Stephen Bird is the CEO of a company that does the equivalent of what Uber does for drivers. He started making lunch deliveries on his bike at just six years old. He continued this work until he was twelve, when he decided to sell his motorcycle and formalize his business, BirdzBikes. Stephen is now 51 years old and has paid off all his college student loans and his mortgage. He also had a successful business serving the homeless by offering them Wi-Fi with subsidized computers he purchased cheaply. Stephen’s story could be more surprising than it may sound. Stephen met President Obama at a fundraiser for the Denver Area Youth Council Foundation in 2004, where Obama spoke about how he started his career in Chicago and rode the bus from Hyde Park, where he lived to Englewood, the predominantly African-American neighborhood near downtown Chicago that served as home to many community centers where Obama worked with youth.

1. Biography

Stephen was born in Chicago and raised by a single mother involved in the neighborhood community center. His mother worked as a counselor and provided home-schooling for Stephen. Both his mother and stepfather were active in the local community and encouraged him to play sports. He worked hard throughout high school, where he majored in political science, economics, and business because “it was something I could do,” he says.

2. Career

After high school, he worked at a local bank and then went to college at the University of Wisconsin. He studied political science and economics as well as business. He was also involved in student government and served on the board of the Undergraduate Business Association. After he graduated, Stephen got a job working for an accounting firm in Chicago, where he met Donald Rumsfeld, who managed the company fund from New York City’s Wall Street.

His success at the accounting firm allowed him to apply for a job with the White House, where President Reagan was in office. He has shown his entrepreneurship and passion for politics, as he has worked on campaigns to send more African-Americans, Native Americans, and women to Congress. He advises people who work in government to give back to the communities they represent. Find out more information here