Opportunity DeKalb

Thanks to everyone who supported and attended the inaugural Community Entrepreneurship Showcase! The showcase featured area middle and high school students as well as graduates of the first cohort of the Breakthrough Community Business Academy working to develop their businesses locally. Middle school students and high school students each participated in workshops at the De La Vega Innovation Lab at the Northern Illinois University College of Business in advance of the showcase. The middle school workshops focused on helping students learn how to communicate and pitch an idea they had, while the high school workshop put students in the role of investor and helped them serve as judges at the showcase. Prize money was awarded to selected students. Thank you to program partners that included the NIU College of Business, Youth Engaged in Philanthropy (YEP) through the DeKalb County Community Foundation, and Project HOPE for hosting and supporting. We also want to thank the NIU STEAM program for their input and feedback as the program developed as well as all who helped promote the opportunity, including the DeKalb School District. We are excited to see how this program and others focused on entrepreneurship emerge and grow as our work on Breakthrough Business continues!

Entrepreneurship is for everyone! The 2025 DeKalb Community Entrepreneurship Showcase was a success - Middle school students presented their business ideas to local high schoolers who awarded them seed funding to advance their ideas. All of these local students attended workshops at the De La Vega Innovation Lab in the Northern Illinois University College of Business to prepare for the big showcase. Thank you to our partner Opportunity DeKalb for your collaboration on this program. ??

We were in Aurora last night for A Food Tasting Experience with Chef Brittany McGee and her Chop It Up business! Brittany was a graduate of the first cohort of the Breakthrough Community Business Academy. We had a great time and the food was fantastic! The Nolan Gallery was a vibrant and engaging atmosphere for the event. Congratulations to Brittany on the event and her continued success!

At the graduation ceremony for the Breakthrough Community Business Academy last weekend, we recognized Federico Bassetti from the Northern Illinois University Office of Innovation for his invaluable support and dedication to helping our organization with the development of the business academy. Thank you, Federico!

This past Saturday is a day we will never forget. Photos from our graduation celebration for the first cohort of the Breakthrough Community Business Academy!

The article from today's Daily Chronicle on the graduation of the first cohort of the Breakthrough Community Business Academy! Congratulations to all the community members who graduated and thank you to all who continue supporting us! https://lnkd.in/gkq687eQ

Opportunity DeKalb is excited to work with the NIU College of Business to debut a Community Entrepreneurship Showcase in 2025 to further engage area youth in entrepreneurship. The showcase will feature free workshops at NIU's De La Vega Innovation Lab for middle school students, who will develop posters to display ideas they have, The program will also include a free workshop for area high school students, who will evaluate the ideas presented by the middle school students at a showcase event in March. The showcase event will also include local entrepreneurs who have graduated from the Breakthrough Community Business Academy. A big thank you to Becca Husar, MBA from the College of Business, the team at NIU STEAM, our community partners with Project H.O.P.E., and the wonderful support and collaboration from Youth Engaged in Philanthropy (YEP) through the DeKalb County Community Foundation. Full press release - https://lnkd.in/gAyGtMMa Registration for area students and their families - go.niu.edu/2025CES My colleague Danita Sims, our Board of Directors, and I are excited about the year ahead in 2025.

One-on-One support for YOUR business to WIN! ?? ~ https://lnkd.in/gVbb8dEE #breakthroughCBA #opportunityDeKalb #breakthroughbusiness #communitybusinessacademy

It was a memorable and exciting day for our organization today as we hosted the first pitch competition for the Breakthrough Community Business Academy. Congratulations to all the businesses who participated! Our winners were: 1st Place - Brittany McGee from Chop It Up 2nd Place - Michelle Crayton from DeKalb County C.A.R.E.S. 3rd Place - Elena Haliczer from Aging Lively We are grateful to everyone who continues to support the goals of Breakthrough Business of empowering individuals and uplifting communities through entrepreneurship, all in pursuit of the American Dream. Thank you to FNBO, Old National Bank, Resource Bank, and Kishwaukee United Way for sponsoring today's pitch competition and to Tonda Bruch, Cindy Green-Deutsch, and Ellingsworth Webb for serving as judges. We cannot wait to celebrate our first cohort and their accomplishments at graduation next weekend!

Thank you to our partners at Rising Tide Capital for the article featuring our very own Danita Sims, who serves as our Director of Programming and Community Development that includes being the instructor of the inaugural cohort of the Breakthrough Community Business Academy. To quote our academy participants, Danita is a true gem! https://lnkd.in/dG97giKW