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‘iMADdu’( I Make a Difference, Do You?) is a nonprofit organization with headquarters located in Fairfax, Virginia. iMADdu’s mission is to empower future entrepreneurs through programs designed to encourage and educate entrepreneurship. These programs introduce entrepreneurship to students, and help the students make connections with established entrepreneurs to foster a mentor and mentee relationship.

Origins
iMADdu grew out of a childhood challenge by founder Mona Anita Olsen’s mother. When she was a child, Olsen moved frequently with her family. In 2nd grade, Mona moved to Tokyo, Japan. Unable to speak Japanese and separated from her family at school, she became sad and lonely. Wanting to change her focus from what was happening to  her and how she felt to how other people felt and how she could help them, Mona’s mother began including a daily handwritten note in her lunchbox with the message to “Make A Difference,” often shortened to “Have a M.A.D. day!”  At first Mona didn’t understand what her mother meant, but as she got older she began to recognize her power to “Make a Difference.”

This idea carried through Olsen’s time at Cornell University. Olsen had mentors who took time to ensure that she was developing as a person and student, supplementing classroom education. Their support and encouragement gave her the confidence and skills for a bright professional future. She never forgot the impact of their mentorship.

One day, a friend brought her a sign that read ‘Make a Difference.’ Olsen loved it. She immediately wanted to display the sign at work but her employer said it was against company policy. Olsen resolved to never again work at a place she could not hang her sign, a place where the primary goal was to make anything other than a difference, and began to plan for what would become iMADdu.

In 2010, Mona had the opportunity to live up to her mother’s challenge, a way that could grow past her own capability to make a difference and enable others to make a difference as well, when she founded iMADdu.

Location
iMADdu was founded in Fairfax, Virginia. Their offices are nicknamed the “MAD Pad,” combining the iMADdu abbreviation for the phrase “Make A Difference” and “pad,” a slang term for house.

Impact
iMADdu has twice co-sponsored HTHTN with the Mason Small Business Development Center (Mason SBDC). HTHTN is designed to be a high-impact networking opportunity for angel investors, entrepreneurs, small business owners, and students in the Northern Virginia and D.C. business community. iMADdu partnered with The U.S. Chamber’s Campaign for Free Enterprise to bring The Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour to George Mason University.

iMADdu Inc. works to empower the next generation of entrepreneurs by providing hands-on experience through apprenticeships that impact the local community. College level students participating in the ten to twelve week program are matched with an established, successful entrepreneur and have the opportunity to take on an independent project.

Student Apprentice Program
iMADdu’s Student Apprenticeship Program (SAP) is designed to bring together talented students and entrepreneurs in mentoring relationships. Students are exposed to entrepreneurship, benefit from the entrepreneurs experienced guidance and advice, and gain valuable professional and interpersonal skills that will be essential in any future career path. The Student Apprenticeship Program is designed to be an experiential-based learning experience, as opposed to traditional lecture-learn classroom model, or a traditional internship experience often focused on administrative tasks.

iMADdu recruits students from a variety of colleges and universities. Past Apprentices have come from schools such as the University of Virginia, George Mason University, Cornell University, Virginia Tech, and the University of Pennsylvania. iMADdu Apprentices come from a diverse background such as political science, biological engineering and technical theatre.