This is the first of many spotlights where I will recognizing PosiPeople community members for their contributions. Today, I want to recognize the PosiPeople user named, Jay K. (His username is “webuyitgreen”.) You can view his user profile and pieces he has submitted to PosiPeople.

Not only has Jay submitted several pieces of content to the forum, but he has also made sure that each submission was of high quality. I especially enjoyed all of his posts that explain the intricacies of fair trade. (I never realized how complicated the fair trade industry is.) Read the posts submitted to PosiPeople by Jay, I promise you will become smarter by reading them.

Also, if you like what Jay has done, feel free to visit his website or drop him a line.

Disclosure: At the time of the writing of this post, I have no financial relationships with any of the individuals interviewed.

I have said in earlier posts that The first International Cochrane Collaboration Systematic Review in Public Health and Medicine to review programs for the prevention of alcohol abuse found that SFP10-14 was the most effective universal, school-based prevention program in the world.

The Cochrane Collaboration authors (Foxcroft and associates 2003) at Oxford University found only 56 programs in the world with research data solid enough to include in their review of what works in substance abuse prevention. About 20 of these programs were found to have negative results or no positive results. Of the remaining programs, the Cochrane review found that SFP10-14, a 7-session plus four boosters version for low risk universal populations, had twice the effectiveness (effect size) of the next best school-based program. SFP was found three times as effective as any life or social skills training program implemented with youth only.

Visit the Strengthening Families Program online to find out more.

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Remember any of the last 1000 articles you read in the paper? I rest my case.   Read an article that you will never forget, guaranteed.

In the wake of this week’s financial crisis, many investors have lots of questions about how the crisis affects them. So, in today’s post, I’ve interviewed several prominent Financial Advisors to answer some commonly asked questions about the recent events. The excerpts below offer sound advice from seasoned professionals and should help anyone make sense of the financial crisis and what to do. If you have any additional or more specific questions you’d like answered, please email financialadvisors [at] posipeople.com.

Question: With all the recent turmoil in the US financial markets – the sale of Bear Stearns, the government takeover of mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and now the collapse of Lehman Brothers – what does this mean for the economy as a whole?

Answer: The US economy has shown time and again that it is diverse, flexible and resilient. While I would hardly say that this latest calamity isn’t severe, it is not time to run for the hills. We have seen this kind of major disruption before – the dot com boom and bust of 1999-2000, the energy crisis of the 1970s, the Great Depression of the 1930s – and yet, the US economy continues to grow and evolve and is, today, the largest, most important economy in the world.

Question: So you don’t think Wall Street’s ills will affect Main Street?

Answer: Well, I would hardly say that. The economy is vulnerable for sure and is showing weakness is many areas but this is not the end of the world. We will emerge stronger than ever soon enough.

Question: Can you describe, in layman’s terms, what just happened to these financial institutions and what are the implications moving forward?

Answer: Basically, these firms were overinvested in what turned out to be bad ideas. Just like an individual should be wary of a portfolio that is heavily concentrated in a few rapidly appreciating assets, large institutions can fall victim to the same mentality. It is always tempting to stray from your core strategy when it seems like everyone else is getting a higher return than you are by chasing the latest fad or bubble.

Whether you are an individual or a large corporation, you want to make an investment because you believe in the inherent value of the underlying asset, not because you are speculating on its rise. This can be easier said than done, however, when your peers are posting eye-popping returns but, ultimately, being disciplined is the safest, if not most exciting, way to go.

Question: The Dow dropped over 500 points in one day in the aftermath of Lehman’s collapse, what does this all mean for the average investor?

Answer: If you have a well thought out, long-term plan in place, I would say that you should just stay the course. The market goes up, the market goes down. It’s the nature of the beast. If you believe equity investments are the best way to build long-term wealth, recent events shouldn’t change that thought process.

A well planned out, properly diversified portfolio will help to mitigate investment risks over time. Conversely, a poorly thought out plan, or, worse yet, no plan at all, can be problematic. A well conceived financial plan that is diligently followed and carefully monitored is essential, especially in times like these.

Question: What is a good financial plan? (Answer after the jump.)
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This quote is brought to you at the good folks at the Foundation for a Better Life. This quote is about teaching by example. Enjoy!

“I doubt that we can ever successfully impose values or attitudes or behaviors on our children; certainly not by threat, guilt, or punishment. But I do believe they can be induced through relationships where parents and children are growing together. Such relationships are, I believe, build on trust, example, talk, and caring.”

- Fred Rogers (1928-2003), U.S. children’s TV personality, educator, writer

To stay true to my promise to highlight a great program each week. The great program of the week is Civic Ventures. I will now move on to some thoughts I have had.

Business entrepreneurs move society forward, continuously pushing the envelope of productivity through continuous innovation. Research shows that what drives entrepreneurs isn’t money as much as challenge and achievement.

In past posts, I have made it clear that I am for ethical individuals seeking a single bottom line. Taking into account the realities of the world, human nature and history I can’t in my wildest dreams or most sincere logic conclude that double-bottom line companies will on average ever achieve the same positive social impact as ethical single-bottom line companies. This does not mean I am against double-bottom line companies. What I am for is - every person’s talents, motivations and abilities being aligned with their actions and creations so as to produce maximum positive value to society. So for some, a double-bottom line approach may make more sense than a single-bottom line. But the large majority of people’s talents, motivations and abilities will be better aligned and maximized in a demanding, profit-maximization environment. Just to be clear - if a person has impeccable character - all arguments that would suggest that a double-bottom line model is superior then go away. I can back that up, but won’t go into it now. Here is the kicker and my main point: A person with impeccable character will have a greater positive impact with a profit maximization mentality than a double bottom line mentality. So if you’re a good person then a single-bottom line may be the best way to go? If your motive for having a double-bottom line is to show that it is actually more profitable to take a double-bottom line approach then you’re really focused on profits and therefore have a single-bottom line approach after all.

A  while back I read a comment in the comment section of an article “MBAs Gone Wild” in the Stanford Social Innovation Review that did a decent job of supporting my point:

“Here’s a suggestions to those large companies and business schools who may be thinking of how to increase the pro bono work of their MBAs to help out nonprofits. Why not take all that wonderful expertise and take a look at the internal business practices of the for-profit sector? How can the MBAs on your staff help you figure out a way to pay your low-wage workers more? Or how to reduce your environmental impact? Or how to prevent, rather than cause a large-scale mortgage crisis? That would lighten the work load of the nonprofit sector tremendously!”

If philanthropists want to maximize their social impact, their impact has to be related to creating and supporting an ideal environment for ethical, single-bottom line entrepreneurs.

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