180s and EntreQuest formed a corporate youth mentoring program — b4students Foundation. The mentoring program teaches self-improvement and business development skills to underserved, at promise Baltimore city middle school and high school students. The goal of the program is to provide students with the opportunity to form long-term relationships with business leaders. This will help keep them in school until graduation and teach students skills that will prepare them for college and the work world.
180s is the first company to adopt the mentoring program, which it calls the 180s-4students Mentoring Program. Students will officially join the 180s-4students program on November 5, 2003, where they will meet their mentors for the first time and begin building a relationship with them by participating in one-on-one ice-breaking sessions. The students will also listen to and learn from the newly re-elected City Council President, Shelia Dixon, as well as participate in EntreQuest leadership workshops.
b4students, founded by 180s and EntreQuest is a result of 180s prior mentoring initiative know as Little Bang (an offshoot of the companys old name, Big Bang Products, LLC). As part of the Little Bang initiative, 180s partnered with EntreQuest to provide self-improvement, leadership skill-building seminars for the 10 students in the program. The 180s Little Bang Mentoring Program laid the groundwork for the b4students Foundation.
“We are thrilled to form this partnership with EntreQuest. Our experience with Little Bang has shown us that this type of workplace youth mentoring initiative creates a unique opportunity for businesses to make a significant difference in the lives of students,” stated Brian Le Gette, co-CEO and founder of 180s. “We design our products for people that push themselves to perform at their peak and we want to do the same in all of our endeavors, including providing young adults with the tools they need to succeed in life.”
In the early summer of 2003, 180s selected twenty students from Mount Royal Middle School based on teacher recommendations to participate in the 180s-4students program. The students make a five-year commitment to participate in the 180s-4students Mentoring Program until their graduation.
During the first year of the program, students will focus on developing the relationships with their 180s mentors. Throughout the five-year program, students will be involved in learning the day-to-day activities of what 180s team members responsibilities are at the company and what is involved in bringing a 180s product to market.
Students will also participate in skill-building sessions hosted by EntreQuest, which focus on leadership, organizational and public speaking skills. These sessions will help to prepare students with the skills needed for their third year in the program, when they have the opportunity to play a significant role in the development of their own 180s product.
180s and EntreQuest have hired Leanne Posko to serve as the CEO/Executive Director of the b4students Foundation. She feels that, “this foundation offers Baltimore businesses the opportunity to give back to the community. There is a great need to help at promise youth stay in school, graduate and become leaders in their communities. These mentoring programs will expand the students knowledge of the business world and give them the chance to have a brighter future.”
The b4students Foundation will help Baltimore corporations develop workplace-mentoring programs and connect those companies with students in their communities. b4students foundation will assist these corporations in all aspects of creating their workplace mentoring programs, including recruiting students/mentees, establishing programs, and implementing activities. By the end of 2004, b4students Foundation will enroll a minimum of five Baltimore based companies.
