Students Turn Tragedy into Business Success

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The shooting death of his brother was the inspiration for 18 year-old Fayetteville, N.C. student Cortney Slaughter to start his small business of creating and packaging motivational messages. For Rahfeal Gordon, of Hillside, N.J., it was a desire to escape crack addicted parents that prompted him to start a business where he could “positively express himself.” The boy, who lived in hand me down clothes and worked at odd jobs at Burger King and bagging groceries, now has a successful seminar business empowering young people.

For Nadia Campbell, it was concern over the care of her elderly grandmother that inspired her to start the Helping Hands Club, a non-profit organization that enlists young people to visit nursing home residents, when she was just 11 years-old. Today, the Brooklyn, N.Y. resident also added a day spa to her growing business network.

On April 2, 2008 at the Marriott Marquis in New York City, these students, along with 25 others from around the country and around the world who acted on their business inspirations, will be honored at the 2008 Global Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards sponsored by The Goldman Sachs Foundation. They will participate in a business expo and awards program as part of the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship’s (NFTE) 15th Annual Salute to the Entrepreneurial Spirit Awards Dinner.

Each of the aspiring entrepreneurs, who range in age from 14-25 and whose businesses range from retail, fashion, computer manufacturing, to web design and community philanthropy, will receive a cash prize ranging from $750-$1000 for their start-up businesses or to further their education.

The young entrepreneurs are all graduates of NFTE, an international nonprofit organization that provides entrepreneurship education programs to young people from low-income communities so they can become economically productive members of society.

Founded in 1987 by Steve Mariotti, former New York City public school teacher, NFTE originally began as a dropout prevention and academic performance improvement program for students who were at risk of failing or quitting school. Today, NFTE, with the financial support of such sponsors as The Goldman Sachs Foundation, has grown into a comprehensive business education program in 21 states and 14 countries with more than 186,000 alumni.

Street Smarts to Business Smarts

NFTE’s entrepreneurship education program helps turn students’ “street smarts into business smarts” by teaching the business skills they need to start their own small business, while reinforcing basic academic skills. NFTE’s goal is to give young people the skills and confidence to unlock their true potential, so they can improve their lives and their communities.

Through NFTE, students learn how to create a business plan, keep books, and master other business fundamentals.

In addition to Slaughter, Gordon and Campbell, other students honored for their business ideas include:

• Ibtihaj (Ippy) Amatul-Wadud whose Springfield, Mass.-based business Ippys’ Islamic Fashions, manufacturers and retails apparel appropriate for Muslim girls and women.
• Fourteen-year-old Damian Brown, of North Charleston, S.C., who took an ancient African tradition of making roses out of palmetto fronds in order to “keep him off the streets” and turned it into Damian’s Roses.
• Sixteen-year-old New York City student Cody Chang whose business LogicLotus, provides websites and web solutions to small businesses, non profits and freelancers.

A recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive® finds that four out of 10 young people ages 8 to 21 would like to start their own business and another 37 percent did not close the door to entrepreneurship, saying they were just unsure about it. The survey found that 63 percent of respondents agree that, through hard work, they have the ability to start their own business.

Research shows that NFTE’s program has a strong and positive impact on many of its graduates. A study conducted by Harvard University Graduate School of Education indicates that youth entrepreneurship programs such as NFTE are particularly effective at keeping students from low-income urban backgrounds on the academic track and can be a significant force in driving them toward high achievement and leadership.

Further, a recent study conducted by Brandeis University has shown that when compared to a control group, NFTE graduates are 30 times more likely to start their own businesses, and they are 20 times more knowledgeable about entrepreneurship and basic business concepts.

About NFTE

The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (www.nfte.com) is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization, whose mission is to teach entrepreneurship to young people from low-income communities to enhance their economic productivity by improving their business, academic, and life skills. Since 1987, NFTE has reached over 186,000 young people. Currently, NFTE has more than 1,000 active Certified Entrepreneurship Teachers in 21 states and 13 countries outside the U.S.