BizConnect for Alumni & Community Supporters

During my three years of working as the Development Assistant for the Youth Entrepreneurs Program I have spent a great deal of time committed to working with the YE Alumni Advisory Council in Wichita, a small group of alumni, willing to help and eager to connect with other alumni who had the same interests as them—BUSINESS.  Together the council was able to come up with small events that would do just that.

Over and Over again the people who attended these events would tell us that while they enjoyed the speaker, what they enjoyed the most was the opportunity to network with people like themselves. That there was a sense of camaraderie between themselves and others who took the “Youth Entrepreneurs Kansas” class in High School.

And with this, “Biz Connect” was born. On Wednesday, September 21, 2011 at 5:30 pm, Youth Entrepreneurs will host its biggest alumni event yet. This event is free and open to the public, but most importantly it is unique from all of our other events! Biz Connect will be the first time Youth Entrepreneurs has intermingled our alumni and community supporters on a personal level.

When:  Wednesday, September 21^st from 5:30-7:30 pm

Where: Abode Venue, downtown at 1330 E. Douglas, Wichita, KS

Who: YEK Alumni and business professionals in the community who have a strong passion for business and wish to expand their network are encouraged to attend this free event!

How: Visit https://yeks.org/events/ to RSVP

**Free appetizers and desserts will be provided by: Cocoa Dolce, Palmers Grill and Mike's Wine Dive ** In addition to other great prizes that will be available YEK Alumni will automatically be entered into a drawing for a $50 Bradley Fair gift certificate. **

For more information visit https://yeks.org/events/ or email: lindsay@yeks.org

-Lindsay

The Drive of an Entrepreneur - Danielle S.

One thing many learn after spending a significant amount of time with me is I am a competitor…in just about everything! The past five weeks I’ve had the opportunity to work and mentor YE alum Danielle Stegall (2011 Schlagle High School), to help prepare her for the 2011 Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge. Anytime one of our students earn an opportunity to compete at any level I want it so bad for them (sometimes more than they do) due to my competitive nature. It has been such a joy to work with a young lady who I know wants it more than me! I’ve learned from Danielle’s previous competitions that she is a natural public speaker. What I’ve seen from this experience is she has the true drive and motivation of an entrepreneur. I have never in my years as an educator had a student say, “I’m available from after school until whenever” or ask, “Can we get together and work for a few hours on Sunday afternoon?” This is what I believe will allow Ms. Stegall the opportunity to travel to New York and represent YE at the highest level. If I even mention the phrase, “If you make it to the next round” she quickly says, “When I make it to the next round”. The confidence is there! The work ethic is there! The plan is there! I watched her present this evening to the Board of Education and she owned the room. I’ve watched this young lady grow from a student with a good idea to a future business woman! For that reason alone this experience has been well worth the time and efforts! When she travels to New York next month, we have high expectations. If she doesn’t place, yes we will be disappointed but you can’t put a prize on the transformation! I’m proud of Danielle and have been privileged to work with her! Now…regardless of how proud I am of her, let’s go bring this top prize home!

Vernon Birmingham

P.S. Be sure to check out her on-line elevator pitch and vote! http://www.elevatorpitch2011.com/nominees/entry/danielle-s

Photo by: Premier Studios

Connect Your Biz

Contact us for more info.

Lunch to plan a breakfast

Today I am having lunch with our first of 5 Business Breakfast speakers, Mr. Frank Sabatini. Mr. Mal Robinson, our moderator for the breakfast and Board Member will be sitting down for lunch with myself and Mr. Sabatini in Topeka to discuss some of the details for our breakfast event on Thursday, September 29.

One of the best parts of my job at Youth Entrepreneurs is the opportunity to meet with highly successful entrepreneurs who have a passion for our mission. Mr. Sabatini is no different. He’s a lifelong entrepreneur with many success stories (and I imagine a few failures along the way as well).

I’m looking forward to learning more about his accomplishments and what he see in the value of an organization mission like Youth Entrepreneurs’. You can learn more about the upcoming Business for Breakfast with Mr. Frank Sabatini here.

-Jill E.