OUR MISSION
The Scholarships to Success Young Entrepreneur Awards and Young Entrepreneur Association aim to raise awareness among the nation's youth of the critical role that private enterprise and entrepreneurship play in the building of America.
Scholarships to Success Entrepreneurship Scholarships are open to any high school senior in Oklahoma with an existing business or well developed idea. These businesses can be tutoring, babysitting, lawn care, making jewelry or teaching classes. These scholarships are available to students with a 2.0 or higher, and the $1,000 award is to be used toward tuition at a post-secondary institution of choice. The 2016 scholarship cycle is now closed. We will start our next cycle in October of 2016 for 2017.
OK2GROW BACKGROUND
This initiative began with three business people: Larry Mocha, Lynda Wingo, and Jerry Holder. As business owners, they became concerned with the quality of applicants approaching them for jobs from the public school system. These individuals lacked basic math and reading skills and were unable to complete an application correctly. They found other small businesses shared the sentiment, and they felt compelled to act.
The trio's concerns produced the 2011 Governor's Conference on Small Business, and they brought businesses and organizations from across the state to join them for workshops and seminars addressing small business issues. With the surplus funds from the conference, they created a 501(c)3 called OK2Grow with the mission of creating collaboration between the education system and business. OK2Grow is the umbrella for three initiatives to address these issues: the Scholarships to Success Program, High School Completion Coalition and the manufacturing promotion program.
Scholarships to Success Entrepreneurship Scholarships are open to any high school senior in Oklahoma with an existing business or well developed idea. These businesses can be tutoring, babysitting, lawn care, making jewelry or teaching classes. These scholarships are available to students with a 2.0 or higher, and the $1,000 award is to be used toward tuition at a post-secondary institution of choice. The 2016 scholarship cycle is now closed. We will start our next cycle in October of 2016 for 2017.
OK2GROW BACKGROUND
This initiative began with three business people: Larry Mocha, Lynda Wingo, and Jerry Holder. As business owners, they became concerned with the quality of applicants approaching them for jobs from the public school system. These individuals lacked basic math and reading skills and were unable to complete an application correctly. They found other small businesses shared the sentiment, and they felt compelled to act.
The trio's concerns produced the 2011 Governor's Conference on Small Business, and they brought businesses and organizations from across the state to join them for workshops and seminars addressing small business issues. With the surplus funds from the conference, they created a 501(c)3 called OK2Grow with the mission of creating collaboration between the education system and business. OK2Grow is the umbrella for three initiatives to address these issues: the Scholarships to Success Program, High School Completion Coalition and the manufacturing promotion program.
