Tom Bagamane '83

A resident of Los Angeles since ’96, I moved here after business school and now I'm officially a Californian. It has been a wonderful journey since I graduated from Virginia Tech. I have had the amazing opportunity to reinvent myself several times and experience the world in ways I never could have imagined. The rewards that came with those opportunities, balanced by the subsequent risks and enriched growing through the struggles — have been immeasurable. My leadership chops and my pioneering skills, in both business and service to humanity, manifested in Ut Prosim, were sprouted at Virginia Tech.

I began with a decade in the fashion industry, where I was recognized as one of the top menswear consultants in the U.S. by Financial News Network at age 27. I had the privilege of designing/curating my own signature line of men’s suits that was sold in top men’s specialty stores all over the country. As the world became smaller, I developed an itch to build global brands. Transitioned out of fashion via an M.B.A. for an international business education. I then was recruited into the ad agency world where I ran two different agencies' global businesses.

My entrepreneurial track started in '99. I was brought in on several start-ups, then consecutively co-founded two companies in the pet space between '06-'13. Integrated Pet Solutions pioneered the hard goods/soft goods senior pet care product category. We were acquired early stage by the KONG Company, a multinational pet products company.

I was then recruited by a private equity firm to build a dog food company modeled after the Tom’s Shoes one-for-one model — i.e. feed your dog a bowl and we feed a shelter/rescue dog a bowl. Within six months in-market, FreeHand was named Dog Food of the Year, saved the lives of thousands of dogs all over the country and … was sold to/rebranded by an LA-based private equity firm. I then founded the boutique strategic consulting firm, Profitable Good Group (PGG). PGG advises CEOs and investors on how to integrate profitable shared-value, social-justice, and civic-development programming into their business strategies and P+L. Our motto is, “Good is only sustainable if it’s profitable.” Our clients range from Fortune 50’s to start-ups (our favorites).

However, the greatest achievement in my career has been the founding and leadership of The Giving Spirit, an LA-based homeless-services nonprofit, where I spend most of my time.

Founded in ’99 with two mandates — to provide life-sustaining survival aid to the poorest of the poor while also piercing the veil of homelessness by curating and producing powerful educational content and curriculum to reveal the tragic impact of poverty on the most vulnerable.

Honored by the Virginia Tech Alumni Association as the inaugural winner of its Humanitarian Award in 2005, we have directly served over 94,000 unsheltered individuals in our 25 years of work with the help of over 24,000 volunteers while educating over 30,000 individuals. Los Angeles is the epicenter of homelessness in the U.S., and we are proud to have powerfully impacted the hearts, minds and souls of so many as we look to expand our work regionally and nationally.

Designated a First Responder by the City of Los Angeles at the outbreak of CV-19, we mobilized to serve 20,000+ unhoused and very vulnerable human and animal lives between April of 2020 and December of 2022 with precious PPE, personal safety and hygiene care.

We are excitedly preparing for the launch of an innovative, groundbreaking digital curriculum in poverty and homelessness on a new proprietary platform in Q4 of 2024.