YEA – Where are they now?

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Xzavion Stevenson

My name is Xzavion Stevenson. I’m a 17 year old senior at Inderkum High School, intending to attend a State University in the Fall of 2016. Throughout my high school years, I volunteered at different community events. I was a part of H.O.P.E, played baseball, ran track and currently, I am a part of the varsity football team that’s undefeated. Since my junior year, I’ve been taking Advanced Placement classes to prepare myself for college. I express myself in a creative sense through music, songwriting and music production. In 2014, I also was accepted into the Disney Dreamers Academy hosted by Steve Harvey.

During my time with the 2015 class of YEA, I was able to obtain knowledge that has confidently raised my potential not only as an entrepreneur, but as a young man. Being a part of the program has opened my eyes, to the world with a new perspective that I can achieve anything and become the person I desire to be in life, with goal setting and a high work ethic. YEA instilled a higher sense of maturity, responsibility and character within me. I’ve been shy most of my life until I was encouraged to network within a range of professionals who are involved with the program. By doing so, I was able to meet great mentors such as Aben Hill, Brian Bedford and Elise Schexnayder that I’ve stayed in touch with outside of the program. YEA has provided me with skills that will prepare me for the real world, skills I and other students in the public school system are so thirsty for. Music is my passion and business is necessary. I wish to one day own a management company supporting music artists around the world.

Thank You YEA!

Nosakare Fletcher

Beginning my life after graduating from high school and completing the YEA program was a large transition for me. I was fortunate enough to have a spot lined up at Howard University, a four-year college, but even with a full scholarship- there were several steps I still had to fulfill and boxes I needed to check. In the grand scheme of things, my time in the Young Entrepreneur’s Academy was short, but the things I learned and the things I was exposed to did have a large imprint on my future. Following my tenure with the YEA, I was directly connected with a paid internship with a local company, which gave me much needed experience for my future career path.
Following my internship, I began at Howard University in Washington, D.C., a long way from where I grew up in California. Coming to Howard and beginning my journey has forced me to grow and develop in many ways that I never expected. Not only have I had to make the transition from west coast to east coast, but I’ve had to begin living my life understanding that it is now my time to take care of myself as an adult. That requires me to have a larger hand in managing my time, energy, and resources to ensure I get good grades, while searching for opportunities to further enhance my future after college.
Currently, I have become a proud member of the Howard University mock trial team, where I have the opportunity to represent my university on the national level. I have also gained recognition for my achievement in the Political Science department through the College of Arts and Sciences Honors Department.

Nyasha C. Smith

My name is Nyasha Christine Smith and I am a rising junior at Spelman College majoring in computer science. I participated in the Sacramento Black Chamber of Commerce’s YEA program during my senior year of high school and I’ve had an entrepreneurial spirit ever since! I plan to use my skills and experience as a computer science major to support my business aspirations. My commitment to my dream is demonstrated by my academic performance. After my first semester of college I made it onto Spelman College’s Dean’s List. I was also offered a summer information technology internship at The Boeing Company and received The Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship for women in computer science. Furthermore, the fall semester of my sophomore year I was offered an opportunity to conduct undergraduate research under Dr. Yolanda Rankin. I pursued this research opportunity involving video games for language learning and funded by the National Science Foundation and the Clare Boothe Luce Foundation. I enjoy applying technology to create new solutions to existing problems. After graduation I aspire to pursue my entrepreneurial interests by owning businesses supported by advances in mobile and web applications.

Keith Johnson

My name is Keith B. Johnson Jr. and I previously graduated from the Young Entrepreneurs Academy  in 2010. The YEA  helped me advance my skills in business; while also giving me the knowledge on how to properly handle my finances. Since graduating from The Young Entrepreneurs Academy  I have gone on to obtain my Bachelors Degree from the University of California Davis majoring in Pre- Law. I plan on attending Law School Fall of 2016. My top choices for Law Schools are Georgetown, Howard and University of California Los Angeles. Without the guidance from the mentors that I met during my time in the Young Entrepreneurs Academy I would never been able to understand the significance of business at such an early age. I am forever thankful for the Young Entrepreneurs Academy and all that it does for the youth of Sacramento, California.

Richard Wong

After graduating from the Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA) in the summer of 2014, I began my college education at Sacramento State. I am part of the General Education Honors Program, which is a cohort based curriculum for GE classes. Additionally, I was accepted into Golden Key Honor Society and Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. College has been a really interesting experience for me. I have been able to take many interesting classes and have made a lot of good friends along the way.
YEA was one of the major influences on my choice to pursue a career in Business. We all learned so much and were able to gain hands on insight into real life business situations. When I first entered college, I did not know which particular area I wanted to focus on. After completing many of the lower division Business classes, I was really able to get a feel for the different fields of Business. My accounting classes really sparked my interest and from there on out, I decided that I wanted to pursue a career in accountancy, specifically public accounting. My goal now is to obtain my CPA and to work for one of the Big 4 accounting firms. I am now completing my second year and am on track to graduate in two more years with a Bachelors of Science in Accountancy!

Simone Johnson

My name is Simone Johnson and I was part of the Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA) class of 2011. After graduating from YEA and Highlands High school, I went on to purse a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a minor in Religious studies at Humboldt State University. Currently, I am a full time student while also holding a part time job as a child care assistant five times a week. Additionally I have an apartment by the college and independently paying for all my finances including my school expenses. I love college life and my job is amazing so hopefully soon I’ll have enough money saved for a down payment on a car! However, I do miss my YEA members & staff greatly and I am so glad I got to have that experience. Anybody in or trying to be in government knows all too well how stressful, unpredictable, and complicated our jobs can be, but nevertheless we continue to do it every day because what we do is bigger than us. The things we have the power to accomplish means more to other people than we will ever know. There will always be something to fight for and you can never put a price on making a difference. So just as all the people connected to the YEA will continue to help change the world so will I. First by becoming the person that I knew deep down I had the potential to be and next by helping others discover that same potential in them that the YEA helped me find in myself.

Ryen Clark (Cohort 12)

“Since graduating YLC, I have been accepted to and will be attending UCLA in the fall. I will be majoring in psychology, to further pursue my goal of becoming a family/marriage therapist, with hopes of having my own practice in the future.”

Edleen Robert’s (Cohort 12)

“I’m working with my dad on his small business”