People

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YEA Staff

Julie Nessen
Executive Director and Co-Founder
Julie.Nessen@YEAworks.org

Julie founded YEA in 1996 with her father, Robert L. Nessen, to realize a vision for empowering at-risk teens through business ownership. This was a natural extension of her prior experience teaching theatre in adult prisons and troubled inner city schools in New York City, Detroit, and Kansas City.

As Executive Director of YEA, Julie drives the programs in all the schools, working closely with YEA teens on building their businesses. She develops and leads workshops on business etiquette, client service, communication skills, professional image building, marketing, and community relations. Julie is also leading the Stairway to Success project to formalize YEA's curriculum and enable YEA to broadly expand its program reach in the years ahead.

Julie brings to YEA a dynamic mix of expertise in business, non-profit management, and the arts. She served as Vice President of Nessen & Associates, a Boston consulting firm specializing in business and funding development for non-profit companies and was National Producing Director of Plays for Living in New York City - an organization devoted to portraying family and community issues through live theatre. Julie also served in a faculty position at the University of Michigan's acclaimed Musical Theatre Program and was Assistant Artistic Director at Musical Theatre Works in New York City. Julie holds a BA from Williams College.

Eric Terpstra
New Sector Alliance Resident in Social Enterprise

Eric is serving YEA through the Residency in Social Enterprise program sponsored by New Sector Alliance. Eric's interest in entrepreneurship was sparked during his time in the Peace Corps in Georgetown, Guyana. While teaching Information Technology at a small vocational school, he became an international entrepreneur by opening an Internet cafe operated largely by his students. Eric holds a business degree from Iowa State University and has corporate experience in IT support. He is currently working on the Stairway to Success program, assisting in the redesign of YEA's IT infrastructure, and teaching computer skills to teens in YEA's student businesses in Framingham.