 “The power to change your world.” That is what Youth Venture believes each young person possesses.
By
inspiring and investing in teams of young people to start their own
social ventures, Youth Venture is working to build a powerful network
of young changemakers across the world. The nonprofit organization
currently operates programs in 11 countries, supporting the launch of
over 1,200 Venture teams. Youth Venture’s New England regional office
is located in Concord, NH, headed by Jim Hamel, Youth Venture’s
Director of Partnerships and the New England region.
“When someone at a young age experiences taking initiative and
leading an effort to address a social issue, it is highly likely they
will continue to take initiative again and again throughout their
lives, becoming lifelong leaders,” says Hamel.
There are over
40 Venture teams in New Hampshire and each is having a dramatic impact
on their local community. These young involved citizens are well on
their way to becoming lifelong leaders. For example:
Venturers
Carly and Lauren launched the Broadway at the Café theater troupe with
the hope of getting as many young people as possible involved in
putting on youth-only Broadway review shows twice a year. The team says
“the older kids in the cast mentor the younger kids…with their craft
and by showing that positive choices in life are fun, rewarding, safe,
and drug-free.”
The Merrimack Bio-Diesel Crew built a processor
to convert used French fry oil into useable alternative fuel to power a
school bus. The Venture team recently won a prestigious national young
inventor’s award for its innovative plan to build a larger,
solar-powered conversion processor. This team’s initial goal of
educating their local community about alternative sources of energy by
example could one day have a global impact because of their
energy-saving invention.
Youth Venture provides coaching,
resources, and seed funding (up to $1,000) for teams of young people
ages 12–20 to create, launch, and lead sustainable community-benefiting
clubs or organizations—otherwise known as Ventures.
A Venture can be almost anything a young person feels passionate about, but it must:
• Be a new club, service, or organization;
• Provide a positive, lasting benefit to a local school or greater community;
• Be created by, run by, and managed by youth ages 12–20;
• Have clear goals, a committed team, and a clear and realistic budget;
• Have a non-controlling adult Ally who works with the team.
“Changemakers
are the ones in society or business who are willing to take
responsibility and initiative to tackle the challenges they see,” says
Youth Venture’s Executive Director Gretchen Zucker, adding “There is no
greater way to create positive impact on the world than to dramatically
increase the number of people who possess the skills, empathy, and
confidence to lead needed change. We believe this generation of
Venturers will fundamentally change the youth years to a time of
initiative, leadership, and positive social change for generations to
come—changing our society for the better.”
The following
(unsolicited) comments were made by NH Venture team, Rubber Ducky
Studios in their online application for the That Was Easy Competition
(a Youth Venture competition with our corporate partner, Staples, Inc.):
“I
think that the Youth Venture movement is a very powerful movement and
it is an honor to be a part of it. Now more than ever is the time for
youth to help out the community. Teens are usually stereotyped as
negative and useless, a stereotype that I think needs to be stopped and
proved wrong. That is why Youth Venture is such a great organization
and that is why it is amazing to be part of the Youth Venture movement.”
—Spencer Davis, Lead Venturer, Rubber Ducky Studios
Youth
Venture was founded in 1996 by social entrepreneur Bill Drayton—who
also founded Ashoka: Innovators for the Public. Youth Venture plays a
critical role in actualizing Ashoka's vision of "Everyone a
Changemaker."
For more information on Youth Venture, please visit www.GenV.net or call 886-923-YVNE (9863).
Youth Venture
New England Regional Office
The Concord Center
10 Ferry Street, Suite 320
Concord, NH 03301
866-923-YVNE (9863)
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