White House to Hold Event for Emerging Entrepreneurs; Learn More About the Latinos Being Honored
The White House announced it will hold an event next week to celebrate the success of women and young entrepreneurs in the U.S. as well as around the world, drawing attention to the need to invest in a younger and more diverse generation of entrepreneurs.
The event, which will be hosted on Monday, May 11 at the White House, will feature two Latino entrepreneurs who will showcase their projects along with three other international and American entrepreneurs.
"The event will recognize the impact made by a number of U.S. government-led initiatives," a release stated. These, now part of the larger Spark Initiative, have a goal of raising a billion dollars in private investment from up and coming entrepreneurs by the end of 2017. Women and young entrepreneurs will raise half of this amount to further expand their business ventures.
The Spark Initiative started in 2014 to "represent the best work being done by the U.S. Government to advance entrepreneurship around the world," the program's website states.
The initiative brings under its auspices 10 government programs designed to increase and encourage entrepreneurial success and development among various groups of people in the U.S. and around the world.
Among these are the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program, Women's Entrepreneurship in the Americas, and the Global Entrepreneurship Program, to name a few.
The White House will be hosting the event ahead of President Obama's trip to Kenya for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit this summer.
Two of the entrepreneurs invited to the event are Latino: Felipe del Campo from Florida and Jimena Florez from Colombia.
Del Campo, a junior at Case Western Reserve University, founded FGC Plasma Solutions in 2013 and devised a plasma-assisted fuel injector that reduces a jet's fuel consumption by 10 percent and reduces gas emissions.
For his work, FGC Plasma Solutions won the Department of Energy's Clean Energy Challenge. Del Campo's company received $50,000 as well as another $50,000 from the Aviation Clean Energy Award, sponsored by aerospace companies.
The other Latin American entrepreneur, Jimena Florez, started Crispy Fruits in 2012, along with other female entrepreneurs, in Colombia to produce healthy foods. However, she also works to empower Colombian farmers, who supply them with produce.
Thanks in part to the Women's Entrepreneurship in the Americas program, Florez received mentorship and help to expand her business.
The event will be live streamed through the White House's website and will feature six guest speakers, including "Shark Tank" stars Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran and Daymond John.
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