Steven Dyme

Where entrepreneurship meets Tikkun Olam (repairing the world), that's where you'll find Steven Dyme. At just 22 years old (our youngest honoree), Steven owns and runs Flowers for Dreams, which he started while still in college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "F4D" is a floral catering and delivery service that provides fresh, local flowers and turns those purchases around, sending the money raised back into the community by providing individualized backpacks and school supplies for students in need. By August, Steven says this model will have yielded nearly 7,000 backpacks to low-income students, most of which live in Chicago.

Although F4D is his main gig, Steven is actively involved in many other aspects of the community. "He is passionate and driven in all he does and a big part of everything he does has a social conscience," said Bernard Dyme, Steven's father and one of his nominators. The grandson of Holocaust survivors, Steven serves on the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's Next Generation Associate Board, helping to ensure the stories of survivors are passed on to younger generations. He also tutors at Inspired Youth, which he does with his mother.

Steven hopes to continue channeling his ambition into philanthropic energy in the future by helping those without means and capital to pursue their entrepreneurial passions.

Name:
Steven Dyme

Age:
22

Pays the bills:
Founder and owner of Flowers for Dreams

On the side:
Supplies for Dreams, USHMM Next Generation, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Inspired Youth

Relationship status:
Single

Describe yourself in 10 words or less:
Passionate, open, curious - about all of life's challenges and endeavors.

Celebrity doppelganger:
Will Smith

How do you Jew in Chicago?
Advocate for genocide prevention at USHMM Chicago and an American Friend of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Passions:
Entrepreneurship, education, community development, local government

How do you give back?
Flowers for Dreams donates a backpack to a local student on every purchase. By August 2013, that model will have yielded nearly 7,000 backpacks with school supplies to local low-income students in need. Also, tutor part time with my mother at Inspired Youth.

Fill in the blank: If time and money were limitless, I would:
Create a foundation to fund and help other entrepreneurs realize their dreams. I'd enjoy traveling the world as well.

Chicago's Jewish community in 10 years:
Hopefully as vibrant and diverse as it is today. My generation has a keen ability to bridge ideological differences, hear new ideas, and diminish the gap between different opinions, religious practices, observances, and so forth. It will make for a more diverse and equally more united Jewish community.

Me in 10 years:
Funding and assisting business ideas and entrepreneurs without the economic resources and access to capital. Also, as a frequent consumer of city services, I could see myself lending a hand in local government.