Sherika Brooks of the Catalogue for Philanthropy reflects on her experience as a judge at the 4th Annual LearnServe Venture Fair
“As a judge I reviewed five different ventures, each one as impressive as the next. It was extremely inspiring to see high school students who were all so motivated to make changes within their communities and beyond. Of all the ventures, one group that I judged not only caught my eye, but had the highest score in the geographic region, and therefore, won. Figuring Out College Success (FOCS) is a venture started by Nancy, Zora, Yousef, and Spencer, all sophomore students, with a goal of making the college preparation and application process easier for students. Whether they are students from international backgrounds, working class families, or first-generation college goers, the mission of FOCS is to help effectively transform the frustration and discouragement of the unknown into motivation to pursue the college path. As four young students who have not yet been through the college preparation or application process yet, their goals proved to be one of the most impressive portions of their venture proposal.
As a first time judge for the LearnServe Venture Fair, I was blown away by original and transformative ideas that these young people had come up with. It’s so refreshing to see so many young people willing (and able) to change the world, and LearnServe provides them with a great platform to do so. Congratulations to all of the winners, participants, and everyone at LearnServe who helped to put on an extremely stimulating event.”
To read the full story, visit the Catalogue for Philanthropy blog and scroll down to April 23.