There’s no doubt that Kansas City is evolving into an impressive entrepreneurial community. And William Robison is determined that teens won’t be left out of the equation. Robinson created Kansas City’s Teen Idea Labs, a one-day event that will be held on June 12.
Teen Idea Labs is comprised of mini-seminars designed to help engage students and inspire them to develop innovative ideas of tomorrow. The event kicks off at 8 a.m. at Kauffman Labs and includes attendance at 1 Million Cups – Kansas City.
Robison, a longtime small business owner, created the event after his children began asking questions about owning their own business, writes Megan Bannister for Silicon Prairie News.
“As a business owner for as long as they can remember, [my kids] have only witnessed this side of the world,” he told SPN. “As they mature, I challenge them to explore opportunities of their own.”
Not much entrepreneurial happens in Kansas City without the support of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, and Teen Idea Labs is no exception. Nate Olson, a specialist in entrepreneurship at the Foundation, lent his support to the idea, which Robison then brought to fruition.
As a serial entrepreneur and a longtime champion of youth initiatives like STEM education and others, I applaud this idea and hope that it’s the first of many like it. After all, why shouldn’t we encourage our kids to follow their dreams and make them a reality? You certainly don’t have to be an adult to find ways to affect change and bring new ideas to the table—in fact, kids are less likely to be hindered by the challenges, biases and limitations that so often stall an adult’s momentum.
What’s even more exciting? This day-long event is free—and it’s open to students from any community. Not a bad way to spend a summer day, right? If you’re interested, hop over to EventBrite and register now. And if your teen attends, I’d love for you to stop back by and tell us all about it.
Shelly Kramer is a Principal Analyst and Founding Partner at Futurum Research. A serial entrepreneur with a technology centric focus, she has worked alongside some of the world’s largest brands to embrace disruption and spur innovation, understand and address the realities of the connected customer, and help navigate the process of digital transformation. She brings 20 years’ experience as a brand strategist to her work at Futurum, and has deep experience helping global companies with marketing challenges, GTM strategies, messaging develoment, and driving strategy and digital transformation for B2B brands across multiple verticals. Shelly’s coverage areas include Collaboration/CX/SaaS, platforms, ESG, and Cybersecurity, as well as topics and trends related to the Future of Work, the transformation of the workplace and how people and technology are driving that transformation. A transplanted New Yorker, she has learned to love life in the Midwest, and has firsthand experience that some of the most innovative minds and most successful companies in the world also happen to live in “flyover country.”
