Guess what?Blog visitor Adepeju Jaiyeoba and Tony Elumelu will be amongst those who will be meeting President Obama!
Adepeju sent in house mail offering her help and encouragement...Please scroll
On Monday, May 11th, the White House will bring together emerging entrepreneurs from across the United States and around the world to highlight the importance of investing in women and young entrepreneurs to create innovative solutions to some of the world’s toughest challenges, including poverty, climate change, extremism, as well as access to education and healthcare.
This event comes ahead of the President’s travel to this summer’s Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Kenya and provides a unique opportunity to galvanize global attention on emerging women and young entrepreneurs.
The event will recognize the impact made by a number of U.S. government-led initiatives. In 2014, the Administration set a goal for its best entrepreneurship programs, now to be led under the umbrella of the Spark initiative, to generate over a billion dollars in private investment for emerging entrepreneurs by the end of 2017, with half of this goal to be raised for women and young entrepreneurs.
The White House will name nine more top American entrepreneurs to be named as Presidential Ambassadors for Global Entrepreneurship to contribute to this goal. The world’s brightest entrepreneurs still require further support through the commitments and collaboration of governments, investors, businesses, organizations and individuals. The event will also recognize the creation of the Spark Global Entrepreneurship coalition to further these
objectives.
Speakers for the event will include five entrepreneurs from around the world and from various U.S. government programs, cast members of ABC’s TV series Shark Tank and other organizations. The event will be live streamed on the White House website. To watch this event live, visit www.whitehouse.gov/live at 2:00 pm ET on May 11th. Additional details about the event will be made available in the coming days.
Guest Speakers
- Mark Cuban, Investor on “Shark Tank” and Owner of the Dallas Mavericks
- Barbara Corcoran, Investor on “Shark Tank” and Founder of Barbara Corcoran Venture Partners
- Daymond John, Investor on “Shark Tank” and CEO and Founder of FUBU
- Tony Elumelu, Founder of The Tony Elumelu Foundation
- Antonio Gracias, Founder of Valor Equity Partners
- Julie Hanna, Founder of Kiva
Entrepreneurs participating in the Event include:
Jimena Flórez, Bogota, Colombia
Jimena Flórez is an entrepreneur in the agribusiness and food industry who founded Crispy Fruits in 2012. Her company was formed entirely by women entrepreneurs and is now operated by a majority of women. Crispy Fruit’s purpose is to design and develop healthy and functional products to meet consumers’ demand for a nutritious and balanced diet, and in the process, empower farmers. Her company is developing new products with natural ingredients to enhance people’s health. She started her business with the mission of increasing the quality of life for Colombian farmers by improving their access to technology and capacity building opportunities, and developing sustainable agricultural practices to produce higher quality products that garner fair trade prices.
Through President Obama’s Women's Entrepreneurship in the Americas (WEAmericas) initiative, which leverages public-private partnerships to increase women’s economic participation, Jimena received mentorship and training, and access to new trade opportunities, which helped her expand her business. Through her company Crispy Fruits, Jimena empowers cacao farmers in Tumaco, a predominantly Afro-Colombian community, by building the capacity of farmers to adopt organic agricultural processes, secure organic certification and ultimately access direct trade opportunities.
Felipe del Campo, Weston, FL, USA
Originally from Mexico City, Felipe Gomez del Campo founded FGC Plasma Solutions in 2013 and is currently a junior at Case Western Reserve University. From a research project started at a high school science fair to launching it into a company, Felipe is focused on improving the safety and efficiency of jet engines with a plasma assisted fuel injector. Felipe’s research has found that his product can result in a 10 percent decrease in fuel consumption which will result in significant savings, reduce harmful gas emissions for both jet engines on airliners and industrial gas turbines used to generate power. As a recent recipient of a regional prize in the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Clean Energy Business Plan Competition, Felipe plans to further test and develop the injector at both the NASA Glenn Research Center. Felipe’s efforts to expand his business have benefited from an ecosystem of innovation, mentorship and capital. Felipe aspires to help set up a similar entrepreneurial ecosystem in Mexico as well to afford Mexican entrepreneurs the chance to develop their innovative ideas. Felipe also serves as President and co-founder of the Case Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.
Adepeju Jaiyeoba, Lagos, Nigeria
Adepeju Jaiyeoba founded Mothers Delivery Kits in 2013, after losing a close friend to childbirth, to address maternal and child mortality resulting from unhygienic and unsafe deliveries in Nigeria. With the aim of economically empowering women and teaching behavioral changes in healthcare, her business connects women in rural communities to the lifesaving supplies they need at childbirth at an affordable cost. As a Mandela Washington Fellow for Young African Leaders (YALI), an initiative introduced by President Obama in 2013, Adepeju has been able to collaborate with other entrepreneurs, build employee capacity through YALI courses, and receive seed capital and mentorship from the U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF). She is currently partnering with another YALI Fellow in Cote d’Ivoire to develop a mobile application to improve communications capabilities, and working with a YALI Fellow in Ghana to begin to expand her business to Ghana. With the support of the USADF entrepreneurship grant, her business has doubled its distribution in the last four months and expanded its services to internally displaced victims of Boko Haram. The grant has also enabled the company to acquire new machinery, establish a storage facility in northern Nigeria to address transportation challenges, increase its Lagos-based staff, and reach nearly 80 community midwives and healthcare provider across 23 states in Nigeria. Adepeju hopes to expand her work and continue to mentor other young entrepreneurs with her passion for change.
Aazia Mickens-Dessaso, Hampton, VA, USA
Aazia Mickens-Dessaso is the cofounder of FreePing, a software company launched in 2014 that provides free streams of utility information to prepaid mobile phone subscribers in emerging markets. Aazia developed the concept while observing the intersection of social movements and technology in Brazil as a U.S. Department of Education Foreign Languages and Area Studies Fellow. It was there that she discovered the benefits of easily-accessible information on personal and organizational productivity, and observed the ways Brazilians used their phones to interact without using prepaid credits. FreePing has been incubated by a Small Business Administration Growth Accelerator Fund Competition recipient, through which her business has received business acumen, access to capital, and mentorship. Currently, FreePing has a presence in Brazil, South Africa, and Kenya. As a young African American woman in the tech industry, Aazia has led efforts to connect underserved groups to programming and engage, inspire and celebrate women and minorities in entrepreneurship. She organized this year’s International Space Apps Challenge, the first her hometown organized in the challenge’s four-year history, to allow local coders to access NASA’s open data and solve the Agency’s mission-related challenges, and to encourage girls in STEM. Aazia seeks to give voice to a startup ecosystem that is reflective of the country’s rich demographic makeup to produce solutions and products.
Ziad Sankari, Beirut, Lebanon
From Lebanon, Ziad Sankari started CardioDiagnostics in 2012. Ziad lost his father to a heart attack when he was seventeen and his family lacked access to proper healthcare. He decided to pursue his studies in understanding the electrical activity of the heart and how monitoring and analyzing that activity can save lives. Today, the company uses FDA-approved wearable devices that are 24/7 GPS-enabled heart rate monitors allowing for heart monitoring centers to communicate diagnostic and preventive information to patients in the United States, where the center has over 40 employees, and in Lebanon. In 2008, Ziad attended Ohio State University on a U.S. Fulbright scholarship. After returning to Lebanon, he was selected to pitch his idea at the 2011 Global Innovation through Science and Technology’s (GIST) Tech-I competition where he won first place. Through GIST, a U.S. Department of State funded initiative, Ziad received his first round of seed funding and traveled through various U.S. cities to expand his network, learn how to negotiate, and connect with mentors. Given his experiences, Ziad sees education as essential to successful entrepreneurship and to combat rising issues of poverty and extremism. He hopes to support other startups and build a high-performing educational system in Lebanon and throughout the Middle East that leverages U.S. expertise and connections to open a world of opportunities to younger generations.Culled from whitehouse.gov
Peju says....
''Hello Stella
Trust you are great. Just wanted to let you know your BV is going places oh.
This Monday, May 11th, I will be at the White House meeting and presenting my business before President Barack Obama and the Shark Tank Crew.
I just want to encourage everyone on your blog to leave their comfort zone and persist with their business or kick off their business idea. If anyone needs help, ideas or resource to develop or even kick off their ideas, I will be happy to help or connect them to anyone who can.
What's the use of moving forward without helping others to get better?
Thank you.
Peju''
Congrats Peju,I am so excited,please keep us informed and let me know how other blog visitors can contact you.
My name no dey there!
ReplyDeleteMtchewwww
What's her blog name?
DeleteCongrats
Congrats dear
DeleteCongrats dear.
DeleteCongrats deaR, me like such.
DeleteWow!
ReplyDeleteWe bless God
Wow this is Good news, BV's going places!
ReplyDeleteCongrats dear!
ReplyDeleteWomen breaking barriers.
So all these unsolicited sex pep talk i give here went unnoticed.
DeleteObama,continuuuuu
Am so happy for u dear.
DeleteCongratulations........
Lmao, Irene! When I offered to be of help to u with some bible verses n rosary recitat......lol
DeleteKai, I mistakenly pushed d publish button.....
DeletePls, where did I stop ? I can only remember *Rosary recitation ** biko. chai.............
wow omg for real sis well done
ReplyDelete#GODWIN
Stella God bless your heart.. I have a business idea Bt no resource to start.. I pray God answers me Amen
ReplyDeleteCongratz Adepeju Jaiyeoba! D sky is ur starting point!,,,,,,,,,,,,SDKers,,,,,,,,,,,soaring!
ReplyDeleteWow super cool
DeleteCongrats dear
Congratulations Peju. May God continue to move you forward in life, with a humble heart like yours the only way is up.
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Waow, Felicitations dear Peju!
ReplyDeleteU sound like a nice and warm person, u just lifted my spirit.
Wow! So cool
ReplyDeleteCongratulations peju. We are so proud of you
ReplyDeleteAnty Peju,u too dey come here?
ReplyDeleteBravo! I am so proud of you
ReplyDeleteI am so impressed,thank God we are in the news for good
ReplyDeleteStella, shebi she said we should contact her? Where are the contact details naa?
ReplyDeleteThat's so cool
ReplyDelete*Thumbs up*
ReplyDeleteWow! Kudos
ReplyDeleteI pray my name will be heard some day...
This is so nice...the idea of a mothers delivery kit is really cool..Ada
ReplyDeleteCongratulations and jubilation celebration in our Nation.
ReplyDeleteCongrats dear.
ReplyDeleteGaining global recognition of this proportion is a huge achievement. Stay humble and keep thinking. Way to go dear!
And all of us, lets keep thinking!
The idea that will propel us to greatness might just be in front of us all this while, in our houses, on the floors we step on but we ain't seeing it.
May God open our eyes, brains, ears to see, think, hear good things that will bring us success. Amen.
Wow,, congratulations Peju..more grace dear
ReplyDeleteNelo better not contact her for resources cos you can see she is yoruba! Oloshi kikikikiki
ReplyDeleteNelo doesnt even have your time. Stay there and her carry her matter like gala you will soon get tired. Fix your life!!!
DeleteWow wow wow!!!
ReplyDeleteCongrats madam you sound like a nice person. wishing you greater heoghts!
ReplyDeleteCongrats Peju! Aren't easy but you're there already. Chi Austin
ReplyDeleteOmg this is such great news.congrats Peju...yummy
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Peju..... Abeg come and purchase your tickets from me ooo.... I'm a travel agent and an emerging entrepreneur.
ReplyDeleteI mean air tickets please.... Agency is Extramiles Travels Limited and I won't add any commission.
ReplyDeleteMZ Tee
Deletei need cheap flight tkt to europe at very good rate
drop ur contact plz
Congratulations Peju.
ReplyDeleteWow! Congrats to her
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Wow! Congrats, girl. All the best
ReplyDeleteCongrats Peju, I wanna b ur frend.
ReplyDeleteYou're such a beautiful soul.....Bless u dear, pls I need your E-mail. Thank u
ReplyDeleteCorrect!...
ReplyDeleteSo proud of u evn tho I dnt know u. I hope u present beautifully on the 11th. Also, God bless u for d work ure doing with d disadvantaged. Go girl!
ReplyDeleteSuper impressed that you were able to use a personal tragedy to help others. God bless
ReplyDeleteWoow congratulation dear.
ReplyDeleteOkay
ReplyDeleteCongrats @Peju. I keep saying it that no matter how mouthed BV'S can be when insulting each other, SDK has d most intelligent, brilliant and talented individuals. Dis blog where u get all d advice u want to keep u strong even when u r been cussed out. One love, one blood, one family.
ReplyDeleteSo proud of u sis!
ReplyDeleteWow!Congrats Peju.
ReplyDeleteAs an entrepreneur,the only programme I watch on TV is Shark Tank.It's really value adding I must say.You are so blessed to be meeting the crew ....I hope you ll have a great presentation.All the best!
Congrats peju and stella keep up the good.fellow bv visit www africaintels.com
ReplyDeleteWow, I am really impressed. Congrats Peju dear. I love it when women excel in business.
ReplyDeleteWow! Go girl,so proud of you!
ReplyDeleteHello dear, how do upcoming entrepreneurs contact you??
ReplyDeleteCongrats Dear. So we have big pple here.
ReplyDelete