- By Leigh DuPuy

"When people are happy, it shows in the food," said Trish Karter, CEO of the Dancing Deer Baking Company, to an audience that included students and advisors of the Beacon Leadership Project (BLP) and Chancellor Gora. Karter spoke about her experiences running a socially responsible business for a special BLP winter intersession held on campus. An avid painter and Yale MBA graduate, Karter talked about the importance of making conscious life choices and advised, "Don't chase the career or resume. Look deep inside and try to connect professionally with what you care about."

Karter runs an all-natural, fresh-baked-goods company in the heart of Roxbury, a local business recently recognized for its innovative leadership by Fleet Boston. She and her colleagues created the Sweet Home Project, which donates all profits from the sale of their specialty cookies shaped like houses to help homeless families find jobs and homes. Karter not only outlined the merits of giving back to the community but offered key advice on how to make such a program successful. She said, "You do have to examine both the philanthropic and practical aspects of a project. We have to be able to get the word out about homelessness, connect with individuals, see that the project gets visibility, and keep the vehicle alive economically."

The advice should come in handy for the students who are embarking on the second half of the BLP's leadership development and community service initiative. About 25 students a year participate in the four-credit program, taking workshops on leadership skill-building during their first semester and putting these skills to use in the second. They are now working with professional mentors to develop community projects that in the past have included such wide-ranging initiatives as creating an educational domestic violence play, completing the MBTA arborway restoration project, and helping to launch a parish nursing program in Quincy, MA. Working together with their mentors and each other, the students will be exploring how they can make a difference in local communities.

Visit www.umb.edu/umb/leadership to learn more about the Beacon Leadership Project or www.dancingdeer.com to support the Sweet Home Project.

Image: Beacon Leadership Project students speak with CEO Trish Karter and Chancellor Gora about their community service ideas. (From left to right): Donna Rafferty, Michael DiLalla, Karter, Julie Beckerdite, Chancellor Gora, Riche Zamor, with Beacon Leadership Project's Caroline Coscia, graduate assistant and part-time faculty member with the College of Public and Community, and Joyce Morgan, advisory board member and Director of Student Life. (Photo by Harry Brett)