My babies in Puerto Montt, Chile

So the million dollar question is what have I been all distracted with this summer and what is going on in Chile?

Answer: Long story short – I have been distracted with Chile…OY! You can see the timeline here of how it all came to be  http://bit.ly/cUXldx I created it on the website www.dipity.com (awesome tool for creating a ‘modern day’ interactive dream line – see your vision board come to life). It is a very cool website that allows you to make interactive timelines about anything. You can add video, images and links to stories etc. It gives you ‘perspective’ to say the least. Just can’t say enough good things about it.

Anywho, I am awakening the entrepreneurship culture in Chile and perhaps Latin America.  I will be traveling there for more than a month.

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This uber scholarship announcement list comes courtesy of my dear friend and fellow Diva Ms. Brenda Hillman, Executive Director of Youth Emporium. She is an awesome woman, doing awesome things in the State of Georgia and always filled with a tremendous amount of resources and generosity. Also, BIG THANKS at Dr. Linette Daniels (Empowering Youth for Success), for motivating me to get my blog updated, wink, wink.

1) Bell Labs Fellowships for Under Represented Minorities http://www.bell-labs.com/fellowships/CRFP/info.html

2) Student Inventors Scholarships http://www.invent.org/collegiate

3) Student Video Scholarships http://www.christophers.org/vidcon2k.html

4) Coca-Cola Two Year College Scholarships http://www.coca-colascholars.org/programs.html

5) Holocaust Remembrance Scholarships http://holocaust.hklaw.com/=2 0

6) Ayn Rand Essay Scholarships http://www.aynrand.org/contests/
7) Brand Essay Competition http://www.instituteforbrandleadership.org/IBLEssayContest-2002 Rules.htm

Gates Millennium Scholarships (major) http://www.gmsp.org/nominationmaterials/read.dbm?ID=12

9) Xerox Scholarships for Students http://www2.xerox.com/go/xrx/about_xerox/about_xerox_detail.jsp

10) Sports Scholarships and Internships http://www.ncaa.org/about/scholarships.html

11) National Assoc. of Black Journalists Scholarships (NABJ) http://www.nabj.org/html/studentsvcs.html 

12) Saul T. Wilson Scholarships (Veterinary) http://www.aphis.usda.gov/mb/mrphr/jobs/s tw.html

13) Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund http://www.thurgoodmarshallfund.org/sk_v6.cfm

14) FinAid: The Smart Students Guide to Financial Aid scholarships) http://www.finaid.org/

15) Presidential Freedom Scholarships http://www.nationalservice.org/scholarships/

16) Microsoft Scholarship Program http://www.microsoft.com/college/scholarships/minority.asp! 

17) WiredScholar Free Scholarship Search htt p://www.wiredscholar.com/paying/scholarship_search/pay_scholarship _search.jsp

18) Hope Scholarships &Lifetime Credits http://www.ed.gov/inits/hope/

19) William Randolph Hearst Endowed Scholarship for Minority Students http://www.apsanet.org/PS/grants/aspen3.cfm

20) Multiple List of Minority Scholarships http://gehon.ir.miami.edu/financial-! assista nce/Scholarship/blackhtml

21) The Roothbert Scholarship Fund htt! p://www .roothbertfund.com

22) BOEING scholarships (soma e HBCU connects) http://www.boeing.com/ /companyoffices/educationrelations/scholarships

23) Easley National Scholarship Program http://www.naas.org/senior.htm

24) Maryland Artists Scholarships http://www.maef.org/

26) Jacki Tuckfield Memorial Graduate Business Scholarship (for AA students in South Florida ) http://ww/ w.jackituckfield.org/

27) Historically Black College & University Scholarships http://www.iesabroad.org/info/hbcu.htm 

28) Actuarial Scholarships for Minority Students http://www.beanactuary.org/minority/scho larships.htm

29) International Students Scholarshi ps &Aid Help http://www.iefa.org/

30) College Board Scholarship Search http://cbweb10p.collegeboard.org/fundfinder/html/fundfin d01.html

31) Burger King Scholarship Program http://www.bkscholars.csfa.org/

32) Siemens Westinghouse Competition http://www.siemens-foundation.org/

33) GE and LuLac Scholarship Funds http://www.lulac.org/Programs/Scholar.html

35) Union Sponsored Scholarships and Aid http://www.aflcioorg/scholarships/scholar.htm

36) Federal Scholarships &Aid Gateways 25 Scholarship Gateways from Black Excel http://www.blackexcel.org/25scholarships.htm

37) Scholarship &Financial Aid Help http://www.blackexcel.org/fin-sch.htm

38) Scholarship Links (Ed Finance Group) http://www.efg.net/link_scholarship.htm

39) FAFSA On The Web (Your Key Aid Form &Info) http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/

41) Scholarships and Fellowships http://www.osc.cuny.edu/sep/links.html

42) Scholarships for Study in Paralegal Studies http://www.paralegals.org/Choice/2000west. htm

43) HBCU Packard Sit Abroad Scholarships ( for study around the world) http://www.sit.edu/stud! yabroad /packard_nomination.html

44) Scholarship and Fellowship Opportunities http://ccmi.uchicago.edu/schl1html

45) INROADS internships http://www.inroads.org/

46) ACT-SO bEURoeOlympics of the Mind ‘A Scholarships http://www.naacp.org/work/actso/act-so.shtml

47) Black Alliance for Educational Options Scholarships http://www.baeo.org/option s/privatelyfinanced.jsp
48) ScienceNet Scholarship Listing

http://www.sciencenet.emory.edu/undergrad/scholarships.html

49) Graduate Fellowships For Minorities Nationwide http://cuinfo.cornell.edu/Student/GRFN/list.phtml?category=MINORITIES

50) RHODES SCHOLARSHIPS AT OXFORD http://www.rhodesscholar.org/info.html

As the Renegade CEO’s continues its global domination (through collaboration ) we will be launching an incredible entrepreneurial program for high school students and teachers in Chile (South America) on May 10, 2010.  We are in great company with an all star cast of partners on our development team including several high end officials in the Chilean Government, Google Chile, Bank of Chile, Chile IT, Endeavor, FCM Innovation and NET TOD founded by brothers Matias and Felipe Gonzalez. We are launching a website so that you will be able to track our Renegade [ad]VENTURES as we create the Chilean Dream.

Big, big thanks to my dear friend Louis Lautman, creator of the YES (Young Entrepreneur Society) Movie, whose Facebook Fan page was unknowingly the conduit to the contact.  The development team in Chile reached out to me in November 2009 and while met with a little resistance at first, they quickly captured my heart…to the point that my upcoming trip will include a minimum 3 month stay!!! And yes, I did sign up for Spanish lessons which ironically start this evening (rates just doubled, lol).

Know someone who is working in Latin America or looking to expand there?  Let me hear from you.

@teenbizcoach

Update: As it turns out they ended up playing HALO for !!!2 days and 3 hours straight!!! and raised several hundred dollars for Child’s Play. They are accepting donations through March 4, 2010. Video archive is on their site.

Three socially inspired teens and childhood friends, Jesse Lifshitz, 17, Joey Katz, 17 and Alex Ainsberg, 17 have decided to take their love of video games to another level – they joined forces to create a 24 hour HALO Marathon. They will play Halo 1, 2, 3 andODST for 24 hours straight. The teens were inspired to host a Halothon, to raise money for Child’s Play, a noble charity, after having seen Mario Marathon and other marathons over the years.

Official Press Release: http://bit.ly/acv7HI

Watch Them Live (Starting February 9, 2010 at 12 pm EST) http://bit.ly/9xAKWq

Official Website: Halathon.Weebly.com

Please show your support with a donation of any amount to these incredible Renegade Teens!

Harun Merdzanic is a sixteen year old global fashionista situated in Sarajevo Bosnia, and Herzogovina. He describes his life as a French Musical from the 60’s. He is the visionary and blogger behind AccordingtoHarun.blogspot.com

Harun was named the Teen Passioneer of the Month (February 2010) and yesterday he was interviewed live on Sue Oliver’s Passions and Possibilities Radio Show. While listening to Harun’s interview , it dawned on me that today’s teenagers living in Eastern Europe are technically the first generation to grow up Post Communism. Less than 20 years after the end of the Cold War, the entrepreneurial culture is starting to emerge and it is the teen population that is bringing forth these new socially inspired ideas.

The innovation, work ethic, inspiration and vision that comes from the youth of Eastern Europe is incredible and they are looking now more than ever to the west for leadership and guidance. As they embark on their life paths, I hope that America has not forgotten about them and can provide them with the support and exposure they desperately need. I am trying hard to do my part.

Many thanks to all my Teen Renegade CEO’s across Central and Eastern Europe who are creating jobs, opportunity and more importantly hope for their respective countries.

This announcement comes courtesy of Andrea Krause, Executive Director of Foundation for Youth Social Entrepreneurship (FYSE). The Renegade CEO’s is proud to serve as one of their sponsors for their upcoming conference in India, July 2010.

Official Announcement:

We are very happy to inform you about our new resource base for aspiring entrepreneurs!

Today we launched the first online database in Asia Pacific to provide young people with information where to get support to start their own ventures.

While youth entrepreneurship has emerged as a hot topic in the region, the number of youth entrepreneurs in the region remains low. While, for example, 51% of university students in Singapore desire to have their own business (Wang & Wong 2004) only 5.3% start a business. The most cited reasons for not starting their venture include a perceived lack of skills and knowledge, a lack of educational and financial support. So far, if a young person wanted to find information about available resource, they had to identify information about entrepreneurship courses or financial support in a time consuming and individual base from various sources on the internet.

To overcome the perceived lack of resources and to enable aspiring entrepreneurs to access information in a easy and convenient way, the Foundation for Youth Social Entrepreneurship (FYSE) has compiled a database of resources available for young aspiring entrepreneurs in Asia Pacific. The information includes a list of courses, workshops and trainings on entrepreneurship and available business plan competitions in which young people can take part.

The aim of the database is to provide young people in Asia with a one-stop source for young aspiring entrepreneurs to get all the information they need to take the first steps towards becoming an entrepreneurs and a source for organizations to attract aspiring entrepreneurs to their programs. The database will be extended in the coming months to include interviews, podcasts and videos with leading entrepreneurs in Asia Pacific to provide knowledge and expertise to young start-ups.

The Resources can be found at http://www.paragon100.asia Under "Resources"
or at http://bit.ly/6NJsxT

Print on Demand Makes Publishing a Book Accessible for Teen Entrepreneurs

The old adage says that ‘everybody has at least one great book in them’. You may be pleasantly surprised at how easy technology has made it to turn that dream into a reality. The teen entrepreneurs I work with are discovering the accessibility and ease of writing and publishing their own books thanks to print on demand options offered by online do it yourself publishing websites such as createspace.com and lulu.com.

Print on demand (micro) publishing allows a book to be printed as it is ordered. No upfront money is needed to publish each book once it has been created. No minimum order is required, and the cost of the production for the book is deducted from the sales price after the consumer has placed their order. The books are produced using high end digital printers, and provided the books have an ISBN (International Standard Book Number obtained through Bowker) and barcode they can be sold online through major book sellers as well as in your hometown book store.

To continue reading this article

Teen Aspect (www.teenaspect.com) is a forum geared towards teen business owners that was developed by Serial Teen Entrepreneur Ed Nash who hails from the U.K. The launch of the forum comes right on the heels of his wildy successful www.FitorFugly.com iphone app which has garnered nearly 10,000 downloads in its first 2 weeks on the market and has gotten mentioned in the Huffington Post and on the Real Housewives of Orange County.

The Teen Aspect Forum is moderated by Ed, a few other young and ambitious entrepreneurs and yours truly. To build a stronger following in the community and really get it going, the first 1,000 registered members will receive shares in the new venture, so be sure to sign up ASAP if you want to take advantage of this. Currently, we are working on the logistics of some other potential partnerships with others in this space that will provide multi levels of dynamic support for teen entrepreneurs worldwide.

@teenbizcoach

Last night I was honored to have a seat at the NFTE Movie Premiere of Ten9Eight Shoot For the Moon. I went there to support entrepreneurial teens (aspiring and emerging), the groovy folks that I work with in the DC office and all of the teens I have had the privilege to personally work with that were featured in the movie.

The movie follows the journey of teens from low income neighborhoods enrolled in the NFTE Program at their public high school who are competing to win a chance to the National Business Plan Competition (NYC) and a $10,000 Grand Prize.

I get it and I got it, this whole concept of ‘competing’ for the prize, prestige, recognition. The fame, the fortune, the glory. Yeah, I got it. :) And I would totally recommend any teen out there who has been thinking of starting a business go and watch the movie (in select AMC theatres for a limited time). The movie is a huge step in bringing forth greater awareness of the public about teens and entrepreneurship.

But I have to tell you. This morning, I reflected back on the movie and the one thing I found myself thinking about over and over again were the tens of thousands of teens who didn’t win the competition or even advance beyond their in classroom competition. What happened to them?

A true Renegade CEO challenges not the limits of society but the limits of oneself.

This is like the all encompassing theme in the World of the Renegade CEO’s. There is no such thing as having competition, other than yourself. The corporation you bad mouth today could be the same one merging with or buying your company tomorrow. And what will your client think if you talked about their crappy, inferior product and how they treat their customers so poorly. While you may be smaller, more streamlined and efficient in some respects and maybe even an early adopter in terms of technology, better is relative. You are not better than anybody. You are different…but you are also the same.  You both have to market to seek clients, earn money to sustain and grow your business, pay taxes. And for many small businesses, becoming a ‘bigger company’ with millions in annual revenues and customers all over the world is usually a measure of success.

So I leave you with this- in our current economy where resources are strapped, it is important that you come from a place of collaboration vs. competition.

1. Be open to AND with ideas and continual feedback in regards to both your clients and other organizations (smaller and larger than you) in your industry.

2. Embrace the world. When you are online you are connected globally. So have awareness, respect and sensitivity for others outside of your ‘immediate’ community.

3. Look for innovative ways to partner with others who offer complimentary products/services to you.

4. Always work for the best needs of your customer first. When your customer is at the forefront, you will learn to look beyond differences (of other companies who offer similar products/services) and instead serve as a resource for your industry to better educate and support your clients.

5. Make Trust the Norm. Trust Everyone Unless They Personally Give You a Reason Not To. It is so easy to build new relationships and get caught up on the shortcomings and drama from old relationships that didn’t work out. If someone engages in a relationship with you in which they are asking for things that are not ethically or morally right then you obviously know that you cannot trust them. Otherwise, understand that in collaborative relationships, trust is the norm. And when it is the norm, not the exception that people do things with you out of the kindness of their heart without any immediate expectation of repayment.

And big thanks to my trusted mastermind partners, Marianne St. Clair, Greg Balanko-Dickson, Danielle Herb, Mena Gagne and Patricio Quezada who have taught me and reaffirmed the importance of creative, communal collaboration. It works!

@teenbizcoach

Today I attended Actionomics [DC] Fall Forum 2009, hosted by the fabulous Washington DC Economic Partnership Office, which is an incredible and valuable resource for small businesses in the city (everybody who works there is so nice).

Here is the [link I have yet to find-womp, womp] to the virtual home of Actionomics [dc] *sigh*.  There you can read all about this groovy citywide initiative that we have already set free. 

So what exactly is Actionomics [dc]?

In my interpretation, it is an offline crowdsourcing initiative designed to bring together community thought leaders inclusive of individuals and organizations (public/private sectors) who are directly or indirectly connected to DC’s Creative Economy.  This mashup of folks have been tasked to inspire, stimulate AND launch the ‘genius idea(s)’ that will address challenges in the community and essentially spark a ’new and emerging culture’ for DC. The idea is to be known for something other than politics, law and government. Teen Entrepreneurs…now that is a novel idea

What is it other than the politics, law and government that is going to attract, train and retain fresh voices and talent which ‘rallies’ around this new DC?

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