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Interview with Regina Ann Campbell by jimmy zhang

7/7/2014

1 Comment

 
Regina Ann Campbell is the SWOT City portfolio manager at TechTown. This week, I had a precious opportunity to interview Regina, and the interview was very inspiring and gave me more insights of social entrepreneurship. Regina is from local Detroit, and she achieved master degrees in Urban & Regional Planning and Economic Development at University of Michigan. Before working at TechTown, Regina joined Detroit Revitalization Fellows program at Wayne State University. From the experience of Detroit Revitalization Fellows program, Regina said she found her passion, which is to work with small businesses and help them to grow. Consequently, Regina chose to work at TechTown to continue pursuing her passion.

Regina believes the most exciting part of social entrepreneurship is it combines both nonprofit’s social mission and for-profit goal. A social entrepreneur can solve social issues and at the same time make profits. She thinks this new way of addressing social problems gives people new motivation and new possibilities to move forward. Moreover, another reason Regina chose to become a social entrepreneur is social entrepreneur is in a leading position of social changes. Regina believes social entrepreneurship is the leading power of social innovation, and by working in a nonprofit organization, she can have more flexibility, diversity, and network with local communities, and all these elements are indispensable of making impacts on communities.

In the process of interviewing with Regina, I can fell the energy and passion Regina possesses. When talking about the spirit a social entrepreneur should have, Regina keeps repeating one word: persistence. Regina says ”always believe when one door is closed, there is a window open for you”. For young social entrepreneurs, “Failure is the best lesson”, said Regina. On the road of entrepreneurship, ninety-nine percent of people give up because they are beat down by failures, but those one percent of people are who view every failure as a test, and there is no test that can not be conquered. Embrace every failure, because they bring success closer to you.

When talking about the future of Detroit, Regina believes Detroit is a city full of opportunities and hope, and Detroit can become a global community in the future. However, Regina also does not ignore the problems Detroit has. “Education is the most urgent problem that needs to address”, said Regina, and imbalance of the development in Detroit also cannot be neglected.

From the interview, I believe Regina possesses all the elements that a great social entrepreneur should have, and I am looking forward to seeing the impact she will bring to Detroit.

1 Comment
Medgar L. Clark
3/6/2015 04:02:59 am

While I do know Regina rather well, she does epitomize the strong will and desire Detroit people possess. She has obtained the necessary education and experience to be a successful role model as a social entrepreneur. Great interview and thanks for allowing us to meet up close and more personal a true citizen of our community involved in our come back for those of us who never left.

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