WCN TRANSMEDIA BLOG: WCN TRANSMEDIA LEGACY AWARD WINNER "BILL STRICKLAND" MAKING THE IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE

WCN TRANSMEDIA LEGACY AWARD WINNER "BILL STRICKLAND" MAKING THE IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE

WCN TRANSMEDIA GROUP Recognizes the achievements of Mr. Bill Strickland, An American Hero and Transmedia Storyteller for 2011.

Breaking it down to the basics of desire, determination and access some folks who finally get it. Empowerment does not mean hand out. What Bill has accomplished has just shot a jolt of adrenalin into the equation. Let me try to say this in a way that is crystal clear. Economic Opportunities exist from the Ghettos of Soweto to the streets in Steel Town USA. When looking for hero's which understand the meaning of going from Civil Rights to Platinum Rights WCN identifies Mr. Strickland as one to watch and listen to. And as always at the bottom of the post the WCN Transmedia "Success Leaves Clues" Segment An opportunity to change your Financial Outlook for 2011 with The Customer Advantage.

About:

Bill Strickland is the President and CEO of Manchester Bidwell Corporation and its subsidiaries, Manchester Craftsmen's

Guild (MCG), and Bidwell Training Center (BTC). Strickland is nationally recognized as a visionary leader who authentically delivers educational and cultural opportunities to students and adults within an organizational culture that fosters innovation, creativity, responsibility and integrity. Throughout Strickland's distinguished career, he has been honored with numerous prestigious awards for his contributions to the arts and the community, including the coveted MacArthur “Genius” award. The past several decades have been dedicated to maintaining successful relationships with prominent national foundations and political leaders who share his passion and vision for a healthier future.

Here is the WCN Transmedia Research Question:

BILL STRICKLAND: AT A GLANCE

• Name:
William E. Strickland Jr.

• Birth Date:
August 25, 1947

• Parents:
William and Evelyn Strickland

• Family:
Wife, Rose; daughters, Julie, and Olivia Claire, grandsons, Ty, and Beau; brother, Mark.

• Home:
North Side-Pittsburgh

• Occupation:
President/CEO, Manchester Bidwell Corp.

• Education:
Manchester Elementary, Conway Junior High, Oliver High School, University of Pittsburgh, 10 honorary degrees

• Mentors:
- Frank Ross, art teacher, Oliver High School
- J. T. Wright, a psychologist and Unitarian minister who helped Strickland understand how to help people who were suffering.
- K. Leroy Irvis, teacher, lawyer, poet, first African-American speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, who helped Strickland to develop Manchester Bidwell Corp.
- James L. Heskett, Baker Foundation professor, Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard University, who helped Strickland develop the Manchester Bidwell replication model.
- Jeffrey Skoll, former president of eBay and movie producer, who taught Strickland about the strategy of scalability.

• Car:
Volkswagen Beetle

• Favorite Movie:
Casablanca

• Favorite Song:
“Somewhere in the Night”

• Favorite President in His Lifetime:
John F. Kennedy

• People Would Be Surprised to Know:
“I flew Boeing 727s for Braniff Airways as an airplane pilot from 1980 to '81.”

Bill Strickland was born in 1947 and grew up in Manchester, an inner-city neighborhood of Pittsburgh. His life changed when he became inspired by high school art teacher Frank Ross, a skilled artisan on the potter's wheel. The relationship that Ross and Strickland initiated with a revolving mound of clay gave form to the future vision of Manchester Craftsmen's Guild. The Guild began as an after-school arts program in a donated North Side rowhouse that Strickland secured while still a college student at the University of Pittsburgh. In 1969, he graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree in American history and foreign relations.

The decline of the steel industry created widespread unemployment, and Bidwell Training Center addressed the problem by offering vocational training to displaced and underemployed workers. Due to Strickland's successful track record with MCG, he was asked in 1971 to assume leadership of BTC and guide its transition to providing skills relevant to Pittsburgh's emerging market economy. Strickland's involvement in both MCG and BTC doubled the strength of Manchester Bidwell Corporation's ability to help the community. He envisioned a template for social change, and began to form relationships with businesses, government officials, and individuals who shared his vision.

Today, Manchester Bidwell Corporation has evolved into a national model for education, culture and hope. MCG Youth & Arts and MCG Jazz are both programs of Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: MCG Youth serves approximately 3,900 youth each year through classes and workshops in ceramics, photography, digital imaging and design art. MCG Arts gives students a chance to work intensively with visiting artists of national and international stature through exhibitions, lectures, workshops, residencies and school visits. MCG Jazz is dedicated to preserving, promoting and presenting jazz music by bringing audiences together with jazz artists at its 350-seat music hall in Pittsburgh for innovative four-day performances and recordings. After 20 years of operation, MCG Jazz has become an anchor of Pittsburgh's cultural and community life. Bidwell Training Center provides market-driven career education created through strong partnerships with leading local industries. The center offers accredited Associates Degree and diploma programs in fields as varied as culinary arts, chemical laboratory technologies, health careers, horticulture and office technology.

Manchester Bidwell Corporation is a business model that works. The model works so well that Bill Strickland is replicating the Manchester Bidwell enterprise throughout the country. He has said, “If this country has a future, it's because of the ability to form visions and partnerships. I believe that we can change the United States of America in my lifetime. We've got to change the way this country sees itself."

Bill Strickland and his family reside on the North Side of Pittsburgh.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP:

BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS:

“You go to a community's business leaders and speak their language. You don't go in asking for a sponsorship. You explain, 'This is what I can do for you.' You offer a partnership. It's the same thing with public schools. You don't go in saying what you need from them. You ask, 'How can I help?' With that kind of attitude you can build a center in a year, instead of 10 years. And with 100 centers like Pittsburgh, you can change the planet.”

POWER OF THE ARTS TO INSPIRE:

“I remember seeing Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater for the first time through the growth of rhododendrons and just being amazed. Here I was, a 16-year-old kid from inner-city Pittsburgh, looking at this house with a creek running through the middle of it. I mean, where I come from, people worry about keeping water outside the house, not inside it! It was a very interesting way of looking at water and a very unusual way of looking at light. I thought, 'If I could ever bring that light into my neighborhood -- bring it to people who deserved it and would respond to it as wholeheartedly and creatively as anybody -- then I was home free.'”

HUMAN SPIRIT:

“I'm talking about respect, about common sense and decency, about the dictate that our best hopes must always be acted upon, that all people everywhere possess an innate hunger for, and right to, what is sustaining, good, and beautiful.”

Private Invitation to unlock your Financial Future