One student wanted to build a garden by a dump in Walla Walla. Another wanted to work on a community service project in Costa Rica. Still others wanted to start a local outdoor youth program.

Hands and ideas were flying at the Youth Venture “Dream it. Do it.” presentation on Tuesday, Oct. 2.

Youth Venture, a global organization that supports youth between the ages of 12-20 who work on unique community service projects, is currently touring Washington state.

The event was organized and advertised by Whitman Direct Action and the Center for Community Service.

“Anyone at Whitman could do this,” said sophomore attendee Lisa Curtis. “So many people have brilliant ideas.”

The organization gives fellowships of up to $1,000 to young “social entrepreneurs” who conceive of and plan new ventures to benefit a community. “It can be as local or as global as you want it to be,” said Annika Swanson, a Youth Venture representative, who added that the program currently operates in 14 countries besides the U.S.

The presentation featured social entrepreneur and motivational speaker Divine Bradley, who founded Team Revolution at the age of 17. His organization works to engage, teach and inspire inner city youth in Brooklyn, NY. “We raised $25,000 in two weeks,” Bradley said, telling students to “do what you want, not what you can.”

“Divine was really amazing,” said Curtis. “He defined what Youth Venture is all about.”
The workshop, Curtis added, “really opened up the idea that [social entrepreneurship] is possible.”

Many Whitman students came to the event with ideas and questions about how to proceed, and participated in brainstorming and a Q&A session. One factor that was highlighted as students spoke was the lack of campus-wide communication about prospective projects. Several projects were similar in nature and students discovered like minds and new contacts. One student plans to create a newsletter that will serve as a better means of campus communication.

“I didn’t know anything like [Youth Venture] existed,” Curtis said. “This kind of network and support system…it’s awesome that they’re able to give youth that kind of opportunity.”

Curtis currently volunteers with fellow sophomores Alex Kerr and Rachel Hahn at the Walla Walla Juvenile Justice Center and plans to tell Walla Walla students about Youth Venture’s program and lead workshops to further their entrepreneurship.

Youth Venture has already played an important role in Whitman students’ efforts. Whitman Direct Action, a club founded by senior Joseph Bornstein and others in 2005, received a grant from Youth Venture last year to help with costs.

“We heard about Youth Venture before our biodiesel trip,” said Bornstein in an e-mail. “We were researching grants for the project and came across Youth Venture. Seeing as YV sponsors young activists it was the perfect grant for us.”

The group of eight students researched and built a biodiesel processor. This summer, they traveled to Tegucigalpa, Honduras and held a biodiesel conference July 16-18, with the help of non-governmental organization Sustainable Harvest. At the conference, they helped educate Central American NGOs about biodiesel and sustainability.

“Youth Venture is extremely effective,” Bornstein said. “It is one of the only grants out there that young activists can apply for and have a chance of receiving. The problem with most grant makers is that they only want to sponsor long-standing reputable organizations, which means a club like WDA or any other college organization would never have a chance of receiving grant monies. YV changes that pattern and provides an excellent opportunity.”

WDA’s current project, a study of water technology in India, is ongoing. Another priority is for WDA to “become more stable at Whitman,” said member Curt Bowen. “We’re trying to built an experimental learning program.”

Youth Venture was founded by Bill Drayton, head of Ashoka, an organization that grants fellowships to leaders working towards social change. The program began in 1996 after Drayton noticed that while the social sector was stagnating, businesses were booming thanks to individual entrepreneurship. He coined the phrase “social entrepreneurship” and has been promoting youth efforts ever since.

Youth Venture has grown and now has partnerships with international companies like MTV and Starbucks. Starbucks is currently funding additional grants of up to $1,000. Applications are due in November.

“You don’t have to wait until you’re out of college to make a difference,” Curtis said, urging Whitman students to make the time for involvement in community service projects.

For more information about Youth Venture or to apply, visit genv.net.