Mentors for Young Bay Area Entrepreneurs

NFTE Bay Area’s GlobalGiving project to bring mentorship programs to some of California’s brightest young entrepreneurs failed to get off the ground. Thanks to those who did donate; your contributions provided our students with the expertise of local entrepreneurs and business professionals. They offered the NFTE program participants the knowledge accrued through years of business experience. Students were able to solicit advice from those who could give real world lessons in how to get a business off the ground.

Our Bay Area office is in the middle of a transition in terms of our volunteer programs (including the mentorship component). We are moving toward a Virtual Volunteer model, which makes our mentors more available to our students through the NFTE course. Now, rather than only during pre-planned meetings, our mentors can be accessed via live video-conference guest speaking sessions, as well as e-coaching seminars for our students business plans. As our annual business plan competition draws near, our students will look to their mentors in the hopes of winning seed capital to start grow their fledgling enterprises.

We can also announce of nominee for NFTE’s 2014 Lowell B. Mason Volunteer of the Year Award from the Bay Area, Terrence C. of Traba. Terrence, who has a varied background ranging from gaming to medical devices, is the CEO and Co-founder of Traba, an employment search aggregator which focuses on startups. He has been mentoring NFTE students for four years, helping mold young entrepreneurs in the Bay Area. We’d like to thank Terrence, and you for your donations, as we strive to allow more students to think in an entrepreneurial mindset and dare to dream of a brighter future.