Bravo Family Foundation expands Bravo Challenge initiative for students
The Bravo Family Foundation (BFF) announced the expansion of the Bravo Challenge for Youth, an initiative of its Empowering Entrepreneurs (EYEs) program for students enrolled in high schools across the island.
The foundation is accepting applications to join the newest Bravo Challenge cohort through Aug. 31 on its website.
Bravo Challenge for Youth is designed to turn high school students into the next generation of entrepreneurs by developing their business and entrepreneurial skills.
The pilot program, called Bravo Challenge, trained 30 young students from various schools in the municipalities of Loíza, Canóvanas, Carolina and Trujillo Alto. Of those, 75% of Bravo Challenge for Youth participants came from families living below the poverty level.
“We’re so proud of the results we achieved with the pilot program, especially the innovative projects the students came up with to solve some of Puerto Rico’s most pressing problems,” said Orlando Bravo, co-founder of BFF and founder and managing partner of Thoma Bravo.
“At the Bravo Family Foundation, we continue to bet on young people, equipping them with entrepreneurial skills and opening doors for them that will one day help them create and grow new businesses here in Puerto Rico,” he said.
Among the resources offered by the EYEs program are team leaders, psychologists, counselors, and an external evaluator who measures the project’s impact on students, parents, and the project’s staff.
“Investing in our youth and providing opportunities for their professional and personal development is our goal. We continue to expand our reach, and with this next cohort we want to impact approximately 150 students,” said Blanca I. Santos, executive director of BFF.
Purpose-driven projects
In this first edition of Bravo Challenge, most projects used technology to address problems in areas such as mental health, financial education, nutrition, and education.
The program’s impact entrepreneurship projects include:
- Learn With Me is a platform that facilitates access to education and personal development, connecting specialists and members of the community with a vision for a better future.
- Peace of Mind (POM) is a mental health platform dedicated to helping young people connect with their inner selves through community and education.
- Inchplus is a plus-size clothing company focused on motivating people to feel good about their body types and fashion styles without limiting themselves.
- FInadise is an application that enables users to organize their finances and provides personalized recommendations.
- NutriVision assists users to plan their meals in an educated way by analyzing their food in their refrigerators and pantries with the help of a nutritionist.
- Pazu is a mobile app that advises and guides teenagers through everyday problems.
- Keizen is a platform that allows users to take dance lessons and cultural workshops under a variety of categories based on styles and countries.
- Posithink is a mobile app designed to support victims of social stigma and boost their mental health offering a space for support and attention
“I had the opportunity of listening to people experienced in the entrepreneurship field. It was useful and easy to understand,” said student Jesús Matías, noting the importance of the workshops for his growth as a future entrepreneur.
The Bravo Challenge offers a curriculum that is focused on the following skills, experiences, and events:
- Business skills following he Thoma Bravo playbook;
- Soft skills;
- Self-discovery to define interests, strengths, and weaknesses;
- Community experiences and social responsibility; and,
- the Bravo Entrepreneurs meeting.
To impact students islandwide, the Bravo Challenge Youth’s second edition will be held in two locations of Ana G Méndez University: Cabo Rojo and Carolina.
BFF is bringing business owners who have graduated from Bravo’s Rising Entrepreneurs Program to mentor the next set of high school students who will be chosen to participate in EYEs, the nonprofit stated.
