Photo by Bryan Oller
When Eboni Statham ’17 was looking at schools, she knew she wanted to be part of a college radio station, so CC’s student station “Sounds of CC” attracted her right away. Once she was a student, she was drawn into CC’s vibrant scene of student bands and music shows. She became a DJ at the station, then moved into a staff role as events manager. From there, she says, she “just went crazy,” taking a leadership role at the station and helping The SOCC realize its potential on a campus that’s wild about music. She helped to start a band management program, assisting student bands with buying equipment, promotions, and teaching them how to run sound at performances.
Photo by Bryan Oller
David Amster-Olszewski ’09 didn’t grow up thinking about solar energy, but during his four years at Colorado College, it became the thing that excited him the most. In 2011, Amster-Olszewski started a renewable energy company called SunShare, which has solar gardens that “grow” energy for business and residential utilities customers in Colorado Springs. At the time that he started the company, he didn’t have an office, so he signed the formation agreements in Tutt Library, which was fitting, because CC was one of SunShare’s first customers.
Photo by Bryan Oller
Economics Professor Dan Johnson studies the process of innovation, particularly as it applies to economics, and he found that one of the best ways for him to learn is to do it. He calls himself a “serial entrepreneur” and has started three companies aimed at increasing efficiency in their respective business areas. One of these is BookCheetah, which is a free, student-to-student textbook marketplace.
Photo by Leah Millis
As editor-in-chief of the journal Science, Marcia McNutt ’74 is helping the academic scientific community to be forward looking and embrace change. The journal is charged with advancing science for the benefit of mankind. “Right now, we’re facing many challenges: growing population pressures, disease, climate change, wars. Through maximizing the efficiency and the contributions of the scientific establishment, we can face those challenges and hopefully solve them.”
Photo by Evan Semon
In some areas of Panama, nine out of 10 people live on less than a dollar a day. Maria Barsallo Rubio ’07, whose roots are in Panama, saw that artisans in those communities were producing beautiful, handmade items; the problem was their only customers were people who happened to come to the village and stop at the residents’ huts. So Barsallo started DESDE to give artisans in marginalized communities access to a local and international marketplace. DESDE is Spanish for “from,” and represents to Barsallo empowerment and transparency to the label of origin.
To learn about our other Faces of Innovation, go to www.coloradocollege.edu/facesofinnovation
