Yoshiyama Program for Young Entrepreneurs

In Search Of:
Young Entrepreneurs Improving American Communities

Are you or do you know the next Yoshiyama Young Entrepreneur? Did you establish a financially viable business with the intention of offering low-wealth individuals in America a leg up? Have you been in business for 1-5 years? Were you between the ages of 18 and 29 when you launched your business? If so, you may be eligible for the Yoshiyama Young Entrepreneurs Program.

The Yoshiyama Program will identify up to six entrepreneurs ages 18-29 who formed financially viable businesses that create jobs, supply goods or services, or use internal management practices enabling low-wealth individuals the opportunity to achieve greater economic security. The Foundation will provide these entrepreneurs with a cash prize up to $50,000 over two years, access to technical resources, and a peer learning community. In exchange, the Foundation intends to capture the stories of these inspiring young business leaders who serve as examples of how to run a financially sustainable business that also gives a boost to people who are outside the economic mainstream. Supporting the development of these leaders and entrepreneurs, learning from them, and sharing their stories will animate and inform an emerging national and global conversation about the role of business in improving lives and strengthening communities.

This program is for entrepreneurs who are operating businesses that are 1-5 years old and have been generating revenue for a minimum of the last 12 months. For the full list of eligibility criteria please click here. This is not a business plan competition. General examples of businesses and approaches that could be considered for this Program can be found in the Program FAQs. To view more details about the Yoshiyama Program, click here.

Apply here.
Deadline: March 22, 2010

Concern Worldwide's Creative Writing Competition

Concern Worldwide's 2010 Creative Writing Competition
Deadline: March 21 2010
Topic: The Secretary General of the United Nations is summoning world leaders to a meeting on the Millennium Development Goals and you have agreed to address them. What will you say?

Five years and counting

In the year 2000, world leaders made eight solemn promises to the developing world. They stated that by the year 2015, key targets in the areas of poverty, health, education and the environment will be achieved.

The challenge

Imagine yourself before the United Nations General Assembly in front of 192 Heads of State. The President of the assembly introduces you to loud applause. The hall goes quiet as they await your words…

• Submit your essay

Your task

Choose just one of the eight goals and send us the speech you would give to world leaders on it. Remember to be creative!

Categories:

Junior: Age 12-15 years, maximum 1000 words

Senior: Age 16-18 years, maximum 1500 words

Adult: Age 19+ years, maximum 1500 words

Only entries that have been submitted online will be accepted. The final date for receipt of entries is midnight on Sunday 21 March 2010.

• Submit your essay
• Read the rules in full

To read more details about the competition and Concern Worldwide, click here.

Grant Training Center

Hi Venturers! The following is a great opportunity that might be of interest to those trying to leverage their skills in grant and proposal writing - something that we're sure will be helpful for you as you develop and expand your ventures.

The Grant Training Center

Professional Grant Development Workshop

Master the techniques of writing superior and winning proposals

Proposal Writing I: March 24- 26, 2010

To be held at: Southern New Hampshire University

Manchester, New Hampshire

Sponsored by: The Grant Training Center
Online at: Grant Training Center

This intensive three-day grant proposal workshop is geared for: 1) those who wish to strengthen their grant writing skills and 2) beginners who wish to acquire and master the techniques of preparing, writing and winning proposals from various funding agencies. The center of attention will be on how to effectively tell the story that leads to funding, be it for the researcher in the sciences and social sciences, educator and non-profit professional.

Participants Will Learn How To:
• Comprehend the diversity of the grant funding community
• Research and identify potential funding sources
• Create the right fit with the funding agency
• Address the guidelines of proposals
• Identify and effectively write the key elements of a proposal
• Integrate each component of the grant into the final product
• Develop focused and realistic budgets
• Package professional grants submissions

Space is limited, and since this class fills-up quickly, it is on a first-come-first serve basis.

Workshop fee: $595.00, including tuition, materials, certificate of completion, and continental breakfast. Rebate of $50.00 per person is given for two or more registrants from the same organization.
To register please go to: Grant Training Center
To register by phone or for more information call (866)-704-7268

Running for Reason

Want to hear the stories of how Venturers like you have made a difference in their community? Youth Venture recently interviewed Running for A Reason (R4R), started in 2003 by Katie, Julia and their brother Sam to support terminally ill children in their community. The trio recently began work on a new venture, TeenLit, to promote childhood literacy around the world.

YV: Hello, thanks for joining us. How would you describe R4R?

R4R: We are a sports-service venture that combines non-competitive running and a healthy lifestyle with education and community awareness. We focus on raising funds for uninsured and underinsured children who need the services of a local hospice nonprofit. Hospice provides care for people facing life-limiting illnesses.

YV: Many social activits say, “think globally, act locally.” As R4R inspires runners around the world to get involved in local causes, you also seem to think locally, but act globally. How has your message reached so many?

R4R: We actively use social media such as Facebook and Twitter. We are very responsive to email and a Youth Venture grant in 2005 made it possible to spread our model to runners everywhere via our website, http://runningforareason.org.

YV: You quickly built strong followings on Facebook and Twitter. Is there something in the water bottles? Why do running and charity fit so well together?

R4R: In addition to fundraising, many R4R runners volunteer at the hospice we serve. This kind of personal connection helps the runners feel good about doing good work for others in need. Runners are often motivated by charity, as evidenced by the success of many similar organizations that fundraise for causes.

YV: Numerous runners credit you for getting them involved in charity event running, but it’s hard to truly show the impact of your education and awareness outreach. How have you tried to measure the number of people you have inspired and/or impact you have made?

R4R: This question is difficult to answer. We know that to date we have raised $6,800 for Hospice of the Valley. When we first started in 2003, many people were unaware of what hospice care even meant. Now, it is clearly a healthcare issue that is discussed in our community.

YV: Let’s shift gears… how does TeenLit get its books?

R4R: We receive free books from major publishers and send them to readers in exchange for reviews we edit and publish online. Our ally, Dr. Marcella Kehus started TeenLit in 1998 and Youth Venture helped us with a grant to launch our website in 2009. We now have small libraries at a free medical clinic and two local schools to promote literacy and education as a way to combat poverty.

YV: TeenLit recently teamed up with onemillionlights.org to bring books and solar lights to a village in Kenya. Can you give us an update?

R4R: According to One Million Lights director Anna Sidana, the books were well received and we would love to continue to do this. It’s exciting. By replacing kerosene lamps with solar lights, we make a medical and environmental impact through our literacy work.

YV: Globally, teen literacy is such a big issue. How do you balance local and international projects to insure you get the most bang for your buck?

R4R: Local projects are more tangible since we can put a face to the project. However, we send books and correspond by email with teen readers all over the world. The balance is hard since postage is so expensive. Thanks to Youth Venture, we have postage funds and were able to add lovely signage at the free medical clinic.

YV: Before we wrap up, is there anything else you want to share?

R4R: We hope to continue expanding these projects. Youth Venture has been a wonderful resource and virtual mentor along the way. Thank you!!

"Innovators for the World" - Huffington Post

Take a moment to see what The Huffington Post's Julia Moulden is saying about the world's "new radicals," in particular Ashoka's very own Bill Drayton.

Thwack, thwack. Two newspapers hit my stoop before dawn. I'm always eager to read the news of the day (or, as HuffPost readers know full well, the news of yesterday...). This morning, as I ploughed through pages staggering under the weight of reports on war and corruption, scandal and politics, I savoured the wee gems of good news: stories about people who are finding ways to make the world a better place.

Despite their scarcity in the media, these good news stories aren't unusual in our communities - there is no shortage of creative approaches to the world's greatest problems (see archived articles about the New Radicals for a start). But, too often, these good works remain local -- and, therefore, limited - because there is no process to spread the word or to help these innovations go global.

Until now.

Bill Drayton has found a way.

Read on!

Voting for Global Health Bridge - Harvard Pitch for Change

global health bridge

Just wanted to share a great new social venture that a former staff member at Ashoka is launching! Please take a moment to help out Kei Nakagawa, the founder of Global Health Bridge, a semi-finalist in the Harvard Pitch for Change competition! Voting ends Thursday, February 25 - TONIGHT at midnight.

Please text message (body of text): *PFC6* To the number: *99503*

Other phone numbers are listed here for other parts of the world:
http://socialenterpriseconference.org/pfc-finalists

About Global Health Bridge:
Global Health Bridge is a nonprofit organization that has formed an official partnership with the World Health Organization and the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative to build the first digital map of the world's health care systems. Less than 1/4 of the world's health care systems have been digitally mapped, and this poses a serious public health challenge. During Haiti's earthquake tragedy, a key obstacle to saving lives was on-the-ground confusion of health care workers due to absence of local health care infrastructure data.

The organization was recently selected as a semi-finalist for the Harvard Pitch for Change competition - your votes are needed! The competition is sponsored by the Harvard Business School and the Kennedy School of Government, and only 18 ideas were selected out of over 120 submitted.

Global Health Bridge is launching a global, grassroots campaign to digitally map health care systems, and winning this competition would provide seed funds for us to launch our project.

They're currently in 2nd place with only 20 votes behind! Please cast your vote by sending a text and help them take back the lead! It really only takes a few seconds to do it!

“I Am An Entrepreneur” Photo Competition

Seven Fund's "I Am An Entrepreneur" Photo Competition:

Deadline every month

Calling all photographers! The Seven Fund's competition recognizes the outstanding use of photography to tell compelling stories of role model entrepreneurs from around the world. Anyone is welcome to participate in this competition. The competition will award twelve (12) prizes, one per month, over a period of one year. Each month, one finalist will be selected and will receive a prize of $100. The grand prize winner (selected from among the 12 finalist photographs) will receive $1,000 at the end of the year.

Often, the imagery associated with developing nations captures the misery that accompanies poverty. While it is important that these things are taken seriously and are documented, we believe that developing nations also represent tremendous opportunities for hope. The “I am an Entrepreneur” competition strives to reframe the dialogue around solutions to poverty by infusing the world's imagination with new imagery that focuses on entrepreneurship. Our objective with this competition is to gather stunning photographs profiling individual entrepreneurs from around the globe.

To learn more about the competition or to enter, click here.

“Entrepreneurs Can Change the World” Video Helps Charity

What if I told you the video you just watched above enabled Youth Venture to get a $20,000 donation? That's right the video created by Grasshopper to inspire and encourage entrepreneurs to make their ideas a reality, went viral and to date has generated 340,660 views on YouTube. As a result, Grasshopper got a lot of interesting phone calls and emails about their video and how other organizations could modify it to fit their needs. One particularly interesting inquiry was from Nestle (the wonderful makers of Goobers, Butterfinger and Laffy Taffy) who wanted to make some changes to the video to create their own internal video, and were willing to pay up to make it happen.




Initially, Grasshopper was reluctant to accept money for this offer, until they devised the idea that Nestle could give the money to a non-profit. Grasshopper chose Ashoka's Youth Venture to donate the money to and all of us here are very gracious for the innovative donation from Nestle and Grasshopper. For more details on Grasshopper, check out the blog post written by Jonathan Kay about the video and deal.








So in following Jonathan Kay's question, if you had $20,000 what charity or non-profit would you support?

Internship Opportunity in India at the Emerging Changemaker Institute

Youth Venture India’s new Emerging Changemaker Institute offers university students the opportunity to be on the front lines of social change in India for 10 weeks. The classrooms are the streets of Bombay; the teachers are Changemakers who create real impact throughout all segments of society. In studying change alongside those who make it, students will develop their own skills of leadership, empathy, initiative, and teamwork - the skills needed to become a Changemaker.




Click here for more information about the ECI program for Summer 2010, including the application. For more information please email YouthVentureIndia@gmail.com




The application deadline for early decision is February 17th. For those who would like normal consideration, the application deadline is March 1st, 2010.

13 Saturdays that changed the world

As I stood there at the Youth Venture celebration, it dawned on me how the last 13 Saturdays became a blur. A deeper introspection helped me realize how lucky I was to see these teenagers grew and dare I say blossom into change makers. Each of those teens receiving recognition put in the effort to develop a plan to make part of their world a better place.




What adds to the accomplishment of these teens is that they spent Saturday mornings learning and practicing the skills necessary to create change. Think back to your teenage years or even think about the teenagers you know right now. How many of the would be willing to give a Saturday morning to do anything that resembles learning?



During the course of 13 weeks, these teenage changemakers learned everything from budgeting to public speaking and two of those lessons stuck out in my mind. The first was National Day of Giving. To commemorate that day, the change makers were given flowers and asked to created cards for those flowers. The next step was the easy part, go out on the street and give away the flowers and ask for nothing in return. This became one of the most difficult challenges each change maker encountered. The resistance to this act of kindness was faced with doubters, disbelievers, and other forms of skepticism. This taught the change makes an important lesson. If people were resistant to getting something for free, how would these change makers convince the same people to help them make a small part of the world better?




The other lesson that I believe to be the most valuable was that high ropes course. All of the change makers had not experience the challenge of walking on steel cables placed 40 feet in the air. Before they even started walking they were prepared with the knowledge of safety equipment and someone on the ground providing support. This seemingly innocuous act of walking across a high wire provided the teens the confidence to know that they can overcome fears and that they have a support system in place that wants to see them succeed.



Written by Ameet Purohit, Coach for the YV Dream it. Do it. Challenge—DC Fall 2009

Action for Nature: 2010 International Young Eco-Hero Awards

Are you an Eco-Hero?
Do you know an Eco-Hero?

The 2010 International Young Eco-Hero Awards recognizes the accomplishments of young people (ages 8 -16) whose personal actions have significantly improved the environment.

Awards
Action For Nature will award cash prizes of up to $500 to young Eco-Heroes from around the world for their outstanding accomplishments in environmental advocacy, environmental health, research or protection of the natural world. Their individual initiatives will inspire others to preserve and protect our fragile environment.

Check out past winners' environmental projects!

Many of them are just like you - young, but willing to step up and act on behalf of the environment.

• 2009 winner Sam Levin, 15, of Massachusetts, developed a 3,500-foot student-run school garden that provides fresh produce for the cafeteria.
• 2007 winner Mollie Passacantando, 8, of Virginia, marched during recess and started a blog to raise awareness of global warming and polar bears. She collected more than 200 letters, which she and her mom delivered in person to Fish and Wildlife Service.
• 2008 winner Steven Muganzi, 15, of Uganda, helped community members create and install water harvesting systems in their homes.

Applications Deadline
February 28, 2010

Read the guidelines

Read the application

Think Impact Global Development Internship

Think Impact's Global Development Internship
Deadline February 28

The Global Development Internship (GDI) provides college students the opportunity to gain on-the-ground development experience and leadership training to develop sustainable business models for development projects in rural villages in Africa. Students are invited to apply by either early selection (which tends to be less selective) or by regular selection. Tuition for 2010 will be $5500 including airfare.

Interns are essential in identifying and implementing Think Impact’s health and education projects. Interns begin by spending time with local community members, learning from them and about their way of life through homestays, capacity inventories, and monitoring and evaluation of past projects. Interns spend the last two weeks mobilizing a new committee to leverage social innovation and local community resources to alleviate poverty.

To learn more about Think Impact and the Global Development Internship, click here.
To apply now, click here.

TEDGlobal Fellows

TedGlobal Fellows Application Deadline - February 26

TED is looking for the next generation of innovators who have demonstrated remarkable accomplishment and outstanding potential to positively affect the world. They are especially interested in young thinkers and doers from the fields of technology, entertainment, design, the sciences, engineering, humanities, the arts, economics, business, journalism, entrepreneurship and NGOs - young people such as yourselves!

Who should apply - TED is targeting applicants of ages 21-40 from five regions: Africa, Asia/Pacific, the Caribbean, Latin America, the Middle East. However, anyone over the age 18 from around the world is welcome to apply.

How to apply - To apply to become a TED Fellow, please complete the application form in its entirety. (Before beginning the application, please review TED's applications tips
and their terms and conditions.) In addition to basic details and contact information, the application asks applicants to answer essay questions and provide three references. Applications must be received complete and on time to be considered.

Click here to learn more about TED.
Click here to learn about the Fellows selection process and what the TED Fellows program has to offer.

Announcing the Finalists of the @15 Community Impact Challenge

Ashoka’s Youth Venture and Best Buy Co., Inc. today announced the finalists of the second @15 Community Impact Challenge. Five teams of young social entrepreneurs will each receive $5,000 and five teams will be selected to receive $1,500 each from the @15 Fund to expand their local ventures.






“Best Buy is proud to support teen strengths through our partnership with Youth Venture,” said Brian J. Dunn, CEO, Best Buy Co., Inc. “The @15 Community Impact Challenge celebrates teens and empowers them with the tools they need to drive change and make a positive difference in their communities.”






Best Buy and Youth Venture have introduced a new element to the @15 Community Impact Challenge this year - each of the fifteen finalists will be provided with camcorders to film and post videos profiles online. From March 15 to April 2, voting will take place on www.at15.com to select the winners.






The Fifteen @15 Community Impact Challenge Finalists are:

• 121Reach / Fan, 17 - Johns Creek, GA. Venture objective: Expand the successful after school tutoring program at Chattahoochee High School and Taylor Road Middle School that has served over 200 youth to other local schools through starter kits and training.
• AYFEEO / Alex, 16 – Bellevue, WA. Venture objective: Ensure all school children in the Greater Bellevue Area have school supplies and donate educational materials to international locations by holding back-to-school supply drives, the first of which gathered enough supplies for 100 local elementary school students.
• Don’s Net Café (“Doin’ Some Good in the World!”) / Ana, 16 – Santa Barbara, CA. Venture objective: Expand outreach and hold events to educate community about team’s environment-focused community service events and tax assistance program, which completes over 600 tax returns each year.
• Drinking Water for India / Rujul, 15 – Plainsboro, NJ. Venture objective: Build additional tube-wells and begin implementing rainwater harvesting projects in remote Indian villages as part of expansion of program which has already erected 17 wells and provided clean drinking water for 30,000 people.
• Empower Our Youth / Thanh, 17 – Wellesley, MA. Venture objective: Further develop self-defense program, which has affected 400 students in seven schools, for inner-city public schools and raise awareness of the issue of sexual violence through the filming of a documentary showing the positive impact of self-defense classes.
• Everybody Dance Now! / Jacqueline, 18 – Santa Barbara, CA. Venture objective: Expand the number of students in hip-hop dance program which has already impacted 800 youth by providing creative outlets and encouraging positive alternatives to violence and substance abuse.
• Eye for the Future / Malvi, 16 – Watchung, NJ. Venture objective: Impact at least 20,000 underprivileged children throughout the world by funding education and building schools, libraries, and computer labs.
• Film School 101 / Bryian, 18 – Los Angeles, CA. Venture objective: Continue to help young filmmakers produce short films and attend college by providing equipment, raising money for college scholarships, and holding film screenings, which have played to audiences of 250 guests and earned up to $500.
• Hives for Lives / Carly, 15 – Devon, PA. Venture objective: Foster business relationships with distributors and invest in new bee hives in order to increase build on the over $160,000 the team has donated to basic cancer research.
• Lincoln Climate Action Club / Alexander, 17 – Woolwich, ME. Venture objective: Monitor power consumption and install solar panels throughout the Newcastle community as part of global warming awareness program which has already sold town-wide reusable bags, obtained a no-idling vehicle policy in the high school parking lot, and collected batteries and ink cartridges for recycling.
• Listen Up! – A New Initiative of Lil’s MDGs / Dylan Mahalingam, 14 – Derry, NH. Educate youth age 5 -10 to understand the Millennium Development Goals through movies, animations, songs, and games made available online and as CDs/DVDs.
• Minga / Rebecca, 17 – Newton, MA. Venture objective: Speak directly to 5,000 youth and reach another 2 million through PSAs to raise awareness of the global child sex trade and inspire youth to take action against it.
• SeniorLink / Aushim, 18 – Newton, PA. Venture objective: Expand program, which has already provided 100 computers and taught technology skills to seniors in two Pennsylvania nursing homes, by establishing local chapters throughout the country.
• T.G.I.F. – Turn Grease Into Fuel / Alexander, 17 – Westerly, RI. Venture objective: Expand system of collecting and refining used cooking oil into biodiesel, a program which currently generates 30,000 gallons of biodiesel per year, to more locations and set up a seminar to help youth establish their own community service teams.
• Woofin & Hoofin / Adin, 18 – Wheaton, IL. Venture objective: Further develop 5K fundraiser which raised over $5000 for a local animal shelter last year and educate future leaders through seminars and guides.

Thanks to the many winners from last year who served as guest judges, including Rachel Beenken (Kinard Hats for the Homeless), Zach Gass (School Yard Habitat), Wendi Oppenheim (The Opp-Guide for Community Service), Brady and Kyle Baldwin (My Own Book), Jack Chen (JJ Express), Talia Leman (Randomkid.org), and Laura White (Wild and Water Swimming).

Save the Date: 2010 Youth Venture Summit

Grab your calendars and make sure to reserve Thursday, July 15-Sunday, July 18 for the 2010 Youth Venture Summit! Details on the location of this year's YV Summit will be announced soon, so stay tuned for more details.

Dell Social Innovation Compeition

The deadline for the 2010 Dell Social Innovation Competition is approaching and you don't want to miss out on this great opportunity. Take for example last year's first place winner, the Youth Venture team Gardens for Health International.






Team Members: Emma Clippinger, Emily Morell, Ben Mandelkern from Yale University and Brown University submitted their project to the 2009 Dell Social Innovation Competition and ended up winning first place and $50,000!!!




Gardens for Health is dedicated to enabling people living with HIV/AIDS to improve their nutrition, health and treatment adherence through sustainable agriculture. Gardens for Health was founded on the belief that a comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment plan requires access to adequate, nutritious food. The Gardens for Health team is currently working in Rwanda in partnership with cooperatives of people living with HIV/AIDS.




Are you a student that has an idea that could change the world? Then make sure to get your application in by March 1, 2010 for this year's Dell Social Innovation Competition.









In universities around the world, students like you explore countless ideas every day, including solutions to tackle social problems — and help people in need reach their fullest potential. If you have a world-changing idea, the University of Texas and Dell want you to share it by entering The Dell Social Innovation Competition.




The only limit to the range of projects eligible for the award is the ambition and imagination of each contestant; any significant social issue can be addressed in this competition




No matter what your specialty may be, or whether you work in a team or as an individual, we challenge you to unleash your energy, idealism and public-spirited thinking to affect positive change in areas of critical human need.




Competition Details

The Dell Social Innovation Competition operates like a business-plan competition, awarding seed funding directly to the student-led venture that best meets the judges’ criteria.

The competition has 4 stages:



1. College students from around the world enter the competition online, each with a brief description of his or her innovation.

2. Competition judges invite a small group of semifinalists to develop their ideas into detailed venture plans. Each semifinalist records a 3-minute video pitch of his or her plan.

3. Judges select 3 finalists to travel to Austin, Texas, to present their plans to a committee comprised of leaders from the business, non-profit and government sectors.

4. During the final event, held at The University of Texas at Austin, all finalists receives prizes, and the overall winner receives $50,000 to launch his or her venture.



Vote




You be the judge. Show your support for the ideas you like the most. Log in and press the promote button next to the ideas you want to vote to the top of the list. There is no limit to the number of ideas you can promote. The top 10 ideas in round one of the competition will automatically advance to round two.





Deadline: March 1, 2010

VOTE for YV Teams in the Pepsi Refresh Project

Vote for these Youth Venture teams in the Pepsi Refresh Project to help them grow and expand their projects. Starting February 1st, vote for up to 10 of your favorite ideas every day. Voting for this months round ends on February 28, 2010.

• Generation Citizenship Project


• Green Shields


• Turtle Talks


• Project One World United


• Wetland Educators


• Service We Trust (SWT)