Lauren, a sophomore from Jones College Prep High School in Chicago, is not your typical student. She has a bio that is more extensive than many adults. Besides her academic achievements as an honor roll student, her community and extracurricular activities and the varsity golf team; Lauren is also an entrepreneur and accomplished author.
Entrepreneurship means something different to Lauren, and she speaks candidly about the benefits of young entrepreneurship. Young entrepreneurship is becoming more popular than ever before, and its ripple effect is having a major impact on society. Although the experiences may differ for each, young entrepreneurs get something different from their opportunity. The skills developed as an entrepreneur will become a major asset in the future. And it has proven true. When the then sixth-grader joined the Chicago chapter of the Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!), her life was destined to never be the same. That is where she learned how to decide whether an idea was just an idea or a real business opportunity. Lauren created her own business: Foodvie.
The purpose of Foodvie is to help people with food allergies, intolerances, or vegan preferences find more food products they can eat. Foodvie is a web application that allows you to easily identify grocery products that fit your needs. The presentation of the business earned her a place in the national YEA competition and a $20,000 scholarship to Rochester Institute of Technology. This win led to multiple public speaking and networking opportunities.
Lauren is part of twenty-three students who joined together to author IDEAs to Amplify Student Voices. These students wanted to inspire others with their stories of using technology to learn, create, design, and amplify their voices. In the book, released 9/1/20, students from across Illinois share their stories about the innovative, creative, and inspirational ways they use technology in their classrooms, communities, and home environments to transform their own learning experiences.