Monthly Archives: March 2012

Youth Entrepreneurship Boot Camp Awards Ceremony and Resource Fair

San Diego CITD Director, Victor Castillo and CITD Youth Entrepreneurship Program Coordinator, Gabriel Reyes participated in the Youth Entrepreneurship Program – Synthesized (YEPS) Boot Camp Awards Ceremony and Resource Fair, which was part of Financial Education Week. The San Diego CITD was a sponsor and helped coordinate the YEPS Boot Camp and Financial Education Week activities. A resource fair, featuring spanish-language workshops on various personal finance topics, was held prior to the awards ceremony. Representatives from various organizations, including the Mexican Consulate, Wells Fargo Bank, Accion San Diego, SDG&E, Comunidad Primero, Alliant International University, La Vista Memorial Park, New York Life, and others were on hand to provide information on their resources and services to attendees. The workshops and resource fair was held from 9 AM – 2 PM. The awards ceremony included remarks from Consul General of Mexico in San Diego Remedios Gomez Arnau, Mayor of National City Ron Morrison, Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox,  and Assemblymember Ben Hueso among others about the importance of financial literacy and youth entrepreneurship. Also in attendance was Al Alvarado, a representative from Congressman Bob Filner’s office.

The student participants of the YEPS Boot Camp were all there eagerly waiting to learn who had won the boot camp’s business plan competition. The day before this event, 26 students from 11 local high schools including Sweetwater High, High Tech High San Diego, Point Loma High, Patrick Henry High, Hoover, Bonita Vista, Clairemont High, Julian High, Guajome Park Academy, Olympian, and Charter School of San Diego, presented their business plans to a panel of judges in hopes of winning one of three iPad 2 tablet computers and a $1,000 scholarship. Additional prizes were raffled off to event participants. The winning students were: 1^st Place – Raul Escobar | The Charter School of San Diego, 2^nd Place – Brandon Hernandez | Sweetwater High School, and 3^rd Place – Sam Wisotsky | High Tech High Point Loma. Additionally, two students tied for 4th place, Ian Larson | Patrick Henry High and Mariana Meneses | Olympian High School.

The San Diego CITD Youth Entrepreneurship Program (YEP) will be taking the award winning students through the next phase of the implementation of their business plan. In this phase, the San Diego CITD YEP will provide additional entrepreneurship training and mentoring geared toward helping these students fine tune their business plans and ultimately launch their businesses.

Click here to see additional photos from this event.

Youth Entrepreneurship Boot Camp Business Plan Competition

The International Youth Entrepreneurhsip Boot Camp Business Plan Competition, part of Financial Education Week, took place on Friday, March 16th at Alliant International University. YEP Coordinator, Gabriel Reyes, participated on the panel of judges, made up of business professionals from various companies and organizations througout the County, and listened to 26 presentations from the boot camp participants. The students were given seven minutes to present their business idea and three minutes to respond to questions from the judges. Business ideas included, restaurants, clothing made from bamboo fabric, an environmental law firm, mobile laser tag, a carbon-based water filter, a shrimp company, and an idea for putting television ads on public transportation. Presenters were rated on a scale of 1 to 4, with 4 being the highest, for various catergories including professional presentation, competitive advantage, financials, and marketing, among others.

The winners of the competition will be annouced at the Financial Education Week closing event, Saturday, March 17th.