Young Entrepreneurs Alliance

Infobox Company
company_name = Young Entrepreneurs Alliance
company_
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company_type = Tax-deductible Non-profit Charity
genre = 501(c)(3)
foundation = 1996
founder = Robert Nessen & Julie Nessen
location_city = Concord, MA
location_country = USA
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area_served = Massachusetts
industry =
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homepage = http://www.yeaworks.org/
dissolved =
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The Young Entrepreneurs Alliance (YEA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and a Massachusetts public charity that was founded in 1996 by the father-daughter team ofRobert Nessen and Julie Nessen, based on the belief that juvenile offenderscould mature into successful citizens and business owners and were not destined tobecome lifetime criminals.

Mission Statement

TheYoung Entrepreneurs Alliance (YEA) was founded on the belief that teens fromall walks of life have innate talents, waiting to be discovered. YEAsmission is to help low-income teens realize their economic potential and takesteps toward financial independence by owning and running viable businesses.YEA opens doors to higher education and meaningful employment, enabling teensto envision and create a brighter future for themselves, their families, and theircommunities.

Philosophy

YEAis different from other job training programs in that YEAs teens are not employeesbut business owners. Although YEA is a tax-exempt organization, the teens work togetheras business partners have all the responsibilities of running a for-profitenterprise. Thismeans they have a personal stake in the success of their business and aredirectly involved in governance, business development and ultimately, companyearnings. YEA believes that fostering this unique entrepreneurial environmentempowers teens with the skills they need to run a business and, moreimportantly, take ownership for the direction of their lives.

History

YEA's first project in 1996 was with a group of teens in the juvenile justice system -teens without the skills, resources, or support systems to find and hold on tolegitimate jobs. YEA worked with these young adults to create a simple handymanbusiness, but with an added component: the teens learned to deliver unskilledlabor in a professional manner. This meant providing first-rate service byarriving on time, behaving professionally, and thanking each customer for theirbusiness.
YEA's scope currently includes creating businesses in the Massachusetts
Vocational Schools, particularly those serving teens in the most disadvantagedurban communities.

Current YEA Businesses

"Digitize
Assabet Valley Vocational High School
Marlboro, MA"

InMarch 2003, YEA began working with students at Assabet Valley Vocational HighSchool to create a graphic design business, which officially opened in November2003. Digitize was first hired by New Balance, a privately held athletic shoecompany, to design a New Year's holiday sale flier for their outlet stores. Theteens were rehired to design a spring sales flier and also the 2004 holidaygreeting card. Today, Digitize has 25 participating teens and designs logos,business cards, brochures, fliers and websites for clients in the Greater Bostonand Marlborough areas.

"MP Organizers
Madison Park Technical Vocational High School
Roxbury, MA"

InJanuary 2005, YEA began training students at Madison Park Vocational HighSchool to open a state-of-the-art document management business. Their businessis called MP Organizers and specializes in scanning and indexing documents, soboth documents and specific information on documents can be accessedelectronically. Today, MP Organizers specializes in scanning and indexingdocuments for businesses, schools and individuals. The range of material theywork with includes records, large documents, personal bills, and photographs.

"ScanWorks
Horace Mann School for the Deaf
Allston, MA"

ScanWorksis a scanning business that is run by the 17 deaf teens at Horace Mann School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. ScanWorks gives the teens a chance to work and to learn how torun a company, an opportunity generally unavailable to deaf teens. ScanWorksspecializes in scanning documents for small businesses and personal offices.These include short files, photos and financial records that customers have archivedon CD in order to discard unneeded paper.

"Virtual Office Assistants, Unlimited (VOA)
Keefe Technical High School
Framingham, MA"

Foundedin 2006, this is a new business at Keefe Technical High School in Framingham.These teens, who are in the Business Technology Program, have created anoff-site secretarial service. This is a relatively new industry that is growingquickly as small businesses outsource their administrative services. The servicesoffered by VOA, Unlimited include typing, building mailing lists, massmailings, creating brochures and presentations, bookkeeping and creating onlinenewsletters.

YEA's Goal

YEA'sgoal is to empower low opportunity teens to attain long-term economicindependence. Through their businesses, the teen partners learn theprofessional and leadership skills they need to succeed in business, and tobuild lives as active, contributing American citizens.

YEA'ssuccess is measured through the accomplishments of these businesses. Over 80%of the teens continue their education, many returning to school after droppingout.

Contacting YEA

Young Entrepreneurs Alliance
194 Cambridge Turnpike
Concord, MA 01742
[phone]
[mailto:[e-mail] [e-mail]]

External links

YEA home page: [http://www.yeaworks.org/ http://www.yeaworks.org/]