Second Annual Golf Charity Tournament
The second annual tournament by Friends of Puerto Rico raised funds for their SEEDS Entrepreneurs program, an initiative focused on entrepreneurial education based on STEM.
AGUADILLA, PUERTO RICO – The second edition of Friends of Puerto Rico’s Annual Charity Golf Tournament was a success. An event that the nonprofit celebrated to support its SEEDS Entrepreneurs program. Over 50 players from all levels, including professional player Laura Díaz, attended the Punta Borinquen Golf Club in Aguadilla, last Friday, October 14th, showing their solidarity and support for Friends of Puerto Rico’s (FoPR) mission: fostering people’s empowerment and boosting economic development in the island.
Collections from the tournament are destined for SEEDS Entrepreneurs by FoPR, an entrepreneurial education program based on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) for youth in Puerto Rico. SEEDS allows students, particularly women and girls from 9 and 12 to tackle commercial subjects in the real world and participate in tutorships with business leaders inside and outside the island. Besides several workshops, talks and mentorships the program offers, SEEDS also helps fund youth entrepreneurship with seed capital.
“We’re thankful for all the people and sponsors that supported the tournament. Together you represent a community committed to the socioeconomic development of Puerto Rico, and shaping future generations of entrepreneurs. We must take tangible actions today to reap a future of prosperity. With everyone’s support, at Friends of Puerto Rico we’re giving an enormous step towards that”, said Angelique Sina, president and co-founder of Friends of Puerto Rico.
SEEDS serves a critical situation on the island: the young population is among the poorest in the United States, with 56% of them living below the poverty line, a number that escalates to 84% in some rural areas. Present in five schools, SEEDS provides over 100 students the chance to become entrepreneurs through coffee and agriculture. For example, with the Café Ama initiative, youth accelerate their entrepreneurial spirit by selling artisanal coffee. Since its establishment in 2015, the project has impacted over 50,000 people and collaborated with over 50 organizations.
Since 2015, Friends of Puerto Rico has supported the economic development of Puerto Rico through entrepreneurial initiatives, education and creating opportunities for all, with a focus on women and girls. It has mobilized a passionate community of over 30,000 businessmen, donors and organizations associated from all over the world, centered around boosting economic success and innovation to harvest the next generation of leaders.
The entity boosts different strategic programs, including:
Aguadilla Business Center: Entrepreneurship center located in the former Aguadilla Ice Skating Arena, which has a conference room and a workshop hall accessible to all the community.
Business Boost: Workshops focused on helping participants structure their business idea based on the "Business Model Canvas", a methodology that will help them find the value of their product, assess how to generate returns and develop a “pitch” to attract investors.
Metro Women’s Business Center: A space in Bayamón that fosters the creation of small-to-medium-sized businesses (PYMES) led by women in Puerto Rico. There, participants receive counseling, training, mentoring and other services.
Westside Business Jumpstart: Initiative that offers the seven key steps to register a business in Puerto Rico through text messages in the Trello platform and personalized counseling in the Aguadilla Business Center.
See photos of the event in our Facebook album.
To support SEEDS Entrepreneurs, visit www.friendsofpuertorico.org/seeds. Follow Friends of Puerto Rico on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
