APRIL 22, 2015
Four Arizona Seniors Awarded National Scholarships
High school recipients from Chandler, Laveen, Scottsdale, and Tempe
PHOENIX – Four Arizona high school seniors were among 100 winners nationally from a pool of more than 600 applicants competing this year for a Young Entrepreneur Foundation (YEF) scholarship award from the National Federation of Independent Business, America’s largest and leading small-business association since 1943.
NFIB’s YEF scholarship program is designed to reward and encourage entrepreneurial talents among high school students. “America’s young people have caught the entrepreneurial bug, and we could not be more confident in our next generation of business owners,” said Molly Young, Director of the Young Entrepreneur Foundation. “We are impressed year after year with the quality of these hard-working, innovative high school students who are making their entrepreneurial dreams happen.”
One high school senior, Samuel Hendren from Scottsdale, who attends Desert Mountain High School, is one of just five finalists nationally eligible to receive either a $5,000 or $15,000 scholarship, which will be announced at an awards ceremony in Washington D.C. on July 23. Hendren’s enterprise is Tech Gone Wild, LLC.
The other Arizona winners were:
Jordan Brown of Tempe, who attends Corona Del Sol High School, and was awarded an NFIB/Insearch Charitable Foundation Young Entrepreneur Foundation Award of $1,000. Brown’s enterprise is Jordan’s Computer Repair.
Hannah Meyer of Laveen, who attends Arizona Lutheran Academy, and was awarded an NFIB/Insearch Charitable Foundation Young Entrepreneur Foundation Award of $1,000. Meyer’s enterprise is Dancin’ Spirit.
Lucas Tisland of Chandler, who attends Chandler High School, and was awarded an NFIB/Insearch Charitable Foundation Young Entrepreneur Foundation Award of $1,000. Tisland’s enterprise Sugar Caine.
“We are delighted to team with NFIB on this extremely valuable project,” said Heather Beito of the Insearch Charitable Foundation. “These young adults who want to carry the torch of free enterprise for a new generation inspire us, and we want to do anything to help them move further along in their education.”
Arizona YEF scholarships were financed by the donations of NFIB members and by the generous contribution from Phoenix-based Insearch Charitable Foundation. Since 2003, the NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation has awarded more than 2,600 scholarships totaling $2.6 million. This year, NFIB’s Young Entrepreneur Foundation awarded $145,000 to deserving young entrepreneurs. Each award is between $1,000 and $15,000. The scholarships are used to help with tuition costs for the winners’ post-secondary education.
To qualify for an NFIB Young Entrepreneur Award, students must be seniors in high school who own and/or operate their own small business. They are required to write an essay describing their entrepreneurial endeavors and future goals. NFIB members around the country interview the applicants for the Young Entrepreneur Awards.
A full list of this year’s winners, as well as past winners, is available HERE.
