Nourishing socially responsible entrepreneurship is appetizing goal for iContact CEO

Durham, N.C. — Nourish International, a growing network of college students and entrepreneurs devoted to what they call “sustainable development,” has become a passion for Ryan Allis, chief executive officer of fast-growing e-mail marketing firm iContact.

Allis is one of many young tech execs who have embraced the concept of "giving back” to the world in which they live rather than only taking for personal gain. Friday night at UNC-Chapel Hill, Allis was among the hosts for a “World Wines and Global Poverty” fund-raiser.

To give back has been a calling for Allis, co-founder of Durham-based iContact, since his days as a youth. He and Aaron Houghton, iContact’s co-founder and chairman, launched the company as friends and students at UNC-CH. Ernst & Young recently honored them as entrepreneurs of the year by, and their firm has won numerous awards while establishing an international customer base.

Allis and Houghton share a commitment to philanthropic efforts as well. And Allis told Local Tech Wire in an interview that Nourish strikes him as an especially appealing cause.

“Nourish International teaches entrepreneurship to college students who raise money through ventures to contribute and then visit social entrepreneurial projects that work to reduce hunger and poverty in the developing world,” he said “It's a unique and effective model that Nourish is perfecting and then scaling to have a global impact. They need a bit of initial support in order to 'start-up' so many chapters at once until the point where the chapters are profitable. They have chapters at 23 college campuses now – and it all started right here in Chapel Hill!”

Duke Professor Dan Ariely, who wrote The New York Times best-seller “Predictably Irrational,” was the guest speaker at Friday’s event.

LTW asked Allis why he chose to be socially active as an entrepreneur.

“I grew up the son of two social entrepreneurs – an Episcopalian priest and a social worker,” he explained. “I was taught from a young age to care about helping others.

“When I was 17, I took a high school economics class from a teacher by the name of Robert Fletcher. Mr. Fletcher taught from a human and sociological perspective. Instead of focusing on teaching curves and math, he often taught economics using stories. I learned from him that year that there were 2.7 billion human beings living on under $2 per day and that 49,000 people died needlessly each and every day from preventable diseases and starvation. Learning these facts got me on the path toward wanting to focus my life on addressing these issues.

“Over the past six years, reading books like 'The End of Poverty,' 'The White Man's Burden,' 'Commonwealth,' 'Confessions of An Economic Hitman,' 'The Bottom Billion,' 'Mountains Beyond Mountains,' and 'Banker to the Poor' helped me learn more.

“The passing of Eve Carson in March, who was co-chair of Nourish International and such an amazing social entrepreneur-to-be, caused me to further examine what I wanted to accomplish during my time here.

“Traveling to Uganda and Ethiopia in July cemented this lifelong focus on social entrepreneurship and making a positive impact in the area of education, healthcare, nutrition, clean water, human rights, and the environment. I am a firm believer that all companies must be socially responsible if we are going to create a sustainable world in which we can all prosper.

“With 3,000 children dying each day from a disease as preventable as malaria, it's hard not to wake up and realize we must work together as one. There is plenty of food in the world to feed everyone, yet more than 800 million people are chronically hungry due to lack of availability of food with adequate nutritious content. It just doesn't make sense for such a problem (entrepreneurs see problems as opportunities) to exist in world of extravagance, waste and overconsumption we live in.”

Allis’ service to Nourish International includes acting as its board chairman. He also sits on the board of Leadership Triangle, the Entrepreneurs' Organization and the Council for Entrepreneurial Development.

LTW’s Q&A with Allis:

In a difficult economic climate, is it more important for those who can give to try to do even more to help those who are suffering? Please explain.

Yes, during difficult times there is more suffering and need than usual. This suffering is especially acute among the extreme poor – the 2.6 billion people, people just like you and I, who are living on under $2 per day.

How did you learn of Nourish?

I learned about Nourish when I was attending UNC as a student in 2002-2003. I became a board member in 2005.

What are some of its goals and activities that you like?

Nourish International teaches entrepreneurship to college students who raise money through ventures to contribute and then visit social entrepreneurial projects that work to reduce hunger and poverty in the developing world. It's a unique and effective model that Nourish is perfecting and then scaling to have a global impact. They need a bit of initial support in order to 'start-up' so many chapters at once until the point where the chapters are profitable. They have chapters at 23 college campuses now – and it all started right here in Chapel Hill!

Is iContact involved in any way with the program?

Yes. iContact has a Charitable Giving Program in which we contribute 1% of our annual payroll to organizations in our community. This program is very important to us. In 2008, iContact contributed over $52,000 to 37 different non-profit organizations. Nourish International was one of these organizations we contributed to.

For now, my first focus is building iContact – but we are doing this for a reason – so that we can create a great company, create lots of jobs here in North Carolina, help our customers market their small businesses and non-profits better, contribute back to our community, and build wealth to have a larger positive impact later in life.

Entrepreneurship, investing, and business can have a tremendously positive impact locally and globally – if done in a socially responsible manner in which all externalities are taken into account.

Do you see interest in social entrepreneurship in the Triangle?

There is a groundswell of social entrepreneurial activity developing in the Triangle. I see it in both the spiritual side – with groups like Chapel Hill Bible Church, Beacon of Hope, DurhamCares, and Opportunity International all working locally toward these global issues and I see it on the secular side from more socially responsible companies, a greater emphasis on sustainability, and the growth of local non-profits like Carolina for Kibera, Millennium Village Project, Africa Rising, and Nourish.

I've been hosting an "Entrepreneur & Social Entrepreneur" “meetup” at my house in Chapel Hill once per month since June 2007. It has grown from six to 70 attendees. There is great interest among my generation locally and globally to address these issues.

I hope to be part of a generation that creates a world in which every human has access to food, water, medicine, sanitation, and shelter and global leaders realize that which separates us is much less important than that which binds us together. I feel motivated now more than ever to go after the dream of ending global poverty and hunger in our lifetimes – and after seeing the great achievements in the last 60 years in the world I know it is possible.