Who We Are

Building Heroes Definition of Heroism

[her-oh-iz-uhm] To act on an ideal or value; to change the world

About “Building Heroes”

Aspire higher. Act on your values. Be a hero.

Building Heroes is committed to empowering men & women to heroic action through a commitment to personal & organizational values.

Through Building Heroes programs and services, we provide a challenging, empowering, and meaningful leadership and personal development program. Building Heroes is not a bystander intervention program; it is a program that is designed to challenge students to embrace their own identities and values, and to learn how to align their inner selves (identities and values) with their outer selves (behaviors and language).

You can find more information about our programs and services at: http://buildingheroes.org/programs-services/

About Chad Ellsworth

I have had a unique fraternity experience. After joining Theta Chi Fraternity (Alpha Upsilon/University of Nebraska-Lincoln ’01) before my freshman year, the chapter closed for financial reasons at the end of my first semester of membership. Committed to continuing my fraternity experience, I became a member of a second fraternity, where I held the offices of scholarship chairman and chaplain during my sophomore and junior years.

When I challenged the chapter’s culture of hazing, I was forced to move out in the middle of the night. Three Theta Chi men showed up to move me out and willingly extended a Helping Hand, demonstrating the power of fraternal values in action.

The goal of Building Heroes is to empower others to strive for the heroism and commitment to values in action demonstrated by those three men – Chris W., Joe K., and Trevor J.

Providing college students and others with the capacities, knowledge, and skills to be authentic, empowered, and values-driven is my passion.

As a professional, I spent seven-plus years as the Program Director for the Office for Fraternity & Sorority Life at the University of Minnesota, where I advised and mentored student leaders, developed educational and leadership development programs, and served as a liaison for the fraternity and sorority community to the campus and Minneapolis-Saint Paul communities. In 2010, I was honored to be named one of two Outstanding Greek Life Professionals by the Fraternity Information & Programming Group (FIPG), and in 2007, I was honored to be named an Anti-Hazing Hero by HazingPrevention.Org.

Currently, I am an instructor in the Leadership Minor at the University of Minnesota, teaching Personal Leadership in the University, as well as an academic advisor for the College of Biological Sciences at the University of Minnesota.

For two years, I also served as President of the Board of Directors for the educational non-profit organization HazingPrevention.Org, and I continue to serve as a volunteer for this incredible organization.

I graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2001 with a bachelor of arts degree in Latino and Latin American Studies, and from the University of Maryland-College Park in 2004 with a master of arts degree in Counseling and Personnel Services. You can find me on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=1215615