About the Foundation

The Orange Duffel Bag Foundation provides coaching, training and ongoing mentoring to at-risk youth; support to their guardians and caring adults; and service to the community in a spirit of offering hope and enriching young lives. The 501c3 nonprofit, launched in February 2010, delivers professional level life plan coaching from certified life and executive coaches to youth (ages 12-24) who are in foster care or who have aged out, homeless youth and youth at-risk. Via a proven methodology, ODBF guides them through the process of creating their own life plans that result from the transformational change process they experience during the course. Our curriculum has been piloted in various formats with youth in foster care and at-risk middle and high school students in both Georgia and Utah. The curriculum is based on the multi-award winning My Orange Duffel Bag: A Journey to Radical Change, and its 7 Rules for the Road, a nonfiction book about a homeless teen who became a successful executive and his self-help advice for success.

With no paid staff in its first year, ODBF has subsequently cultivated a network of professional certified coaches and trained volunteers willing to serve as ODBF advocates, primarily concentrating in Georgia where the nonprofit is based. Under the leadership of ODBF Board Chair Michael Daly, President and Co-Founder Echo Garrett, Vice-President Diana Black and a dynamic Board of business and community leaders–many having personal experiences with foster care and teenage homelessness—the ODBF family shares a passion for finding solutions to help at-risk youth become self-reliant.

The 2010 Federal mandate that every youth in foster care have a youth-driven life plan starting at age 14 and reviewed every six months thereafter emphasized the need for our service. Thus far two states (Georgia and Utah) have used two models of our coaching methodology that creates positive change to build a path with that youth towards success.

ODBF emphasizes that our graduates get involved with their local community efforts and avail them of opportunities to engage the business communities to help raise awareness of youth in care, former foster youth, homeless youth and the many issues they face. We also help create opportunities for the youth by exposing them to caring adults in varied careers.