Are you a leader? An entrepreneur? A creator? A changemaker? If you answered yes to any of these, you are invited to participate in an opportunity to bring your dreams to life!

The Consumer Bankers Foundation (CBF) and banks from all across the country have partnered with Ashoka’s Youth Venture to bring you the Banking on Youth competition!

Banking on Youth is an exciting opportunity to showcase your great idea for a venture that directly benefits society. As a young entrepreneur you have so much more than a great idea and the ability to make money—you have the power to make a positive difference! If you are age 13-22, share with us your venture idea through a entry form to compete to win one of 30 different $1,000 seed money prizes provided by our sponsoring banks to bring your idea to life.

 

 

And, it gets even better! The top six entrants, chosen by the CBF and Youth Venture, will win an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington DC in May 2013 to learn more about the retail banking industry and to compete in a Pitch Off for the Audience Choice Award of $5,000 and the Grand Prize of $15,000!

Check out how many $1,000 seed money prizes are available to you (and your team, if you have one), depending on where you live!

To be a part of this exciting opportunity, share your idea with us by submitting an entry by March 15, 2013. Be sure to check out the additional information on our site and, most importantly, spread the word!

Whether you have a new idea or one you launched years ago, we want to hear from YOU! APPLY NOW!

Sponsors

About Consumer Bankers Association
The Consumer Bankers Association (CBA) preserves and promotes the retail banking industry as it strives to fulfill the financial needs of the American consumer. CBA provides educational, networking, and advocacy services for retail banks (banks that provide loans, checking accounts, savings accounts, and other financial services for families, small businesses, and individuals like you). CBA’s corporate members include the nation's largest financial institutions, as well as many regional banks.

The CBA Foundation is dedicated to providing financial literacy opportunities, promoting the community development efforts of CBA member banks, and sponsoring programs such as the Banking on Youth competition to provide additional opportunities for banks to give back to their communities.

About Youth Venture
Youth Venture (YV) is an international network of powerful young changemakers. Our network aims to help an entire generation of young people develop as leaders who will improve their communities now and throughout their lives. YV inspires and supports teams of young people to launch and lead their own civic-minded organizations and businesses. We believe that the greatest contribution we can make to the world is to increase dramatically the number of changemakers today and in every future generation. This is the key factor for success for every part of society, from a school to a company to an entire country.

About Ashoka
Ashoka is the world’s community of leading social entrepreneurs—individuals with innovative and practical ideas for addressing social needs. Working with these social entrepreneurs, Ashoka builds communities of innovators who work collectively to transform society and design new ways for the social sector to become more productive, entrepreneurial and globally integrated. As the rate of change in the world continues to escalate exponentially, social entrepreneurs must play a special role in helping the world evolve new systems designed to serve the good of all. Ashoka, its leading social entrepreneurs across the globe, and its other partners ranging from highly successful business entrepreneurs to teenaged Youth Venturers are all contributors – individually and collectively – to helping the world make the transition to its “everyone a changemaker™” future.