It’s been an incredible journey that led to one special night filled with laughter, chills, and a few tears that all started with 7 nonprofit finalists competing for a new office.

One by one, each finalist pitched their nonprofit to the judges and shared their truly inspirational stories. During one of the pitches, another finalist heard a need they could fill and actually exchanged business cards.

A true testament to the selflessness and passion for helping not only their community, but each other. The judges deliberated well over their allotted to reach a decision, and here our your 2019 IGNITE by WorkLodge Nonprofit Winners.

According to the World Economic Forum, there are 582 million people who’ve devoted their lives to this crazy thing we like to call Entrepreneurship. It’s world changing (where would we be without Microsoft, Apple, Tesla and more?) What would we watch without Shark Tank or The Profit? Entrepreneurship is inspirational, it lets people ‘Live the Dream’ and can bring incredible rewards. It creates almost HALF of the new jobs in the United States each year! Almost double the amount of new jobs created by big enterprise. 99.9% of ALL companies in the U.S. are small businesses, and the list goes on and on.

WorkLodge, a locally owned coworking company on a mission to “change lives” announced its second annual Office Space Giveaway where local nonprofits (501c3s) can network, gain exposure, be part of a week-long philanthropic event and ultimately, win free office space for an entire year. This is one way WorkLodge puts their core value, “be generous,” into practice, by investing into our local non-profit community.

I’m sure by now you’ve seen the YouTube clip of Kodi Lee, a contestant on America’s Got Talent just a few days ago. I heard the gossip, the news, about this 22 year old guy who received the first of the magical ‘Golden Buzzers’ for this year’s contest. What I missed however was the real story behind why he captured so many people’s hearts and why this translates to Entrepreneurship.

WorkLodge’s first pitch night followed Gabriel Week which highlighted FT5K, Mr. Thakur’s non-profit organization, which builds homes and provides schooling for orphaned children in India among other things.

The driving motivation for pitch night was to grant one very deserving non profit the chance to have their own office space for the year to focus on growth and developing their company to its max potential.

If you’ve been around WorkLodge recently, you’ve no doubt heard about Gabriel Week. It’s the culmination of our core mission.

“Changing Lives.” It may sound like a vague directive driven by positivity, but at WorkLodge, it is our DNA. It is our heart as a business to truly change the lives of others wherever possible. Sometimes it’s through large initiatives, but most of the time it’s through daily interactions we have with our Members, Partners, and Friends.