Life is no stranger to grant money; in fact, most of the organization’s overhead is funded via federal grants.

In late 2005, Road of Life officially launched the “Extending the Road of Life” campaign to raise additional funds. The group’s goal is $1.4 million, and currently “we have commitments for over half,” Emrich says.

Because the organization didn’t want to depend on special events for funding, Road of Life focuses more on major gifts and corporate sponsorships.

Emrich’s organization is currently experiencing some significant growing pains, and its founder couldn’t be prouder. He plans on opening an office in Cambridge, Mass., this fall, and he’s slowly but consistently added new hires to his young staff.

Emrich would like to continue Road of Life’s national expansion and “create a sustainable organization without my being here,” he says. In the meantime, he’s being lauded for his work. He was recognized as one of Columbus’ “40 Under 40″ by Business First newspaper, and he served as a delegate at the World Health Congress. In his spare moments, Emrich also chairs the Young Jewish Professionals board of the Columbus Jewish Federation and sits on its Overseas Allocation committee.

Emrich’s Jewish background influenced his decision to start Road of Life, he says. “My parents and grandparents told me I need to be a mensch and do what’s right.” With the Road of Life, Rob Emrich certainly seems to be headed in the right direction.

Read the full PDF article on Rob Emrich from the Cleveland Jewish News.

It was hard for Rob Emrich to justify spending money for anything that wasn’t directly involved with daily tasks. The chairman and founder of Road of Life, a nonprofit that educates children on cancer prevention in Columbus, Ohio, stored all of the company’s financial information on an external hard drive attached to the USB port of his server. However, a year ago, Emrich came to work and discovered that he had been robbed. The computer to which the hard drive was attached was gone — and so was the drive with all of his financial records. The employees of Road of Life spent the next two weeks unable to continue their business; instead, they had to re-build their database, pulling together paper copies of donation records and looking through old e-mails saved on personal computers.

Backing up a company’s data may seem like a second-tier priority, particularly for small businesses looking to put all of their resources into generating immediate revenue or providing services, but in the face of a disaster, a business’s backup files are all they have to keep the business alive. Without proper backup, data loss can keep a business from operating for weeks, even months, resulting in severely decreased productivity as staff members work to recover the lost information.

Right now, tapes are the most common form of data backup. However, with evolving technology, online backup services and DVDs also are becoming popular methods, and with the proliferation of inexpensive external hard drives, many companies are using them to create network attached storage that can be used for larger scale backups. It’s also common for companies to combine the different means of backup, to ensure that their needs are met within their budget.

Here are some things to think about when comparing the different strategies for backing up your company’s data.

•  Tapes. Tapes are a very efficient way of backing up data: They are inexpensive and can store large amounts of data. For this reason, “they are the best option for long term, off-site archiving in high capacities,” says Steve Berens, senior director of marketing and product strategy for the storage devices business unit at Quantum, based in Irvine, Calif.

Data tapes operate similarly to cassette tapes in that the information is stored sequentially on a magnetic strip. This means that the files are saved in chronological order, so file retrieval is very convenient if a full recovery is required. In the event of a single file being lost, however, tapes are extremely inefficient because they require someone to rewind and fast-forward the tape in order to find the file. Like cassettes, data tapes require meticulous care; in extreme weather and humid conditions, tapes can easily be ruined and the data on them lost.

•  CDs, DVDs, and external hard drives. CDs and DVDs have a number of advantages over data tapes: Storage and file-specific recovery are quicker, and these media are fast becoming ubiquitous. The problem with CDs and DVDs is that they can’t store as much data as a tape can.

•  Attached storage. An external hard drive, which can be connected to a computer through a USB port or attached to a network, also is a good, inexpensive option for storing data. The key to using an external hard drive, as with any data storage device, is to back up frequently and then take the files off-site. Experts recommend making duplicates of the hard drive and storing a secondary copy somewhere else, often in a different region, and occasionally in a different country. “Even if you’re storing your data in the biggest safe on the planet, guess what? It’s still just in one place,” says Nishank Khanna, CEO of UnderTag.com, an online coupon aggregator that had its own experience with massive data loss. “If something happens in that one place, all of your data is gone.”

•  Online backup. Online backup is still a relatively new option, but its popularity is increasing because backups can happen automatically, and typically only require a quick file setup. “Online backup is a lot more secure and reliable than other options because all of the data is encrypted,” says Jennifer Walzer, founder and president of online backup service, Backup My Info (BUMI), referring to the ease of password-protection on online backup servers. Proponents for online backup also point out that because it is automatic, there is less chance for human error.

“We have a program (script) on our server that kicks off every 57 minutes and does a backup and a compression of several databases and then sends them to the off-site vendor’s server,” says Al Canton, owner of Adams-Blake Company, the makers of JAYA123, a Web-based enterprise application for allows small businesses. “It also deletes previous backup files that are over 10 hours old,” he
adds.

The negative side to online backup includes its comparably high costs and speed of total recovery. Because back ups are done entirely over the Internet, your best bet for efficient backup and fast data recovery are to use high speed connections, such as broadband cable or a T1 connection. Dial-up connections are less than desirable for this method of back, especially if you move large amounts of data on a regular basis.

When considering what might be the best options for your company’s data backup, keep the following points in mind:

•  Security. Not only should you keep your records secure for your company’s sake, but you should also protect investor and customer information. Data encryption, or making data unavailable without a password, is possible on each of these forms of data storage, including tapes. Make sure that even if your data is stolen, others won’t be able to open your files.

•  Redundancy. Canton notes that even though using online backup is fast, convenient and secure for his business, he uses more than one backup method to help guarantee the safety of his company’s critical information. “Redundancy is the key for any backup scenario,” he says. “We also do a daily backup to a third location; we make sure that no geographical location can have the same weather pattern as the others.”

•  Testing. Be sure to test how well your backup system is working by recovering a randomly selected file each month. This way you can be sure that your system will work when you need it to.

•  Plan for the unexpected. Even if you keep your own office secure, there’s no telling what your neighbors are up to. Despite how much care you take to keep your office safe from fire or theft, your neighbors might not be as diligent: A fire in an adjoining office can quickly turn into a major disaster for your business.

“Your computer is 100% guaranteed to fail,” Walzer says. “The question is: Will you be prepared when it does?”

Making a data backup plan is as vital to your business as selling your product or service. Road of Life’s Emrich learned this the hard way, but eventually decided on an online backup plan that would keep his organization from having to experience data loss disaster ever again. “The amount of productivity we lost from losing that information exceeds any price that we would pay for data backup,” he says.

See the full PDF article “Backup Plan from Inc.com.

In 2002, the Keren Emrich Foundation, named in memory of Rob’s sister, was incorporated and Road of Life was chosen as the public business name of the organization. Road of Life was originally envisioned as a fund-raising entity for innovative cancer research. Shortly thereafter, it was realized that a great need could be met and a bigger difference could be made, by working on prevention, specifically cancer prevention for children.

The mission of Road of Life is to educate children about the smoking, fitness and nutrition decisions they can make to grow up healthy and greatly reduce their risks of developing cancer later in life. Road of Life accomplishes this goal by designing and implementing innovative curricula aimed at third and fourth graders. These curricula use existing Ohio academic content standards, but incorporate them in an engaging health framework. So, as students learn about proper nutrition and the dangers of smoking, required math and social studies material are simultaneously reinforced.

Walking is one of the cornerstones of this program. In 2003 and 2004, Road of Life produced long-distance walks across the state of Ohio, from Cincinnati north to Cleveland. The first event, called the Bicentennial Walk, was a one-man trek completed by Emrich. The walk, presented in association with the Ohio Bicentennial Commission, raised public awareness about Road of Life and its mission.

Every mile of the journey was dedicated in honor or memory of someone who suffered from cancer. These names were then commemorated in a virtual monument hosted on Road of Life’s website, and the list was later commemorated by the Ohio Senate and House of Representatives. The Bicentennial Walk received a great deal of attention from the media and raised thousands of dollars for cancer prevention.

Road of Life was extremely satisfied with the results of The Bicentennial Walk, but wanted to create an event that would encourage others to get active and provide an outlet for that activity. With that goal in mind, in May 2004 the organization presented a second walk – Road of Life: Ohio 2004 – a relay which again stretched from Cincinnati to Cleveland. The relay format allowed members of the public to participate at any point along the route, as well as at special events in Columbus and Cleveland. The event also attracted the participation of several dignitaries, including the Mayor of Cincinnati, Charles Luken, and Ohio State Senator Ray Miller. Road of Life: Ohio 2004 was an opportunity to raise public awareness about cancer prevention, specifically using physical fitness and nutrition as an important and undervalued means of prevention. It also served as the backbone of Road of Life’s prevention program for fourth graders.

Road of Life’s programming works to change the fitness and nutrition habits of children by creating a program that encourages activity and healthier dietary decisions. In 2004, the program included:
1.  A 10-unit curriculum based on the Bicentennial Walk and Ohio’s fourth grade academic content standards,
2.  A three-lesson prevention sequence concentrating on nutrition and exercise, administered by college mentors, and
3.  Participation in a 2.5-mile walk along the route of Road of Life: Ohio 2004.

This program was piloted in two Columbus City Schools, Hubbard Avenue and Franklinton Alternative elementary schools. Approximately 50 fourth-grade students participated in the program, along with six college mentors from The Ohio State University. The program was met with great enthusiasm from teachers, students and mentors. Especially encouraging was the enjoyment students derived from something as simple as a long walk on a nice day. Road of Life is currently working to expand this program throughout the Columbus City School District and, eventually, throughout Ohio.

In 2005, Road of Life is excited to present the next step in its commitment to improving community fitness through walking. Road of Life is the sponsoring charity of the new walking division of the 28th Annual Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon & 10K, taking place on May 22, 2005 in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. For the first time in its history, this event is offering a walking division for both the marathon and half marathon. Road of Life is thrilled to be able to give walkers everywhere a chance to fully participate in this amazing event.  Road of Life is working with marathon directors to ensure that the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon & 10K will be a positive experience for walkers and that this marathon can become a destination race that attracts walkers from around the country. To that end:

• Walkers will begin the race at the same time as runners
• The course will remain open for a full 8 hours, allowing plenty of time for completion of the race
• Water and food stations will remain open throughout the race
• Medals will be awarded to all participants.

Road of Life encourages men and women of all ages to come out in support of this event. A portion of the entry fee from every walker will be donated to Road of Life and its children’s cancer prevention programs. Participants are also urged to raise charitable dollars independently, through “per mile” or “completion” pledges. To register for the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon & 10K, please visit  www.clevelandmarathon.com. To learn more about Road of Life, its programming, and how you can help, please visit www.roadoflife.org.

Click here to see the full PDF article on Rob and Road of Life from Walk! Magazine.

And Emrich founded Road of Life, a nonprofit agency that teaches cancer prevention to fourth-graders. He’s 26 years old. Emrich said his ambition and strength to try new things came through a series of events that changed his perceptions of who he was and what he wanted to be. When he was 7 years old, his 2-year-old sister, Keren, died of complications from neuroblastoma, a cancer of the nervous system.

“It was a dark cloud that was always there,” said his mom, Joyce Emrich. “It changed all of us.”

Rob Emrich grew up in Shaker Heights, a suburb of Cleveland. Joyce teaches in Cleveland and his father, Ron, is a former chemist who now works as a computer analyst. He has a brother, Michael, 23, and a sister, Alexandra, 15. After graduating from high school in 1997, Rob Emrich decided to take a year to go to Israel and travel.

He worked on a kibbutz, a farm where all work is done collectively, in Jerusalem. On his second day there, during a trip to a popular market, three Palestinian suicide bombers dressed as women set off explosives strapped to their bodies. Emrich took cover and was unharmed by the blasts, which killed three Israelis and an American and injured 200. For months after his stay at the kibbutz, he said, he jumped at every loud noise.

“You have no idea how many things you take for granted,” Emrich recalled thinking after he came home.

After working in construction for a few months, he took a 1,000-mile hike from Georgia to New York along the Appalachian Trail. He said the three month trip helped him focus.

“I was processing things,” he said, “reinforcing to myself the decision to do good work that had an impact.”

In 1998, he went to Ohio State University, where he majored in philosophy and pre-med. In 2000, he returned to Israel to study at the BenGurion University of the Negev. But it wasn’t long before the United States imposed a travel warning, and his visit was cut short. It was about this time that his cousin Seth died of a brain tumor. Rob Emrich said the death spurred him to raise money for cancer research.

“There’s two directions you can go in,” he said. “Get over your anger and be stronger, or let it affect you your whole life.”

He sold his car and some stocks for about $5,000 — just enough for startup costs — and created the Keren Emrich Foundation in his sister’s name.

“I didn’t want to start an organization,” he said. “I just wanted to make a significant difference in cancer research.”

He rounded up his friends, the “best and the brightest” he knew, and asked for their help. Matt Youngner, who has known Emrich since they were classmates at Shaker HeightsHigh School, didn’t hesitate to join.

“It seemed cool, interesting, fun, memorable,” Youngner said. “Not knowing what you’re going to get paid, it’s part of the adventure.”

Their work led to Road of Life, the group within the foundation that teaches children how to prevent cancer. The programming is simple: Volunteers from OhioState teach fourth-graders about smoking prevention, nutrition and exercise. Last year, Youngner, executive director of Road of Life, and Emrich launched a pilot program at Franklinton Alternative and Hubbard elementary schools. Michael Emrich, who is studying political science and international studies at OhioState, set up a Road of Life chapter at OSU and rounded up volunteers.

“I’ve learned so much from my brother and Matt,” Michael Emrich said. “It’s just the idea of turning an idealist thought into reality.”

Rob Emrich said he hopes to spread the program to all fourth-graders in Columbus this fall and eventually across Ohio. Since 2002, Road of Life has raised more than $500,000 to support cancer-prevention programming. Emrich walked 312 miles from Cincinnati to Cleveland to raise money for the program.

“He’s devoted the best years of his life to a cause while most people his age are just trying to make money,” his mother said. “He was born with this strong spirit, and it just gets stronger.”

His success has led a number of groups to ask him to join their boards and committees. In his spare time, Emrich goes to the gym and hangs out with friends in his Italian Village apartment, hikes with his dog, Calvin, and keeps up with politics. In August, he was one of 29 candidates to turn in applications for the City Council seat left open by Richard W. Sensenbrenner’s departure. Although he didn’t make the cut, Emrich said he still sees politics in his future.

But for right now, he’s content with the journey that Road of Life has in store for him.

See the full PDF article on Rob Emrich in the Columbus Dispatch.

After witnessing family and friends suffering and dying from cancer, 25-year-old Rob Emrich decided that he would try to make a difference. Selling his car and personal stocks, Rob created Road of Life, a nonprofit organization devoted to increase cancer prevention and awareness and support for underfunded cancer researchers.

Road of Life educates children about fitness and nutrition decisions. It also strives to raise a generation of children with a significantly lower risk of cancer.

Road of Life is best known for its 312-mile relay walk across Ohio. Held in the spring, the event culminates a year of study for fourth graders and their college mentors that focuses on fitness and cancer prevention. The fund-raiser also raises awareness for cancer prevention in children in under-served communities.

Road of Life created and piloted a curriculum focusing on cancer prevention techniques for two Columbus Public Schools that was designed to meet Ohio proficiency standards. Additionally, Rob helped raise more than 350,000 in funding and in kind donations to fund Road of Life’s Mission, including grants from the AmeriCorp Vista Program and the Columbus Foundation.

During 2003 and 2004 Rob was a member of the Social Entrepreneurship Panel for City Year Columbus. He was a seminar speaker at the John Glenn Institute in Washington, D.C. He is a member of the Columbus Jewish Federation’s Overseas Allocations Committee.

In 2003, Rob was selected by Northern Ohio Live as a recipient of the Time to Care – Four People Whose Bright Ideas Bring Light to Others. He received the Katz Fellowship from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Beer-Sheva. Israel, for bio-ethics.

See the complete PDF article from Columbus Business First.