Austin Young Chamber Foundation Gives Back: 3DS Ultrapreneur Fellowship Program
The Austin Young Chamber Foundation is pleased to provide grant support to 3 Day Startup (3DS) for their Ultrapreneur Fellowship.
The Austin Young Chamber Foundation provides an opportunity for Austin Young Chamber members to give back and help ensure that everyone in our community has the opportunity to thrive.
Through a collective impact funding model, the Foundation provides grants to 501(c)3 non-profit organizations with initiatives that:
- Focus on removing barriers to employment
- Impact individuals in the early workforce stage (0-5 years)
- Increase employability of underserved populations
What is the Ultrapreneur Fellowship?
The Ultrapreneur Fellowship is a career and venture accelerator for Gen Z opportunity youth in Austin (with the intent to expand statewide and nationally). Until Ultra, entrepreneurship education, training and support existed only in privileged spaces (higher ed, exclusive accelerator/incubator programs). ULTRA is the first initiative nationally to include entrepreneurship as a training pathway in the workforce development space.
To 3DS, democratizing entrepreneurship means making something accessible to everyone – and the way we’re doing that is by using public dollars to fund the accelerator for any young person who is inspired to pursue business ownership as a side hustle, career, or future dream.
What problem are you trying to solve and why is it important?
There is a huge gap in current workforce development systems nationally – the complete lack of training and support for young people who want to pursue entrepreneurship as a career pathway. It’s a gaping hole. Accompanying that gap is a prevalent and problematic mindset that entrepreneurship and business ownership is an endeavor out of reach for opportunity youth; this is simply not the case. This is a problem worth our time and attention because:
- Entrepreneurship is a legitimate career pathway. By 2030, nomadic freelancers are projected to make up 50% of the entire workforce in our country;
- The wealth gap is staggering and only set to widen unless we equip young people with the knowledge and skillsets that enable them to build financial assets and generational wealth (business ownership);
- The future of work is upon us and digital transformation will displace thousands of jobs. Young people need to be ready with skills at the core of entrepreneurship and innovation – which are valuable for and transferable to almost every professional endeavor.
How many people are involved?
We’re hoping to serve 60-75 young adults annually per site and grow this impact over the next 5 years. This is possible through the support of collaborative partnerships with Austin Young Chamber, Goodwill Youth Services, Workforce Solutions, Skillpoint Alliance, and the Austin Opportunity Youth Collaborative.
What do participants gain from going through this Fellowship?
Fellows graduate from the experience having received a 12-week pre-accelerator experience (a minimum viable and commercialized product/service), Google career certifications, and real experience through apprenticeship learning. Big picture – we hope each young person leaves the program encouraged, re-engaged, and inspired to create value and build generational wealth with their innate propensity for leadership and creative problem-solving.
How do funds from the Austin Young Chamber Foundation support efforts?
Funds and ongoing support from Austin Young Chamber are instrumental to this program’s success. An added value is the tremendous alignment of our missions. Our Austin Young Chamber Foundation grant will provide direct assistance to our first cohort of Fellows through technology and program staff.
How can people get involved?
Spread the word! We are proud that Austin, TX will be the first place for this breakthrough initiative to take place!
- Support recruitment
- Commit to mentoring/advising
- Sponsor the program or individual fellows through monetary support.
