Dear VFA Friends and Supporters:
First, thanks to all who joined us for the Venture for America Summer Celebration last Tuesday! I hope that you enjoyed yourself and came away inspired by the potential of Derek Turner and our best and brightest to rebuild our country through entrepreneurship. The event was a huge success on every level, as over 400 people attended and over $365,000 was committed or raised for Venture for America, way above even our wildest hopes. Thank you to everyone who made it possible! Special thanks to IAC and Tony Hsieh of Zappos for their support.
We have posted 200+ photos from the event with more to come, so feel free to look for yourself and your friends as you relive the evening. The IAC HQ makes for an incredible backdrop. Here are some pics to get you going:
I am writing this from Providence, Rhode Island, where the VFA team relocated to last week along with 40 of the most talented and motivated young people in the nation. The Training Camp is off to a rousing start already as the Fellows are hard at work.
Our Fellows are recording their Training Camp experiences through the VFA Fellows Tumblr over the next five weeks. Follow along with their experiences and see their progress here.
Today, Gary Chou from Union Square Ventures is here coaching the Fellows on their first challenge project. Being here is inspiring in a very different way than the Summer Celebration, but in some respects it’s more profound. We know that the hard work is going to be done by these Fellows in their cities and careers in the years to come, and we are doing our best to equip them with the professional skills, values, and relationships that will make them genuine instruments of value creation.
It’s exciting to see how talented, motivated, and earnest the Fellows are. Each morning they recite the VFA Credo:
My career is a choice that indicates my values.
There is no courage without risk.
Value creation is how I measure achievement.
I will create opportunities for myself and others.
I will act with integrity in all things.
Spending this time with them, we’re certain that they are going to do a lot of good in Detroit, New Orleans, Providence, Cincinnati, and Las Vegas in the months ahead. Thank you for making it possible.
We have extended the Summer Celebration campaign, so if you make a contribution by the 4th of July, it will be matched by our incredibly generous Board of Directors. We remain a non-profit start-up ourselves and your support makes a big difference.
Click here to make a donation now!
Ezra Klein wrote an excellent article about Venture for America this past weekend in the Washington Post. Click here to see Ezra’s thoughts on our work.
Please keep up with Venture for America and our Fellows through Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr. And feel free to drop me a line personally at Andrew@ventureforamerica.org.
Thank you again if you joined us last week, and hope that your summer’s off to a tremendous start!
All of the best,
Andrew
