All students who pass through the NFTE Greater Los Angeles program learn entrepreneurship education by starting their own business and creating a business plan to market their idea. The classroom prize funds provide an incentive for students to produce quality work, and serves as the initial seed capital to the students who the Business Plan Competition in each classroom, helping them to see their ideas become reality.
Youth attending Los Angeles schools affected by the drop-out crisis need motivation and incentives to stay engaged in their education and pursue goals that will better prepare them for future success. They also need business and entrepreneurship training to help them succeed in the modern economy, as the labor force shifts towards rewarding highly educated, highly trained individuals.
The NFTE program builds critical skills and helps students gain an entrepreneurial mindset. The business plans that students develop help them see their marketing, finance, and production lessons in a real, tangible way. Funds from this microproject will reward the top three business plans with seed capital in 50 NFTE Los Angeles classrooms. Students will use this mini-venture grant to start their entrepreneurial enterprises, and see their ideas come to life.
Better educated youth can take advantage of the higher-skilled jobs that are more available locally. By working to keep at-risk students engaged in their school work, NFTE spurs its participants to graduate high school and dare to dream of a brighter future. NFTE instills an entrepreneurial mindset in young people so they can plan for success. Since 1987 NFTE has worked with over 500,000 students across the world.