June 26, 2014 - Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/1iHJXn1. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwitunes or on Stitcher by clicking here: http://bit.ly/ymotwstitcher. Bishop Rodney Sampson, serial entrepreneur, community leader, author of Kingonomics, and a good friend of mine, is using Georgia’s unique crowdfunding exemption to sell financial interests in an entrepreneurial coworking space in downtown Atlanta called the Opportunity Hub. He and his team have plans to roll out the model in other cities in the around the Southeast. Rodney was also gracious enough to write the foreword to Crowdfunding for Social Good. Rodney will also be speaking at the upcoming Social Enterprise and Crowdfunding Conference (SECFC14) on September 26, 2014 at Snowbird. Rodney’s bio: Rodney Sampson is a social innovator, serial entrepreneur, angel investor, published author, and consecrated bishop. Via his Episcopal affiliations with the Old Holy Catholic Church (International Bishops Conference) and Kingdom Manifestation, Sampson shapes innovative economic policy and opportunities throughout society and culture. As a serial entrepreneur, Sampson co-founded Multicast Media Networks (Streamingfaith.com) in 2000 (sold in 2010), a live and on-demand streaming platform that laid the foundation for companies like YouTube and Ustream. Not stopping there, Sampson co-founded Intellectual Currency (an integrated marketing and business development firm) in 2002, Intellect Inspire (a digital publishing imprint of Audible) in 2006, and Legacy Opportunity Fund in 2007 with private equity investments in technology, the social graph and the entrepreneurial ecosystem. He also serves on the boards of a learning company (a publishing imprint of Pearson Education), a New York-based merchant investment bank, a trucking and logistics company and a community development corporation (CDC). image Sampson is passionate about reducing our nation’s poverty and wealth gap by advancing the cause of entrepreneurship, investment and Crowdfunding as a way of life for all communities. To advance this definitive cause, he created the diversity and inclusion initiatives at One Three Media, a joint venture between Mark Burnett Productions and Hearst. One Three executive produces The Voice, Survivor, Celebrity Apprentice, ABC’s Shark Tank, Richard Branson’s “Space Race”, The Bible Series &Son of God. He is also the Founder of opportunity.UP // unleashing private equity, the nation’s leading conference and learning platform learning for minorities and under-served communities to learn, navigate and master the entrepreneurial and investment ecosystem. opportunity.UP conferences attract over 1,000 entrepreneurs, 500 teenagers and 100 accredited investors and mentors. On the ground, he is the co-founder of the opportunity.HUB a coworking space, knowledge repository and accelerator located in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. opportunity.HUB is home to opportunity.VENTURES, a new seed and early stage fund focused on making investments in consumer goods, consumer web and technology based companies that impact culture and beyond. Sampson is also an advocate and respected expert on the JOBS Act (debt and equity based crowdfunding) and State of Georgia’s “Invest Georgia Exemption” legislation. Always meditating, thinking, networking and connecting to disrupt economic culture, Sampson is innovating what he has branded as an “ecosystem funding platform” designed to integrate the capital markets of the African American owned banks, churches, business associations and historical black colleges and universities. The platform will allow underserved and under-represented communities to learn, engage and invest in the investment ecosystem by providing access to relevant investment opportunities traditionally reserved for accredited and institutional investors. The long-term outcome will result in job creation, wealth creation and a better society for all. Published Works Vetted with intuitive and experiential wisdom, Sampson is regularly called upon to advise and speak to nations, businesses, universities, and bishops who employ thousands and lead millions of constituents and communities around the world. Sampson’s published works include Kingonomics: Twelve Innovative “Currencies” for Transforming Your Business and Your Life, Inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; Your Manifest Destiny: 7.5 Words to Transform Your Future; Yes We Will: Solutions for Realizing Your Personal Power in an Obama Era; and Black Trillions: Introducing Symbiotic Economics. His audio works include Any Day Now: Genesis of Divine Manifestation and Your Manifest Destiny: 15 Audio Meditations to Transform Your Future. Education Sampson earned a Bachelor’s degree in psychology from Tulane University in 1995 and a Master of Business Administration from Keller Graduate School of Management in 2001. He also studied in the Doctorate of Medicine program at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine from 1995 to 1999. For his dedication and commitment to definitive social causes at such a young age, Sampson received an honorary Doctorate of Ministry from the I.G.F. Theological Seminary in 1998. Philanthropy A strong believer in global reinvestment, Sampson has been a friend of Africa. He has worked closely with the republics of Namibia, Gabon, and Uganda in the areas of trade and development, business development, leadership development, and public affairs. For his contributions to humanity, Sampson was awarded the Phoenix Award—the City of Atlanta’s highest honor—by Mayor Shirley Franklin in 2004. In direct support of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Sampson, his wife, and a group of influencers in 2007 donated more than $50,000 to the King Papers Project, a capital campaign established to ensure that Dr. King’s papers would remain in the city of Atlanta at Morehouse College for generations to come.
Episode 55: Rodney Sampson, Kingonomics and Opportunity Hub