If the desire to help is genetic, then Aaron Hurst has definitely inherited the trait - his grandfather wrote the original blueprint for the Peace Corps. Forty years later, in 2001, Aaron Hurst founded the Taproot Foundation, an organization that harnesses the resources of millions of business professionals to build the backbone, or taproot, of the nonprofit sector. By encouraging professionals to volunteer their skills, the Taproot Foundation is able to create over 300 consulting projects for its nonprofit organizations. At the University of Michigan, Aaron received numerous awards for his volunteer work teaching creative writing at local correctional facilities. He continues to be recognized as a leading social entrepreneur, receiving such accolades as the Manhattan Institute Award for Social Entrepreneurship and the Innovator of the Year Award from the Alliance for Nonprofit Management. Aaron realized early on that in order to focus as much energy as possible on his creative ideas, he would need to hire an assistant to help build and manage systems. “I wanted to play the role of actor,” he says, “so I needed to hire a director.” As president of the Taproot Foundation, Aaron leads the development of the organization across the nation and sets the strategy and vision behind the Foundation's work.

Aaron describes the challenge inherent in entrepreneurial ventures as a chicken and egg problem. One needs to articulate the vision in order to get money, but it’s difficult to demonstrate the vision without any initial funding. He says, “If you create a new, catalytic innovation, there is no precedent to demonstrate what it is you are trying to do. At the same time, you need resources to show your innovation.” Hurst has met these challenges and built a successful and innovative model in the Taproot Foundation. Through a network of professionals who volunteer just 3-5 hours per week for a six-month period the foundation is able to provide services like websites, SWAT analysis, performance management systems, and donor databases to their nonprofit partners. 

It’s more important to do what’s right than worry about conventions.

A taproot is the large root that grows down from the center of a plant and provides support for the plant and other roots. Hurst’s own taproot comes in the form of a strong management team. “Sometimes when I start a project I lose interest,” he says, “so it’s important for me to hire really strong managers who can take ideas from proof of concept stage to scale.” Hurst recommends finding partners that can compliment your strengths. “It’s not intuitive that someone would want to do the non-creative work, but there are people that enjoy those tasks just as much as you enjoy the creative work.”

In offering advice to others with the entrepreneurial spirit, Hurst says, “It’s more important to do what’s right than worry about conventions.”