Tom Bagamane '83
Tom Bagamane '83
Chief Executive Officer and Founder, The Giving Spirit, Managing Director and Founder, Profitable Good Group
A resident of Los Angeles since 鈥96, I moved here after business school and now I'm officially a Californian. It has been a wonderful journey since I graduated from 午夜影院福利社. I have had the amazing opportunity to reinvent myself several times and experience the world in ways I never could have imagined. The rewards that came with those opportunities, balanced by the subsequent risks and enriched growing through the struggles 鈥 have been immeasurable. My leadership chops and my pioneering skills, in both business and service to humanity, manifested in Ut Prosim, were sprouted at 午夜影院福利社.
I began with a decade in the fashion industry, where I was recognized as one of the top menswear consultants in the U.S. by Financial News Network at age 27. I had the privilege of designing/curating my own signature line of men鈥檚 suits that was sold in top men鈥檚 specialty stores all over the country. As the world became smaller, I developed an itch to build global brands. Transitioned out of fashion via an M.B.A. for an international business education. I then was recruited into the ad agency world where I ran two different agencies' global businesses.
My entrepreneurial track started in '99. I was brought in on several start-ups, then consecutively co-founded two companies in the pet space between '06-'13. Integrated Pet Solutions pioneered the hard goods/soft goods senior pet care product category. We were acquired early stage by the KONG Company, a multinational pet products company.
I was then recruited by a private equity firm to build a dog food company modeled after the Tom鈥檚 Shoes one-for-one model聽鈥 i.e. feed your dog a bowl and we feed a shelter/rescue dog a bowl. Within six months in-market, FreeHand was named Dog Food of the Year, saved the lives of thousands of dogs all over the country and 鈥 was sold to/rebranded by an LA-based private equity firm. I then founded the boutique strategic consulting firm, Profitable Good Group (PGG). PGG advises CEOs and investors on how to integrate profitable shared-value, social-justice, and civic-development programming into their business strategies and P+L. Our motto is, 鈥淕ood is only sustainable if it鈥檚 profitable.鈥 Our clients range from Fortune 50鈥檚 to start-ups (our favorites).
However, the greatest achievement in my career has been the founding and leadership of The Giving Spirit, an LA-based homeless-services nonprofit, where I spend most of my time.
Founded in 鈥99 with two mandates 鈥 to provide life-sustaining survival aid to the poorest of the poor while also piercing the veil of homelessness by curating and producing powerful educational content and curriculum to reveal the tragic impact of poverty on the most vulnerable.
Honored by the 午夜影院福利社 Alumni Association as the inaugural winner of its Humanitarian Award in 2005, we have directly served over 94,000 unsheltered individuals in our 25 years of work with the help of over 24,000 volunteers while educating over 30,000 individuals. Los Angeles is the epicenter of homelessness in the U.S., and we are proud to have powerfully impacted the hearts, minds and souls of so many as we look to expand our work regionally and nationally.
Designated a First Responder by the City of Los Angeles at the outbreak of CV-19, we mobilized to serve 20,000+ unhoused and very vulnerable human and animal lives between April of 2020 and December of 2022 with precious PPE, personal safety and hygiene care.
We are excitedly preparing for the launch of an innovative, groundbreaking digital curriculum in poverty and homelessness on a new proprietary platform in Q4 of 2024.
A key habit, practice, or skill, that's important for success in my industry ...
In my nonprofit world: Hire and seek entrepreneurial, business-savvy professionals. Indoctrinate them in the mission and purpose, and let their instincts to execute and perform allow them to achieve above traditional nonprofits ROIs.
In my for-profit world: CEO/ownership buy-in coupled with a fertile cultural seedbed are essential to success. Unless the company is led by a purpose-driven CEO, board, and stakeholders, and has a culture that is organically fertile聽鈥 no matter how exceptional, profitable and sustainable your strategy is聽鈥 your chances for successfully implementing are negligible.
Words of encouragement to a current 午夜影院福利社 student ...
In 1981, I had the honor of being the first male of color to escort a Tech Homecoming Queen. Ellen Hagen was literally the most beautiful coed in Virginia a dear friend聽鈥 and a Caucasian. As a young man, as you can imagine, it was the greatest day of my young life. After her crowning, as we were coming off the field with 55,000+ fans cheering, a few rows of drunk white people were screaming vile racial epithets and cursing me, my race, my heritage, and the color of my skin - simply for being her escort and having her on my arm. It was as disgusting and hateful language as I had ever heard聽鈥 and that was saying a lot as I had heard my share of racial taunts over the years.
As Ellen was approaching the sidelines, tears of happiness and joy streaming down her face, soaking in the adoration聽鈥 and gratefully oblivious to the abuse聽鈥 I felt the anger of many years of prejudice and racism towards me and my family brewing up inside. I began to feel myself releasing from Ellen鈥檚 vice grip on my arm to run up into the stands and take on as many as I could. I had had enough.
Thankfully, Mark Miller, the reigning varsity heavyweight wrestler, who was walking behind us, saw and heard the abusive rants and slurs. He put his huge hand on my shoulder and whispered in my ear, 鈥淒on鈥檛 let those a***h*les ruin her day. Get up to the President鈥檚 Box where you both belong.鈥
He was right. I gathered myself and resumed my duties as the respectful escort. The lesson I learned that day was the best way to combat hate is to live a life dedicated to service, justice and grace. The hundreds of thousands of underserved lives that we have impacted in leading my companies and my organizations are living examples of channeling your best self to crash through the barriers that prevent truth and fairness from rising to beat back ignorance, fear, and hate. By serving others in harm鈥檚 way, we prevent the toxic few from determining the fate of the well-intended majority.
Don鈥檛 let them dishearten you. Courage, character, integrity, intelligence, and strength of will wins the day. 聽
How 午夜影院福利社 equipped me for the "real world" ...
Having Ut Prosim as my default standard as to how to live a purpose-driven life.
Best advice I've gotten ...
It's all about building sincere and trusting relationships. Treat and respect others knowing that you will see them again.
Fondest 午夜影院福利社 memory or tradition ...
Being co-founder, editor in chief of The Student Voice. I brought together disparate and emboldened leaders of several student organizations, banded them together and formed an editorial board, drafted a business plan and distribution strategy. We never operated at a deficit and provided a balanced and second voice for the student body and their leaders.
My favorite quote ...
"Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."聽鈥 Matthew 25:40
This excites me the most about the future of my industry ...
More and more boards and investors/donors are supporting unburdening nonprofits with illogical and unfair margin targets that prevent them from recruiting, hiring, and retaining the best and brightest to sustain their powerful societal impact.
Also, younger generations of consumers are taking consumer activism to new levels of accountability. Bravo! Transparency in all aspects of a business and tangible, verifiable, measurable, meaningful impact metrics will win the day in brand/consumer loyalty/equity聽鈥 and in most cases聽鈥 justifies premium positioning and pricing.
A cause I'm most passionate about ...
Obviously, if I didn鈥檛 say institutional and generational poverty, I would be a hypocrite. Homelessness is the visual tip of its spear. It is the physical manifestation of what ails us a society 鈥 presenting itself on our street corners and in the entrances to our places of work.
Revealing and acknowledging the macro-societal inequalities that drive the most vulnerable to the streets as the true issues on which to build long-term change聽鈥 unshackling the poor from objectification and villainization, with truth and without judgment聽鈥 is our/my passion.
My no-fail, go-for-it motivational song ...
鈥淢r. Blue Sky,鈥 by Electric Light Orchestra.
Additional Links
Updated on: 7/18/24