BestPrep

Happy Give to the Max Day! Choose BestPrep today and double your donation at bestprep.org/give with our $20,000 match! You’ll be making an impact for students across Minnesota who are part of our programs.

BestPrep’s Board Member, Chase Brakke, CEPA?, Vice President of Business Owner Solutions at North Star Resource Group, was recently recognized for his outstanding volunteerism with BestPrep and received an honorable mention for the Volunteer of the Year award by Invest in Others Charitable Foundation (IiO). This award recognizes financial professionals who’ve made tremendous contributions to a nonprofit organization and a lasting impact on the community. Chase’s commitment and recognition provided BestPrep with a $2,000 donation that will help us continue to bridge the gap between classroom learning and workplace skills for Minnesota students. “Being considered an honorable mention was pretty cool,” Chase stated. “A lot of people apply for the IiO awards and being recognized for the work I do with BestPrep is exciting. The work that BestPrep does is so important because the world is only getting more complicated, and helping Minnesota kids get a head start on their financial journey by learning from professionals who do this every day is a major step in the right direction.” Chase has been involved with BestPrep since 2009, becoming a Board Member in January 2021. Throughout his time at BestPrep, he’s taken on the role as a professional mentor in the eMentors program, a Financial Matters classroom speaker, and a judge for BestPrep’s Student Spotlight Competition. Chase has also served on several BestPrep committees, being chair of the Financial Matters Committee (2016-2019), chair of the Volunteer Engagement Committee (2013-2017), co-chair of the Ambassador’s Committee (2015-2018), and a current member of the 2025-2027 Strategic Planning Committee. Chase’s advocacy is another important factor to BestPrep’s success, recruiting those at North Star to volunteer in our eMentors program, which is the largest program North Star employees participate in. Not only has he created a fulfilling partnership between BestPrep and North Star, but he created a positive and lasting experience for high school students in Minnesota. Because of Chase’s longstanding commitment to BestPrep, he received the 2015 BestPrep Service Award and the 2018 BestPrep Bunzel of the Year Award, the highest honor given to volunteers. Please help us celebrate Chase Brakke for his contributions and exceptional volunteerism at BestPrep!

Today was Day 5 of Minnesota Business Venture! The theme for today was Empowerment Day, sponsored by the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation. We opened with a keynote by speaker KELLY McCLELLAN about presentation tips. McClellan emphasized the importance of preparation and staying true to the message of your speech while presenting. After the keynote, campers had some last-minute prep time, and then it was time for them to present! For presentations, companies presented on topics ranging from 3D printing organs to help those in need of them, devices that would prevent car theft, and sensors that would monitor sleep patterns and give recommendations accordingly. After campers requested the amount for their loan, judges had time for themselves to deliberate and decide how much of the loan they were willing to give. Finally, campers would be invited back into the room to hear the results and receive valuable feedback! In the afternoon, campers had another keynote by Bella Nhi Lam about her experience with creating her vegan baking company, Coconut Whisk. Lam states that her passion for her company and her dream to see her products in stores drove her to bring her company to success. In the evening, campers had several fun activities to celebrate the completion of their business presentations. We are so proud of our campers, and all the hard work they put in this week!

Today was Day 4 of Minnesota Business Venture! The theme was Financial Freedom Day, and our greatly appreciated sponsor for today is Piper Sandler Companies. In the morning, campers had a keynote by speaker Bryan Polley, CFP? from U.S. Bank. In his speech, Polley discussed how money could be managed and prioritized by finding your most important values, and directing your income towards those values and commitments. After this, campers had Philanthropy breakouts, where people from 3M, Allianz Life, Cargill, U.S. Bank, and Piper Sandler talked about how their company gave back to the community through philanthropy and charity. Camper learned that donating to important organizations is important for businesses because not only is it an investment for the future of the business, but it also gives an opportunity to give back to the community and improve the quality of life for the people affected. In the evening, campers attended Financial Literacy breakouts, where business professionals gave lectures on various aspects of financial literacy, from paying for college to investing. The skills campers learn from these lectures are incredibly important for being able to achieve financial success in the future. Campers start wrapping up their work on the business plan and prepare to present tomorrow!

Today was Day 3 of Minnesota Business Venture! The theme for today was Entrepreneur Day. Our amazing sponsor for today is Cargill. In the morning, campers attended a one-on-one mock interview, where the interviewers were volunteers who are involved in local businesses. These interviews helped campers prepare for the real-life interviews they will no doubt face in the real world, while also helping them practice public speaking skills. In the afternoon, we had a keynote by speaker Shamus O'Meara from Highland Popcorn, who talked about his experience with starting a nonprofit popcorn store with his son that hires people with developmental and intellectual disabilities in order to elevate their lives and open up opportunities that they are often denied. After that, campers attended one breakout session based on their role in their company. Those in marketing went to the marketing lecture, those in operations went to the operations lecture, and those in finance went to the finance lecture. Learning more information about their respective role allows campers to better understand their responsibilities. In the evening, our campers continue working on their business plan and begin thinking about their final presentation.

Day 2 of Minnesota Business Venture was Career Day! As always, many thanks to our sponsor of the day, The Arby's Foundation & Arby's Restaurant Group. Our first event of the day was Camp Jam, a competition where student companies compete against each other by performing team-based tasks to earn points. These tasks range from designing a company poster and creating a company slogan to solving anagrams and riddles! Camp Jam is a great way to connect with teammates and strengthen communication skills. Next, we had a keynote by Chris Damsgard from General Mills about the process involved in developing a brand. He states that to create the most effective brand, people should develop an archetype of their brand- whether this archetype is playful, serious, modern, traditional, or something else, it has to appeal and relate to the brand's ideal consumers. In the evening, campers attended both a career expo and breakout sessions. At the career expo, campers listened to short discussions from organizations in the vehicle world, the emergency services world, the sanitation world, and others. At the breakout sessions, experienced professionals gave lectures on important life skills like resumes, understanding workplace culture, interviewing, and technology. During worktime, students continued to follow the business plan in preparation to present their final product.

Former Minnesota Business Venture camper, now volunteer, Santiago J. Escobar, M.A., CSM, CSPO continues shines. Congratulations to Santiago for being awarded the Outstanding Young Alumnus Award by St. Mary's University! Santiago has a long history of volunteerism with BestPrep dating back to 2013 when he joined us Birdies for BestPrep, since then he’s volunteered multiple times in our mentoring programs eMentors and Cloud Coach. Santiago has also served as faculty in residence at Minnesota Business Venture and come to camp as a business plan judge. Santiago – congratulations and thank you for making a difference in students’ lives!

Yesterday marked the start of Week 2 of Minnesota Business Venture! The theme was "Dare to Dream." As always, a huge thank you to our sponsor for Day 1, 3M. After a warm welcome at registration, campers settled in for their first keynote speech. Our speaker for Day 1 was Sally Phu, who championed the importance of achieving your true potential, self love, and building and maintaining relationships with family, friends, community, and most importantly, yourself. Our campers spent the afternoon all over on a campus-wide scavenger hunt, and in the evening, performed original skits using random items in our event called "Junk Night", an event that serves to hone their public speaking skills! On Day 1, campers met their peers, built connections, and prepared to work hard during this week!

Following the camper's company meetings, we conducted a second round of breakout sessions. These breakout sessions were all about financial literacy. The students heard "Investing" from Matt Adey CIMA? from Morgan Stanley, "Paying for College" from Neil Leibundguth from the University?of St. Thomas, "Credit" from Ann Erickson from Froehling Anderson, "Budgeting" from Tina Jones from Blaze Credit Union, "Identify Theft" from Jody Slais from Wings Financial Group, and last but not least, they played the "Fab Life Game" with Tara Pribnow from ECMC.

Today, at camp, is Financial Freedom Day! After the morning welcome, our keynote speaker, Roya Moltaji,CFP?, ChFC?, CASL?, CAP?ADPA?, from Roya LLC, addressed “Money Values." She talked about efficient ways to save money and how money decisions impact your thoughts, feelings, relationships, and future. A big thanks to our sponsor for today, Piper Sandler! After the keynote, we had our first five breakout sessions of today on philanthropy that the students signed up for. We heard from Alyssa Banks from General Mills, Stacey Nelson Kumar from Comcast, Kelsey Midthun from Thrivent, Sarah Swenson from Donaldson Company, and Tariq Malik from Securian Financial. A big thank you to all of them. Our campers learned a lot, and you guys are greatly appreciated!