Future Founders & Ford Motor Company Award $15,000 in College Scholarships to Chicago Teens

July 31, 2017

Last Thursday, Future Founders hosted our “Be Your Own Boss” Summer Entrepreneurship Camp Student Showcase and awarded $15,000 in college scholarships thanks to the generous support of the Ford Motor Company Fund. The event was the culmination of our multi-week camps that taught high school students from CPS how to become entrepreneurs.

Congratulations to the future founders who created scholarship winning apps:

• Natilie Butler (King College Prep) & Candace Jones (Kenwood Academy), Founders of Cash Right, a financial management tool for young people
• Maggie Browdy (Whitney Young) & Desire Green (Jane Addams HS), Founders of Easy Read – an app that teaches Pre-K children how to read through visuals and storytelling
• Austin Hill (Chicago HS for Agricultural Sciences) & Gwenyth Lemaster (Walter Payton College Prep), Founders of Loop – which connects parents and teachers to provide a student feedback “loop”
• Ahnaya Baker (Perspectives Charter – Joslin) & Kylen Green (King College Prep), Founders of myCounselor – which gives students virtual access to a college guidance counselor
• Zoey Ellis (Lane Tech) & Dylan Smith (GCE Lab School), Founders of Sports Aid – that helps athletes when they’re injured far from civilization
• Juan Camacho (Westinghouse College Prep) & Crystal Lin (Whitney Young), Founders of Travel Log – which tracks the user’s location and pictures taken along their journey

Additional congratulations to Xavier Estrada (Kennedy HS) for winning the $500 Josie R. Dunnett “Live Your Dreams” Scholarship presented by Connie and John Rich.

Huge thanks to all of the “investors” who listened to student pitches and provided meaningful feedback.

• Wesley Anne Barden – Motorola Solutions Foundation
• Ryan Hesslau – foreverU (2015 Future Founders Fellow)
• Vinesh Kannan – Omnipointment (2017 Future Founders Fellow)
• Tom Klehr (Future Founders Entrepreneurial Champion)
• Nika Koda – Hermit (2016 Future Founders Fellow)
• Diana Lopez-Obaldo – 1871
• Christina Marshall-Valdez – Taelur (Future Founders Instructor)
• Doug Messana – Ford Motor Company
• Daniel Natsagdorj – Deliveree (2017 Future Founders Fellow)
• Lisa Portnoy – EY
• Bill Ridgway – Skadden
• Jackie Schwartz – Baxter (Future Founders Entrepreneurial Champion)

Special thanks to:

• Our tremendous camp hosts…
  • Future Founders Board Member Phyllis Lockett and LEAP Innovations for hosting week one in their classroom
  • Future Founders Entrepreneurial Champion Ryan Page and Capital One for hosting week two at The Shop
  • The entire 1871 team (special shoutout Jeanne Reidy) for hosting weeks three and four at 1871
• The parents and guardians who came out to support their daughters and sons in the camp
• All the volunteers who participated in focus groups to provide feedback on the students’ apps
• Future Founders’ very own Nick Prestemon and Jasmine Shells for creating a tremendous camp experience for students
• Our team of rockstar Future Founders entrepreneurship instructors who inspired students throughout the camps: Salvador Dueñas, Brittany Hogan, Christina Marshall-Valdez, and Tatyana Shestopalova