By David Seduski | Development Associate
NFTE Chicago’s summer programming, which included some inspirational mentoring sessions during our BizCamps, has recently come to a close. Although our microproject on GlobalGiving did not reach out fundraising goal, your contributions helped provide access to local business mentors for our young entrepreneurs. Today’s youth need a mindset that equips them to recognize opportunity, take initiative, and innovate in the face of challenges. Part of that involves hearing from entrepreneurs who have the firsthand knowledge of the hard work that goes into creating and running a business. These volunteers lend their guidance, which our students in turn use to help create a business plan for a new venture of their own. Whether our mentors serve as classroom volunteers, guest speakers, or guides on field trips to local businesses, the experience they can impart on NFTE’s students is tremendously valuable to their continued business education.
We had some spectacular mentors for our recent Chicago BizCamp. Our partners for the two-week, intensive business course was Summer Advantage, a non-profit which combats summer learning loss for low-income youth. All the students in the Chicago BizCamp came from Chicago Housing Authority’s low-income housing. Our volunteers for the camp were from the public relations firm Weber Shandwick. Their employees were on hand to teach our students about the intricacies of running a business. The advice on financial matters, technology, and business development that they imparted on our students flowed to the business plans which were presented at the end of the camp. One standout from the business plan competition was Simeon C., who won for his new venture Fight For A Future. The game-based summer camp he envisioned combines business practicality (creating a summer program of sports, nerf fights, and other active games that working parents can enroll their children in), with a social message (getting kids off the streets while they don’t have school to occupy them).
Simeon’s success reaffirms NFTE Chicago’s mission to reach and teach more young people about the unlimited possibilities of entrepreneurship. We cannot thank our partners in this endeavor enough, including Summer Advantage and all the amazing volunteers we had from Weber Shandwick. Most of all, we’d like to thank you for your donations to this cause. Your continued support will help us reach more children in Chicago every year.
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