BeardedEagle co-founder, Devon Morris spent time inspiring and providing guidance to a group of young people from the local Dallas Y-Achievers program at their annual fall Teen Summit. BeardedEagle and Y-Achievers partnered to impact Dallas’s youth as Devon shared his experience, knowledge, and advice with young entrepreneurs wishing to learn more about building a business.

“Dallas Y-Achievers Teen Summit”

Y-Achievers Teen Summit is an educational enrichment and leadership development opportunity. It is targeted to teens in 9^th-12^th grade largely coming from economically challenged communities. The goal is to lead teens in the discovery of unlimited post-high school options. Options that can be fulfilling personally, professionally as well as teach them to become contributors to their community.

“Shaping Young Entrepreneurs”

Devon presented “Shaping Young Entrepreneurs,” an interactive 2-hour session. It introduced entrepreneurship in a unique way that pushed his audience to come up with a real problem they would like to solve.  He broke the class down into groups of 3 to 4 people. He gave them an allotted time to come up with the problem.  They were then instructed to write down how the problem is currently being addressed, and create alternative resolutions. This exercise got the creative juices flowing and young innovative minds working together as a team.  They were doing Scrum without knowing it was Scrum.

The session ended with a Q&A. It allowed the Dallas Y-Achievers to pick Devon’s brain about his experiences as a young man growing up on the south side of Chicago. They inquired about how he developed his first business, and how he has maintained and grown over the years.  Devon’s relatability, charisma, and passion for mentoring youth made the session a resounding success. 

This was the first of an ongoing partnership between BeardedEagle and YMCA’s Y-Achievers program.

The program is a national college program designed to help teens receive academic support, career exploration and mentoring. The Achievers program encourages teens to raise their academic standards and explore diverse college & career options. Teens also develop a positive sense of self. They build character and meet and interact with professionals who serve as role models to inspire them to greater heights. Meeting times, dates, and locations are determined by the school and their advisers.

BeardedEagle will continue to partner with community organizations. We will do this to improve opportunities for young people in economically disenfranchised areas.