– Life as a Public Charity Founder –
Denise Schamens, has three neurodivergent children, all young adults. Due to her first-hand experiences, she served for 10 years as a family engagement liaison for CESA 1 (Cooperative Educational Service Agency) in Wisconsin.
Her insight into the needs of children with ASD (or Autism spectrum disorder) gave rise to Good Friend, Inc., a public charity dedicated to creating autism awareness, teaching acceptance, and fostering empathy.
Mission Driven Work
Schamens serves as its co-founder and Executive director. Since the founding of Good Friend back in 2007 Denise and her team have provided autism awareness, acceptance, and empathy training to more than 67,000 K-10th grade students in Wisconsin.
Creative Expressions
Her other passion lies in her creative pursuits within and outside the organization: She is a five-time short film editor/director winning 5 international film festival awards.
Plus, she also manages to find time to work as a theatrical set designer, a regular university guest lecturer, and a frequent conference presenter.
Focussed Pursuits
In 2013, Denise became a First-Generation Facilitator for Sibshops (a US national program dedicated to the life-long and ever-changing concerns of millions of brothers and sisters of people with special developmental, health, and mental health needs.)
Denise has lead that team for the last 10 years in offering Good Friend, Inc. Sibshops.
Current Endeavours
Most recently, Denise has developed and produced a new Neurodiversity at Work training program, online training modules and yet another award-winning documentary.
Reasons to Listen
This will be a talk worth listening to for:
- those interested in finding out more about what it’s like leading a public charity
- those wanting to find out what it truly takes to live, work and breathe a life mission
- those who are looking for inspiration in so far as turning a personal cause into a way of life
Listeners will come away with insights on:
- the personal and professional backstory behind the founding of Good Friend Inc.
- a thoughtful look at the role of passion in pursuing a personal mission
- what it’s like to be growing an organization out in service and scope
- how and why Denise evolved herself as a creative to tackle the medium of film
- the level of impact Good Friend Inc. has created
- how public understandings of neurodiversity issues have changed over the years
- what it’s like being so tightly intertwined with a cause
- the personal wins Denise experiences in her work
- a meaningful story
- how tech is impacting the work of Denise and her organization
- much more!
A Memorable Quote from the Episode:
“So what makes us unique as an organization is we’re changing hearts and minds. We’re creating a community by educating that community.”
-Denise Schamens
Check out the Video Conversation:
For those who desire to view video highlights of the conversation, you can do so via Youtube.
Discover More
For those interested in learning more about Denise and her work, you can check out the Good Friend Inc. website or on the following platforms:
Keep Listening!
I hope you enjoyed the episode. For more, check out additional episodes here!
