the audacity of hope

The Audacity of Hope, the 2^nd book written by then-senator Barack Obama , was released in October of 2006. The public response to the book was so positive that it was one of the reasons he announced his candidacy for president a little more than 3 months after its release.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Audacity_of_Hope

I was reminded of the book again today for reasons that are totally unrelated to politics, or to each other.

The first reminder came when we watched Tiger Woods win his 5^th Masters title at the Augusta National Golf Club. It was his first major tournament in 11 years, and it came 21 years after his first Masters championship at the age of 21. At the age of 21 years, 3 months, and 14 days, he was the youngest winner in the history of the tournament, surpassing Jack Nicklaus who had been the youngest player to win the Masters in 1963, at the age of 25 years, 2 months, and 21 days. Tiger won a little more than $2 million for his victory today, which will add a little more to his net worth of nearly $800 million.  

Jack Nicklaus still holds the record for the oldest victor in the Masters, when he won it in 1986 at the age of 46 years, 2 months, and 23 days. The 2^nd oldest winner of the Masters?

Tiger Woods. When he won the Masters this year, he was 43 years, 3 months, and 15 days old.

Tiger’s last major tournament win was in 2008. Since that time, he has had 4 back surgeries, and endured a painful divorce, but he never gave up his dream of winning the Masters again. His steely demeanor during the tournament was a clue to his determination to win, once again, but it rapidly disappeared after he sank the final putt:

The second reminder also came as we watched the Masters, but it had nothing to do with golf.

Part of Sharon’s breakfast this morning was a Chobani yogurt, which has recently become her favorite brand of yogurt. The history of the company itself, though, is why all of us can be hopeful about the future.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chobani

Like Google, Chobani was founded by an immigrant. In the case of Google, the immigrant’s name was Sergey Brin, and he was an immigrant from Russia. He and fellow Stanford student Larry Page started Google in January of 1996. Today, it has the 4^th highest market capitalization of any company in the world, at $818 billion. Sergey Brin is now 45 years old, and is worth $56 billion.

Chobani’s success is a lot more modest than Google’s but it is still impressive.

The founder of Chobani is an immigrant from Turkey named Hamdi Ulukaya. Chobani was inspired by Ulukaya’s childhood raising sheep and goats and making cheese with his family. Not impressed by the yogurt options available in the United States, Ulukaya made strained yogurt at his home in Upstate NY.  In 2005, after seeing an ad for a former Kraft Foods yogurt plant for sale in South Edmeston, New York, Ulukaya bought it with a Small Business Administration Loan^[ He launched the strained yogurt business with the help of a handful of the plant's former employees. His goal was to provide Americans with a more authentic, nutritious and accessible yogurt^[ In less than five years after launch, Chobani realized over $1 billion in annual sales and became the leading seller of Greek yogurt in America.

From a financial standpoint, Chobani is a successful company. More importantly, though, Chobani has been recognized as a socially responsible company.

Chobani Foundation[

Since the founding of the company, Chobani has donated a portion of profits back into the communities where its employees live and work. It’s charitable arm, the Chobani Foundation, was formed in 2010, and focuses on improving childhood nutrition, strengthening the communities near its plants in New York and Idaho, and supporting those in need after major disasters in the U.S

Chobani Incubator

Hamdi Ulukaya launched the Chobani Food Incubator in 2016 to support food entrepreneurs aiming to challenge the food industry, improve broken systems, and bring better food to more people. The program provides food and beverage startups with a nonequity investment, resources, mentorship and programming. 

Chobani shares

In April 2016, Chobani announced it was giving 10 percent of its ownership stake to its employees. The company allotted shares to its employees based on tenure, reportedly helping some of the company’s longest serving employees become millionaires. As of last June, Ulukaya himself was worth $1.7 billion.

Hiring refugees

In 2016, following reports on Chobani’s practice of employing refugees, the company received calls for boycotts and death threats. Approximately 30% of Chobani’s 2,000 employees are legally resettled refugees and immigrants.         

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chobani

Mr. Ulukaya recently gave a speech at the TED conference. The CEO of Chobani would like to see an "anti-CEO" revolution, and his ideas make sense. 

https://www.fastcompany.com/90335533/chobanis-hamdi-ulukaya-wants-an-anti-ceo-revolution?utm_source=NationSwellfacebook&utm_medium=outreach&utm_campaign=NationSwellOutreach&fbclid=IwAR1Ln6YSBCyztUoiDUNjaV6iq-MF7BbEvIk9jdFrlI9i1ge_K_Gxnh6YXLE

All of us are reminded, practically on a daily basis, what’s wrong with America and large parts of the world. As a result, it’s important to focus on the positive elements of our society so that we have, once again, hope for the future.