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Each month at Data Driven Design, we set out to feature a company that is doing amazing things in our community. For this interview, our Digital Strategist Bailey Robbins sat down with Will Acuff, the co-founder of Corner To Corner, a non-profit that invests in lives, hurts, hopes, and dreams. They collaborate, instead of compete, and celebrate victories as a win for our community. They invest unique resources and experiences into relationships, with the knowledge that there is intrinsic value in both.

Will Acuff co-founded Corner To Corner with his wife Tiffany Acuff.

In this video podcast, Will and Bailey talk about how Corner To Corner came to be, why the mission is important and how it manifests into partnering with the existing community.

Acuff says "community already exists...it's better to find it and partner with it rather than try to create it."

Corner To Corner believes in and executes Asset Based Community Development vs. Needs Based Community Development.

Asset-based is taking the assets already in the existing community and helping enhance what is already there.

Needs-based is telling the community what it needs and trying to somewhat "force" them into what you're wanting to help them with.

Due to this philosophy, Acuff and his Corner To Corner team have been able to build programming like Reading Corner, Hope Bakes, Script to Screen and The Academy.

Here's a bit more in-depth overview of the programming.

The Academy

Equipping neighbors with the tools to plan, start, and grow their own small business. OR Neighbors use their own God-given, passion, and creativity to create their own small business success using a proven 10 week curriculum.

Script to Screen

Using kid’s love of movie to help them fall in love with reading and writing as they develop their own script, and produce their own short film.

Hope Bakes

Connecting life skills with social skills and then adding frosting, because practicing math is boring…unless you’re using math to make brownies.

The Reading Corner

>Spark a love of reading in neighborhood kids, setting them up to be life-long lovers of learning and to avoid the school to prison pipeline.

One other thing Acuff hits on while talking to Robbins is the point that if we all keep talking to the same people, telling the same stories, we don't really grow much. It's important to keep meeting new people, having new experiences and learning from each other.

I'm paraphrasing, but I couldn't agree more.

Thanks for reading, watching and listening, and have a great day!

KEEP MARKETING!

Paul Hickey, Founder / CEO / Lead Strategist at Data Driven Design, LLC has created and grown businesses via digital strategy and internet marketing for more than 10 years. His sweet spot is using analytics to design and build websites and grow the audience and revenue of businesses via SEO/Blogging, Google Adwords, Bing Ads, Facebook and Instagram Ads, Social Media Content Marketing and Email Marketing. The part that he’s most passionate about is quantifying next marketing actions based on real data.

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