Veronika Scott
Veronika Scott is an American social entrepreneur and CEO and founder of The Empowerment Plan. Based in Detroit, this non-profit humanitarian organization works to address homelessness by creating jobs for those who want them and providing coats for those that need them. By age 23, Scott had already received various awards, including the JFK New Frontier Award (2012), and has been featured at multiple events, including at The United Nations Young Women’s Change Makers Conference (2011) held at the UN Headquarters and at the Clinton Global Initiative (2012).
Personal Life and Education
Scott was born on June 27 in Orange, California, but was raised in Huntington Woods, Michigan. She has a younger brother named Luke and a younger sister named Cleo. She attended Clarkston High School and continued her academic studies at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit where she studied industrial design, with a focus on critical theory and cultural phenomenology. Scott was a member of the IDSA (Industrial Design Society of America), and in 2011 was awarded the IDSA: IDEA (International Design Excellence Award) Gold Award and was also nominated for the World Design Impact Prize. She graduated in December 2011 with a degree in Product Design.
Career
During college, Veronika worked as a design intern for The Little Tikes Company (2009-2010) and for ECCO design (2010). In the fall of 2010, in response to a class assignment to design something to fill a social need, Scott reached out to the homeless community in Detroit and after five months of working with individuals at a local homeless shelter, she had made a heat-trapping jacket that can transform into a self-heated and waterproof sleeping bag. At the end of the semester, Scott continued to work with the homeless population to create other prototypes and to improve the quality and design of the jacket. Scott went on to hire and train homeless mothers to make the coats.
Scott's idea for her class project quickly evolved into a non-profit organization known as The Empowerment Plan. Her organization is unique as it not only focuses on the coat that is being made, but it highlights the importance of bringing women out of poverty by helping them to build a better life and to gain back their independence. Scott has established a non-profit organization that is gaining national and international attention and she is able to work with successful humanitarians and entrepreneurs to ensure the growth of The Empowerment Plan. In addition to running the organization, Scott is also in charge of the design work, business development, speaking engagements, and sustainability planning. In the future, Scott hopes to launch a buy-one-give-one model.[1]
Awards and Recognition
- In 2011, Scott was recognized by the Industrial Design Society of America and was awarded the IDSA: IDEA Gold Award
- In 2012, Scott became the youngest person ever to receive the JFK New Frontier Award from the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation [2]
- In 2013, Scott was named one of Crain’s Detroit Business “Twenty in their 20’s” [3]
Appearances
- Pratt Institute of Art and Design: spoke to the graduate department at the Manhattan campus (March 2011)
- IDEA: Crain’s Business: spoke in front of 300+ individuals at the Detroit Taubman Center about The Empowerment Plan (March 2011)
- Rustbelt to Artist Belt Conference: spoke about the importance of community and network for start-ups (April 2011) [4]
- Eli Lilly Internal International Conference: spoke on mental health in the homeless community (May 2011 - Indianapolis and June 2011 - Orlando)
- The United Nations: Young Women’s Change Makers Conference: spoke at The United Nations Headquarters (August 2011)
- Spoke at Detroit Maker Faire (July 2011) [5]
- Spoke at New York Maker Faire (September 2011)
- SOCAP: Social Capital Conference: Speaking on the importance of Prototyping (September 2011) [6]
- TEDxDetroit (November 2011) [7]
- Aspen Fashion Week : spoke about the Empowerment Plan and ran a booth (March 2012)
- Clinton Global Initiative: spoke about The Empowerment Plan (March 2012) [8]
- TEDxSanJose (April 2012) [9]
- Forbes 400 Summit on Philanthropy (June 2012)
- Cusp Conference (September 2012)
- Catalyst Conference (January 2013) [10]
- AIAG Corporate Responsibility Summit (April 2013) [11]
- Challenge Detroit Fellowship Dinner: keynote speaker to the 2013 Challenge Detroit Fellows (May 2013) [12]
- Forbes Women’s Summit (July 2013)
Articles and Interviews
- NPR: Morning Edition: “Student Designs Coat to Keep Homeless Warm” (November 2010) [13]
- Core 77: “The Empowerment Plan: Veronika Scott’s Winter Coat for Detroit” (November 2010) [14]
- GOOD Design Daily: “A Coat to Help Detroit’s Homeless” (December 2010) [15]
- SWISS MISS: “A Coat to Help Detroit’s Homeless” (December 2010) [16]
- NPR: All Things Considered: “To Warm the Homeless, a Coat That’s a Sleeping bag” (December 2010) [17]
- CNN: “The BIG I: Coat Transforms into Sleeping bag” (January 2011) and “Surviving the Elements” [18]
- Detroit in Overdrive: Filmed by the Discovery Channel and aired on Planet Green (August 2011)
- Fast Company: “How a 21-Year-Old Design Student’s Sleeping Bag-Coat Could Break the Cycle of Homelessness” (Interview with Jody Turner, August 2011) [19]
- San Francisco Chronicle: “Design Student Creates Coat for Homeless People” (September 2011) [20]
- Mitch Albom: Heart of Detroit: “Heart of Detroit: Veronika Scott” (January 2012) [21]
- The New York Times: “Altering Clothes, and Lives, With Design” (February 2012) [22]
- Forbes: “Sleeping-Bag Coat for the Homeless Leads to a Garment Industry” (March 2012) [23]
- Forbes: “What Chrysler, Eminem and Clint Eastwood Can Learn About Detroit From a Passionate Girl” (March 2012) [24]
- Forbes: “Helping the Homeless, One Coat at a Time” (April 2012) [25]
- Huffington Post: ”Veronika Scott, Stacy Abrams Win JFK New Frontier Awards” (November 2012) [26]
- EPA’s Blog About Our World: “Veronika Scott and Her Amazing Dream Coat” (December 2012) [27]
- NBC Nightly News “I Think Detroit is Going to Come Back” (January 2013) [28]
- Faces of GM: “Design Project Benefits the Homeless”
- Crain’s Detroit Business: “Crain’s 20 In Their 20’s” (April 2013) [29]
- CB2: In The Loop: “influencers: veronika scott at work, The Empowerment Plan” (April 2013) [30]
- CB2: In The Loop: “influencers: veronika scott at home” (April 2013) [31]
- ABCNews.com: “Sleeping Bag Coats Warm, Employ Detroit Homeless” (May 2013) [32]
- NPR, All Things Considered: “An Entrepreneurial Seedling Sprouts in Detroit” (May 2013) [33]
- Huffington Post: “Sleeping Bag Coat Designed for the Homeless Draws Attention from Fashion Industry” (May 2013) [34]
- PBS Newshour: “Agents For Change” (May 2013) [35]
- PBS Newshour: “Sleeping Bag Coat for the Homeless Finds Fans in the Fashion World” (May 2013) [36]
- Forbes: “Meet Veronika Scott” (May 2013) [37]
- GOOD 100: “Meet Veronika Scott, Clothing and Empowering Detroit’s Homeless Population” (June 2013) [38]
- Womenetics: “‘Crazy Coat Lady’ Changing Lives for Detroit Homeless” (July 2013) [39]
- Huffington Post: "The Empowerment Plan's Veronika Scott Found A Better Way To Help The Homeless" [40]
External links
References
- ^ Womenetics Interview
- ^ "Veronika Scott 2012".
- ^ Muñoz, Michelle. "Crain's Twenty in their 20s".
- ^ "Rustbelt to Artist Belt Conference".
- ^ Mohammadi, Goli. "Maker Faire: Interview with Veronika Scott of The Empowerment Plan".
- ^ "Veronika Scott, The Empowerment Plan".
- ^ "TEDxDetroit 2011 - Veronika Scott — The Empowerment Plan".
- ^ "CGI U 2012 Meeting Agenda".
- ^ "Empowerment Plan — bringing warmth and pride to the homeless".
- ^ "Catalyst 2013 southwest michigan first".
- ^ "2013 Corporate Responsibility Summit".
- ^ "Challenge Detroit".
- ^ "Student Designs Coat To Keep Homeless Warm".
- ^ "The Empowerment Plan: Veronika Scott's WInter Coat for Detroit".
- ^ "A Coat to Help Detroit's Homeless".
- ^ "A Coat to Help Detroit's Homeless".
- ^ Ovshinsky, Noah. "To Warm The Homeless, A Coat That's A Sleeping Bag".
- ^ "CNN: The Big I".
- ^ Turner, Jody. "How A 21-Year-Old Design Student's Sleeping-Bag Coat Could Break The Cycle Of Homelessness".
- ^ Fagan, Kevin (September 11, 2011). "Design student creates coat for homeless people". The San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^ "The Heart of Detroit: Veronika Scott".
- ^ Conlin, Jennifer (February 29, 2012). "Altering Clothes, and Lives, With Design". The New York Times.
- ^ Restauri, Denise (March 1, 2012). "Sleeping-Bag Coat for the Homeless Leads to a Garment Industry". Forbes.
- ^ Restauri, Denise. "What Chrysler, Eminem, and Clint Eastwood Can Learn About Detroit From a Passionate "Girl"". Forbes.
- ^ Linkner, Josh. "Helping the Homeless, One Coat at a Time". Forbes.
- ^ Murphy, Bridget (November 20, 2012). "Veronika Scott, Stacey Abrams Win JFK New Frontier Awards". Huffington Post.
- ^ Murray, Tom. "Veronika Scott and Her Amazing Dream Coa".
- ^ "I think Detroit's going to comeback".
- ^ Muñoz, Michelle. "Crain's Twenty in their 20s".
- ^ "influencers: veronika scott at work, The Empowerment Plan".
- ^ "influencers: veronika scott at home".
- ^ Valiente, Alexa. "Sleeping-Bag Coats Warm, Employ Detroit Homeless".
- ^ O'Leary, Lizzie. "An 'Entrepreneurial Seedling' Sprouts In Detroit".
- ^ "Sleeping Bag Coat Designed For The Homeless Draws Attention From Fashion Industry". Huffington Post. May 7, 2013.
- ^ "Young Agents For Change".
- ^ Harless, William. "Sleeping Bag Coat for the Homeless Finds Fans in the Fashion World".
- ^ "Forbes Millenials: Veronika Scott".
- ^ "Meet Veronika Scott, Clothing and Empowering Detroit's Homeless Population".
- ^ "'Crazy Coat Lady' Changing Lives for Detroit Homeless".
- ^ Kleinman, Alexis (August 14, 2013). "The Empowerment Plan's Veronika Scott Found A Better Way To Help The Homeless". Huffington Post.