DoSomething.org LA Bootcamp
On Saturday, August 8, the BusinessBoomer team covered the DoSomething.org Social Action Bootcamp in Los Angeles. As described on their website, the event, with the theme Combat Training for An Army of Change, brought together a diverse group of young community leaders, activists and social entrepreneurs for a day of networking and training dedicated to giving each attendee the tools to grow and sustain their community action ideas, projects and organizations.
DoSomething.org emphasizes the power of youth to create social change, and so all in attendance were 25 or younger. Causes they were interested in included sexual health & HIV education, immigration reform, and diversity & tolerance.
The young adults who came were offered a diverse array of training to build or grow a not-for profit. Seminars were presented on topics such as branding & marketing, low-cost website creation, public relations, communications technologies, team building, corporate sponsorship, and political activism. Speakers and presenters were professionals in the field or young activists, including Ben Goldhirsh (Founder and Chairman of GOOD), Joel Arquillos (826LA Executive Director), Divine Bradley (a subject of The Hip Hop Project), and many of the members of the DoSomething.org staff.
At the end of the afternoon, the young social entrepreneurs were given a chance to practice what they had learned during the day during the speed pitching session, where they had two minutes to pitch their idea or organization to not-for-profit and corporate professionals, including director Brett Ratner. The professionals then provided two minutes of feedback on the pitch. The pitches were rated, and the top three received a $1000 grant from DoSomething.org.
The day was capped at the Power of Youth event put on by Do Something and Variety at Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum in Hollywood, where the social entrepreneurs had a chance to mingle with celebrities, including Ashley Rickards (One Tree Hill), Corbin Bleu (High School Musical), Shailene Woodley (The Secret Life of the American Teenager).
