The May 2011 issue of Inc. Magazine features an interview with Sweet Beginnings CEO Brenda Palms Barber.The article details the origins of the organization, and the nuanced business model that separates the for-profit social enterprise subsidiary from the non-profit parent organization, the North Lawndale Employment Network. To read more about the history and future of Sweet Beginnings, please click here.
The Sixth Annual Sweet Beginnings Tea is being held at The Peninsula Chicago Hotel on February 9, 2011! Don’t miss it! See the invitation below and visit http://sbtea.eventbrite.com for more details. We look forward to seeing you there!
The Promised Land Crew and Majora Carter Interview Sweet Beginnings Team Member LaMorris Patrick
Over the summer of 2010, a crew from the public radio show, The Promised Land, visited North Lawndale to produce a show about Sweet Beginnings, LLC and its CEO, Brenda Palms Barber. The host of The Promised Land is none other than Majora Carter, founder of Sustainable South Bronx, a pioneering organization in the fields of green collar job training and environmental justice advocacy. Sweet Beginnings, LLC was honored to host a visit by such a distinguished guest and prominent activist concerned with urban sustainability. During their visit, Majora Carter and the crew from The Promised Land spent three days with our CEO and the Sweet Beginnings team, venturing out to see the hives in our apiary, witnessing the production of our honey-based skincare products, and participating in a product demonstration at a Chicago Whole Foods Market.
Click below to listen to The Promised Land episode:
Brenda Palms Barber | The Promised Land
The discussion panel poses with Sweet Beginnings CEO, Brenda Palms Barber
On September 15th, The North Lawndale Employment Network and Sweet Beginnings, LLC were pleased to partner with The Garfield Park Conservatory to present the Chicago premiere of the critically-acclaimed Vanishing of the Bees documentary. The event was a great success because of the film’s educational and thought provoking value, and the feedback from the audience was overwhelmingly positive. Sweet Beginnings assembled an expert discussion panel (pictured above with CEO Brenda Palms Barber and panel moderator Deborah Crable) that included John Hansen, Head Beekeeper of Sweet Beginnings and Past-President of the Illinois State Beekeepers Association, Julio Tuma, Beekeeper of the Garfield Park Conservatory, Chef Eric Paul, named “America’s Healthiest Chef”, and Lissa Dysart, an amateur beekeeper and Specialty Team Leader at Whole Foods South Loop.
The event received press in The North Lawndale Community News and The Chicago Defender. Sweet Beginnings, LLC is also considering partnering with another organization to screen Vanishing of the Bees in the spring of 2011, to coincide with the beginning of the beekeeping season. Stay tuned!
This article in Urban Farm magazine details the efforts of Sweet Beginnings to make a lasting impact on the community of North Lawndale. Read the article here.
The North Lawndale Employment Network and Sweet Beginnings, LLC are pleased to present an educational fundraiser event sponsored by the Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance: the Chicago premiere of the groundbreaking documentary, “Vanishing of the Bees”.
Honey bees have recently been disappearing all across the world at an alarming rate. This phenomenon, known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), has been haunting beekeepers across the U.S. where the population of seemingly healthy bee hives vanish overnight without a trace.
Commercial honey bee operations pollinate crops that provide us with a third of the food we eat. These types of beekeeping operations, which are worth over $15 billion annually, will not survive if we continue to lose bees at such high rates.
Filmed in the U.S. and around the world, this grassroots documentary examines the alarming disappearance of honeybees and the greater meaning it holds for humans and their relationship with the planet. This comprehensive film covers topics such as honey bee health, industrial beekeeping methods, the pollination of monoculture crops, and the effects of systemic pesticides.
This event includes a reception with light hors d’oeuvres, a pre-film panel discussion, the film screening, and a post-film Q&A session. Our discussion panel includes John Hansen, Head Beekeeper of Sweet Beginnings and Past-President of the Illinois State Beekeepers Association, Julio Tuma, Beekeeper of the Garfield Park Conservatory, and others.
This event is family and children friendly and is a great way to learn about bees, where our food comes from, the ecosystem, and more.
Click here for more information and to purchase tickets online.
WE EXPECT TO SELL OUT. BUY YOUR TICKET IN ADVANCE!
Sweet Beginnings progressed through two rounds of competition for a grand prize of $25,000 and was selected as one of four national finalists in the early-stage category of the Social Impact Exchange Business Plan Competition. For more information on the Social Impact Exchange, visit their website here.
139 early-stage nonprofits entered the first round of competition and Sweet Beginnings along with 39 others were selected to continue onto round two. All round two entrants received webinar training on growth business planning from staff of Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and received personalized feedback on their submitted business plans.
The final and third round of competition involved a presentation at the Social Impact Exchange Annual Conference on Scaling, which included the Business Plan Competition as one of its main events. Brenda Palms-Barber, CEO of Sweet Beginnings, LLC, traveled to New York City to deliver the presentation and participate in the follow up question and answer session. We were pleased to be joined by Sweet Beginnings Board of Managers, Michael Johnson, and our friend and longtime supporter, Ms. Connie Evans, President and CEO of the Association for Enterprise Opportunity.
Thank you to all the individuals who contributed to the development of this business planning process. Your efforts to improve our social enterprise business model are greatly appreciated. We would like to specifically thank Phil Adams, Faye Sinnott, Michael Johnson, Noah Temaner, Vena Nelson, Holley Blackwell, Michael Malecek, Majora Carter and James Chase with the Majora Carter Group, Annette Challenor, Ethan Foster, and Romina Brown. Congratulations to everyone on this commendable achievement.
If you are looking for business plan competitions for start-up capital, consider reading this Wall Street Journal article, “Strategies for Picking, and Winning, Small Business Competitions”. Click here for the article.
Our people, products, and our Mission are all over the news. Click here for the latest buzz.
Pamper yourself with naturally luxurious lotions, creams and balms infused with the fresh, clean fragrance of beeline.
Chicago bees in our Flournoy Apiary work overtime to create our wholly unique light and spicy urban honey.
Sign up for our bee in touch e-news. Bee first to get special online offers.
