For Immediate Release
Contact: Julie Silard Kantor
National Vice President
The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE)
Director, Aspen Institute Youth Entrepreneurship Strategy Group
202.215.6383
julie.kantor@nfte.com
Capitol Hill and Business Leaders “Say Yes” to Youth Entreprenuership
Washington, DC, November 13, 2008––The Youth Entrepreneurship Strategy Group (YES GROUP) will launch the “I Said Yes” campaign and release the nation’s first policymaker guide on youth entrepreneurship on Tuesday, November 18, 2008, at the Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2661, in Washington, DC. The event, entitled “We Say YES! To Youth Entrepreneurship Education in America’s Schools: What Policymakers Can Do to Prepare Youth for the Market Economy,” is focused on bringing about change in how youth are educated and empowered.
The event will kick off with greetings from Stephanie Bell-Rose, President of The Goldman Sachs Foundation and Chairperson for the YES GROUP, and Peter Reiling, Aspen Institute Executive Vice President for Leadership and Seminar Programs. A distinguished panel will discuss youth entrepreneurship including Alex Nock, Deputy Staff Director, U.S. House of Representatives Education and Labor Committee; David Johns, Policy Advisor, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee; and Lindsay Hunsicker, Senior Education Policy Advisor, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. These key leaders represent part of a growing movement across all sectors of society to increase youth entrepreneurship education throughout the country.
“Entrepreneurship training provides at-risk youth an opportunity to learn how to function in the marketplace and strengthen their community’s economy. High quality entrepreneurship training can help ensure a better quality of life for individual entrepreneurs and their communities as a whole,” says House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller.
The YES GROUP understands the world economy is changing rapidly, and that change brings enormous challenges and opportunities for better educating America’s youth. The Group believes that expanding the availability of youth entrepreneurship education should be a critical part of any future educational strategy. Through the process of starting their own ventures, young minds are engaged, talent is explored, and youth, particularly from low-income communities, become empowered.
The “I Said Yes” campaign charges leaders to support youth entrepreneurship by raising awareness, taking policy action, and providing financial resources for programs. The nation’s first policy action guide on youth entrepreneurship provides the information and tools necessary for educators and policymakers at local, state, and federal levels to introduce entrepreneurship training in schools, adopt statewide standards for youth entrepreneurship education, and revise existing education statutes, such as the No Child Left Behind Act, the Higher Education Act, and Workforce Investment Act, to include entrepreneurship skills as a desired competency in educational standards.
If you would like more information about this event or to schedule an interview, please contact Julie Kantor at 202.215.6383 or by email at julie.kantor@nfte.com.
The Youth Entrepreneurship Strategy Group (YES GROUP) is an initiative of the Aspen Institute in partnership with The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) and E*TRADE FINANCIAL. We convene prominent leaders from the fields of education, entrepreneurship and business, public policy, philanthropy, and the media to explore the promise of, and obstacles to, implementing youth entrepreneurship education in low-income communities nationwide. YES GROUP members represent thousands of teachers and hundreds of thousands of youths throughout the U.S. and abroad. For more information visit: www.aspeninstitute.org/yesg.
The Aspen Institute mission is twofold: to foster values-based leadership, encouraging individuals to reflect on the ideals and ideas that define a good society, and to provide a neutral and balanced venue for discussing and acting on critical issues. The Aspen Institute does this primarily in four ways: seminars, young-leader fellowships around the globe, policy programs, and public conferences and events. The Institute is based in Washington, DC, Aspen, Colorado, and on the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and has an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.
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