Entrepreneurship is something that many schools don’t teach their students, and Dario Otero wanted to change that.
Combining his background in visual communication technology and special education, he founded Youth Lens 360, a youth marketing agency where participants can not only contribute to real world projects but also start their own company.
“[I’m] bringing youth into the space of entrepreneurship,” Otero said of Youth Lens 360, which he founded in December 2016.
The goal of the agency is to work with youths age 14 to 24 on projects for real clients, and eventually help them start their own companies. “They’re not working for me,” Otero made clear. While he is teaching them the ins and outs of entrepreneurship through visual technology and video marketing assignments, the kids have free reign to start whatever type of company they want.
Otero said that they have everything from video production and marketing companies, to a dance crew, to a pop up sandwich shop. Through the curriculum he developed for Youth Lens 360, participants can develop technical skills such as writing proposals and invoices to jump-start these ideas that they’re passionate about.
“They can use what they’ve learned from Youth Lens and apply it to their own businesses,” Otero said. “The fact that they’re all starting their own companies is what I’m all about.”
An interesting dynamic to working with youth is that they may want to be entrepreneurs but some don’t even have a bank account, Otero mentioned. Working out these details and helping them realize how getting paid works is something he didn’t plan on doing, but is realizing the importance of. “[I’m] helping them avoid pitfalls in their own businesses,” Otero said.
Completed projects by Youth Lens 360 include the Connect 700 project with the State of Minnesota, which involved creating videos about training people to hire those with disabilities; a series of videos for the city of Minneapolis on youth violence prevention work; and countless ventures with high schools in the Twin Cities metro.
In Richfield, about 20 students from Youth Lens put on a technology conference for over 1,100 kids, and in Burnsville they worked with 63 students on engagement, empowerment, and youth voice topics. Another project Youth Lens does is the “World Cafe,” which are large conversations facilitated by youth that took place at the North St. Paul High School, Edina and for Reimagine Minnesota, which involved 42 school districts.
“Imagine a two-hour sit down with students and teachers from the community, making sure youth is at each table leading the conversation,” Otero described. Youth Lens trains students at other schools to have these conversations to find what works to solve issues within their education system. “This is different than our typical work,” Otero said.
Youth Lens 360 often goes into high schools to work with youth that age, but those ages 19-24 can work in the Impact Hub in downtown Minneapolis. The organization shares a space with Warecorp, a software development company run by Chris Dykstra. Both those at the Impact Hub and Dykstra wanted to see youth and diversity in the space, Otero said.
“When we met it was just a natural fit,” he said of the connection between his company, Impact Hub and Dykstra, who subsidizes the rent to make it possible for Youth Lens to work there. “It was a no brainer.”
Otero wanted to make sure youth felt part of the tech community, and that they could be taken seriously. “Some people see these youth running around at bus stops and don’t know they’re entrepreneurs, that they’re starting their own companies and have these skills,” he said. He made it clear one can’t miss seeing Youth Lens when walking into the Impact Hub—it has a glass wall overlooking an open space. “We’re making an impact at the Impact Hub.”
In the future, Otero hopes to work with bigger companies with Youth Lens 360, such as Target, Cargill or Best Buy, and continue bringing youth into the tech community.
“One of the major things that Youth Lens is doing is really giving access and opportunity into spaces where its not normally provided,” he said.
