Our Platform …

An Educational Service Organization
Independent External Board of Directors
A Recognized Non-profit Corporation

Business Name: (The) Sisu Advantage, Inc. (https://thinksisu.org/)
Founded: 2016, in California
Doing Business As (DBA): Rewirement (https://rewirement.org/)
IRS 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt EIN: 81-2415611
Virginia Registration Entity ID: 11184029
Business Location: 1 Loudoun, Ashburn, VA 20147 USA

Why Us ? …

“Rewirement” is a term often associated with “retirement”, a play on words that substitutes a single letter to convey a compelling message: there comes a time to rethink priorities, goals and strategies.  However, our belief is that needs for “rewirement’ occur throughout the life cycle.

There are three principals in our organization: Jerry, Marjo and Bryce.  What could we possibly know about the need for “rewirement”?  After all, we each benefited from “first-world advantages”:

• JERRY: Born in Detroit during the early stages of the post WWII baby-boom, to a white middle-class family in a big city, with all the benefits of post-war prosperity, stability, and growth opportunities of that era.
• MARJO: Born in Finland, among the most stable and progressive countries in the world, at the height of the "Cold War", a musical prodigy and talented student gifted with opportunities to travel and study abroad.
• BRYCE: Born at Stanford University Hospital, raised by two college professors in the heart of Silicon Valley, and gifted with the opportunity to attend a boarding school, experience global travel, and pursue his passions.

Jerry and Marjo parlayed Ph.D. credentials into successful careers, and Bryce currently is a Ph.D. candidate. 

What could we know about any need for “rewirement”?  Here’s what, with two examples each, by age at impact:

=========================

Bryce @ 15:  Near-fatal Accident in Canada.  At age 15 Bryce loved playing hockey.  His team won the state championship that spring, and in June his older brother was drafted by the NHL -- after having left home at 15 to develop his game against better competition.  Bryce chose to follow that path, and left home for Canada.  He scored two goals in his first game in a 20-and-under junior league, but the next day was a passenger in a vehicle driven by a team manager that crashed on the Trans-Canada Highway.  Bryce was air-lifted to the nearest hospital and underwent immediate brain surgery.  The doctor informed his parents that Bryce was unlikely to survive, but after eight days in a coma Bryce began a long recovery process that began with the magic of neuroplasticity.  Another part of that process was to “rewire” his life ambitions, and it began with creative use of instructional technology tools to supplement limited class-time.

Bryce @ 32:  The Advantage of "Sisu".  Remarkably recovering from the accident without falling behind in school, for the following decade Bryce studied, lived and worked in Europe and Asia.  He focused on computer technology, another childhood passion, and lived a carefree life throughout his twenties.  At 30 he accepted a new position of significant responsibility as on-call remote tech troubleshooter for a software provider.  He loves the job, but has never let go of his childhood ambition to earn a Ph.D., and that opportunity presented itself at the school of his choice, with a full ride for full-time study.  Family awaited his choice between the two options, not recognizing he had undergone a “rewirement” from relaxed and carefree to relentless and conscientious.  Bryce negotiated an agreement to do both, available online for business troubleshooting while study between calls.    

=========================

Marjo @ 19:  Sexual Abuses in Japan.  Like Bryce, in her teen years Marjo determined she would benefit from leaving the home country to pursue opportunities, in her case cultures and languages.  Already fluent in three languages and conversant in two others when she graduated high school, Marjo accepted a student exchange opportunity to study in Japan, a country she had not visited that spoke a language she did not know.  By some measures she thrived in that new setting, but by other measures she was woefully unprepared.  Having grown up with a loving family in a safe and supportive culture, she was a social extrovert with a ready smile and aim to please.  She also was attractive and naive, falling prey to sexual abuses by older western men in two separate instances, first by a camp counselor and later by an esteemed Christian minister.  It was an arduous process to transition from “what’s wrong with me” to “a rewirement” of her self-esteem.

Marjo @ 49:  The Sky has Fallen.  That trusting and optimistic nature discussed earlier led Marjo to marry the wrong man not long after those sexual abuse incidents.  Seventeen years later, with three children under age 10, a fulltime job and a doctoral dissertation in progress, she mustered the courage to divorce him and underwent the inevitable “rewirement” that accompanies becoming a single mother.  She married wisely next time, to the right man for her and the kids, at the right time.  A decade later his private plane crashed at sea and was never recovered.  Following an intense period of unspeakable grief and determined “rewirement”, Marjo recovered and moved on with her life.

=========================

Jerry @ 32:  Reimagining a Career.  "Rewirement” isn’t always attached to a crisis.  Jerry attained his doctoral degree in public policy at a relatively young age, and by 32 had settled into a stimulating job as the tenured lead faculty member for a public finance MBA specialization at a business school he liked, in a city he loved.  Then California Proposition 13 passed, drastically reducing interest in public sector jobs, and his position was to be eliminated.  Rather than take the expected route and enter the job market, Jerry negotiated with the dean, agreeing to a systematic “rewirement” to focus on developing and delivering an emerging specialty expertise likely to benefit the Department of Finance.  In return the dean agreed to modify work requirements to allow Jerry to (1) complete the core doctoral courses in finance at nearby UC-Berkeley, (2) serve in a financial management capacity at a Fortune 500 company in the local financial district, and (3) complete a post-doctorate in statistical computing at Stanford.  Following this “rewirement” Jerry devoted a quarter century to teaching financial data science, eventually becoming chair of the Department of Finance and still later dean of that College of Business.

Jerry @ 65:  A Second Chance at Life.  “Rewirement” isn’t always attached to a crisis -- but often it is.  Jerry was teaching abroad, in a culture he did not understand that spoke a language he did not comprehend, when he was diagnosed with advanced Stage IV cancer.  As the first foreigner in several years to be an in-patient at the local hospital, no nurses understood his only language.  They asked him questions using a smartphone translator app, and processed his responses through that app.  What could go wrong?  Chemotherapy worked its wonders, as Jerry contemplated a “rewirement” he would pursue with whatever future he may have.  Five years later he was officially cleared of cancer and entered a collaboration with Marjo and Bryce to form this nonprofit organization.

=========================

Having managed multiple "rewirements" as life tossed its various surprises at each of us, we have those practical experiences to combine with the latest academic research as we pilot you toward your own needed "rewirement".