Cindy Cooper, co-founder and director of Portland State University’s Impact Entrepreneurs program, learned about social entrepreneurship while discussing corporate responsibility with her boss at Nike. The idea that a positive impact could happen by social change in business. That concept opened a clear path for how Cindy’s seemingly divergent passions and skills could work together to generate lasting, significant change.

Cindy has launched a social business of her own focused on international development and cross-cultural understanding. Her business SpeakShop.org connected language instructors all around the world with students through the internet. This platform has had a significant effect especially on those language tutors in developing countries who could not have access to salaries at this level without the internet platform.