DiveHeart Foundation

1. DiveHeart Foundation
Harold Sowards II
PLS 230
Rick Gage

2. What is it?
• DiveHeart is a non-profit tax exempt organization
• The mission: To build confidence, independence and self-esteem in
the lives of children, adults and veterans with disabilities through
scuba diving, scuba therapy and related activities.
• The vision: To instill the “can do” spirit in participants, inspiring them
to take on challenges that they may not have considered before.
Using zero gravity and the adventure paradigm, we help participants
believe that if they can scuba dive they can do anything.

3. About the Founder: Jim Elliott
• Founder Jim Elliott used to work with blind downhill skiers and after
he realized that there was a positive experience involved, and along
with his interest in scuba diving, decided to try and mirror the
success. In 1996, he left his media job and started focusing on
teaching people how to scuba dive. Then in 2001, he founded the
DiveHeart Foundation.
• He also acts as the Chief Executive and all decisions must go through
him

4. Board of Directors
• President/Founder: Jim Elliott
• Vice President: Ron Rispoli
• Treasurer: William Bogdon
• Secretary: Sharon Kustka
• Others: Kerry Gruson, Michael Kaufman, Carolyn Brennan, and Mike
Hamel
• http://diveheart.org/about-us/our-board/

5. Facilities
In Illinois they use the following areas to practice and swim: Illinois
Center for Rehabilitation, Oak Lawn High School, and Double Tree
Hotel. In Florida they use: AD Barnes Pool. They are also located in
Atlanta, but the location for the events vary. Their headquarters
however, is in Downers Grove, Illinois.

6. Programs
• Oaklawn Program, Tri-County Program, DMW Program, Friendship
Circle. Leeds Endowment Program and Ortho Pro Program. Their
headquarters however, is in Downers Grove, Illinois. They focus on
Discover Scuba programs which focuses on introducing people to
water to help them get their freedom back.

7. Some Partners they have
• Assist America provided comprehensive travel assistance to 27 people who were taking part in the scuba
diving program in Florida. Vicencia & Buckley Insurance Services, Inc. also took part in that agreement as
well, and they are the scuba diving industries’ leading insurance provider. They partner with DiveBar and
Nova Southeastern University’s Coral Nursery Initiative when they take part in the Root Project. The Eagle
Scouts now help out with training and teaching people how to scuba dive. They also have recently begun
getting partnership with the Upper Keys and Rotary Clubs of Florida, mainly in Key Largo. The Wounded
Warriors Project helps connect veterans to the project. While it may not be an organization or group,
volunteers make up a huge portion of DiveHeart’s partners as they provide anything from time to supplies
for the organization to use. According to the DiveHeart website, under their supporters tab, the following
are listed: Schiff Hardin LLP, Double Tree by Hilton, Rotary Club International, Southwest, Aquarium of the
Pacific, Scuba Travel Ventures, Divetech, Diving Unlimited International, Black Lab, Rainbow Reef,
Construction Cost Systems LLC Owner Service Group LLC, Chevrolet, Dive Paradise, Lions Club International,
Watermark Property Management LLC, Kiwanis, Florida Keys Community College, Shriner’s Hospital for
Children, DiveBar, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Cobalt Coast Dive Resort, Illinois Department of Human
Services, Eagle Self Storage, Chammyz, Enterprise, Heart & Soul Designs, Dive Industry Association, Scuba &
H2O Adventure, Divers Supply, Copier Dynamics, X-Ray Mag, Deep Blue, Dive Georgia LLC, US1 Scuba,
California Diver, Abilities Expo, Scubaboard.com, Force-E, Four Lakes Scuba Club, Hotel Cozumel & Resort,
ICSSD, Nixon Peabody, Scuba Sirens and Toucan Dive.

8. Responsibilities
• Their Root Project works on transplanting coral reefs and performing
maintenance on nurseries.
• The volunteers want to help out the veterans who have helped them,
which can lower negative stereotypes and build communications and
connections amongst the community. This also acts a motivation tool.

9. Funding (?)
• Various fundraising campaigns and online auctions. In 2012, the
Illinois Department of Veteran’s Affairs provided them with a $75,000
grant to help assist the program. The Illinois Lottery’s Veterans Cash
scratch-off game tickets are deposited into the Veterans Assistance
Fund, which can be allocated into any program to help out the state’s
veteran’s such as the ones DiveHeart promotes. On the DiveHeart
website, there is a donate tab as well. The founder Jim Elliott, writes
books as well and donates 50% of the sales to the organization.

10. Some benefits
• Jim Elliott, who is the founder receives no salary from the
organization. The majority of the people who work for the agency are
volunteers. The volunteers get to scuba dive for free as well as getting
to experience changing the lives of the people they touch.
• Most of the volunteers happen to be in school and thus helps bring
about good references for them to add to their resumes.

11. Risk Management
• http://diveheart.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Diveheart-
Liability-Privacy-Waivers-Med-Info-Form.pdf

12. What do they do well?
• Partnerships- they partner with a lot of different groups to help out
their cause and get their name out there and these group help
eliminate some costs associated with the organization and even help
bring potential users into the mix
• Management action I would use: Continue utilizing these
partnerships to help cut down life costs and keep user satisfaction
levels up

13. • Funding- I like the way Illinois provided them with a grant so that they
can get things going. Also, the fact that Jim Elliott donates 50% of the
sales of his book to the organization is incredible, because not only
would that promote the book amongst users and thus drive them to
purchase it, it helps recycle that money back into the company thus
bringing out better user experiences and opportunities.
• As a manager, I would like to try and partner with other state’s Lottery
Programs to try and earn money for the organization as well and
expanding the services to other states.

14. • Helping out the environment- Through their partnership with Nova Scotia
University’s Root Program, they help clean up coral reefs, which helps make
the experience for the user that much more meaningful and also helps
make the next experience that much more aesthetically pleasing.
• As a manager, I would like to try and implement some other ecology
practices into the organization so that some of the volunteers can focus on
litter cleanup and fish habitation and even nesting patterns of sea birds. I
could also try and study how clean our oceans, lakes and streams are if I
looked at the level of pollution present in the areas utilized by the program,
which would benefit scientists as well as we can release our findings to the
public.

15. • Employee Benefits- Recommendations are nice for everybody,
because it can help them get a good job later down the road and
helps them know that you consider their work to be important. Free
scuba diving is also nice because it allows them to have some fun
while they are working as well and take out some stress. Helping out
veterans and people with disabilities would make them feel good
about themselves and the company and would promote a good
positive image that would help them get behind the mission and the
vision and thus work harder to help keep it succeeding.
• As a manager, I would change nothing about this concept. However, I
may add some volunteer of the month medals or certificates to help
them know I continue to support them and value their help.

16. Negatives
• I personally couldn’t find a management policy in place for this
organization and I consider that to be a problem.

17. References
• http://diveheart.org/about-us/our-board/
• http://diveheart.org/about-us/about-diveheart/
• http://diveheart.org/about-us/our-supporters/
• Bauer, B. (2005). Assist America Supports Diveheart Foundation's Summer Adventure Program; Providing Emergency Medical
Services to Disabled Scuba Diving Participants. Retrieved from: http://benefitslink.com/pr/detail.php?id=38976
• Bove, A. (2011). Divers and Coronary Disease. Retrieved from: http://www.acc.org/latest-in-
cardiology/articles/2014/07/18/11/38/divers-and-coronary-disease
• http://diveheart.org/programs/

18. • (2015). The Florida Bar News. Retrieved from:
http://www.floridabar.org/DIVCOM/JN/jnnews01.nsf/8c9f13012b96736985256aa900624829/f4bbc0d4a31f8ed785257ed500437
a7c!OpenDocument
• Hadac, T. (2015). OP’s Scuba Emporium welcomes DiveHeart. The Orland Park Prairie. Retrieved from:
http://www.opprairie.com/op%E2%80%99s-scuba-emporium-welcomes-diveheart
• Twine, C. (2015). Scuba-therapy Group enjoys partnership with Upper Keys. Key Largo News. Retrieved from:
http://diveheart.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Diveheart-Key-Largo-News-21-Oct-2015-pdf.pdf
• Ng, R. (2016). Diving for the disabled. Retrieved from: http://www.uw360.asia/diving-for-the-disabled/
• (2012). Atlanta Area Teen Holding Fundraiser to benefit DiveHeart. Retrieved from: http://www.diverwire.com/post/dive-store-
news/atlanta-area-teen-holding-fundraiser-to-benefit-diveheart/

19. • (2012). Online auction underway to benefit DiveHeart Foundation. Retrieved from: http://www.diverwire.com/post/scuba-community-news/online-auction-underway-to-
benefit-diveheart-foundation/
• (2012). DiveHeart receives $75K grant to help the disable learn to scuba dive. Retrieved from: http://www.diverwire.com/post/scuba-training-news/diveheart-receives-75k-
grant-to-help-the-disabled-learn-to-scuba-dive/
• http://diveheart.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/DH-Media-Kit-Sep2015.pdf
• Elliott, J. (2012). Retrieved from: http://diveheart.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/triblocal_diveheart_jan22.pdf
• https://www.guidestar.org/profile/36-4446147
• Plevin, S. (2014). DiveHeart brings adaptive scuba diving training to San Francisco. California Diver. Retrieved from: http://californiadiver.com/diveheart-adaptive-
training123/
• (2012). DiveHeart’s Jim Elliott releases first book, SHARING AIR. Retrieved from: http://www.diverwire.com/post/scuba-community-news/divehearts-jim-elliott-releases-first-
book-sharing-air/

20. • Western Illinois University. DiveHeart Foundation. Retrieved from: http://www.wiu.edu/coehs/coehs_stories/diveheart.php
• DiveHeart. (2014). Assumption of risk, waiver of liability and indemnification agreement. Retrieved from:
http://diveheart.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Diveheart-Liability-Privacy-Waivers-Med-Info-Form.pdf
• Dowsett, K. (2012). Risk factors for dive deaths. Scuba Scoop. Retrieved from: http://scubascoop-
kirkscubagear.blogspot.com/2012/06/risk-factors-for-dive-deaths.html
• Ng, R. (2016). Diving for the disabled. Retrieved from: http://www.uw360.asia/diving-for-the-disabled/
• Phillips, L. (2014). Miami-Dade Country Parks, DiveHeart and Ortho Pro Associates present two free “DiveHeart Scuba
Experience” days in October for people with disabilities. Retrieved from: https://www.miamidade.gov/parks/releases/2014-09-
25-diveheart-scuba-experience.asp