Youth Social Entrepreneurs as Product Managers

All mens gains are the fruit of venturing.
Herodotus

Children are naturally drawn to entrepreneurship. They are born with imagination, skills, and ability to explore all possibilities. But a transformational change occurs when children are introduced to a purpose! Students develop motivation to achieve and start accomplishing big goals especially for others. They make big things happen with support and teamwork. At Chess Without Borders youth and adult volunteers raised over $219,000 for local and global charities. Here is an example of funds raised for a diverse range of local and global charities.

Paari and Varun Dhanasekaran, Dimitri Diyadawagamage, Anthony Zhu and Srinivas Jaganath have created companies of their own under the umbrella of Chess Without Borders. The purpose of these companies is to create projects where they raise funds for various humanitarian enterprises. These businesses are mini models of bigger businesses with a similar foundational structure. These youth leaders act as CEO's directly running their business to achieve goals. To be successful they need to conduct marketing, public relations, and use technology to advance their goals. They learn to understand the value of communication and collaboration for growth of their work.

Currently they are Project Managers for Zein’s Zesty Spices. With help from gourmet cook and mentor Zein Bertacchi they are selling her homemade spices that make cooking tasty and easy. A big drive for developing this product is that a portion of the sales from these spices benefit the Salem United Methodist Church mission trip to South Korea this summer. Some of the volunteers on this Korean trip are children of parents who fought in the Korean war when they were young. For most who went to war this was a traumatic time as they nearly lost their lives and “so many of my friends died. But we believed in serving our country”, said Craig Armstrong who fought in Korea in his 20's. "Their drive and motivation has been exceptional. I created the spices to benefit this project but did not expect the kids to become so involved. Every 2 weeks they ask me for more spices to sell", said Zein Bertacchi (creator of eating with a purpose)

Social Entrepreneurship is all about divergent thinking and connections made from simple acts. These youth had little knowledge about the Korean war but once they began raising funds to help local volunteers travel on a mission trip to South Korea they connected their sales to making the trip possible. Some of the volunteers had fathers who fought in this brutal war. Students became innovative and collaborated with a diverse group of people to be more creative and raise more funds. At a chess tournament held at Grove Avenue School in Barrington students had the privilege of meeting Sara Edwards, a volunteer on this trip who was touched that children were mindful of their journey, Sara said, " I am grateful to visit Korea where my father fought as a young man."

Through a venture such as this students develop an economic, historical, social and intellectual purpose. They learn about the history of the Korean War and the sacrifices of young people who selflessly fought, they hone technical and sales skills to achieve financial goals as they raise funds, and work in cooperation with a team. On June 17th the team will present on a brief history of the war, Korea and social entrepreneurship.

Zein Bertacchi who recently was awarded an honor from The Points of Light Foundation for her creative approach to service has used her culinary skills to create a magical blend of spices to use on any food that can then be baked, fried or grilled adding a zest to the dish. Each spice packet sells for $3 per packet. A portion of the sales will be donated towards the Salem Korean mission trip.

Last month these youth raised $1000 at the Grove Chess Tournament. On June 17th an ” Evening honoring Korean Veterans” will be held at Salem United Methodist Church from 5 to 8 pm. The $25 ticket for the evening will include a cooking class by Zein Bertacchi and a dinner hosted by youth volunteers Paari and Varun Dhanasekaran, Dimitri Diyagawagamage, Anthony Zhu, and Srinivas Jaganath.

Salem UMC is planning to take 13 local volunteers to Korea in July on a mission trip to serve the homeless population and CWB is collaborating to make this possible through raising funds and learning about the tremendous planning and work that goes into making such experiences a reality. “often we know nothing about a project when we start but by working together we gain knowledge and confidence when a task is completed, “ said 17 year old gifted volunteer Toby Schwartz.

Join us on June 17th to honor Veterans from the Korean War as we raise funds for the Salem UMC mission trip to Korea.
At: Salem UMC, 115 West Lincoln St, Barrington
From: 5 to 8 pm
Tickets:$25 per head and $10 for children under 10.

RSVP: Kiran.frey59@gmail.com