PA Students Launch Teen Social Entrepreneurship Collaborative

Nearly 100 students from nine Mass. schools expected at Nov. 8 kickoff

November 05, 2009 --Phillips Academy seniors Celia Lewis and Michael Scognamiglio refer to themselves as an “unlikely pair.” While Lewis spends her spare time as managing editor of the Phillipian and coordinating an after-school journalism program for middle-schoolers, Scognamiglio is practicing piano for a performance in the Academy Jazz Band or serving as a Blue Key Head. But in the summer of 2007, their paths crossed when they both participated in PA’s service-learning program known as Niswarth. There, amid the slums of Mumbai, India, Scognamiglio and Lewis discovered they had something in common: a desire to be change agents.

After co-leading a group of students on a service-learning program to San Bartolo, Peru, this past summer, the duo are tackling their largest venture yet: the Clutch Collaborative. With a kickoff summit this Sunday, Nov. 8, Lewis and Scognamiglio expect 70 to 100 high school students from at least nine public and private schools in Mass. to descend upon the PA campus and participate in an all-day forum of panel discussions and breakout sessions, where they will learn how to implement social ventures in their own communities.

According to Lewis, Clutch Summit ’09 (named for the colloquialism describing something as cool—as in “that’s so clutch”) is the first conference on social entrepreneurship organized and launched by young people, for young people. The day will feature speakers and participants from the fields of social entrepreneurship, business, and youth and community development who will provide guidance on how to launch a successful social venture.

“The summit seeks to create opportunities for students to interact with dynamic speakers, engage in compelling discussions, and connect with peers who are passionate about learning how they can make a difference in the world,” says Lewis. “Clutch plans not only to expose students to the world of social entrepreneurship, but to create our very own community of young social entrepreneurs.”

The students will hail from public and private high schools in Massachusetts, including the Governor’s Academy of Byfield, Notre Dame High School of Lawrence, Central Catholic High School of Lawrence, North Andover High School, Lawrence High School, Andover High School, Brooks School of North Andover, and the Pingree School of South Hamilton.

In addition to a welcome by Head of School Barbara Landis Chase, Clutch Summit ’09 will include presentations by social entrepreneurs Alicia Polak (CEO and founder of the Khaya Cookie Company), Mike Brennan (program director at the SEVEN Fund), David Aldrich (founder of Grab the Torch), and Vicky Wu Davis (CEO of Froghop, Inc. and founder of Youth CITIES).

Lewis and Scognamiglio aim to follow up the summit with a meeting this coming winter or spring where Clutch participants can report on their progress in the development of their social ventures as well as create ways to attract more teens to become social entrepreneurs, which according to the unlikely pair of Scognamiglio and Lewis, is totally likely—and totally clutch