Young Entrepreneurs Alliance

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Young Entrepreneurs Alliance
Type Tax-deductible Non-profit Charity
Genre 501(c)(3)
Founded 1996
Founder Robert Nessen & Julie Nessen
Headquarters Concord, MA, USA
Area served Massachusetts
Website http://www.yeaworks.org/

The Young Entrepreneurs Alliance (YEA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and a Massachusetts public charity that was founded in 1996 by the father-daughter team of Robert Nessen and Julie Nessen, based on the belief that juvenile offenders could mature into successful citizens and business owners and were not destined to become lifetime criminals.

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[edit] Mission Statement

The Young Entrepreneurs Alliance (YEA) was founded on the belief that teens from all walks of life have innate talents, waiting to be discovered.  YEA’s mission is to help low-income teens realize their economic potential and take steps toward financial independence by owning and running viable businesses. YEA opens doors to higher education and meaningful employment, enabling teens to envision and create a brighter future for themselves, their families, and their communities.

[edit] Philosophy

YEA is different from other job training programs in that YEA’s teens are not employees but business owners. Although YEA is a tax-exempt organization, the teens work together as business partners have all the responsibilities of running a for-profit enterprise. This means they have a personal stake in the success of their business and are directly involved in governance, business development and ultimately, company earnings. YEA believes that fostering this unique entrepreneurial environment empowers teens with the skills they need to run a business and, more importantly, take ownership for the direction of their lives.

[edit] History

YEA's first project in 1996 was with a group of teens in the juvenile justice system - teens without the skills, resources, or support systems to find and hold on to legitimate jobs. YEA worked with these young adults to create a simple handyman business, but with an added component: the teens learned to deliver unskilled labor in a professional manner. This meant providing first-rate service by arriving on time, behaving professionally, and thanking each customer for their business.

YEA's scope currently includes creating businesses in the Massachusetts Vocational Schools, particularly those serving teens in the most disadvantaged urban communities.

[edit] Current YEA Businesses

Digitize
 Assabet Valley Vocational High School
Marlboro, MA

In March 2003, YEA began working with students at Assabet Valley Vocational High School to create a graphic design business, which officially opened in November 2003. Digitize was first hired by New Balance, a privately held athletic shoe company, to design a New Year's holiday sale flier for their outlet stores. The teens were rehired to design a spring sales flier and also the 2004 holiday greeting card. Today, Digitize has 25 participating teens and designs logos, business cards, brochures, fliers and websites for clients in the Greater Boston and Marlborough areas.

MP Organizers
 Madison Park Technical Vocational High School
Roxbury, MA

In January 2005, YEA began training students at Madison Park Vocational High School to open a state-of-the-art document management business. Their business is called MP Organizers and specializes in scanning and indexing documents, so both documents and specific information on documents can be accessed electronically. Today, MP Organizers specializes in scanning and indexing documents for businesses, schools and individuals. The range of material they work with includes records, large documents, personal bills, and photographs.

ScanWorks
 Horace Mann School for the Deaf
Allston, MA

ScanWorks is a scanning business that is run by the 17 deaf teens at Horace Mann School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. ScanWorks gives the teens a chance to work and to learn how to run a company, an opportunity generally unavailable to deaf teens. ScanWorks specializes in scanning documents for small businesses and personal offices. These include short files, photos and financial records that customers have archived on CD in order to discard unneeded paper.

Virtual Office Assistants, Unlimited (VOA)
 Keefe Technical High School
Framingham, MA

Founded in 2006, this is a new business at Keefe Technical High School in Framingham. These teens, who are in the Business Technology Program, have created an off-site secretarial service. This is a relatively new industry that is growing quickly as small businesses outsource their administrative services. The services offered by VOA, Unlimited include typing, building mailing lists, mass mailings, creating brochures and presentations, bookkeeping and creating online newsletters.

[edit] YEA's Goal

YEA's goal is to empower low opportunity teens to attain long-term economic independence. Through their businesses, the teen partners learn the professional and leadership skills they need to succeed in business, and to build lives as active, contributing American citizens.

YEA's success is measured through the accomplishments of these businesses. Over 80% of the teens continue their education, many returning to school after dropping out.

[edit] Contacting YEA

Young Entrepreneurs Alliance
194 Cambridge Turnpike
Concord, MA 01742
(978) 369-2400
info@yeaworks.org

[edit] External links

YEA home page: http://www.yeaworks.org/