National nonprofit organizations join forces to support young people with an entrepreneurial mindset.
Washington, DC: Two nonprofit organizations – Build.org and SEED SPOT – have embraced their entrepreneurial mindset philosophies to impact the communities they serve. After a competitive RFP process, SEED SPOT chose BUILD.org (“BUILD”) to acquire its High School program. BUILD will lead the next generation of impact-driven entrepreneurs by expanding on the impact the SEED SPOT High School program has made over the last 6 years. BUILD will now own and manage the SEED SPOT High School curriculum, deploying it to schools nationally. BUILD and SEED SPOT anticipate that this strategic acquisition will create a robust pipeline of entrepreneurship education to create long term impact and support for High School social entrepreneurs and their communities across the nation.
BUILD was selected to carry on SEED SPOT’s High School program based on strong mission alignment, proving that they have the expertise and ability to double the previous reach of the SEED SPOT High School program.
By merging SEED SPOT’s High School program’s focus on social and career & technical focus (CTE) on impact-driven entrepreneurship with BUILD’s Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Skills, youth are positioned to gain a portfolio of 21st-century skills that will enable them to achieve further career and life success.
BUILD connects the dots between school and the real world by helping students from under-resourced communities launch real businesses that generate real profits, and by connecting students to a network of caring adult mentors. Through BUILD, students discover how to become the CEOs of their own lives.
This project-based learning curriculum is designed to be implemented by progressive 8-12 grade teachers and deployed through BUILD’s expanding school and community partnerships across the country. BUILD has a 20-year track record of providing impactful educational experiences and programs that create promising outcomes for a diverse and geographically dispersed student community.
In the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic, which has paralyzed business from Main Street to Wall Street, supporting the future of entrepreneurship is critical to America’s recovery. Entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of America’s economy and our future depends on supporting the next generation of innovators who are the horsepower of America’s economic engine and will create long-lasting impact on communities.
The goal of this social entrepreneurial experience is for students to see themselves as change-agents, entrepreneurs, and innovators ready to tackle any problem they are passionate about, whether during the program or beyond, thus closing the opportunity gap through education.
“Cultivating entrepreneurial spirit and a problem-solving mindset is critical to ensuring that tomorrow’s leaders are equipped to face the most pressing challenges we currently face, and will continue to face, as we work towards creating an inclusive and just society,” said SEED SPOT CEO C’pher Gresham. “We could not be more proud to pass the impact of the SEED SPOT High School Curriculum to BUILD to activate our nation’s educators and the student vision they catalyze.”
“BUILD is all about making high school education relevant to the real world” said Ayele Shakur, BUILD CEO. “BUILD’s project-based learning is not only engaging for students bored with traditional classroom instruction, it has been shown to prepare them for success in the workplace.”
BUILD’s focus on supporting youth is stronger than ever having served over 10,000 students to date, and SEED SPOT continues their founding focus on serving adult entrepreneurs, having served over 884 ventures since 2012. Drawing on the strengths of both organizations, this strategic acquisition will enable a cohesive pathway for students to choose their life path, whether it is entrepreneurship, college or career. These two national nonprofit organizations are effectively able to create a hub of resources over the course of an entrepreneurs life.
Schools interested in the professional development for teachers and student journey that BUILD can provide can visit www.build.org.
SEED SPOT continues to run programming for adult entrepreneurs and removes boundaries for founders by delivering virtual programs. SEED SPOT is currently accepting applications for the Impact Accelerator program and 2-Day Launch Camp programs. Each year SEED SPOT serves thousands of entrepreneurs globally. Check out SEED SPOT’s upcoming programs on their website: www.seedspot.org/programs.
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About SEED SPOT: In 2019, SEED SPOT was ranked as a top 5 private business accelerator and most promising for social impact by UBI Global at the World Incubation Summit in Doha, Qatar. SEED SPOT supports entrepreneurs through programs, such as webinars, the Impact Entrepreneur Meet-up, 2-Day Launch Camps, Technical Assistance Programs, and the Impact Accelerator.
SEED SPOT has served 884 entrepreneurs since 2012 who have raised $53.3M in capital, generated $82.6M in revenue, created 2,385 new jobs, and impacted the lives of 8.2M people with their products, services, and technologies.
SEED SPOT also won a 2016 Emmy for their partnership with Univision supporting Latino entrepreneurs through Véndeme tu Sueño. With a mission to educate, accelerate, and invest in the dreams of social entrepreneurs, SEED SPOT supports entrepreneurs building products, services, and technologies that improve lives or communities. For more information, visit: www.seedspot.org.
About BUILD: BUILD Gets Results
96% of BUILD seniors have graduated from high school on time, far surpassing the 73% national average high school graduation rate of low-income students and the 53% national average for low-income Black and Latinx students.
81% of BUILD seniors have enrolled in college in the fall immediately following high school graduation, far ahead of the 53% college enrollment rate of BUILD’s target demographic (first-generation students of color from under-resourced communities).
BUILD uses entrepreneurship to ignite the potential of youth in under-resourced communities and equip them for high school, college and career success. BUILD serves 2,000 students annually in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York, Boston, and Washington DC. Since 1999, BUILD has trained 10,000 students to launch real businesses. Learn more at www.build.org.
