mark dantonio - MSU Alumni Association - Michigan State University

president of Raphael-Leritz Consulting,
Portland, OR, co-author
of The Courage Code (Utopia
Press, 2006). In the book, she
and co-author Jennifer Byron
profile 44 women, including
several MSU graduates, like
Sen. Debbie Stabenow. “Most
women don’t see themselves as
courageous,” says Raphael, who
now works out of Traverse City.
“But once they see themselves
as courageous, they can really
step into the world and become
even more courageous, in the
feminine sense of the word.
It’s the everyday choices to live
authentically, to live according
to what’s of value to them.” A
native of Detroit, Megan also
believes her feminine principle
of courage—which emphasizes
collaboration as opposed to
force—is more valuable in helping
solve societal problems. “I
had a great experience at MSU,”
says Megan, who met her
husband Peter on campus. “I
remember the fun of dorm life.
I was an R.A. I loved my social
work program.” After serving
as the health services director
for the Grand Traverse Band of
Ottawa and Chippewa Indians,
Megan currently does presentations
and personal coaching
(she is scheduled to speak at
the MSU Alumni Association’s
Kaleidoscope event at Kellogg
Center on April 27). She notes
that her book has been well
received in Northern Michigan
and has garnered good
reviews. “We’re not yet a New
York Times best-seller,” she says.
“That comes next!”
SANDER DEVRIES:
LOSE YOUR JUNK MAIL
If you are an average American,
you receive 41 pounds of junk
mail per year. So says a new
service, 41pounds.org, which
wants to help. For a one-time
fee of $41, the service promises
to eliminate up to 95 percent of
your junk mail for the next five
years. “Half of the money will go
to a charity of your choice,” says
Sander DeVries, ’05, who cofounded
the Ferndale, MI-based
service with two brothers. A native
of Shelby Township, DeVries
was an English major at MSU—
which he calls “a fantastic four
years of my life.” After MSU, he
worked in sales for his brothers’
computer networking company.
“One day, we were at my brother’s
house and he had all this
junk mail piled up, mail that he
didn’t open,” he recalls. “So we
began to figure out how we could
stop it.” They worked on it and
eventually found a system that
involved contacting 30 of the
nation’s biggest direct marketers
and bulk mailers. “We sent an
email to our friends explaining to
them how to do it,” says Sander.
“But no one followed up. It was
a time-consuming process and
it involved signatures. So we
said, ‘OK, we’ll do it for them.’”
And so, in June, they launched
their company—a mail version
of the “Do Not Call” service to
restrain telemarketing. “Since
then we’ve saved 850 trees and
more than 200,000 gallons of
water,” says Sander. “We’ve
prevented more than 150,000
pounds of carbon dioxide from
being released into the air.”
Because the company donates
half its profits to charity, mostly
environmental nonprofits and
school groups, says Sander,
many in the community have
volunteered to help with fundraising
efforts. “Most people
tell us this is a great idea,” says
Sander, who recently got 200
new clients after a plug from a
local television station. “We’re
a good option for all those who
want to get rid of all this waste.”
Click Right Through for MSU
www.msualum.com
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