Young Entrepreneurs for Leadership and Change

A Word To Parents

Safety

We are concerned about the health and safety of the Young Entrepreneurs for Leadership & Change Summer Program participants. We make a strong effort to ensure the safety and wellbeing of students both while they are on campus and while they are in the community, including:

-Selecting excellent, skilled staff members. The Young Entrepreneurs for Leadership & Change Summer Program staff includes high achieving, well-trained, motivated leaders who who have experience and interest in entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, and community service. We have hired the most qualified instructors, program coordinators, and resident assistants (RAs) to staff the program, click here to view their Bios. We are also fortunate to have a team of outstanding volunteers including distinguished faculty and staff of UF's Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, special guest speakers, and talented UF alumni mentors.

-Partnering with respected local community agencies and organizations for the community service placements. Each community partner has been approved by UF's Center for Leadership & Service and has a strong reputation. Students will be given an orientation educating them about potential risks that may exist while volunteering and precautions they can take to minimize this risk to the greatest extent possible.

-Providing appropriate supervision. While students are ultimately responsible for their own conduct, our administrative, instructional, and residential staff all work together to provide clear guidelines and reasonable supervision. The student to RA ratio is 10:1. Students are not permitted to leave campus unsupervised.

Medical Care

Accepted students are required to submit a set of medical forms, including verification of medical insurance coverage and immunization records. Students who become ill or injured are referred to the Student Health Care Center or a local emergency room for treatment.

Students with Disabilities

If your student needs accommodations for a learning, physical, medical, dietary, or mental health issue, you must contact notify us as soon as possible so that we can arrange for appropriate accommodations to be provided. Documentation must include the diagnosis of the disability, specific functional limitations for both academic and residential settings, and recommended accommodations.

Staff Bios

Resident Assistants

Our RAs will live in Beaty Towers along with the students. Students will check in with their RAs each night during room check and again in the morning.

Abhi Lokesh is a third year Honors student, majoring in Integrative Biology and also pursuing a minor in Entrepreneurship. He has been a CEI Ambassador since Fall '06 and has worked with the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation to inform students about the exciting growth and potential of entrepreneurship. As a freshman, he was the only undergraduate working on a material science/engineering research project in collaboration with NASA concerning the documentation and improvement of thin film polymer systems. He is the co-founder of swaziAID, an innovative non-profit creating new, sustainable ways to in order to implement true social change in the country of Swaziland. The business plan was recently entered into Social Venture category of the Howard Leonhardt Business Plan Competition. He is an intern at the Synogen Technology Incubator in Downtown Gainesville for Sabine Neurotechnology and Optima Neuroscience, two cutting edge neuroscience companies looking for effective therapies for epilepsy and other neurological conditions. Abhi is a graduate of Palm Harbor University High School in Palm Harbor, FL.

Samantha Baer is a third year student Honors student, double majoring in French and Interdisciplinary Neurobiologial Sciences. She is involved in various leadership and service organizations on campus, including Change the World UF: Student Social Entrepreneurs, Ideal, Service Ambassadors, the Florida Cicerones, Florida Alternative Breaks, and the Center for Leadership and Service. She is also a group fitness instructor for RecSports. During Summer A she will serve as a member of the 2007 Preview Staff, helping to welcome each new student and their families to the University. Sam has studied abroad in Paris, France, at the University of Florida's Paris Research Center, as well as with the University of Florida's Rome, Italy program. Upon graduation, Sam aspires to attend graduate school in the field of public health or epidemiology and then pursue a degree in medicine. She hopes to work internationally with a program like Doctors without Borders to help ensure medical care and humanitarian assistance for those in need. Sam is passionate about empowerment of young people, especially in the areas of leadership and social change, and she is very excited to be a part of this summer's experience. Sam is a graduate of West Shore High School in Melbourne, FL.

Instructors

GEB4930 - Exploring Entrepreneurship - Professor Bill Rossi

SYG2010 - Social Problems - Dr. Kristin Joos

Assistant Coordinator

Vanessa Frisby is the Assistant Coordinator for the Young Entrepreneurs for Leadership & Change: High School Summer Program at UF. She graduates from UF in May 2007 with a degree in Spanish. She was a member of UF's Honors Program and has taken many business courses while working as a teaching assistant for a business management course. Since 2005, she has been working with the Center for Leadership and Service (CLS), serving the UF student population by connecting them with service and leadership opportunities. Her responsibilities in the CLS have also included coordinating youth mentoring programs, planning national and international service trips, facilitating service learning programs, managing UF partnerships with over 200 community agencies, and much more. She is also deeply committed to creating a more inclusive community at UF through a leadership and diversity program called Gatorship which she has worked with for four years. Due to her outstanding leadership skills, Vanessa was awarded the prestigious UF Woman Leader of the Year Award as well as the Diversity Impact Award in 2006. Vanessa is a graduate of Miami Killian Senior High School in Miami, FL.

Director

Dr. Kristin Joos is the Director for the Young Entrepreneurs for Leadership & Change: High School Summer Program at UF. In 2005 she brought Social Entrepreneurship to UF and created the Innovative Social Impact Initiative in the Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Kristin is a UF graduate, earning her bachelors degree in Psychology with minors in Sociology, Religion, and Women's & Gender Studies. In 2003 she graduated with a Ph.D. in Sociology & a graduate certificate from the Center for Women's Studies and Gender Research. Her research interests center around youth, social entrepreneurship, civic engagement, community service and creating positive social change. Kristin is passionate about teaching students to use the skills & strategies of business to create sustainable solutions to social problems locally and around the world. From 2003-2006 she served as the Coordinator of Admissions & Student Activities for the Honors Program at UF; she is now a Lecturer, teaching courses in Sociology and Social Entrepreneurship.

Please direct all questions and inquires to:
Dr. Kristin Joos
kristin.joos@cba.ufl.edu
352.273.0330