The nonprofit Family Is All That Matters celebrate their Grand Opening Aug. 21, 2018 at the Galleria at Tyler Mall. Board members, County Officials, mentors and mentees in the program, partners, and many others were present for the celebration. The nonprofit provides academic tutoring support, mentoring and an athletic outlet for children 5 to 18 years old. They focus on integrating academics, athletics and individual empowerment.
(Riverside, Calif.) – Nothing can stop the nonprofit group FIATM from achieving its goal of “Unifying Communities – One Family at a Time.”
FIATM, which stands for “Family is all that Matters,” has already survived a crisis that would have forced many charitable organizations to close their doors.
A late-night fire destroyed the group’s Moreno Valley headquarters on Jan. 1, 2021.
FIATM just put in a computer lab and adjusted its programs to be Covid compliant when the New Year’s fire destroyed their facility and shut down 13 other neighboring businesses.
Despite that setback, FIATM founder and Chief Executive Officer, Kuba Brown, its Chief Operation Officer, David J. Layne, along with the rest of the group’s board members, staff, volunteers and their community partners, never stopped helping needy families with food, utilities and rental assistance.
FIATM COO, David Jordan Layne, Riverside County Second District Supervisor, Karen Spiegel, and FIATM Founder and CEO, Kuba Brown, held its Grand Opening at The Galleria at Tyler recently.
The group continued offering educational and tutoring programs for students from 5 to 18 year olds, and its organizers and youth sports coaches continued working with at promise youths and their families throughout Southern California.
In fact, the challenge may have made the Inland Empire organization stronger than ever.
FIATM recently held an Grand Opening and open house at its spacious new headquarters inside Tyler in Riverside.
The 3,400-square-foot office has enough room for a computer lab, reading lab, homework station where youths can check out Chromebooks, a screening area for thought-provoking family movies, and displays focusing on science, technology, engineering, the arts and math.
The nonprofit group currently serves about 850 youths, ages five to 18. About 600 are from Moreno Valley, and the others come from San Bernardino, Orange and Los Angeles counties.
FIATM also has helped feed and assist veterans at the U.S. Vets transitional housing at March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley with its partner So Call Family Support Services.
FIATM was created in 2005 “to aid at-risk-youth, teen mothers, and families in making positive choices to ensure a better quality of life.”
Anyone who gets a chance to talk with Layne and Kuba Brown, the group’s CEO, quickly learns that the statement reflects a lifelong commitment and passion to help struggling youths, their families, and the communities where they live.
“Everything starts with families. Everything starts with youths,” said Layne, who is also FIATM’s chief operating officer. “We refuse to be compromised or diverted from our mission of taking care of families.”
Kuba Brown nodded in agreement.
“We work to create safe places for at-promise kids. You never know what someone is going through at home or what help their families may need until you can sit down, listen and talk with them,” Kuba Brown said.
The new Galleria at Tyler headquarters is a place youths will be able to come in and speak their minds, he said.
It will be open Monday through Friday, but Layne and Brown said it’s not a walk-in office. Youths and their parents will need to schedule their visits.
“FIATM reflects the passion that we have regarding service,” Brown said. “We want to create a place with unrivaled service, a place where we can do our very best, because in our hearts, we’re servants.”
The F.I.A.T.M. Group Inc., is an IRS designated 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization.
For more information about FIATM and the work the group is doing, visit their website www.FIATMGroupInc.org or call (951) 570-5053.
-end-
FIATM Grand Opening at the Galleria at Tyler in front of the second story entrance right in front of the old Nordstrom’s department store. Left to right, front row, David Thurman, Executive Board Member, Monica Hunter, Executive Vice Chair, President of Advisory Board, Yundra Thomas . Back Row: Donnell P. Layne, CIO and Executive Board Member, Carl M. Dameron, president of Dameron Communications FIATM’s public relations agency, Wayne Brown, Executive Board Member Kuba Brown, CEO, and David, Jordan Layne, COO.
About FIATM – Family Is All That Matters
FIATM programs are implemented to provide Academic Tutoring support, Mentoring and an athletic outlet for students five through 18 years old. FIATM currently focuses on the integration of Academics, Athletics, and Individual Empowerment.
The T.E.A.C.H. PROGRAM
TEACH is the main emphasis if The F.I.A.T.M. GROUP INC. From the ages of five through 18, this program assists in the Tutoring, Mentoring and Nurturing of youth and further sets forth the re-enforcement of Family and Family Values. An after-school tutoring and mentoring program established to serve all youth in our programs as a deterrent to truancy, drug and substance abuse, gang involvement, crime and disruptive behaviors that are prevalent in the community when students are left unsupervised.
Next Level Athletics Alliance (NLAA)
This is a complete youth sports program offering participation in a variety of competitive youth sports all of which may have Olympic ties.
The NEXT LEVEL ATHLETICS ALLIANCE program offers our youth the opportunity to develop positive life skills and memories leading towards a promising future.
These programs in itself will also assist in the edifying and promotion of Family Values that will enrich the community for years to come.
Student Athlete Awareness Program (S.A.A.P)
The structure creates an educational community where student/athletes and faculty share academic goals and join in a common intellectual quest. Teaching and learning, search for knowledge and understanding and the critical examination of ideas, values, and actions are the central activities of the program. The S.A.A.P. Structure is the catalyst where individualism of each person is honored and where courtesy and honesty are practiced.
S.K.A.T.T.
Through S.K.A.T.T. CHRONICLES we will provide a platform for our Youth to learn, train and perfect the craft of Media Arts and Journalism.
S.K.A.T.T. CHRONICLES. S.K.A.T.T. TALES the Animation Cartoon and potential movie will be launched in a collaborative effort with The Lift Entertainment Group. President & COO of S.K.A.T.T. TALES and Executive Limited Partner of The Lift Entertainment. LaShae Brown.
MTS – (MENTORING TO SUCCESS)
MENTORING TO SUCCESS is a program series created to enhance the Tutoring & Mentoring Programs. Our programs are structured to provide tutoring, counseling, cultural awareness, and personal development.
Within the personal development component, we teach self-respect, respect for others, Leadership, Self Esteem and unlock creative and artistic abilities that may otherwise be underutilized in our youth.
We are planning to further enhance the awareness of our youth to the different types of Colleges and Universities and Trade Schools throughout the nation for Academic and Athletic Direction.
How to Foster Inclusion, Diversity & Empowerment in the Workplace
Perhaps the #1 driver of success today, in BOTH the public and private sectors (worldwide), is knowing how to foster INCLUSION and EMPOWERMENT in the workplace. Kathleen Dameron is a leading authority in knowing how to nurture large, medium, and small organizations alike in realizing this objective. She remains on the cutting edge of this process by reaching out to organizations to secure input from people like yourself that allows her to tailor her counsel (as a trainer, coach and facilitator) to the collective needs of organizations like yours. Toward this end, will you kindly take a few moments to respond to this brief questionnaire?
“The past weeks have been very traumatizing for African-Americans because it’s Derek Chauvin, who is supposed to be on trial, and yet they were talking about the victim’s life,” saidInternational Diversity ExpertKathleen Dameron.
(San Bernardino, Calif.) Black Americans celebrated this week’s three guilty verdicts in the Derek Chauvin murder trial, hopeful that Minnesota jury’s votes to convict the former policeman for killing George Floyd signal a new era in American justice.
In previous cases of Black people killed by police, it was rare for an officer to be charged with any crime, let alone convicted of murder. And in most cases, the Black victims were scapegoated as though they were to blame for their own murders, explained International Diversity Expert Kathleen Dameron, a Black American.
“As soon as the jury convicted Chauvin of murder, there was an enormous sigh of relief in the African-American community,” she said.
“The trial has been hard to watch. It was very traumatizing for African-Americans because it’s Derek Chauvin, who was supposed to be on trial, and yet they were talking about the victim’s life,” said Dameron, a corporate diversity trainer withoffices in San Bernardino and Paris.
“Why did they have to talk about George Floyd’s life? Why did they have to talk about his health? He was not the perpetrator, and yet the defense argument was that he was inherently not worthy of living because he may have done this,or he may have done that.”
Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, was convicted of second-degree unintentional felony murder, third degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter for pinning Floyd’s neck to the ground for 9½ minutes while Floyd pleaded, “I can’t breathe.”
Floyd’s death was filmed by horrified bystanders, who repeatedly told police that Floyd was no longer moving and pleaded with them to check his pulse and resuscitate him, according to court documents.
Video of the incident led outraged viewers to rally against racism and police brutality throughout the United States and Europe.
Dameron said the way police violently responded to protests following Floyd’s death, and the convoluted jury-selection process made people question the U.S legal system and America’s commitment to justice.
“And the image of George Floyd being crushed by someone with a smirk on his face, that was seen literally around the world,” she noted.
Acquittals would have further traumatized Black people, said Dameron, who has more than 30 years’ experience training American, European and Asian executives worldwide.
“If the jury had acquitted the cop, it would have been absolutely devastating for what’s left of the legal system in the United States, because we have so much footage of George Floyd coming out of the convenience store, standing handcuffed, not resisting. We have pictures and videos of what happened from the front, from the side, from the back. You have so many people trying to point out that the man’s life is in danger and he’s not dangerous.”
“He’s on the ground, handcuffed with two policemen on his body. Where is the danger? Where is the need to kill him?”
Before the verdicts, there was a “high level of anxiousness in the Black community around a possible acquittal despite world-wide witnessing and condemnation of the murder,” Dameron explained.
“That’s because of the U.S. track record of acquitting police despite live video footage since the Rodney King beating,” she said.
Many Americans and citizens of many countries, as well as Black people who protested against police killing Black people with impunity, are both surprised and pleased at the verdicts.
“George Floyd’s life cannot be restored, but at least the cop who killed him is being held responsible this time. Let’s hope the guilty verdicts are just the beginning of justice for Black people in America, and not a unique occurrence” she said.
The Dameron family 1965 in E. St. Louis, IL. Barbara, Carl T., Crystal (baby), Denise, Carl and Kathleen. “We we integrators,” said Katheleen Dameron.
“When you look at the history of redlining, the history of denying Black people and Native Americans the right to housing, this is a significant step in saying, ‘Yes, we did do wrong,’ and when you do someone wrong, you apologize and you make amends,” Dameron said. “That is the beginning of the healing process.”
(Paris, France). A Chicago suburb recently became the first city in the United States to agree to pay Black residents reparations for slavery and past discriminatory policies and practices.
That decision shows that some communities are beginning to recognize and acknowledge the harm caused by America’s systemic racism, an expert on race relations said.
“It’s a historic decision to do this, and we’re hoping that this is the beginning of people being able to open their minds, open their eyes to what’s happened in the past and the consequences today,” said Kathleen Dameron, an internationally recognized cross-cultural trainer.
The City Council of Evanston, Illinois, recently voted to distribute $400,000 in housing assistance and mortgage relief to eligible Black households. The city will provide $25,000 for down payments on houses or property, home repairs, and interest or late penalties on property in Evanston.
To qualify, residents must either have lived in the city between 1919 and 1969 or be a direct descendant of a black Evanston resident from that time. Those who experienced housing discrimination in Evanston after 1969 are also eligible.
The $400,000 comes from a $10 million reparations fund created in 2019 using tax money from the city’s recreational marijuana program.
“When you look at the history of redlining, the history of denying Black people and Native Americans the right to housing, this is a significant step in saying, ‘Yes, we did do wrong,’ and when you do someone wrong, you apologize and you make amends,” Dameron said. “That is the beginning of the healing process.”
Even though $25,000 is not enough to pay for a house, paying reparations is still important for the city, said Dameron, a Black American now living in Paris.
“It’s not reparations in the sense of, ‘We denied you a house, so we’re going to give you a house now,’ but it is acknowledgement of the damage done, of the impact on the generations of that damage,” Dameron said. “It recognizes and it acknowledges that we did harm consciously, in policy, in law and in practice and we’re seeking to recognize it and to make amends.”
Dameron said that getting national reparations or getting some areas to agree to reparations is still a difficult process.
“One of the problems we have is that there are some people in the United States – and this happens consistently across the United States – they would rather close the swimming pool and have no swimming pool in the community than to have Blacks have access to the swimming pool, so as desegregation started throughout the South, public swimming pools disappeared, public parks disappeared,” she said.
“Some people thought, “I’d rather have nothing than have Back people share in this,” she said.
“That mentality makes it extraordinarily difficult to say, ‘We did you wrong. As human beings, we did not give you a fair environment. We persecuted you. We banned you. We burned your houses down and we killed people.’ ”
So even though Evanston is making amends and recognizing and acknowledging that they caused harm, “that acknowledgement is still difficult for many Americans to make,” Dameron noted.
Dameron is currently leading a series of seminars on “Healing the Collective Trauma of Racism.” In her sessions, she helps participants recognize the difference between interpersonal and institutional racism.
Participants build a feeling of community and energy to create social justice.
To introduce people to her sessions, she is offering a free, self-paced, one-hour course. You can learn more by going to www.KathleenDameron.com
“I understand people’s anger at being told to be less white,” said internationally recognized cross-cultural trainer Kathleen Dameron. “Be less white. What are the qualities?
“I have a lot of empathy for people being told to be less white,” she said. “I know it hurts. As a Black child and as a grown-up, I have been told to be less Black, straighten your hair, dress to look like a nice corporate person. I can understand how being told to be less white hits you in your identity, because I was told be less Black.”
(Paris, France) Americans should not get upset over reports saying Coca-Cola was asking its employees to “be less white” as part of its mandatory diversity training.
“I understand people’s anger at being told to be less white,” said internationally recognized cross-cultural trainer Kathleen Dameron. “Be less white. What are the qualities?
“Be less oppressive. Where’s the problem? Listen more. What’s the problem? Be less defensive. where’s the problem?” she asked. “But people get upset the minute they hear, ‘Be less white,’ because it hits them in their identity. It hurts and they reject it.”
Dameron said it might be more effective to say, “We’re asking you to create a JEDI society, to create Justice, Equality, Dignity and Inclusion.”
The training course at the center of the Coca-Cola backlash was titled “Confronting Racism.” It advised whites to listen more and be less oppressive, less arrogant, less certain, less defensive and less ignorant,” according to the New York Post.
Coca-Cola denies that it was part of their required training.
“That’s not the point,” said Dameron, who has more than 30 years’ experience training American, European and Asian executives worldwide but is not involved in the disputed training.
“Coca-Cola should have said, ‘We are committed to a fair, equal workplace environment,’” she explained. “It’s not corporate training that makes workplaces fair. It’s offering equal pay and equal opportunities for hiring and advancement regardless of race or gender. That’s how you change.”
Dameron understands why the issue triggered some people’s emotions.
The Dameron family 1965 in E. St. Louis, IL. Barbara, Carl T., Crystal (baby), Denise, Carl and Kathleen. “We we integrators”
“I have a lot of empathy for people being told to be less white,” she said. “I know it hurts. As a Black child and as a grown-up, I have been told to be less Black, straighten your hair, dress to look like a nice corporate person. I can understand how being told to be less white hits you in your identity, because I was told be less Black.”
Dameron is currently leading a series of seminars on “Healing the Collective Trauma of Racism.” In her sessions, she helps participants recognize the difference between interpersonal and institutional racism and build a feeling of community and energy.
To introduce people to her sessions, she is offering a free, self-paced, one-hour course. You can learn more by going to www.KathleenDameron.com
Former national Aikido Champion Sean Masiki Flynn is a judge and referee at the 2018 US National Championship Tournament in San Diego, at Mesa CollegeFriday through Sunday,July 27-29, 2018.
Inland Empire, Calif. Former national Aikido Champion Sean Masiki Flynnis a judge and referee atthe 2018 US National Championship Tournament in San Diego, at Mesa College Friday through Sunday, July 27-29, 2018.
Aikido seminars and workshops are all day Friday, and kyogi (competition) begins on Saturday and Sunday.
The competition will be comprised of the usual events: Individual Randori (men and women); Embu(junanahon empty-handed); Black Belt Embu (junanahon with tanto); Koryu Goshin no Kata Embu (all ranks); and Freestyle Embu (all ranks) Kongodantaisen (under the new modified format)
Participants are responsible for their own lodgings and food (except the award banquet). The cost to compete are: $100 for TAA Members, $120 for non-members and $20 for awards banquet at 6:00pm on Sunday July 29th.
Tomiki Aikido of the Americas, Inc. (TAA) was established in 1990 to promote the practice of Professor Kenji Tomiki’s system of sport Aikido.
The organization brings together Aikido clubs in North, South and Central America with publications,newsletters, seminars, and competitions. They also coordinate activities with other national and international Aikido organizations.
Flynn is 4th degree black belt in the Japanese martial art of Aikido. He is direct student of world champion Robert Dziubla (8th dan). He received additional extensive training in Japan under grand masters Tetsuo Nariyama (9th dan), Fumiaki Shishida (8th dan), and Kenshi Uno (7thDan).
The dan (段) ranking system is used by many Japanese organizations and Korean martial arts to indicate the level of one’s ability within a certain subject matter.
Championships won by Flynn include: Overall National Champion (forms plus full-contact), 2014; National Forms Champion, 2008; Full-contact runner up, 2006 U.S. National Aikido Tournament; Aikido full-contact champion, 2005 Arnold Battle of Columbus; and National Forms Champion, 2002
A former coach, five of Flynn’s students—Robyn Millan, Jack McKenna, Janine Parziale, Jeff Stickle, and Tiffany Doan—have won U.S. national championships in either forms or sparring. He is also a member of the Tomiki Aikido of the Americas Board of Directors.
Flynn is also running for Congress in the 31st Congressional District in San Bernardino California. Flynn lives in Redlands CA.
Norris P. Gregory Jr., 85, the first black council member in the of San Bernardino, died April 21, 2011. (This is a reporter photograph of a photograph.) (04/28/2011, None / The Press-Enterprise)
(San Bernardino, Calif.). There is a nomination for naming the 2.5 acre multi-use park on E Street between 9th and 10th streets, Norris P. Gregory Park.
The park will be maintained by the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District. It will have sitting areas, an outdoor fitness exercise area, playgrounds, picnic areas, basketball court, skateboard area, multi-use field, walkways and splash pad.
It is being built with a $5 million grant and will be ready for use at the beginning of 2017. Below is a bullet list of accomplishments for Mr. Gregory who died in 2002.
Norris Paige Gregory, Jr.
• He was a resident of San Bernardino from 1958 to his death at the age of 85 in 2011
• Elected and served as San Bernardino City’s first African American councilman also making him the first African American elected official in San Bernardino County.
• Served the 6th Ward for 2 terms starting in 1967 to 1975
• He was a member of the NAACP, the Urban League, the Mexican Chamber of Commerce as well as the VFW and American Legion
• The San Bernardino and California Teachers Associations and an Honorary Mason.
• He owned a business up until his death on the Westside.
• He served with the Redevelopment Agency
• He was an assistant district administrator for the office of Congressman George E. Brown, Jr.
• He was a teacher and administrator for San Bernardino City Unified School district
• He was an activist working for improving the underserved and minorities in San Bernardino
“I am trying to collect 100 signatures from San Bernardino residents’” said Vera Campbell . “I have an application to fill out and then I turn it in for City Council to approve. I don’t think there is much competition but getting those 100 signatures is proving difficult. I started something that I will see to the end. My phone number is 909-804-1021 if you have suggestions.”
Photo caption: Honoring some of the unsung heroes who have worked diligently to improve the lives of others throughout the Inland Empire, The Black Cultural Foundation awarded the 2011 Black Rose Award to the following award community advocates: (back row left to right) Juanita Dawson, James Butts, Jimmie Brown, Herb English Jr., John Futch, Mark Campbell, Vicki Lee, Carl Dameron, Timothy Evans from The Unforgettables Foundation, Dr. Queen Hamilton, (left to right front row) Geraldine Reaves, Jennifer Vaughn-Blakely and Dr. Harold Cebrun. Photo by Chris Sloan.
(San Bernardino, CA) The Black Culture Foundation celebrates 25 years of honoring unsung heroes in the Inland Empire when it hosts the Black Rose Awards on Sept. 12 at the National Orange Show.
The Black Rose was the brainstorm of Dr. Juanita Scott, Jim King and Jeffrey Hill, who was a close friend and play son to 2014 Program Co-Chair Margaret Hill.
“I can still remember the Black Culture Foundation meeting more than 25 years ago where Jim King and Jeff Hill started discussing how there are so many people doing great things but never getting recognized,” Margaret Hill said. “Then Dr. Juanita Scott, and perhaps the rest of us chimed in. We all thought it was a great idea to have this special celebration for unsung heroes.
The idea of Black Roses was King’s idea.
“We were all taken aback by it at first,” Margaret Hill said. “Jim explained that since Black is often known as being negative, and roses are known for being beautiful, it was appropriate to combine them into Black Roses, which changes the myths about Blacks.”
Since 1990, the Black Culture Foundation has honored some of its heroes with Black Rose Awards. It has also bestowed special awards on some since the beginning.
It established the Humanitarian of the Year Award its first year. It was named in honor of Dr. Juanita Scott because of her dedication and financial commitment to the Black Culture Foundation. Jim King received the first award.
It established the Commitment to Community Service Award in 2006, giving that award in honor of Margaret Hill in recognition of her volunteer work in the cities of San Bernardino and Highland. Veatrice Jews received the first award.
It established the Jim King Special Community Service Award in 2009, which is presented only every five years. Brian Townsend received the first award in 2009 for providing the African-American community with helpful and relevant information by publishing the Precinct Reporter and for his community service.
The deadline to nominate an unsung hero for the Black Rose Awards is Thursday, July 31. Applications can be downloaded from www.sbbcfoundation.org. After carefully filling them out, email them to Margaret Hill at marrobhill@aol.com or to Program Co-chair Troy Ingram at unicorncol@sbcglobal.net or in regular mail to The San Bernardino Black Culture Foundation, Inc., P.O. Box 7288, San Bernardino, CA 92411.
The Black Culture Foundation seeks sponsors to make the celebration gala a success. It offers several levels of sponsorship.
Gold Sponsor for $2,000 (receives full-page ads in the Black Rose and Miss Black San Bernardino pageant programs, 12 tickets to the Black Rose Awards, and the company logo listed on the Black Culture Foundation website and marketing materials.)
Silver Sponsor for $1,500 (receives full-page ads in the Black Rose and Miss Black San Bernardino pageant programs, 10 tickets to the Black Rose Awards, and the company logo listed on the Black Culture Foundation website and marketing materials.
A half page ad (no tickets) for $250
A fourth-page ad (no tickets) for $125
A business card (3 ½ x 5 ½) ad for $50.
Anyone who received a Black Rose Award during the first 24 years can have their photo in the event program for $50
Anyone can have their name listed in the program for $25
24th Annual – 2013 Humanitarian of the Year was A Majadi. The 2013 Commitment to Service Award went to Ron Cochran. The Black Rose recipients were: Eula Charles, Miriam Vickers, Keyisha Holmes, Judge Richard Fields, Kennon Mitchell, Ed.D, Pastor Robert Fairley, George Bowser and Anita Dimery.
Tickets for this event are $60 per person or table of ten for $600. Table sponsors will be acknowledged at Black Rose Awards. Checks should be made to the San Bernardino Black Culture Foundation (SBBCF)
(San Bernardino, CA) – Carl Dameron, president of Dameron Communications, has been nominated for recognition in the Fourth Annual Spirit of the Entrepreneur awards sponsored by California State University, San Bernardino.
The award honors local business people who have overcome challenges and given back to their community.
“I am honored to be considered for this award,” Dameron said. Dameron said he also appreciates how this awards program promotes an awareness of entrepreneurship among the Inland Empire’s youth.
“They need to realize there are successful professionals who live right down the street from them,” he said.
Dameron, 47, established Dameron Communications in 1989 after a marketing campaign for his former employer, AutoSound, increased that company’s profits by 250 percent. Despite his marketing success, Auto Sound was not able to keep Dameron on the payroll, so he parlayed that success into a business that has helped many other companies and non-profit organizations reach new customers.
Dameron has also worked as a journalist before, both on radio and newspaper. That experience still helps him in dealing with media.
“I see things with a journalist’s eye,” he said.
Some of Dameron’s earliest customers were in the automotive business, and while he has had large corporations as clients, today’s clients include non-profit organizations that pay a reduced rate. Dameron doesn’t charge them full price because he believes they are performing important services for the community.
For instance, the African-American Health Initiative promotes that African Americans in San Bernardino County will die, on average, 13 years before those of other races. The average African-American man in this county will not live to see his 56th birthday.
As the father of two young girls, Dameron does not want to be part of that statistic.
“I want to see my daughters graduate from high school,” he said. “I want to walk them to the altar on their wedding days.” Dameron also is an event producer.
The largest event he is involved with is the Inland Empire Diversity Job Fairs, and he assists the Inland Empire African-American Chambers of Commerce in bringing these to various San Bernardino and Riverside County locations. In the 14 years, they have helped thousands of residents find jobs close to home.
“People should be able to work where they live,” Dameron said. “The job fairs help local employers meet face to face with local people.”
Even though Dameron has recently started another business, 909Models.com, his workforce is still small, with just four full-time employees. The employees keep busy all day, and are talented at what they do, freeing them to concentrate on increasing business.
“I hire good people and stay out of their way,” he said. Frank Doughton, an account executive with the Riverside Press-Enterprise, nominated Dameron for this award.
“Carl has done so much, with his agency, the job fairs, starting 909Models.com and his agency,” Doughton said. “He has been out there, taking the risks, and I just think it’s time he got some recognition.”
Michael Stull, director of the Inland Center for Entrepreneurship, started this recognition program soon after coming to CSUSB in 2002. His university began the program with assistance from the Press-Enterprise, which continues to be a co-sponsor. Other sponsors this year include Arrowhead Credit Union, Citizens Business Bank, Citibank, Inland Empire National Bank, Loma Linda University Medical Center, Varner Saleson and Brandt LLP, Soren McAdam Christenson LLP, Family Business Partnership, Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce, Glencrest Investment Advisors, the Riverside Convention Center, Wilkin Guge Marketing, KVCR, KTIE, and Milestone Media.
Stull said this program not only promotes awareness of the Center for Entrepreneurship but also provides role models to CSUSB students interested in starting their businesses.
“Students need to know about the great things people are doing right here,” he said.
The deadline to nominate an entrepreneur is Aug. 15. To do so, go to www.inlandspiritawards.com
For more information, call Stull at (909)) 537-3708
