young entrepreneurs

• Gotta love it when you make news calling out Ted Nugent. That's right, Stephen Colbert picked Kevin's hit on that old guy who wondered why we weren't joining the Tea Party. Go Future Majority!
• Durbin's DREAM Act hearing bring in cabinet heads, 200 young people
  

  "Durbin secured an especially large hearing room with some 200 student supporters expected.

  "These are young people who have that kind of exciting look in their eyes that they want to be part of the world," Durbin said on the Senate floor last week.

  "But they can't make that first move toward the life that they want to live because they are undocumented," he said."

• Youth triumphs again in LPGA event so take that! Still doesn't mean I know anything about golf though….
• Private student loans get bankruptcy protection with proposed legislation
• The Maine League of Young Voters video on Health Insurance
  
• Fitting Gen Y into your marketing plan And later today you'll hear details on just how to do that with Part 1 of my analysis of the millennial marketing data from the new mega-research project to be released this September.
• Lessons from NY State
  

  "These changes won’t likely reverse anytime soon. As the Public Religion Research Institute found, the millennial generation — the more diverse, tolerant generation that will lead our country — support same-sex marriage by 57 percent, consistent with a recent Pew study showing that 64 percent of millennials are supportive, versus 46 percent of Generation X and 37 percent of baby boomers."

  (Pew takes into account cell phones as I recall. Gay marriage is going to become the norm. People should just get use to it or move.)

• Pretty cool story Arab Spring turns into Entrepreneurial summer - essentially American young business owners and others are meeting up in Egypt to help young business owners there
• Joining the family business after college should be a careful decision - working for your family might be just as miserable as moving back in with them. Or … it could be a great experience. Weigh your options…
• Liberal Alternative to Tea Party Debating War on Drugs etc…
• Maine's war on voting rights and how it affects young people
• Resources for young people who want to run for office

Later today my piece on the top lines of the new Millennial Marketing research project will hit - its a two day post breaking down their data

Lots of news today about President Obama and young people. From the looks of things he's up.. then down... then up... then down.

Don't forget if you're at #NN11 today there is a youthy panel:
Changing of the Guard: Youth Leading Democracy
FRI, 06/17/2011 - 4:30PM, M100 FG

• How to lose an internship in 10 ways
• Unpaid Internships and the jobless people fighting for them
• Entries open for SBA Entrepreneurship competition
• An older post I discovered today but totally worth the read - Using Peer Pressure to Change the World
• Letter to the editor for Salon
  

  You are far too generous

  in your assessment of Obama's performance. What you call poor communication I call a complete lack of conviction. Attempting a conciliatory approach is fine at first, but it quickly became clear the Repugs were going to have nothing to do with it. If he had wanted to, Obama could very easily have used the bully pulpit to at least advocate for all the progressive policies he campaigned on, but in the final analysis I think it is clear that was all a bunch of BS and lies. The man has no courage, no vision, no convictions. Totally worthless, and the worst part of all this is the disillusionment of the young voters who thought he would make a difference.

  —tballou

• Billionaire's front group attacks young voters among others
  In speaking about the American Legislative Exchange Council

  "In 2009, ALEC drew up the Voter ID Act to ban university students from using their college-issued ID's as proof of residency for voting. Seven states have adopted this model law, which is intended to bar eligible students from the voting booth. These kids must be disenfranchised, New Hampshire's house speaker bluntly said in February, because they're "voting liberal, voting their feelings, with no life experience." This model bill has been introduced in 18 other states this year in a rather obvious ploy to hold down the student vote in the 2012 presidential election."

• From the Miami Herald students facing unemployment with student loans
  
• Young voters aren't the only ones "Souring with Obama" it seems Young Environmentalists Displeased with Obama
  

  "The displeasure amongst young environmentalists does not necessarily reflect the feelings of young voters nationwide however. In a Harvard Institute of Politics poll, 55% of all voters between the ages of 18 and 25 approve of the President’s job performance. Amongst college students, the percentage raised to 60%. But despite high approval ratings, young voters are hesitant to back the President in the 2012 elections.

  The most important issue for these voters is the economy. In February of 2011, 43% feel their economic situation is “very” or “fairly bad” and 22% are currently looking for work. When asked whether they will vote for him in 2012, only 38% say they will while 25% say they plan to vote for his Republican opponent. The rest are unsure. While young voters have stuck beside President Obama, it seems the spirit of “Yes We Can” has faded."

• The other Obama's however are doing great work with young people! Michelle Obama Africa Trip Focuses on Youth Leadership
• Young Voters win at GOP Debate
• Red State blogger calls Social Security a Ponzi Scheme and instructs young voters to Opt Out
• Here's an important notation to mention: US Supreme Court Rules a Youth's Age is Relevant in Miranda Analysis. More specifically
  

  "Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote the majority opinion (PDF). “It is beyond dispute that children will often feel bound to submit to police questioning when an adult in the same circumstances would feel free to leave,” she wrote. “Seeing no reason for police officers or courts to blind themselves to that commonsense reality, we hold that a child’s age properly informs the Miranda custody analysis." You can read more about the specific case at the link.

• 4H Shout Out: Youth learn Responsibility and Leadership through raising Livestock
• Congressional personal financial disclosure forms reveal some still have student loan debt... welcome to my world. You'd think these members would be the ones leading the charge to fix it!
  

  "Nevertheless, the reports offered reminders of the more typical financial burdens faced by most Americans. Many lawmakers reported unpaid student loans or hefty credit card balances. One cash-strapped freshman put himself on his campaign payroll to make ends meet last year."

• Should you start a business right out of college?
• And today came an email from the White House:
  

  Good evening everyone,

  As many of you know, last week, President Obama met with a number of inspiring young Americans here in the West Wing to de-brief on the “100 Youth Roundtables” Initiative. In that session, young folks reflected on the feedback given to the White House during the course of the initiative. They discussed issues regarding environmental regulations, community organizations, legislation that the President supports, and how to really make a difference all around. To follow up on that feedback, the President announced a new series that will take us through the summer, called, “How to Make Change.” Check out video of his announcement here.

  This series will specifically foster a conversation between young Americans, advocates, and the White House on the issues that matter to us all. What are specific deliverables you would like to see? What tools can we offer you so that you can achieve what you set out to achieve? Let us know! The full schedule for “How to Make Change” will be announced next week, so stay tuned.

  Have a good Thursday night,

  Kal

Tuesday the White House held its Young Advocates and Entrepreneurs Summit in NYC to ... well it isn't clear what the deliverables are from this Summit but it's always great to get 300 young people and youth run businesses in a room together to discuss the economic crisis facing our generation.

Last year's White House jobs summit featured only one person in the room under 30 years old so having a discussion about the challenges and unique talents of Millennials at a time when our country desperately needs new jobs is a great step toward winning the future.

I read on the Investment Watch Blog last month that 1% of the new business start ups provide 40% of the new jobs created. This was from a new study by the World Economic Forum.

"The WEF said governments looking for growth through entrepreneurship should examine what made these successful.

It said that they should do this rather than “replicate Silicon Valley."

The White House blog highlights

An inspiring evening for all who participated, and sentiment was perhaps best summed up by Mason Fuller. In response to a question about best practices and keeping jobs here in the United States, Mason provided some context for hiring young American workers rather than folks overseas, 'Americans are some of the most creative people. Teamwork-oriented people with good energy…and you can’t really outsource that. You can't offshore energetic people who come together as a great team.'

See the panel here:

We've spoken about the 80 Million Strong coalition a lot on here, and FM is one of the co-chairs of the July event that will discuss youth jobs in the troubling economy. A major portion of the discussion will be Youth Entrepreneurship and helping create an outreach similar to the small business administration for young people who are starting businesses.

Matthew Segal touched on this when he appeared on CNN last week to talk about the July Conference. Segal said on CNN that if we apply the successful model of the SBA to young entrepreneurs we can help young people create their own jobs from the skills that they have that are sometimes outside of the mainstream. Online jobs, tech jobs, new media jobs, not to mention young people who have heard the call to service from President Obama and wish to start their own community based non-profits.

The SBA gives business the credibility to obtain grants and start-up capital, but they also provide tools for businesses that need help with tax forms, start-up forms, and processes a business must go through to get off the ground. Having that be a point of contact or having a youth specific arm for the SBA that can help young people get started will be a great way to start small businesses run by young people across the country.

This weekend, Cambridge University in conjunction with the Gates Foundation hosted an amazing panel for young people to help give guidance for young entrepreneurs.

The panel featured Andrew Klaber, founder and President, Orphans Against AIDS, Svitlana Kobzr the Founder of Forgotten Children of Eastern Europe, Robyn Scott, the Co-Founder and Trustee of Mothers for All, and Casey Wilson the Co-Founder and CEO of Wokai but also included Philip Rucker a National Correspondent for the Washington Post as a moderator

Via the Gates Coffeehouse Events:

"Increasingly, youth around the world are taking it upon themselves to engage social challenges and effect positive community change. A new generation of socially responsible ventures has emerged that addresses urgent global and local issues such as health, poverty, violence, racism, environmental destruction and civic apathy. This wave of youth social entrepreneurship offers new set of solutions and energy, but also brings with it its own set of professional, financial and personal challenges."

The panel began with a discussion about how to get started, particularly for organizations that have an international focus and building strategic relationships between leadership, developing funding structures, basically anything you can think of.

Orphans Against AIDS Founder Andrew Klaber remembers being in college and says

"Being a student is an ideal time to start an organization, and there are a few reasons for that. For one, you're surrounded by incredibly talented people, and secondly your schedule is your own and that's really the mark for an entrepreneur. You can work on projects between classes, before school, at night, early in the morning, its really a great time. Thirdly, you have university as a resources whether they can help subsidize your travel, or provide other services.

For example, with Orphans Against AIDS I would come back [from abroad] and I had this idea in my head of what I wanted [the organization] to be, in terms of the mission, in terms of providing academic scholarships, giving health care.... but quite frankly, as a twenty year old I had no idea how to run or even legally start a non-profit organization and this is where the university really helped out. I went to the law school where I was studying, and they had a non-profit law clinic. And for free students that were in law school helped me incorporate the organization and then apply for 501c3 status...."

Another thread of discussion was naturally the funding and fundraising mechanism of starting an organization. Klaber continued that having a strong board of directors is key to developing a more diverse funding profile. His organization receives funding from a variety of donors including corporate sponsorship, foundations, individual donors, and they still host fundraisers and events regularly as well. He also noted that while grants and major donations from corporate sponsorship are key to helping the organization keep its doors open, the sustainable donations aren't always from those types of funders, thus the importance for a diversified funding model.

Another tool he mentioned was Echoing Green which is in many ways a venture capitalism firm for young entrepreneurs who want to start organizations that do acts of good works and develop civic organizations in communities around the world.

Their fellowship program gives leadership development to build organizations that promote social causes that don't necessarily make money the way a traditional company would but these opportunities help build companies that make an impact and can also create similar jobs for more young people who are seeking civic jobs. At the same time the connections with Echoing Green open up doors and create relationships with affiliated partners who can be potential funders.

Echoing Green also has been a contributor for the Jobs for Change site, as well as podcast geared toward people who are looking for "careers with impact."

Svitlana Kobzr the Founder of Forgotten Children of Eastern Europe echoed concerns of all of the panelists in raising money in a tough economy, but said that for organizations that are founded or developed on college campuses have also an amazing alumni pool from which to choose. Her organization connected with the foundation of an alumni at her school who not only provided essential capital but also considerable help with other fundraising advise and recommendations for additional funding.

Kobzr's second recommendation was for civic clubs like Rotary and the like who want to do matching grants or do fundraisers where donations can be sent to causes like Kobzr's.

The panel was a great event, and had helpful comments for the young people who participated. I highly recommend taking part in the Gates Foundation Coffeehouse events if you haven't in the past. There are many helpful resources for young entrepreneurs available through their outreach and programs. Also a special thanks to Cambridge University for helping put on the event and my good friend alumni Tristan Brown who told me about the event.

Don't forget, if you haven't signed up to be a part of the July conference for 80 Million Strong for Youth you must apply now. Scholarships are available on a first come first serve basis so get in on the ground floor for that as well.

There was a great piece this weekend in the NY Times about young people who are struggling for jobs simply creating their own by developing new small businesses.

The Small Business Administration agrees this is a great new way to help both develop young people but further to develop our small businesses.

"The future of American enterprise is being shaped by young people of today who are filled with dreams, have a passion for change, hope for the future and a desire to succeed. Pursuing business knowledge at an early age is an important ingredient for future success."

The Times story talks about a young worker who was laid off and frustrated searching for work that wasn't there. Therefore young people instead decide to start their own businesses.

"Plenty of other laid-off workers across the country, burned out by a merciless job market, are building business plans instead of sending out résumés. For these people, recession has become the mother of invention.

Economists say that when the economy takes a dive, it is common for people to turn to their inner entrepreneur to try to make their own work. But they say that it takes months for that mentality to sink in, and that this is about the time in the economic cycle when it really starts to happen - when the formerly employed realize that traditional job searches are not working, and that they are running out of time and money."

Technology and social media is a huge part of that. While the 90's brought a dotcom boom the new millennium has brought a new kind of media consistent with the kind of social world young people love. Multimillion dollar companies like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Mozilla, Threadless, and MyYearbook were all founded and continue to be run by young people.

As our economy continues to flounder and young people search for jobs we have a lot of opportunity to invest in both young people and in developing our small businesses simply by encouraging young entrepreneurs.