Harnessing the power of the marketplace to achieve profound social impact; With Helen Hayes

The Generosity NOW Podcast

In this conversation, Eric and Laurie, are joined by Helen Young Hayes, the founder and CEO of Activate Work. Helen shares her remarkable journey from being the daughter of Chinese immigrants to becoming a top portfolio manager and surviving the catastrophic United Flight 232 crash. She reveals the profound spiritual experiences that led her to reevaluate her purpose and catalyzed her mission to empower individuals through Activate Work's rigorous IT skills training and employment placement.

Helen also introduces the Colorado Inclusive Economy movement, a call to action for leaders to build a more equitable future, and shares how listeners can engage with this initiative. This episode is a testament to the power of generosity that extends beyond financial giving, encompassing a full-hearted commitment to creating opportunities and uplifting communities.

About Helen

Helen is the founder and CEO of ActivateWork. ActivateWork’s mission is to connect diverse, qualified talent to leading employers through rigorous skills training, community resources, and professional and life skills coaching. ActivateWork is the culmination of Helen’s past for-profit and nonprofit experience, harnessing the power of the marketplace to achieve profound social impact. By moving individuals to sustained economic mobility and professional success, ActivateWork creates triple wins for job seekers, employers, and the community.

The daughter of Chinese immigrants, Helen is a believer in and the embodiment of the American Dream. But the American Dream – a life of flourishing – is elusive, as generational poverty becomes the default for too many men and women from underrepresented populations. ActivateWork bridges the gap between individual potential and realized success by matching and placing individuals into self-sustaining careers and through intensive coaching of personal, professional, and financial skills. ActivateWork seeks not only to advance economic and professional success but to transform lives through the learning and mastery of new habits, mindsets, and disciplines.

Helen is a 20-year veteran of the financial industry. She was the portfolio manager of the flagship Janus Worldwide Fund, Janus Overseas Fund, and related assets totaling approximately $50 billion at Janus Capital, a mutual fund company headquartered in Denver, Colorado. She also served as managing director of investments, heading up the 100-person research and investment arm of Janus Capital, encompassing equities, fixed income, money market, and trading.

In 2018, Helen was selected as one of the Denver Business Journal’s Outstanding Women in Business for her leadership at ActivateWork (previously Activate Workforce Solutions). In 2021, she was awarded the Colorado Technology Association APEX Awards Talent Champion of the Year for launching ActivateWork’s tuition-free technology training and professional development program to create equitable paths in IT for individuals seeking careers and employers seeking talent.

Helen is the author and executive sponsor of the Colorado Inclusive Economy Movement, a CEO-led movement to build a community of shared opportunity and prosperity, and she is a governor-appointee to the Colorado Business Experiential Learning Commission and a member of the American Enterprise Institute Leadership Network.

Helen is a frequent speaker and writer on topics including workforce development, corporate social responsibility, employee engagement, corporate culture, performance management, diversity and gender issues, economic development, and economic mobility.

Helen, her husband Matt, and her family have called Denver home for 30 years. Helen is an avid albeit average athlete and enjoys biking, swimming, running, skiing, and surfing.

Quotables

"I believe that I was appointed to be on the plane, um, to pray the prayers that the Lord answered."

"I know that I was appointed to be on the plane, um, to pray the prayers that the Lord answered."

"I credit my mom, really, with, um, the foundations of my faith journey."

"It truly is more joyful to give than it is to receive."

"The interesting part though, is not so much that I survived, um, although that is incredibly miraculous."

"I saw the Lord in a vision... And I woke up and I was instantly healed."

"We're really here just to be wise stewards."

"Generosity is not just about writing checks, but it's about answering, it's about listening, it's about meeting need."

Connect with Helen

Activate Work

https://activatework.org/

Janus Capital

https://www.janus.com/

United Flight 232

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_232

Colorado Inclusive Economy

https://inclusiveeconomy.us/

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For more information on Activate Work and the Colorado Inclusive Economy movement, check the show notes and visit our website at ncfgiving.com/rockymountains and generositynow.org.