Odawa Indian wins Launch Pad prize

Native Youth Business Training Idea Wins $5,000“1,000 Ideas. 20 Finalists. 5 Winners.”

That’s what the Launch Pad website declares on its homepage. The first-ever nationwide contest was created “to discover five inspiring people with ideas to improve their communities.” The winners, who were voted on by site visitors, each receive $5,000 to get their idea off the ground.

One of those winners—Anthony Genia, a member of the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians—submitted an idea for a Native American Youth Economic Warrior Project that “will create a culturally-responsive, values-based entrepreneurship curriculum to orient preteen Native American youth to the American economic system and the world of business.”

“Native Americans suffer the highest poverty rates in America. In order to turn that around, we need to reach young people with values-based training by the time they enter middle school,” said Genia, who is a senior program officer with the Northwest Area Foundation (NAF). “The Native culture embraces values of generosity and reciprocity, and that sometimes contradicts the concept of individual business achievement.”Comment:  For more recognition of Native business people, see Top 10 Native Entrepreneurs and Navajos in Emerging 200 Initiative.