Teen entrepreneurs and business coaches descended on Miami Dade College’s newly opened Idea Center on Monday, for the launch of Global Entrepreneurship Week to share their ideas in the World Series of Innovation competition. The World Series of Innovation is an annual event organized by the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship and presented by Microsoft that challenges young people to think creatively and invent new products or services that address every-day market opportunities.
Monday also marked the formal launch of a partnership between NFTE and the Idea Center. Over the past 8 years, NFTE has been active in more than 30 South Florida public schools instilling an entrepreneurial mindset in young people from low-income communities. By teaching the entrepreneurial mindset, NFTE provides young people with tools and attitudes to overcome adversity and address future personal, economic, community and global challenges.
Through the partnership with the Idea Center, NFTE students will now have the opportunity to continue their entrepreneurial journey once they graduate from high school. At The Idea Center, students from a range of disciplines will have the opportunity to collaborate and grow their skills and ideas, working with business experts and state-of-the-art resources. NFTE will locate its offices within the Idea Center on MDC’s Wolfson Campus Building 8, starting in December.
“I am thrilled that our students will be exposed to the Idea Center’s cross-curricular approach to entrepreneurship,” said Alice Horn, NFTE South Florida executive director. “NFTE students receive the motivational spark which launches them on a pathway to success. Now they will have the ability to continue their entrepreneurial journey at the Idea Center, regardless of the type of business they have chosen.”
Leandro Finol, executive director at the Idea Center, said that by partnering with NFTE, the Idea Center can begin interacting with students in high school and hopefully those students will continue their entrepreneurial pursuits at MDC after graduation. The Idea Center has also partnered with Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses program for existing growing business. "Through these partnerships, we are able to nurture entrepreneurs all the way from high school to college, and finally help them to grow significant businesses as adults,” he said.
Posted Nov. 17, 2014