Banks Benitez (Page 12)

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Uncharted Insider

Uncharted Insider - July 2019

Hi everyone, Welcome to the July edition of the Uncharted Insider. Uncharted Update: * Uncharted had its 2nd birthday! We turned two years old on July 25th! * We received 125 applications for the Futurebound Acceleration Lab [https://www.futureboundco.org/acceleration-lab] * We completed the Chipotle Aluminaries Project [https://uncharted.org/program/

Biomimicry and Leadership

Biomimicry and Leadership

I am a biomimicry nerd, which means I find myself searching for examples of how human systems can learn from the elegant, self-correcting dynamics of the natural world. There is biological brilliance in our midst, yet we often don’t look to a grove of aspen trees for lessons in

Psychology Underneath Strategy

Psychology Underneath Strategy

We vastly underestimate the power that motives of self-preservation, safety, and security play in an organization’s strategic planning process. Underneath strategy, there is psychology.

CEO Mastermind

“Humans are good at relating ‘up’ where we assume the role of student and learn from a teacher, and humans are good at relating ‘down’ where we are the mentor and we seek out a mentee, but we are inexperienced at relating ‘across’ as peers.”

Uncharted Insider - June 2019

Hi everyone, Welcome to the June edition of the Uncharted Insider. Uncharted Update: * Launching Futurebound Acceleration Lab: We launched a new initiative in partnership with Gary Community Investments called Futurebound [https://www.futureboundco.org/] that is focused on early childhood ventures looking to land and expand in Colorado. Spread the

The Psychological Power of Physical Space

The Psychological Power of Physical Space

We just moved into a new office space, and it’s made me consider the impact that physical space has on our human psychology: the physical spaces we occupy shape our sense of self and what we’re capable of. They have a bearing on our confidence, creativity, courage, and

The Problem with Donor Advised Funds

The Problem with Donor Advised Funds

The renaissance in Donor Advised Funds and how hard it is to unlock dollars.

My Unexpected and Unlikely Journey to Uncharted

My Unexpected and Unlikely Journey to Uncharted

My unlikely journey to Uncharted and what it says about being open to serendipity

Uncharted Insider

Uncharted Insider - May 2019

Hi everyone, Welcome to the May edition of the Uncharted Insider. Uncharted Update: * Partnership with Sephora: We’ve been working with Sephora [https://www.sephora.com/] for the last three years to manage a loan fund for the women-led social ventures in their accelerator. This month we participated in the

Airbnb Guests to Lifelong Friends

Airbnb Guests to Lifelong Friends

How Airbnb guests unexpectedly became lifelong friends

Replace Echo Chambers with Olive Branches

Replace Echo Chambers with Olive Branches

The non-profit/philanthropy sector is talented at attempting to re-convert those who are already converted. We need to replace our echo chambers with olive branches, we need to replace our “about us” webpages with “about you” approaches.

How to Bridge the Rural / Urban Divide

How to Bridge the Rural / Urban Divide

The best chances at cultural reconnection happen through economic dependencies. The agriculture and food supply chain is a series of relationships and economic transactions that present hundreds of entry points for cultural bridging and human interaction.

Uncharted Insider - April 2019

Hi everyone, Welcome to the April edition of the Uncharted Insider. Uncharted Update: * Sara’s Baby: Sara Rodriguez, our COO, had a healthy baby girl, Alba, on April 13th (see photo attached). It’s just the best news. * Funders + Mobile Tech Ventures: We hosted a funder convening in Denver for

Right Solution, Wrong User Experience

Conscious Leadership

Right Solution, Wrong User Experience

The right solution with the wrong user experience is no solution at all. The best intervention without sensitivity to the human interaction will fail.

Therapy vs. Strategy

Conscious Leadership

Therapy vs. Strategy

Courageous strategy comes from courageous humans, and often that strategy sits on the other side of doing this deep, messy, psychological work.

Copernican Revolution

Personal Reflections

Copernican Revolution

I go about my days mostly ignoring the reality of outer space. But then something will happen that will create a little Copernican Revolution [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copernican_Revolution] in my worldview, and I’ll spend 15 minutes losing my mind contemplating the expansiveness of outer space, the

Uncharted Insider - March 2019

Hi everyone, Welcome to the March edition of the Uncharted Insider. Uncharted Update: * Chipotle Aluminaries Project: Uncharted is partnering with Chipotle [https://chipotle.com/] and their Cultivate Foundation to run an accelerator for ventures working on the future of food with integrity. Our team spent last week with the eight

Protecting Culture While Growing

Conscious Leadership

Protecting Culture While Growing

How do we preserve the culture of a company while it goes through a period of massive growth?

Personality Tests vs. User Guides

Conscious Leadership

Personality Tests vs. User Guides

User Guides present a new way to make the insights from personality tests useful and applicable at work.

Uncharted Insider - February 2019

Hi everyone, Welcome to the February edition of the Uncharted Insider. Uncharted Update: * Affordable Housing Accelerator: In February Uncharted launched an affordable housing accelerator (in partnership with the Affordable Housing Institute [http://www.affordablehousinginstitute.org/], Gary Community Investments [https://www.garycommunity.org/], and Boulder Housing Partners [https://boulderhousing.org/]). The

The Power in Stepping Aside

Conscious Leadership

The Power in Stepping Aside

The education of a brute-force generalist to step aside and let more capable people take the reins.

Redefining Innovation

Conscious Leadership

Redefining Innovation

Some of the best innovations are often just slight tweaks on existing models. Innovation is more about borrowing than it is about inventing, more about adapting existing approaches to new markets and customers.

Local Coffee Shop

Personal Reflections

Local Coffee Shop

There’s this coffee shop [http://riversandroadscoffee.com/#Why] one block from my house that’s owned by this couple, Desiree and Mike. They pull one of the best espresso shots outside of Australia, where my love of coffee bloomed into existence when I lived there in 2011. Anyway, as

Uncharted Insider - January 2019

Happy new year! Welcome to the January edition of the Uncharted Insider. Uncharted Update: * New partnership on regenerative agriculture: We’re launching an initiative focused on regenerative agriculture that leverages our skill sets in collective impact and entrepreneurial acceleration. * We selected eight ventures for our Chipotle Accelerator: We selected and

Beginner's Terrain

Personal Reflections

Beginner's Terrain

Beginners are explorers of new, unclaimed terrain; experts are protectors of existing, claimed terrain.