Children are playing outside on a sunny Saturday afternoon in Brooklyn, but inside the Weeksville Heritage Center, young women from underserved local communities are vying for startup capital in a unique Shark Tank-like competition.
The challenge is the culmination of an eight-week entrepreneurial boot camp called DIVAS. The program, which stands for Digital-Interactive-Visual Arts-Sciences, aims to bridge the digital divide by combining media literacy, cultural awareness and technology to encourage careers in computer science and new media.
Participants develop a business plan, mission, marketing strategy and financial plan, then they pitch for a chance to win startup capital to jump-start their vision. Most importantly, they learn technology skills and how to successfully bring a business idea to investors.
“Don’t let your ideas stay trapped in your head. Tell someone!” says program organizer Tevin Byrd. “You’d be surprised at who else has the same goals as you or would be willing to help bring your ideas to life—especially when it comes to helping the community.”
The winner of the startup capital prize was a Brooklyn science teacher named Tchnavia Merrick. Tchnavia always had a calling to serve her community, but she didn’t know how to make her ideas a reality. So she signed up for the DIVAS program to develop a clever business idea: a technology portal for the incarcerated population.
“When you give back to your community or to any community, you’re enhancing lives, you’re bettering futures, you’re opening opportunities, and you’re helping people see the true limitlessness of what they’re capable of with the right resources,” says DIVAS organizer Ayanna Seals.
DIVAS is a community initiative created with the help of Vernae Jones-Seals, CEO of OneSource, a leading accounting management firm. The firm’s newest initiative is a partnership with the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business and Prince George’s County Community College to create a “Virtual CFO” program.
Designed to pair community college students with mentors from the University of Maryland, the program is poised to help participants and local small businesses build new models for sustainable growth and foster entrepreneurship in the local community.
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About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business
The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and flex MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, business master’s, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.