Dreamer ENT – Dream. Dare. Soar.

You are browsing the archives of 2010 September.

Check out the videos of 28 businesses created by high school and middle school students around the country who are competing in the NFTE 2010 Elevator Pitch Challenge. The students have thirty seconds to present their business idea before time runs out, for the opportunity to get funding to actually start their businesses.

From photography businesses to sweet treats and other products and services, check out the creative ideas these young people have dreamt up, and vote for your favorite elevator pitch videos! Visit www.elevatorpitch2010.com to view the videos and to vote. (You can vote once per day).

What is an elevator pitch?
An “elevator pitch” is a carefully crafted message designed to explain a business to a potential investor. The catch — it must be given in the time that it takes to ride up an elevator. Vote now for your favorite young entrepreneur.

Check out the video below from the Today Show featuring Tony Hansberry, a 15-year-old scientist and aspiring neurosurgeon who discovered a new surgical technique that had his mentors amazed.

Tony shows us that you don’t have to wait until you’re older to explore that career path you’ve been dreaming of – imagine contributing to the medical community at 15. Great work Tony, you’re an inspiration! Click here to read a full article about Tony and his discovery.

“If you have a passion for it – it’s probably for you.”

“It doesn’t matter what other people have to say – just stick to it.”

— Tony Hansberry II

Want to start a project in your community that helps addresses a cause you care about? Disney is offering support to young people with their Friends for Change Grant. Having recently launched “Project Green,” they are currently looking for young people who want to help clean up the environment.

Disney’s Friends for Change Grants is meant to help youth that are making environmentally friendly changes in their communities. Grants are open to schools, organizations and individuals planning service projects and will focus on projects implemented by children ages 5-18. (Source: Youth Venture)

For more information about how you can apply for the grant, visit www.disney.com/friendsforchange

A recent grant recipient was Olivia’s Bird Illustrations, who we wrote about in a previous post. Olivia is raising money through her artwork to help save animals affected by the oil spill in the Gulf Coast. She and the cast of Disney’s Camp Rock 2 recently cleaned up the Gulf of Mexico with Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup. Click here to see pictures of their big clean-up and watch supporters like Debby Ryan and Joe Jonas talking about the oil spill and how you can help below: