Venture for America

When I visited my friend Ken last summer in New York, he told me that he quit his job as an analyst with Swiss Bank UBS and had been accepted to the Venture for America program. He had been complaining about his hours and finding meaningful work and so it was not much of a surprise to me. Up until that point, I had never heard of Venture for America. 

Modeled after successful post-graduate program Teach for America, recent college graduates and young professionals can now join Venture for America and be partnered with start-ups across the nation to help financially grow the organization. Recent college grads and young professionals can learn the basics of entrepreneurship, and start-up businesses can be paired with the coveted talent that they could not retain on their own.

Aimed to create social impact domestically, start-up organizations that partner with Venture for America focus on a variety of issues ranging from medical imaging solutions, tech start-ups, jobs skills training, and many more in cities like Detroit, Baltimore, Cleveland, and Cincinnati. Founder and CEO Andrew Yang is an entrepreneur himself, after successfully starting Manhattan GMAT, serving as an executive in a healthcare software start-up, as well as an internet company. Recognized by major news outlets and the White House as a Champion for Change for his work with Venture for America, Yang is leading the organization to new heights in entrepreneurship for the next generation.

I hope to catch up with Ken sometime soon to see how his experience with the fellowship is going. I wonder what he'll come to learn about himself and the organization that he is paired with. Will his experience with Venture for America look more like the for-profit world that he left behind? Or will his experience give him exposure to creative ways to gain capital for his start-up? What will his role be within the organization? I'm sure it will vary across the spectrum-- writing foundation grant applications to meeting with angel investors.