The Los Angeles County school system is fostering youth entrepreneurship through an innovative after-school program that combines technology education with business development skills.
Program overview: The Young Innovators Accelerator Pitch Competition culminated last week, showcasing business plans developed by students at six Best Buy Teen Tech Centers across Los Angeles County.
- Over 60 high school students participated in the after-school program, with twelve advancing to the final pitch competition
- The program operates in under-resourced neighborhoods through partnerships with nonprofits
- Funding comes from multiple sources including the Best Buy Foundation, Annenberg Foundation, and the Greater Los Angeles Education Foundation (GLAEF)
Educational approach: The initiative combines practical business skills with hands-on technology experience to prepare students for future careers.
- Students learn essential business planning skills including budgeting and presentation design
- The Los Angeles Economic Equity Accelerator and Fellowship provides curriculum and training
- Young, dynamic trainers work directly with students to teach entrepreneurship fundamentals
Technology-focused innovations: Student pitches demonstrated a strong emphasis on leveraging technology to solve real-world problems.
- The winning project, ByteAi, uses artificial intelligence to break down complex classroom subjects into manageable lessons
- Other tech-based proposals included a mental health social app, a smart camera system, and a healthy food finder application
- The competition featured non-tech solutions as well, including a community market employment program for homeless individuals
Competition outcomes: The pitch competition awarded significant prizes to recognize student achievement and support further development of their business concepts.
- Gabriel Cardenas, a 14-year-old freshman, won first place and $1,400 for ByteAi
- Second place and $1,000 went to Tristen Trudgeon for the BeSeen mental health app
- A team of seven students secured third place and $600 for their community market concept
- Three additional semi-finalists each received $150
Looking ahead: The program’s success in combining technology education with entrepreneurship skills suggests a promising model for youth business development in under-resourced communities, with organizers hoping to continue the competition annually while potentially expanding its reach to impact more students.
Recent Stories
DOE fusion roadmap targets 2030s commercial deployment as AI drives $9B investment
The Department of Energy has released a new roadmap targeting commercial-scale fusion power deployment by the mid-2030s, though the plan lacks specific funding commitments and relies on scientific breakthroughs that have eluded researchers for decades. The strategy emphasizes public-private partnerships and positions AI as both a research tool and motivation for developing fusion energy to meet data centers' growing electricity demands. The big picture: The DOE's roadmap aims to "deliver the public infrastructure that supports the fusion private sector scale up in the 2030s," but acknowledges it cannot commit to specific funding levels and remains subject to Congressional appropriations. Why...
Oct 17, 2025Tying it all together: Credo’s purple cables power the $4B AI data center boom
Credo, a Silicon Valley semiconductor company specializing in data center cables and chips, has seen its stock price more than double this year to $143.61, following a 245% surge in 2024. The company's signature purple cables, which cost between $300-$500 each, have become essential infrastructure for AI data centers, positioning Credo to capitalize on the trillion-dollar AI infrastructure expansion as hyperscalers like Amazon, Microsoft, and Elon Musk's xAI rapidly build out massive computing facilities. What you should know: Credo's active electrical cables (AECs) are becoming indispensable for connecting the massive GPU clusters required for AI training and inference. The company...
Oct 17, 2025Vatican launches Latin American AI network for human development
The Vatican hosted a two-day conference bringing together 50 global experts to explore how artificial intelligence can advance peace, social justice, and human development. The event launched the Latin American AI Network for Integral Human Development and established principles for ethical AI governance that prioritize human dignity over technological advancement. What you should know: The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, the Vatican's research body for social issues, organized the "Digital Rerum Novarum" conference on October 16-17, combining academic research with practical AI applications. Participants included leading experts from MIT, Microsoft, Columbia University, the UN, and major European institutions. The conference...