Dream Blog
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4 Gens of Entrepreneurs & Co Impact Days
In such a tumultuous social political climate, moments of unity are incredibly important. This Friday, November 17th, we are honored to have several Dream Tank Squad members and DreamMakers speaking on various panels at the 4 GenNow summit. This organization unites the four generations in entrepreneurship and empowerment. Hannah Capshaw, Madeline Espinoza and Nick Adam Titus will be on a pen about their experience with being youth leaders of Dream Tank. The diversity in age and experience is sure to bring new perspectives and hopeful connections that unite people in an entrepreneurial spirit In the spirit of connecting Gen z, Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers, we hope to see as many Dream Tank supporters as possible.
1:50 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Panel: “Intergenerational Entrepreneurs Share Success Stories”
Moderator: Andrea Young, President & CEO, Colorado Technology Association
Panelists: Panelists:
John A. Kelley, Jr., Chairman, CEO CereScan
Jeff Kelley, VP Sales and Marketing, CereScan
Nick Titus, CEO, Myonic Technologies
Matt Patrick, Mentor, Myonic Technologies
Hannah Capshaw, Chief of Staff, Dream Tank
Madeline Espinoza, Dream Makers, Dream Tank Fellow
3:15 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Find Your Intergenerational Business Partner/Part 2 / Table Discussions
Attendees select tables based on interests
Attendees rotate tables after 15 minutes to another topic
Entrepreneurship
“Future 101: Dreams and Entrepreneurship, Igniting Childlike Spirit”
Heidi Cuppari, CEO, Dream Tank
Madelaine Espinoza, DreamMaker
Summer Cuppari Gould, DreamMaker
We are honored to have been invited as a venture to present at Colorado Impact Days, a growing impact investing community based in Denver! This Wednesday, November 15th through Friday November 17th there is an amazing social venture marketplace where focused investors and philanthropists gain the confidence, tools and connections they need to take action in new, powerful ways. We are always looking for new and exciting ways to build community in the greater Denver area and are so excited. There will be many excellent speakers and opportunities for any business or entrepreneur!
Inaugural Dream City Council Meeting
The Call for Dream Leaders is Here!
Our Mission: to support, nurture and ignite the creative genius and innovation of kids to lead local social change across all sectors of Boulder. On Tuesday, October 24th, Dream Tank launched the first Dream City Council Meeting with the mission of supporting, nurturing, and igniting the creative genius and innovation of kids to lead social change. The Jeffersonian-style gathering was a collaboration effort comprised of leaders who are moving mountains within the Boulder community. We challenged these leaders to identify one or more of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals that DreamMakers could tackle in Boulder through innovative and entrepreneurial design challenges in our first interactive Think Tank for kids.
The meeting was a success in that we received wonderful and constructive feedback that has allowed us to refine the scope of the Dream City Council’s mission and involvement. We have established Sub Councils that will oversee the Design Challenges, Programming, Mentorship, and Public Relations facets within the Think Tank. From the meeting, it was evident that everyone in attendance was in agreement that the voices of the most creative geniuses on the planet – kids – are not being heard. Together, we have decided to start listening and resource these brilliant minds to solve design challenges within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals. We are looking forward to how we can launch these dreams and design the future, together!
We had the honor of hosting the following Dream City Council members:
Jake Aloia, DreamMaker and 8th grader at Summit Middle School
Jan Burton, CIty Council Member
Heidi Cuppari, CEO, Dream Tank, CEO, Anastasia Impact
Madeline Espinoza, Dream Tank Chief of Staff & Curriculum Design Fellow, Junior at University of Colorado
Bart Foster, Founder, Investor, CEO
Donovan Greene, Representative of the New Hope Group
Summer Cuppari Gould, 7th grader at Manhattan Middle School, Dream Tank senior Kidsultant, Co-Founder, Story Architects
Elena Hernandez, Managing Director, Impact Investing Strategy, GenTrust
Corey Kohn, Co-Founder and Member Owner, Dojo4
Sean Maher, Executive Director, Downtown Boulder Partnership (not in attendance)
Ryan Martens, Serial Entrepreneur and Technical Leader
Donna Merten, COO, Dream Tank & Masters of the Environment Candidate, CU
Amber Nystrom, SDG Mavericks, UN Liaison for SDG Marketplace Summit (not in attendance)
Dan Powers, CEO, CO-LABS
Paul Repetto, Founder of Horizon Dairy (not in attendance)
Joellen Raderstorf, Founder, C3 Boulder
Julia Richman, Chief Innovation & Analytics Officer, City of Boulder
Lesley Smith, Associate Director for CIRES Outreach and former board member of BVSD
Christy Szoke, CMO & Co-Founder, Fathym
John Tayer, CEO, Chamber of Commerce
Bob Yates, Boulder City Council Member
A Recap of Dream Tank’s Journey: Summer 2017
Team work makes the Dream work!
A Huge Thank You
As summer comes to a close, and the Dream Team reflects on a very full and exhilarating 3 months, we want to extend our sincerest THANK YOU for your involvement, passion, and contribution to Dream Tank. Because of your knowledge, talent, openness, and generosity. DreamMakers in Boulder launched their ides to new heights. We are humbled by your faith in and commitment to the kids and their dreams. The world is a better place because of YOU!
Our Accomplishments this Summer
Dream Tank began the summer piloting our fellowship program. We had a fantastic group of CU masters students, undergraduates, and high schoolers from Boulder and as far as Ohio, who each had critical roles running Dream Tank and executing on its mission of igniting kids dreams in Boulder.
“Dream Tank inspired me to teach young men and women to dream big while benefitting the planet.”
-Alex, HS Junior; Curriculum Development Team
Summer Accelerators
We held 3 summer accelerators and 3 pitch nights involving 34 DreamMakers launching their socially conscious business ventures. We played games, went on scavenger hunts, built a time machine, solved design challenges, and launched dreams!
A HUGE thank you to our sponsors, community partners, and hosts: Mackintosh Academy, Impact Hub Boulder, Galvanize, Kitables, Whole Brain Consulting, Pax World Investments, SHEO, TechStars, and Highlander Wealth Management. Thank you also goes to the businesses for our Pearl Street scavenger hunt: Galvanize, Reality Garage, Thrive, Made in Nature, Impact Hub Boulder, and Patagonia.
DreamMaker Success Stories
9-year-old Helyn Simpson-Teplin (Left), from Boulder, CO, joined Dream Tank’s first summer accelerator and rejoined 2 weeks later for our super accelerator for returning DreamMakers. She created the “Kinetic Store” that makes energy generation fun and addresses the Sustainable Development Goal #7 (Affordable and Clean Energy). Her idea stemmed from combining her love of gymnastics and her passion about the environment. Helyn’s product aimed to capture energy created through fun activities, such as jumping on a trampoline or cycling. EnergiLAB, a Colorado based company that works on similar issues, and Community Cycles, a local non-profit, offered her advice as well as donated equipment towards her first prototype. Inspired by Helyn’s idea, the group will be seeking to find a gym in Boulder willing to power their entire space using the kinetic energy it creates by people exercising.
Bodie Fox is a 9-year-old skater, surfer, and snowboarder who often loses things. That’s why he decided to create Shredder Stickers when he joined Dream Tank a year ago. Shredder Stickers makes fashionable stickers with a water-resistant tracker inside that will go on your snowboard, skis, or skateboard and more, so that you can locate them. He is looking to partner with TrackR for use of the trackers to go inside his stickers, and help TrackR design for kids and their ski/snowboard equipment. He plans to have an online store with multiple contemporary designs that people of different ages and genders will like. He has been connected with the company to move this partnership forward, and Bodie may become their first kid-sultant and partner!
Need a co-working space?
Our friends at Impact Hub Boulder are now offering a great new benefit to those interested in a co-working membership – Receive up to 3 complimentary leadership development and business coaching sessions (a $450 value) provided by Pursuits Coaching when you become a new member, now through 9/30/17!
Impact Hub offers flexible co-working plans and dedicated desks in a collaborative, sunny workspace. The free OZO coffee, organic teas, fast internet, high-speed printer and great community make this an exceptional value. Find out more by clicking the link below.
Whats next for Dream Tank
This fall, Dream Tank plans to pilot our Think Tank model in Boulder, where kids will get together specifically to solve a real-world design challenge for a company or cause. We are in the process of seeking sponsorships for this exciting opportunity, as we would like for it to be free to the kids who participate. If you know of any potential sponsors and/or collaborators, please contact hi@dreamtank.co
We will shortly release some other fall programs for new and returning DreamMakers!
Dream Team attends GlobalMindED in Denver
Left to right: Heidi Cuppari, Eric Glustrom, Hannah Davis, Luis Duarte, Summer Cuppari Gould, Anya Smith
The Dream Team had the pleasure of attending the GlobalMindED conference in Denver this past week. The conference brings together uncommon collaborators in education, business, STEM, government, and the nonprofit sector to support educational innovators who are setting a new standard for inclusive leadership.
Co-Founder and CEO Heidi Cuppari moderated a panel on social entrepreneurship including two of our 12 year old DreamMakers; Summer Gould and Anya Smith! The conference was a fantastic collection of professionals and students from around the country who are all working to make a difference in the world!
One of the great things about GlobalMindED is that they give out complimentary tickets to “First Gen’s”: the first in their family to attend college. These students mostly come from less privileged backgrounds and it’s important to enable them to participate in this great conference and contribute their points of view. At Dream Tank, we believe that every student deserves the opportunity to have their voices heard to start making their dreams a reality.
Story Architect founders(http://www.storyarchitects.biz/) and Dream Tank Junior Fellows Summer Cuppari-Gould and Anya Smith presented on a panel with other social entrepreneurs at the Global MindED conference in Denver last week. Heidi started off with a brief overview of Dream Tank, social entrepreneurship, and the story of how Dream Tank was created. Her daughter Summer told her that she saw that in society adults were not listening to kids and their creative ideas. Their dreams were being crushed, not praised or pursued. Heidi asked herself, “How can we use business and finance to make a positive impact in society? And lets bring kids into the discussion of solving global issues.”
Many of panelists had the same passion for change and diversity in the field of Entrepreneurship. For instance Eric Glustrom, the President of Watson University was there. Watson is a new university model for students ages 18-24 based in Boulder, Colorado dedicated to supporting next generation innovators, leaders and social entrepreneurs to solve the toughest challenges facing the world. MergeLane Program Director Hannah Davis was in attendance. MergeLane is an accelerator for businesses that have have at least one female executive. She stated, “ We need to broaden the definition of Entrepreneurship, it is a mindset of creativity and openness.”
Luis Duarte represented Gary Community Investments. His role includes identifying and developing public-private partnerships, and executing on philanthropic, near-market, and market-rate investment opportunities that encompass financial returns and social impact. He told a story about how he is reading a book called How to raise an entrepreneur and he challenged everyone in the crowd to “Let kids get their feet wet and chase their passions.” One of the main themes of the conference was diversity and inclusion in education and business. Anya said, “Everyone is so afraid of change. If people stood up and did something for themselves, it would create a chain reaction.” Summer indicated that if kids were in charge, “the world would be more colorful, there wouldn’t be as many endangered and extinct animals, there wouldn’t be climate change.” Join the movement to bring diversity to entrepreneurship with Dream Tank. Our call to action is an entrepreneurial ecosystem for kids and all walks of life!
Our team of fellows all attended GlobalMindED. Many of us experienced a conference like this for the first time! Dream Tank’s Fellowship Program is a pilot this summer where High School, College, and Masters Students learn social entrepreneurship and in return, take a role and lead something in Dream Tank.
Fellows were given a chance to spread our mission and learn about modern day solutions to issues such as access, equity, and opportunity for First Generation to College and underserved populations. We are always working to give our fellowship team beneficial experiences that allow them to make an impact while learning. The GlobalMindED conference was a great way to for fellows to take a seat at the table and start participating in important conversations with influencers across all sectors!
We are thrilled to be included in such an impactful conference and can’t wait for next year! Thank you
GlobalMindED~