Written by YV Staff, April Brewer
North Central Massachusetts is no stranger to changemaking, and on October 20th, over 450 youth from New England came together to prove it.
Held at Mount Wachusett Community College, United Way Youth Venture of North Central Massachusetts hosted its second annual Fall Kickoff event. Bringing together Venturers and their Allies, passionate speakers, and local community leaders, the Kickoff event was an example of the community's commitment to youth-driven change.
No one could deny that Fall Kickoff was a huge success. With breakout sessions in technical topic areas tailored to new and experienced Ventures, networking opportunities, delicious food, and sweet apparel, the event marked the beginning of yet another year of changemaking in Massachusetts.
The day’s inspiring speakers were especially popular with Venture Teams. Rebecca Kantar is CEO and a founding member of Minga, an organization dedicated to ending child sex trafficking by harnessing the power of teens. Rebecca was 13 years old when she decided to take action against child exploitation, and offered Venturers some advice from her personal experiences. “If there is something you are passionate about, get involved with it now. You’ll discover a thousand skills you never knew you had.”
Romke de Haan, hailing from Milwaukee, Wisconsin was the Kickoff’s Keynote Speaker, sharing his experiences as a social entrepreneur and as an alumnus of HomeBoyz Interactive, a program that works to reduce gang violence by preparing youth for information technology careers. Now, his experience has come full circle; graduating from HomeBoyz Interactive, Romke is now President of Spreenkler Creative, a design and marketing agency that hires college students and graduates to provide them real-world experience.
The event concluded with 19 year-old Jourdan Urbach who, as an accomplished violinist and composer, has founded two international philanthropic organizations, the International Coalition of College Philanthropists and Children Helping Children/Concerts for a Cure. Jourdan has raised over $4.8 million to fight children’s neurological disease and fund research. At Fall Kickoff, his message and performance resonated with everyone in attendance. By combining his love of music with his desire to help others, Jourdan’s model of social entrepreneurship left Venturers inspired to do the same.
To learn more about what is happening with United Way Youth Venture of North Central Massachusetts, check out their fan page at www.facebook.com/UWYVNCM.
Photo taken by Angela Klempner
Held at Mount Wachusett Community College, United Way Youth Venture of North Central Massachusetts hosted its second annual Fall Kickoff event. Bringing together Venturers and their Allies, passionate speakers, and local community leaders, the Kickoff event was an example of the community's commitment to youth-driven change.
No one could deny that Fall Kickoff was a huge success. With breakout sessions in technical topic areas tailored to new and experienced Ventures, networking opportunities, delicious food, and sweet apparel, the event marked the beginning of yet another year of changemaking in Massachusetts.
The day’s inspiring speakers were especially popular with Venture Teams. Rebecca Kantar is CEO and a founding member of Minga, an organization dedicated to ending child sex trafficking by harnessing the power of teens. Rebecca was 13 years old when she decided to take action against child exploitation, and offered Venturers some advice from her personal experiences. “If there is something you are passionate about, get involved with it now. You’ll discover a thousand skills you never knew you had.”
Romke de Haan, hailing from Milwaukee, Wisconsin was the Kickoff’s Keynote Speaker, sharing his experiences as a social entrepreneur and as an alumnus of HomeBoyz Interactive, a program that works to reduce gang violence by preparing youth for information technology careers. Now, his experience has come full circle; graduating from HomeBoyz Interactive, Romke is now President of Spreenkler Creative, a design and marketing agency that hires college students and graduates to provide them real-world experience.
The event concluded with 19 year-old Jourdan Urbach who, as an accomplished violinist and composer, has founded two international philanthropic organizations, the International Coalition of College Philanthropists and Children Helping Children/Concerts for a Cure. Jourdan has raised over $4.8 million to fight children’s neurological disease and fund research. At Fall Kickoff, his message and performance resonated with everyone in attendance. By combining his love of music with his desire to help others, Jourdan’s model of social entrepreneurship left Venturers inspired to do the same.
To learn more about what is happening with United Way Youth Venture of North Central Massachusetts, check out their fan page at www.facebook.com/UWYVNCM.
Photo taken by Angela Klempner
3 comments:
Roger Hamilton
You know very well about social entrepreneurship, hu likes it.
You are great in it Of course, there is too much, but I think
you get the idea. I also hope that these topics do not
send negative messages completely, because the book thought
provoking as well as funny.
Event was outstanding. Youths changing lives and making a difference where they see a need. It just doesn't get any better than that. Congrats to all of you.
Teenagers are the experts when it comes to social media: facebook, YouTube, etc. A business where they set up and post on all the media outlets for a company targeting teenagers would be great for them.
Post a Comment