As President and Partner, Bobby Sager was a driving force behind the spectacular growth of Gordon Brothers Group (GBG), an advisory, restructuring and investment firm specializing in the retail, consumer products, industrial and real estate sectors. Bobby Sager joined Gordon Brothers Group in 1986 when it was strictly a small Boston based jewelry business yet five years later, through Bobby's leadership, innovation and creative dealmaking less than 10% of the business was related to jewelry and more than half of Gordon Brothers Group's transactions involved the strategic repositioning of other businesses. During that growth period Bobby was one of the founding partners in Gordon Brothers Finance Company (GBFC), which has done deals around the world and became a critical part of what Gordon Brothers Group is today. Now Gordon Brothers Group is considered a preeminent global financial services business with 20 offices in North America, Europe and Asia.

After a very successful career as an entrepreneur, Bobby decided to refocus his dealmaking abilities from the financial sector to the philanthropic world - a transition he found rather easy. As Bobby says, "Besides, dealing with revolutionaries, political extremists, and blatant opportunists is nothing compared to some of the corporate lawyers I've dealt with." In 2000 Bobby founded the Sager Family Traveling Foundation & Roadshow and has been working full-time as a philanthropist since. The foundation began when Bobby, his wife Elaine, daughter Tess, and son Shane traveled the third world for over a year to engage in what Bobby describes as, "hands-on, eyeball-to-eyeball philanthropy" in order to recognize, develop, and scale innovative solutions to local problems with a demand for incredibly high return on investment and long-term sustained often aimed at impacting leaders and helping people to help themselves. However, despite dozens of successful programs when Bobby reapplied his entrepreneurial and business skills and Rolodex to make impact in areas of conflict and crisis, including Rwanda, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Zimbabwe, and Palestine he insists, "I'm not a do-gooder. I'm a doer who has figured out that hands-on, eyeball-to-eyeball making a difference is a way to live a very full life."

As part of his philanthropic efforts Bobby has been instrumental in catalyzing the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO), a community of approximately 20,000 presidents of businesses around the world who have aggregate sales that are the equivalent of the world's third largest GNP. Bobby is a founding chairman of the YPO Peace Action Network, which convenes business leaders from different sides of conflicts. The business leaders work together to strategize and implement innovative approaches to cross-border understanding and shared opportunity. Bobby is moderator of both the India-Pakistan Action Forum and the American Arab Action Forum. For this work Bobby became the first ever recipient of the YPO Global Humanitarian Award (2002). In an effort to mobilize such an influential group Bobby founded the YPO Presidents' Action Net, a philanthropic search engine that connects presidents from over 100 countries in order to leverage their "making a difference" efforts around the world.

In 2009 Gordon Brothers Group formed PLR IP Holdings, LCC, a joint venture with Hilco Consumer Capital to manage and license the Polaroid brand, which as Bobby says, "is the first thing that has gotten my attention from the business world in the past ten years." Bobby has been so excited by the potential of working with the Polaroid brand that he has been named Chairman of the Board of Directors. However, despite the huge financial upside Bobby has pledged to give away all the money he makes personally from the Polaroid brand.

One of Bobby's recent projects, called HOPE IS A GAME-CHANGER has partnered with PLR IP Holdings, LLC to distribute 10,000 indestructible soccer balls to organizations in Africa that use soccer to teach life skills covering South Africa, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, and DR Congo. In addition to PLR's financial support, Polaroid cameras were donated to help bridge the gap in worldview between Africa and the West.

In addition to his philanthropic and business endeavors Bobby was an Executive Producer for A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, (2006) winner of the Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize, inspiration for the NBC primetime show "The Philanthropist" (2009), and author of The Power of the Invisible Sun, a book about his innovative ways of making a difference around the world released by Chronicle Books (2009), which was featured on NBC's the TODAY show and ABC World News' "Person of the Week." Chronicle wrote about Bobby's book: "In war-torn countries around the world, philanthropist and photographer Bobby Sager has discovered the transcendent power of hope through the eyes of children. Despite unthinkable violence and destruction, his portraits reveal joy, innocence, and strength." Bobby has also been an active public speaker, speaking at such venues as the United Nations General Assembly Hall, Sydney Opera House, Grand Mosque in Oman, and Aiwan-e-Sadr, residence of the President of Pakistan.

Bobby received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics at Brandeis University and a Masters in Management from Yale University. Bobby currently serves as the Honorary Consul General for Nepal and Rwanda in Boston and the Chairman of Polaroid.

Afghan Women Doctors

Afghanistan suffers from a current shortage of adequately trained doctors, nurses, midwives and other health care providers, due to the loss of many of its health professionals during decades of civil war and conflict. There is a tremendous need for primary health care training and refresher training programs to prepare health professionals to meet the health care needs of Afghans in general, and Afghan women in particular. Decades of Taliban rule left the country with very few specialists and even fewer health professionals with updated knowledge and skills.

The Afghan Women Doctors program satisfies the need for primary care training to help health professionals meet the need for improved access to quality health care services for Afghans. Training female doctors and community healthcare workers not only contributes towards improving basic health services in Afghanistan, especially for women, but also puts these women in leadership positions within their families, communities, and ultimately, on a national level. They serve as role models for others to follow and emulate, and help in rebuilding a nation destroyed by decades of war and conflict.

Coaches as Mentors

Iraq is living through a period of violent ethnic and religious conflict. Many of its young population ? 60% of Iraqis are under 25 ? lack positive opportunities. One of the few activities capable of unifying the whole population is football (soccer).

The Hope Tour Coaching/Mentor RoadShow aims to use football coaching as a mentoring mechanism to aid civil reconstruction and help young Iraqis become young leaders, gain life skills and personal development training within the setting of the professional game. It uses the power of football to bring together young people from all ethnic, religious and social backgrounds.

A key deliverable of this prototype program will be a written document that can be used to replicate the coaches-as-mentors program in other parts of Iraq and other countries.

Commercial Lending in Palestine

The Sager Family Foundation was the only non-Palestinian founding investor in Al Rafah Microfinance Bank. Al Rafah, which is based in the West Bank, provides microfinance for small and medium enterprises, small personal and family loans, as well as investment funds, financial brokerage and insurance products.

Hands Up Not Handouts

"The idea that people give to charity because they are supposed to isn't sustainable, and people who need help deserve real long-term commitment. Finding ways to serve your self-interest fuels that commitment...as a result of serving my self-interest, I end up giving much more." - Bobby Sager

The Sager Family Foundation and Traveling Road Show is thrilled to announce the mid September launch of its latest powerful initiative, Hands Up Not Handouts, that mentors women of the developing world in the design and production of unique, one-of-a-kind goods. The initiative focuses on helping women artisans translate their traditional handicrafts into high-quality and innovative products that can be marketed at a premium price, using the profits to support the women's families and communities. All of the products featured in the program, in addition to being cool and hip, serve as symbols of friendship, hope and global connection bridging not only the cultural divide but also the economic one. The Sager family uses their business acumen and passion for design to work closely with the artisans on product development, strategy, marketing and distribution, creating a significant return on investment for all involved.

Hands Up Not Handouts supports several women cooperatives around the world. The first to be featured on its e-commerce website (HandsupNothandouts.org), are collections from Rwanda and Palestine. The Qalandia Women's Cooperative in the Qalandia Refugee Camp in the West Bank of Palestine has created stylish, traditionally embroidered bracelets for men and women that are just beginning to penetrate the global market. In Rwanda, Hands Up Not Handouts works with two basket-making cooperatives, Agaseke and Gahaya Links, to create earrings and necklaces using traditional basket weaving techniques. Agaseke is a public program that trains and employs women from the capital city of Kigali, lifting them out of poverty and allowing them to eat three meals and day and send their children to school. Gahaya Links, a private program, works with poor women all over the country, whether they are former prostitutes, HIV positive, or just desolate and out of work to train them in this traditional skill. Gahaya Links is currently selling baskets in Starbucks and Macy's.

This extraordinary brand of micro-enterprise fits within the Foundation's big-picture vision of connecting the dots with people in the developing world and the creation of strategic, innovative projects and programs that lead toward sustainability. What better return on investment is there other than positive social change? Hands Up Not Handouts.

Lenny Zakim Fund

In addition to our direct, hands-on initiatives the Sager Family Traveling Foundation and Roadshow teams with various partners to sponsor and support existing initiatives aimed at impacting leaders, taking concrete baby steps, and spreading hope. One such initiative is the Lenny Zakim Fund and Lenny Zakim Fund Institute.

Based on the vision of founder Lenny Zakim (1953-1999) that any one person can change the world, the Lenny Zakim Fund (www.thelennyzakimfund.org) seeks to identify, listen to, support, and connect grassroots community organizations and programs operating "below the radar screen" of large charitable groups and government grants. The grants range from $1,000 to $15,000 to help these organizations achieve their goals and become role models in their community. Through the Lenny Zakim Fund and the Lenny Zakim Fund Institute, the Sager Family Foundation is making community leaders much more effective by developing skills that will enhance their abilities to make a difference in their communities.

Liyana

In addition to our direct, hands-on initiatives the Sager Family Traveling Foundation and Roadshow teams with various partners to sponsor and support existing initiatives aimed at impacting leaders, taking concrete baby steps, and spreading hope. The Sager Family Traveling Foundation and Roadshow recently helped sponsor the month long American tour of an amazing and remarkable musical group called Liyana (www.liyanatour.com).

Liyana began as a class project at the King George VI (KGVI) School in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. KGVI provides rehabilitation and boarding facilities to children age 3 to 18 with physical disabilities and hearing impairments. An Afro-infusion band, Liyana has performed in Sweden, The Netherlands, Belgium, and the United States singing in five different languages of the power of hope and never giving up.

Peace Action Network (Young Presidents' Organization)

YPO Peace Action Network (PAN) leverages the unique skills, resources and network of YPOers, WPOers and their families to promote peace, understanding and action. PAN's founders believe that it is possible for YPO/WPOers to make a unique difference in the world by combining the institution of Forum and its culture of intimacy, with the entrepreneurial skill set of YPO/WPO Members, and YPO/WPO's global network of business leaders. In particular, applying this combination of assets to areas of conflict can yield special insight and impact.

Peace Action Network brings together YPOers and WPOers in conflict areas through YPO-style Forums to build bridges. PAN has helped create several successful Forums that build understanding between members and then undertake activities ranging from meeting with political leaders for policy changes, to promoting peace through cross-cultural communication among YPO/WPOers, to championing specific media, business, and microenterprise initiatives in conflict areas. The Forums become more than just a personal experience.

Preserving Heritage Sites

The Sager Family Traveling Foundation and Roadshow has, whenever the need has arisen, supported the preservation of exceptionally special heritage sites around the world.

Sites supported by the Foundation include:
• Taktsang Monastery ? Paro, Bhutan
• Michelangelo's David ? Florence, Italy
• Nelson Mandela Gateway to Robben Island ? Cape Town, South Africa
• The Boston Garden's original parquet floor ? Boston, United States
• Modern Theater ? Boston, United States

The Foundation has been very opportunistic about such initiatives and only supports efforts which are directed at preserving extremely exceptional world heritage sites.

Presidents' Action Net

Young Presidents' Organization (YPO) is a global network of 20,000 business leaders in 100 countries. YPO members' companies in aggregate generate more than $4.3 trillion in sales per year, equivalent to the world's third largest economy in terms of GDP. Many YPO members also serve as active philanthropists, foundation leaders, ambassadors, government ministers, and leaders of prominent think tanks. The YPO network with its members' entrepreneurial skills, amazing combined Rolodex and ability to get things done represents an opportunity to make a unique impact in the world. Bobby Sager and Sager Family Foundation working with YPO's Social Enterprise Networks have founded YPO Presidents' Action Net, an online platform and matching service that connects YPO members with their most influential peers to maximize their individual efforts to make a difference. Presidents' Action Net collects detailed information about the YPO members who have the greatest influence and resources, and it connects peers who can add unique value to each others' work. Access and participation in Presidents' Action Net is a free service to YPO-WPO members and spouses. The only action item required of members to participate is to fill out the Presidents' Action Net profile.

Rwanda Micro Enterprise

The micro enterprise initiative in Rwanda, Sager Ganza Microfinance, uses business as an agent of social change. Sager Ganza makes micro enterprise loans to groups of Rwandan women. Many of these women have husbands who were murdered during the Rwandan genocide, and many have husbands in prison for doing the murdering. We help lift these women out of poverty and provide the economic benefit of micro enterprise and the choices it creates. In the process of pursuing a payroll and their dreams, together these women start to understand one another as people, without the filters, and this is our way of helping the reconciliation process. We don't help the reconciliation by saying let's come together at the community center and talk about our differences and why we hate each other. We say: Come to a meeting, we want to talk to you about starting businesses together and eventually, who knows, maybe you guys will talk about your lives, hopes and dreams and understand each other not as Hutus and Tutsis, but as human beings.

Teacher Training Center

The 2005 earthquake in Pakistan caused a great deal of devastation and a huge loss of life. The education system in the affected areas of the NWFP and Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) has been severely affected. Almost all schools in the worst-hit areas, especially Muzaffarabad (AJK) and Mansehra (NWFP), have been either completely destroyed or severely damaged. UNICEF has estimated that 960,000 school-age children need school support, of which 450,000 are of primary school age.

These children have already lost an academic year and unless the education system of these areas is rebuilt soon, they are likely to lag behind for the rest of their lives. The Citizen's Foundation (TCF), a local Pakistani NGO focused on creating affordable good quality schools in areas with the greatest need in Pakistan, is building a school network in these areas to restore the education system destroyed by the earthquake.

In addition to building schools, a major priority is the hiring and training of personnel who can be trained to handle teaching of traumatized children. This necessitates creation of a Teacher Training Center to provide pre-service and annual developmental training to school faculty. The Pakistan Teacher Training Center initiative aims to provide training facilities for TCF school faculty on quality education methods, using first-rate training aids and methods of instruction, by building, equipping, and staffing a Teacher Training Center (TTC).

Science for Tibetan Monks

The objective of the Science for Monks initiative is to transfer scientific knowledge and understanding to Tibetan monks, enabling them to enter into an intelligent and meaningful dialogue with western scientists. This dialogue leads to an improvement in the understanding of the material world for the monks, and a better insight into Buddhist thinking and philosophy for westerners engaged in the program. The ultimate goal of these improvements in understanding and insight are the ideas that may flow out of this program to help make the world a better place for all.

Also as leaders of the Tibetan community, scientific knowledge and understanding will allow the monastic community to maintain its relevance in changing times, promoting Buddhism in a relevant and meaningful way to young Tibetans. In the words of His Holiness the Dalai Lama "Our community shall not remain as it is. There will be changes. Not only in the exiled community, but in future, when the Tibetans in and outside Tibet gather, then also there will be changes. The knowledge of science will be instrumental in the preservation, promotion and introduction of Buddhism to the new generation of Tibetans. Hence, it is very necessary to begin the study of science."

Venture Capital and Private Equity in Palestine

The Sager Family Foundation has committed to investing in two venture capital / private equity funds in Palestine, both of which are cooperative ventures of Israelis and Palestinians.

The Funds' managers believe an opportunity exists to help develop, and make profitable investments in, entrepreneurial, export-oriented companies built around the substantial community of software engineers and others present in Ramallah and other West Bank locales. Palestine has an educated and entrepreneurial population, including several thousand skilled engineers, several centers of higher learning, and a developed IT infrastructure.