\u201cThis is so joyful that it\u2019s contagious.\u201d These are the words NCF Giver Helen Young Hayes uses to describe her life after Wall Street. Having built a successful, storied, 20-year career in the financial industry, Helen felt God\u2019s call to deploy her \u201ctrophies\u201d for such a time as this. What came next was a life transformed \u2013 from financial generosity into holistic generosity, for the glory of God\u2019s kingdom.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A royal position \u2013 for more than retirement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When they were recently out of college, newlyweds Helen and Matt joined a small group with some Christian friends. This was the first small group either one had ever joined. Together they read Richard Foster\u2019s book, Money, Sex and Power<\/em><\/a>. They dug into how these three gifts (money, sex, power) from God can become dangerous if too much importance is placed on them and how they can be beneficial and beautiful if used properly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While Helen had grown up reading the Bible, she had never studied practical theology or learned to unpack the Bible. The book challenged Helen and Matt at a time when they had no money and a lot of student loan debt. It laid the foundational belief that caring for the poor in a sacrificial, intentional, and consistent manner would be part of their family theology. For the 30 years that followed, obedience looked like compartmentalized financial generosity \u2013\u00a0 supporting ministries that served the poor, creating scholarship funds, writing checks.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Years later after retiring from a very successful Wall Street career, Helen found herself in the middle of a study on the book of Esther \u2013 a study she\u2019d completed before. This time around, Mordecai\u2019s words to Esther seized Helen and wouldn\u2019t let go: And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?<\/em> (Esther 4:14). She knew this was God\u2019s way of telling her He had more in store for her than retirement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Helen felt she had \u201ccome to a royal position\u201d with wealth, prestige, and favor in every aspect of her life and had \u201ctrophies\u201d to show for it: a blessed childhood, a strong marriage, wonderful children, and financial and career success. She was being called to deploy all of her trophies for the kingdom and for such a time as this. She instinctively knew it would be an outworking of her commitment to loving and serving the poor and marginalized \u2013 God\u2019s \u201cleast of these.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sharing the joy of transformation through holistic generosity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Helen asked the Lord to reveal to her what was next concerning the words He placed on her heart. She knew she wanted to incorporate her business acumen into her quest to serve the poor, but it wasn\u2019t clear what that could or should look like. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Around this time, she was invited to join a brainstorm with other Denver-based Christian business leaders about how to lift individuals in their community out of poverty into flourishing provision. She heard the story of a business owner that trains, develops, and hires women through Hope House<\/a>. Hope House is a ministry that provides free self-sufficiency programs to parenting teen moms, including Residential, High School and GED, and College and Career Programs. Helen saw the joy and love this leader had in serving these underserved young ladies. She now knew what God had next for her: to replicate this employment model on a larger scale and bring other business owners the joy of watching an individual’s life change forever. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI began to focus on how I could help business owners become the generous employers that I know God wants us to be, and how I could help companies provide people with opportunities to flourish and participate fully in the economy,\u201d Helen remembers. She began researching the workforce- solutions industry, discovering three gaps that she could fill:<\/p>\n\n\n\n From here, Helen\u2019s life moved from financial giving to what she calls \u201cholistic giving.\u201d In 2016, she founded Activate Work Inc<\/a>, a non-profit employer-centric and people-focused recruiting and coaching firm that helps people from underrepresented communities thrive in full-time, full-benefit careers. Activate also provides tuition-free IT training through ActivateIT<\/a>, helping to make the IT industry accessible to all. Activate\u2019s goal is a hopeful, vibrant future for both employees and employers through creating an economy of shared opportunity and shared prosperity. \u201cWe are shooting for long-term success and lasting, holistic transformation,\u201d Helen says. Helen believes the solution is more than giving people a better income. It\u2019s providing economic freedom that allows individuals to make better decisions for themselves and their families, like acquiring high-quality childcare or living in a safe neighborhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n