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Summer 2009 Edition
TABLE OF CONTENTS |
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| Growing Up CEO: The Class of 2009 |
ICIC is proud to present 24 young entrepreneurs between the ages of 14 and 21 who are part of the fifth year of the Growing Up CEO program. These remarkable young people showcase the power of entrepreneurship as a tool for personal fulfillment and community development—and are beacons of hope in their ability to lead viable, exciting businesses in some of the most disadvantaged communities in the world.
The goal of the Growing Up CEO program is to provide young people with the tools and encouragement they need to succeed in business and in life. The program connects young inner city entrepreneurs with role models, resources, and each other, to help them continue developing their business accument and build bigger, more sustainable businesses.
This year's Growing Up CEO class stand on their own merits. A full yearbook of these outstanding young leaders is listed below. Laura White
Laura White is a 19-year-old from Alpharetta, GA. Unable to help a friend who was homeless throughout middle and high school, Laura was inspired to help others in need. Laura decided to volunteer for Wilderness Works, an organization that serves Atlanta’s inner city youth. While on a camping trip with the group, Laura was asked to serve as a lifeguard for the Wilderness Works participants at a nearby lake. Laura was shocked when she had to rescue five kids in the water who did not know how to swim. Laura realized that she could help others by teaching low-income youth to swim; she had found her calling. Approximately three years later in September 2006, Laura founded Wild and Water Swimming, a nonprofit that provides free swimming and water safety lessons for low-income children. She negotiated a free or a reduced rate to utilize swimming pools of different swimming organizations or teams. She also partnered with these organizations to recruit volunteer swim instructors to train participants for free. Wild and Water Swimming provides all swimming lessons free of charge. In addition, Wild and Water Swimming provides all swim lesson graduates with free Water Safety Instructor certification and Life Guard Training classes, so that the participants can secure jobs as swim instructors and life guards if they so choose. Since its inception, Wild and Water Swimming has taught over 150 kids to swim and has collected over $40,000 in grants and in-kind donations. Now a freshman at Tulane University, Laura has partnered with various organizations to bring Wild and Water Swimming to New Orleans, LA, Charlotte, NC, Pensacola, FL, and Mobile, AL. Alex Pastor
Alex Pastor, an 18-year-old, is the founder of Don Camaron, a seafood restaurant in El Paso, Texas. From a young age, Alex has always searched for ideas to become the next young millionaire. In 2006, at the age of 16, Alex was inspired by a seafood restaurant that he saw while visiting Mexico. He decided that he would try to apply this business concept to his hometown and make it a success. Alex’s uncle provided all of the seafood to get his business started; he used his own savings and a loan from his father to buy an outdoor, reconditioned kiosk with a patio on one of the main streets in El Paso. Alex’s father and grandmother helped him by teaching him how to cook seafood and helping him develop the restaurant’s menu. When the restaurant first opened, Alex faced problems with missing rent and utility payment deadlines, and even suffered a break-in at his restaurant. However, Alex remains optimistic and continues to work hard. While Alex is in school, his father and one additional employee help in the restaurant. Alex is very proud to be serving an exotic variety of fresh and affordable seafood dishes to his community. Now a freshman at the University of Texas, El Paso, Alex is a business management major and hopes to expand his restaurant in the future. Anne Montague
Anne Montague is a 17-year-old from Baltimore, Maryland, who owns Inamoratos Dance, a not-for-profit dance school for urban youth. Anne lives in an area that is riddled with crime; a lack of positive leadership and of local afterschool programs, have led many of her peers down a very bad path. From a very young age, dancing has been Anne’s solace from her surroundings. In 2006, Anne decided to start teaching dance classes. She took her love for dance and created a company that would introduce the art to local youth and give them a creative alternative to the violent streets of Baltimore. Anne rents dance studio space at her local middle school. She cites her friends for helping her to get the word out about her business and recruiting new members to her dance troupe. Anne says that her dance students have become very close-knit and feel like a family. Currently a senior in high school, Anne plans to go to college and hopes to study Business Administration. Jessica Cervantes
Jessica Cervantes is an 18-year-old who founded Popsy Cakes in Miami, Florida. Jessica always loved baking, especially with her grandmother. So, in 2007, when Jessica’s business teacher instructed her to develop a business idea of her own, Jessica knew what she wanted to do. She remembered whenever her cousins ate cupcakes at their birthday parties, they always made a big mess; Jessica spent a great deal of time cleaning up after her cousins’ cupcake messes. To remedy this issue, Jessica decided to invent a non-messy cupcake. Popsy Cakes, a popsicle-like creation with a cookie stick and cake top, are entirely edible and completely “un-messy”. She currently caters many children’s parties in her neighborhood. Popsy Cakes has one employee who helps with delivering Popsy Cakes to clients. In addition to her talent and drive, Jessica is socially and environmentally conscious. Each Popsy Cake is packaged in a recyclable plastic. Jessica also donates 5% of Popsy Cakes’ annual profit to the Breast Cancer Foundation and St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. Today, Jessica is in the process of obtaining a patent and trademark protection for her product to license it to various specialty bakeries. She is currently a senior in high school. Jaycen Smith
When Jaycen Smith was 16, he was working at a grocery store for just above minimum wage. Over time, however, Jaycen realized that he did not like working for someone else. He wanted to run his own business and earn money based on his own performance. So, Jaycen began searching for ways to become self-employed. After deliberating over many ideas, Jaycen finally settled on a mobile car wash business. In 2004, at the age of 16, Jaycen founded Jayce’s Mobile Wash of Lubbock, Texas. With a loan from his father, Jaycen bought a trailer with a generator, a pressure washer, and a water tank. Jaycen’s company travels throughout Lubbock to wash cars, boats, and even small planes. Jaycen says that his mother was not initially thrilled at the idea of him borrowing so much money to start a company at such a young age, but he says that her hesitation gave him additional drive to succeed. He paid his loan off completely within the first 3 months of starting his company. Now, at the age of 20, Jaycen continues to run his business while in his third year at Texas Tech University where he is majoring in Finance. Ariell Buckingham
Ariell Buckingham is a 17-year-old who is the founder and CEO of Smile Entertainment, a party-planning company that specializes in children’s birthday parties in Chicago, Illinois. In high school, Arielle was placed into an Advanced Small Business class at her high school. In this class, Ariell was presented with an assignment to create a business by uncovering a problem and finding a solution. Ariell remembered that when she was younger, she was bored and frustrated with the same ordinary birthday parties she had attended. As the eldest of four, Arielle often helped to plan her siblings’ birthday parties. She knew she could use her experience with these parties and her creative ideas to open a party planning business. Founded in 2007, Smile Entertainment’s party packages included invitations, setup, toys and prizes, an activity, cakes and food, cleanup, and more. Ariell hires three hourly employees to help at each party. In addition to leading her company, Ariell is also a leader in her community. Smile Entertainment volunteers at local Senior Centers by offering free activities such as dancing, singing, and playing games with the seniors. In addition, because the high school dropout rate in Ariell’s neighborhood is high, Ariell has established a group tutoring program to help the youth in her community. Ariell is currently a senior in high school and attend the University of Illinois next year. Ariana Smith-Bland
Ariana Smith-Bland, a 17-year-old of Shaker Heights, Ohio, is the CEO of Monai Enterprise, a company established in 2003 that produces handmade tissue holders. The fabric tissue holders with inner lining are all sewn by Ariana. She decided to start her own business because her ultimate goal in life is to own a law firm; Ariana knew that starting her own business now would give her the necessary insights of a successful entrepreneur and the skills she’ll need to be a better CEO in the future. In addition to selling her tissue holders on her own, Ariana sells her tissue holders at a local boutique, and at an art gallery in downtown Cleveland. To complete her orders, Ariana pays her grandmother to assemble holders while she is attending school. Ariana donates a portion of her profit to assist the victims of hurricane Katrina and AIDS organizations in Africa. At the end of 2007, Ariana’s company donated over 200 dollars to each charity. Currently Ariana is a senior in high school and is applying to college. Rodney Walker
Throughout his childhood, Rodney Walker from Chicago, Illinois, was placed in over 15 different foster homes and attended over 10 different elementary schools. Growing up, Rodney did not have family to rely on, to nurture him, or to give him advice. This experience has taught him to be independent and self-reliant. In his senior year of high school, Rodney took a business class and was inspired to start his own company. He had studied video production as a hobby so when he learned how to become an entrepreneur, he realized that he could use his talent to form a company. In January of 2007, at the age of 17, Rodney founded Forever Life Music & Video Production, a video production company that videotapes special occasions and events. Rodney produces original background songs for each video. Rodney, now 19, is currently a freshman at Morehouse College. He continues to run his business, with Morehouse as one of his biggest clients. Forever Life Music & Video has 6 employees who are all students at Morehouse. Gary Jiang
Gary Jiang, a 17-year-old, of New York, New York is the CEO of MuffinMilk, a clothing apparel line founded in 2008 which targets the urban, hip-hop, and skater youth. MuffinMilk creates designs and uses a heat-press to put its designs on t-shirts and sweatshirts. Gary cites his family, who came from China in the 1980s, for his entrepreneurial spirit. Gary recognized early on that a difficult financial position and lack of education plagued his family. He knew that he would have to work hard to succeed and saw entrepreneurship as a way to accomplish his goals. Gary decided to take his love of design and create a company that he could lead to success. In addition to leading in his company, Gary, a junior, is a leader at Brooklyn Technical High School. Currently, Gary is the Creative and Marketing Director for the Young Entrepreneur Association (YEA). YEA works with MuffinMilk to create products and events for his school, such as Career Day and YEA Against Autism. Chante Goodwin
Chante Goodwin is a 20-year-old from Suitland, Maryland who founded Your Way IT Solutions, a technical consulting and support company, in 2005. Your Way IT Solutions offers a variety of services to the Washington D.C./Metro area such as virus removal, operating system installations, hardware/software installations, wireless network configurations, and custom-built computers. In her junior year of high school, Chante met with a guidance counselor who asked her about her future profession. Puzzled by this question, Chante began to think about the things she loved to do. Chante had taken computer and networking classes at school and enjoyed both classes immensely. She also enjoyed repairing her family and friends’ computers. She decided to turn her love for technology into a business. She enrolled in an entrepreneurial course to learn how to take her passion for technology and turn it into a successful business. Chante employs two technicians and is currently applying for a Minority Business Certification. Now at George Washington University, Chante is majoring in business administration with a concentration in management information systems. Steve Della Valentina
At 9 years of age, Steve Della Valentina from North Miami Beach, Florida, found a program online that gave users the ability to customize a simple web page. Steve’s interest was immediately sparked. He researched how to design and produce web pages and developed his own MySpace page filled with his unique designs. His friends took notice and asked him to design their sites as well. Steve had never imagined making a career or business out of his passion. As more friends asked Steve to design their website, he realized he could charge for his designs and make a profit. In 2008, at the age of 16, Steve founded ValleDevetS, a graphic and web design company. The company offers complete customization without the use of templates. Steve designs web and MySpace pages, flyers, posters, and more. Now 17, Steve is a senior in high school and has been accepted to the University of Central Florida. Crystal Blair
Crystal Blair is 17 years of age, from Miami, Florida. She is the CEO of Printed Publications United, a company that designs promotional materials such as business cards, flyers, magnets, and posters. Crystal was inspired to pursue entrepreneurship by her mother. Crystal watched her mother work long hours for low wages to support three children on her own. Motivated by her mother’s financial struggles, Crystal decided to take an entrepreneurship class in high school. From this class, Crystal realized she could take her skills in graphic design and start a successful company. In 2007, at the age of 16, Crystal founded Printed Publications United. Crystal’s company employs one assistant for extra help. Crystal is currently a senior in high school and applying to college to pursue her undergraduate studies. Mia Bridges
In 2007, 16-year-old Mia Bridges, from Chicago, Illinois needed to take control of her life. In her junior year, she was assigned to take a business class in high school and discovered that by owning her own business she could have sole control over her product, company, and future. Mia remembered that many people in her community, including her brother, have issues with dry skin and eczema. So, Mia decided to create her own brand of environmentally friendly, organic lotion, called N.V. Lotion. She taught herself how to make lotion from her online research. Thereafter, she began to grow her own aloe vera at home to include in the ingredients. Mia even produces the lotion bottles by hand and makes each unique and environmentally friendly. Over the years, Mia has tweaked her formula to perfection. She is the only person who knows this formula. Currently, she employs several of her peers to sell her product. She also has an agreement with her local WalMart to sell her lotions outside their stores and retain 100% of profits. In the future, Mia hopes to secure a patent for her product and obtain an organic certification for her lotion. Mia, now 17, is a senior in high school. She has been accepted to Quincy University on an academic scholarship. She is plans to obtain her undergraduate degree in criminal justice and minor in business. Kyle Wong
Kyle Wong, an 18-year-old from Brooklyn, NY is the founder of myCollegeSTAT.com, an innovative website designed to aid the college admissions and research process. After Kyle was accepted to attend Stanford in 2008, many of his friends were curious about his admissions process. Unable to come up with a solid answer, Kyle reviewed his applications and realized that today’s college acceptance is no longer solely based on averages, tests, or numbers. Schools are reviewing applicants’ overall achievements—interest, talent, sports, leadership skill as well as scholastic achievement. Admissions books or websites do not include statics that give a full picture of the applicants overall achievement. Kyle decided to create a website that displays applicant’s profiles - what colleges an applicant was accepted to and rejected from, the applicants’ academic or extracurricular achievements, leadership experience, and much more. myCollegeSTAT depends largely on college students who are willing to share the details of their college resume. The students can anonymously contribute to the website and users who register for an account on myCollegeSTAT can access the information on this website for free. Kyle’s ultimate goal is to humanize the college admissions process and break away from the average statistics. In addition, Kyle hopes that his site will help bridge the gap between rich and poor students. He cites that high schools in poorer neighborhoods often do not have the resources and experience that students need to make informed college decisions. Kyle currently works with six business partners, ages 18-19, and the company has one older employee in Bangladesh who works on the website. In May 2008, myCollegeSTAT launched its first beta site and Kyle anticipates the second beta release in February 2009. Included in the beta release are forums, enhanced college search, graphical representation of data, and essay review services. Kyle is currently a freshman at Stanford. Ryan Clark
Ryan Clark is 20 years old from Champaign, IL. In 2006, Ryan founded 247Mixtapes.com, a subscription-based website that enables users to access mixed tapes and custom music compilations. These compilations are released to promote artists before their albums are distributed to a wider audience. There is no cost to stream the mix tapes but users must pay $10 per month to download songs. Currently, 24/7Mixtapes.com has 5,000 users and 200-300 paying members. When Ryan was younger, he did not receive an allowance. He had to take on odd jobs if he wanted money. As a result, Ryan developed a strong entrepreneurial work ethic beginning from his earliest endeavors raking leaves, shoveling snow, growing and selling pumpkins, and giving tennis lessons. As he grew older, Ryan became interested in technology. As a result, he taught himself various scripting languages such as PHP and ASP. Frustrated with the high price and limited access of mixed tapes, Ryan decided to use his talents to create 24/7Mixtapes.com. Since its inception, 24/7Mixtapes.com has strived to offer superior support and service to its members at an affordable rate. 24/7Mixtapes.com also participates in the local community. Currently, 247Mixtapes is focused on sponsoring upcoming shows such as the Urbana-Champaign Mentor Teacher Brother Youth Explosion, an event which showcases the talent of local youth in the area. Today, Ryan works with several freelancers who help to build and update his website. He attends the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign where he is an Accounting major. Xavier Carbonnell
Xavier Carbonell, a 21-year old from Quito, Ecuador, is the owner of Majane, a food production company. Xavier’s business has three components: gourmet foods production, distribution of approximately 150 different products for restaurants and food processing factories, and grocery delivery to over 30 families. He credits his father for his start in business. When Xavier was young, the Carbonells had a rule in their house: no allowance. If the children wanted money, they had to earn it on their own. Xavier used the savings accumulated from previous jobs to start his company and borrowed machines from his father’s bakery to develop his recipes. After he finalized the recipes, he approached his parents with his business plan and asked for a loan. With time and hard work, the small venture that started in Xavier's garage in 2006 has now become a successful company, with a 350 square meter factory and four full-time employees. Xavier says that more than 20 people have full and part-time jobs because of the existence of his business, and he expects to increase those numbers in the future. Now at the age of 21, Xavier has already proven himself to be a leader whose ultimate goal is to alleviate the poverty in his community (Ecuador has a poverty rate of over 38%) and improve the living standard of his friends and neighbors. Carlos Camacho Vivar
Carlos Camacho Vivar, a 21-year old from Naucalpan, Mexico, is the owner of Bamboorganic, a company that produces environmentally friendly packaging materials. Carlos says that the decision to start his business came from growing up with other entrepreneurs in his family. Because his community is very poor, he was driven to develop his entrepreneurial spirit and create jobs and new opportunities that benefit his community. However, Carlos does not want to stop at helping only his community--he wants to help the world by reducing the volume of waste and improving the environment and quality of life for everyone. Carlos is both a business entrepreneur and a social entrepreneur. One of the biggest challenges he faces is the apathy of his community towards the environment. “Mexico is an extremely polluted country, but no one seems to want to do anything about it,” Carlos says. He knows he must work even harder to promote his company and his ideas. Carlos approaches his potential clients with videos and pictures of polluted Mexican streets and the flooding damage that long-lasting plastic bags can cause by blocking drainage systems. Carlos convinces his clients to use his fully-biodegradable and environmentally friendly products to help prevent damage and clean up Mexico. Currently, Carlos’ clients include the Mexican government, restaurants, and food stores. In the future, Carlos hopes to open a production factory in Mexico that reduces the pollution involved with creating materials to ship his products and provides more jobs for his compatriots. Currently, Carlos has 35 employees in Mexico and all his packaging is produced in China. Lahja Enkali
Lahja Enkali, the 20-year old owner of Neo Jewelry Designs from Windhoek, Namibia, designs, produces, and sells modern and ethnic jewelry. Three years ago, Lahja decided that she wanted to use her artistic talents to make money. Through market research in the hospital where her mother works, Lahja found that many people living in the city cannot afford to or do not have the time to go to rural areas to buy ethnic jewelry. Lahja realized the potential consumer market and started production of her own jewelry, carefully selecting popular shapes and designs. There are many people with similar businesses in Windhoek, so Lahja had to ensure that her company was unique. She immediately took steps to diversify the materials used to create her products; instead of creating a single type of handmade jewelry, she focused on a number of popular paper beads and ethnic jewelry from her tribe. Lahja’s other competitive advantage was that her target market was not solely youth-focused; with her mother’s help, Lahja gained access to the adult market at the big city hospitals. Lahja has talent, drive and a social conscience. All of her production raw materials are from recycled sources, which help the environment and make her products more affordable. Further, Neo Jewelry Designs has attracted two other girls to work in production to help Lahja keep up with increasing demand. Lahja intends to make one employee a partner in her business because that employee is planning on taking time to pursue a diploma in arts and crafts and has already demonstrated a strong commitment to the company. Christine Njiru
When post-election violence in Kenya broke out in early 2008, 17-year-old Christine Njiru saw the urgency to help heal the wounds that separate her people. After conducting research with her friends, Christine realized that one way to reunite the city of Nairobi was to spread messages of peace through various communication channels in her community. As a result, Art To Heart, a unique stationary company that specializes in the production of greeting cards, decorated envelopes, ‘pass-it-on’ cards, and badges which carry messages of peace and goodwill, was born. From the start, the company had clear objectives: to cultivate the artistic talent of local youth by enlisting them in the production team, encourage the entrepreneurial spirit of Christine’s peers, and make a profit. As both a business and community leader, Christine knows that her company must place a high value on corporate social responsibility. From its inception, Art to Heart has participated in the community by planting trees, cleaning a local dispensary, purchasing shoes for children from a neighboring primary school, and conducting a mentorship program for girls. Christine has great plans for the future of her company, which include a website with downloadable products, and a potential partnership with her local postal service to decorate envelopes with their message of hope and peace. Kemar Saffrey
Kemar Saffrey is the 20-year old owner of K&K Kitchen Cleaning Services in Bridgetown, Barbados. Kemar grew up with a single mother who worked hard to provide for her family of four. Kemar’s brother works as a private event chef and owns his own business; he served as a great inspiration to Kemar. Kemar learned early that he liked earning his own money and supplementing his mother’s income to help his family. After working at a local restaurant as a cleaner, Kemar saw the need for a reliable and safe cleaning service for the restaurants in his community. He realized this was a great way for him to earn money on his own. As Kemar and his staff of ten impressed their clients with their professionalism and use of environmentally-friendly cleaning products, his company began to grow. Kemar Saffrey has proven himself to be a leader in his community by founding the Barbados Vagrants and Homeless Society Program. Along with ten other volunteers, Kemar provides hot meals and clothing for the homeless men and women of Bridgetown at least three times per week. Kemar plans to further his education to learn more about chemical engineering and business management. Elsa Martinez Serrano
Elsa Martinez Serrano had always enjoyed making small handicrafts. At first, the 21-year old started small, selling her products only to friends and family who were instrumental in recognizing that she could make a living out of making crafts. However, as her interest grew, Elsa sought help from INNOVA, a branch of the Youth Business Trust foundation that helps young entrepreneurs start their businesses. INNOVA gave Elsa the money to buy her own store in downtown Tarija, Bolivia. Her business began to grow as the new store provided her with a stable way to showcase her products and increase her companies’ visibility. Today, Arte Cotillon “El Sol” makes a variety of handicrafts for events and parties, including piñatas and small gifts. As the leader of her company, Elsa makes sure to educate herself on new techniques, such as embroidery and cartoon design, to stay ahead of her competitors. Elsa differentiates her products by offering unique and high quality products as well as competitive prices. Unlike the competition, who resold products that are purchased elsewhere, Elsa makes her own products by hand and customizes her products to her customers’ desire. Elsa also shows tremendous compassion and care for her community; because Tarija has few job opportunities for women, Arte y Cotillon “El Sol” employs three women from her community. Elsa’s motto is: “consume what´s ours and employ our people”. In addition to providing employment, Elsa remains environmentally friendly by reusing and recycling materials. Ananda Habarakada Piyankara
Ananda Habarakada Piyankara, a 16 year old from Galle, Sri Lanka, owns the Rich Rubber Company, which buys and sells scrap rubber, produces rubber products such as spouts and buckets, and produces various chemical products used in the rubber manufacturing process. In 2002, when Ananda was in 5th grade, he attended a meeting of the Young Entrepreneurs of Sri Lanka. This program inspired him to pursue his dream to become an entrepreneur, and in 2007, Ananda joined the Young Entrepreneurs of Sri Lanka and established the Rich Rubber Company. He stands out as a compassionate and generous leader in a community that has suffered greatly from entrenched poverty, annual flooding, and the 2004 Tsunami. For example, when one of Ananda’s main customers was in jeopardy due to rubber price decline and 400 workers were in danger of losing their jobs, Ananda donated his rubber roller machine to this company so that the workers could remain employed. Ananda has also donated free notebooks to the children of the poor families in his community, and currently employs one man who was severely depressed after he lost his family and all of his belongings in the tsunami, in the hopes of helping him find a better life. In the future, Ananda plans to join the Sri Lanka Rubber Polymer Institute to study more about rubber, one of Sri Lanka’s biggest industries. Ricardo Gongora
Ricardo Gongora, 18, of Belize City, Belize, has always flirted with the idea of selling things to make a bit of money. When he was 12 years old, Ricardo suffered a minor bicycle accident. When he couldn’t find any first aid supplies, he realized that many people must have the same problem and started selling mini first aid kits. Later, in 10th grade, he took art classes and started selling his paintings and other sketches. His most recent endeavor is Baby Wagons, a retail distribution store that provides commodity goods such as fragrances, fashion accessories, handbags, and gift items. He was inspired to be an entrepreneur by his parents, who own Di Creole Wagons, a store which sells clothing, furniture, electronics, and more. Ricardo had always been interested in working at Di Creole Wagons and had a passion for interacting with customers, so his mother gave him his own section of the store to sell electronics and other small products. After his parents saw that he was doing well and that he wanted to continue with his business, they gave him a loan to start his own store. Ricardo looked carefully for gaps in the market; he says that there were few businesses in Belize City where people could purchase luxury goods so he chose to carry those types of products. With his store’s success, Ricardo has been able to give back to his community by hiring one assistant and one local student to perform a cleaning service. In addition, Baby Wagons gives small donations to local soccer teams to help purchase gear and uniforms. Ricardo cites both his parents for his success, saying that, “the strong influence from my parents to be my best has led me to become the person I am today”. Marcelo Galeano-Periot
During his time at school, Marcelo Galeano Periot, an 18-year old from Asuncion, Paraguay, attended many conferences and events focused on motivation and improving one’s skills. After a while, Marcelo noticed that there was a portion of the market that no conference or event was reaching--the youth of Asuncion. Marcelo had always believed that his public school education was inadequate and that young people in Paraguay were not motivated to set important goals for themselves. In an attempt to help the youth of his city, Marcelo used his savings and a loan from his parents to start his own company, Impulse Productions S.R.I. Impulse is a business dedicated to the planning, organization, and production of unique events such as seminars, conferences, and training activities for students and professionals of various specialties. The company offers lectures and training sessions on a variety of topics for young people in Asuncion, such as resume writing and interviewing for a job. All events are open to the public, and more than 600 participants have attended Marcelo’s events. Marcelo is a true leader, organizing all the events himself and ensuring that each one is well advertised and runs as smoothly as possible. Promotion primarily takes place on university campuses, where Marcelo has hired three student employees to help him with advertising campaigns. Marcelo hopes that his company can contribute not only to his own future but those of his peers. |
The Growing Up CEO program is a bright spot in an otherwise weak economy, representing the promise of future business leaders in America's inner cities. Growing Up CEO celebrates the achievements of entrepreneurs under the age of 21 who are leading inner city companies across the country and around the world. These remarkable young people showcase the power of entrepreneurship as a tool for personal fulfillment and community development--and are beacons of hope in their ability to lead viable, exciting businesses in some of the world's most disadvantated communities. 