Prep for Prep Students Innovate for the Future at the Institute for Entrepreneurship

“There is a wealth gap in our country… It’s prevalent in all areas of our society, but it’s, to me, pretty clear where the value is—it’s in tech. It’s in owning your own enterprise,” said Dale Allsopp (VII) in his opening remarks at the IFE 2021 Pitch Competition Finals. A five-week program for rising high school juniors and seniors, the Institute for Entrepreneurship is now in its 20th year at Prep. Google has partnered with Prep as IFE mentors and sponsors for nine years, and Upperline Code joined to provide coding classes five years ago. All students spend the first week learning the basics of business and tech as a foundation for entrepreneurship. Then, students choose between a business track and a coding track. In their final weeks, small groups from each track collaborate to create business plans which they then pitch to a panel of judges, competing for funding to take their start-up from idea to reality. Throughout the program, alumni entrepreneurs from various sectors join students for a lunch speaker series to offer insights into their own journeys and share advice about launching their own businesses. 

This year’s panel of judges included PREP 9 alums Alexsis McKinney (P9 IX) and Tabatha Robinson (P9 XVII), and entrepreneur Sam Sena. With a baseline business and coding curriculum, Sam said he believes “in the potential that it gives to people as a leveling field. This is something that gets you into the room, but you need a bit of courage.” Prep 11th grader Adolfo M. (XL) didn’t want to be an entrepreneur at first, but became interested in IFE’s coding track. He’s since gained valuable tech skills that he will continue to nurture. Fellow participant Axel-Ryan N. (P9 XXXIII) started the program without a specific concept of entrepreneurship. “When I came to IFE it was really learning from other students who are so intelligent.” At IFE, he gained a deeper understanding of financial planning and he hopes to bring the skills he learned into his own future projects. “I’m so thankful for this opportunity.”

Competing in the final pitch competition were Atokin, BriteBeach, EduMental, and NutriDel. Atokin is a nonprofit organization dedicated to spreading financial awareness created by Xavier B. (P9 XXXIII), Syeda H. (XLI), Manas R. (XL), and Akshaya S. (P9 XXXIII). Creators Nafees A. (P9 XXXIII), Leon G. (P9 XXXIII), Zaivion H. (XXXIX), and Justin V. (P9 XXXIII) provide an easy sign-up system to volunteer for beach cleanups across NYC with BriteBeach. Kevin G. (KL), Emily S. (XL), Archishman N. (XL), and Matthew V. (XL) created EduMental for students to easily and safely discuss issues pertaining to their mental health and access resources. 

Crowned the winners of IFE 2021 were Rafael A. (P9 XXXIII), Brent A. (P9 XXXII), Aiden C. (XL), and Matthew D. (XXXIX) with their business, Nutri-Del! Nutri-Del provides quick delivery of healthy foods to your door. Each group presented the website they built, mission statement, budget, and plans for growth. The group will receive $1,800 for their start-up and a Google Pixel Go, each courtesy of Google. EduMental, who placed second, and Atokin, who placed third, will receive a cash prize and gadgets from Google as well. 

Dale ended the evening with a challenge for our students. “At this age, think about who will be working for you. I want to pose that challenge to all of you because right now, everything is possible. The only limits you have is maybe what you can see and what you’ve experienced. But you need to blast past that and think about all the things you could possibly achieve.” 

We are grateful for the continued partnership of Google and Upperline Code. Thank you to our judges Alexis McKinney (P9 IX) who co-founded a real estate development company with her husband and is the founder of a fem-tech company, Sam Sena, an entrepreneur in the tech industry for nearly twenty years, and Tabatha Robinson (P9 XVII), Assistant Attorney General and consultant for small businesses. We would also like to thank our IFE instructors and teaching assistants Sebastian, Aurora, Beth, Fausto, Lu Xi, Monte, and Jen. Well done to all students who participated in this year’s IFE program! View a full list of projects below and visit the IFE website here.

Alma is an online nonprofit working to help low-income New Yorkers live a healthy lifestyle on a budget.
Atokin is a non-profit organization dedicated to using the resources of our donors to spread financial awareness.
BriteBeach is a quick and timely system to volunteer for beach cleanup.
Cheats brings healthy food options to low income communities that are cheap and easily accessible. 
DiversityConnect is a website that provides a safe space for students of color in predominantly white schools to share their experiences and listen to educational podcasts.
EduMental is a social platform to help students improve their mental health with accessible ways to find people who have similar experiences to you.
Eulo is developing a sustainable clothing line and self-driving beach cleaning machine in order to spread awareness on excessive beach litter and to help people in need with clothing donations.
Helping Hands is a program to empower residents of affordable housing and connect them with existing community organizations, so that they may gain social and financial mobility.
Nutri-Del is New York City's affordable, organic, efficient food delivery service.
Up-Cycle is an online clothing line as well as a youth program, we sell repurposed clothing created from recycled material.