Organization:Venture for America

Overview

"Venture for America" is an organization, founded in 2011 by Andrew Yang, that trains and places talented college graduates at startup companies located in struggling cities.  Modeled after "Teach for America," the non-profit seeks to revitalize America through entrepreneurship, while enabling opportunity and restoring an American culture of achievement.  Since its inception, the organization has trained almost 100 fellows, given fellows access to upwards of $100k in yearly seed funding, and facilitated their placement in cities including Detroit, Cincinatti, and New Orleans [1]. 

Purpose

Graduating from Columbia Law School, Andrew Yang was conflicted with what to do with his career.  As with many other young professionals, Yang knew the options outside of working on Wall Street were slim and likely career-diverting.  After working with and starting several companies (rising to the rank of CEO in Manhattan GMAT), Yang founded "Venture for America," to increase the accessibility to the startup process for college grads [linkedin].

The problem today is that qualified college graduates crave hands-on business experience to learn how to start a business.  Meanwhile, companies struggle to hire due to lack of resources and since they have yet to establish their brand.  Venture for America bridges this gap- they give companies access to high quality, motivated young workers.

      

Distinct Differences From Other Offerings

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Impact Achieved For Students and Campus

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