Vote for Your Favorite Young Social Entrepreneurs

Dec. 1, 2008 - PRLog -- Arlington, VA,  – Ashoka’s Youth Venture, a global network of over 2,000 youth-led Venture Teams, and Best Buy Co., Inc. today announced 30 finalists, ages 13 to 18, in the Best Buy @15 Challenge with Youth Venture.  Online voting for the winners starts today, December 1, and continues through January 9, 2009.  Fifteen winning teams of youth social entrepreneurs will each receive $10,000 from the @15 Fund to support their ventures.  Voters can register to win a free iPod shuffle and $500 to donate to their school or favorite nonprofit.  In addition, funding is available through this partnership for 300 additional youth-led Venture Teams in the United States.
 
Voters should judge the Venture Teams on their project’s creativity, community impact, and sustainability.  The Venture Teams address a wide variety of issues ranging from poverty to the environment, arts, children, and disaster relief.  A complete list of the finalists can be found at http://www.GenV.net/bestbuy.

•   Bronx, NY -- 24/Y News, Youth Media - teenage journalist gain communication training.
•   Fort Collins, CO -- Hats for the Homeless Project , Community -  team makes hats, scarves and blankets for the homeless.
•   Lake Forest, IL -- Always Ready Kids, Disaster Preparedness - helps youth and families prepare for disasters.
•   Bethlehem, PA -- Illick's Mill Project, Conservation Education - transforming an old mill into a community environmental education center.  
•   Layton, UT -- AstroTots (No Boundaries: Science Camp for Girls), Girls' Education - Science - runs fun science camps for at risk girls age 4-10.
•   Bloomington, MN -- Box City Vigil, Community - Youth Homelessness - raises awareness of youth homelessness and mobilizes hundreds of teens.
•   Racine, WI -- Connect-Now/Job-Link - Community - Youth Homelessness - finds part-time jobs for homeless teens.
•   East Lansing, MI -- D.A.N.C.E., Community - Arts - teaches low income youth the art of dance and provides mentors and tutors to keep their GPA above 2.5.
•   Antioch, CA -- Dimwitnot.com, Business - Education - provides online study halls with peer tutoring assistance.
•   Santa Barbara, CA -- Dons Net Café, Community - Education - a student run business  that conducts free tax services for people with low incomes
•   Fremont, CA -- Girls Helping Girls, Girls' Education - International - empowers girls to take action on four global issueS
•   Willington, CT -- Green Teens, Environment - School Compost - sell reusable shopping bags, light bulb exchanges, tree planting.
•   North Potomac, MD -- JJ Express Magazine, Arts - Magazine - use avant-garde art to build community.
•   Fairfield, CA -- My Own Book, Community - Literacy - Contact publishers, run book drives and apply for grants to give low income children books.
•   Indianapolis, IN -- Play It 4Ward Sports and Entertainment Co., Community - Health and Violence -uses sports, skating parties, fitness programs to encourage youth to avoid violence and work toward going to college.
•   Syracuse, NY -- Project Feed Me, Community - Poverty and Hunger - run by a board of freshman at Syracuse to fight hunger and get youth involved in service.
•   Merrimack, NH -- Pure Water Vending, Business - International Environment - uses vending machines to sell water to raise money to install sand filters in remote villages.
•   Waukee, IA – RandomKid, Technology - Fundraising - unifying schools and youth to work together to fund solutions to real world problems including disaster relief.
•   Seattle, WA -- Richards Rwanda, Girls' Education - International - works to make sure girls in Rwanda have access to education.
•   Pittsburgh, PA -- School Yard Habitat, Environment - School Garden - organic garden, composting sites, outdoor education center and pavilion.
•   Chappaqua, NY -- SEAS (Students Extending Assistance to Students) -- Post-Disaster Relief - Arts - aids youth affected by Katrina by providing material support and career development.  
•   Georgetown, KY -- Spartan Fund and Sayre Philemon Society, Community Building - Fundraising - student run foundation focusing on abuse and poverty. They leveraged YV seed funding to raise $50K.
•   Marietta, GA -- The Children's Bilingual Theater, Community - Arts - helps English language learners and builds cross-cultural understanding.  Everyone benefits from confidence and public speaking skills.  
•   Southwest Ranches, FL -- The Opp-Guide to Community Service, Inc., Technology - Community - online student guide to community service with ratings of the volunteer experience.
•   Coventry, RI -- The Resychos, Environment - Arts - School recycling converting a bus to bio-diesel, sing-a-long CD for kids about the environment.
•   Shirley, MA, Team Ultimate -- Sports - Mentoring - uses ultimate Frisbee with pre-teens to build confidence.
•   Los Angeles, CA -- Tote-ally Awesome, Business - Environment - stylish tote bags made from recycled materials to replace plastic bags.
•   Honolulu, HI -- Turtle Talks, Conservation Education - Authored a DVD and activity book about sea turtles.  
•   Chesterland, OH -- Wetlands Education - Sustainability Feast, Environment - School Garden - organic gardening to improve nutrition, health and the environment in the school.  
•   New Orleans, LA -- Wild and Water Swimming    Sports - Mentoring - teaches at -risk youth how to swim, particularly African American youth.

“Having an idea, launching a Venture, and leading a team that has community or global impact teaches young people that they are capable of creating sustainable change,” said Gretchen Zucker, Executive Director of Youth Venture. “After this successful experience, it is likely that they will take initiative again and again in their life.”
 
@15 is Best Buy’s new platform to connect with young teens, give voice to their perspectives, and invest the company’s resources to turn their ideas into action and support their efforts to lead social change. Through the @15 Fund, Best Buy places the philanthropic power of @15 directly into the hands of teens. Part of the @15 Fund is implemented through a partnership with Youth Venture and the @15 Challenge.

“Through @15, Best Buy is giving teens an opportunity to help direct our philanthropy,” said Paula Prahl, senior vice president, communications, public affairs, and corporate responsibility, Best Buy.  “By voting online for the @15 Challenge, young teens can be inspired by the good works of their peers, and learn how they can contribute to their communities by launching their own Ventures.  It’s our hope the Youth Venture partnership serves as a catalyst for other youth to become changemakers in their own communities.”

Visit http://www.GenV.net/bestbuy  to learn more and to cast your ballot for the top youth social entrepreneurs in the Best Buy @15 Challenge.  Voters can also use their cell phones to cast votes by visiting the WAP portal http://www.yvteams.com.  After they vote, they can also check the total number of votes per team and use the send-to-friend pass-a-long feature.

About Youth Venture
Youth Venture is a global movement of young changemakers. Youth Venture inspires and invests in teams of young people as they start their own sustainable social ventures, connecting them into a powerful global network. Collectively, these young changemakers are redefining the youth years as a time of initiative and positive change. For more information, please visit www.youthventure.org.

About Ashoka
Ashoka is the world's largest network of social entrepreneurs—individuals with innovative and practical ideas for addressing social needs. Working with these social entrepreneurs, Ashoka builds communities of innovators who work collectively to transform society and design new ways for the social sector to become more productive, entrepreneurial and globally integrated.  For more information, please visit www.ashoka.org.

Media Contact: Roberta Carlton, RCH Associates, 781-718-7619, robertacarlton@gmail.com