Grand Prairie Student Wins NFTE's South Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge
May 13 2024 - 8:46AM
Global entrepreneurship education nonprofit Network for
Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) has named five local student
businesses as the winners of its annual South Regional Youth
Entrepreneurship Challenge. The young entrepreneurs distinguished
themselves on May 10 through innovative business ideas, which they
will present at the national finals in New York on Oct. 10 to
compete for the National Champion title and cash prizes.
Competitors pitched their original business concepts to a panel
of esteemed judges, including Alberto Arroyo, NFTE alumnus and
entrepreneur; Lincoln Cohoon, Senior Manager at Ernst & Young
LLP (EY US); Shawn Cross, Small Business Community Banking &
Lending Production Manager at Bank of America; John Steinmetz,
President & CEO of Vista Bank and Vice-Chairman of Vista
Bancshares; and Pushkala Venkataraman, Product Area Lead at
Fidelity Brokerage Technology. They selected a first-place winner
to receive $1,500, a second-place winner to receive $1,000, a
third-place winner to receive $500, and two runners up to each
receive $100.
- 1st Place: Lodias Martinet from
Grand Prairie School for the Highly Gifted in Grand
Prairie, Texas, with his business idea Style Selector, an
app that generates outfits for those who don’t know what to
wear.
- 2nd Place: Angel Alvarez from
Price Career Institute South in Dallas with his
business idea UniDesign, an affordable yet premium quality branding
and design business.
- 3rd Place: Abril Cardona from Nimitz
High School in Irving, Texas, with her business idea
Detect-A-Ray, a security system to detect, secure, and protect
school environments from gun violence.
- Runner up: Peyton Bernstein from
Hillcrest High School in Dallas with his
business idea Peyton’s Pastries, which offers a variety of baked
goods including cookies, cakes, and cupcakes.
- Runner up: Brihana Herrera and
Danamari Martinez Reyes from Career
Institute North in Dallas with their business idea Bra
Physics, a business for women to feel confident and empowered by
finding their ideal bra size.
“The level of competition represented by all of our NFTE South
students is beyond all expectations,” said Trish McKeel, NFTE South
Regional Director. “These young entrepreneurs are not only forward
thinking with their business ideas, but also grounded in the
reality of giving back to their local community. They are truly
amazing, and NFTE South is so very proud of them, their teachers
and families!” The NFTE South Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge was
presented by EY US, with associate support from the Citi
Foundation, PayPal, Santander, and Shopify.
For media inquiries, please contact Angelika Seaman,
603-504-8554, or Denise Berkhalter, APR, 917-281-4362, at
mediainquiries@nfte.com.
###
About NFTE:
Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) ignites the
entrepreneurial mindset with unique learning experiences that
empower students to own their futures. A global nonprofit founded
in 1987, NFTE provides high-quality entrepreneurship education to
middle school, high school and postsecondary students. NFTE brings
the power of entrepreneurship to students, regardless of family
income, community resources, special needs, gender identity, race,
or ethnicity. NFTE has educated more than a million students,
delivering our programs in school, out of school, in-person,
online, or through hybrid models. Visit nfte.com to learn
more.
- 2024 NFTE South Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge Winners
- NFTE South Regional Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge
Champion
Denise Berkhalter, APR
Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE)
917-281-4362
deniseb@nfte.com