EDUCATION + ENTREPRENEURSHIP = EMPOWERMENT

No matter what school I visited when I was editor of Florida Trend’s NEXT, a magazine for high school students, the answers to my question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” was always the same.

Whether I was speaking with students at a charter school in rural North Florida, an overflowing public school in Little Havana, or a private school in Jacksonville’s finest suburbs, I always heard the same thing: doctor, lawyer, nurse, entertainer or athlete.

It puzzled me that none of the students described wanting to start a venture. Perhaps they didn’t view entrepreneurship as a career; so many times students only visualize what’s presented to them on TV.

As we continue to climb toward an economic recovery, I firmly believe that innovation and entrepreneurship are crucial to the nation’s economic revival and competitiveness in a global marketplace.

According to the Small Business Administration, small businesses create most of the nation’s new jobs, employ about half of the nation’s private sector workforce, and provide half of the nation’s non-farm, private real gross domestic product (GDP), as well as a significant share of innovations.

I believe that entrepreneurship and education have the power to change lives. I believe that education isn’t restricted to a four-year university; it often comes in different packages.

Technology has also changed the face of the entrepreneur today. This path is now more accessible to people like me — the granddaughter of Mexican migrant farm workers.

That’s why I was especially excited to learn about the Junior Achievement Academy for Leadership and Entrepreneurship at Oak Ridge High School. Scheduled to debut in fall 2012, the academy will offer students a chance to learn real-world concepts from local business professionals and community mentors, and the opportunity to take part in exciting internships.

I’m such a fan of JA, especially after having the wonderful opportunity to teach JA Personal Finance to high school seniors at Maynard Evans High School in spring 2011. The students were incredibly receptive to discussing the role that money plays in achieving personal goals throughout life, especially after a recession.

Entrepreneurship among teens is a growing trend. In fact, the Distributive Education Clubs of America, or DECA, which provide high school and college students with training in marketing, management and entrepreneurship, reported a 20 percent increase in interest in its entrepreneurship events.

When you combine education and entrepreneurship, you get empowerment. I’m so inspired to live in a city that celebrates and supports entrepreneurs — including teenpreneurs.

Ashley Cisneros is an entrepreneurial journalist and principal of Ashley Cisneros, Inc. based in Orlando, Fla. Selected as a Fellow by UNITY: Journalists of Color Inc. for its New U start-up business camp, she  is a finalist for a $10,000 business grant. Cisneros earned a B.S. in Journalism and an M.S. in Entrepreneurship from the University of Florida, and will be speaking at UF’s Women in Entrepreneurship summit in March 2012. For more info, visit ashleycisneros.com.

–Ashley Cisneros
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Ashley Cisneros is a co-founder of Chatter Buzz Media, an Orlando Internet marketing firm that helps companies and organizations engage with their target markets through inbound marketing via the Internet. Chatter Buzz Media, which won the Social Madness competition for the Orlando small business market, is a full-service digital marketing firm specializing in website design, search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing and content creation. Prior to founding Chatter Buzz, Ashley worked as a newspaper reporter, magazine editor, technical writer, marketing manager, public relations practitioner and freelance journalist. To see Ashley’s content writing, visit www.ashleycisneros.com. You can also reach Ashley on her Google profile.