You’ll find it right there on Stephen Culp’s Linked-In profile, just before all the serious stuff. Under “specialties,” Culp has written “revenge” and “guessing.” Interesting claims for a guy whose latest start-up company, Causeway, is all about compassion, philanthropy and an almost obsessive commitment to planning.
What gives?
Steven Culp, CoFounder of Causeway.Culp laughs when asked about the specialties portion of his profile, a profile that also reveals that he was an NCAA Division I fencer, was named teacher of the year in Hungary while serving in the Peace Corps, worked as an Intelligence Research Specialist for the FBI Olympic Squad in Atlanta where he ran a leg of the 1996 Olympic torch relay, earned a black belt in karate, and has climbed both the Grand Teton and Mt. Kilimanjaro. But that’s just the minor stuff.
Read on and you’ll discover Culp has also been a lieutenant in the U.S. Naval Reserve, an attorney, a Marshall Fellow, and has served as an adviser for the local Trust for Public Land, CreateHere, Chattanooga 3D, RiverCity Company, the Chamber of Commerce, The Company Lab, Innovate- Here, the American Lung Association, the Theatre Centre and the Ochs Center for Metropolitan Studies. He was a founding partner of the Chattanooga Renaissance
Fund, co-founder of Chattanooga STAND, chairman and co-founder of Smart Furniture, and CEO and cofounder, along with Andrew Scarbrough, of Delegator, a for-profit startup which helps businesses run themselves more efficiently. And now Culp has another start-up venture. In September 2011, along with Scarbrough brothers Stephen and Andrew, Heather Ewalt and Rob Bettis, Culp co-founded Causeway, an all-volunteer-run 501(c) (3) whose mission, simply stated, is to help Chattanoogans help themselves.
Co-founder Heather Ewalt describes Causeway as a “local civic engagement hub,” a kind of one-stop online presence that allows anyone with a local civic cause – individuals, companies, nonprofits, Sunday school classes, neighborhood associations – to request local support. And their motto, “Where there’s a cause, there’s a way,” is more than just a catchy slogan. It refers to something the co-founders recognize about compassionate giving, which is that 1) not everyone in the community is able to give financially, and 2) money is not the only way to help. Civic causes often also need manpower, time, tools, materials and ideas.