Babson Business Journal
Dominic Hulton
Issue date: 4/26/05 Section: Opinion
Our Mission The Young Entrepreneurs Alliance works in Boston-area schools to help teens learn how to become business professionals. They build, operate and own real, income-generating companies. These dynamic teens - who may come from low-income families, might not excel in traditional school settings, may have issues with the law, drugs, or mental health - are true entrepreneurs. One group of teens heads a graphic design shop that boasts the sneaker company New Balance as a client. Another group is launching a document management company that uses donated state-of-the-art software. The third group runs a coffee shop. YEA teen owners, working with their teachers and YEA staff, run all aspects of their businesses, from HR and finance to marketing and customer service. They also get real-world business training that prepares them to meet and serve their customers. They learn how to dress, how to shake hands and how to present themselves and their business products - skills that many adult business people are never formally taught. Many corporations have endorsed the YEA approach and witnessed its results. TJX (of T.J. Maxx, Bob's and Marshall's, etc.) is launching a "dress for success" program and will provide every YEA teen with at least one work outfit. New Balance has signed on as a long-term client of YEA's graphic design firm. Stop & Shop is creating a professional mentor program. Recently, YEA entered an agreement with Salem State College which means every YEA teen interested in attending school will be seriously considered for placement. Many would be the first in their family to attend college. YEA's premise is simple, but powerful: When teens learn by doing, they get real-world business and communications skills. They develop a sense of achievement and self-worth that dramatically increases the likelihood they will create stronger futures for themselves, their families, their communities and their schools. This practical and front-line approach sets YEA apart from other youth business programs, which are usually classroom- and curriculum-based or are more limited in scope. At YEA, everything is real-life. You learn to dress because you have a meeting. You develop a presentation because real clients expect one. And when you do your books, you put real money in the bank. A Snapshot of YEA Teens In Action Digitize has created sales fliers for the New Balance outlet stores. This past holiday season, Digitize designed the New Balance corporate holiday card, which went to thousands of people worldwide. YEA students at Madison Park Technical High School, in Roxbury, are gearing up to launch an on-line document management business. This spring, more than 25 students from the school will launch MPT Document Organizers (MPT stands for Madison Park Teens) to serve Boston businesses. YEA's History, Commitment & Results Eight years and hundreds of teen entrepreneurs later, The Young Entrepreneurs Alliance - now under the direction of Robert's daughter, Julie Nessen - has broadened its base to include teens from many backgrounds. YEA remains steadfast in its commitment to help teens develop a love and understanding of business and to provide opportunity to those kids who might not ever think about owning a business - or going to college. YEA's work speaks for itself - more than 80% of YEA participants stay in school. Graduates go on to work in professional and trade careers. Many attend college and even open up their own businesses. Below are a few stories of how YEA has affected young lives: Dan, 26, Native American, former YEA business CEO, now a college student and committed YEA alumnus - Dan is a born entrepreneur. He has a quick mind full of ideas, a personality that oozes marketing and a notebook he's filled with concepts for companies he wants to create and run in the future. But Dan wasn't always in a situation that allowed his talents to develop or shine. Dan - who has ADHD - spent his childhood years bouncing between foster homes and in the youth-detention system. He was 15 when he joined YEA. Dan feels YEA came along at a time he needed to learn life skills, but had no parents teach him. YEA filled that void, helping Dan develop the skills he now credits with getting him into a good college. Dan believes that the most important thing YEA did for him was expose him to a more positive way of life. Still in college, Dan has started a DJ/entertainment company called 360 o Entertainment. He remains very close with the YEA founders and looks to them for late-night phone calls and ongoing support to help "push, pull and hug him" when he needs it. Truyen, 23, is a former YEA business CFO, now working in California. Truyen is a survivor whose resilience is paying off with a more positive, productive life. As he became involved in running a YEA company, he and the program managers found he had an incredible head for numbers and for running the business. To help him break through his anxiety about talking with people due to his heavy Asian accent, he was put in charge of working the phones and interacting with customers. When the tough economy hit, Truyen was laid off, but took a temporary job as a telemarketer - impressive for a kid who was once so conscious of his accent. He has since become an apprentice to an electrician and is working towards becoming a journeyman so he can open his own electrical or construction business. Truyen thinks the most important thing YEA gave him was the opportunity to "feel like a better person" and without YEA and the founders, which he considers family, he says, he would be dead or in jail. Finally here is a bio on Julie Nessen, the driving force behind YEA: Julie Nessen, YEA Executive Director & Co-Founder - Julie founded the YEA program in 1996 with her father Robert L. Nessen to realize their vision for empowering at-risk youths through business ownership. This was natural extension of her prior experience teaching theater in adult prisons and troubled inner-city schools in New York, Detroit and Kansas City. Julie drives fundraising, marketing and community relations and is also responsible for expanding existing programs and developing services to help the teen entrepreneurs break into new markets. In addition, Julie continues to work extensively with the YEA: building and leading workshops on business etiquette, client service, communications skills and professional image building. Julie brings a dynamic mix of business, non-profit and arts expertise. She served as Vice President of Nessen & Associates, a Boston consulting firm specializing in business and funding development for non-profit companies and was the National Producing Director of Plays for Living in New York City, an organization devoted to portraying family and community issues through live theater. Julie also held a faculty position at the University of Michigan's acclaimed Musical Theater Program and was Assistant Artistic Director at Musical Theater Works in New York City, a non-profit devoted to the development of new works for the American Musical Theater. Julie holds a BA from Williams College in western Massachusetts and now lives in Concord with her husband, her children and their two dogs.
Most adults wouldn't give teenagers the car keys, much less trust them to create and run their own businesses. But that's just what an innovative Massachusetts non-profit organization is doing.
One of the most exciting YEA ventures is Digitize. Digitize is a graphic design firm headquartered at the Assabet Valley Vocational High School in Marlboro. Digitize provides graphic design services.
YEA was born in the late 90s when Boston businessman Robert Nessen was asked to speak to a group of boys at a halfway house on the topics of business and finance. The kids responded with high enthusiasm and raw entrepreneurial instincts, and that presentation turned into a series of classes and ultimately into a business that the teens formed with Nessen to put all their "theory" and "talk" to work.
When Truyen came to YEA he already had some business experience - but not the kind you put on a resume. He was No. 2 in a Vietnamese gang. He made his living selling drugs and had a growing criminal record.
As a member of the YEA team, Truyen saw his confidence grow, and he started to taste the satisfaction and self-worth that come from earning an honest living, and he began to slowly drown out the voices of the people in his life who had always called him stupid.
Almost a decade later, Truyen is living on the West Coast, a college graduate who has worked in the software industry.
