BUILD, a national nonprofit organization that encourages young adults and teenagers in under-resourced communities to pursue entrepreneurship, announced it formed a new partnership with the region's largest philanthropic foundation to help launch the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders.
Over the course of the next four years, a $1.2 million investment from the Richard King Mellon Foundation will allow BUILD to help younger people living in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties to pursue their own paths to launching a business. BUILD will also offer the ability for those who participate in its outreach efforts to develop modern skills and build out their own social capital.
Those efforts start with the launch of the 2022 Southwestern PA Youth Pitch Competition, a free digital curriculum for students and educators that will offer cash prizes and other perks for those who compete in various entrepreneur-related challenges. Teachers and educators can receive training on how to implement the challenge at their schools. Student finalists of some of these competitions from across the two counties will then face off against each other during an event in May.
"Today, students and educators need digital skills and an entrepreneurial mindset to thrive in our rapidly changing workplace," Ayele Shakur, CEO at BUILD, said in a release. "We are thrilled to partner with RKMF to bring youth entrepreneurship education to Allegheny and Westmoreland Counties."
The investment from the RK Mellon Foundation follows the recent announcement of winning pitch competition results for the nonprofit's own entrepreneurship-related challenge — the Social-Impact Investment Program — which invested a combined $3.39 million across 16 startups that are currently operating in Pittsburgh or are positioning to do so in the near future.
"Entrepreneurs can be powerful agents for social good," Sam Reiman, director of the Richard King Mellon Foundation, said in a release. "They bring their passion and creativity to vexing societal problems, with the potential to generate solutions that can be scaled to achieve significant positive impact.
More information on BUILD's 2022 Southwestern PA Youth Pitch Competition can be found here.
