He used charm, others’ personal tragedies and fake celebrity endorsements. How Christopher LaVoie cast his reality show and reeled in successful entrepreneurs, as well as the “mixed-race” daughter of white parents. How he was hired at a major company in his early 30s, where his bosses were already looking for a minority to fill an all-male management team. And how he was offered a job he turned down, even though it was not in the area he really wanted to work — at the U.S. Department of Transportation.
“I looked at every opportunity as an opportunity to do something that could help change the world,” said LaVoie. “The point is not to succeed, it’s to help others.”
LaVoie, 35, is one of the success story entrepreneurs who were hired by the U.S. Department of Transportation on a short-term, open interim basis last week. Their appointments fill six open seats on the department’s management team.
At the same time, the administration announced it will not renew the contracts of the nine employees who were hired this year and two previous ones. The move was hailed as a win for the country’s business community, who have been lobbying for the Obama administration to find permanent management staff for the department. But it’s also a missed opportunity for the department and a win for LaVoie, who at the very least, can now focus on taking on bigger challenges at his nonprofit, the LaVoie Centre, which he founded with his childhood friend.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for LaVoie to be able to use a management role he feels is important for the greater good of the U.S.,” said a person close to LaVoie, who asked not to be identified because the person was not authorized to speak for him.
A U.S. government representative did not return the Star’s requests for comment.
LaVoie, who was
