BURLINGTON, Vt.-Four very different people, with unusual businesses they started on their own, found common ground at a recent "Speaking From Experience" panel discussion at Champlain College.

The lecture series, sponsored by Champlain College's Brings Your Own Business (BYOBiz) program, kicked off the 2010-11 forums on Sept, 23, at Alumni Auditorium.

Whether a t-shirt business, a foundation to help orphans in Africa, a micro-loan credit business or a non-profit to help bring people out of poverty by fostering a community, all four social entrepreneurs brought passion and a social mission to their business plan.

According to BYOBiz Program Director Robert Bloch (shown far left), the social entrepreneurship forum was a way to show students and interested members of the community there is more than just the bottom line to consider when starting or running a business. BYOBiz is a unique program for student entrepreneurs to develop a business of their own under the guidance and stewardship of the Champlain community.

The evening's panelists included Champlain College adjunct professor Hal Colston (pictured at right) , founder of Neighborkeepers and Good News Garage; Champlain College senior and business major Garang Peter Deng (second from left), founder of New Sudan Jonglei Orphans Fund; Jillann Richardson-Rohrscheib, (second from right) executive director of Community Capital of Vermont; and Verneda White (center), founder of Human Intonation.

"Each speaker displays a clear vision in their career. They were able to get to the heart of their social mission and in turn get others on board to support them," said Bloch.

Panelists each gave a brief overview of their careers and how their passion for a cause helped fuel their success. Perhaps best illustrating the theme was Garang Peter Deng's who told the story of being orphaned at age 5 in Sudan and his struggle against all odds to go to school, come to America and attend college.

At an early age Deng said he was discouraged from going to school, but remained determined to make a better life for himself. He encouraged the audience to "do what they think is right, even if it means defying what the majority of others." At 12 years old he travelled to Kenya alone and became a refugee where he applied to come to the United States.

Deng's persistent on improving his life eventually brought him to Champlain College where he now works to raise money to finance the education of orphan children in his homeland. Deng's devotion to his cause and hope to improve the lives of others, was evident in his talk. "Find the strength to be different," said Deng, "it will be difficult, but when you do what you love and what is right, your dreams will follow."

Hal Colston shared his story of leaving a successful career in catering to help underprivileged families, first by creating a way for people to donate their cars to Good News Garage. It was a way, he said, to help people, especially single mothers, who needed transportation to maintain jobs and take care of their families. Finally, after many years of success - including an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show as a "Local Hero," he moved on to his current project, NeighborKeepers, an organization that provides life mentoring for the poor. The organization sets out to build community one family at a time.

Colston urged the audience to challenge injustice and take on risks to make something happen. "We are all given opportunities," he explained, "and these opportunities are called days, they come one at a time and they provide us with the ability to help those that come our way."

Jillann Richardson-Rohrscheib, talked about her work in Third World countries on micro credit and rural development, including Benin, Mozambique, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Ghana, Peru, Afghanistan. Currently, she lives in Vermont and leads Community Capital of Vermont, an organization with a mission to provide capital to rural start-ups. She said that her dedication to her cause gave her the power to succeed. She said that "the most important thing in life is the willingness to take risk even when others tell you, you can't accomplish something."

Finally, Verneda White talked about talking risks in creating Human Intonation, a premium clothing brand dedicated to raising social awareness of pertinent social and human rights issues. The company was inspired by the Cornell graduate's personal experience with the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Today, her company helps support a number of causes, and partners with Darfur Peace and Development, Advocates for Youth and Hands on New Orleans. Much like the other panelists, the young entrepreneur expressed the importance of following your passion.

"Don't be afraid of your age, if you have a dream and have real knowledge about your topic people will listen," explained White, "and that is the true key to success."

Upcoming BYOBiz Speaking From Experience Events:

Melinda Moulton - Sustainable Redevelopment. Tuesday, Oct. 12, 7 p.m., Champlain College Alumni Auditorium, Burlington. Moulton, a self described "former hippie," is founding partner of Main Street Landing, a real estate development company with a mission to redevelop the Burlington waterfront in a socially conscious way. "Sustainable" may be becoming an overused cliché, but for Moulton and her team, it means a unique approach to development. Free and open to the public.

Jeff Cross, former CEO and Chairman of Landstar Systems, Inc.Wednesday, Nov. 17, 7 p.m. Champlain College Alumni Auditorium, Burlington. In the early 1990s, Crowe employed his leadership skills along with a series of innovative approaches, including harnessing the latent power of the web and other technologies to organize and empower the independent truckers and build Landstar Systems. A once non-descript regional trucker was transformed into a $3 billion logistics services powerhouse. Landstar has been recognized by Forbes Magazine on several occasions as one of the 400 Best Big Companies. Free and open to the public.