Entrepreneurship education for at-risk youth

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Entrepreneurship education for at-risk youth

When it comes to violence, poverty and other economic circumstances, youth are a higher target. One organization is trying to change that narrative by providing entrepreneurship education through hip-hop.

“The first three years of our bootcamp, we had zero arrests from kids that were system involved. There were no arrests from our kids in the first three years of operating the bootcamp,” said Hasan Stephens, executive director for The Good Life Foundation.

Growing up in inner city Bronx as an impoverished youth, Stephens knows first-hand what it’s like to be at risk. He started the foundation 12 years ago with the hope of helping other youth break that cycle.

“It was really born out of the work we were doing in Hillbrook Detention Center. We were working with a lot of youth and we saw the same face recidivate and come in and out of prison, but they were thriving and doing well while in prison,” said Stephens.

So the Hip-Hop-preneruship Academy Bootcamp was started, which exposes young adults to entrepreneurial skills through different ventures like STEM, fashion, cosmetology and content creation.

“We have workshops for them to really deep dive and learn how to do marketing, learn how to scale their business, learn how to start it on their own with the limited resources that are around them in their community. At the end of the year, we have a pitch competition where we give away a minimum of $10,000 dollars to young kids who want to start a business and have an idea,” said Stephens.

The bootcamp is also bringing back the roots of hip-hop to integrate in the program.

“It’s a rich culture that was started that was anti-poverty, anti-gang, anti-violence, pro-education, pro-literate. It has expanded into nine different elements and one of the elements is entrepreneurship. So hip-hop is incredibly entrepreneurial if you’re thinking about young kids that are just talented doing things that has then turned into a multi-billion dollar industry that is globally expected and worldwide,” said Stephens.

With the help of a $50,000 grant from the Central New York Community Foundation, the bootcamp is able to continue, which Stephens says the youth always look forward to.

“The whole team came to do the tour, to learn a bit more. The fact that he’s moved from the Allen Foundation to this big space and they’re already outgrowing this space, we’re like wow, they’re doing some amazing things,” said Quiana Williams, program officer for the Community Foundation.

Williams says the work Hasan is doing aligns with their mission to help people who are marginalized.

“I think about the decades of poverty that we have here due to disinvestment and this program is integral to trying to change that story and that narrative and giving youth aspirations,” said Stephens.

The foundation is raising money to build a hip-hop center to serve as a hub for collaboration with like-minded organizations.

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