Florida native Jason Sowell has worked in the nonprofit sector for more than 20 years and is a public speaker, published writer, nonprofit entrepreneur, missionary and wedding officiant. In 2008, Jason founded Current Initiatives, a Tampa-based nonprofit organization with the mission of educating and mobilizing communities to be hope dealers through the Laundry Project, Hopes for Homes Project and Affordable Christmas initiatives. Jason’s work with Current Initiatives has been featured on NBC Nightly News, Newsmax, and the nationally-syndicated morning talk show, Daytime, as well as in the Tampa Bay Times, The Tampa Tribune and on numerous television stations spanning multiple DMAs. Most recently, he was featured in People Magazine’s Heroes Among Us.In 2015, the Tampa Bay Lightning honored Jason as the season’s 31st Lightning Community Hero and presented him with a $50,000 donation from the Lightning Foundation and the Lightning Community Heroes program. Tampa Bay's Creative Loafing bestowed its 2011 ‘Best of the Bay’ award designation to Jason as its ‘Best Young Hopeful’ for his work in the community as well as the 2020 'Best of the Bay' award to the Laundry Project as its 'Best Laundry Service'. He was also recognized as a Fox 13 ‘Hometown Hero’ and featured on Bay News 9’s weekly segment as an ‘Everyday Hero’. Jason has received the Couple’s Choice Award nearly every year since 2011 from WeddingWire.com. He is a guest lecturer for the University of South Florida’s College of Social Work, is a speaker for TEDx Talks and served as a guest co-host during the 2014 Chicago Ideas Week (CIW) IdeaLab & IdeasChat. Jason is a published author and host of the Boldly Going Podcast and has also been honored by the Southern Early Childhood Association (SECA) with the 2015 Friend of Children Award.In another timeline, Jason lives on the beach in Southern California and is a pro surfer. In real life, he lives in the city of Tampa where he never actually surfs.