Personal Causes
The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship is an organization that has taught over 180,000 disadvantaged kids around the world how to build their own businesses. The organization's founder, Steve Mariotti, was one of my earliest mentors and remains one of my best friends to this day. I've been involved on almost every level from being a certified NFTE teacher to regional board member. I even created their first advanced curriculum and started their All-Star Program to help the top students from each program have their businesses take off in the real world.
As a member of the NFTE Los Angeles board, my team at YSN and I have really gotten to know a lot of the local kids, and particularly those at Crenshaw High School. After the first visit, it was hard not to fall in love with them. Now we work with the students (and their fantastic teacher Mary San Jose), on a bunch of different projects and even launched our first Professional/Personal Branding workshop with them this past semester.
Students in Free Enterprise is another group near and dear to my heart. I first met the founder, Alvin Rores and the head of their International Programs, Bruce Nasby, when I was first starting The Young Entrepreneurs Network in the early 90s. Today, the organization has grown to include students from every continent and, in doing so, teaches them how to have "A Head for Business and A Heart for the World". We've built a wonderful partnership with them over the past couple of years. Besides their incredible global competitions, my favorite activity is the Quick Connect (speed networking) events our team at YSN does every year.
Junior Chamber International is the oldest and largest young professional organization in the world and they are just extraordinary. With members from over 80 countries, they have become a real institution in communities everywhere. In addition to training many of the world's top leaders, they are the go-to group for the UN, country presidents, prime ministers (and even Kings), when they need the support of young leaders and entrepreneurs to help with important causes.
When I first started the Young Entrepreneurs Network, I had an incredible opportunity to be part of the founding board - The National Mentoring Policy Council - where we drafted the first national guidelines for the building and execution of mentoring programs. It was an extraordinary opportunity to work side by side with the leaders of the biggest youth organizations in the US and set the foundation for some of the most impactful initiatives to connect young people with responsible, caring adults who can make all the difference in their lives.