BizBuzz NFP

Today’s answers to tomorrow’s questions belong to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. Just over 1.5 months ago, BizBuzz concluded its Fish Tank competition at the College of DuPage, marking the end of a summer worth remembering. Now, the real question: why the wait? Between FaceTime calls at 3am and Sweetwater Cafe meetings until 9pm, BizBuzz was everything we thought and dreamt about. It only felt right to take time to appreciate how far the organization has come. On July 17th, at the last session, we received a standing ovation from the BizBuzz parents. At that moment, we realized we were a small part of something a lot bigger than ourselves. What started as an idea had turned into a community, and seeing the parents' gratitude was a powerful reminder of why we started. But, if it isn’t abundantly clear by now, this initiative could not have been remotely possible without widespread support. Below are a few much-deserved thank yous: Students: thank you for spending your summer with us learning and having fun. Very few kids your age would have been willing to participate in a random vacation budgeting contest on a random Wednesday. But, you showed up with excitement we’ve never seen elsewhere before. Every. Single. Time. With Fish Tank ultimately closing off the camp, cheers to award-winners Garrett, Taksh, Rohan, Mishi, Mirav, Sara, Catherine, and Claire. But, above all, congratulations to all for pursuing your passions: we have learned as much from you as you have from us. Parents: thank you for putting your trust in our program. Hundreds met us with skepticism when we first started, and I can’t blame them a single bit. Yet, you took a chance on two crazy students with a dream and supported us every step of the way. Our preliminary judges – Athena Chen, Soohyun C., Isabel Yu, Nathan Mendoza, Olivia Fisz, and Ria Pande – thank you for inspiring the next generation with the expertise & creativity you’ve honed over high school. You showed them, by leading through example, how rewarding it can be to work hard and dream harder. Our finalist judges – Janet Yang Rohr, CFA, Raymond Munch, Isha Elandassery, Philip Ramos, and Brad Wilson – thank you for taking time out of your incredibly busy lives to make an impression on our students. They'll remember the ten minutes they spent with you for the rest of their lives. You embody everything they aspire to be, and meeting you was the best prize they could’ve won. Our volunteers: I’ll be made fun of in every BizBuzz groupchat for writing too much, so I'll be concise – thank you for everything. Collectively, we have spent 2000+ hours working together over the past ~4 months. Enough said. Jesus Cortez & NCTV17: thank you for sharing our story and showing Naperville what’s possible. In the end, these thank yous are only the footnotes to our first chapter. Because Mayor Scott Wehrli said it best: we’re just getting started. Photos: Mika Chang, Ankita Senapati, Nina Rao, & Sophie Mui

These past 2 weeks, at BizBuzz, we held our 5th & 6th summer entrepreneurship camp sessions at the Naperville Public Libraries. Our students came back for the most "hype", hands-on session of the summer, camp session 5, at the Nichols Library. Over 65 budding entrepreneurs learned about personal & business finance from 16 high school volunteer instructors. Later, our students had the chance to play a dream vacating budgeting game, where they budgeted their ideal trip and at the end, pitched their vacation plan for a chance to win Chicago White Sox, Kane County Cougars Baseball, Chicago Wolves, and DuPage Children's Museum tickets - big congrats to our winners! We were honored to host Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli and Naperville business owner Eddie Yoon as inspiring guest speakers, as well as news reporter Jesus Cortez from Naperville Community Television (NCTV17). At the end, students worked on their Fish Tank ideas, with most creating pitch decks and scripts. What a lively, fun session :) At the 95th Street library, on July 17th, for camp session 6, we hosted a 3-hour-long Fish Tank application workshop. During this time, students finished their scripts and pitch decks, as well as began practicing for the big day. Also joining us for a special surprise were our Fish Tank preliminary judges: Athena Chen, Soohyun C., Isabel Yu, Nathan Mendoza, and John Harvey. Thanks for coming judges! Overall, these past two weeks were extremely action-packed as we entered the final stretch before Fish Tank. We're incredibly grateful for all the support from parents, judges, and instructors, and we couldn't be more proud of our young entrepreneurs. See you at Fish Tank!

BizBuzz students are back for session 4 & better than before! At BizBuzz, we held our fourth entrepreneurship camp session at the 95th Street Library this past Wednesday, July 3rd. Over 45 students learned about the value of sales in the entrepreneurial world and how to pitch from 14 high school volunteer instructors. In the end, they competed in a mini-pitch competition with over $170 in prizes - congrats to our winners! The students were also motivated by a talk given by Athena Chen, the founder of the Naperville Children's Business Fair. We are incredibly proud of our students for consistently exhibiting a growth mindset, a spirit of competition, and effective teamwork. We are grateful to all of our volunteers, Athena Chen, parents, and aspiring business leaders. Without you, none of this would be possible. We're so excited about what the future has in store; BizBuzz is just getting started.

BizBuzz NFP students brought enthusiasm to entrepreneurship at Camp Session #3. On Wednesday, June 26th, we hosted the third session of our 2024 Summer Entrepreneurship Camp at the 95th Street Public Library, welcoming over 65 eager students. This session notably featured a captivating guest talk on marketing & public relations by Mary Gibson, the Naperville Park District Commissioner, and an exciting flier design challenge with over $140 in prizes. This session, our 3rd-9th graders delved into the importance of branding in the business world, gaining valuable insights to refine their entrepreneurial ideas for the upcoming Fish Tank competition. The Fish Tank competition is set to take place in late July at the College of DuPage. We are immensely proud of our students' innovative spirit and inspiring commitment to learning. We look forward to seeing their hard work and creativity come to fruition at Fish Tank. Thank you to our volunteers, guest speakers, and supporters for making the first half of our camp possible. Together, we hope to empower the next generation of entrepreneurs to dream big and achieve even bigger. Much more coming soon; we're just getting started.

BizBuzz NFP came back for 2x the fun on Camp Session #2. On June 19th, we had the pleasure of hosting the second session of our 2024 Summer Entrepreneurship Camp at the 95th Street Public Library. Over 60 students from 3rd to 9th grade learned about the importance of networking and competitive advantage from 9 high school volunteer instructors, participated in a coffee shop simulation contest with over $100 in prizes, and were inspired by a talk from guest speaker Isha Elandassery, founder of the Naperville Rising Women In Business. The energy was incredible as our young entrepreneurs not only thrived in their learning but also demonstrated their competitive spirit with passion and creativity. We extend our heartfelt thanks to our enthusiastic students, supportive parents, Isha Elandassery, and dedicated BizBuzz Team for making this event a success. We’re already looking forward to our next session on June 26th – same time, same place. See you then! 

After a first session success, there's still more to learn, live, and love 🫶. On June 12th, last Wednesday, we launched the inaugural session of our free 2024 Summer Entrepreneurship Camp for 77 students in 3rd-9th grade at the 95th Street Naperville Public Library. There, they learned about the fundamentals of business-minded thinking & the process of ideation, participated in a mini Fish Tank activity with $200+ in prize awards, and heard an inspiring talk on entrepreneurial fearlessness from the CEO & founder of the Alive Center, Kandice Henning. Hundreds of business ideas and handfuls of Jolly Ranchers 3.5 hours later, it was clear the students had the most fun they've had in a while. Big thanks to our budding entrepreneurs, involved parents, guest speaker Kandice Henning, and the entire BizBuzz team! We can't wait to see everyone again on June 19th!