The Observer, February 24, 2006
Volume XXXVIII, Issue 18
SAGES professor Stephen Brand reflects on his pursuit of happiness in life, at Case
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Stephen Brand is currently the Chief Imagination Officer of OneCommunity, a fiber-optic intranet linking nonprofits, hospitals, museums, schools, libraries, municipalities, and universities with ultra-broadband. This enables them to deliver access 600 times faster than a typical broadband connection for a fraction of the cost.
However, the goal of OneCommunity is not just to provide connectivity. The bigger goal is that of promoting regionalism in the area and stimulating economic growth in the Rust Belt through the development of a tech sector.
During his free time, Brand is a Presidential Fellow in the SAGES program, where he teaches "Just Do It," the class that teaches students how to start anything.
Tell me a little bit about your college background.
Well, I graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Multimedia Design and Production, a major I had designed myself, from Ohio State University in 1980. After that I went on to apply for the MBA program at Harvard. I didn't even think I would get in but it turns out that they care more about bringing in graduate students who are going to go out and do something, rather than just getting a 4.0 GPA.
Graduated from Harvard with an MBA in Interactive Technology, then I went on to get my Executive Doctorate in Management from Case's Weatherhead School of Business.
How has your career developed?
While I was at OSU, I became convinced that the convergence of education, business, and media technology would be the future. So, I studied Interactive Technology at Harvard.
After I graduated, I took a job, first as a museum director, and then as the President of the National Inventor's Hall of Fame. Following those two jobs, I started One-Cleveland, which was recently re-branded as OneCommunity.
I guess you could say I have set my focus on social entrepreneurship, with an emphasis on helping people and organizations navigate the obstacles to their success.
What is it you are trying to accomplish by teaching at Case?
I want to instill within students the understanding that if they want to, they can achieve almost anything. They miss the opportunity to take their passion and turn it into the future. People give up too easily. They need tools to help them get around the obstacles.
In my opinion, too many people have skills, see needs, but don't have the passion to do something. They see their job as being necessarily evil and it doesn't have to be that way.
Lastly, I want to help students understand that you have to know what kind of criticism to listen to in your life.
