Integrated Learning Social Entrepreneurship in Schools

By David Dey, President and CEO, RISEGO, Inc.

585-576-6634

Background

Introduction

RISEGO (a not-for-profit) is dedicated to creating young social entrepreneurs before entering college. RISEGO’s focus is to create social young entrepreneurs before they enter college and to develop unique programs that target at-risk youth.

Statement of Problem

Many students are leaving school without the necessary tools, education and experiences to help them continue their education and prosper in every aspect of their lives. Additionally, the Global Entrepreneurship Report indicates that many of our young people (75%) want to own a business or are interested in knowing more about entrepreneurship as a career path and for the most part the entrepreneurial message has been restricted to the college campus. There is clearly a need to engage youth before they enter college and target at-risk youth that are not in school.

Solution

RISEGO is partnering with schools to create economically independent young people that areengaged and contributing to the improvement of their communities through social entrepreneurship (Creating Entrepreneurs in Schools). RISEGO is also partnering with the Rochester City Drug Court to engage youth in the drug court program to create entrepreneurs that are on a path that will allow them to prosper in every aspect of their lives (Creating Entrepreneurs in Communities).

Creating Social Entrepreneurs in Schools

Our goal is to model how best to provide students with business, entrepreneurial education and experiences that help them succeed in school and prosper in every aspect of their lives. Our next steps are to finalize the development of a curriculum that teachers can use as part of a core course, special project, honors program, after school activity or college credited class. The curriculum is entitled “The Journey”, has been modeled in Rochester City Schools District’s Global Media Arts (GMA) School to introduce social entrepreneurship to students as part of their classroom.

Creating Social Entrepreneurs in Communities

Our goal is to model how best to engage youth-at-risk and provide them with business, entrepreneurial education and experiences that help them succeed in life and avoid the pitfalls of selling and using drugs. The strategy utilizesa modified version of the Journey to help young people address business and social issues in their community. Our next steps are to finalize the development of a community-based entrepreneurial site that trains at-risk youth to choose an alternative product and service that builds community.

Location of the Program – The Creating Young Entrepreneurs in Schools component will operate in schools nationwide and the Creating Young Entrepreneurs in Communities will operate out of the social entrepreneurship center located at 336 Arnett Blvd.; of course our desire is to take the lessons learned and replicate the models in other communities.

Social Entrepreneurship in Communities

We have partnered with Rochester City Drug Court to introduce social entrepreneurship to develop the next generation of young Social Entrepreneurs by providing them with entrepreneurship training and experiences that will teach them how to create financial wealth while simultaneously developing businesses and ventures that address the needs in their communities.

The community-based model, designed for young people ages 21 – 30, will create young social entrepreneurs by integrating concepts into their lives. The program begins with the creation of a community based entrepreneurship center (learning center) that will allow RISEGO and the Rochester City Drug Court to develop the next generation of young Social Entrepreneurs by providing them with entrepreneurship training and experiences that will teach them how to create financial wealth while simultaneously developing businesses and ventures that address the needs in their communities. Additionally, the entrepreneurial ventures will generate income to sustain them and jobs for additional youth employed by special projects.

The Winning Concept

The goal of the program is to create a social entrepreneurial center that provides youth with the opportunity to learn in a non-traditional setting and harness the power of entrepreneurship. Youth will be taught fundamental topics (math, science and language arts) as well as develop strategies, business concepts and ventures that will add value and connectivity to the learning. The various businesses and projects chosen by the students demonstrate this broad definition of social entrepreneurship by creating businesses that can have a profound impact upon the community.

A social entrepreneur is interested in addressing a need or problem through entrepreneurship. By introducing social entrepreneurship to at-risk youth, our future leaders will have access to creating financial wealth while simultaneously developing businesses and ventures that address the needs in their community. The business ventures will focus on addressing pressing community needs that appear to fall into four broad categories:

Economic Development and Jobs
Housing
Crime and Safety
Schools and Education

The community based entrepreneurship center creates the ideal hands-on learning environment and is an excellent platform to showcase how lives and communities can be transformed through social entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurship is also a great way of re-connecting required school lessons with tangible ways of applying math, language arts, science and social studies. The entrepreneurial projects make learning relevant and engaging by forcing students to see the importance of education to their future and economic wealth.

Our goal is to stimulate the creation of jobs, income, health and wealth for residents or communities located in and around neighborhood commercial areas. The process uses entrepreneurial approaches to address both social and economic / business needs in a community and replaces the need for obsolete or ineffective neighborhood plans. The power of the framework helps:

Reduce the social issues (crime, safety, lack of investment, jobs, etc.) by applying social entrepreneurship
Increase the viability of commercial areas and attract desired businesses and investors to an area while encouraging local residents to own real estate and businesses
Provide comprehensive ongoing technical assistance and support to area businesses
Improve the marketing and perception of commercial areas and the aesthetic appeal of the businesses
Develop attractions and destinations that customers are willing to visit (arts, neighborhood history and cultural events, festivals, exhibits, etc.)

Our winning strategy begins by identifying and renovating a site that houses young entrepreneurs and businesses that are provided onsite support. The businesses onsite pay rent for space and for business consulting and technical assistance that improves their profitability. Our consulting services fall into three broad categories:

Marketing Research and Analysis
Facility and Site Support Services
Business Training and Technical Assistance

There is also a need to engage at-risk youth as a strategy to reduce the number of violent crimes being committed and eliminate the need to sell drugs (the social issues). The youth will create and own businesses that will address business and social needs in their community. The site includes a classroom to train young entrepreneurs about entrepreneurship and complete their GED or vocational training. The businesses on site are used to showcase how successful young entrepreneurs can own and operate a business the builds wealth and community.

Focus on Building The Next Generation of Social Entrepreneurs

We will focus on young entrepreneurs and start-up businesses, preferably in the earlier stages of operation. We prefer to establish a relationship with a younger operation and continue to nurture that relationship over the long term with a focus on ensuring the success of startups located along the neighborhood commercial strip and those within our facility. In essence, we provide leased space and consulting support to young entrepreneurs, startups and businesses looking to lease space or have their merchandise marketed and sold. We have conducted a comprehensive analysis of the business mix needs for the area so the businesses within the center will address real business and social needs.

Site Plan and Development

Arnett BoulevardCommercial Development Plan
Rochester, New York
Developer:
RISEGO, Inc.
Site Location:
332-338 Arnett Blvd.
Rochester, NY
Community Entrepreneurship Development (CED):
CED is RISEGO’s strategy to revitalize and redevelop neighborhood commercial areas and communities using our model of Social Entrepreneurship. The process includes:

Community Entrepreneurship Development Team
Marketing Research and Analysis
Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development
Business Support Strategy
Business and Marketing plan
Business and Housing Tenant Recruitment Strategy
Public-private partnerships

Development Site Features:

Entrepreneur / Professional Business Suites, ideal for a Lawyer, Consultant or other small entrepreneurial professional

Conference Room and TrainingCenter for conducting training and small team meetings

Technology / BusinessServicesCenter provides onsite access to copying, printing, scanning, faxing, the Internet or business planning software

Consignment space for small retail sales

Catering Service / Café Space and Commercial Kitchen for shared use by food vendors

Apartment rentals (4 one-bedroom apartments)

Rest rooms

Completion Date
Spring, 2007
/
Development Process Overview
RISEGO, Inc worked with the local businesses and community to complete the development plan. The Community Entrepreneurship Development Plan for Arnett Boulevard includes a one block commercial area where we are modeling a community building strategy that utilizes Social Entrepreneurship to address business and social needs.
The Plan outlines a comprehensive process that features two strategies:
Building the Next Generation of Social Entrepreneurs

Supporting Social Entrepreneurs Through

Specialized Consulting and Client Services

BusinessCenter Services and Site Amenities

The location and site amenities provide an ideal site to support entrepreneurs and small businesses, a means of attracting new retail tenants, approaches for achieving significant new investment to support apartment improvements. The access to a heavy traffic volume, local library, schools, doctor’s office and parking make this the ideal development site.

Articles and Publications

David Dey taps local talent to build a Social Entrepreneurship Center in Rochester, NY.

Making profit to profit the community

New Center Helps Troubled Teens

TV & Radio

1370 Connection – November 28, 2006 & June 5, 2007

Social Entrepreneurship Reporter – November 3, 2007

Need to Know – November 30, 2007

Social Enterprise News and Commentary

David Dey taps local talent to build a Social Entrepreneurship Center in Rochester, NY.

Posted by Tom White on November 3rd, 2007 filed in Social Enterprise, SERadio Interviews, Youth Development, Green Jobs, Reentry Strategies, Innovation

A 2005 Social Enterprise Reporterarticle on Campus-Community Catalysts profiled David Dey when he was the Director of the Institute for Social Entrepreneurship, an experiential learning program based at RobertsWesleyanCollege in Rochester, NY. He is still Director of the Institute, which went with him when he left Roberts, but as he says in the SERadio interview you can listen to below, “You get to the point where what you’re doing has to have tangible outcomes that touches somebody other than the campus. A lot of the research that I did [at ISE] now has to be implemented so I’ve had to change hats.”

David has recently incorporated RISEGO, a 501c3, whose focus is to create social entrepreneurs in the schools and communities of Rochester, NY. RISEGO is a social venture, building entrepreneurial capacity and addressing the issue of youth development in an urban setting. A critical part of RISEGO’s mission is involving youth, in and out of school, as well as youth attending juvenile drug court. David hopes that it will be a model for other communities across the state.

The community has come out in force to donate their time, resources and talent to rehab the site of RISEGO’s new SocialEntrepreneurshipCenter. When David did not have access to cash or credit, his friends, family, church members and community members have lent their skills and talents to bring about the development of the Center. Local youth, architects and skilled tradespeople emerged as volunteers because “the concept was noble and people saw the value that it would provide in advance of completing the site.” The building is 7500 square feet with the base level having four commercial rental offices and RISEGO’s training center, and the second level having residential rental apartments available.

You can also Click on the MP3 link below to listen to or download the audio file of the interview.

Making profit to profit the community

By David Dey
Guest essayist

(November 29, 2006) — Social entrepreneurship — the idea that business can and should address a community's social and economic needs at once — can be a vital tool in fighting crime and lifting up a community.

And social entrepreneurship is the goal of RISEGO Inc., a not-for-profit that I started in 2005 and that will be open for business in Rochester next June.

RISEGO's primary functions will be four:

 To train future entrepreneurs in ninth through 12th grade on how to be entrepreneurs — make money — and make social change at the same time.

Classes will be held after school and during the summer. Four businesses that will share RISEGO's building at 336 Arnett Blvd. will model social entrepreneurship for our students.

 Educating Drug Court defendants how to market and sell products other than illegal drugs.

 Market to schools The Journey, a curriculum in social entrepreneurship. The Journey guides teachers and students on how to launch ventures and businesses that address core needs in their school.

 Assist primarily minority- and women-owned businesses in the area to grow.
RISEGO is an offshoot of the Institute for Social Entrepreneurship, which I founded in 2003 as part of my master's degree program at RobertsWesleyanCollege. Thus far, the institute, still based at Roberts Wesleyan, has undertaken about 15 projects.

For example, the institute wrote the business plan that helped Springdale Farm, operated in Ogden by Heritage Christian Services, to expand, providing its disabled clients more meaningful work experiences and giving student groups the opportunity to visit.

Now, by RISEGO's introducing social entrepreneurship to youth, our future leaders will learn to create financial wealth while simultaneously creating ventures and businesses that address the needs in our schools and communities.

Dey is president and CEO of RISEGO Inc. E-mail him at . or call (585) 464-8298.

New Center Helps Troubled Teens
by Diana Palotas
Published Sep 29, 2006

Risego Inc. started at Roberts Wesleyan.
A new venture promises to help small businesses grow, while giving troubled teens the tools they need to survive.
This building in Rochester’s 19th Ward will soon become the SocialEntrepreneurshipCenter run by Risego Incorporated. A number of small businesses including a cafe, caterer, and artist’s studio are moving in there.
While these businesses get needed support, they will also provide youth at risk with business, entrepreneurial education and experiences that will get them working and keep them away from violence, drugs and alcohol.
It is about linking their education to their future.
"Why am I learning the science? Why am I learning the language arts? Because you are going to need it because those are essential skills an entrepreneur have to have. So if you can't manage your business you have to pay someone else to do it and that's how you lose," said David Dey, CEO of Risego Inc.
Afterschool programs in the area will identify the teens for this project. The Rochester City Drug Court will help with those teens who do not attend school.
Risego got its start at the Institute for Social Entrepreneurship at RobertsWesleyanCollege.

TV & Radio

Week of 11/27-12/1/06

Wednesday
Hr. 2-David Dey, who's launching new projects for empowerment of the disadvantaged on Rochester's west side

Week of 6/4-8/07 (revised)

Tuesday
Hr. 1-David Dey of RiseGO on his budding venture in social entrepreneurship

David Dey taps local talent to build a Social Entrepreneurship Center in Rochester, NY.

RISEGO is featured in this month's newsletter in addition to a 20 minute radio interview that highlights the development project on Arnett Blvd. Please visit the SER website by connecting to the link below:

Need to Know…

We interview two people who are taking an active role in trying to help young people at risk in the City of Rochester. First, we talk to Joe Klein, CEO of Klein Steel, about his new group called "Friends of the Students of the RochesterCitySchool District." And then we feature Perinton resident David Dey and "RISEGO" - an inner city organization he founded to pluck unemployed young people off the streets and teach them the skills they need to succeed.